Chapter Twenty-Two
Disclaimer: I do not own KotOR.
"So…you won't kill him, right?" Jolee asked hopefully. "He may have the worst sense of timing but he's really not a bad guy."
"My timing does indeed leave something to be desired," Freyyr agreed. "Like that one time I decided to confront my son Chuundar about how he'd been selling our people to Czerka when he was in the middle of a Czerka meeting and they had me tied up and thrown into the Shadowlands. I do wonder what ever happened up in Rwookrrorro."
"Your son had you declared a madclaw and is now the chieftain," Mission explained. "And he's kidnapped Big Z and is claiming that by being kidnapped and brought back to the village he's violating the terms of his exile and so can't leave. I don't quite see how he can use the fact that Big Z was brought to the village by his men as justification for his men to bring him there but then I'm not insane so…"
"That sounds bad," Freyyr agreed. "I wish there was something I could do to help."
"You know, I still haven't gotten confirmation that you're not going to kill him," Jolee pointed out.
Revan shrugged. "That's because I don't know yet. Guys?"
"Of course we're not going to kill him!" Bastila declared. "He's Zaalbar's father and seems to be a better man than Chuundar."
"Big Z would be pretty put out if we killed him so I vote no," Mission agreed.
"Incredulous inquiry: Do you really not know where I stand by now?" HK wondered.
Canderous frowned. "Hm…I don't know. Killing Freyyr now would lead to immediate gratification but what if we didn't kill him and he went back to the village with us? What are the odds there would be some kind of riot or civil war?"
"I'd say it would be impossible to avoid," Freyyr replied.
"Then by all means, let's do that," Canderous decided.
"Query: Can I change my vote?" HK asked.
"I would love to help," Freyyr said hesitantly. "But…well…I can't."
"If you can't help then we're going to kill you," Canderous warned.
"They're all talk," Jolee said dismissively. "They didn't even murder those Czerka kids on my lawn earlier."
"Just the same, I'd rather not take any chances," Freyyr said, finally seeming to realize what kind of danger he was in. "I can help you…if you should happen to find Bacca's Ceremonial Blade. It is a sword carved by the legendary chieftain Bacca from debris of the first starship to crash on Kashyyyk. It was a symbol of strength and courage for generations…until Rothrrrawr the idiot Shadowlands explorer broke it trying to take down a terentatek. The hilt is still passed from chieftain to chieftain so my son should still have that. If I can get my hands on the blade then I should be able to push a claim to the throne. Not everyone would follow me but enough would."
"So wait…you actually expect us to go hunting for some ancient terentatek?" Revan demanded, his eyes wide.
Freyyr slumped. "I suppose that's not really very reasonable…"
"It most certainly is not," Revan agreed. "Which is why it's really fortunate that HK and Canderous found it earlier, killed it, and recovered the blade."
Canderous looked stricken. "You're going to ask me to surrender that, aren't you? But…it's a war trophy! And a freaking sword made out of a starship! That's epically badass!"
"Which is kind of why Freyyr needs it," Jolee said delicately.
Canderous pondered that for a moment before handing the blade over. "Point."
Despite the fact that Freyyr lightly jogged back to go gather support while the rest of the group walked, they found that everyone they came across not only already knew Freyyr was back but had started up a civil war. It was especially odd that the lift that took forever to get anywhere had already gone up and back by the time that Revan and company reached it. And strangely, the people guarding the lift were still alive. Had they let Freyyr go up without comment and decided to take their annoyance out on Revan and the others? If so, that was really really stupid of them as they might have had a chance to kill Freyyr and doing so would be fulfilling Chuundar's wishes.
Eventually, they managed to fight their way to the chieftain's hut where Freyyr and a few Wookies loyal to him were squaring off against Chuundar and those loyal to him. Their forces seemed to be about evenly matched and Zaalbar was standing off to the side, looking terribly confused.
"Revan!" he cried, sounding honestly pleased to see him. "Finally! Tell me who I should side with!"
"…Why do you need me to tell you who to side with?" Revan asked, confused. "Chuundar's been holding you prisoner, got you exiled, got your father exiled, sent us to kill your father, has been slaving with Czerka-"
"Yeah, I think he gets it," Chuundar cut him off.
"I know," Zaalbar agreed. "But he was talking to me while you guys were gone and some of what he was saying started making a lot of sense. I think he might have also been drugging my food as it's hard to think clearly right now but I don't have time to wait until it passes through my system! I need to make a decision now!"
"Why not ask someone else?" Revan asked. "Like Mission. You like her better than me anyway."
"That's a very good point," Zaalbar admitted. "But I already asked you so I'm going to want you to be the one to tell me what I should do."
