Knights Of The Old Republic: Darkness Falls

[Writer]

Crystal nodded, but said nothing. She'd been considering making a run for the Ebon Hawk as it was only through her connection with Jasra that she could be controlled. Kira would be unable to stop her... but the Kira that stood next to her now would have no problems with killing her.

 

"If Jasra intends to do a quick flyover, you'd best be holding on to me," she said quietly, her voice edged with anger. "That way, you don't get left behind."

[3yks]

"I hope you don't plan to get too close." That same voice, the screens showing the Zedai symbol again. "The main ship is unable to enter atmosphere, it was constructed in orbit around Omwat, and designed to never leave space. But you can get fairly close. Shall i lay in a coarse getting you as close to where the fighter was landed?"

 

The voice was reminscent of Brax's own voice, and drew at her memories of her old mentor. "Also Brax has prepared a holo recording for you. It will play if you enter his old cahmbers, your chambers now. I am sure Kira will fancy herself the leader of your group, but Brax's chambers will admit only you."

[JasraLantill]

Shall I lay in a course getting you as close to where the fighter was landed?"

 

The corners of Jasra's mouth lifted in a small smile as she took comfort in the sound of Brax's voice through the ship's computer. "Yes, please do," she answered. "And get as close as you can. I'm not sure what sort of limitations Crystal has for teleporting."

 

"Also Brax has prepared a holo recording for you. It will play if you enter his old chambers, your chambers now. I am sure Kira will fancy herself the leader of your group, but Brax's chambers will admit only you."

 

That was also comforting to know. It would be nice to have a place on the ship where she could be alone if she wanted to. Then, something struck her as odd. Brax had 'prepared' a recording for her? Had he known he was going to die, or had he been so practical as to prepare for every potential outcome of a situation? "Where is his chamber?" she asked the ship. "How do I access it?"

 

Nearby on the wall, a panel, shaped vaguely like a hand, began to flash repeatedly. Feeling that the ship's auto-pilot was sophisticated enough for it to pilot itself to its destination, Jasra left the console to investigate. As she pressed her hand flat against the panel, a hidden door slid open, revealing an airlock. “Do I need an environmental suit to access his chamber?” she tentatively asked the ship.

 

“Negative,” replied the ship.

 

Jasra took a deep breath and entered the airlock. The door automatically closed behind her and she could feel a gravity shift. When the door opened, her mouth dropped in fascinated awe.

 

The ‘ceiling’ was like a big glass dome. Above her the stars gleamed, and Yavin IV loomed closer as the ship made its approach. Jasra now understood why she had felt the gravity shift. She was standing on the other side of the floor of the cockpit--upside down so to speak.

 

The room was very large--much larger that she would have expected for a mere sleeping chamber. The floor was black, but the room was softly lit by a ring of light panels where the walls met the ceiling. There was a desk with a control panel on one side, a storage unit on the other side, but by far the most prominent furnishing in the room was the large, round bed with black pillows—covered with a deep burgundy-red quilt with the black Zedai symbol embroidered in the middle. But the most eyecatching feature was a collection of lightsabres--hundreds of them, mounted on the walls in an orderly fashion.

 

"Brax...?" Jasra frowned slightly. Had Brax played a part in the Jedi purge? Even though she was not a Jedi anymore, the thought worried her to think so. She reached out and touched one of the sabres.

 

Suddenly, she was confronted with a hologram of a Jedi she didn’t recognise. He slashed at her with his sabre, but was blocked by another sabre held from her point of view. She watched as the battle continued, with the Jedi dodging and returning and parrying blows from an unknown assailant, finally being defeated with a well-aimed slash to the neck. A hand reached out and picked the up the Jedi’s sabre and the hologram vanished.

 

She touched another, and a similar story unfolded—a Jedi in a battle for his life, ending with his defeat. It was on the third sabre hologram that she finally understood that the holograms were all records of Jedi defeats, each sabre having its own story to tell. But it was also apparent that it hadn’t been Brax’s hand that had seen reaching for the sabres of the dead Jedi after the battle had ended. She wondered who it could have been. Revan, perhaps?

