PostPosted:Sat Nov 03, 2012 7:49 pm
by Buffy's Shadow
Well, here we are. The first chapter of the last book of my KOTOR 1 trilogy. Hope you guys enjoy it, and sorry for the wait.
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Chapter 1
From where it sat on the landing pad, the Ebon Hawk was utterly silent as the moon's glow continued to rest upon it. Kashyyyk was unusually quiet, unusual in the fact that the only sounds present were that of the echoed callings of the planet's native creatures, some of them echoing up from the Shadowlands. Inside the ship however, the sounds of the outside world went unheard as Bastila and her two children continued to sleep somewhat peacefully inside one of the Hawk's dormitories.
Tilting her body slightly, Bastila could already tell that her husband was no longer in bed, the slightly cold feeling of the sheets only aiding in the realization. Opening her eyes, she scanned the room, her vision failing to find him within the room. Returning to her feet, she wrapped some of the loose sheets around her body, her long hair falling down across her back. She had considered getting it cut for some time now, but for some odd reason, she had yet to go through with it.
Vaner and Kera were sleeping peacefully in their crib, and as she passed them, Bastila smiled. Their minds were relatively calm as she felt them through the Force, her mere presence in in their minds calming them even further. Giving them one last smile, she turned away from them, and walked out into the main hold of the Hawk, which was quiet as the rest of the ship. Her eyes turning towards the garage, she noticed out of the corner of her eyes the light of sparks emanating from the garage.
He was there, his bare chest uncovered as he continued to work on T3's circuits, the arc wielder spreading a wide, steady spray of sparks across the floor. She watched him for a few more moments before she let him sense her presence through their bond. Removing the wielder from the exposed circuits, he looked up at her, silent as his eyes traveled up and down her body.
"More memories?" She asked, knowing the question all too well by now. Returning to his feet, Revan stood there, unsure of what to say. Over the past two months, the majority of his memories had returned, causing him hundreds of sleepless night, the hauntings carrying over into the day. He had tried to shrug them off, but with each passing night, the memories got worse, each individual one appearing to him in the form of a nightmare, or something even more hellish than that.
"Yeah." Was his response, just as it always was. As much as she hated to see him this way, she realized that there was barely anything she could do other than to try and comfort him. Just as she had done for the past year. Using their bond, she tried to view the memory, seeing it as he had saw it, but she was met with a 'wall, one that he had put up, one that she couldn't pass.
"Revan…" She started before he interrupted her, his voice lacking its normal tone.
"I don't want you to see it."
"You can't keep this to yourself, don't shut me out." He shook his head in response.
"Bastila, they're worse than anything you can possibly imagine. They're enough to make me want to have my mind erased again."
"After all we've seen and been through, I think I can handle it." She replied, once again probing his mind for a way around the 'wall'. As she continued, the barrier slowly evaporated, allowing her entrance to his thoughts. Going deeper into his mind, she found the memory that he seemed so desperate to hide from her. The memory itself was faded, most of the voices contained in it being jagged and dropping out at random, forcing her to try and piece the conversations back together.
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He continued to stand on the bridge of one of the various vessels underneath his command. Ahead of him, the stars stretched out in an endless direction. Behind him, the common soldiers continued to go about their work, obviously in fear of the Dark Lord standing only a few feet away from them. Otherwise, all was silent through the room, with not even the sound of someone breathing audible.
Suddenly ahead of the main fleet, the distinctive sight of ships dropping out of hyperspace appeared, their main guns already beginning to fire upon his fleet. Behind him, the bridge erupted into a mass of confusion, with each man rushing to their battle stations, the other vessels without a doubt doing the same. Observing the scene, Revan was still silent, offering no command or battle plan as of yet.
"Orders, my lord?" One of the officers asked, taking a few steps back as Revan turned to face him.
"Take no action."
