Kenna followed the rest of the crew up the boarding ramp, fingers intertwined with Carth's. He smiled and gave her hand a gentle squeeze before letting go to make his way to the cockpit. Kenna headed for the engine room, palming the engine parts she'd pulled out of a wrecked ship. It had been a while since she needed to repair an engine, but she was pretty sure she still remembered how. She reached down inside the hyperdrive and yanked out the fried stabilizers, tossing them over her shoulder.
"Careful, young lady. You could hit somebody chucking engine parts around like that."
Kenna turned. 'What's up, Jolee?"
He watched her rifle through the salvaged parts for the stabilizers. "I was just wondering if you could satisfy an old man's damnable curiosity."
"Shoot." Kenna found the stabilizers and wriggled them in place.
"On the roof of the Temple, I felt the part of you that was intrigued by Bastila's offer. I felt the conflict rise up within you, and I felt when it was suddenly crushed."
"Is that why you almost said something out there?" Kenna asked, wiping her hands off against her robe.
Jolee nodded. "What made your internal debate end so quickly?"
Kenna couldn't stop her eyes from drifting in the direction of the cockpit.
"I see," Jolee chuckled. "It wasn't your duty to the Council or your loyalty to our mission."
"No." Kenna shook her head. "But you knew that already. You knew my reason was more…personal. You just needed confirmation."
"I wanted to see if you would admit it," Jolee corrected. "Any Jedi within a mile can sense your feelings for Carth. And his for you. I meant it when I said good for you two. Just be careful. Love is a two edged sword."
"I know, you stop thinking straight if someone you love is hurt or killed in battle. That was one of Bastila's chief arguments."
"No." Jolee shook his head. "If one of the dark Jedi on the Star Forge senses the feelings between you…" He didn't finish the sentence, but he didn't need to.
Kenna's eyes widened. "I'll be putting him in danger. Maybe I should have him stay with the Hawk. I could take you and Juhani. Say I need as many Jedi as possible or some--"
"I'm not saying leave him behind," Jolee interrupted gently. "I'm just saying be careful. And shield your mind as best you can. Now, you might want to go inform our pilot that the ship's all ready to go." The old Jedi gave her a smile and headed back for the main hold.
Kenna chuckled to herself before making her way to the cockpit. "All set, Carth. The stabilizers fit perfectly."
"Sure you did it right?" Carth teased, ducking instinctively as Kenna swung half-heartedly at him.
"Of course I am." Kenna pretended to pout as she called up the galaxy map and plotted the course to the Star Forge. "Let's get this over with." She plunked herself down in the co-pilot's chair. "Ready when you are, Captain Onasi."
Carth rolled his eyes. "Lay off the 'Captain', will you, darlin'?" When Kenna didn't reply, he looked over at her. She was the most amazing shade of pinkish red he'd ever seen in his life, all the way to the tips of her ears. "I swear I will never understand women," he muttered as he fired up the Hawk's engines. Morgana had done the same thing the first time he called her 'darling'. Probably not a good idea to mention that to Kenna, however.
Kennaonly stayed in the seat until they had broken through the planet's atmosphere. She was too restless to sit still. So instead she came around the center console and stood behind the pilot's seat, resting one hand on Carth's shoulder. Until she saw the ugly bruise half hiding in his hair just below his temple.
"Where did that come from?" she demanded, her other hand moving instinctively to caress it. "Looks like it hurts."
Carth flinched when her fingers came in contact with the tender spot. "It does." He looked up at her with a grin. "That why I used to use blasters. If you don't get in close, there's less chance of getting hurt."
Kenna grinned and wrapped her arms around his neck. "What if I want to get close?" she whispered in a tone bordering on seductive. The kiss she planted on the bruised and sensitive skin had a shudder running clear down his back.
"I'm not going to stop you, beautiful. However, you might want to wait until the Hawk isn't on manual control. I can't promise to keep her airborne if you insist on distracting me like this," Carth pointed out, hearing the rough edge creeping into his voice.
