Knights Of The Old Republic: Darkness Falls

[ForceFightWMe12]

"Um, yeah." Kira said, seeing the men in the orange and gold armor of the Republic running towards them.

She quickly ran to one of the floating, black vehicles, its hatch already open. She dashed across its steel surface, jumping into the seat. She was quickly followed by Crystal, and the hatch closed.

"Well, this will be fun." she murmured, and warmed up the engines, allowing the sub to descend beneath the lapping waves, ignoring the yells of the Republic soldiers.

[Writer]

"I can hear their thoughts," Crystal laughed. "They're wondering how the hell we got in and what we want with their submersible... and they're damn freaked about our sudden appearance. Not something you see everyday, you know... two women just appearing out of thin air and taking your submersible?"

 

She laughed. "They'll have something to talk about for weeks on end!"

[ForceFightWMe12]

Kira gave a half-smile.

"Glad to know that I'll be the subject of Republic gossip. Again."

The submersible carved through the water, its headlights peircing the swirling blackness. She ignored the navigational tools. The Shard was all the direction she needed. It was calling to her, and she could sense it. By following its power, she would be able to locate and pinpoint the position of it.

[Writer]

Crystal gave a little half laugh.

 

"Interesting, isn't it?" she said quietly. "How the two people who probably shouldn't be touching this shard are the ones most likely to do so?"

 

She sighed. "I hope you brought gloves, Kira... we really shouldn't touch it if at all possible. If necessary, I'll simply carry it out telekinetically, but we shouldn't allow our skin to touch it if possible."

[ForceFightWMe12]

Kira's expression hardened, her sparkling eyes becoming dark. "I...The Shard scares me." she admited quietly, "I fear that once we get there, I won't be able to resist its impulse, its call. I fear...I fear it will control me again." she cast a glance to Crystal, "And if it does, I beg of you not to interfere. Don't try and take the Shard from me. If you do...I don't know if I'll be able to stop myself from attacking and...perhaps even killing you. And I don't want to have to live with that."

[Writer]

"If it will help you, I can keep it out of your reach," Crystal said quietly. "And if necessary, I can prevent you from attacking me. Try to touch me now."

 

Kira's hand ran into an invisible barrier. "You will not harm me, even if you wanted to try."

[ForceFightWMe12]

Kira fought with herself. She couldn't allow Crystal to take the shard...but was that out of fear for her friend, or out of her own greed?

"Perhaps...perhaps I should just take the Shard." she said quietly. She reached into a pouch on her belt, and pulled out a small, bottle-looking container. "I won't even need to touch it. I can just scoop it into here," she said removing its lid, "And that way, neither of us will have to come in contact with it."

[Writer]

Crystal hesitated. "Alright," she said slowly. "That might work."

[ForceFightWMe12]

"I hope it does," Kira said, as the sub dove deeper into the waves of Manaan.

[JasraLantill]

Jasra had heard Kira and Crystal talking on the ramp, but after a few moments, they went silent. Frowning, she hopped down from the table and went to investigate.

 

Strange, they weren't on the ramp. She did a quick check of the ship. Bao-Dur in engineering. Karda in the main hold. But no Kira and no Crystal.

 

"Karda?" she asked, since he was the only one there. "Did you hear Kira's voice a minute ago? Where did she go?"

 

Before Karda could answer, a Selkath official called to them from the ramp.

 

In a few moments, Karda and Jasra were being led to the Selkath courts.

 

Jasra was called inside first, but after a few minutes, she was sent outside.

 

"Mind trick all except Duula and Kota, and you'll be fine," she whispered to Karda in passing, as he was led inside to face the Selkath Judges.

[RobQel-Droma]

Karda, rather suprised, grinned and went in to meet the judges.

[Dylan Klay]

"so I noticed," he remarked about the Force fields. "Well, ya'll got any better ideas? I don't much have faith in this planet's legal system"

[3yks]

Brax, had figured that manaan's police forces were ... semi-intelligent. Boy was he wrong, he had papers and all saying he had landed AFTER the killing had happened, had infact showed them to the guards who arrested him. He wanted ot just kill them, but ... decided to play along for now. He did manage to keep his gauntlet's though. Since the guards somehow didn't notice them. And so, Brax, handcuffed, was led into the prison, where Atton, Disciple, Teagan, Nyssa, The Doctor, and a number of others were all being held. He smiled at them, winked at the Doctor, and sat down in his cell.

