And here we go!
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Chapter 5
Blaster rifle fire. That was all that was audible in the growing confusion. Shaking off a cloak from her body, Bastila quickly had her weapon in hand as she jumped to her feet. Revan was quickly following suite, although a tad slower than Bastila had been. The night sky was ablaze with illumination flares, although who was lighting them was unknown to the two of them.
“What’s going on?” Revan asked as HK quickly came into sight. The droid had splatters of blood over his body, no-doubt from someone who had been foolish enough to attack him. If his photoreceptors could have shown emotion, they would have been without a doubt filled with a combination of excitement and joy.
“Answer: It appears that a small Sith Force has landed in a clearing to the East of our current position. Mocking Statement: They were indeed foolish enough to think that they could easily take this unit out in quick time. “The droid replied, raising his blaster to fire a few more shots into the area behind him. A few cries were heard following suite, no doubt from one of the Sith that had been unfortunate enough to have met the droid’s blaster bolts.
“How did they find us?” Bastila questioned, looking up into the sky to see another ground transport gliding across the sky.
“Answer: It was most likely the fire that the Master ordered made.”
“What fire?” Bastila asked Revan, placing her hands on her hips in a display of Why wasn’t I told? that had been so common months ago.
“Nevermind the fire, we have to get somewhere safe. And fast.”
“Where? The whole planet’s a scrap-pile.” A few blaster bolts slammed into a piece of metal above her head as Bastila finished her sentence.
“Anywhere is better than where we are right now!” Revan shouted above the growing chaos of battle. Grabbing a few things out of the pack that he had been carrying earlier, Revan quickly rushed over to Bastila, grabbing her hand and pulling her away from where the fire was located.
“HK, keep them busy! We’ll contact you later!” Behind them, the droid gave a quick statement of agreement and quickly turned and opened fire in the darkness. A few shots quickly responded, although their sound and light diminished as Revan and Bastila quickly ducked underneath a partially destroyed building. The shots continued in the distance, and then, just as sudden as they had begun, stopped completely.
“Revan, I’m not enti-.” Bastila started before Revan pulled her close and placed a hand over her mouth.
“Quiet!”He said in a voice that was barely a whisper. Struggling momentarily against his hand, Bastila quickly gave up and remained motionless. The two of them lay completely silent, jammed in between two set of walls that had remained standing. They could hear the footsteps coming dangerously close to their position, and both of them knew the danger that could easily overtake them.
“There’s nothing out here Lieutenant! How do we know that they didn’t just enter the atmosphere and then enter hyperspace on the other end of the planet?” One of the Sith soldiers said, his voice showing a clear sign of annoyance.
“Then how do you explain the fire? Lord Malak left no-one alive when he razed this place. No, they didn’t leave. They must have set down somewhere and hidden their ship. Keep searching!”
As a search light hit a wall near them, the two Jedi Knights couldn’t help but feel a certain sense of fear. If they ignited their lightsabers and did battle, the rest of the troops would be alerted, and they clearly out-numbered them five-to-one. As the light quickly disappeared from the wall, Bastila silently let out a breath that she didn’t know she had been holding. Both of them waited in the dark until they were absolutely sure that it was safe to exit their hiding space.
“This is not my idea of fun.” Bastila stated as she returned to her feet. In the distance, the search lights of the Sith troops could still be seen faintly.
“Didn’t you already say that before?” Revan asked, taking his lightsaber hilt into his hand in case any other Sith troops in the area came close to them.
“You’re the one who keeps track of everything everyone says, you tell me.” Bastila retorted, a hint of sarcasm running through her voice.
“Whatever. We don’t have time for this, we’ve got to get somewhere safe, and fast.”
“And where exactly would that be.?” Revan stood there, frozen in silent meditation on the task that now lay before the two of them. There was no telling how many soldiers that the ship that lay in orbit above them would throw at them. And knowing how hard the Sith were going to be stretched for resources at the moment, that could mean any amount.
“I think we should split up, hide in different spots.”
“I see. Explain.” Bastila asked, brushing a few stray strands of hair out of her eyes.
“If, in the extreme unlikely hood that they find us, they would only capture one of us, and if that happens, the other can quickly get a rescue plan up and running.
“Agreed, and how does that blood-thirsty droid of yours factor into this?”
“I don’t know. HK knows how to handle himself, and if he goes down, again extremely unlikely, he’s going to take at least a hundred of them with him.” Behind them, a small pile of rubble fell over with a moderate clanging sound. Swiveling around to face the origin of the sound, Bastila found herself in the presence of a man dressed in a familiar set of black and silver armor.