"I don't really give a damn," Revan replied bluntly. "Force, make your own decision!"
"I…alright," Zaalbar said, closing his eyes. "This is kind of a new thing for me but…I guess Chuundar's kind of an evil bastard and my father is as against slavery as I am so I'm going to side with my father."
"I'm so very proud of you for being able to make such a difficult decision on your own," Revan deadpanned.
"I should have increased the dosage," Chuundar muttered before giving a mighty roar and attacking his father.
While the battle might have been evenly matched beforehand, the addition of Zaalbar and the non-Wookies quickly made it a one-sided fight. Soon, only Chuundar was left standing.
"What should I do?" Zaalbar wondered.
Revan groaned. "Oh come on! You've lost your wondrous newfound decision-making powers in five minutes?"
"Well…this is a difficult decision! My brother is an evil bastard but he's also my brother. I'm not sure if I should kill him," Zaalbar explained.
"If you don't then I will kill you all in your sleep and then make a rug out of your corpses," Chuundar threatened.
"You know, I really hate to say this but I think that killing him might be the only option," Bastila said hesitantly. "Well, that or we give him a complete mind wipe but those things take time, preferably, an expert which we don't currently have."
"And who even knows how effective they are," Jolee added with a pointed look at Revan.
"Amused declaration: I love how none of you are talking about the highly questionable ethics of such a course when, given the choice, many people would choose to be killed rather than destroyed so utterly," HK said ironically.
Bastila looked appalled that the assassin droid was point out the moral problems in her suggestion but didn't say anything.
"Well, I could make my own decision or I could let Bastila tell me what to do," Zaalbar mused. "I think I'll just listen to Bastila." With that, he decapitated his brother on the spot.
"I'm very proud of you, son," Freyyr said warmly.
"So outright fratricide is fine but if you use your claws then you're shunned?" Mission still couldn't wrap her mind around it.
"You know, I really don't want to be chieftain again and you've proven yourself here so how about I rescind your exile and make you chieftain?" Freyyr offered.
"Can you even do that?" Zaalbar wondered. "I mean, I still used my claws to attack Chuundar."
"Please," Freyyr scoffed. "I'm the chieftain. I can do whatever I feel like."
"Then why did you allow him to be exiled in the first place?" Mission demanded. "And how can you become chieftain if you were also a madclaw? You know what, I don't even care anymore."
"That's how it started for me," Revan told her blithely.
Mission shuddered and resolved to find something new to care about in the near future.
"I will accept my place back but I cannot become chieftain yet. I still have to help Revan save the galaxy and, as you've probably noticed, he's going to need all the help he can get," Zaalbar explained.
Instead of getting offended, of course, Revan merely shrugged. "When you're right, you're right."
"I suppose I can be chieftain for a few more months," Freyyr said reluctantly. "But the minute that you get back, you're taking over. And no lollygagging so you don't have to take charge."
"If you give me the newly restored Bacca's sword then I'll think about it," Zaalbar promised.
"Deal," Freyyr said, immediately handing it over. Given how much he seemed to hate the job of chieftain, Revan really had to wonder just how much of that getting exiled thing was an accident.
Carth had not only finished thoroughly searching the ship for signs that the crew were all out to get him – and fortunately finding nothing – but managed to put everything back exactly where he found it by the time everyone arrived.
"So what happened?" he asked curiously.
Revan shrugged. "Zaalbar's set to be future chieftain and there was a massacre of all the Czerka workers. Really nothing that interesting."
"Good thing I stayed in the ship then…" Carth said. "Next we have to go to Manaan."
"Are you sure we don't have enough pieces of the Star Map to just go directly to the Star Forge?" Revan whined.
"Yes, I'm sure," Bastila said firmly.
"But you didn't even look!" he exclaimed.
"The will of the Force demands we go to Manaan," Bastila said as if that would be the end of it. And in case she were wrong, she added, "And I really need to…talk to you. Alone."
Needless to say, Revan promptly lost all interest in avoiding Manaan and followed Bastila to the quarters she shared with Mission on the ship.
"You remember how you've been…shall we say…expressing an interest in me since we first met?" Bastila asked.
Revan nodded. "How could I forget?"
"Well, a little while ago – around the time you helped me out with my mother – I realized that I feel something for you, as well. Unfortunately, since that goes against the teachings of the Jedi Order I've been trying to convince myself that it's just a part of our bond. I'm not sure that I believe that anymore. You've been such a help to me but I just feel like I'm standing on the edge of this abyss. Giving in might mean falling and I don't think I'd even mind that much. I can't afford to do that. Not when there's so much at stake! Malak must be stopped and then there's you…what will happen to you?" Bastila sounded desperate and pleading with him for understanding. "I was supposed to guide you and help you stay on the light but how can I do that if I'm having my own doubts and am so un-objective besides?"
