Knights of the Old Republic: Darkness Falls II - Alliances

[JasraLantill]

“C’mon, Brax… hear me…,” Jasra whispered. “Awaken….” Jasra had continued to try to contact Brax through their Force bond, but to no avail. He still hadn’t woken up.

 

“Give it up, Jas,” said Atton. “With those Ysalamiri up above our heads, you can’t use the Force.”

 

“Stop being so negative,” Jasra snapped at him. “Whatever gas they used to knock us out on the ship, it must just affect Omwatis differently than humans.” She readjusted her meditation position and tried to contact Brax again. “I’ll wake him.”

 

“For a Jedi Padawan, you seem overly emotional with regards to your Omwati friend,” Bastila observed.

 

“Oh, she and the Zedai are more than just friends,” Atton sneered from the cage on the other side of Bastila’s. “They have a bond.”

 

“A bond?” Bastila frowned. “A Force bond?”

 

Jasra opened her eyes and glared at Atton. “Shut up, Atton.”

 

“Shut up?” Atton raised his brows. “Ooh, careful, Padawan. That’s not a very Jedi thing to say. You don’t want to fall to… the Dark Side.”

 

“Well, I don’t recall anybody asking for your opinion,” said Jasra.

 

“Bastila did,” Atton retorted.

 

“No, she just asked a question.”

 

“To which she hasn’t had an answer yet,” said Bastila. She turned to look at Atton. “Tell me more about these Zedai, Atton.”

 

Jasra’s jaw set. “Yes, Atton. Tell us more. You seem to know quite a lot about them ever since your little training session with Sasshiv.”

 

“I told you,” Atton said, glaring at Jasra. “She was only teaching me some… fighting techniques.”

 

“Uh-huh,” Jasra said with disbelief. “Too bad they didn’t help us from getting boarded and captured.”

 

“Stop it! Both of you!” Bastila said, reminiscent of a mother scolding her children. “You two are acting worse than my trainees!”

 

Just then, the lights came on again, and the chamber was flooded with bright light.

 

“Well,” said Lord Vros as he made his way across the chamber towards them. “I see you are all getting along famously.” He looked at Brax’s limp body in the Force cage, then shook his head. “Most of you, that is.” He sighed. “I should have recommended a less potent sedative. I didn’t anticipate an Omwati on board.”

 

“Anticipate?” said Atton. “You mean, you were looking for us on purpose? How is that possible?”

 

Vros merely smiled, but didn’t answer Atton’s question. Instead, he addressed Bastila. “Well, Master Shan, I’m sure you’ll be happy to know that I’m releasing your young charges.”

 

Bastila eyed him with suspicion. “Releasing them where?”

 

Vros chuckled. “A very apt question, Master Shan.” He motioned to his henchmen to release the young trainees and began to usher them out of the chamber. “I’m transferring them into the custody of a Mr. Amek.”

 

“Valclav Amek?” Jasra asked. She thought for a moment. “So… that’s the connection.” She rose, and looked at Bastila and Atton. “Amek’s a slaver on Myrkr. We discovered he was involved in the attack on the Almanac, but we didn’t know how. Until now.”

 

Vros’ eyebrows raised. “I’m impressed,” he said, moving towards Jasra’s Force Cage. “And to show my appreciation, I’ll let you assist me in my work before Master Shan’s turn.” He snapped his fingers, and four of his henchmen approached with stun batons.

 

Jasra gave Vros a defiant look. Stun batons or not, she wasn’t going down without a fight.

 

But Vros suddenly halted his men, and then walked over to Brax’s cage himself. “I couldn’t help but overhear about your ‘bond’ with the Omwati, Padawan. I’ve observed that pair bonds among their species are quite strong, although I must admit, I’ve never encountered an inter-species bond with one.” He grinned. “And never with a Jedi. I’m quite curious to see how it compares.”

 

He activated a torture field within Brax’s cage. Even though unconscious, Brax convulsed in pain. And Jasra felt it as well.