"My…my lord? But the ships have already opened fire on us, shouldn't we return fire, at least in self-defense?" Revan was silent as he looked at the young man, his eyes narrowing beneath his hood. He hadn't worn the Mandalorian mask that usually adorned his face, but it in no way deterred his presence. In front of him, the young man had a look of fear plastered over his face, his lungs not even breathing.
"My orders stand. Do NOT return fire."
"I…yes my lord." He said, retreating back to his station. Turning back to face the scene outside, Revan watched as the ships continued to come closer, their shots flying harmlessly overhead.
The scene then changed to that of a later date, showing Revan standing before what could be made out as some sort of a throne. Something similar to steam or smoke surrounded the entire room, causing the red lights on the floor to seem even more menacing then they would usually appear to be. A certain feeling hung in the air, shrouding everything in Darkness. As the throne slowly turned to face him, Revan ignited his saber, the blue color contrasting with his surroundings. His face was still hidden from behind the iconic Mandalorian mask that he worn towards the end of the Mandalorian Wars, and during the beginning of his assault against the Republic. Still, Bastila could feel the emotions coursing through the younger man. What she felt was something that would have easily betrayed the public's view of the Jedi during the Wars.
She felt fear. Nothing but fear controlling him.
"Young Jedi…" The man on the throne began to say before the scene began to fade to black, forcing Bastila's mind out of the memory and back into the present.
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"What happened?" She asked, but not before silence had ruled the room for more than a minute. Looking back at her, Revan's eyes were unlike anything she had ever seen from the man. It was the look of fear that she had seen on some of the veterans of both wars, men and women that had been utterly broken by the horrors they had been forced to witness.
"The thing that was out there, beyond the Rim, the thing that corrupted myself and Malak, that was it. Even though it was memory, I could feel the power of the Dark Side coursing through him, his presence alone nearly overwhelming me."
"Who was it?"
"A Sith. Not just the ones that we've been dealing with, but like the one that possessed Anarra. A True Sith, a species that's very existence is in the Dark Side. They know things that we could never even possibly imagine."
"And he corrupted you." Bastila replied, taking a few steps towards Revan and gazing into his eyes. "Forced you against the very thing you swore to protect. The very thing you went to War to save."
"I can't explain how it felt. It was like having the Galaxy opened up to your mind, to be able to see everything for what it really was." Revan answered, resting his hands on his wife's shoulders.
"It was seeing both sides of the Force."
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Space. The black mass stretched out forever in every direction. Behind her, Centari Val could feel the energies of the ship's personnel as they worked on keeping the ship on its correct course. The ship itself was only a few years old, and they were still trying to break it in. Well, this should be quite adequate she thought to herself. They had gone far out beyond their Empire's reach. Behind her, she could hear the door to the bridge open, and another dark presence entered the room. It silently approached her, Centari's only warning that the presence was there was through the Force.
"What is it?" she said, not even bothering to face whoever had dared disturb her meditation.
"Lady Val, there are still no signs of the Jedi freighter. Surely it made the hyperspace jump blind, and was destroyed when it crashed into an asteroid." Vorteck answered, bowing slightly as he finished his sentence.
"No Vorteck, they are indeed alive. Trust the Force." The answer sent a wave of resentment through him, she could sense it. He had always distrusted her, from the day she had taken command of the Tulak Hord, his ship. Sighing, he muttered something underneath his breath. Opening her eyes, Centari turned to face him, her cloak twirling behind her.
"What was that? I don't think I heard you right." She could see him look away, not wanting to look into her eyes. The same eyes that hundreds had looked into in their last moments. He resented her, and yet, he feared her.
"Never mumble in my presence again, or it will be the last choice you ever make." As she focused her rage onto him, she felt small pangs of pain on her face, where her new tattoos were still slowly becoming accustomed to her skin.
"Yes, m'lady." He said, his head pointed down towards the floor. She wouldn't let him escape from her that easily.
"Look at me, Vorteck." She commanded, pulling back her tunic's hood. "Look into my eyes and say that." He slowly raised his head, his eyes stopping on her chest, and then he refused to go any higher.
