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.

A/N: Remember, there are only two choices in KotOR to deal with Eli Gand. You can convince Matton to spare him for +6 LS points and let him escape, with him shouting "it's just business" unrepentantly, when ending slavery on Kashyyyk only gives +4 LS points. Your only other option is to get +2 DS points for getting Matton to kill him. A good Jedi—especially one wanting to wear the shock collar, ahem, the circlet of Saresh—has to let a murderer go free. To make it more palatable, he somehow flees into the Shadowlands, but that makes no sense… It's not like Czerka would arrest him. If anything, he has enough blood money to buy transportation.


Chapter 22: Blows Against Slavery

Back in the spaceport, the couple walked up next to Eli's shop with Jolee in tow.

"Hello again. What can I do for you, most valued customer?" Eli asked with greed.

Without saying another word, the Sith Lord took out a droid head. "Recognize this, Matton? I found it in the Shadowlands."

The shop owner quickly interrupted. "It is nothing, I'm certain. Eh... just garbage from the forest floor."

"It's D-A02, the repair droid from my ship!" Matton asked in shock. "What was this doing in the forest?"

"It recorded an ambush. Someone yelled Eli's name," Revan elaborated.

"Eli, you snake!" the indentured servant spat with venom. "You said my crew jacked the ship without paying the repair bill!"

"Well... that is... eh... it's not how it looks," Eli tried to feebly justify his actions. "You see, a good mechanic is hard to find and..."

"And what?" Matton yelled over him. "I thought I owed you! You tricked them into the Shadowlands and killed them all while I fixed your freighter in orbit!"

"What's the punishment for multiple planned, cold-blooded murders of the first degree, fuelled by greed no less?" the Dark Lord of the Sith asked. Indeed, it was the textbook example of first-degree murder, willfully executed and premeditated with malice aforethought.

"Death!" the victim shouted. He continued sadly, "But there is no law, no justice in this land."

"Then do it yourself," Revan encouraged. "How else can you make sure he doesn't do this again?"

"If you let him go, he will only kill and enslave more people under false pretenses," Bastila joined in. "Eli must die for his crimes."

"What? No!" Eli protested. "This is just a simple business matter! You see… that ship was worth quite a bit… I can give you some of the credits I got for it…"

"What the hell?" the mechanic shouted in disgust. "You killed my crew, stole my ship, and you want to bribe me with blood money? I never thought someone could sink so low! What did you even do to my ship?"

"Uhhhhhh," the murderer said, refusing to answer.

"This is getting tiresome," the Dark Lord decided. With the Force, he seized Eli's mind and looked inside. What he saw was horrific. "You bribed some Czerka guards to murder the rest of Matton's crew on their ship? You sold the ship to the Hutts to transport slaves? What the Jedi is wrong with you? And what's this? You did this before on Duro during the Mandalorian Wars? One of my naïve Jedi mind tricked one of the few uncorrupted police officers to spare you from execution, because 'all life is sacred,' and made you pay the victim a bunch of credits to somehow make up for this horrific crime? No wonder you think this is okay…"

Beside him, Bastila gagged at the thought. The Jedi Masters tried their utmost to drill into everyone that "no one deserved execution, no matter what their crimes were." Once, she had been like that naïve Jedi, believing the same… She might even have done the same, but she knew so much better now under her Master's tutelage. Eli was the perfect example of what the consequences of the Jedi teachings were. She was suddenly reminded of what she read about the ancient history of her homeworld, remembering how millennia ago on Talravin, murders were punished by the perpetrator paying a Wergeld to the victim's family, effectively assigning a monetary value to sentient lives. She had been aghast at the thought of murderers simply buying people's deaths, but she never made the connection until now. Indeed, what the Jedi were doing by letting criminals like Eli go free after paying was exactly like Wergelder and equally horrific. She subconsciously brandished her lightsaber in anger, pointing the yellow blade at the unrepentant murderer.

"You call this business?" Matton asked derisively. "Maybe in Hutt Space, but not here! Not with me!" He pulled out his blaster, and pointed it at Eli.

