[FIC] Hidden Shades of Grey

[Diego Varen]

Another good Chapter. I've never seen anyone updating Chapters as quick as that. I wonder if the others will read this after so long. Please check out my Fanfic, Jedi Forces - Shadows Of War.

[JasraLantill]

“Damn! It won’t fit!” Carth said, trying to install one of the SL-relays in the engine.

 

“It’ll fit,” Kye said. “We just need a larger coupling.”

 

“It can’t be too large, or we’ll have a radiation leak,” Carth said.

 

“Duh.” Kye rolled her eyes, then snapped her fingers. “Give it here,” she said, beckoning with her hand for Carth to hand it over. “I’ll make it fit. You go and install the sub-light control module.”

 

Carth frowned. “You’re sure you can handle it?”

 

“Do Gamorreans have bad breath?” She beckoned with her hand again. “Trust me. It’ll fit. Now go.”

 

Carth reluctantly handed her the relay and went to the bridge with the control module.

 

“How’s it going?” Jolee asked him as he passed through the main hold.

 

“Not sure if this is going to work, but… we're trying.” He frowned slightly. “Jolee, what do you think of our new passenger? I mean, do you get any bad ‘Jedi’ vibes from her?”

 

“Nope.”

 

“So, you think she's okay then.”

 

“I didn’t say that,” Jolee said. “You asked if I got any bad vibes from her. And I said, ‘nope’. Truth is, I can’t really feel anything from her.”

 

Carth frowned. “Has that ever happened before?”

 

Jolee grinned. “Nope.” Then he added, “Well, not with humans anyway.”

 

Jolee’s comment caused Carth’s brow to raise. “Are you suggesting she could be some sort of…I don’t know…shape shifter or something?”

 

“Could be,” said Jolee, shrugging with indifference. “Then again, it could be that she just doesn’t have enough of the Force flowing through her for me to detect. I don’t know.”

 

Carth frowned. “Well, I suppose no vibes are better than bad ones. Still…I think I’ll keep a close eye on her.”

 

“Well, as long as she’s travelling on the ship, she’s not going to sabotage it,” Jolee told him. “You don’t have to be a Jedi to know that she’s not stupid.”

 

“Who’s not stupid?” Kye stood in the doorway of the main hold.

 

“Erm…we were just… erm… discussing… erm…,” Carth stuttered.

 

“You’re not much for words, are you,” Kye said in a very direct manner. “I’m done fitting that coupling. So, do you need help installing that module?”

 

“Erm….”

 

“It’s not quantum physics,” said Kye. “Just a simple ‘yes’ or ‘no’ will do.”

 

Jolee chuckled as Carth flushed with embarrassment at his tongue-tied state.

 

“You know, if you find speaking difficult,” Kye said, “you can try nodding once for yes, twice for no…”

 

“I can speak,” Carth blurted. “It’s just that….”

 

“You don’t trust me,” she finished for him. “Fine. I don’t blame you. I wouldn’t trust me either if I was in your position.”

 

“Oh?” said Carth. “And why is that?”

 

“I’m a total stranger. You don’t know anything about my motivations or reasons for wanting to leave, let alone my engineering skills, or lack thereof. What’s there to trust?”

 

“So you’re saying we shouldn’t trust you?” Carth asked suspiciously.

 

“No,” said Kye. “I’m just saying that I wouldn’t trust me if I were you. But, then again, I’m not you, and this isn’t my ship, so my opinion really doesn’t hold much weight in the matter.”

 

Jolee chuckled.

 

“So… module,” Kye said to Carth. “Need help with it or not?”

 

“I suppose I could use someone to monitor the connection feeds while I install it.”

 

“Fine. Then let’s get to it,” Kye said, heading towards the cockpit.

 

“I like her,” Jolee said to Carth.

 

“You would,” Carth grumbled back.

[Diego Varen]

Three in a row. Three Chapters in one day. I liking this. This makes up for all the days you didn't post.

[JasraLantill]

Yes, Pottsie, I've written quite a bit! Had to break it up into more manageable portions though, hence all the posts. This is the last one for today though.

 

______________________________

 

Once back at the Gretackmuth settlement, Rade's group waited for transport back to Oasis outside the cantina.

 

“So, tell me Ithra,” Rade said, breaking the silence that had fallen over them. “Did you know that your ruse against the Mynocks wouldn’t last long?”

 

Ithra shrugged. “No. Well…yes. Sort of.”

 

“Sort of?”

 

“The mynocks are simple creatures,” she explained. “They don’t have what I would call a ‘long term memory’. They live for the moment, as most lower life forms do. It was only a matter of time before the threat of a predator would be replaced by the call of hunger again.”

 

“So, theoretically, if someone else could do what you did, they would know that as well?”

 

“I suppose.”

 

Rade exchanged a look with Bastila. “I’ll be right back,” he said, rising and heading towards the cantina. “I have a sudden thrist.”

 

Inside the small cantina, Rade found the miner that had warned them about the mynocks in Mine 23.

