"You cannot win, Revan."
"Jishin? Where are you?" Connan searched the sight before her for her friend, but she was no where to be found.
The ship shook violently. The people standing before her fell to the ground.
One particular person crawled weakly over the body of the cloaked one.
"Jishin, where did you go?" Connan jumped back up, calling out with her hands cupped over her mouth.
"Over here! Help!" Jishin's frightened voice called out. "I—I can't—Help…."
The cloaked figure's mask was coming off. A face filled the ship, one that Connan couldn't see….
"Wake up, woman!" Carth mumbled, watching the poor woman toss in her sleep. Her chocolate hair was now ruffled and frizzy, a result of the sleeping procedures. It had been her third day sleeping, and it wasn't getting better. She hadn't eaten the whole time, nor taken a drink in her slumber. He worried that his only link to the Endar Spire would be lost in a coma, or would be sick from starvation.
And the last thing he needed was a sick woman badgering him for every little thing.
Bored, and tired of watching Connan turn in her sleep, a disgruntled Carth strode around the abandoned apartment, trying to think out their next move.
They'd have to find Bastila, of course, and then what? Or, before that, what were they going to do about finding Bastila? They didn't even know where she was. According to his information he acquired by snooping and talking to people in the apartments, the pods mostly landed inside of the Undercity, a place where no one would ever want to go. The gate to the Lower City—the first step to getting to the Undercity, was guarded by a Sith patrol and will only let one of their own in.
The Sith was another topic in its own. The whole planet was under quarantine, so no one could get in or get out. Then the fact that he and Connan were Republic soldiers didn't—
"Uhng…." Connan moaned, slapping her head and opening her eyes. She had woken up on her back, and she immediately sat up. Looking around the room dazedly, she began to look for her twin. "Jishin?"
"I'm here," The voice replied, resulting in Connan's sigh.
"Good," She said out loud. Her eyes wandered around the room, trying to focus in the dim light.
"Can you take control, Jishin?" Connan inquired, still not noticing the man watching her.
"I can try, but I've only been awake as long as you have, and from what I can tell, we were hit on the head pretty hard…." Jishin answered, rubbing her head.
Connan held her forehead. "Let's just give it a try, then switch back."
Seconds later Connan felt herself being ripped from the physical body she and Jishin controlled, and took her place on the sidelines.
"Yes!" Jishin threw a hand in the air excitedly.
Then she laid eyes on Carth. She gasped, her eyes nearly blowing out of their sockets.
"Oh, no." She thought. "Him? What's he doing here?"
Panicking, Jishin threw Connan back into the body. Not knowing about the sudden switch, Connan lost balance and fell over on top of the bed.
"Don't do that!" She glared at her twin, coughing. She held her stomach, trying to control the heaving motions she made as her muscles tensed.
"Sorry! I freaked when I saw him there. What was I supposed to do?" Jishin threw her hands up above her head as a sign of surrender.
"We need to work on your people skills." Connan thought desperately, eyeing Carth.
"I can't help it if I got the side of you that prefers to be left alone." Jishin rolled her eyes.
"We both prefer it, dummy." Connan stopped, realizing she was insulting herself in a way.
"Uh, glad to see you up. For a minute there I thought you might be stuck with tossing and turning for the rest of your life. It's only been three days so far." The man started off. He watched her sheepishly.
Connan threw up an instant defense, checking her body for anything that shouldn't be there. No telling what that man could have done.
Examining her body, she learned that her clothes weren't on, and instead was a smattering of Carth's clothes on her. The grunginess, the washed-out blood stains, and the tears gave it away.
"Your other clothes were burned, and I didn't want it to hurt you," Carth explained, watching her realizations. She glared at him, holding her chest protectively. "I fixed your other clothes the best I could."
Finally deciding that her body hadn't been violated, she rubbed her eyes sleepily.
"You're that Onsai guy, right?" She lifted her legs over the side of the bed and stood.
"That's Onasi. Carth Onasi." Carth frowned. His name wasn't that hard.