"No!" Eli shouted. "Have mercy!"

The mechanic hesitated.

"Eli is a murderer and should have been executed on Duro!" the Sith apprentice shouted, her fury ignited by the Jedi's horrific teachings. "Faced with such circumstances, mercy is for the weak—an excuse of the naïve, of those too afraid to do what's necessary!"

The murderer drew his blaster and fired at Bastila, hoping to silence the advocate of his own death. Unfortunately for him, the Sith apprentice easily froze the bolts in mid-air.

With Bastila's encouragement and Eli's attempted murder of her, Matton shot his captor in the face. The criminal stumbled backwards, his body falling into the Shadowlands, never to be seen again.

"That Thaylian bog-slime," the mechanic spat into the abyss. "Do you know that I have been here 36 days, slaving to pay a debt in good faith?" He raised his voice, "All for nothing. He killed my crew... who knows where my ship is. Well, there's your pay, Eli. Blaster fire, and keep the change."

"What are you going to do now?" Bastila asked.

"Well, I don't have a ship, so there's not much for me to do but stay here. I guess I might as well run the shop and make a few credits," Matton answered.

"I am not sure that's the best idea. Let's just say that the Wookiees can tolerate Czerka no longer…" the Sith Lord hinted. "It would be wise to not be caught in the crossfire."

Matton's eyes widened. "Yes, I see what you mean. I never liked this slavery business, but I didn't know about it until I was trapped here. But how do I get off this planet on such short notice?"

"You can hitch a ride on my ship. I have a heavily modified Dynamic-class freighter that can use a mechanic too, if you are up for it," Revan offered, sensing the man was honest and loyal.

"Dynamic-class? I have some experience with those," the mechanic replied. "I don't suppose I have much choice on such a short notice."

"I am offering you the ride either way," the Dark Lord explained. "You can decide if you want to stay on as a mechanic later."

"That's generous of you. I'll think about it. I don't have many credits, but maybe I can give you some of Eli's wares for your trouble in the meantime?" the mechanic proposed.

"That would be agreeable, yes," the Sith agreed.


Back on the ship, Jolee and Matton were introduced to the crew. Revan summoned Mission and T3-M4 to the side for a covert mission—to slice into Czerka's system and obtain a full layout of the spaceport, especially around its defences. This would greatly help the impending Wookiee uprising.

With those two departing the ship, the remaining crew sifted through Eli's wares.

"I don't know what this belt is for," the mechanic admitted as he took out a blue belt. "Eli said something about this being good for absorbing electric shocks, but I don't see why anyone would want it."

Revan let out a chuckle. "I know what it is for, I'll take it." He didn't deem it necessary to explain to Matton that it protected the user from Force Lightning… or just plain old electrocution—at least for the moment.

The mechanic handed it over, as well as a few other items the crew found useful.


As Revan and Bastila geared themselves for battle, they were joined by Juhani.

"There was some disturbing news when you were away on the forest floor," the Cathar began. "News from Dantooine."

"What happened?" Bastila asked with concern.

"There was a huge protest in front of the Jedi enclave. Most of the Dantooine residents nearby came, including the Matales and the Sandrals. They accused the Jedi Order of being behind the kath hound attacks and the numerous deaths, including Casus Sandral. All the farmers came by with their speeder trucks, blockading the entire Jedi enclave, honking as loudly as they could. Some of them even sprayed liquefied manure all over the walls of the enclave! It turned into a riot, with people throwing stones and rotten produce into the enclave," Juhani recalled. "The mob was enraged when the Jedi Council denied responsibility, claiming the rumours were just lies. It got out of control and the Jedi were 'forced' to use their lightsabers. Multiple people died!"

"That's horrible!" the Sith apprentice remarked.

"When was this?" Revan asked.

"Yesterday," she replied. "Overnight, the news spread like wildfire throughout the galaxy, and the people were really angry at the Jedi. Whispers that the Jedi Order were not really helping the Republic came out. People were tempted to believe it, because the Order had refused to help during the Mandalorian Wars."

