Knights Of The Old Republic: Darkness Falls

[JasraLantill]

Jasra rubbed her forehead. Bulkhead floors were indeed hard. She was just making her way to the cockpit to chastise Atton about his extreme flying, when she saw Crystal sitting in the navigator’s chair. She paused.

 

She couldn’t get a grip on Crystal’s new appearance, never mind the fact that Crystal had ‘floated’ past her just a few moments before. Jasra was grateful that Crystal had saved her from the alien, but she was still in disbelief with all that had happened in the last hour. She decided it best to go to the dormitory and get some well-needed rest.

 

She sat down on the bed. Sig. Togo. Kira. Brax. Crystal. Master Kelva. She tried to calm the raw emotions that so desperately wanted to surface.

 

Seeing Sig again, the squalor that she had once endured… The crude comments, and leering looks….

 

And how could she have been so naïve? Working for a droid? A droid!...

 

And the look in Kira’s eyes when she was holding that shard, and the things she had said…

 

Jasra shivered.

 

Then there was Brax, the blue shredder. He had been right about one thing. She had been foolish to try and hold him there on her own. And greedy to learn his Dark secrets…

 

And Crystal…

 

Jasra bit her lip. Stop it, she told herself. You’re supposed to be tough.

 

Crystal had saved her, no doubt. But if Brax hadn’t viewed them as a mere annoyance, the outcome could have been rather different. She had froze when Crystal had suddenly appeared, looking remarkably similar to Master Kelva.

 

A tear slipped out of the corner of her eye.

 

Froze when she should have attacked. The very same thing she had done that had distracted Kelva.

 

She couldn’t hold back the tears any longer.

 

And got her killed.

 

She buried her head in the pillow and began to sob uncontrollably and very un-Jedi like.

[The Doctor]

((Forget this post, please. It make no sense.))

[ForceFightWMe12]

((OOC: Er...she's gone now, Doc ))

 

IC:

 

Kira left the medical bay, followed by Disciple, and nodded to the Doctor as she proceeded to the cockpit.

"So, where are we headed?" she asked, Atton, glancing at the blue light that had currently filled the viewscreen.

"Manaan, for now. I had to make a random jump; our little friend was still taging along. I dunno about you, but I'm getting really tired of our 'stowaway'."

"Hmm," Kira said in affermation, then glanced to the person sitting in the co-pilot seat before returning her gaze to the entrancing, shimmering blue. She did a double take.

"C-Crystal??" she asked in surprise, "Is that you?"

[Writer]

Crystal laughed. "Y'know, Kira, you're the first person to actually recognize me without being told who I am."

 

She nodded. "Yes, it's me."

[ForceFightWMe12]

As Crystal turned to face her, Kira noticed the smallest trace of gold around her iris...and had remembered what her eyes looked like when she stole a glance at herself in a mirror while on the exam table.

"You...you touched the shard, didn't you?"

[Writer]

Crystal's smile faded and she nodded. "More than touched it... had my hand fully wrapped around the dsaby thing..."

 

She stood. "It changed us in different ways, though. My change was purely physical while yours seemed to be mental." She fell silent for a moment before asking, "How do you feel now?"

[ForceFightWMe12]

"I feel...exhausted." Kira replied, "But normal." Whatever 'normal' means. she thought, crossing her arms and leaning against Atton's headrest.

 

The Scoundrel listened intently to the two's conversation, but refrained from saying anything. He could tell that Kira didn't want to talk by the way her voice sounded. For the moment, he resolved himself to ask Crystal after the Exile had left.

[Writer]

"Well you were shot with five stun blasts," Crystal offered helpfully. "That's enough to exhaust anyone. Perhaps you'd best get some rest. We can talk more later."

[ForceFightWMe12]

"How long until we reach Manaan?" Kira asked Atton.

"Not for about half an hour." he said, "And Crystal's right. You've more than enough time to rest."

