Knights of the Old Republic: Darkness Falls II - Alliances

[The Doctor]

"You do," he grumbled. He didn't smile. "I am the Doctor. But this is not the place."

[The Doctor]

"You do," he grumbled. He didn't smile. "I am the Doctor. But this is not the place."

[ForceFightWMe12]

So her hunch had been right...but...what the hell? There was no way this was the same guy. The Doctor had been cheerful and tolerant and...well...maybe a bit unorthodox, but this guy...he didn't look like he could smile if his life depended on it.

"Might I ask what Regeneration?" she asked. The Doctor she knew was the fifth incarnation. Judging by the change in attitude...her guess was this guy was going on fifty.

[ForceFightWMe12]

So her hunch had been right...but...what the hell? There was no way this was the same guy. The Doctor had been cheerful and tolerant and...well...maybe a bit unorthodox, but this guy...he didn't look like he could smile if his life depended on it.

"Might I ask what Regeneration?" she asked. The Doctor she knew was the fifth incarnation. Judging by the change in attitude...her guess was this guy was going on fifty.

[The Doctor]

The Doctor glared at her. "You may. But whether I will answer is another matter entirely." He looked around nervously again. "As I said, this is not the place," he snapped impatiently. "I shall return to the TARDIS, and land it inside the Ebon Hawk. We may speak freely then. And only then."

Without another word, he turned sharply, his cape billowing out behind him, and stalked off towards the TARDIS.

[The Doctor]

The Doctor glared at her. "You may. But whether I will answer is another matter entirely." He looked around nervously again. "As I said, this is not the place," he snapped impatiently. "I shall return to the TARDIS, and land it inside the Ebon Hawk. We may speak freely then. And only then."

Without another word, he turned sharply, his cape billowing out behind him, and stalked off towards the TARDIS.

[3yks]

Brax landed without a sound not far off from where the Doctor was walking away from Kira and ... Revan, who was only just poking his head out of the ramp from the Hawk.

 

He frowned, did they actually remember him? Was any of this real? Or had he simply gone insane and had some weird hallucination of the future? He sighed and stood up from his crouched position, and apeared about twenty feet off, his hands held up. The red gauntlets not glowing with energy.

 

"Kira? Revan?" He called, the Doctor had said they would have to work togethor this time around. He stayed were he was, hands held up in a sign of peace.

[3yks]

Brax landed without a sound not far off from where the Doctor was walking away from Kira and ... Revan, who was only just poking his head out of the ramp from the Hawk.

 

He frowned, did they actually remember him? Was any of this real? Or had he simply gone insane and had some weird hallucination of the future? He sighed and stood up from his crouched position, and apeared about twenty feet off, his hands held up. The red gauntlets not glowing with energy.

 

"Kira? Revan?" He called, the Doctor had said they would have to work togethor this time around. He stayed were he was, hands held up in a sign of peace.

[ForceFightWMe12]

"So he did." Kira said, advancing on Brax. Her right hand was on her hip, her fingers splayed close to where her lightsaber was sheathed at her belt. He might be trying to claim truce, but he had killed Revan in cold-blood before. She wouldn't make the mistake of letting her guard down. She noticed his eyes dart to her hand.

"Throw down your weapons, Omwati, and I'll throw down mine." she said, looking at the gauntlets pointedly.

[3yks]

"I can't." He said, looking at her face, "If I could I would ... but my gauntlets aren't like the one's I gave Jasra." He frowned in thought for a moment. "They're a part of me ... they have been for a long time. The metal eats away at the skin in my hands, bonds with the bone itself. It's why I never take them off, it's why I was suprised ... when we were in that place and I didn't have them." He considered for a moment.

 

"But I can remove the powercell." he turned one hand up and used the other to open a little hatch, and popped out a power cell, and then did the same witht he other. "It makes it hard to move them much at all, but I will suffer through that to prove that I am not here to fight Revan again." He nodded to this. "Revan paid for his crimes in my mind, and that is all that matters to me."