"Vorteck, LOOK at me! I will not ask again." Her hand fell to her saber, informing him that she was not toying with him. This time, he raised his head to its full height, meeting her eye to eye. She felt repulsion emanate from him. She was truly enjoying watching him squirm.
"Now, what was that you said?" she said, using the Force to immobilize his body, literally forcing him to continue to look directly into her yellow eyes despite any other action the man wanted to take.
"I…I…" he stuttered, trying to force his legs to move. Centari crossed her arms, obviously annoyed.
"What's the matter? Gizka got your tongue?"
"I was remarking that…that it was foolish for us to follow such an insignificant freighter." Silence adorned the room. None of the common soldiers dared to even breath. Slowly a smile began to appear on Centari's face, following by a few bursts of laughter. The soldiers closest to her moved away. They had a vague idea of what was going to happen next.
"Is that so? Well, let's just turn the ship around then, if you're so sure that this mission is so insignificant." Almost as soon as her sentence was finished, Vorteck felt his throat gripped by an invisible hand. The air was rapidly escaping from his lungs.
"But then again, who is in command here Vorteck?" Centari said, not even bating an eyelash as Vorteck was slowly being choking to death. She sighed at the lack of response, and tightened her grip.
"WHO IS IN COMMAND HERE?" she screamed at him, making sure that he had completely heard the question.
"y-y-y-you!" Vorteck managed to spit out. Satisfied with the answer, Centari released her mental grip on Vorteck. He collapsed to the floor, his lungs screaming for air. Such a weakling Centari thought to herself as she pulled her hood back over her gleaming blonde hair. She gave him another short glance and then turned back to her viewport.
"Get off of my bridge." She said. Slowly, she heard him walk back towards the door. Closing her eyes again, she let her mind drift away yet again.
PostPosted:Sun Dec 09, 2012 7:31 pm
by Buffy's Shadow
Chapter 2
As the sound of the com-system cut through the calm of the early Kashyyyk morning, Revan groaned as the ringing echoed without end through his brain. Throwing his legs over the side of his bed, he made his way towards the console and resisted the urge to utterly destroy the machine.
"Ebon Hawk here." He said, rubbing his eyes in an attempt to see more clearly. In front of him, the blue hologram form of Yuthura Bann appeared, the light casting a few shadows across the room in the process.
"Revan, I trust that I haven't interrupted you?" The former Sith asked, the tone of her voice showing sincere concern.
"No, I'm just a little slagged this morning. What does the Council want?"
"They've received a distress signal from one of our freighters. They wish you to investigate it due to it being extremely close to your position."
"How close? I just overhauled the Hawk's hyperdrive, and I haven't had the chance to properly break it in."
"Close to the edge of the Rim."
"That might be cutting it a little close." Revan replied, thinking for a few moments about how much force the hyperdrive could take. "Tell the Council we'll see what we can do." Giving a quick nod of approval, Yuthura's form disappeared from sight as the hologram faded away. Shutting down the machine, Revan turned back towards the bed, intending on at least trying to get a few more minutes of sleep if possible.
"They just can't stand to leave us alone, can they?" Bastila asked, her eyes still closed as she lay on her back beneath the sheets. Giving a sigh of disbelief, Revan nevertheless joined her.
"You figure that they would have realized that they will never regain our trust in them." He said, closing his eyes as his head hit the pillow. "Not after all they've done to the both of us in the past two years."
"Nomi and Vima have at least noticed it. The rest seem to be completely oblivious to it."
"Those two are the only Masters on the Council with a head that's not completely warped across the Outer Rim and back." His eyes still closed, he felt Bastila's arm wrapping around his chest as she pulled herself closer to him.
"Do you think we should at least start preparing the ship for hyperspace?" She asked, laying her head against his shoulder.
"It'll take at least an hour to do that. I'll have T3 start a systems check. I don't want the hyperdrive to be pushed too hard until we've properly broken her in."
"Alright."