 

“No!” Jasra cried, more concerned for Brax than herself, even though she was doubling over in pain, too. “Stop it!”

 

Vros did, then looked over at Jasra. “Interesting. Even with the Ysalamiri present, your bond is quite strong.” And just to illustrate his point, he activated the torture field again.

 

“Arrrgh! Stop!”

 

“So, I take it that I will have your full co-operation?”

 

“If you won’t torture him anymore… yes,” she answered.

 

“Agreed.”

 

“Padawan Lantill, don’t!” said Bastila. “You can’t trust him. He’ll torture your friend anyway. And you don’t know what he’s….”

 

“Master Shan, I’m disappointed in you,” Vros interrupted, his forehead wrinkling with phony dismay. “I have always been a man of my word. Padawan Lantill?” He beckoned with his hand for Jasra to follow him. “This way, please.”

 

Jasra’s Force cage was deactivated and she was escorted by Vros’ henchmen towards the laboratory equipment on the opposite side of the chamber.

 

Bastila sighed and shook her head as she watched Jasra being strapped immobile to the vertical table in front of the Force Extractor.

 

“What?” Atton asked Bastila. “What is he doing?”

 

Jasra was wondering the same thing as Lord Vros calibrated the machine that was being placed in front of her. A green light began to glow and Jasra heard someone let out the most bloodcurdling scream of pain that she had ever heard in her life. And, just before the blackness took her, she realised that the ‘someone’--was her.

[ForceFightWMe12]

The lights blinked back at him as Atton's hands flew across the Ssss's controls, the surface of Myrkr growing closer moment by moment.

 

He ran through the job, thinking of every possible way to complete it. The objective: deliver all Jedi back to Vros. Kira would be easy, more or less. He was already forming ideas as to how he could get close to her again, to persuade her to trust him as fully as she had a year ago...

 

The other two might be a bit harder. If his plan with Kira succeeded -- and he could hand her off to Valvek or another one of Vros's minions -- he could easily draw Revan into a trap searching for her. But as for Karda...he was fiercly loyal, the Scoundrel would find some way to draw him in.

 

The ship shook momentarily as it peirced the atmosphere, then it was smooth, quick sailing through the clouds to the surface of the planet below.

[steven]

The Doctor nodded. "We're on course for the Myrkr system now," he said. "We should arrive shortly."

 

Tylor waited untill the engine sounds stopped before saying "I'm guessing we're here and we should leave. We've allready wasted enough time fighting those pirates."

[RobQel-Droma]

"Good. We've wasted enough time already." Karda said. "I don't think we should wait any longer, even for Kira and Revan. Something might have already happened." He looked to the Doctor. "Well, since this is your ship, what do you think we should do?"

[JasraLantill]

((OOC: Ok, time to get this one rolling again. Apologies for the lengthy post, but if one of the 'Republic' group or the 'Revan' group (or both groups) can pick up Valclav Amek's transport ship approaching Myrkr, and then pick up the signal of one of the trainees (who would be on their way to the slave market) on board that ship, I think we can get things moving again.))

 

Jasra blinked her eyes. Everything was pitch black around her. For a moment, panic enveloped her, but then her Jedi training kicked in and she pushed the fear from her mind. Wherever she was, fear would not help her to deal with the here and now. Her entire body ached, inside and out, but as she struggled to concentrate on her surroundings, she heard a familiar whisper.

 

“Be still, love. Don’t try to move.”

 

“Brax…?” His name rasped dryly from her throat like a croak from a Tatooine nuna.

 

“Don’t speak. Just rest.”

 

“You’re still in a Force cage in Vros’ lair,” Jasra heard Bastila say. “But like the trainees, you should recover in about an hour. Your eyesight, too.”

 

I’m blind? Jasra blinked her eyes again, then tried to reach out with the Force to sense her surroundings, but felt nothing. Those Ysalamiri must still be around, she guessed silently.

 

“They are,” she heard Brax answer verbally.

 

Even though it hurt, Jasra frowned slightly. Brax, I can hear you. But not like before. What’s happened? Are you alright? Did they hurt you, too?