 

“…reckon that we should try mine 23 again,” the miner was saying to his pals. “After all, if that pansy-faced girl can come back alive, surely we could.”

 

“I’d stay away from that mine if I were you,” Rade said. “There are still a lot of mynocks in there.”

 

“You came out of it okay,” said the miner. “Besides, even gettin’ a handful of them crystals in there would be worth it.”

 

“You mean, like this?” Rade held out his hand showing the miner one of the two Jenruax crystals he had found. “How about we make a trade? The crystal for some information.”

 

The miner gave him a suspicious look. “What kind of information?”

 

“A name and a description,” said Rade. “Of the person that accompanied the Mandalorians to Mine 23.”

 

“Well… I seem to recollect that there was someone that went with them. But… “ The miner snorted. “You know, it’s the damnedest thing. I can’t really ‘member who it was now.” He paused for a moment as he tried to think. “It was someone local though. I remember that. Just… just not what they looked like.” He turned to his friends. “Tak? Beppo? Do you ‘member?”

 

His two friends thought a moment, then shook their heads.

 

“Sorry, pal,” said the miner, giving a longing look at the crystal. “Sure wish I could have helped ‘ya.”

 

Rade raised an eyebrow. He knew the miner wasn’t lying, but it was odd that he couldn’t remember. Very odd. “It’s alright. Thank you for your time,” he said, and set the crystal down on the table in front of the miner.

 

The miner brightened. “Hey! Thanks pal!” he called after Rade as he walked out of the cantina.

 

Rejoining his friends, Rade motioned Bastila away for a private word. “Have you ever used the Force to permanently alter someone’s memory?” he asked. “I mean, by yourself?”

 

Bastila shook her head. “No, not permanently. And I wasn’t present when the Council altered yours. But as I recall, it took them some time.”

 

“But how long would it take to alter just one piece of it?”

 

“I don’t know,” Bastila answered. “Why do you ask?”

 

“I found this datapad in the mine, along with this,” he said, showing her the coin. “Co'Vanni was at that mine. And I figured that someone must have seen him with the Mandalorians, but the miner…the one that met us when we arrived? He remembers that there was someone with them, but he doesn’t remember who they were or what they looked like. None of the miners do.”

 

Bastila frowned. “That’s odd.”

 

“Very.”

 

“Perhaps this Co’Vanni drugged them or something?”

 

“And just had them forget one thing?” Rade shook his head. “There’s something else at work here. I’m sure of it. And I think we should drop in and see our friend Horace again at the ‘Miscreant Miner’.”

 

~~~~~~~~

 

Back at the ‘Miscreant Miner,’ Rade and company walked in. Horace, as per usual, was there to greet them at the door.

 

“Welcome back, sir,” he said to Rade. “Four again?”

 

“Oh, we’re not here to eat,” Rade said.

 

“Can we at least get something to take away with us?” Ithra whispered to Bastila in the background.

 

“No,” Bastila answered her quickly.

 

“We’re here to see the owner,” Rade continued. “Co’Vanni.”

 

Horace frowned. “I told you, that the owner is… away.”

 

“Away where?” Rade’s eyes narrowed threateningly.

 

Horace hesitated.

 

“If you don’t tell me, I’ll have my Jantessan Keeper friend here,” he motioned to Ithra, “rip the information out of your head. Painfully,” he added.

 

“A Keeper?” Horace stiffened, then looked at Ithra more closely. “You cannot be a true Keeper,” he said warily. “There are no more Keepers.”

 

“You know about Keepers, do you?” Bastila asked, somewhat surprised.

 

Very slowly, Horace nodded. “I know that all of the true Keepers were destroyed by the Sith Lord Revan when he took over Jantessa.”

 

“Not all of them,” Ithra said firmly. “There are some that survived.”

 

“Younglings. Novices,” Horace said with a twinge of sadness. “But no true Keepers remain.”

 

“And how do you know this?” Bastila asked. “The Jantessans are not very forthcoming about their culture or their history to outsiders.”

 

Horace shifted uncomfortably. “My… my employer told me,” he said with hesitation.

 

“Co’Vanni?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“And where is your employer now?” asked Rade. “We wish to speak with him.”

 

“I… I cannot say,” said Horace.

 

“Ithra?” Rade said. “Seek him.”

 

“What?”

 

“Seek him. Find out where this Co’Vanni is right now.”

 

Ithra gave Rade a disappointed look, but then…. Her eyes turned black, and Horace grimaced from her invasion of his mind.

 

“Onderon,” Ithra said, her eyes returning to their normal violet colour. “That’s what he’s thinking anyway. Onderon.”

 

“Then that’s where we’re going,” said Rade.

[Diego Varen]

I liked that Chapter. When is the next time you're updating?

[JasraLantill]

Pottsie, I'm afraid it won't be for a few days at least. I write my chapters in Word, then paste them on LF, so that's why it looks like these were updated so quickly. In reality, I don't type quite that fast, let alone edit that quickly either. (Like to have it sit for a day or two, and then come back to it to edit with a fresh perspective.) But rest assured the break between updates will not be as long as the last one.

[Diego Varen]

I write mine in Word as well.

[Renegade Puma]

Great job Jasra! Nice to have you back Dangit, why does the hot chick Kye have to be the bad guy? I know she is Covanni. Oh well, great updates Jasra. Can't wait for the next one. I am really starting to enjoy Ithra's character by the way. And you did a very nice job with Mission in this update as well.

[JasraLantill]

Thanks, RP! Glad you enjoyed it. Hopefully, I'll be able to update it this weekend.

[Hallucination]

Please do, I'm beginning to think you're 'pulling a Forcefight'.

[Diego Varen]

Many writers here are sort of doing that. Including me.

[RC-1162]

yeah, and everyone else except the n00bs

Great work till now, Jasra, sorry i didnt check out before. just one thing: the jedi weapon is spelt LIGHTSABER

[JasraLantill]

((Yes, RC, the American spelling would be 'saber'. But here in the UK, it's 'sabre,' just like 'center' is 'centre', and 'theater' is 'theatre'.

 

Anyway, I've finished another part of my story. Apologies to everyone for not posting sooner, but it seems the battle with Darth Reallife is neverending.))

 