 

She crossed over to the storage unit. On the wall next to it was an unusual suit of armour, hanging from a custom made bracket so that it was displayed as it would be worn. Its size was such that it looked like it would fit Brax, and with a light finger, she traced one of the ornate patterns engraved into the chest panel.

 

She continued her exploration, crossing over to the desk. There was a terminal on it, but no matter what button she pushed, she couldn’t seem to activate it. She frowned with disappointment at not being able to activate Brax’s holo-message to her.

 

Sighing, she backed her way over to the bed, thinking that she needed a quiet moment to think of what she was doing wrong. She laid down on the bed, and put her hands behind her head. The bed was comfortable—very comfortable, and staring up at the stars was strangely relaxing. “Well, Brax, you always did say that pleasures were not to be avoided, but embraced,” she said aloud, then she started to clear her mind to think.

[3yks]

"I wish I could see you Jasra, cuz I know that this is playing because I have left the universe." A sigh emitted from a point to her side. Brax stood looking down at her on the bed, the holo was blue, as all holo's were ... but Brax was blue so it kind of made it a little harder to see him like this. He looked a lot like his spirit had when she had last seen him. He wore his normal attire, plain black robes, his gauntlets were not worn though. His blue hands were clasped togethor infront of him.

 

"I wish that I could have had more time to teach you, and to be taught by you. You were teaching me a greater lesson than any I have ever learned. You were teaching me to care about you." He frowned, faintly, then smiled again. "Your journey is far from over, do not greive for me, focus on your task at hand. I assume I gave you the carving I was doing ... if you bring this to Omwat you will be recognized as my partner, and will be given all the rights of a Zedai. If you prove yourself worthy, you will be made their leader, as I would have been."

 

He moved sitting on the edge of the bed, looking out at the room. "If you haven't looked around my room yet, the lightsabers all have hoograms of the Jedai that was defeated. I didn't do them, well I did one." He pointed, and for a moment the holo made one lightsaber glow. "Revan's." He closed his eyes, "Many of these are infact Revan's kills ... this ship was his very briefly, when he was with our old leader. Searching for the Star Forge."

 

The glow around the saber faded, "The others are from various things, if you take them down there are datapads behind each, with details on who the Jedi was, and their past ... a great many things. You have likely seen at least some of the artifacts in the ship, they are all yours now. I collected a great number of them, but not all. The Zedai believe in perserving the past. Take good care of them please."

 

Brax's holo sat there silent for a few long moments, then turned looking right at her.

 

"Jasra, I fell in love with you, through our links, through our brief times togethor. I give my life and everything I had to you, I, Abraxius Ossange hereby make you my heir. The computer has record of this. My holdings on Omwat will be transfered to you, there is also an apartment on Coruscant which is now yours, and several others on other worlds. The computer has all the information." He sighed and turned away. "I wish that I had had time in life to explain these things to you, but either Kira killed me, or something else did. Don't dwell on my loss Jasra ... You have a great enemy to defeat."

 

"I should have told you this a long time ago, but there is a tracking device in your arm, it has tapped into your nervous system and allows Togo to see through your eyes and hear through your ears. If you go to the med lab in the ship, the auto-doc can remove it and destroy it."

 

With that the holo faded away, and the room was empty once again.

[JasraLantill]

Jasra was glad she was lying down instead of standing. Brax’s message was brief and clear, but it brought the pain of his loss close to the surface once again. So, he had cared for her, loved her, just as she had him. She brushed away a tear that had spilled over before it could run the length of her cheek. But Brax was right, of course. Now was not the time to grieve for him. She had an important job to do. Find the rest of the shards. And the first step was to rid herself of the implant inside her.

 

She left his chamber, taking one last look at the stars and the approaching planet surface, before stepping into the airlock once again.

 

She found the med bay located on the opposite side of the main hold, along with what she assumed were crew quarters, had the ship had a crew. Good, she thought. It would make things handy to have separate rooms for Kira and Crystal. She didn’t think they would make amicable roommates.

 

The auto-doc in the med bay was an Omwati-looking hologram, not as powerfully built as Brax, but with the same white hair and red eyes that she had become accustomed to. She couldn’t remember getting the implant from Togo, but she knew Brax wouldn’t be lying to her as to its existence. “I have a nervous system implant,” she said to the auto-doc as she laid herself down on the table. “Please re….”