"I'm Connan Frai." Her words made Carth question whether she had had short term memory loss. But then she smiled playfully. "But I'll bet you knew that, since I already told you.
"Where are we?" Her last question wasn't directed at him, he felt. She had looked away to the left and seemed to be staring at something—or someone—over there.
"Connan, I don't know. Stop asking me. If you don't know where we are then I don't either." Jishin snarled, still offended about the sudden switch she made. "Honestly. It's like you can't get the fact that we think the same things."
"Well, sorry!" Connan pouted. "I'm still not used to it after four months…."
"Frai!" Carth waved a hand in the air, catching Connan's eyes. "Thank you for coming back down to Taris."
"What? Taris? Isn't that the racist planet with the three different levels?" Connan raised an eyebrow. "Why would we land on this dumpy space meteor?"
"Hello! Do you remember anything from our last conversation?" Carth shouted, now a little more than angry. He waved his hands in the air and sighed. "Jeez!"
Connan's anger matched his completely. No one smarted off to her, expecting her to leave it alone.
"Well I'm sorry, Onasi." She glowered. "I'll leave you to your brooding." She got up, searching the footlocker placed neatly beside her side of the bed. She wrenched out her regular clothes, which weren't that bad, considering what Carth had told her. His fixings weren't a horrible mess, either. He seemed to know a great deal about sewing, because some of the techniques he used weren't commonly known.
"You didn't mess with my tools, did you?" She snapped at him. He recoiled slightly.
"Yes, I took each one out and found everything I could do to ruin them." Carth shot back sarcastically, hitting himself in the head as he received a death-glance.
Truth be told, her tools had dust on them. She fitted them into her tool belt and placed her mines and grenades into her bag.
"You carry grenades often?" Carth inquired.
"Mines, too. They're great for battle." Connan said, smirking. "Now turn around, I have to change clothes."
"Alright Onasi," She said once finished changing. "Let's get started. What are we going to do?"
"We have to find Bastila!" Carth stated. "But, since the planet has been taken over by the Sith and they've ordered a planet-wide quarantine, it'll be hard.
"Bastila? Who's that?" Connan raised an eyebrow.
"That bang on your head must have done more damage than I thought," Carth muttered, frustrating Connan. Before the woman could retaliate, Carth continued. "Bastila is a Jedi. She and a group of others practically took over the ship before the Sith attacked."
Connan gaped at him, recoiling. "A Jedi?" She questioned. "You can't be serious. What should I do for any Jedi?"
Carth was surprised, to say the least. Most Republic soldiers idolized the Jedi, and this one was repelling them like fleas on a Bantha! That was just another reason not to trust her.
"You, have something against the Jedi?" Carth crossed his arms.
Connan placed her head in her right hand, closing her eyes and sighing.
"No, it's just—never mind," Connan waved the question off. "Alright, Bastila is a Jedi. But what about the other Jedi on the ship? We don't have to find them?"
"They were only there to protect Bastila." Carth explained. "You see, Bastila has learned the rare Battle Meditation; an attack which can tip the tide in battle. That was how the Jedi managed to board Darth Revan's ship and kill him."
"Revan? Him?" The words rolled out of Connan before she realized them. "M…Malak's master, right?"
"Where have you been these last four years?" Carth was now exasperated at Connan. He clenched his fists together. "Of course he was! They almost defeated the whole Republic until Bastila came along and killed Revan!"
"Whoa, touchy." Connan flicked her hand in the air jokingly. "Alright, so we've only got to find Bastila. But it'll be hard since we're under Sith quarantine. Where would be the best spot to start looking?"
"Either the Lower City or the Under City. The pods landed in the Under City, but Bastila could have escaped into the Lower City." Carth was glad he was finally getting through to the woman.
Sighing, Connan stretched out her muscles. "You up for some Jedi hunting, Jishin?"
"Anytime you are, Connan." Jishin replied, smiling.
"Alright," She decided out loud, walking towards the door. "I'll be back in a bit."