Kenna was on the verge of making some smart comment when the she heard the whispers.
Revan…
You're coming back.
She tried to ignore them, but they persisted, a sibilant, evil chorus speaking softly to the part of her she wanted dead.
You can reclaim your power…
Kill Malak, rule the galaxy. Save those you care about.
You don't want him getting hurt. Do you…Master?
No! Stop it! Get out of my head! Kenna begged. I don't want power or glory. Not anymore!
Then do it for him. If you don't control us, we'll kill him.
You will not! I won't let you!
You can't stop ussss… Unless you take command back from the pretender who calls himself Dark Lord of the Sith.
She needed to think about something, anything, else. Her fingers slid off Carth's shoulder and curled around the headrest of the pilot's seat. Um, I need to talk about something. Do something to distract myself. She seized the first thought that popped in her head, blurting out the question without stopping to think. "How did you meet Morgana?"
The question caught him totally off guard. Carth spun around to look at her. Her face had gone white. He'd never seen her looking so scared. "Kenna? What's wrong?" Why did you ask about my wife?
"I need to talk about something. That was the first thing that popped into my head. How did you meet Morgana?" Kenna persisted, grip tightening.
Something was really wrong. He could tell. So Carth decided to humor her. "By nearly getting myself killed."
Well, I needed something to distract me. "Okaaay. Explain, please?" Kenna requested, arching one eyebrow in confusion. This should be interesting…
Carth laughed. "I was in the Telosian militia before I joined the Republic. They had me fly escort for a lot of the military ships when the 'important people' from the Republic visited." He shrugged. " I got a little too close to the cruiser I was escorting one time, the proximity made something malfunction with my controls, and I…um, crashed."
"I think there's more to it then that. Were you showing off?" Kenna probed teasingly, still looking distracted and a little bit scared.
"No!" Carth tried to look hurt. "Well, alright, maybe a little. But just a little. And all the other guys in my unit did the same thing."
"And men say women are weird." Kenna smiled sweetly when he turned to glare at her. "Anyway, on with your story."
"If you're going to pick on me the whole way through, why should I?" He wasn't serious, but her reaction was worth it.
"Alright, alright." Kenna blushed and bit her lip. "I'll be quiet. I promise."
"Well, if you promise." He smiled and resumed his story. "So, I crashed. Really, really horribly bad. My C.O. told me some of the officers didn't even think it was worth checking to see if I was still alive. But wiser heads prevailed--thankfully, and they sent a team to pull me out. I don't even remember everything I broke, cut, impaled, etcetera, etcetera anymore. That's where a lot of those scars you were asking about came from. I think I spent more time in the base medbay than anywhere else for the next year."
"So how'd you mee--"
"I'm getting to it, be patient," Carth cut her off. "Besides, I thought you weren't going to interrupt."
Kenna gave an exasperated sigh and made a strangling motion behind his back. "Sorry, Captain. Please continue."
"Morgana was a nurse. Well, nurse in training at that point. She ended up working late night shift a lot, and I usually couldn't sleep. I don't know about the rest of the galaxy, but whatever the Telos militia used for painkillers made the thought of sleep wishful thinking. So she'd come by and we'd talk between her rounds. It was about a year, I think, after I got out that I finally worked up the courage to ask her out. Coordinating our schedules was just about the hardest thing in the universe, especially after she finished training and was an honest to goodness nurse and I got promoted."
"Hey, guys?" Mission stuck her head in the cockpit. "There's a message comin' in. If one of you wants to answer it." She grinned and disappeared.
"I'll handle it." Carth stood. "Think you can keep an eye on things up here?"
"And I can do it without crashing," Kenna teased as she slid back into the co-pilot's chair.
"That was a low blow," he complained. "I think you owe me a kiss for that."
Kenna pretended to debate for a second. "Oh, alright, if you insist."