~~~~~~~~~~

 

“Try it now!” Kye shouted to Carth from the Ebon Hawk’s engine room.

 

“What?” came his muffled reply from the other end of the ship.

 

Kye hung her head. “Try! It! Now!” she repeated slowly and more loudly. With a trying expression on her face, she looked over at Mission, who was holding a hydrospanner in her hand, like a nurse assisting a doctor. “Men,” Kye sighed, and Mission snickered.

 

“Old and hard-of-hearing men,” Mission added.

 

“They're even worse,” Kye commented. The lights on the control panel on the hyperdrive came on, flickered, then died. “Crap.” Kye scrambled up from her position on the floor underneath the open panel. “I’ll be right back,” she said to Mission as she headed for the door. But in the doorway, she paused, and gave a look over her shoulder. “Give me a shout if the lights on that panel come on and stay on, okay?”

 

“Okay,” Mission said, grinning, as she was being allowed to help.

 

Kye hurried towards the cockpit, dodging T-3 on his way back to the engine room as she passed through the main hold. “Hey? You finished with that patch panel already?”

 

T-3 let out a series of whirr and whistles

 

Kye stared at the droid, then raised an eyebrow. “I take it that’s a ‘yes’?”

 

The small droid bleeped once.

 

“Thanks,” and she continued to the cockpit area.

 

Carth had his head and torso buried inside one of the open panels, trying valiantly to install and reconnect the severed connections on the new control module, and Kye could only see him from the waist down. She stood there for a moment without speaking, appraising the view.

 

"Damn," she heard him murmur. "Can't reach it."

 

“Maybe it's because your trousers are a bit too tight,” she commented, unintentionally startling Carth and causing him to bump his head on the inside of the console.

 

“Ow!” he grunted.

 

“Sorry. Didn't mean to startle you. Problem?”

 

“Yeah,” Carth said, as he extricated himself out into the open. “I can’t seem to get that last circuit connected.”

 

“You need to use a telescoping vibra joiner in order to….”

 

“I don’t have a telescoping vibra joiner.”

 

“Hmm. Then what about attaching a vari-tune spatial connector to the end of the…”

 

“Don’t have one of those either,” he interrupted her again.

 

Kye raised an eyebrow and placed her hands on her hips. “What kind of engineer are you?” she asked incredulously.

 

“I’m not an engineer. I’m a pilot.”

 

“Oh,” she said flatly. “Well. That explains it.”

 

“Explains what?”

 

“The lack of tools, the cocky attitude, the tight trousers, and your total inability to hold a reciprocating penetrator the right way ‘round’ on the first go. You know, if it wasn’t for me, you could have poked your eye out holding it like th….”

 

“Look,” he said testily, “if I want your opinion, I’ll ask for it!”

 

“Yeah? Well, if you want to get off this planet anytime soon, then you’d better start asking!” She sighed. “I should have just sold that piece of junk someone called a ship to Zug and hitched a ride on an ore freighter. They may be slow, but at least they move.”

 

“You think you can do better?” Carth stepped aside and motioned to the panel with his arm. “Be my guest!”

 

Kye knelt down and crawled underneath the console, and after a few knocks and bangs, the sparking of a fractional welder, and the buzzing sound of a hydrospanner, Mission’s voice shouted from the Engine Room. “Kye, the lights are on! And they’re staying on this time!”

 

Kye scrambled out from underneath the panel and stood, looking Carth in the eye. She slapped the hydrospanner in his hand. “You’re welcome,” she said to him. “Now, think you could manage putting the panel back together while I finish checking for leaks around the hyperdrive manifold?”

 

“Yeah. I think I can manage that,” he grumbled sourly.