"Now hold on." Carth laid a rough hand on Connan's shoulder, stopping her in her tracks. "Where are you going without me?"
"Well, then try to keep up. I want off of this planet." Connan snapped.
"Your constant badgering and smart ass comments aren't needed, you know." Carth's voice darkened considerably.
Connan stared at him for a moment, then sighed.
"I know," She conceited. "I just have a terrible headache. And that's never a good thing." When Carth didn't look very convinced, she clicked her tongue. "Look, I'm sorry, ok? I've had a rough couple of months, and I shouldn't be taking it out on you."
"I resent that statement!" Jishin pouted.
"But you didn't notice that the day you and I became friends was the day that I started getting drowned in work?" Connan's face didn't show her inquiry, so she wouldn't confuse Carth.
Carth frowned, thoughts rushing into his mind. He moved them away. Choices of trust could be made later.
"We can buy medicine for that headache," Carth released his hold on Connan's shoulders.
"How much money do we have, anyway?" Connan opened the apartment door and stepped out.
"Both of ours together, about one-hundred and twelve credits." Carth answered, walking ahead of her out the door.
"Great."
Wandering into Zelka's shop, Connan began to observe Carth's actions. He had walked from the apartment to the other side of the North Upper City with a quickness and a straightness not normally seen in soldiers. It was like he was eager to get this done and over with.
"But we shouldn't care," Jishin decided. "We just want to get rid of this headache."
"So, we're using plurals now?" Connan mused, a smile playing at her lips.
"As of now, yes." Jishin explained.
"Great, something else to get used to." Connan murmured out loud, instantly covering her mouth. Carth stared at her for a minute, trying to decide what to think.
"Yes, can I help you?" The doctor asked, wandering up to the two. "Do you need medical attention?"
"I don't, she does." Carth pointed at himself, then placed his finger squarely at Connan.
"So much for letting him guess." Connan snidely said. Carth snorted and sneered at her.
"My name is Zelka. I'll help if I can. What's wrong?" The black man held out his hand to Connan. She shook it heartily, and sighed, looking down at her boots.
"I've got a headache. Big time." She said plainly. Zelka sighed.
"Have you been hit on the head recently?" Zelka took a flashlight out of his pocket and flashed it Connan's eyes. She squinted in the new light, and tried desperately to keep her eyes open.
"Does three days ago count?" Jishin stole control over the vocal cords and voiced her question.
"That's recently, yes," Zelka said. He handed her some medicine. "Take this, it should help you."
Connan gulped down the blue and red pills, instantly feeling her headache subside.
"Wow," She held her hands out by her sides to keep balance. "That worked fast."
"They're supposed to. Just don't eat or drink anything for an hour." Zelka laid a hand on her shoulder and helped her balance.
"Ok, how much do we owe you?" Carth asked, taking out his datapad.
"Oh, don't be foolish. I don't need credits for a headache." Zelka waved it off.
"But there must be something we can do for you." Connan insisted.
"Well, you have the look of a fighter about you; maybe there is something you can do for me." Zelka began to hush his tone, and leaned in to whisper to the two. "I need someone to get me the Rakgoul serum. It's already been invented, but the Sith on this planet confiscated it all."
"Are Rakgouls always a problem here?" Carth asked.
"They've been very persistent lately, and I can't cure my patients!" Zelka became exasperated.
"We'll get it for you." Connan said, smiling. "Thank you so much!"
Carth turned to leave, and Connan followed suit. Staying two steps behind Carth, Connan sighed.
"I need a drink."
Carth scoffed, entering the street once more.
"You can't have one, Connan. It hasn't been an hour yet." He rolled his eyes.
"Well fine, let's explore the other apartments before we hit the cantina!" Connan rushed ahead of him and into the South Apartments.
THE END!
Ok, bad chapter. Next one will be better. I hope it's not too confusing. I'll try to make the next chapter a bit clearer on what Jishin is capable of. Right now she and Connan can operate different parts of the body they share. Does that make sense? Please review!