"I most definitely do." Carth leaned down and kissed her.
She cupped one hand behind his head and pulled him in closer. "Mmmm."
"Kenna, I need to go." Carth pulled back reluctantly, resting his forehead against hers. "Much as I enjoyed that, we're still on a mission."
Kenna sighed. "Oh, alright." She pulled him close to steal one more kiss before letting go. "Go."
Carth headed out to the main hold and the holoprojector. The signature of the incoming message identified it as coming from the Republic.
The image of a uniformed woman took shape when he punched the buttons to bring in the signal. "This is Admiral Forn Dodonna to the Ebon Hawk, do you read me?"
Carth knew her. She'd been in command of his unit during the Mandalorian Wars. "Admiral Dodonna, this is Carth Onasi. We are receiving your transmission." Amazing how easy it is to return to protocol.
Dodonna smiled. "Carth, I'm glad to see you're still alive. We've begun our assault on the Star Forge, but we're taking heaving heavy losses. How did the Sith ever manage to build something of this scope?"
"The Star Forge wasn't constructed by the Sith, Admiral," Carth informed her, "We don't have time for me to fully explain it, but that space station is far older than you can imagine."
The Admiral frowned in concern. "Maybe we should pull back and retreat. I don't know if we have the firepower to go up against this alien technology."
Carth shook his head. "You can't do that, Admiral. The Star Forge is a factory of immense power. It's been churning out capital ships, snub fighters, and assault droids that have powered the Sith war effort. You have to destroy the Star Forge now, or you'll be fighting an unending wave of reinforcements."
Dodonna sighed. "Then I guess we have no choice. But it isn't going to be easy. I can't even get our capital ship into position to start bombing the Star Forge. The Sith Fleet is too well organized. It's like they can guess our every move and counter our every strategy."
Carth sighed. I know why. "It's because of Bastila, Admiral," he informed her reluctantly. "She turned to the dark side and became Malak's apprentice. We suspect she's somewhere on that space station right now, using her Battle Meditation against you and your fleet."
Dodonna turned to someone outside the hologram and nodded, stepping to the side so she could be joined by a short figure. "This is Master Vandar. A number of Jedi Knights have joined our fleet under his command," the Admiral explained.
"If Bastila is using her power to augment the Sith then Malak's fleet is invincible," Master Vandar said solemnly. "Our only hope is to somehow stop Bastila from using her Battle Meditation."
"How can we do that if she's on the space station?" Dodonna asked.
"I will send a squadron of Jedi Knights to the Star Forge to find Bastila. Their small ships will be able to fly through the Sith blockade and dock on the space station. If they can find Bastila, they may be able to attract her attention from the battle overhead. That should allow you to move your capital ships into position for a final assault on the Star Forge itself," Vandar explained.
Dodonna turned back to Carth. "I hate to ask you this after all you've done, Carth, but the Jedi may need all the help they can get…"
"Don't worry, Admiral," Carth assured her, "The Ebon Hawk and her crew are going to see this through to the end!" Kenna'll need all the help she can get…
"And may the Force be with us all," Vandar finished before Dodonna closed the connection.
Kenna gave her full attention to the Hawk's controls. Despite her teasing, she knew Carth was ten times better than she was at flying the ship. Besides that, if she concentrated on flying, the voices couldn't come back.
We never left.
Kenna shuddered. "No. I'm not giving in to you." She shook her head. "Not this time."
We think you will.
You don't want anything to happen to him...
Do you? There was a sadistic undertone of delight in the inaudible whisper echoing around her brain. Whatever that was, it was enjoying this. Immensely.
I wonder if that's the Star Forge. It is an instrument of pure evil, embodiment of the dark side and all that. Kenna clenched her teeth. I must have listened to it last time. Revan must have indulged the whispers. Not this time. Kenna won't.
