Disclaimer: Lucasfilm, Bioware, Disney, et al. and whoever they sell the rights to next own Star Wars and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. I write this for fun and not for any monetary gain.
Chapter 15: A Bloody Auction
Bastila spent the next two days practicing illusions and other combat techniques as her Master watched and guided her. Soon, the slave auction was upon them. While they viewed the event with great distaste, it was necessary to attend in order to save Mission, Zaalbar, and Juhani from a horrible fate. For this reason, Revan had checked himself in as a buyer under a false name with Canderous as his bodyguard. HK-47 was left to guard the ship and Helena Shan.
Bastila's role was a lot more interesting, since she would be checked in as a slave to be "sold." She created an illusion over her face and a skimpy outfit over her clothes, showing off her body, yet hiding her lightsaber underneath. She released the illusion she held over her slave collar, since she was pretending to be a slave after all. Her Master showed off his skills with rope bondage by carefully restraining her arms to prevent any possible "escape," yet making sure that the rope wouldn't injure her. He also left a secret release mechanism that she could pull with the Force to free herself when the time came. This was so that she didn't have to use her lightsaber too close to her skin, which she really appreciated. To minimize her exposure to unsavoury characters, he made sure to check her in as late as possible, under a different false identity. She was completely obedient as her Master locked her into one of the cages used for the slaves to be sold. In a way, it fulfilled quite a few of her fantasies, though she had to remind herself that she was in danger and had to maintain situational awareness. She couldn't slip into subspace.
When he left, she looked around and found the three crew members to be saved. They, like all slaves, were forced to wear a collar. Reaching out with the Force, she sensed that they were shock collars to punish misbehaving slaves, with sufficient power to electrocute the slaves if they attempted an escape. Luckily for her, her Master was able to convince the slavers that her collar had that feature and gave them a fake remote. She reached out with the Force, easily disabling all the shock collars. She also noted that Juhani specifically was forced to wear a neural disruptor collar on top of the shock collar, rendering coherent thought of anything except obeying impossible. Back on Taris, Bastila had worked around it by obeying her Master's order to keep herself safe that he gave all those years ago, allowing her to channel her Force powers to fry the disruptor, but such an avenue was obviously unavailable to Juhani.
Master? Bastila reached out with the Force. Should I free Juhani from the neural disruptor?
After a few moments of thought, Revan replied, I don't think so. We can't telepathically let her know our plan, so it's quite possible she might jeopardize the whole thing once she regains control over her mind. Let's wait until we are ready to disrupt the auction.
Yes, Master! she declared obediently.
Now Bastila had nothing to do but wait. She decided she might as well enjoy herself to the extent that she could. Feeling the comforting presence of her Master's collar around her neck and sensing him nearby, she couldn't help but smile as she struggled against her bounds, resulting in some dirty looks from the other slaves, including Mission.
Soon, the auction started outside. "Welcome to the weekly Arkanis Sector Slave Auction. Motta the Hutt graciously decided to host this event once again, continuing the centuries old tradition of this sector. We have a lot of quality merchandise this time around! In addition to being our monthly special, we have quite a few freshly caught slaves too!" announced Motta's aide. As he finished, many cages, each with a victim inside, were brought out, including Bastila, Mission, Juhani, and Zaalbar, the latter locked in a much heavier duty cage than the rest. The announcer continued, "As per usual, merchandise can be claimed when all bids are finished. Now, let the bidding begin."
He was met with excited cheers from the buyers, much to the disgust of the Ebon Hawk crew. Bastila was fairly disturbed by the idea of a slave auction being a centuries old tradition without anyone doing anything about it. She shook her head. The Republic and the Jedi were truly useless… assuming they were not outright complicit in this state of affairs. It only hardened her resolve to do what was necessary.
Revan and Canderous sat on the benches for the swoop race, watching the auction unfold.
The announcer started with the first lot, which was dragged to the forefront by some of the Hutt's minions. "Lot 1. Togruta female. Recently came into possession of Goruba the Hutt. Age 20 and well-trained for service roles. Bidding starts at 5000 credits."
They tuned out the auction, having little desire to listen to the disturbing practice, until it was Bastila's turn. The minions dragged the cage containing her—or really, her younger illusion—to the front.