"Alright, alright," Kira said, a tired smile coming to her lips, "Before all you mother hens start pecking me, I'll be in the dormitory." she said, and left.

 

"Exactly what happened back at the cantina?" Atton asked Crystal, after making sure Kira was out of ear shot, "And what is this crystal thing?"

 

The Exile peered at her reflection in the mirror, taking several minutes to study her eyes and make sure that the gold was gone. It was the shard that had done that to her, she was positive. She sighed after a few moments, and stood, taking the band from her hair, the weight of the Doctor's tracer lying heavily in her hand, and again sending her back to earlier that day. She remembered how Jasra had lunged at her. She knew now that the bounty huntress was just trying to activate the tracer's signal, but Kira had seen it as an attempt to take the shard from her...and she had attacked Jasra.

The Exile shook her head, banishing the memories. She continued to undress, taking her cloak off, then her outer robes, before lying down on her bunk, and pulling the covers over her head.

Stop the galaxy, she thought, I want to get off.

[Writer]

"Kira and Jasra went in," Crystal answered. "Jasra's droid employer came out and showed a shard of something called the 'Key to the Galaxy' to them."

 

She sighed. "I suppose now's as good a time as any to explain what little I know about it. The Key is powerful enough to regulate the harmonics of all the galaxy's life. Jasra's employer wants Kira to find the other four pieces, as the Key will not work separated. Joined, it has the potential of being very dangerous."

 

She shrugged. "Anyway, as I know it, Kira took the shard and it, for lack of a better word, changed her. She was consumed by greed and insisted on keeping the shard. In the end, she failed and I think we're all better off for it."

 

"Kira and Jasra were forced out of the room and I ran in," she went on. "I'm still not sure why, but, I grabbed the shard. Then, I got hit from behind with what I can only assume was a stun beam. I woke up back in the TARDIS, Kira was unconscious, and Jasra was missing. So I ran off to look for Jasra and got there looking like this."

 

She leaned back in the chair. "Quite a lot of excitement, don't you think?"

[The Doctor]

The Doctor stepped into the cockpit. *I hear we're on course for Manann?* he said. *Excellent. I allways loved that planet - never had to worry about the Master there, or a Dalek invasion.*

[ForceFightWMe12]

"More excitement than usual, that's for sure." Atton said, leaning back just as Crystal had done, putting his feet up on the dash. "Come to think of it," he said, a small yawn escaping his lips, "I'm pretty beat too."

"Oh, yeah," Crystal began jokingly, "I'm sure that waiting in the TARDIS all that time took a lot out of you."

"Well yeah, having to listen to the Doc and watch his two...none-too-bad looking assitants run around for an hour or so gets pretty tiring, you know?"

Atton had just closed his eyes...when...

"I hear we're on course for Manann?" the Doctor said, coming into the cockpit. "Excellent. I allways loved that planet - never had to worry about the Master there, or a Dalek invasion."

Atton's eyes opened at once, and he sighed. "Manaan. Yeah. Great place. Uh-huh."

[Writer]

Crystal made a face at the mention of Manaan, but said nothing.

[The Doctor]

*Is that a note of sarcasim I hear, mr. Rand?* said the Doctor, smiling. *And stop yawning. You have no reason to be tired. All you did was sit in the TARDIS the whole time.*

[ForceFightWMe12]

"Well, making sure that the Hawk doesn't crash and burn, plus having to add up all those numbers when I was playing pazzak with Disciple and Tegan--"

[The Doctor]

*Yes, sitting and counting can both be quiet demanding at times, can't they?* responded the Doctor. *Crystal, I was wondering... Jasra mentioned something about a 'Key to the Galaxy'. What do you know of their conversation with this 'Togo'?*

[Writer]

"Very little," Crystal answered thoughtfully. "Togo has a shard of the Key and wants Kira to find the rest... I got that just from reading their minds. Past that, I really don't know what they spoke of."