 

“I’m fine, Jasra,” Brax answered her. “Bastila tells me that you were exposed to some sort of machine that… extracts the Force. I’m sorry I was not conscious enough to help you.”

 

“You’re speaking to her? Through this… bond that Vros’ spoke of?” Bastila asked Brax.

 

“Yes. Of sorts. I can sense her… feelings, though not her thoughts.”

 

“Then,” Bastila said pensively. “Vros hasn’t extracted everything he could from her. Not like he did the trainees.” She sighed. “Their Force Sensitivity was completely gone when they came out of that machine.”

 

“Jasra is strong with the Force,” Brax said. “And our bond has melded our strength together as one. I have no doubt that her ordeal has sapped some of my strength as well, but I believe this Vros was unware of the amount of potential in us both.”

 

“He’s… Master,” Jasra struggled to explain to Bastila that Brax's rank in Omwati society was equivalent to Bastila's.

 

“Master? Master of who? You?” Bastila asked suspiciously. “He’s not a Jedi.”

 

“No, he’s a Zedai,” Atton chimed in. “Which is about this,” he pinched the air with his fingers, “close to a Sith, as far as I can tell. See, they embrace emotions and attachments.”

 

“Oh?” Bastila raised an eyebrow at Brax. “So, Jasra’s fallen? Well, that explains her erratic behaviour and her attachment to you.”

 

“She has not fallen,” Brax growled. “She has been enlightened to her true potential.”

 

“Her true potential?” Bastila snorted. “That sounds like something a Sith would say.”

 

“The Zedai are not Sith,” Brax countered. “Nor are they Jedi. They believe in the balance between the Dark and the Light. Both sides are necessary to experience true communion with the Force.”

 

“True communion with the Force can only come from the Light,” Bastila argued. “The challenges of conquering temptation is how we….”

 

“Hey! Can we argue about semantics later?” Atton interrupted. “In case no one has noticed, we’re locked up like lab rodents for some crazy guy’s science project, and we still don’t know why he’s doing it, or how we’re getting out of here.”

 

“You’re right, Atton,” agreed Bastila. “We should be trying to work together to figure out a way to escape, or at the least, a way to warn any other Force Sensitives to stay away from this place. Any ideas?”

 

“There are Republic troops with the Jedi Karda,” Brax said. “They would not be affected by the Ysalamiri as we are.”

 

“No. But they don’t know where we are either,” said Atton.

 

“Jasra figured out how Vros and the slaver Valclav Amek were connected. Maybe they will, too, once they get to Myrkr,” Bastila suggested. “It hasn’t been too long since Vros took away the trainees. Perhaps they will discover them in transit.”

 

“Maybe,” Brax said.

 

Atton snorted with disdain. “Perhaps. Maybe. Jedi. Zedai. You are both missing the point. The point is that we’re stuck here with that….”

 

“Iden…” Jasra struggled to say.

 

“What?” Atton said. He looked over at Brax. "You're the one with the 'bond'. What's she trying to say?"

 

Brax closed his eyes for a moment, concentrating as he tried to gather what Jasra was trying to tell them. Then, his eyes opened and he met Bastila’s gaze through the haze of her Force cage. “Did you issue the trainees some sort of identification when you brought them aboard your ship?” Brax asked her.

 

Bastila began to grin. “Yes. Yes, I did. Ident chips. All Padawans are given one. It’s a sort of… tracking device, implanted just under the skin.”

 

“Tracking device?” Atton snorted with amusement. “What, in case a Master just happens to misplace his Padawan?”

 

Bastila frowned. “No. It allows initiates to be monitored during the first year while they make their transition into Jedi life.”

 

“So, we could have been looking for this signal all along? Instead of looking all over space for you?" Atton sighed. "Great. Now you tell us."

 

“They are extremely low level signals,” said Bastila. “One would only be able to track it from close range. But…”

 

“But that means if any of the others come across the signal, they would recognise it as Jedi,” Brax surmised.