“Sto—Stop right there!” He said, his voice uneasy and nervous, the obvious signs of a fresh recruit.
Quickly weighing the options in her mind, Bastila didn’t ignite her weapon and strike the boy down. Revan followed suite without a word.
“I’m warning you!” The soldier continued, raising his blaster rifle in front of him. His face behind the usual armor’s visor was nothing more than a color of black. And yet, Bastila knew that there was a face of fear behind it.
“You don’t want to use that weapon.” She said, waving her hand in front of her. The boy’s mind was nothing more than a scattered place of emotions and thoughts, all leading nowhere. She had convinced beings with stronger-willed minds, and this would go over easily.
“I…I don’t want to use this weapon.” The boy said, echoing Bastila’s words. He lowered the weapon quickly, and held it in a loose one-handed grip.
“You never saw us.”
“I never saw you.”
“You want to go back to your commander and report that you found nothing what so ever.
“I want to go back to the commander, and give him an empty report.”
“Move along.” Bastila said, watching in silence as the soldier quickly walked away from the two of them, his feet shifting uneasily in the rough terrain of the city. He showed no signs of noticing how quickly his mind had been changed, and he continued on his way.
“You make that look so easy. Remind me never to make you angry.” Revan said quietly, moving against the end of the wall to make sure the coast was clear. Behind him, Bastila grinned slightly.
“Trust me, if you ever really made me angry, you wouldn’t remember it.”
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Malachor V, Trayus Academy
The walls of the Trayus Academy seemed menacing due to the dim lighting that was present throughout the entire structure. Bodies lay around in various states of decay, reminders of the failures of both Sion and Nihilus previous failures. Failure’s that been brought to light by their master. Sion himself was surprised that Nihilus hadn’t fed himself on the bodies, considering how the Force was trapped here. Every day he was growing weaker, which he blamed on Traya’s teachings.
He hated her, oh how he hated her. How she treated him like a spoiled child, a child that she was trying to fix through a series of beatings. The damage in his eye had still refused to heal, for whatever meager amount that the Dark Side could heal. Even his Sith minions were growing terrified of him, he could feel it. They knew it was a death sentence to be called to his presence after a failed mission.
Behind him, the unmistakable sound of the True Sith language reached his ears. Traya’s other apprentice, the one she called the “Lord Of Hunger”, had approached him. Without reason.
“I did not summon you.” Sion replied calmly, not even bothering to face his fellow Sith Lord. The other’s response would be unclear to anyone who had not experienced speaking and understanding the language first hand. But Sion had, during the original Sith Wars.
Kresh da si Krosh ai
“Leave. Now.” Sion stated, pulling his lightsaber off of its clip. But he did not ignite it. His fellow Sith obeyed and left the room, his black robes flowing behind him. Around him, the walls of Malachor V closed in a little tighter.
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Ruins Of Taris System
From the spot where she was hidden, Bastila could see the Sith landing parties were slowly pulling out, although she was sure that there would be some kind of permanent team that would stay on the planet, until something, alive or dead, was found.
Revan, they’re pulling out. What should we do? Bastila asked through the bond, still laying as low to the ground as she possibly could. Close to her, the dead body of a dead citizen lay, its eye open and staring at her. Doing her best to ignore it, Bastila closed her eyes and waited Revan’s response.
Stay where you are. Give them so more time. Revan responded, staying out of sight from anything. The mission was far from anything that both of them had expected. And, quietly of course, Bastila wished that something would finally go right for them. The dirt below her was almost completely mud, and she could rapidly feel it soaking into her new Jedi robes. The rain would occasionally fall down into her eyes, and now more than ever, she remembered why she disliked being in the rain.
Alright Was the only response that she offered and she quickly went back to hiding her presence from anything that would come within even meters of her. Her hair was completely undone from its usual form, and it dropped freely over her ears and the back of her neck. Due to the moisture in the air, it was almost completely soaked, and water now freely dripped down it and onto her face. Resisting the urge to move her hair back out of her face, Bastila continued to remain perfectly still.
Within a few more hours, the Sith troops had completely withdrawn from the planet, save for a small force that remained to continue the search. Although their numbers were greatly reduced, Revan knew that the troops who had stayed behind would either be volunteers or hand-picked troops. A worthy force, even for a veteran Republican Army battalion. He and Bastila would have to have some kind of plan for how they approached this one.