 

She gave him a curious look. “I’m sorry. I really don’t mean to be so condescending. You know, Carth, it’s not a sign of weakness to admit you need help. Everyone has different things that they’re good at.” She grinned. “I mean, I’m total crap at flying. Well, take offs I can do. Landings aren’t great, but I seem to manage. But the bit in between? That’s the part that gives me bother. I’ve no sense of direction whatsoever. Even with the aid of a navicomputer,” she added.

 

Carth’s expression softened a bit. “Is that how you ended up here?”

 

Kye grimaced with uncertainty. “Yeah. Sort of.” She grinned. “Certainly didn’t come here for Degos V’s irresistible charm and sophisticated metropolitan lifestyle.”

 

Carth grinned in return. “I’ll put the panel together. Just let me know when you want me to start ‘er up.”

 

“I’ll send Mission up to tell you,” she said, backing her way out to the corridor. “Give her something to do. Besides, being as you’re old and hard of hearing…,” she added, with a wink, then turned and headed for the Engine Room.

 

“Hey, you tell Mission that you’re not much younger than me, you know!” Carth called after her.

 

“Yes, I know,” she called over her shoulder. “But I’m prettier and more fun, so that makes up for it in her eyes.”

 

“In mine, too,” Carth muttered appreciatively.

 

Just then T3 whizzed into the cockpit, bleeping incessantly to get Carth’s attention.

 

“What is it, T3?”

 

T3 plugged his service arm into a nearby port, and in an instant one of the panels indicated that the loading ramp was being lowered.

 

“They’re back?” Carth asked the droid.

 

T3 whirred and bleeped, confirming that Rade and rest of the crew had returned. Carth headed through the main hold to meet them, but Jolee had beaten him to it.

 

“It’s about time!” Jolee said lightheartedly to the group. “Carth was beginning to get worried.”

 

“So, did you find it?” Carth asked, pointedly ignoring Jolee’s quip.

 

“The only thing we found were some dead Mandalorians and more questions,” Rade replied.

 

“And a decent restaurant,” Ithra piped.

 

Rade, Bastila and Canderous all paused and stared at her in disbelief.

 

“Well…?” Ithra shrugged sheepishly. “I thought it was decent.”

 

Purposefully ignoring Ithra, Bastila turned her attention to Carth. “Anyway, we think Co’Vanni is now headed to Onderon with the Gem.”

 

“So that’s where we’re going,” Rade added. “Is the ship ready?”

 

“Just about,” Carth replied. “Oh, there’s something I need to tell you before we take off. We’ve picked up a….”

 

Just then, Mission appeared from the corridor. “Carth? Kye said to tell you that…” She paused, and grinned at Rade. “Oh, hey! You’re back! Find anything interesting?”

 

“Who’s Kye?” Canderous asked, catching Mission’s reference to an unknown person.

 

“Our passenger,” she answered matter-of-factly.

 

“Passenger?” Rade raised his eyebrows and looked first at Mission, then Carth. “Since when did we get a passenger?”

 

“Since I made a deal for the parts we needed,” Mission said, beaming proudly. “Without having to spend even a single credit. Isn’t that right, Carth?”

 

Carth’s face began to flush. “Erm… yeah. That’s right.” He met Rade’s eyes with trepidation. “That’s what I wanted to tell you about,” he said to Carth. “She’s actually been quite helpful in…”

 

“She’s?” Bastila said, giving a disparaging look at Ithra. “Our passenger is another she?”

 

“And a pretty ‘she’ at that,” Jolee added with a wink, adding to Carth’s growing embarrassment.

 

“Yeah, well, she’s a pretty good mechanic as well,” Carth said somewhat defensively. “I hate to admit it, but I don’t think I could have done all of the repairs without her help.”

 

“Speaking of help, Kye’s ready for you to fire up the engines,” Mission said to Carth. “And she said she’ll stay there and monitor the engine for a while and let you know if there are any leaks. Not that she’s expecting any, but just to give you peace of mind so you’ll relax a bit and not worry so much.”

 

“Give me peace of mi…?” Carth cleared his throat. “Erm…right. If you’ll excuse me,” he said to the others, “I’ve got engines to start. Bastila? I’ll need you at the navigator’s station, just to keep an eye on things.” He headed for the cockpit, and Bastila followed.

 

“So, about this passenger…” Rade said to Mission.

 

“Her name’s Kye,” Mission beamed. “And she’s great! She doesn’t treat me like a kid—let’s me help her and everything. I like her.”

 

“Uh-huh.” Rade lifted an inquisitive brow. “And where have you promised we would take our ‘passenger’?”

 

“Onderon,” Mission said frankly.

 

“What a coincidence,” Canderous commented dryly. “That’s just where we were going.”

 

“Really? Great! See, I knew things would work out!” Mission said with a satisfied smile. “Kye said Queen Talia has commissioned a lot of restoration work, so there’s lots of jobs there right now.”

 

Just then, the engines began to hum.

 

“We’ve got power, people!” Carth said over the intercom. “Next stop, Onderon!”

