Chapter Eighteen
Disclaimer: I do not own KotOR.
Note: So everyone seemed pretty thrilled/horrified by Revan actually showing some concern about someone besides himself. Keep in mind, however, that this wasn't just anybody, it's the girl he wants to end up with. How, exactly, he could ever get anywhere near a relationship with her if he didn't care that he was watching her get tortured is beyond me and full of a ton of unfortunate implications. Had it been literally anybody else, he'd have been much less concerned. :P
"You can't go in there," a Sith student said as Revan and the others attempted to enter the tomb of Marka Ragnos.
"Why not?" Mission asked.
"Because there's a crazy assassination droid in there and it will probably kill you," the student explained.
"Startled declaration: A crazy assassin droid? Master, we absolutely must go in there right now!" HK exclaimed excitedly.
"What kind of Sith tries to warn people off from getting killed?" Zaalbar demanded.
"It's not like I particularly care if individuals die off," the student explained. "But we're fighting a war here and we're also doing everything we can to decrease our numbers. I'm just uncertain that, even with the seemingly endless supply of ships, weapon, and armor, we can sustain our fighting force with such a blatant disregard for the lives of our own people."
"Wow, that actually made sense," Carth said, sounding awed and a bit frightened.
"I try," the student said wryly.
T3 beeped at them.
Revan nodded. "T3's right. It doesn't really matter how bad an idea this is as HK wants to go and he'll probably try to kill you all if we don't."
"He won't try to kill you?" Bastila asked, surprised.
Revan shook his head. "He can't. I'm his master so if he kills me then he deactivates. I was a little concerned about the safety of having a bloodthirsty assassin droid so I made sure it was in his best interest to keep me alive."
"Sensible," Canderous approved. "Of course, HK wouldn't kill me, either. We're tight."
"Agreement: Of course not. Everyone else who doesn't also happen to be my master, however…" HK just let that unspoken threat hang there.
The group exchanged looks. Looked like they were going in anyway.
"I can see you're not going to listen to reason but at least I can say that I tried," the student said, walking off.
"Not particularly hard," Canderous said with a snort.
"Unexpected defense: Clearly she realizes just how unlikely it is that not doing this would end well for them," HK argued.
"For the love of all that is good in the world can you please stop being so noisy?" the droid in front of them pleaded.
Carth looked confused. "We're…to noisy for you? We were just walking-"
"You were stampeding, you mean," the droid corrected. "And now you're shouting at me."
"Yeah, we're really not," Mission insisted.
Revan cocked his head. "Unless I miss my guess, he has an oversensitivity to noise."
"Of course I do," the droid seemed surprised that he even had to voice this as a theory. "Didn't someone tell you about that?"
"Honestly, we're just lucky that we actually learned that you were even in here before we came," Zaalbar revealed.
"So, what?" the droid asked skeptically. "You were just going around exploring all of these tombs?"
"Pretty much," Revan confirmed. "I wonder if se have enough prestige by now."
"Probably," Bastila replied dryly, "unless the other students have claimed credit."
T3 beeped something.
"Really? There's only actually one other potential student who we haven't killed or otherwise gotten to leave?" Revan asked, surprised. "Our competition kind of sucks."
"Look, I hate to interrupt and I'm sure that the others really were substandard," the droid told them earnestly, "but I'm feeling the uncontrollable urge to kill you all right now and only part of it is because of the unbearable noise levels."
Instantly, every had their weapon out and pointed the droid's way.
"Passionate plea: Marry me!" HK begged.
"I don't mean that I want to kill you," the droid hastily explained.
"Disappointed murmur: I always get my hopes up only to see them crashing down…" HK sighed.
"Not for nothing but if you don't want to kill us then why did you say that you have an uncontrollable urge to do just that?" Mission asked sensibly.
"Because I do," the droid replied promptly.
"Could you…elaborate?" suggested Carth.
"Oh, right. Well, I'm an assassin droid that has been built by the Sith to assassinate Jedi," the droid told them. "The problem was, they were stupid enough to make me too intelligent for their purposes. And to completely screw up my auditory perception. To make a long story short, I did some soul searching and have come to the conclusion that I don't want to hurt anybody."