"And then what happened?" he probed.

"Today, the Jedi Order announced to the public that they had found the culprit. They turned Quatra over to the Republic authorities with murder charges. They specifically announced that they would not oppose the death penalty to placate the crowd," she finished.

"I don't know why I am even surprised…" Bastila interjected, shaking her head. "This is just the kind of hypocrisy I've come to expect. 'No one deserves execution, no matter their crimes,' they preached, and of course that goes out of the window when it's expedient…"

"I know!" Juhani agreed. "When they accepted me back, I thought it was a strange way of teaching that lesson, but I trusted their judgement. They hurt me, yes, but I thought they had a few principles that they would stick to. Forgiveness, compassion, a desire to do the right thing. Not bad ideas. And the way they accepted me back… Nothing exemplifies the forgiveness that they preach more than that, or so I had thought. They told me it was okay, that no one was really hurt, that I wouldn't get into trouble. I believed them. But it was a lie, and in reality, people died because of Quatra's 'lesson.'"

She sighed. "And then… It turns out their forgiveness is only when it's convenient. When it benefited them, they just threw Quatra to the wolves, allowing her to face the death penalty… I know if I was on Dantooine, they'd have thrown me to the wolves too. I feel like such a fool when I questioned you two executing those Czerka slavers because of their teachings."

"Don't feel so bad about yourself," the Sith apprentice sympathized. "We all foolishly believed the Jedi Council at one point. And so many still believe in them…"

"I understand that," the Cathar acknowledged. "I just feel responsible… It was me who corrupted the kath hounds to attack the people of Dantooine."

"But it's not your fault, is it?" Revan noted. "Quatra chose to 'teach' you in such a manipulative way. Of course you'd be hurt! Who wouldn't? And the Jedi Council chose to leave you there as a test for me instead of helping you. I doubt anyone would have gotten hurt if they let Belaya speak to you when it happened…"

"I understand that, but my hands still feel dirty," she explained. "The fact I was even involved with the Jedi makes me feel so dirty. When you inspired me to join the Jedi on Taris, I thought I'd be the ones helping the people of this galaxy, protecting them from evil. Yet, so far, I feel like I am only doing evil to them. I thought the worst was over when I stopped corrupting those kath hounds, but it's not… Quite a few people died yesterday and over a dozen more were maimed."

"Quatra is at least paying for her role in this disaster…" the Dark Lord noted. "When the time comes, I'll make sure the Jedi Council are duly punished for their crimes too."

"It's always you, Revan, isn't it?" Juhani noted. "I joined the Jedi because of you, but now I see the Jedi are not what they seemed. You are right about them… You are always on the right side. I will not be part of an order that would manipulate me like that, who would kill civilians like that, who wouldn't practice what they teach." She paused, then steadied herself for a solemn vow. "I pledge myself to your teachings, Darth Revan," she said as she knelt down before the Sith Lord.

"Juhani, things don't work the way they do in those Jedi holofilms," he explained. "If you want to join us, then welcome aboard. There is no need to kneel. But first, in the interest of full disclosure. It was I who told the Matales and Sandrals that the Jedi Order was responsible for the kath hound attacks."

"Why?" Juhani asked as she brought herself to her feet.

"They deserved to know the truth of why Casus died and why Nurik was driven to kidnap Shen Matale. Besides, they were going to shoot each other," he pointed out.

"Then you did the right thing," the Cathar woman concluded. "I will fight for you."

"Then join us in stamping out slavery from this planet," the Dark Lord suggested.

"Yes… Seeing Wookiees being flown out in chains for the last two days reminds me of the past. I had once suffered as they did, until your followers had the courage to free me on Taris. I realized that by doing nothing, they will continue to suffer. If blood had to be spilled before this disgusting practice can end, then so be it," she agreed.

"Then let's prepare for battle," Revan decided. "Don your gear and come to the main hold. We'll discuss battle plans."