[JasraLantill]

Standing next to Karda and Master Verga before the Jedi Council in the Enclave on Dantooine, Jasra shifted uncomfortably. She wasn’t used to her new ‘Jedi wardrobe’, and having accomplished Jedi Masters staring at her while she tried to shield her thoughts didn’t help her comfort level any either.

 

There were five chairs in the Enclave’s Council Chamber, four of them filled, one of them empty. Jasra had asked Karda on their way there who the Council consisted of, and here she saw the faces of the Jedi Masters for the first time: Farenbrae Del, a Twi’Lek; Visas Marr, a Miraluka; Tarlec Kintela, a Corellian human; Prilia Hertlsh, an Ithorian. Bastila Shan, the only member of this Council she would have recognised, was conspicuously missing.

 

“Karda Jal-Ordo,” said Visas Marr. “As you know, the Order is in the midst of rebuilding itself. Barely one hundred Jedi remain, so every one of us is important if the Order is to survive. For this reason, we have sent one of our own on a mission to seek out Force Sensitives in the outer reaches of the Galaxy, in an effort to try and recruit them to join the Order and train as Jedi. Master Verga, you have been instrumental in recovering some of the Padawans the Order sent away for protection during Darth Nihilus’ purges. And two of your most successful cases stand before us now.”

 

Jasra swallowed hard. She was a successful case? Oh, if they only knew….

 

“Thank you, Master,” Verga said, bowing slightly. “I appreciate the compliment.”

 

“Instructing the young is a difficult task,” said Master Del, “but even more so when their regimen is interrupted.” He gave Jasra a hard stare. “Especially when they are exposed to corrupting influences,” he added.

 

Jasra cocked an eyebrow at him, but said nothing.

 

“And overcoming those influences is a sign of a strength,” Visas said. “Turning from the Dark Side is no easy task. One must be constantly vigilant against giving into the lure of easy power. Don’t you agree, Jasra?”

 

Jasra bristled. Were they testing her? “Power is never easy to wield, Master,” she answered. “No matter where it originates from.”

 

“I am glad you have learned your lessons well, Padawan,” said the Ithorian Master Hertlsh in heavily accented Basic. “For you will need such wisdom for the mission we are sending you on.”

 

“Perhaps we should just get to the point,” said Master Kintela, with all the brashness of a typically Corellian. “We believe that Master Shan has been kidnapped while bringing back some Force Sensitive candidates for Jedi training.”

 

“Kidnapped?” Karda asked. “By whom?”

 

“We don’t know,” said Visas. “The Council has sensed a Darkness falling across the Galaxy. We are unable to detect its origin, but we believe that Master Shan’s disappearance is related to it in someway.”

 

“Your mission, Karda, is to find Bastila and the Padawan candidates,” said Master Kintela. “A Republic scout ship is being dispatched from Coruscant. It will arrive tomorrow morning. Padawan Lantill will accompany you.”

 

“And upon your return, Karda,” Master Del added, “you will be awarded the rank of Master. And, this mission will also be considered part of Padawan Lantill’s trials for Knighthood.”

 

“Go and prepare yourselves,” said Visas. “Good luck, and may the Force be with you.”

 

“Thank you, Masters,” Karda said, bowing and nudging Jasra to do the same. “We will not fail you.”