"Anguished cry: I never knew that the world could be so cruel! Master, why have you brought me into such a horrible place?" HK burst out.
Revan patted him on the back half-heartedly and decided not to mention the fact that HK himself had threatened to kill Carth, Bastila, Mission, Zaalbar, and possibly T3 if they didn't come. "There, there."
"All of this is very…admirable," Bastila said, pointedly ignoring Revan and HK's theatrics. "But why, exactly, are you having difficulties with your choice not to hurt people?"
"My programming is strong," the droid admitted. "Until someone either destroys me or deletes my assassination protocol than I will always be a threat to innocent people. That's why I've come here."
"Firm statement: Master, to remove one's assassination protocol is to destroy them. Do not walk down that low road. It is a mockery of life!" HK insisted.
Revan smiled a little apologetically at HK. "Sorry but simply destroying him sounds like a waste when I could have more fun trying to figure out his programming."
As Revan approached the grateful assassin droid and began to examine its circuitry, Carth sighed and shook his head. "Is it just me or does Revan care more about droids than he does about people?"
Zaalbar laughed. "You're just noticing this now?"
Carth looked to Mission for a translation although one would think he'd know better by now. "Big Z says that droids are people, too, and that he's appalled at the depth of your racism," she loosely translated.
"I know I don't speak your language but I think all of this hostility that you've been giving me since the beginning is really kind of uncalled for," Carth said seriously.
"Let's see…" Revan murmured. "Shutting off the Combat Matrix, Motor Function Matrix, Sensory System Matrix, Memory Matrix, Cognitive Systems, Emotional Construct Matrix, Creative Simulation Matrix, and now I'm at the Core…"
"Hey, could you cause him to self-destruct?" Canderous asked curiously.
Revan nodded. "Yes, it would be fairly basic. I won't, though, considering that this is wonderfully sophisticated circuitry and I am not a monster."
There was an awkward silence that Revan blissfully seemed not to notice.
"There, all done," he said cheerfully, backing away from the droid. "You are now no longer an assassin droid."
HK seemed too simultaneously outraged and depressed to comment on this as the former assassin droid thanked him profusely and flew away.
"Let's see…a Vibroblade, a Silver Lined Sword, and a Notched Steel Sword…" Revan mused, looking at the weapons in the coffin in front of him. "I want them."
"Didn't we end up having to commit genocide the last time you gave in to your kleptomaniac urges?" Carth asked rhetorically. "That one guy who suggested getting HK-47 was very upset about this."
Revan shrugged. "There's no one but us here for me to kill so as long as you guys don't go crazy and attack me for picking them up then we shouldn't have any problems."
"This is a Sith tomb so there are no guarantees," Bastila said as Revan's hands closed around the three weapons. Immediately, a Force ghost appeared. "And speak of the Sith Lord. Are you Ajunta Pall?"
The apparition looked confused. "I... had a name, once. Ajunta Pall. Yes, that was my name. I was one of many. We were servants of the dark side... Sith Lords, we called ourselves. So proud."
"Do you care if I take your swords?" Revan asked, holding up the weapons for him to see. "And, more specifically, are you going to attack us if you do care?"
"Not at all, Revan," Ajunta Pall was quick to assure him. "In fact-"
"Wait, wait, wait!" Carth objected. "How can an ancient Sith Lord's spirit or whatever know who you are? It was one thing when all the living Sith knew you but this is getting kind of weird and, dare I say it, suspicious."
"So much for his grand declaration that he'd never suspect Revan again," Mission muttered.
"I'm actually impressed that he managed to keep that vow even this long," Zaalbar remarked.
"True…" Mission conceded.
"I can sense it through the Force," Ajunta Pall answered. "We've never actually met personally. Now, as I was saying: you may keep all three of these swords but first I was hoping you'd be able to help me with a little problem."
Revan gazed down at the steel in his hands. "Define 'little.'"