"Well, you said so yourself that it didn't look like I needed much help," Revan pointed out, making little effort to conceal his elation at her completely unexpected though certainly not unwelcome words. "I don't really understand what you mean about an abyss but if you'd like, I could try to help you. You're very important to me."
"I figured that out at some point," Bastila said a little dryly. "I don't know. This could all just be a result of the Force bond and my hormones but for some reason I really want to kiss you right now."
"Then why not do it?" Revan challenged. "What's the worst that could happen?"
"We could both turn evil and join Malak in conquering the universe," Bastila answered promptly, stepping closer anyway.
"Yeah, that does sound pretty bad from a Jedi perspective," Revan agreed. "But aside from the fact that the Sith have far better fashion sense than anyone I've seen on the opposition, I'd say that while that's entirely possible it's incredibly improbable. What's the worst that could probably happen?"
"We could fall in love," Bastila said quietly, still slowly moving closer.
"Would that really be so bad?" Revan asked softly.
Bastila looked torn. "I don't…" she started to say before giving up and kissing him.
It was, needless to say, the best roughly three minutes Revan had had in quite awhile before Carth's suddenly really obnoxious voice sounded from the intercom. "Hey guys, I hope I'm not interrupting something but we just got caught in the tractor beam of the Leviathan – which is Malak's flagship for those that don't know – and we really should have a group meeting and try to figure out some sort of plan."
"We should have left him on Kashyyyk," Revan grumbled.
"That's probably why he didn't get off the ship," Bastila pointed out reasonably though she seemed to share Revan's frustration at being interrupted so soon. "And then we'd need to find a new pilot."
"Since Carth just got us captured, would that really be such a bad thing?" Revan asked.
Nevertheless, the pair made their way to the cockpit where everyone else was already assembled.
"I'm telling you, it's not my fault!" Carth was saying as they walked in.
"Republic, you were flying the damn ship! How is not your fault?" Canderous demanded.
"They must have been waiting for us to leave Kashyyyk," Carth defended. "They certainly swooped down on me out of nowhere practically the minute we left the planet."
"Yeah, swooping is bad," Revan murmured.
T3 beeped something at him.
"Please, I predate that by over six years," Revan said stubbornly. "So if anything, he stole that line from me."
"How would they have 'just happened' to be waiting for us?" Canderous challenged.
"They probably know we're after the Star Maps," Revan pointed out. "And so they just picked a planet and waited until we showed up."
"We need to think of some sort of plan," Bastila said, taking charge. "Revan and I, of course, can't take part of this because Malak will be expecting us. Jolee is also a Jedi but we just found him and so it should be safe to say that the Sith don't know about him."
"I'll have to excuse myself as well," Carth added. "My old mentor and the man who I now have a burning desire to kill, Saul Karath, is Malak's second-in-command. He'll be on that flagship and he'll be looking for me."
"Okay, so does anyone else have any ideas about how they help us escape? Revan, Carth, and I will probably have to be taken prisoner but there is some leeway with everyone else," Bastila told them.
"I've got nothing," Zaalbar said with a shrug.
"Big surprise," Revan murmured.
"I learned a thing or two from Teroch about how to fake my own death," Canderous offered. "I can engineer an explosion causing me to become unconscious – supposedly to try and free us from the tractor beam – and then after I'm taken to the medical bay my healing implant will kick in and I'll be good to go."
"Eager volunteering: I can activate my dormancy programming which will shut me down. The Sith will take me to their droid bay so they can wipe my memory or disassemble me and then I can reactivate," HK spoke up.
T3 beeped.
"You have a backup memory in case someone tries to cruelly destroy your identity and you can use that and work with HK?" Revan translated. "You're so resourceful!"
"He would be impressed by that," Mission said, rolling her eyes. "As for me, I can taunt the guards until they put me in solitary confinement for torture and then I can pick the pocket of the guard and get out."
"Isn't that…dangerous? What if you can't get out before they torture you?" Bastila asked, concerned.
"Have a little faith, Bastila," Mission said, annoyed.
"What are you going to do?" Carth asked Jolee.
"Do I really have to do anything?" Jolee asked.
"Unless you want to get tortured along with us, I'd recommend it," Revan suggested.
Jolee blinked. That was a good point. "I guess I can use a mind trick on them to get them to separate me from the others and then to let me go. As long as they don't know I'm a Jedi, I shouldn't have any problems."
"Normally, I'd recommend just picking one plan so people would be less likely to get caught but we're out of time so let's try everything," Bastila said just as the Ebon Hawk was pulled into the Leviathan's docking bay.
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