 

~~~~~~

 

Jasra and Karda walked down the corridor to the dormitory section of the Enclave.

 

“Kira knows Bastila, right?” Jasra asked. “Surely she’d help us with this.”

 

“This is Jedi business,” said Karda. “And Kira is not a Jedi.”

 

“Yeah, but she used to be. She’d help us. Just hope she’s on Nar Shaddaa like she was bef….”

 

“We are not going to Nar Shaddaa,” said Karda, holding up his datapad. “Bastila’s last known co-ordinates are nowhere near it.”

 

“But we have to go to Nar Shaddaa!” Jasra said, stopping him in the corridor. “That’s where the others will be!”

 

“The others?” He gave Jasra a stern look. “Get this through your head. What we ‘remember’--the Shards, Kira, Revan, The Doctor…” He sneered with disdain. “That blue Omwati beast…. It never happened. And it won’t happen. You’re a Jedi now, not some untrained, undisciplined, bounty hunting scum. A Jedi. You have a responsibility to uphold to the Order.”

 

“The Force brought us all together for a reason, and I have a responsibility to get back to them,” Jasra said. “And so do you!”

 

“It! Never! Happened!” Karda stared directly into Jasra’s eyes. “I’m in charge of this mission, and if you don’t want me to refer you Master Verga for some more ‘guided meditation’ to ‘recondition’ your thoughts, you’ll do as I say. Understood, Padawan?”

 

Jasra glared at him. She desperately wanted to find Brax. And the others. Besides, she reasoned, they might be able to help them in their search for Bastila. But if she wasn’t allowed to go on the mission, she would never get to Nar Shaddaa.

 

“Understood,” she said reluctantly.

 

“Now go and prepare for the journey,” Karda said, pointing at a door that Jasra understood to be the door to her room. “We leave first thing in the morning.”

[The Doctor]

"What's going on?"

A fairly short young woman with shoulder length blonde hair wearing blue jeans and a purple shirt braced herself against a large console in the middle of the room as the entire ship shook.

"I don't know!" answered the man with her, as he pushed buttons and tapped keys on the console. "This can't be right!"

"What is it?" she asked, coming up beside him.

"Something's sending ripples through Time!" he said as the ship shook again. "We;re being knocked off course!"

"Well can't you do something?" she asked, pushing her hair out of her eyes.

"No!" he said, pulling a lever and cathching her as she almost fell to the floor. "The TIme Vortex isn't stable! I can't control our flight!"

"Where are we headed?"

The man smiled widely. "I don't know," he said. He looked up at her. "Sounds kind of exciting, doesn't it?"

[ForceFightWMe12]

Kira detached her saber from her belt and rolled it along the ground to a center point between them as Brax did the same with the power cells. Her eyes continued to watch him warily.

"And so the grudge is dropped?" she asked, cocking an eyebrow. "We can work together without having to worry about you stabbing us in the back?" she meant the statement literally, but didn't mention it.

[3yks]

"Right now all I'm intersted in is finding Jasra, and the best way to do that is with you ... I will not stab you in the back Kira." He nodded his head, looking at her quietly.

 

"And if I am needed to fight a greater evil, at Revan's side, then I will be happy to join with you for that as well. Once I have found Jasra." He waited for her to acknowledge this, then moved forward slowly. "Take your Lightsaber, and let us board the hawk as friends Kira." He paused a few feet from the saber and power cells.

[ForceFightWMe12]

Kira stepped closer to the Omwati, studying him for a moment. Then, slowly, cautiously, she reached out a hand. "You have my word if I have yours...Brax."

[3yks]

"You have my word, upon my honor as a Zedai." He grasped her hand, the metal on his was, odd, warm to the touch ... a strange hand to shake. But he shook her hand lightly, and then bent and picked up her saber, and offered it to her. Then picked up his power cells and put them back into place.

 

He smiled a ther, then closed his eyes for a moment, and stumbled .. .falling to one knee. His hand came up clutching his head ... streaks of blood at the tips of his claws apeared in his hair, and on the sides of his head ... "Aaargh." He screamed, and then fell forward, unconcoius.

[ForceFightWMe12]

"Brax?" Kira said, catching the Omwati as he fell forward. "Brax!!"

He couldn't hear her. He had blacked out.

She grimaced as she hauled him up, pulling one of his arms over her shoulders. As much as she distrusted him, she couldn't let him bleed to death right before her eyes. Besides, if she ever met up with Jasra again...