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"T3, how are the engines holding up?" Revan asked, throwing his voice down the hallway towards where the small astromech droid was still running his checks of the Hawk's systems. Ever since their escape from Taris, the droid and the ship's hyperdrive had developed somewhat of a relationship, as strange as the thought was. Revan had heard of the situation only once before, and since it had come from the mouth of a drunken cargo-transporter pilot, he hadn't given the tale much serious thought. Now, however, he could see that there was a shred of truth in the man's statements.
As Kashyyyk's clouds parted and opened up to the grand blackness of space, the Ebon Hawk's engines fully kicked in and the ship pushed forwards towards the Jedi freighter's last reported position. Yuthura had relayed more information regarding the situation to the Hawk's computer, and as the data flashed past her eyes, Bastila turned her chair forward once again as she prepared the ship-to-ship scanners.
"Any more interesting information?" Revan asked, his eyes never leaving the console before him as he continued to run various checks on the ship's systems.
"Nothing particularly interesting. The Council deemed us unworthy of having a complete idea of the events."
"Typical." Was the Knight's answer as he finally raised his head to face the view of space that stretched out as far as the naked eye could see. The freighter's last reported position continued to flash on the map at his side as the ship still continued on its path, cutting through space like a knife.
"Any other signals from the ship, like distress signals or burst transmissions?"
"None." Bastila answered, her attention still focused on the ship's sensors.
"How long has it been since anyone received a transmission from them?"
"Close to a few hours now. Hopefully we're not too late to pull anyone off of it."
"There it is." Revan said, leaning back into his chair as the damaged freighter grew closer and closer ahead of them. Across every inch of the freighter's surface, the unmistakable sight of blackened blaster marks continued without end. The comlink between the two vessels remained utterly silent, with not even a hint of static to add to the silence within the Ebon Hawk's cockpit.
"Still nothing on the comlink." Bastila said, raising her head in Revan's direction. "I'll keep trying to raise them."
"T3, get me a scan on that ship!" As his master's voice reached his audio-receptors, T3 beeped an affirmative and wheeled his body towards the ship's scanners.
"Do you think anyone's still alive?"
"Possibly. Who knows, maybe whatever attacked it knocked out its com-dish. We won't know until we get on-board." Returning to his feet, Revan moved towards the back of the ship, grabbing the medical pack off of the wall in the process. Giving one last glance at the ship's scanners, Bastila rushed after him, leaving T3 to assume control of the ship while they boarded the damaged freighter. As they neared the loading ramp, the two Jedi Knights equipped their breath masks, and with a simple nod, Revan lowered the boarding ramp. Ahead of them, the freighter continued to lay motionless, its own loading ramp slightly ajar as it floated in space.
The freighter's loading ramp was only a feet away from the edge of the Hawk, and as the two Jedi reached the end of their boarding ramp, they secured a small line to the Hawk, and then, they jumped. Their bodies flew through space for a precious few seconds before the cold metal of the Jedi freighter's boarding ramp was within their grasp.
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The hull of the freighter was utterly silent as the two Knights continued into it, their lightsabers kept within close reach. A slight 'fog' covered every inch of the floor, its source coming from deeper inside the ship. Giving the room one last glance, the two Knights unhooked the lines fitted around their ankles.
"Where is everyone?" Revan asked, his voice sounding somewhat metallic due to the breath mask still fitted over his face.
"Help." The voice came out of the darkness, followed by the bloodied hulk of what could only be a Twi'lek. A breath mask covered his own face, but the bleeding wound in his side betrayed any confidence he may have had in his situation. Rushing to his side, Revan and Bastila slowly helped the alien to a sitting position against the cold metallic floor.
"What happened?"
"Sith war-cruiser, came out of hyperspace…ahead of us."
"A Sith war-cruiser?"
"Not like anything we've ever seen before. It looked more…ancient." The Twi'lek hissed slightly as Bastila applied pressure to the wound in his ribs.
"Describe it to me." Revan said, his voice deadpanning despite the breath-mask.
"It was pure black, with jagged edges all along the bridge. Its turbo-lasers fired so quickly we couldn't even get our shields up in time."