 

“Jasra? We have reached our destination,” the ship’s voice interrupted.

 

Jasra paused for a moment. Perhaps, it would be better if someone else were aboard before she removed the implant. After all, she had no idea how painful it might be or if it could be removed intact. And it could make finding Togo’s shard easier if they managed to find a way to trace the signal back to its source. It was prudent to ask Kira about it first.

 

“Thank you,” she said to the ship. “Please hold the ship here until I tell you otherwise.”

 

She rose from the table and headed for the main hold again. She was about to activate her com link when she looked at Brax’s body. Kira had hated him, and she didn’t want the presence of Brax’s body to aggravate her in her present state, or take the chance that Kira might mutilate him out of revenge for Revan’s death. Using the Force, she levitated the body out of the seat, and took it below with her to Brax’s chamber.

 

She laid his body, still shimmering with the stasis field, gently on one side of the bed. Then she removed the figure he had carved for her from her pocket, and gave it one last caress before laying it down next to him. “There. You’ll be safe here,” she said, knowing that no one could enter this chamber save her.

 

As she returned to the main hold again, she activated her com link. “Kira? I’m in range now. Crystal, teleport yourself and Kira to my location.”

 

She suddenly wondered why she had succumbed so quickly to the Dark Side of the Force and had felt obligated to serve Kira. Perhaps it had been her possession by Exar Kun. Or perhaps, like Crystal had said, it had something to do with being exposed to the shards and their power. Either way, she knew was struggling for balance—the path of the Zedai suddenly seemed to her a lot more difficult that the way of the Jedi. She had a lot to learn yet, and hoped that Kira would teach her.

 

Thinking of the Jedi, her thoughts began to wander to Karda. What was happening on the Ebon Hawk? She knew Atton was wounded, and Karda and the Disciple had taken him away to safety, but would he survive? Now that Kira and she had ‘fallen,’ would Karda be foolish enough to try and stop them from finding the remaining shards? She thought to ask Kira when she got on board. The crew of the Ebon Hawk, once their allies, could quite possibly become their enemies, an impediment to their goals.

[Writer]

"One angry master and one annoyed and unwilling slave coming right up," Crystal muttered. She took Kira's hand and... blink. They were gone. This time it took a few seconds. Then, they were in Brax's ship. She let go of Kira and went into the cockpit.

 

Suddenly, she winced. A flicker of memory let loose a flood of them and Crystal dropped to her knees, startled. She remembered everything. Glancing back to where Kira stood and then forward to Jasra, she decided that perhaps it was a good thing she was here.

[JasraLantill]

Jasra raised her brow as Crystal fell to her knees. "Something wrong, Crystal?" she asked, thinking that maybe the teleporting journey had been too much for her to bear. "There's a med bay on board with an auto-doc, if you think that will help." She eyed her supiciously, sensing that Crystal was holding back something.

 

Not entirely sure that she wanted to know what Crystal was hiding, or at least, not sure if the information would be pleasing to Kira in her presently agitated state, she added, "Crew quarters, if you think it won't."

[Writer]

Crystal opened her eyes and stood. "Shall we perhaps say I remember everything now?"

 

She smiled slightly. "After my encounter with the first shard, I found I couldn't remember much. Didn't know exactly where I was, though everyone's thoughts kept bleeding we were aboard the Ebon Hawk. I remember how I got aboard and what we were doing prior to any exposure to the shards."

[The Doctor]

The Watcher stirred slowly, his head aching as if it had been cleaved in two. He opened his eyes, and found himself lying on the ground, a few dozen meters from the Ebon Hawk. Kira, Crystal, and Jasra were nowhere to be seen.

He stood, and stumbled towards the Ebon Hawk.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Disciple lifted Atton onto the bio-bed in the Ebon Hawk, injecting a pain killer into his blood stream. He was barking orders to Nyssa and Tegan, and they were passing him chemicals and devices from all over the room. Nyssa examined the life sign readout. The console started beeping at them.

"What's happening?" asked Tegan.