 

“And if they are in transport, they’d be able to track the ship…to here!” Atton brightened, then faded. “So, we’re back to where we started. Waiting. Great.”

 

The lights in the dim chamber suddenly came on and Lord Vros entered with his henchmen in black. While they busied themselves with turning on the Force Extractor, Vros, grinning wryly, approached Bastila. “Well, Master Shan,” he said smoothly. “I believe it is finally your turn.”

[The Doctor]

((Rob, throw me a PM when you read this post. Just to make sure we're on the same page about things. If you haven't PMed me about it by Wednesday, I'll take control of Karda until you either PM me or post something.))

 

"I think we should-"

 

The TARDIS rocked violently and suddenly. The Doctor pushed past Rose as he moved around the console, flicking switches and pounding conduits as he went. The TARDIS lurched again, and the grinding noise gave way to a deep, slow bell toll that seemed to come from the heart of the TARDIS itself.

 

"What's wrong, what is it?" asked Rose.

 

"I don't know. Some sort of signal, drawing the TARDIS off course." He leaned closer to the console, the better to see the readings. "Karda, what do you make of this?" he asked, indicating the screen.

[ForceFightWMe12]

Waiting, waiting, waiting. Atton was tired of waiting. He sat in the cockpit of the Ssss, watching Mrrkyr rotate slowly below him from the ship's low, steady orbit around the planet. He frowned, leaning forward and resting his arms on the console in front of him, staring at the planet.

 

When were the others going to show up? The ship was cloaked -- he wouldn't be seen by them. But he wasn't about to land before he knew where they were. He already had scoped out the planet, getting his bearings. That, of course, didn't last long. He didn't have to know much to create his trap.

 

-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-

 

Kira tapped her finger against the armrest of the pilot's chair, staring out at the wormhole that was Hyperspace. She swung the chair slowly from one side to the other, lost in thought.

 

Mrrkyr...what did the mysterious planet hold for them?

 

Answers, hopefully. she thought to herself glumly as she rested her head against her hand. She was tired of running around without anything to go on in this wild goose chase. It was frustrating, and she didn't need anything more to bug her. She already had enough.

 

Where was Bastila and the crew of her ship? Were they even alive? Who was behind their disappearences? And what about the others? Were they alright, or had they found danger like Revan and herself? And Revan...Ugh. Revan.

 

They were getting closer to Mrrkyr every second. And, if hope be believed, that meant they were getting closer to finding Bastila as well. Sure, Revan and herself were more or less engaged, but...

[The Doctor]

Revan placed a hand on her shoulder as he stepped up behind her, making her jump slightly.

 

"What is it?" he asked, looking at her with genuine concern.

[ForceFightWMe12]

She looked at him over a shoulder a moment before breath a sigh. She ran her hands through her hair, which currently hung down around her shoulders.

 

"It's um...It's nothing. I was just thinking about Mrykr and the others."

 

He have her a skeptical look, but let it go.

 

"We should be able to detect the Doctor's ship once we're in orbit," he said. "We should get the sensors online now."

 

"Er...right. Sensors." she said, leaning forward as she began to tinker with some things on the dash.

[Writer]

((Since I haven't seen Rob, I'll take over Karda until he comes back. I'm writing this on the assumption that the signal diverting us is the ident chip signal Bastila mentioned earlier... if not, correct me and I'll edit.))

 

Karda and Crystal both bent over to get a better look at the screen. Karda's eyes narrowed slightly and Crystal gasped.

 

"Ident chip?" she asked quietly. Karda nodded slowly.

 

"You know the frequency?" he asked her. She snorted.

 

"Of course," she agreed. "The Jedi planted one of those in me once upon a time. It was really quite odd... for a time, I heard the frequency buzzing about in my head."

 

"Then what?" Karda was curious. Crystal smirked slightly.

 

"Then I ripped it out by telekinesis," she answered. "Hurt like none other, but at least the frequency was gone." She lifted her right hand, back upward and showed him a scar. "Was right there. The Council was furious when I removed it until I calmly reminded them that I was no Jedi padawan and that they had no right to spy on me... or keep track of where I was."