 

(This should be amusing )

[The Doctor]

*You*! yelled the Doctor! *Officers! That's him! The Omwati!*

"You killed Revan!" yelled Tegan. "Why?"

[JasraLantill]

One of the Selkath guards approached the Doctor’s cell and slammed his Force Pike against the security field, causing it to spark wildly. “Be silent!” he hissed. “You will have your time in court.”

 

“How do you know this is the same Omwati that murdered the deceased?” asked another. “It is recorded that you did not personally witness the crime!”

 

~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Jasra had managed to convince the Selkath Judges, (well, three out of the five, and that’s all she had needed) that while it was true she had been on the ship with Revan, she hadn’t seen him leave the ship and she had been in the cantina when he was killed. With a little persuasive mind trick and the timestamp on her betting slip, she had even managed to ‘prove’ it to them.

 

Even though she guessed Karda wouldn’t be long, he might be in there long enough for her to swing by the cantina to collect her winnings. But as she headed across the atrium, she couldn’t help notice a commotion going on around the corner. Curious, she walked toward it and found herself just outside the holding cells where a few agitated Selkath guards were trying to settle down some equally agitated prisoners. As she peered in through the open doorway, her eyes widened.

 

Brax! And the Doctor, Tegan, & Nyssa, and some other unsavoury looking blonde character, and Atton and the Disciple, were all locked in Force cages, arguing with the Selkath….

 

Wait a minute… Her eyes rolled back to the stranger. She scowled, and wrinkled her nose. His Force signature was unmistakable. Oh, no! Not another one! First the Jedi send me away, then disappear and abandon me, and now they are seeping out of every crack in the Galaxy big enough for a yelt rat! She rolled her eyes. Unbelievable.

 

She left the corridor and found herself a quiet place just outside the entrance to the courts by the atrium fountains where she could sit and think while she waited for Karda, as it was very likely he, too, could finagle his way out of detention. Her head began to hurt. What if he didn’t? Kira and Crystal were missing, and the rest of the crew, and Brax, were all in Selkath custody. And now there was this other Jedi on the scene, and he, too, was incarcerated. Things were not looking good.

 

And what was worse, is that even though she knew in her heart that Brax had killed Revan, she wanted to help Brax escape. How could he train her when he was locked up? But she couldn’t help him. Not now. Not with the others watching.

 

She knew that the accused would all be assigned arbiters. The Selkath Judges had told her as much when she had been brought before them. But who was she to ask the courts to be assigned to represent her companions as such? She was a mercenary, a dancer, a courier for disreputable merchants and thugs. She knew nothing of Selkath law or diplomacy. And she was no Jedi. Only a misguided, padawan learner with no Master and no faith in the Order. What could she possibly do to help them?

[RobQel-Droma]

After successfully persuading the judges, (and having a bit of fun doing it), Karda walked out rather in a good mood. But as he came out of the room, something attracted his attention, and he felt through the force into the nearby room.

 

That creature was there, the Omwati... The beast who had murdered one of the greatest Jedi ever to walk the galaxy... And the Doctor, probably with one of his assistants... Then... another force-sensitive? And Atton and the Disciple.

 

Not really wanting to get in the middle of the conversation, or be near the Omwati, he walked around the courtyard waiting for them and keeping an eye - or rather his mind - on them. He spotted Jasra, who seemed a bit distressed, and went over to join her. "Are you alright?"

[JasraLantill]

”Are you alright?” Karda asked Jasra, as he sat down beside her.

 

Jasra was relieved that he had escaped being thrown into a cell with the others, but sitting this close to him, being bombarded with the resonance of his lightside Force Aura, was bringing back painful memories of Master Kelva and Jasra’s subsequent feelings of abandonment by the Order. Suddenly, she felt ashamed of some of the very un-Jedi like behaviour and decisions she had made, and that feeling was making it difficult for her to hide her thoughts, control her emotions, and think logically.

 

“No,” she blurted, keeping her eyes focused on the ripples in the fountain. They abruptly reminded her of the ripples she remembered from the Room of the Thousand Fountains in the Jedi Temple. Another painful memory.

 

“Revan is dead. Kira and Crystal are missing. The shard is still out there. Everyone else is locked up in the Selkath holding cells. Except you.” She glanced at him, then turned her eyes back to the water. “And you’re a… you’re a Jedi. I can’t trust you. Yet, you’re the only one here.” She paused. “So, no, I’m not alright. I'm confused and I don't know what I should do.”