"Cerebral hypoxia..." muttered Disciple. "Nyssa, get me a cordical stimulator. His brain is shutting down from lack of oxygen..."

Nyssa passed him a small, circular device, which Disciple placed on Atton's right temple and activated.

"Neural activity is stablizing. But his blood pressure is dangeorusly low."

"That's to be expected, his abdomen cut open as it is..." after a moment examining the readouts, he punched the table in frustration. "I can't do anything more with equipment this limited."

"If only the Doctor were here..." said Tegan. "The med lab in the TARDIS is much better equipped for this sort of emergency."

At that moment, the Watcher entered the room, breathing heavily. He went over to Atton's side, and checked his vitals without looking at the consoles. "Cerebral hypoxia... blood pressure is 60 over... he needs to be taken to my TARDIS."

"It's not safe to move him," argued Disciple. "We can't-"

"We don't have a choice," said the Watcher sternly. Either we risk his death in moving him, or we assure it by leaving him here. He needs more advanded medical equpiment if he is to survive."

Discplie grimaced, but nodded. Together with the Watcher, he lifted Atton gently.

"This way," said he Watcher. He led them ot the cargobay, where he walked to the very back, to a selaed compartment.

"You'll never get that open," said Disciple. "Kira's been trying for months. They're all... hold on..." he said. "This one... it wasn't here before..."

"That's right," said the Watcher, pulling out a device they recognized as a sonic screwdriver. "This is my TARDIS."

He activated the device, and the compartment opened. There was nothing in it but blackness. The Watcher stepped into it, Disciple, Nyssa, and Tegan following.

 

The Watcher's TARDIS was far different than the Doctor's in appearance. The console room had a much more organic feel to it, and seemed much older.

"This way," he said, leading them through the opposite door. He took them through a series of passages that seemed identical in layout to that of the Doctor's TARDIS. The med lab looked much older than the Doctor's as well, but was just as well equipped. He led them to a bio bed, where they placed Atton gently down. The Watcher began barking orders. "Nyssa, I need 30cc of Dorasine," he said. He turned to Disciple. "What planets have you been to gathering Shards?" he asked.

"We started on Taris, where Kira was given the mission by Togo," he said, confused. "Then we went to Manaan. That's where Revan was killed. From there, we travelled to Dagobah. The Doctor has that Shard in the TARDIS."

"And that's it?"

"Until here, yes."

"Is there anything you can think of that links these planets in any way?"

"Well... I know that Revan journeyed to Manaan during the Jedi Civil War... and Taris is where he crash landed after escaping the Endar Spire. Other than that... I can't think of anything."

"What about tombs? I know there are ancient Sith tombs on Manaan - they haven't been discovered yet, but I believe there was one near the location of the Shard."

"What about Taris? There are no tombs there."

"I have reason to believe that the Shard you saw on Taris was not located there. I fear that this 'Togo' may be a front for something far more terrible."

"Like wh- No. First things first: Who are you?"

The Watcher administered the drugs to Atton. "I am the Watcher. I was sent by the Time Lords to repair the damage done to the Time stream."

"What do you-"

"I'll explain some other time. Right now, we must get to the next Shard before Kira. I believe we can reason the possible planets down to four: Tatooine, Dxun, Onderon, or Dantooine."

"We can rule out Dantooine. There's a Jedi presenece there."

"Agreed. And Tatooine's tomb has been raided multiple times. There will be no Shard there any longer."

"That leaves Onderon and Dxun."

"Onderon has no tombs. None that have not been thoroughly searched."

"Then Dxun is it. We must leave right away."

"Wait... can't we take this TARDIS there?" sugested Tegan.

"No," said Disciple sternly. "I'm not abandoning the Ebon Hawk."

"You won't have to," said the Watcher. "You forget that a TARDIS is dimensionally trancindental. I think I could find a room large enough to fit the Ebon Hawk. Once we've stablized Atton's condition, I'll begin transit."

[JasraLantill]

Crystal opened her eyes and stood. "Shall we perhaps say I remember everything now?"