[The Doctor]

((That wasn't it, but we can go with it, sure.))

 

The Doctor began flipping switches and pulling levers again, and the engines grinded to a halt with a resounding thud. He flipped another switch, and the screen on the console burst into static.

 

"There's something disrupting the signal. I can't tell where we are."

[steven]

"There's always one option," Tylor suggested, looking towards the Tardis' door.

[Writer]

"No!" Crystal exclaimed, reaching out a hand in Tylor's direction, holding him in place telekineticlly, even though he had not yet made a move to open the door. "We could still be in space. Until the Doctor can better pinpoint our location, we have to leave that door alone."

[ForceFightWMe12]

Seven and four is eleven, two tens negative one is 19...

 

A console beeped on the Ssss's dash and Atton looked up, his eyes snapping open. Instantly alert, he checked the instruments, taking the information in at a glance. After a few seconds his eyes came to rest on the ship's radar, and a wide smile broke over his face. He recognized the signature of that ship.

 

"Kira the Exile, arrived at last." he muttered to himself, still smiling as he adjusted the controls and pulled the ship out of orbit. The Ssss slowly began to make its way towards the approaching Ebon Hawk.

 

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

 

The Exile nearly tripped over her own feet as the ship jolted unexpectedly beneath her, launching her forward.

 

"Kira! We're here!" Revan's voice echoing from the cockpit, about three seconds too late.

 

"Thanks for the heads up..." she muttered, turning around as she pushed a stray hair behind her ear.

 

"And you'll never guess what I found." he continued as she entered the cockpit, his finger tapping a data display.

 

"A brain, I hope?" she asked, smiling playfully.

[The Doctor]

((Scratch that, JW. We can't work with that. Not yet, anyway.))

 

Revan nodded in the cockpit. "A good one, too: the Doctor's. The TARDIS is just a few kilometers below us."

 

=-=-=-=-=-=-=

 

The Doctor flicked another switch and pounded on the console. The screen flashed to life, revealing a green planet below them, with small gaps of blue, with wisps of white scattered across it. He smiled. "Here we are: Myrkr. And... hold on..." he did a scan of the surrounding area. "Looks like that signal drew us from our temporal coordinates... the Ebon Hawk is in orbit as well."

[ForceFightWMe12]

"Really?" she asked, smiling faintly as she checked the console. "Well, would you look at that."

 

The comm. bleeped once and the Exile reached over Revan to hit the button, opening the channel.

 

"Ssss to the Ebon Hawk, you guys reading over there?"

 

"Atton, is that you?" she asked, her smile widening as the pilot's voice filtered from the speakers.

 

"The one and only, goregous. So what d'you know, the love birds are back at last, and it looks like everyone else's joined the party too."

[The Doctor]

"Nice to hear from you too, Atton," said Revan. "Give us a sec - we need to make sure the Doctor knows we're here. Revan out."

 

"That was rude," said Kira, giving him a look after he had cut the channel without waiting for a response. He ignored her as he keyed open a channel to the TARDIS. "Ebon Hawk to the TARDIS. Doctor, are you there?"

 

"Yeah," came Rose's voice. "We're all here. Me, the Doctor, Karda, Tylor, Crystal... it's quite the party over here."

[ForceFightWMe12]

"Sounds like it." Kira answered, still looking hard at the side of Revan's head. A suspicion about his actions rose to the surface of her mind, but she kept quiet for the moment. "What happened to the Dreadless?"

 

"We were forced to leave it behind," said the Doctor. "We ran into a spot of trouble with some pirates. We'll explain later. We have more important things to worry about right now."

 

"You found something?" Revan asked, an eyebrow raised.

 

"Indeed. I suggest tunning your frequency tracker to...this setting."

 

A message opened on a seperate screen, and the couple shared a glance before Revan opened the file, changing the setting.

 

"By the Force..." Kira gaped.