"I can't remember which of these swords are mine. If you can figure this out and place the correct one on my statue then you can keep it. If not, I'm going to kill you all," Ajunta Pall announced.
"Wouldn't all of the swords be yours?" Canderous asked. "Seeing as how they were all buried with you?"
"Well, yes," Ajunta Pall conceded. "At least, probably. It's been so long. Only one of them was of any real importance to me."
"Clearly not all that important if you can't remember which one it is," Revan said quietly. In a louder voice, he continued, "If you can't remember which sword it is then how in the world am I supposed to figure it out? And how would you know whether I got it right or wrong?"
"…I'm not sure," Ajunta Pall admitted. "Just pick one!"
Revan shrugged and tossed the Notched Steel Sword on the statue. "Well?"
Ajunta Pall closed his eyes for a moment. "Yes…that is the one! Now that I remember which sword was mine I can rest in peace again! Well…almost…"
Revan rather doubted that Ajunta Pall remembered anything of the sort but as he summoned the sword back to him he decided that it was more trouble than it was worth to argue about it. Big surprise.
Bastila, naturally, felt the need to inquire further. "You are having other problems?"
Ajunta Pall hesitated. "Well, I'm not sure that it's really all that important and I'd hate to bother you."
"This guy is a Sith Lord?" Canderous couldn't believe it.
"Sadly," Ajunta Pall confirmed.
Bastila's eyes lit up. "Sadly?" she repeated delightedly. "Are you possibly regretting your actions?"
"Some of them, certainly," Ajunta Pall confirmed. "I mean, our fall was rather lackluster. There was no epic battle with the Jedi to end the Hundred-Year Darkness. We all just sort of killed each other. We had initially agreed to wait until after we'd crushed the Jedi and spread throughout the galaxy but, well…"
"I hear you," Revan said sympathetically. "Some people are just so impatient."
"Patience isn't really a virtue of the dark side," Ajunta Pall admitted. "And while I was off regretting things I also rediscovered my hitherto suppressed conscience. Some of the things I did…Well, they were things that I probably shouldn't have done."
"Probably?" Bastila repeated, clearly feeling that there shouldn't have been any doubts. "If you feel so strongly about your regrets then why linger here?"
"What other choice have I?" Ajunta Pall sounded wistful.
"You could always rejoin the light," Bastila told him pointedly.
Ajunta Pall sighed and shook his head. "I can't possibly do that! I told my old masters that I would never ever under any circumstances come back no matter what. Why…if I did it anyway then imagine how foolish I would look!"
"And people wonder why the Jedi insist that pride is a problem," Bastila said, shaking her head in stark disbelief. "Look, I understand not wanting to look foolish but it your pride really worth wallowing in darkness forever? If you truly regret what you've done then it isn't too late. One day it may be, but that day is not today."
"I don't know…" Ajunta Pall said uncertainly.
"If your masters were truly Jedi than they won't mock you for going back on your word and they should be glad to see you," Bastila said firmly. "And if not, well…if not then you could always call them on their also un-Jedi-like behavior."
Ajunta Pall visibly brightened at this. "You're right! That's a great comeback, accusing them of hypocrisy!"
"I think you might kind of be missing the point," Bastila said with a slight wince. "Just a little."
"Huh? Oh, right. Returning to the light side…I don't even know how I could start but I suppose I could always try thinking pure thoughts," Ajunta Pall closed his eyes. "Force knows I'm out of practice but surely I could…hey…I think it's working!" He slowly faded away.
"Talk about anti-climatic," Canderous grumbled. "Now, if it's alright with you I'm going to get out of here because these tombs have been very disappointing." He stormed towards the entrance, followed by Mission, Zaalbar, Carth, T3, and HK.
"Bastila, can I talk to you?" Revan asked quietly, causing her to hang back.
"Sure Revan, what's up?" Bastila asked, looking concerned.
"Redeeming Ajunta Pall like that…he seemed pretty determined to spend eternity stubbornly clinging to the darkness he had come to despise," Revan began. "And in the end, what good did saving him even do?"