[The Doctor]

*Yes, that's what Jasra told me...* he said. *Well, perhaps I will speak with Kira when she returns. I'll let her rest for now - she needs it.*

[3yks]

"Well, there was little I could do to spare your facility Togo," he didn't sound like he cared one way or the other. "You know that killing Revan is my only goal." At about this time Atton was spotting him on the Hawk's radar. So, Brax launched the probe, it shot through space and latched onto the ship. "I would have had him if it wasn't for that ... Doctor character. I have no idea what he is, but he's not a human. I killed him, and he's back now."

 

But it didn't matter wether his tracer had hit or not, since he could track Jasra directly. "Up until I kill Revan, we have a deal ... after that, I'll probably keep up the deal. I kind of like that errand girl of yours. She has potential, her emotions are very clear ... with some training she would make a very good Zedai."

 

Brax set a course for Manaan, and closed his eyes, letting his droid finish the jump to Hyperspace. "I'll keep you informed Togo."

[The Doctor]

Revan sat in the gunner station of the Ebon Hawk. He watched as the small, sleek ship pursued them, and he could sense the beast on board it. He reached out with the Force, trying to learn more about it. All he felt was a powerful hatred and rage directed towards him. He grabbed hold of the wall just in time as the lurched into hyperspace. Judging by the sudden shift, instead of the smooth transition, he knew that the pilot had set a random jump. He stared into the depths of the hyperspace corridor. It was impossible to tell where they were going. He closed his eyes, ket the Jedi code flow through him, and entered deep meditation.

 

*No, Kira must rest,* said the Doctor. *But perhaps Jasra may be able to answer some of my questions. Computer, lo-* he stopped himself. *I don't suppose you've installed that, have you? Oh, I'll just look for her,* he said, leaving the cockpit.

[JasraLantill]

Jasra had had a good cry in the solitude of the dorm. She was thankful that no one had seen her. She got up, dried her eyes, and went to check herself in the mirror.

 

She sighed. She looked rough. And she didn’t feel right. She hadn’t touched the crystal, but…

 

Her left hand went to feel her right upper arm. It was sore. She wasn’t quite sure, but she didn’t think that the ache was caused from her brief battle with Brax, but she couldn't think of how else she would have gotten injured there. She shook her head and sighed again. Suppose it didn’t matter much.

 

She smoothed her shoulder-length dark hair as best she could, straightened her tunic, and washed her face. Ready to find out what plans had been made for Manaan, she headed out into the main hold.

[The Doctor]

The Doctor met Jasra part way between the cockpit and the dormitory.

*Ah, Jasra, I was won- are you alright?*

[JasraLantill]

She sniffed, then let out a breath. "Yes. Fine. Is there something you needed, Doctor?"

[The Doctor]

*Yes, as a matter of fact, there is,* he said. *I need you to tell me all you can about this 'Key to the Galaxy'. I have heard of something similar, and if this is what I think it is, then we are all in grave danger...*

[ForceFightWMe12]

"Alright..." Atton yawned again, "Looks like I won't get much rest here. You alright keeping track of stuff up here?" he asked Crystal. Hardly waiting for a response, he stood and left the cockpit. He continued through the coridors into the dormitory where Kira was already asleep. As he spotted her, he stopped in the doorway and...just watched her. She was peacful, for the most part. Though everyonce in a while she would shiver or her face would screw up, as if having a nightmare.

His sleep forgotten, the Scoundrel was content to simply sit on the ground next to her bunk, and watch the Exile sleep.

 

~*~*~

 

The Key to the Galaxy? the Disciple wondered as he cleaned the med bay and took stock of his medical supplies, Why haven't I ever heard of it before? After all my years studying the galaxy...

Having finished his job, the blonde haired Jedi leaned back against the wall, staring into space. After a moment, his knees buckled, and he slid to a sitting position on the floor.

I hope this Shard hasn't harm her permanently...