 

She smiled slightly. "After my encounter with the first shard, I found I couldn't remember much. Didn't know exactly where I was, though everyone's thoughts kept bleeding we were aboard the Ebon Hawk. I remember how I got aboard and what we were doing prior to any exposure to the shards."

 

"I see," said Jasra. "Well, I suppose there'll be time enough to discuss that on the way to...where ever we're going."

 

Jasra turned to Kira. "What of the Ebon Hawk, Master?" she asked her. "Do you think they will try and follow us? Atton may be injured, but Karda is also a pilot. And a Jedi," she added with a hint of warning. "I don't imagine he'll be too pleased at you going after the remaining shards on your own."

 

As Jasra was speaking, she had removed her datapad from her belt and had been typing something on it without looking at it. Now, she handed it to Kira, again without looking at it.

 

Kira, I've been informed by the ship's computers that I have a neural implant placed inside my arm by Togo. It allows him to see and hear what I do. If we can remove it intact without his knowledge, we may be able to use it to track his location. And the location of the shard he holds. I'll need to be unconscious for the procedure, otherwise Togo will be aware of our plan and severe the link. Chastise me for insolence, knock me unconscious, and take me to the med bay. The auto doc there can remove it."

[The Doctor]

((FFWM, this is just correcting a continuity error you made a while back that Jasra caught. If you're confused, Jasra or I can explain.

I've also had an idea that I want to run by Jasra and FFWM. I'll talk to you about it later.))

 

Thanatos stood at the Doctor's cell, staring down at him.

"You are a strong being, Time Lord," he hissed, his voice still nothing more than a whisper. "But... I will break you. The Exile is... on her way to Dxun... to find a fourth Shard..."

"Fourth? She only has two. The one we found on Dagobah is on the TARDIS."

"Your are naive, Time Lord. She... stole it... from the TARDIS."

The Doctor stared at him in horror. "So that means..."

"Yes.... you have the final Shard... the one that will lead her to brgin the others to me. Jasra has done her job well."

The Doctor stared at him. "Jasra.... no... she's been working for you the whole time?!"

"Yes. Inkowingly, of course... I can see and hear everything she does."

The Doctor went numb wehen he realized what that meant. He had been privy to all their plans. All their wondeirngs as to the nature of their mission...

Thanatos was speaking again. "Now... the other Time Lord. Who is he?"

The Doctor looked up at him, confused. "What other... wait.... there is another... the one who disabled my TARDIS... the one who trapped me here, in this galaxy, in this time..."

"Who is he?" repeated Thanatos warningly.

"I don't know. The High Council must have sent him here... possibly to restore the Time Line..."

Thanatos ignored this last comment. "If I discover that you are lying to me, Time Lord..."

"Now Thanatos, I thought we were beyond that point in our relationship? Are you saying you don't trust me?"

Thanatos turned and exited the chamber.

[ForceFightWMe12]

Kira accepted the datapad and read it over as she spoke, "I have no doubt that they'll try and catch us." she said, "We have a head start, I do believe, but Karda is no fool. Though they haven't the faintest idea where they're going, he'll be able to track us down. I guarentee it. We can expect to see the Hawk and her crew again. If nothing else, I doubt Atton would want to give up on me. If he survives long enough to know I'm gone. We must be careful, however, that our...emmotional entanglements do not get in our way when and if we do face off against our former comrades." she said, her eyes meeting Jasra's and giving her a sharp, meaningful look. "Just as I cannot allow my feelings for Atton and Mical get in the way, you must keep your feelings for Karda in check."

After a moment, she returned the datapad to Jasra. "We'll have to do it. I have no doubt that he will have the last Shard, and with him, we'll find the Doctor. Dead or alive, it makes no difference. All I know is that he has either been given the final Shard, or someone near him has it. And I must have it."

[JasraLantill]

"We must have it," Jasra said, looking directly at Kira.

[ForceFightWMe12]

"Oh? We will, will we?" Kira made sure that Jasra understood what she was about to do before giving her a sharp and strong right hook to her temple, which knocked her out quite easily. As the woman collapsed to the ground, Kira quickly scooped her up into her arms and carried her into the med bay, brushing quickly past Crystal. She lay her on one of the exam tables, and turned to the hologram she assumed was the auto-doc.