 

Rade looked at Ithra. “Think it’d be better for you, and safer for the rest of us, if you made yourself comfortable in the dormitory, rather than the cockpit this time.”

 

Ithra nodded bashfully. “Alright. I’m feeling like I need a rest anyway.”

 

“I’ll go check on Kye,” Mission said. “See if she needs any more help.”

 

As Ithra left for the dormitory, and Canderous and HK headed for the cargo bay, Rade sidled up to Jolee. “So, Jolee, what do you know about this Kye?”

 

“I know she wants off this planet,” Jolee answered. “And I know she’s pretty good with mechanical things. And I know she’s not at all bashful about saying what she thinks. And, most importantly, I know that she’s lifted Mission’s spirits. She’s been pretty down without Zalbaar around.”

 

“I know.” Rade stood quietly for a moment. “I can’t feel this Kye’s presence onboard the ship,” he said, frowning slightly.

 

“Neither can I,” said Jolee. “Damn strange, but, like I told Carth, it’s happened to me before. Not with a human, but…” He shrugged. “Maybe she’s not human. I don’t get a sense through the Force that she’s dangerous though. Even without sensing a Force signature, if she were trouble, I’d expect we’d know it.”

 

Rade nodded. “Still, once we get underway, I think I’ll have a chat with her.” Rade headed for the cockpit.