Mical!! she called, touching his mind. We have another patient for you, get your butt out here!!

 

"I haven't a clue what's wrong with him." Disciple said, flitting around the unconcious alien. "He's the first Omwati I've ever seen, let alone been able to study. Their make-up is different from ours...though I've managed to stop the bleeding for now. Hopefully he'll regain some form of conciousness so he could explain what's wrong and what needs to be done."

[steven]

Marshall Taylor began pressing bottens in the console in front of him. He was doing what he does to prep the ship for departure. As he did this the briefing replayed in his head. It took place in a briefing room in the senate building for a change. As far as briefing rooms go, it was pretty fancy; comfortable seating, a holo-projector that didn't make a funny crackling sounds after 10 tens of use and the hologram didn't flicker either, the man who was speaking clear Galactic Basic, nothing like the Republics Piolt base briefing room.

 

"Ladies and Gentlemen. You have been requested to join us for an important mission. We are pleased to see that you have all turned up..."the mission commander started. He was an old but tough bloke. He was fully dressed in military clothing, he had grey hair with a black streak at the back, he was also wearing an eye patch and it was ovious that his left hand was fake.

[/i]We didn't have a choice. I was drugged and woke up here. thought Marshall.

The mission commander continued "Lately, an important jedi knight that is a key figure in the Jedi Order restoration program has gone mission. We are were to aid the two jedi in any means possible. You will be using an new class ship. The ship itself is very fast, has the best and up to date shielding technoigly and sensor array in our whole fleet. The ships name is the Dreadless and will be captain by the jedi that is head of the mision, but until then matters will be controlled by Captain Ford. You shall follow his commands even when the jedi take lead. Mr.Taylor will be the piolt of the ship..." This was the part where Taylor lost concentration. All he needed to know is that they were heading to Dantooine and then to some undisclosed location

 

After getting everything ready, Marshall spoke into the microphone, witch send a message to the space docks where the Dreadless was position.

"Dreadless requesting permission to undock." Marshall waiting for a few seconds until there was a reply

"Permission granted". He docked the ship and waited until the captain gave the order to enter hyperspace. As soon as Captain Ford said "Go", the Dreadless left hyperspace and toward Dantooine.

[Xbx_Inthusiast]

((Way too far in.. i'll go ahead and leave this alone, FFWM thanks for the offer though))

[JasraLantill]

Jasra stared for a moment at the small pack sitting on her bed before finally closing it up and sitting it on the floor by the door. She looked around the austere room. A bed, a plain small desk, a computer terminal, and a storage locker. It was hard to believe that this was her room as there were no personal items in view to identify it as such. Then again, Jedi were supposed to be free of personal attachments.

 

Her thoughts strayed to Brax. Where was he? Had he changed? Would he remember her? And if he did, would he still… love her? A Jedi?

 

Jedi. Jasra ran her fingers down the leather tabards she wore. It was a strange feeling wearing the garb of a Jedi. Especially since she didn’t think she wanted to be one now. Brax had opened her mind to a different way of looking at the Force—the once clearly defined lines between ‘Light’ and ‘Dark’ had blurred, her emotions encouraged to be experienced and relished, not hidden and forgotten.

 

She sighed sadly, then laid down on the bed and stared up at the ceiling. Tomorrow morning, she would leave on a mission to find the missing Bastila, but all she really wanted to do was to find Brax.

 

She closed her eyes, seeking sleep, and hoping that she might recall the time she had spent with Brax in the sanctuary of her dreams.

[3yks]

The room was dark, the ceiling made of stars, two creatures lay on a bed, curled togethor, one a blue skinned male sentient, the other a pink skinned female sentient. Omwati and Human.

 

"Jasra," Brax whispered softly, the feel of her warm body close to his bringing a smile to his face. "To bad this is just a dream." he whispered, caressing fingers through her hair gently. Not knowing that his unconcious mind had reached out searching for hers, and her own thoughts of seeking him had connected the two of them, sharing a dream.

 