"Just calm yourself. We're going to get you out of here. Are they any others on board that are still alive?"
"I don't think so. We all got hit pretty bad when the turbo-lasers got past our shields. I was lucky enough to throw up a shield in the Force before the full impact hit us."
"I'm going to check it out, wait here." Revan said, taking a cautious run into the deeper bowls of the ship. As his footsteps began to fade, Bastila turned her full attention back to helping the younger Jedi before her.
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The hallways before him were just as empty as the ones before had been, and as he continued along his path, Revan reached out with the Force, trying to sense any other presences still alive aboard the ship. All around him, the area was deathly silent.
"Hello?" He shouted out, hoping his voice would stir any Jedi trying to hide his or her presence in the Force.
"Jedi." As the voice echoed inside his head, Revan felt his blood freeze as he recognized the exact voice. It had been in one of his memories, the voice of the True Sith, here within Known Space.
"Jedi." Again the voice called out to him, begging him to follow it to its origin. Willing his body to move, Revan turned and pushed his body for all the strength he could muster. As he reached the spot where Bastila continued to try and heal the Jedi's wounds, he landed hard on his knees, but he ignored the pain.
"Bastila, we need to go, now." He said, his voice sounding almost entirely unlike his own.
"What's wrong?" She asked, helping the Jedi to his feet nevertheless.
"I'll explain on the ship, just come on!" Wrapping the Jedi's arm around his shoulder, Revan pushed the group back towards the ship, his heart racing with each step he took. Not once in his life could he ever remember feeling this much fear racing through his body.
"You didn't think I'd let you go without seeing the truth, did you, Jedi?" The voice erupted through the hull of the ship, its sound no longer simply contained within Revan's mind. Turning her head in an attempt to see the source of the voice, Bastila's senses instantly became alert to the feeling of danger that was spreading quickly throughout the hull of the ship.
"Revan, what's going on?"
"Have a taste of what the future holds for both of you, Jedi." As the words faded away, the ship grew silent once more. And then, the overwhelming pain overtook every inch of both of the Jedi's senses, overwhelming every part of their bodies. The two dropped to their knees in pain, and as the vision spread through their vision, the pain only grew worse.
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All around them, Coruscant was on fire, the streets crowded with the dead and the dying, both Jedi and civilians. Taking a cautious step forward, Revan could still hear every individual scream that flowed through the air, allowing no place for silence to take reign. He recognized every one of the faces, for they were the same individuals that haunted his dreams every night, haunted the memories that returned to him and anchored themselves in his mind.
The sky above them was blood red, with only the sound of fighters passing overhead disturbing the constant color. All around him, the Force was nothing but pain and suffering, the emotion that each being in front of him was feeling echoing throughout his own mind, allowing him no thoughts for himself. He couldn't sense Bastila through their bond, and as he tried to, he found the bond to be only another echo, the feelings shared between them lying broken and shattered in his mind.
He passed the bodies, wandering the streets as they continued to blaze, consuming every inch of a beings life. Lives that had been made here with only sweat and hope now lay shattered for all time, with no hope to ever rebuild. And as the Jedi Knight watched the flames continue to blaze, he could only sense the realization that all of this was his doing. Whatever had caused this untold destruction, he had brought it here in a way, had let the evil know where this all existed.
Everything was his fault. And as the realization ran through his mind, Revan died inside, over and over again.
"Revan." The voice echoed to him, the sound of it unmistakable despite the sound of the screams all around them. As he turned to the source, he found Anarra standing there, her clothes and hands covered with the red color of blood.
"You could have stopped this; you could have just given them what they wanted."
"What?"
"You could have just given yourself to them."
As the vision faded away from the Jedi's eyes, Revan and Bastila found everything around them to be utterly silent, the effect unnerving them. As she slowly returned to her feet, Bastila looked at her husband with genuine fear in her eyes.
"I think we need to go to Coruscant."