 

~~~~~~~~

 

“So, any problems?” Mission asked Kye, just as they both felt the ship leave the ground.

 

“None so far,” Kye said, keeping a close eye on the emissions monitor she held in her hands. “So, who boarded the ship? I heard voices in the main hold.”

 

“Just Rade and the others,” Mission said.

 

“Rade? He’s the captain?”

 

“Yeah,” said Mission. “He and the others went out looking for this Gem thing.”

 

Kye’s brow raised ever so slightly, but her eyes didn’t leave the monitor. “I thought you said they were exploring the mines for cortosis?”

 

“Erm…well, now, I didn’t exactly say they were looking for cortosis,” Mission admitted. “But they were exploring. Don’t think they found what they were looking for though. Otherwise, we’d be heading back to Jantessa get Big Z.”

 

“Jantessa? Nice place, is it?”

 

Mission snorted. “Oh, no way! Everyone there is all...I don’t know. Too clean. Too rigid. Too many rules and regulations, and… I mean, they classified Big Z as an illegally imported pet. A pet! He’s a Wookiee. Whoever heard of a Wookiee as a pet!”

 

Kye grinned softly. “And they wouldn’t let him leave with you?”

 

“No. And they kept Juhani, too.”

 

“Juhani?”

 

“She’s a Cathar. You know what they are?”

 

Kye nodded.

 

“Well, they classified her as a ‘pet’, too. Even though she’s a Jedi!” Mission rolled her eyes.

 

“A Jedi?” At this, Kye looked up. “You didn’t tell me that you travelled with a Jedi.”

 

“Didn’t I?” Mission said innocently. “Huh. Guess I’ve gotten so used to them, it doesn’t seem to matter to me as much.”

 

“Them?”

 

“Yeah. Juhani, Jolee, Bas….”

 

“Jolee’s a Jedi, too," Kye said pensively, though more in the manner of a statement than a question.

 

“Yeah. Well, sort of. More like an ex-Jedi, now, I guess.”

 

“I see,” Kye said, her eyes reverting back to her monitor. “And Bas? Who’s he?”

 

“He’s a she, actually,” Mission corrected. “Bastila. I used to think she was really stuck up and all when I first met her, but she’s not so bad, once you get to know her.”

 

“So, you travel with three Jedi,” Kye commented. “Interesting.”

 

“Four,” said a male voice from behind them.

 

Kye turned her head, and her body tensed as she saw Rade standing in the doorway.

 

“Rade, meet Kye, our passenger,” Mission introduced. “Kye, this is….”

 

“Rade Chano,” Rade finished for Mission. “Captain and ‘Jedi number four.’” He stared at Kye curiously for a moment. “You have a problem with Jedi?”

 

“Not normally.” She eyed him up and down for a moment. “You have a problem with non-Jedi?”

 

“Not normally,” he replied in kind.

 

“Good.” She then smiled. “Nice to meet you.”

 

“So, Mission tells me that you want to go to Onderon.”

 

“Only if it’s not a problem,” Kye replied. “There’s work there, but if you’re not going that way, just drop me off in the first port you come to. I’m not picky.”

 

“It just so happens that by strange coincidence, that’s exactly where we’re going,” Rade said with a hint of suspicion in his voice. “We’re looking for someone.” He paused, waiting for a reaction from Kye. None came. “Someone called Co’Vanni,” Rade continued. Still nothing. “Ever hear of him?”

 

“Sure,” Kye said plainly, to Rade’s obvious surprise. “Co’Vanni runs the Miscreant Miner. Best restaurant in Oasis. That’s common knowledge.”

 

Rade’s brow lifted. “So, you’ve met Co’Vanni?”

 

“Well… I’ve eaten at the restaurant. And I’ve met Horace.” She paused. “Of course,” she added as an afterthought, “it’s hard to miss Horace. He’s huge. Nice guy though.”

 

Rade stared at her for a moment.

 

“Something wrong?” Kye asked, before returning her eyes to the monitor.

 

“Maybe,” Rade said, eyeing her over. “By the way, do you know that you don’t give off any detectable Force signature?”

 

“A what?”

 

“A Force signature. Every life form gives off one. Every one but you, that is. Why is that?”

 

“You’re the Jedi,” Kye said, without looking up. “Aren’t Force thingies are supposed to be your department?”

 

“Strange, though, don’t you think?” Rade pressed her.

 

Kye shrugged. “If you say so. Personally, I don’t have much use for ‘The Force.’”

 

“What’s with the interrogation?” Mission asked Rade. “Kye’s only here to help us and you’re treating her like she’s some sort of criminal or something.”

 

“Actually, Mission, he has every right to interrogate me,” Kye said. “After all, I’m a complete stranger. As far as he knows, I could be a criminal or something. And as captain of a ship, it’s his responsibility to keep his crew safe.”

 

“Are you a criminal?” asked Rade.

 

“Now, that’s a fairly ambiguous question,” she replied, her eyes still focused on the monitor. “I mean, one person’s criminal could be another person’s hero.” She gave him a sideways glance. “I mean, are you a criminal? Before today, the last time I heard someone mention the word ‘Jedi,’ it was in the same breath as the words ‘mass destruction’ and ‘Darth Revan.’”

 

Rade’s expression darkened.

 

“So ‘criminal’ is a matter of perspective,” Kye continued. “Don’t you think? What you really should be asking is do I have any intention to do you or your crew any harm.” She turned off the hand-held monitor, and looked up at Rade. “And the answer to that is ‘no.’”

 

“Good,” Rade said, although not convincingly. “We should reach Onderon in a few hours. I’ll be in the cockpit if you need me.”

 

“Great. When you get there, you can tell Carth that the hyperdrive is working fine and there are no manifold leaks. But I’ll set T3 to continue to monitor for them. Just in case he was worried.”

 

Rade nodded and left for the bridge.

 

“C’mon,” Mission said. “I’ll show you the cargo bay and introduce you to Canderous.”

 

“Another Jedi?”

 

“Nope. A Mandalorian.”

 

Kye snorted and rolled her eyes. “You know, Mission, you’re an alright kid,” she said as she followed Mission out of the engine room. “But you’ve got some strange taste in friends.”

[Diego Varen]

A good Chapter. I bet Kye and Mission will become friends.

 

I'm from the UK as well, but I spell saber like the Americans, but I spell favourite and humour in English (UK).

[Renegade Puma]

Great chapter Jasra. Although I still hold to my theory that Kye is Co'vanni. She has to be a force user of some kind. And she has to be able to shield that fact from Jedi. She is still a mystery to me. I can't wait to see the next part. Keep up the great work.

[Republic Grunt]

Actually, different spellings of words in English (i.e. color v. colour) is a wonderful way of expressing an accent if you so desire.

 

You have an excellent story line so far and I very much look forward to future enstallments.

[JasraLantill]

Thanks for the compliments, guys! I'll try my best to upload the next chapter sooner than I did the last one. I'm not setting a deadline, as Darth RealLife likes to do sneak attacks, but I'll do my best to get something up within the week.

[RC-1162]

great work with the new chapter, Jasra, i like Kye's attitude with Carth . keep it up.

[JasraLantill]

((Ok, well not as long as some of my other chapters, but it's something. Enjoy!))

 

~~~~~~~

 

“Something’s odd about our passenger,” Rade said as he returned to the bridge from engineering.

 

“And this surprises you?” Bastila asked, as she input the final co-ordinates for Onderon. “All of our recent ‘passengers’ have been odd.”

 

“No, our previous passengers weren’t ‘odd’,” Rade said. “They were deceptive and sneaky. This one is…” He turned his head and looked behind him suddenly, as if expecting to see Ithra eavesdropping. But no one was there. “I can’t feel her through the Force,” he continued. “Can you?”

 

“No,” said Bastila. “But Jolee said that there are some creatures in the Galaxy that don’t give off a Force signature.”

 

“Creatures?” Carth looked up from his console. “I wouldn’t classify Kye as a ‘creature.’” He grinned slightly. “Well, not in the way you mean ‘creature.’”

 

“Are you sure?” Bastila asked, her mouth twitching up in a tiny, sardonic grin. “She could be a shape-shifter. Maybe, in her true form, she looks something like Zalbaar.”

 

“Ha, ha. Very funny,” Carth replied dryly. “You’re just jealous because there is another beautiful woman on board.”

 

“Yes, this part of the Galaxy seems rather prolific with them.” She looked at Rade. “Very odd, indeed, for such an isolated and remote place.”