"Where are you Jasra?" He asked, peering at her face, "Something seem ... different, wrong about this universe, I can't put my finger on it, but ... I have a bad feeling." He smiled, "Don't worry about responding, I know you're just in my head."

 

Mical paused a moment, looking at the monitor attached to Brax, the ship showed that he had four hearts ... and two of them had suddenly started beating extremely fast ... his blood pumping rapidly through his veins. He cried out in his sleep ... clutching his chest with his claws, gouging deep red stains into his chest ... Those gauntlets are dangerous. Thought Mical, and approached ... he managed to restrain Brax, and then started looking at the gauntlets. After a short while he called in T3, and togethor the two of them deviced a way to remove them ... and shortly there after Brax's hands were free of the gauntlets ... the skin was worn off almost completely ... muscle and bone shown through in places.

[ForceFightWMe12]

"Damn!" Disciple exclaimed. The Gauntlets...they're like a part of him now. A result of wearing them for most of his life? Or natural?

Regardless, it was a bad idea to have them on, and a worse idea to have them off. He called T3 back in, and they forced the gauntlets on again.

This is not good. he thought to himself, and hurriedly injected both the Omwati's arms with a neural agent that would paralyze the muscles in them, preventing him from harming himself with the claws further. He then set about applying bandages to the puncture wounds in his blue skin, the work going slowly. Finally, he injected him with yet another drug, this one to lull the two hearts that were beating far too fast and force the beating to return to normal. Unless the alien had some sort of reaction to it, the hearts would, and his condition would stabilized. Of course, if his body rejected the serum...well, he prefered not to think about it.

"Omwati have four hearts; two sheltered beneath a rib cage, two below the cage. Skin beneath these weapon-gauntlets also seems to be far too sensative, even to open air. The skin dried and deteriorates rapidly, exposing muscle and bone tissue. Leave gauntlets intact unless it is impossible to avoid." he said, the spoken notes being taken by a small device he had wrapped around his ear. "Let's hope this works."

 

- - - - -

 

"I see you've finally caught up with Revan." Atton said, breaking the silence that had reigned in the cockpit as he did a systems check on the Hawk and the Exile was checking coordinates against the galaxy map.

"Yeah..." Kira answered cautiously, casting a side glance at the back of the pilot's head.

"Just like old times, huh?"

She didn't like the tone in his voice. "Well...things are different from the days at the Enclave...things have changed..."

"People have changed?" he asked, standing now and looking at her. The Exile's hands dropped to her side, her eyebrows knitting together slightly.

"Perhaps..." she answered, "Why?"

"Well, I was just asking--"

"Atton," she cut in, "If you wanted to say something, this isn't the way to do it."

He was silent for a moment, looking at her, a hand clenching and unclenching as he tried to figure out what to say. In the end, he approached her, his face coming within inches of hers.

"I love you, Kira, and I just...don't want to loose you."

[The Doctor]

"You know," said Revan, standing framed in the door. "I once said the exact same thing to her." He moved forward, his hand dangerously close to his lightsaber. "And you know what?" he asked, glaring at Atton. "I did lose her. And I won't let it happen again."

[ForceFightWMe12]

As Kira jumped back, startled, her face glowing red, Atton's eyes narrowed and he turned to fully face Revan.

"But you did more than loose her." the Scoundrel said, "You turned away from her. Abandoned her. Oh, I've heard the stories. A corrupted Revan with an incurable blood-lust turns on the Jedi, leaving his most skilled General in his Hyperspace trail to face the Council alone while he goes off to find the ultimate weapon. You say you loved her, but that's just it, loved her. Things have changed since then."

Kira sensed the tension between the men and moved to intervene. "Atton, it wasn't like that, it--"

[The Doctor]

"How dare you!" said Revan, moving around Kra, coming face to face with Atton. "You served under me during the Wars as well, Atton. And you turned your back on me, your commrades. That includes Kira." He moved closer, so that his face was merely inches from Atton's. "But there's one difference between the two of us. I had a reason. I was trying to protcet the galaxy. You were just afraid. You ran away and hid on Nar Shaddaa, turning your back on all that you once held dear. And I won't let you do it again."