"Lot 5. Human female. A late addition to the auction. Age 22, well-trained for sex and very obedient. Bidding starts at 10 000 credits!" the announcer declared.
Revan shook his head. Bastila had begged him to include those traits when he entered her into the auction to boost her value. He also made sure to outbid anyone else trying to buy her, a task complicated by her antics. None of this mattered for their plan, but he did it anyway because it made her happy. It wasn't as if he would have to pay in the end. The things I do for you… he mentally told her.
I really appreciate it, Master, she replied. Your new slave girl will make sure you enjoy tonight…
"Fifty once, fifty twice," the announcer finally said. With no one else bidding, he continued, "Sold for fifty thousand!" With that, her cage was moved out of the way.
They ignored the next three lots.
"Lot 9. A special treat. Age 19. One of the few remaining Cathars in the galaxy! It is said that the females of the species, like this one, make for excellent servants. Bidding starts at 6000 credits!"
For Juhani, it seemed like a purple Twi'lek really wanted her, immediately outbidding any bidders without hesitation. Revan frowned, wondering why that was. The auction ended at 25 000 credits.
"Lot 10. Blue Twi'lek female. Just captured by Motta the Hutt. Age 14 and completely untrained. Believed to be a virgin. Good candidate for those looking for something to break. Bidding starts at 10 000 credits!"
"Eleven thousand!" someone shouted.
"Twelve!" another buyer shouted.
"Fifteen!" "Twenty!" "Twenty-three!" "Twenty-five!"
Unable to tune it out, Bastila found herself getting angrier and angrier, disgusted by how excited these disgusting bastards were at the thought of raping a teen. The Dark Side burned within her, pushing away any thoughts of her submissive fantasies. Outside, her Master felt the same.
Do you still want to wait? she asked.
"Thirty-five!" a buyer shouted, interrupting their thoughts.
"Forty!" someone else yelled.
No point in torturing ourselves, Revan replied, tapping Canderous's shoulder to let him know of the change. He also used the Force to place a shield around the two of them, ensuring that they were protected from blasters.
Yes, Master! Bastila replied, already freeing herself from her bondage and shielding herself from blasters. Out of an abundance of caution, she also placed similar shields around Mission, Zaalbar, and Juhani. Summoning her lightsaber to her hands, she ignited it and easily sliced the cage in half, throwing away the top with the Force.
At the same time, Revan reached out with the Force and closed all the exits to the swoop racing stadium. The buyers were too excited to notice at first, still focused on bidding on the teenaged Twi'lek slave. One of them even shouted "forty-five!" while the Sith couple were in action. They only noticed when the Sith Lord Force jumped from his seat onto the stage, impaling Motta the Hutt with his purple lightsaber as he landed. They looked around in panic and started screaming, unsure what to do. While they did so, his apprentice leaped out of her cage and landed beside him, dismissing the illusion on her face and her outfit, brandishing her lightsaber threateningly. One of the slavers immediately tried to trigger the fake remote for her collar to shock her to death, only to be surprised when nothing happened. In vain, the slaver tried to shock the other slaves, without any luck. Bastila stopped any further attempts by shocking the criminal with Force Lightning, but his compatriots on the stage started raining blaster fire on the slaves, intent on ensuring none made it out of the auction alive. With some effort, she stopped the bolts in midair and pushed them back to the slavers, causing them to duck. Channelling her battle meditation somewhat, she pushed the small band of slavers to bunch together in a group in fear, turning them into a much easier target. With her free hand, she blasted the bulk of slavers with a torrent of Force Lightning. She let them scream for the next few minutes.
Besides her, Revan threw a concussion grenade into the mass of buyers. He then used the Force to summon the worst fears from the depths of the minds of everyone in the seats, and brought them to the surface. The two acts managed to completely incapacitate everyone through sheer terror. Once the ability to resist is quelled, he put all the buyers, along with their entourages, to sleep. Fortunately for his targets, the Sith did so before they could form memories of the horrors, solely as a courtesy for the slaves among them and the one or two buyers that were there for good reasons. While "concussion grenades" sounded like they would leave the victim with a nasty concussion, they instead only stunned. In fact, they were made from the exact same material as flash mines. Revan had wondered many times why they weren't called flash grenades.