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As they moved through the halls of the Temple, Revan could already feel the overwhelming nervousness circling through Bastila's mind, the same emotion that was running through his own. Despite the decision that the Council had reached, both of them knew what they had seen in the vision. Something was coming, and it was without a doubt the thing that had haunted his memories. Whatever he had found out in the Unknown Regions, it was on its way here.
"I don't care what they say, there's something coming. You saw it just as well as I did." He said, trying to keep his emotions under control. He couldn't really explain what he was feeling, whether it was fear, anxiety, or simply the need to actually do something instead of sitting around waiting for this enemy to come and attack them.
"I agree. Despite Master Vandar's valid point that Force visions can be interpreted many ways, the one we witnessed didn't leave much in the way of alternatives. There is something coming, and we need to be prepared. I can't believe that the Council doesn't see that."
"After the last two wars, you think the Council would at least see that they can't be right about everything." Revan replied, his lightsaber swinging slightly on his belt. As they continued down the hallway, they passed several Padawans that stared openly at them, no doubt in some form of awe, considering their unofficial statuses as war heroes. The two had tried repeatedly to live the titles down, but each attempt had proved useless as the public continued to come up with new rumors and stories regarding them, some of them true, and some of them false. Carth hadn't been spared from the treatment either, although he seemed to ignore it as he continued to control his fleet above Telos, where the restoration effort was still in it's early stages.
"We need to find Anarra. She has to be still on this planet somehere."
"Do you think she's going to be a part of what's to come?"
"Possibly. She was in the vision."
"True."
"Still, at least we can get back to Vaner and Kera now, as much as I trust Mission with them, I'd still feel better at least being in the same room with them." Revan said, changing the subject in order to get some of the frustration off of his mind. As Bastila smiled back at him, they continued to make their way down the hallway, heading towards the entrance to the speeder bike landing pads. The mass of apprentices and padawans still moving past them, nothing seemed out of the ordinary.
In an instant, that changed. He remembered the sound of the explosion, the sound momentarily deafening him as he was thrown to the ground by the force of the blast. All around him, the hallway was carpeted with black smoke, the substance forcing its way into his lungs, causing him to cough as his lungs attempted to get more oxygen into his body. As his hearing started to return, a ringing still present in his ears, he could hear various individual screaming and shouting, some of them in pain, and some of them searching for help.
Looking around himself, his first thoughts were to find Bastila, and as he searched for her presence through their bond, he was met with an un-nerving silence. Struggling to move, he could feel what could only be bits of shrapnel imbedded in his right leg, the pain coursing through his body as he tried to move. Still, he pushed on, using the Force to subdue the pain enough that he could move without having to stop.
She was close by; he could at least still sense her through the Force. As he continued to pull himself across the floor towards her, the smoke making his eyes water and his lungs erupt into flames, his hearing continued to ring, his eardrums being bombarded by the increasing number of shouting. The rest of the Temple had finally managed to get down here, medical personnel no doubt here as well, with more on the way from other various sources across the city.
Finally he reached her, his heart dropping into the bottom of his stomach the minute he set his eyes on her. The front of her tunic was covered in the unmistakable dark red color of blood. As he struggled into a sitting position, he held her head against his knee as he tried to get a better look at her wounds. From what he could see, her left side had taken most of the damage from the blast, as evident by some of the shards of shrapnel still visible from where they protruded out of her rips.
His mind raced in every direction as he continued to look at her. Behind him, he could hear some of the medics already arriving, one of them rushing to his side. Looking over at him, Revan could see his lips moving, but yet, none of the words seemed to make sense inside his brain. The only thought that continued to circle around his brain was that he was holding the love of his life, her blood sticking to his hands and his clothes, her breathing shallow but still there.
He remembered the medics taking her out of his grip, moving her onto a nearby stretcher and then shuffling her out of his sight, the confusion around him continuing to grow with each passing second. One of the other medics also arrived at his side, asking to take a look at his leg. Leaning back against the wall behind him, Revan closed his eyes, trying to center himself in the growing chaos.