Over the next hour, the crew of the Ebon Hawk slowly gathered in the main hold, armed and ready, waiting for Mission and T3-M4 to return with information. Matton decided to sit out as he wasn't a fighter.

Canderous tapped Revan on the shoulder. "Can we take a detour to Tatooine afterwards?" he asked.

"Why?" the Sith wondered.

"I met one of my old comrades, Jagi, while you were away. We had a dispute, and he challenged me to an honour duel on the Dune Seas," the Mandalorian warrior answered. "If I don't fight, the remainder of my people will think me a coward!"

Well, we are going to Tatooine anyway to deal with the Genoharadan issue, Bastila echoed Revan's thoughts.

"Yes, that would be acceptable. We'll go to Tatooine next after we sort out Czerka…" the Dark Lord promised.

Finally, Mission and T3-M4 returned, and the gathered crew listened to their report.

Mission quickly explained what had happened. "We snuck into the main building and sliced into one of the computers, obtaining this map."

At her signal, T3-M4 projected the entire layout of the Czerka port onto the holoprojector.

"We are on the northernmost landing platform here and the main building is directly to the east," she pointed out. "There's a whole array of landing platforms to the south, all connected by a single walkway, and directly east of the last platform is the building where they are keeping all the Wookiee slaves before they are transported offworld. There's another walkway connecting their main building to the slave hold."

"I suppose they don't like the idea of the Wookiees rebelling in the same building as their offices? The trees also conveniently block it from view from casual visitors, whom they seem to always assign the northern landing platforms…" the Sith Lord observed. "What are those things under the walkways leading into the slave hold? Are they remote bombs?"

"Yes," the girl replied. "I suppose they want to quickly disconnect the area in case the guards stationed there get overwhelmed… Czerka also has similar bombs under the walkway outside of the port leading to Big Z's village. There are a bunch of turrets too."

"Those would cause a lot of Wookiee casualties if we don't disable them… It's Zaalbar's only way into the spaceport," Revan noted. "T3, are you still in the system? Are you able to disable and detonate the bombs? Can you also reprogram the turrets?"

The droid beeped in the affirmative. Before Mission snuck out, she left a low bandwidth wireless transmitter plugged into Czerka's systems. It wasn't enough to do things like downloading the map quickly, but was sufficient for simple control tasks, such as configuring weapons.

"Excellent! When we commence the attack, disable the bombs on the walkway outside the spaceport and reprogram the turrets to shoot at Czerka fighters only. Then, we detonate the walkway connecting the Czerka's main offices to the slave hold. Our position on the northernmost platform will allow us to cut off the walkway connecting the offices to all the landing platforms, ensuring the leadership can't escape," he proposed. "Now, we just need to get all the guards in the slave hold to run for the ships instead of executing the Wookiees in revenge."

"They are cowards," Canderous interjected. "I think as long as there's a way out, they'll take it, as soon as it seems like they are losing."

"And if they don't, I think I can use my battle meditation to convince them that they are lost," Bastila added.

"Good ideas," the Sith Lord agreed. "Actually, are there turrets in the slave hold as well?"

T3-M4 beeped affirmatively.

"Then when we start the attack, reprogram those to target Czerka. The survivors should run away really quickly then. We'll limit our attacks eastwards to the main Czerka offices, leaving all the other landing platforms alone. They should take the opportunity to flee while we are occupied with the main building."

"That would save us the slaves, but the slavers would get away with it," his apprentice noted. "Is that what we want?"

"We'll need to rig the ships to explode with remote bombs after they get onboard, but before they take off so they don't crash into the wrong places," he decided. "We should have enough thermal detonators and remote triggers for them. We should let some escape on the smallest ship to spread fear. With any luck, Czerka will decide it's not worth it to continue enslaving the Wookiees." In truth, he doubted this would ever happen, but simply wished for them to report to headquarters that the Jedi were involved. He'd make sure of it by wielding his blue backup lightsaber.

"Mission and Juhani, can you two take those and attach them to the Czerka ships?" he ordered, selecting them for their stealth ability. "Do it as soon as we finish this briefing and get back. I'll get Zaalbar to start the attack after you are done so they won't get suspicious."