Bastila frowned in disapproval. "I know that it took quite a bit of effort on my part and it won't really affect me one way or another but Revan…I just saved his soul from what might be an eternal – albeit self-imposed – darkness. I feel that it was worth it."
"How can you feel that way?" Revan asked, sounding as if he genuinely wanted to know. "It's not like anyone was stopping him from returning to the light but him. It was a prison of the mind that he built and that he could have freed himself from at any time had he not been so proud."
Bastila thought for a moment before she spoke. "Just because someone's problems are of their own making doesn't make that problem any less severe or any less tragic. People often have a hand in their own troubles. People don't have to borrow money from ruthless creditors, Jedi don't have to set aside their morals in a quest for power, and even the Council didn't have to watch the Mandalorians advance unopposed until individual Jedi began to join the fight without sanction. Maybe these things and others were the right choice at the time, maybe the decision was perfectly understandable, maybe they were misled. I don't think that making a few – or even a lot – or bad choices means that we should just give up on people."
Revan smiled sadly at her. "I wish I had your conviction. I've been around the galaxy, Bastila, and I've seen the same things play out time and time again. There are so many people like Ajunta Pall content to just wallow in their self-imposed misery and no matter how hard you try or how many people you help, you're never going to be able to erase all the suffering in the galaxy or really even make an impact. It all just seems so…pointless."
Bastila was quiet for a long moment. "It wasn't pointless to him," she said finally. "It wasn't pointless to that ex-assassination droid. It wasn't pointless to Mekel. It wasn't pointless to Dustil. It wasn't pointless to Kel. One person may not be able to change everything but they can change everything for the individuals that they save."
"That's just not enough," Revan replied. "There's always so many more everywhere that you look."
"I disagree on it not being enough," Bastila told him. "Especially as you seem to forget that you're not the only one out there trying to help people. Still…I think I understand you a little better."
Revan made a face. "Don't tell Carth, okay? He'd never let me hear the end of it."
Bastila laughed. "Now that I can agree to."
As the pair walked off to join the others, Revan spotted a corpse that appeared to be fresh. "Was that there before?"
"Prompt response: No, this meatbag was waiting to ambush you to take the sword back to Uthar," HK revealed.
"You were taking too long so we killed him," Canderous finished.
"Canderous, is that you?" the prisoner in the cage asked incredulously.
"Teroch! I thought you were dead!" Canderous greeted him cheerfully. "What are you doing here?"
"I'm being interrogated about where I stored some useless junk," Teroch said dismissively. "It's really kind of a pain. This cage isn't anywhere near big enough for me to be comfortable in and the moron questioning me can't seem to get the truth serums in the correct dosages. It's gotten so bad I've started to give him some advice but he still can't get it."
"If you're telling him how to force you to answer then why not just tell him?" Carth asked reasonably.
Teroch snorted. "Please, I'm a Mandalorian. I can't give anything up to an enemy. A fellow Mandalorian like Canderous, however, I can feel free to tell that my junk was hidden in a secret compartment in my ship."
"There's got to be something we can do for you," Canderous told him. "This is an outrage!"
"You could always help me fake me own death again," Teroch suggested. "It's worked pretty well the last thirty-seven times I've tried it."
"That last time even convinced me," Canderous confirmed. "Okay, so do you have any ideas?"
"Just give me two high dosages of truth serum," Teroch instructed. "It will simulate my death but I've got implants that should mean that I'll recover once they've thrown my body outside. There's always the slight risk I'll be eaten before awakening but I'll probably be fine. You can even tell whoever about my junk if you want as there's no way I'll be able to get that ship back."
"Sounds like a plan," Canderous agreed, moving over to the terminal. "I'll make sure to look you up sometime assuming this doesn't actually kill you. We've got a lot of catching up to do."
Teroch collapsed in his cage.
"Hey!" the Sith interrogator who had been standing right there and yet had not actually paid attention to the exchange at all suddenly snapped to attention. "Did you just kill hi-?" He was unable to finish the question as he fell over himself from the blaster-shot to the head.
Everyone turned to look at HK.
"Objection: Oh come on. We all knew it was going to end up happening!"
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