 

“Carth," Rade asked, "while you and she were fixing the ship…did Kye go into any details on exactly why she wanted to go to Onderon? Besides the obvious ‘there’s work to be had there,’ I mean.”

 

Carth shook his head. “No, not really. In fact, she was pretty enigmatic about it when I asked her.” A moment passed, and then Carth frowned. “But, now that I thing about it, there was something I thought was strange.” He looked at Rade and Bastila. “She has a lightsabre.”

 

Rade’s brow rose. “Does she now?”

 

“Told Mission and me she got it off of a trader, as I recall.”

 

Bastila grinned smugly. “She didn’t happen to mention the trader’s name, did she?”

 

Revan thoughtfully rubbed his jaw. “Yes…like Krex, perhaps?”

 

“No, she…oh, now, wait a minute,” Carth said hesitantly. “You’re not suggesting that she’s the one Krex pointed us to? Co’Vanni?” He shook his head. “No way.”

 

“She’s going to Onderon. Co’Vanni is going to Onderon. She’s reluctant to talk about her past. Co’Vanni is so mysterious, we couldn’t even get a description of him. Or her,” Bastila mused.

 

Carth vehemently shook his head. “If she was this Co’Vanni, why would she have stayed aboard the ship?”

 

“Carth’s right,” said Rade. “Co’Vanni would have to know by now that we were looking for him. Her. Them.”

 

“And the best place to hide is in plain sight,” said Bastila.

 

“What about the Gem?” Carth asked. “If Kye’s this Co’Vanni person, she’d have the Gem. And I certainly didn’t see it.”

 

“You searched her?” Rade asked.

 

“Well…no, but….” Carth paused. “But… didn’t Ithra say she would be able to sense the Gem if it was near?”

 

Bastila sighed. “Yes. She did.” She looked at Rade. “And even though I still don’t trust her, I don’t think she could have kept something like that to herself. If the Gem was on board, she would have told us by now.”

 

Rade nodded. “Still…there’s something not right here.”

 

“I’ll say,” said Kye’s voice from behind him. “You’ve got a crazed assassin droid in your cargo hold. Carth, what kind of Jedi are you travelling with?”

 

“Suspicious ones,” Bastilla said acidly.

 

Kye gave her a disingenuous smile. “Ah, you must be Bastila. Mission told me you could be… irascible, for lack of a better word.”

 

“Irascible?!” Bastila exclaimed, frowning. “I am nothing of the sort!”

 

“Whatever you say,” Kye said, with a tongue-in-cheek grin. “Anyway, Rade, about this…droid in the cargo bay.”

 

“HK? What about him?”

 

Just then, a single shot of blaster fire could be heard in the main hold, followed by a loud thud.

 

“Canderous!” Mission screamed. “No!”

 

“Assassination protocols activated!” HK’s voice echoed up the corridor.

 

“HK, stop!” Mission could be heard shouting. “Hey, Jolee! One of those Jedi stasis fields would be handy about now!”

 

“He's got a glitch, that’s what,” Kye said, rather calmly for the situation. “A big glitch.”

 

Rade pushed past Kye, and raced down the corridor, followed closely behind by Bastila and Carth.

 

Kye looked around the cockpit. “Erm…is anyone going to fly the ship?”

 

She heard the sounds of a struggle down the corridor as the crew tried to subdue the renegade HK.

 

“No?” Kye said to no one in particular. She shrugged, and then went to the pilot’s control station. She looked at the panel, then frowned. If they didn’t jump into hyperspace soon, they would have to recalculate. And that would cost them precious time. Her fingers tapped a few keys. A beep sounded. A light flashed on, then off again. “There. That should do it,” she said to herself, and she stepped away from the control station and then padded down the corridor to see what was going on. “Hyperspace in three minutes, and counting.”

 

HK was now being held in a stasis field—two, in fact—and as Jolee and Bastila concentrated on keeping the rusty red droid immobile, Rade concentrated on trying to fix him.

 

“Damn that Berland!” Rade muttered. “I knew he did something to sabotage HK!”

 

At the mention of Berland’s name, Kye raised a stealthy brow. But something of greater interest had caught her eye. Canderous--laying on the deck, unmoving, with Mission hovering over him. She crossed through the hold, and knelt next to the fallen Mandalorian.

 

“HK just went…berserk!” Mission exclaimed in horror to Rade and the rest of the group. “We were just starting a game of Pazaak, and… and…” She looked up at Kye. “I… I don’t think he’s breathing!”

 

With a calm expression, Kye took up Canderous’ wrist in one hand, and laid her other on Canderous’ forehead, then closed her eyes.

 

“Got it!” Rade said, and extracted a tiny chip from HK’s chassis, no bigger than the moon on his fingernail. “Had this not been glowing red hot, I wouldn’t have even noticed this!” He nodded for Bastila and Jolee to release the droid. As soon as they did, the Ebon Hawk lurched into hyperspace, and HK-47 teetered, then fell flat to the deck on his back.