[RobQel-Droma]

"I know how you're feeling. I feel the same way. But you have to trust me." He said. "I'm the only one here, like you said. And if you don't trust me, then we will always be watching each other for betrayal."

 

Karda pused for a moment. "If you don't mind me asking... Why don't you trust the Jedi."

[JasraLantill]

"Because Jedi lie," she said bitterly. "They say one thing, and do another. They give hope, and then take it away. They promise to protect, and then they abandon. Who can trust someone like that?"

[RobQel-Droma]

"The Jedi do not lie - they protect, and they do give hope. The darkest times in the galaxy have been given hope by the Jedi Order. Why do you believe this?"

[JasraLantill]

Jasra frowned. "They didn't give any hope to me in my darkest time," she said quietly. She shifted uncomfortably, slightly turning her back to Karda. "They didn't protect me. Or Kelva. They sent us away. They sent all of us away. They used us as bait to protect themselves from the Sith." She paused for a moment. "And then they disappeared," she said distantly. "They said they'd come back for us, but they lied. They never did. They just...left. Empty places. Quiet corridors. Silent fountains. They just left. So, I left them."

[3yks]

Brax smirked faintly at the Doctor. "What's an Omwati? Sir? Officer sI have no idea what this man is talkinga bout. Omwati? Have you ever heard of such a race? I'm a chiss." He did look a bit like a chiss ... just thinner, lither and his eyes were off in coloring. But what the hell did a selkath know about Omwati OR Chiss for that matter.

 

"Sir, your accusations are unfounded, as the Judges will see as soon as I enter the chamber. I have my documents stating that I was not even ON this planet when the supposed murder took place. I only just arrived a few minutes prior to my arrest."

 

He nodded slowly, and winked at the Doctor. "And if who was murdered, was infact, Revan, then there is no way I could have killed him. I am but a humble merchant, I know nothing of combat." The doctor could see those glowing red claws on the ends of Brax's hands ... nothing of combat? The man moved like a predatory cat, but the Selkath were nodding. And after the doctor had a few moments to speak, they were taking Brax off to see the Judges.

[RobQel-Droma]

"You are Kelva's padawan, aren't you." Karda replied. "But the Jedi didn't abandon you. They were being slaughtered by the Sith, they sent you away for your safety. And if you had not left them, and not kept your force-sensitivity a secret, they would have taken you back."

[JasraLantill]

“Liar!” Jasra snapped at Karda, because in her mind there was no way what he was saying could possibly be true. “They could’ve found me if they had wanted to!” she protested. “They found the Exile, didn’t they? And she didn’t even want to be found. I did! Yes, I hid. If I wanted to live, I had to. There was no other choice! And I stayed on Berrat III for weeks, no months after …!” She choked up, feeling both angry and sad at the same time at the memory of her master’s brutal death. “Yes, I was Kelva’s Padawan. And I should have died with her on Berrat III. But I didn’t. I lived. And still no one ever came looking for me. Not ever! So I begged, I stole, I did anything I could, and lots more that I shouldn’t have, just to survive, just to get back to the Jedi Temple at Coruscant. Because I still had just a little bit of hope that if the Jedi couldn’t find me, then I would find them and everything would be alright. And you know what I found when I got there? Nothing. No one. Not even a working droid with a holovid message! Nothing but empty corridors and burned out data terminals and broken holocrons. Even the Room of a Thousand Fountains was stagnant and dead! There was not even a hint that any Jedi ever existed there, let alone that any would be trying to find a stupid, half-starved, ill-trained Padawan learner who couldn’t even save her own …!”

 

Jasra stopped abruptly and rose, arms crossed over her chest, and jaw set. Her emotions were running wild and she struggled to keep them in bounds. “I don’t want to talk about this anymore,” she said to Karda. “Right now, we need to find Kira.” She turned to him. “And if that means working with you, then fine. I’ll listen to you. I’ll do what you want. Mainly because I don’t know what else to do. But I won’t trust you. And if you’re smart, you won’t trust me either.”

 

She paused, staring at Karda with implacable eyes. “So, Jedi, what do you suggest we do then?”

[RobQel-Droma]

"I would suggest we go after Kira and Crystal. I think they headed to a Republic base, although I am not sure." Karda didn't move, however. "But before we go, one thing. The Jedi did not leave you on your own." He paused.

 

"There were no Jedi left. You would have died if you had been with them. And the moment you abandoned them, the moment you left and hid your force-sensitivity, they could not have found you. When the Jedi Order was reestablished, they went looking for Jedi that were still alive. They might have found you."