"I trust she's already told you of the thing in her arm?" the Exile asked it, and the hologram afirmed it. "Good, I want you to get the chip out of her quickly. And please, make sure its intact."

[JasraLantill]

When Jasra came to, the first thing she saw was Kira holding the implant between her fingers.

 

“Nice one, Master Kira,” Jasra said, sitting up on the table and rubbing her head. “The implant… is it still working?”

 

Kira nodded.

 

“Good.” Jasra slid off the table, shook her head, then looked down at the neat incision now healing on her upper arm. She looked at the auto-doc. “This thing is quite handy. Much quieter than the Disciple, too,” she added.

 

Jasra headed for the main hold, and the controls for the ship’s computer. “The computer seems to respond to my voice, Master,” Jasra said. She placed the chip on a small scanner. “I need to trace the source of this chip’s transmission signal,” she said to the ship. “Please feed the co-ordinates into the navi-computer.”

 

There was some silence, then the scanner activated. “The chip is transmitting to a location in orbit around the moon of Dxun,” said the ship, in Brax’s voice. Jasra thought she noticed Kira cringe at that. “Shall I proceed to that location?”

 

“Yes.” Jasra suddenly paused. “No,” she said instead. “Hold off for a moment.”

 

She had spotted something of interest on the wall of artefacts. An optical visor. She went to it, and carefully took it down. “If we connect this chip to the visor, then we can continue ‘transmitting’ to Togo or whoever he’s working for. Give him only information we want him to know. Might come in handy. Cause some confusion to our advantage. What do you think, Master?”

[ForceFightWMe12]

Kira smiled, her fangs glistening hauntingly, "Great idea, Jasra." she said, examening the visor, "We could definatly use this to our advantage. It seems that it was indeed a good idea to take you on. We can send whoever is on the recieving end data showing us searching for the next Shard somewhere further off...while indeed we are right under their noses."

[JasraLantill]

"Very well, Master." Jasra proceed to link up the chip with the visors sensors. It wasn't difficult. Very much like setting up a spy cam or tracer, and she'd done plenty of those types of jobs.

 

"There." She put on the visor. "Now, if I switch this on, it will transmit. Switch it off, and I'm... 'sleeping'," she said with an evil kind of grin.

 

"Since I'm 'unconscious,' as far as the chip is concerned, we can go ahead and set our course for Dxun. Just let me know when you want to have it broadcasting, Master."

 

She went towards the cockpit, giving Crystal a look so she would move out of her way, and then sat down at the controls. "Set a course for Dxun," she told the ship's computer.

 

"As you wish, Jasra," the computer responded, again in Brax's voice. Jasra had to grin. Although it was comforting to her, she wondered if Brax's voice was irritating Kira.

[ForceFightWMe12]

"There has to be a way to change that voice." Kira murmured, before turning to Crystal.

"So." she said, "You mentioned that you remembered everything. What exactly do you remember?"

[Writer]

Crystal stared at Kira for a moment. "I remember how I came to be aboard the Ebon Hawk," she answered. "How I was running from..." She shuddered slightly. "And you and your companions defended me."

[ForceFightWMe12]

"Who was it you were running from?" Kira asked, curious.

[Writer]

Crystal groaned. "That's a rather long story... I'm not sure you have the patience for it any longer."

[JasraLantill]

Jasra watched with interest as Kira began to question Crystal. She knew Crystal was hiding something, but she also knew that in her present state Kira would have no qualms about extracting the information from her forcibly if she wouldn't give it voluntarily.

 

Be careful, she warned Crystal through their link.

[ForceFightWMe12]

"Oh?" Kira let a sharp edge creep into her voice, "Try me."

[Writer]

Crystal winced slightly. "It'll only lead to questions I'm not equipped to answer," she said quietly.

 

((What might make this interesting? Have Kira order Jasra to command Crystal to explain.))

[ForceFightWMe12]

"It will, will it?" Kira answered, stepping closer to Crystal. The Exile raised her gloved hand, and back-handed Crystal across the face. "I don't particularly like being disobeyed."

After a moment, she looked over her shoulder at Jasra. "Make her tell me. Now."