Once that was done, he chased down the slavers that weren't caught in Bastila's storm and cut them down one by one with his lightsaber. Once all resistance was crushed, the Sith Lord leaped back up the stage, landing gracefully. Bastila, having fried all the slavers in her storm, approached him with a question. "Shall we free the victims?"
At his nod, they started doing exactly that. With lightsabers, the cage and the collars proved quite easy to remove.
Zaalbar looked rather disappointed to see that those who captured him were all dead. He growled, "I have dealt with slavers at home, I have dealt with the Gamorreans on Taris, and now I have dealt with slavers here. But I never got a chance to show them what a Wookiee can do to such scum. But I must thank you for freeing me once more. Unfortunately, I cannot swear another life debt."
Mission joined in as well. "I must thank you as well. You freed Big Z and me from a horrible fate. It was satisfying watching you deal with all the slavers."
Juhani, on the other hand, was still in a bit of a daze once the neural disruptor collar was removed. Revan tossed her her lightsaber before continuing on his way.
The other victims were all thankful that "the Jedi" were finally there to save them. The Sith Lord ordered them to stay on the stage while they dealt with the buyers. He didn't bother correcting their misconception for fear of alerting Malak.
"What are we going to do about the buyers?" his apprentice asked when all the slaves were freed.
"Interrogate them one by one to see if they are here for good reasons, such as trying to buy their family members back. Free all the slaves among them, and punish the slavers accordingly," he ordered.
Yes, Master! she declared in his mind. She started interrogating the nearest buyer. What she saw in his mind was disgusting—he would regularly host parties in which his slaves were abused terribly and came to the auction to buy more victims to suffer that horrible fate. There was only one punishment for such depravity, so Bastila ignited her yellow blade to decapitate the slaver. However, she found herself blocked by the blue lightsaber of a Jedi guardian.
"What are you doing?" Juhani shouted. "I know these slavers are evil, but that was no excuse to kill them all like this. We are Jedi, and we are better than this! I even saw you use the Dark Side to deal with these slavers. You mustn't give into your baser desires."
Bastila snapped back. "What was I supposed to have done with these slavers? Give them another chance? I will not allow them to get away with it!"
"No!" the Cathar countered. "We must turn them over to the authorities!"
"What authorities?" the Sith apprentice asked. "The Republic is nowhere to be found here. Czerka just cares about profits! They'll let anyone go if they simply paid."
"Then we must let them go and hope they've learned their lesson," Juhani declared. "We can't act as judge, jury, and executioner."
"What?" Bastila shouted, her eyes turning yellow. This was lunacy. She couldn't believe she once followed that ideal too, thinking it made her a better person. "You mean we should let them go free so they can continue to enslave more people? No, this is cowardice! I was once too afraid to do what was necessary. I spared lives only to see more lives ruined by the criminals I spared. I absolutely refuse to do it again. We swore an oath to protect the innocents of the galaxy. I won't let these monsters continue to harm them! Are you?"
"Bastila, you are just making excuses! How can you justify your actions if suffering is the result?" the Cathar Jedi shot back. Behind her, all the victims of the slavers gasped, horrified by the idea that the Jedi cared more about the fates of the foulest criminals over that of their victims. Any respect they might have gained for the Jedi that day evaporated, only to be replaced with bitter disappointment.
"And how can you justify your inaction, or even worse, your positive action to preserve evils like slavery?" the Sith apprentice asked back angrily, clenching her fist. "Because that's what you are doing by insisting that I let slavers go free! How can you allow suffering to continue, suffering of those innocent of any crime? Save your sympathy for the victims, not the perpetrators!" She desperately hoped Juhani would just understand, like she did when her Master explained it to her.
Sensing the argument going out of control, Revan quickly put up a barrier with the Force to prevent the victims from accidentally hearing something they shouldn't. Mission and Zaalbar, who had followed him around and cheered as he executed slavers, were exempted. He kept the rest of his attention on keeping the buyers asleep, content with letting his apprentice deal with this situation.
"No," Juhani tried to deny. "No, this is the Dark Side talking. You must resist the temptation, Bastila! It is not too late for you to be saved. The teachings of the Jedi can lead you from the Dark Side back into the Light and a true understanding of the Force."
The former Jedi was genuinely surprised and disturbed by how much conviction the Cathar had in her beliefs, despite all the evidence stacked against the Jedi. She yelled back in frustration, "A true understanding of the Force? The Jedi have a completely fucked up view of the Force! The Jedi Order is nothing but a bunch of hypocrites who preach about doing good while doing the exact opposite!"