 

“Hey! Who jumped us into hyperspace?” Carth asked, seeing as everyone but Ithra was in the main hold.

 

“I did,” Kye said. Her eyes opened, but her hands remained on Canderous. “Remote jump. Don’t worry. I didn’t do any calculations on my own.”

 

“Observation:", said HK. "Master? I appear to have suffered a minor malfunction culminating in my being in the slightly awkward position of not being able to regain my vertical positioning. In other words, I’ve fallen, and I can’t get up.”

 

“You’ll be fine,” Rade said, using the Force to quickly lift HK to his feet. Rade then wheeled around to where Canderous was. “Is he...?”

 

“I don’t know,” Mission said worriedly. “HK shot him and ….”

 

“He’ll be fine,” Kye said, lifting her hand from Canderous' brow. “His pulse is strong. He’s just unconscious. He’ll come around soon.”

 

“Are you sure?” Mission asked.

 

“Oh, she’s sure,” said a cold, icy female voice. It was Ithra. Disturbed from her sleep by all of the racket, she was now standing at the other end of the main hold, glaring menacingly at Kye. “Jantessan Keepers have the ability to heal from within.” Suddenly, her eyes went black. “You traitor!” she suddenly snarled, and with a quick raise of her hand, she uncharacteristically used the Force to hurl Kye across the hold, slamming her hard into the hull wall.

 

Kye shook her head to clear it, then frowned. “Ow!” she said, rubbing the back of her head. “That hurt!”

 

Before Rade or anyone else could stop her, Ithra raised her hand again. But this time, it was Ithra who went flying backwards, her attack having been reflected by Kye, without her even raising a finger.

 

Kye stood up slowly and began to brush off her clothes. “You haven’t learned anything, have you,” she said to Ithra.

 

“I’ve learned enough to become Prime Keeper!” Ithra shouted from where she lay crumpled on the floor. “And I’ve learned that the only way to keep Jantessa alive is to join the Republic, purge it of traitors like you, and bring back the Gem to its rightful place in the Haven where it can once again be used to bring harmony and balance to our world!”

 

Kye raised an eyebrow. “You? Prime Keeper?” She shook her head. “There are no more Keepers.”

 

“That’s because you killed them all!”

 

“Well, apparently, I missed one,” Kye said, her eyes narrowing. “Prime Keeper, indeed!” she scoffed cynically. “You’re not a Keeper. Not even close.”

 

“What is going on!” Rade demanded, giving a harsh look at Ithra, then turning on Kye. “Who are you?!”

 

“She’s a traitor, that’s who she is!” Ithra said, getting up shakily to her feet, her eyes now returning to their normal violet shade.

 

“Let her speak, Ithra!” Rade ordered. “Now, who are you?”

 

“That depends,” said Kye.

 

“Quit with the cryptic questions, and just tell me who you are, and how you know Ithra!”

 

Kye grinned. “Ithra was once a pupil of mine,” she said matter-of-factly. “Long ago.”

 

“You betrayed our people and sent hundreds to their deaths!” Ithra cried. “She’s a traitor, and she deserves to die!” She made to lunge at Kye, but Jolee and Bastila grabbed hold of her and held her back.

 

“No one ‘deserves’ to die,” said Bastila. “No matter what they’ve done.”

 

“Spoken like a true Jedi,” Kye commented. “And I suppose ‘ol Revan here is proof positive of that philosophy in practice.”

 

Rade frowned. “I’m not Revan. Not anymore.”

 

“Oh? Well, if you’re not Revan, then I’m not who I was either,” Kye replied sassily.

 

“Okay. So who were you?”

 

“Kiana Do’Shaanan. Former Keeper, former collaborator with the Sith Lord Revan, currently banished traitor, damn good engineer, fairly good cook, half decent waitress, hopeless navigator and….” Kye smiled. “Ithra’s older sister.”

[Diego Varen]

Good Chapter.

[Renegade Puma]

Holy crap! Holy crap! Holy Crap!! Holy freaking crap!!! It may have been a bit shorter, but dang that was an amazing chapter Jasra. Kye is not who I thought she was at all, in fact you really brought that whole twist out of no where! I am so loving this story more and more with each chapter. And the "I've fallen and I can't get up" Line from HK was priceless. Can't wait to see how this unfolds.

[RC-1162]

excellent twist, Jasra, youre climbing the ranks very quickly. this might just be better than ForceFIght's

<_<

>_>

dont tell her i said that

[Hallucination]

this might just be better than ForceFIght's

<_<

>_>

Which one? Forcefight started her second fic.

 

Great job Jazzy Lentil Jasra Lantill, keep it up!

[Writer]

.......... excuse me while I peel my jaw off the floor

 

Before that last chapter, I was convinced I didn't like Kye... guess that's over

 

Do write more, Jazzy, dear

[Jae Onasi]

I've really enjoyed these last 2 chapters. Nice twist with Kye. I like how you do Mission's character--sassy, trusting but yet pretty worldly-wise for a teen, and still making the occasional teen mistakes.