 

"You recognize the signal, then?"

 

"Yeah..." she answered, looking at Revan, "It's a Padawan's identification chip."

[The Doctor]

The comm. bleeped again and Kira reached past Revan to open the channel for a second time.

 

"Thanks so much for cutting me off," Atton said sarcastically, "What's going on?"

 

"We have a lock on some Padawan identchips. Here, hang on--"

 

"Oh, the ones on the cargo ship? Yeah, I know about them."

 

Revan nodded. "Well, only the Jedi Order uses that frequency. Means there are Jedi Padawans onboard that ship - or at the very least, Jedi Padawan arms."

 

Kira shivered at the mental image that had given her. "Let's be optimistic, shall we?" she said, "Atton, can you land anywhere?"

 

"Yeah, I was just scoping the planet out when you guys and the Doc showed. Here, hang on."

 

A set of coordinates were sent to them in the same manor as the Doctor's frequency. Glancing at them, Kira nodded.

 

"Alright, looks like a good spot. We'll forward it to the Doctor and meet you there."

 

"Sounds good to me. Atton out."

[steven]

Tylor waited for a moment of scilence before saying,"So, it's safe to open the doors now?"

[RobQel-Droma]

"At least very soon." Karda moved over to the Doctor. "Listen, Doc." He spoke quietly, "I don't really like this; it doesn't have to do with Atton's judgement on landing areas, it's just that anywhere on the planet could be dangerous. Is there some way we could use this thing for a bit of insurance?"

 

He looked down at the coordinates again. "I mean, if we got into some trouble anywhere and needed to make a quick getaway in the TARDIS, could we do it?"

[The Doctor]

The Doctor considered for a moment. "I s'pose," he said after a brief pause. "The TARDIS is programmed to operate by remote as well. But the command circuit was damaged a while back, and I never got around to repairing it."

 

"How long would it take?" asked Rose, who had been listening in on the conversation. "Could we fix it before landing at Atton's coordinates?"

 

The Doctor turned around and examined the panelled wall a few metres above the ground. He moved towards one of the circular panels and popped it out, revealing a tangle of wires and circuits. Most of them were dead, but a few of them were still dimly lit. "I should be able to repair it in a few hours," he said.

[The Doctor]

((I'll take Rob for a post, just to move things along again.))

 

Karda sighed. "I don't have to tell you that we're short on time, Doctor," he said quietly. "We need to find Bastila and her students fast. I have a bad feeling about all this..."

 

The Doctor turned to Rose. "Rose, I want you to go with Karda and Tylor. Take this." He pulled a small cylinder out of his pocket and threw it at her. She caught it, and turned it over in her hand. "It's an emergency distress beacon, locked into the systems of the TARDIS. If you run into trouble, press the button. The cloister bell will sound, and the TARDIS will find you."

 

Rose nodded, and turned to Karda, patting him on the shoulder. "Let's get going then, shall we?" she said. She moved past him towards the door, and stepped outside, the others following behind her.

[steven]

"Miss," Tylor said as Rose stepped outside, "We're entering possible enemy terrority, my men will take point. Makepeace, Johnson and I will take lead. Ferretti, Karda and Rose will go in the middle, Reynolds and Kawalsky will follow the rear." Tylor ordered before turning to the last two marines "Harper, you and O'Niell will stay here and gaurd the TARDIS from any hostile activity, understood?" The Marines agreed.

 

Tylor and the two marines got into formation, with guns pointed stepped outside the TARDIS. "CLEAR!" Tylor shouted before moving on, with causion.

[JasraLantill]

Ok, I can't seem to find our discussion thread, so....

 

In case you haven't heard, Wildjedi has decided to quit the RP, and apparently the whole of LF as well. He posted his goodbye thread in the Yoda's Swamp forum. (clicky)

 

Really hate to see him go (will miss him loads.) A bit worried about him that he left so abruptly, but I'm sure he had his reasons.

 

Since we are so far into the thread, I think Crystal should be an NPC now. Any objections, comments, or other suggestions?