"That's not true!" Juhani shouted. "Your mind has been twisted by the Dark Side!"
Bastila took a deep breath and reined in her frustration. If cold logic about morals wouldn't work, she would bring up all the times the Jedi had hurt the Cathar herself. It would hurt her a lot more, but she had enough of that Jedi garbage from Juhani. First, it deprived her of her comfortable bed and the warm embrace of her Master at night, then it deprived her of her peaceful sleep, and now it was depriving her of her sanity. "The Dark Side? Is that your excuse for everything?" she asked, the taunt in her tone evident. "Open your eyes, Juhani. Don't you remember what the Jedi did to you?"
"What are you talking about?" the Cathar asked in confusion.
"Remember how your master, Quatra, tricked you into believing you had killed her?" Bastila paused until Juhani fully remembered the incident, before delivering her attack. "The Jedi Council came up with that whole plan to screw with your head. Quatra could have come at any time to help you, but she didn't! Your best friend Belaya wanted to come for you, but the Jedi Masters forbade her. In reality, you were nothing but a tool for the Jedi Council to use as a test for Revan, to see if his new self bought the Jedi lies."
"Revan? His new self? What?" Juhani looked shocked and confused.
"So the Jedi Council didn't even tell you that?" The Sith apprentice looked a little surprised. She had thought the Jedi Council would have told their watcher the truth. She explained to the confounded Cathar, "The man you knew as 'Erich Bond' is actually Darth Revan, Dark Lord of the Sith. After I saved his life and against my wishes, the Jedi Council tried to wipe his mind, intent on condemning him to a fate worse than death. They tried to destroy his mind, the very thing that made him who he was, and deny him the ability to become One with the Force. They did it with what clearly was a 'Dark Side power,' as they would call it, so that they could use his body as a tool to find the Star Forge. They retrained him as a Jedi after they found his ability to use the Force had endured, with you as his final test—to see if he would try to kill you. You are nothing but a disposable tool for them. We all were."
"No! That's not true! That's impossible! The Jedi Council would never do something like that!" the feline woman protested.
"Search your feelings, Juhani. You know it to be true," Bastila retorted dramatically. She continued her offence with fervor, "All your suffering in the Grove was caused by the Jedi! They refused to help you, just like how they refused to help the settlers of Dantooine. They could have so easily convinced you to return, and the kath hound attacks would have stopped. Look at what happened with the Shen Matale! If it weren't for the kath hound attack on Casus Sandral, he wouldn't have died, and Nurik Sandral would never have tried to kidnap Shen Matale and almost cause a war. So much suffering, so easily prevented. All this was caused by the Jedi Council. They think nothing of it. They are nothing but selfish bastards."
"NOOOOOO!" Juhani screamed. She tried, but she could not deny Bastila's words. It was true, she thought. For years, ever since Revan's forces saved me from slavery, I wanted so much to become a Jedi, to help others like they helped me, only to be betrayed like this! The Jedi aren't what they used to be… without Revan and his followers… She came to a decision. "I can't deny your words, Bastila. You speak the truth. But what of the Dark Side? Are you a Sith now?"
"The Jedi call anything they don't like the 'Dark Side.' While it is true that the Force can do terrible things, they are delusional when they consider things like love to be of the 'Dark Side.' All I am trying to do is to make the galaxy a better place, by removing the evil that no one else could—or would—remove. Revan believed in the same thing, which is why I am now his apprentice." She took the time to explain the situation that led Revan beyond the borders of the Republic and his return as the Dark Lord of the Sith at the head of a fleet. She did a good job of it, for her Master only had to clarify some minor details. The Cathar was starting to believe. Standing next to them, Mission and Zaalbar listened also, enraptured by the tale.
When Bastila finished, Revan stood beside her, and declared, "Today, we freed more slaves than the Jedi have in a decade. If you call us 'evil' and 'twisted by the Dark Side' for doing the right thing, then we shall accept it with pride."
"I can see it; you are clearly not the same as Malak. He would not have tried to save Big Z from the Gamorreans and taken us with him when the planet was destroyed. Big Z and I know the difficult life in the Tarisian Lower City and Undercity. We will stand with you as long as you wish to make life in the galaxy better for the common people," Mission declared. "If that means killing bad guys, we'll do it." Zaalbar growled in agreement.