Bastila, stay where you are. I’m coming over He said silently through the bond, knowing that she would understand. Although no response was offered, Revan knew that she had received the message. Ducking and quickly moving behind large pieces of ruined buildings, Revan wished that he knew what had happened to HK. Looking down at his feet, he quickly found the answer.
The droid was deactivated, probably by its own choice. Checking over the droid’s body, he discovered that none of the main, essential systems had been damaged beyond repair. Within a few days, the droid would be completely repaired. Pulling the droid back behind the pile of the rubble that he was hiding behind, Revan quickly hid the droid and then continued on his way towards Bastila.
“Took you long enough.” Bastila whispered as Revan ducked into the small overhang of wreckage that she herself was hiding under. Quickly tying her hair back into a single pony-tail, she pulled her lightsaber into her hand. Not the same double-blade that she had used months ago, Revan had destroyed that one during their duel on the Star Forge. Instead, she had gone back to using the same single-bladed weapon that she had used during…when her strike team had captured Revan.
“What can I say, I like to take my time.” Bastila frowned slightly at the joke, and turned her attention to the Sith force that lay ahead of them. The rain was pouring down by now, and it soaked every inch of their skin.
“How are we going to get past them?” She asked, pulling her lightsaber off of its spot on her belt.
“I was thinking we could just take them head-on.”
“Bold.” Bastila said, as she stated up in the distance at the Sith Force. They were clearly gathered around something, although at this distance she couldn’t tell what it was.
“Well, that’s me” Revan replied, his own Jedi weapon in his hand. Parts of his long black hair clung to his face, and he pushed them out of his eyes.
“Fine. Shall you lead or should I?” Bastila asked, slowly pulling herself out of the wreckage that she had hidden under. Revan was already on his feet at her side, his face already prepared to block out the emotions of battle. Ahead of them, the Sith soldiers sat around a hologram emitter, no doubt receiving a message from their commander.
“I’ll do it.” Revan responded, as he and Bastila calmly began a walk towards their enemy. Stopping within a few feet of the soldiers, Revan picked up a small stone that lay at his feet. With a slight grin at Bastila, he tossed it at what would have been the base of the hologram. As the Sith troops raised their heads, they were met with the colors of Revan’s blue blade and Bastila’s yellow.
“Hello there! Thought we’d drop in, hope you don’t mind.” He said as the troops quickly jumped to their feet with their weapons in their hands. The first two raised their weapons to fire at Revan, but were quickly cut down by Bastila, who had jumped from behind Revan with her saber ablaze in her hands. Seeing their comrades cut down, the remaining troops fired at the yellow blade, the blaster bolts emitting bits of steam as the rain landed upon them in mid-flight. Neglecting to focus on the second Jedi, the Sith troops found themselves at the receiving ends of both blue and yellow blades. Within minutes, the battle was over, and upon shutting down their lightsabers, they found the entire area to be completely silent. An eerie, deathly silence that only a planet with no life upon it could produce.
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Sith Command Ship, Orbit Above Taris
“What do you mean, you found nothing?!” Captain Mowcan asked, the very last of his patience fading away. He had been stuck in this system for the past four months, obeying Malak’s orders to ‘guard’ the system. And yet, there was nothing more than madness behind this assignment. Every single day, he prayed for a communication from high-command, a notice that he would be re-assigned. And yet, every single day, there was nothing.
“We mean that there is nothing here. By our new estimations, they must have entered hyperspace on the far side of the planet.”
“No lieutenant, we have picked up no sign of any ship entering hyperspace. They are still there on the surface.” A small amount of interference interrupted the communications, and then slowly, the sounds of battle were heard echoing through the bridge.
“What’s going on down there?” Mowcan said, turning towards the head technician on the bridge.
“There’s nothing wrong with the communications, something must be interrupting the video feed.” And then, suddenly as it had begun, the video interference ended and the sight of two humans wielding lightsabers was seen, just as the two of them cut down more of the troops planet-side. He recognized one of the two beings, the young Jedi Bastila Shan. Wanted by Lord Malak for her gift in Battle Meditation. The one that should have been killed in the bombardment of Taris.
“Tech Officer?” Mowcan said, turning from his view of the hologram.
“Yes sir?”
“Tell Colonel Tresy to prepare all of the available troops. If my gut is right, those two Jedi are our way out of here.”
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great story, keep it up!