The second she made the mental promise to herself, the voices increased, until it was a clamor instead of mere whispers. She gritted her teeth even harder, forcing her attention to the controls in a desperate attempt to block them out. It wasn't working. The voices just got louder, more demanding. "No…"
Carth headed back for the cockpit to tell Kenna what was going on and see if she wanted him to take back over the controls. He trusted her, but he knew she was perfectly happy to leave flying the Hawk to him. And she'd seemed distracted when he left--despite how well she'd hidden it, he could tell--which concerned him. "How're we doin', beautiful?" There was no answer. "Kenna?" She still didn't answer. Worried and confused as to what could possibly have happened, he hurried the last couple feet.
Kenna was still sitting in the co-pilot's chair, but she wasn't paying attention to the controls. One hand was braced against the console, the other clutching her forehead. Her eyes were clenched shut, and just as Carth reached her she let out a groan that was closer to a whimper. "No…"
"Kenna, what's wrong?" He grabbed her shoulder, causing her to whirl around.
"Don't sneak up on me like that!" she demanded, eyes wild with…terror, which disappeared a split second later. "Sorry for snapping." The apology was mumbled as she stared at her feet.
"You're forgiven." Carth reached over her shoulder and punched on the autopilot before pulling her to her feet. "C'mere." Kenna didn't resist as he pulled her close. "What was that all about?"
She was silent.
"I'm not letting go until you tell me, beautiful."
"Fine by me," she mumbled into his chest.
"Please tell me, Kenna."
She looked up at him. "I…I can't."
He could hear the fear again in her voice, even if it wasn't the wild terror of a few seconds ago. "Yes, you can. Let me in, let me help. You don't have to carry everything alone."
"This I do," Kenna replied stubbornly, not wanting to tell him about the voices, or especially what they had said.
"Please."
She sighed. "Carth…" He tilted her chin up and kissed her. "I hate it when you do that," she muttered when she pulled back, eyes narrowing.
"What?" he smiled.
"Make me feel like agreeing to anything." Kenna was silent for a second. "I could hear…voices," she finally admitted. "I…I think they came from the Star Forge. They were tempting me, same as Bastila did. Trying to get me to reclaim the title of Dark Lord of the Sith." They both winced as she said the words. "I keep trying to ignore them, but they won't go away." She rested her chin against his chest, looking up at him as she forced herself to say the words. "They…threatened, hinted at the possible--likely--consequences if I don't listen to them."
"Consequences…like what?" Carth asked suspiciously. I think I know. Only one or two things would cause her to fall apart like this.
"Like…people I care about getting hurt or killed unless I claim 'my title' and control the dark side," Kenna replied evasively.
"People you care about?" He was even more sure who had been threatened now. "Like who?"
Oh, Force. Don't make me say it. I'm trying to forget it happened. Kenna leaned against him, biting her lip. "You," she finally whispered, more to the floor than to him. "I don't want to lose you. Ever."
"I don't want to lose you either, Kenna, but we've been in danger ever since Taris. Why is it suddenly getting to you? I've never seen you terrified until five seconds ago."
"Because, unlike the Vulkars, or Saul, or Calo, they could… actually carry through on their threats." Kenna pulled back "We're getting close," she pointed out, nodding toward the window. "I think you should take her in. I don't trust myself right now." She took a step toward the passage to the main hold. Carth spun her around and deposited her back in the co-pilot's chair.
"I trust you," he commented. "And I'm going to need help for this." He tapped a flashing screen. "Keep an eye on those snub fighters for me." He kissed the top of her head. "Please."
"Well…okay, fine," Kenna relented, not trying to escape. Carth took the Hawk in closer to the space station, keeping a wary eye on the laser cannons. As they got closer, dodging the laser bolts became more and more difficult. Some of the Sith were too concentrated on their target, and were blown into space dust by the Star Forge's cannons. Carth and Kenna shared an ironic smile as they watched the Sith get destroyed by their own weapon. Carth landed the Hawk in the closest hanger bay.
"Let's go." He grabbed his swords.