"I sense no deception from you, Bastila. You clearly believe what you said so passionately. I can't deny your words. But I can't pledge myself to your cause right now. I need time to think and reflect," said Juhani honestly.
"That's understandable," the Sith apprentice agreed. "Let's continue with the interrogations."
Perhaps it was coincidence, or perhaps the Force was at work, but she decided to interrogate the purple Twi'lek who outbid anyone else trying to buy Juhani earlier and the Cathar followed her. She awoke the slaver. Before he had the chance to become cognizant of his surroundings, she seized his mind and looked inside, only to gag at the horrors within. Xor was his name and took great pleasure committing genocide on the Cathar people, wanting to finish the job by enslaving Juhani and breaking her into his slave. He tried to buy her on Taris before Revan's fleet ended the slavery there, and now he has come to Tatooine specifically to complete the deed.
Xor grumbled as he finally regained control over his body, his eyes on Juhani. "What? A Cathar? It is you, isn't it. When I was fighting with the Mandalorians against the Cathar, I realized that your kind made excellent servants if trained. I wanted to buy you on Taris, but no, those Jedi came and freed you. But now, you are mine!"
"I think you are gravely mistaken about your situation," interjected Revan. He had noticed the commotion and came to investigate after draining the life of a slaver.
"Who are you?" Xor asked.
"The man that freed the slaves on Taris, but never mind me," quipped the Sith.
"It was you. You destroyed my homeworld. And I will see you dead for what you have done to my people!" Juhani yelled.
"Uh… hold on a second, don't be hasty," Xor protested feebly.
Bastila was beyond disgusted. Here was a man who relished in the desperate pleas of his victims as he committed genocide, feebly pleading for his own life, yet feeling no remorse. Memories of what she had seen in the minds of the slavers resurfaced, and she knew there could only be one fate for Xor. "Kill him, Juhani! Rend his flesh!" she urged. "Show him the fate of all who enslave others against their will! Justice will not be denied!"
"Yes, we must… wait, are you sure this is wise?" the Cathar woman questioned. She also wondered why Bastila specifically emphasized "against their will," as if she was implying people could be enslaved willingly, but didn't dwell on it. Little did she know, the slave collar Bastila wore that moment wasn't just a prop to infiltrate the auction—she'd keep it around her neck for the rest of her life if she could help it.
"If you don't kill him, I will," the Sith apprentice vowed. "I am not about to let scum like him go free. It is clear that he would do it again, given the opportunity."
Juhani seemed uncertain, but Xor appeared to have a death wish. "You might kill me today, but I had the pleasure of killing off your entire species! I did not fight for 'honour' like the silly Mandalorians. I did it for the pleasure: the pleasure of seeing your world burn! Despite the injuries you beasts managed to inflict upon me, I still managed to kill a male on Taris! And then—"
She interrupted him, instantly realizing who he was talking about. "You killed my father! You killed my people! You animal! You wretch! I won't listen to you anymore!" she screamed, reached out with the Force, and grabbed Xor's neck, silencing him. "You'll die for what you have done," she declared as she choked him to death. "The Cathar people is avenged!"
"Yes, they are, thanks to you. You finished what I started," Revan praised her. "Death is the punishment for all who commit genocide."
With that, the Sith couple continued interrogating the buyers, with Juhani watching them and wielding her lightsaber in the name of justice. Yet, not all buyers were evil. To their surprise, one of them was a Twi'lek male from Ryloth that took out a huge loan in an attempt to buy back his childhood sweetheart. When he pointed out a Twi'lek female, she quickly ran to embrace him. The couple quickly thanked the trio for helping to reunite them.
When all the slavers were executed, the Sith Lord quickly divided up their money and gave around 10 000 credits to each victim so that they could buy weapons to protect themselves and start a new life, but not enough to paint a giant target on their backs. The rest of the money from the slavers, around 200 000 credits in total, he kept for their mission. They quickly sent the victims off to the docking area, in separate groups to avoid too much attention.
A/N: Special thanks to Tracyn on AO3 for proofreading my story. This chapter in particular really benefited from his help and I think it turned out much better than it was originally.