"Yes, Revan," they acknowledged simultaneously. They looked at each other and grinned. They were really shaping up to be a team.

"And Bastila, my apprentice," he continued. "You should head to the village to back them up. With your powers, you can break down that gate made from wroshyr wood much easier than the Wookiees ever could."

"Yes, Master," she replied obediently, secretly enjoying referring to him that way in public without suspicion.

"Afterwards, I think we have a decent chance against the Czerka fighters between here and the walkway, especially with the Force on our side," he stated, before quickly giving everyone some instructions and tips. "Are we all ready?"

They all answered in the affirmative before starting their assigned tasks.


Once Mission and Juhani returned, Revan signalled for Bastila to start the attack through their Force bond. Soon, the Wookiees charged down the Great Walkway straight toward the Czerka spaceport. The Czerka guards quickly tried to use the turrets to suppress the attack, only to find that they refused to work and instead fired back at them. The shock was enough for the Wookiees to take the visible ones down with their bowcasters. With the Force, Bastila made any returning fire from Czerka fizzle out uselessly, turning her foes into helpless targets. Channelling her powers, she easily dislodged the entire gate from its frame, and with a mighty Force push, she made it fall over, crushing all the Czerka fighters bracing against it from behind. The gathered Wookiees charged into the spaceport, stepping on the fallen gate and completely flattening their enemies underneath.

From the Ebon Hawk, the remaining crew charged out of the ship, making short work of Czerka fighters on the landing platform. They quickly advanced onto the walkway. There, Jolee stood facing south, deflecting any fire from Czerka fighters trying to approach and pushing them off the platform into the abyss. T3-M4 stood by him, watching over the battle. As planned, the droid detonated the bomb on the walkway connecting the main Czerka office to the slave hold, cutting off the former. Mission stationed herself above the Ebon Hawk, lying down with the various bumps on the ship as cover. She wielded a sniper rifle, shooting Czerka fighters beyond their effective range of return fire.

Revan, Juhani, Canderous, and HK-47 went east, attacking towards the main Czerka office. The Sith Lord was forced to avoid using the full might of the Dark Side, much to his chagrin, knowing that he had to pretend to be a Jedi to direct Czerka's suspicions. Since that involved leaving eyewitnesses, he also didn't want the Jedi Council to realize he'd "turned away from the Light." Still, he made the best of the situation, making Czerka's blaster fire wink out of existence, while using Force wave after Force wave to push enemy fighters off the walkways to their deaths. Wielding his lightsaber with deadly precision, he deflected every blaster bolt back that he could while cutting down any Czerka fighter who dared to approach, further exacerbating their casualties. The enemy stood no chance, especially with Canderous raining blaster fire upon them with his cannon from behind. HK-47 charged ahead, cheerfully boasting "droid efficiency, at its best!" as he cut down the slavers with his lightsaber in one hand, while shooting the fleeing Czerka fighters with deadly precision with his blaster in his other hand. Juhani fought alongside the droid, Force jumping between her targets, unleashing her anger at the slavers as she cut them down one by one.

As predicted, the remaining slavers in the other building saw the attack and didn't like the odds. They quickly abandoned their posts and fled onto the ships, hoping they could escape before Revan's party turned their attention towards them, even without Bastila's battle meditation. Just when they were ready to take off, T3-M4 struck, detonating the thermal detonators, completely destroying the landing platforms and the ships parked on them. Only one Czerka ship managed to take off, with only two slavers onboard. They would report to the headquarters, saying how the Jedi led an attack on them—and there would be no doubt of it, for they had seen blue, yellow, and green lightsabers, representing all three Jedi classes.

It wasn't long before Revan's party met the Wookiees under Zaalbar and Bastila at the entrance to the offices. Revan ordered the Wookiees to free their kin trapped in the other building, while leading his beloved and the rest of his party into the offices, making short work of any remaining Czerka resistance. With no survivors planned, they unleashed the full might of the Dark Side, with Bastila driving all the slavers insane and Revan smiting them with Force Lightning. Soon, the rightful Dark Lord of the Sith and his apprentice found themselves standing in front of the Czerka representative, Janos Wertka, who was cowering in a corner.

"What was that about me not being able to stop your operations?" he taunted.

"Please don't hurt me!" the representative pleaded. "I am only a servant of the corporation!"

"Chuundar wouldn't have said you told him of our arrival if you weren't in charge here," the Sith noted. Indeed, it was obvious that Janos didn't go himself, so Chuundar's use of his name implied authority rather than physical presence.

Revan could easily feel Janos's panic at being found out. "We are innocent of any crime!" the Ithorian tried to insist instead. "The Wookiees have no legal rights! Even then, we make the harvesting as delicate as possible!"

"Guess what?" Bastila cut in. "It's a crime in our book. Any sensible being would agree it is a crime against sentient life, even if the corrupt Republic refuses to enforce it." It was, naturally, also a crime in the Sith Empire, at least during Revan's rule.

"And don't even talk about 'delicate,'" the Dark Lord spat in disgust. "Shooting random Wookiees, holding them at gunpoint… in my book, that's called all-out violence!"

"It's only because they won't cooperate!" Janos protested.

"Ah yes, using the force of arms to force them to submit… how delicate," Revan noted sarcastically. Seeing the conversation was going nowhere, he blasted Janos with Force Lightning. It took a few minutes before he was finally allowed to die. Neither he nor his apprentice felt an unapologetic slaver deserved a quick death, especially one that tried to argue that enslaving Wookiees was a legal and totally acceptable practice. Besides, as the rightful ruler of the Sith Empire, the Dark Lord felt it was his duty to dish out capital punishment to those who had earned it.


As the light of day slowly faded, the Wookiee warriors stood triumphantly in the Czerka spaceport, along with the recently freed slaves.

"Today marks the end of the injustice that plagued our glorious village of Rwookrrorro!" Freyyr proclaimed in front of the gathered crowd. "Chuundar's deceptive rule is over! Zaalbar is now fully reinstated into our village. We must thank him for being the first to spot Chuundar's betrayal, and apologize to him for unfairly exiling him. But finally, things are made right once again! We have thrown off Czerka's yoke! The setting sun marks the end of the last day that slavery was tolerated on our ancient ground." Finally, he finished with a roar, "We will never be slaves again!"

His cry was echoed by all Wookiees present, and the effect was deafening.

"But our task is not finished yet," Zaalbar continued. "Even now, Czerka still operates more stations on this planet, still enslaving our brethren in other villages. We must now rally a defence and eject Czerka from all of Kashyyyk!" He finished with a roar, "Kashyyyk will be free!" Again, his cry was echoed.

"But we could never have done this without help from our friends," Freyyr acknowledged, pointing to Revan's party. "We will forever be in your debt. I hereby proclaim that they, and anyone they may bring, shall be the only outsiders permitted to land here and enter our village!"

The Wookiees all raised their arms, each lifting their weapon high above their heads while giving a cheerful growl. It was their way of showing respect.

"My son and heir Zaalbar will now join our friends in a battle to end evils like slavery throughout the galaxy. To end our problems at the source! We wish them the best!"

The gathered Wookiees cheered again, watching as their future chieftain and the outsiders boarded the ship. They waved as the Ebon Hawk flew away until it vanished into the clouds.


A/N: Wergeld (plural Wergelder) is the Old Talravin (represented by German) name for a weregild, which is the ancient Germanic legal concept of monetary value assigned to a person's life. If a person was killed (or murdered, it made no difference under Germanic law), then the killer must pay the victim's family that much money. The weregild is determined by a person's rank too. The idea is quite dystopian—you can easily imagine the rich just paying the weregild to kill their lower-ranked enemies because they can afford it.

Fun fact: the were- root in weregild is actually the same root as in werewolf, meaning "man." So a werewolf is really a man-wolf, which makes sense.