Knights of the Old Republic: Darkness Falls II - Alliances

[ForceFightWMe12]

Revan shifted slightly. Kira gave him a questioning look, but he shook his head. The message was clear. Later.

 

He turned his gaze to Atton. "Alright. We'll worry about them later. What did you learn on Omwat? Was the Omwati Council able to help at all?"

 

Atton glanced between the two, his eyebrows raising. "Um...okay. Wow, Kira, I never thought--"

 

"Just answer the question please, Atton."

 

"Well..." he took a deep breath, as if ready to launch into a really great, really long explaination. "No, they weren't."

[The Doctor]

Revan sighed. "Well, nothing we can do about it for now. Maybe Brax will be able to change their minds." He looked around the forest. "Let's find the Doctor and Karda."

 

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

 

The Doctor glanced at the chain around her neck once more before responding. "I could use a hand, I s'pose. While we're at it, I'll give a shot at fixing the Chamelion Circuit. Been meaning to do that for years."

[steven]

The Marines had been searching for five minutes before coming across something. Tylor raised his hand to say 'stop' to the rest of the group. There was a moment of scilence before Tylor spoke out "Is anyone else hearing this?"

"I am, sir." Replied another marine.

"Same here," Affamired another marine, before turning to Karda and Rose to explain "Our comms have a device installed which allows any messages to come through. We're hearing reports, they sound like landing details."

[Grace]

Crystal laughed and crossed the control room to where the Doctor had been working before she'd shown him the necklace. Kneeling to get a better look at the wiring, she said, "Alright, let's get to work."

[The Doctor]

Karda looked at Tylor questioningly. "Elaborate," he ordered.

[steven]

"We're recieving landing co-ordinators for some sort of platform. The voices sound Trandosiann..." Reported Tylor "Okay, I've downloaded the co-ordinants from the messages. Landing platform is on our... that way. Oh and Jedi, just incase you and your Order haven't realised, the Trandosians are known for their slave trade antics. So weather or not this has anything to do with the Sith, we need to check this out."

[The Doctor]

Revan staggered for a moment as he moved to past Kira. He moved his hand to his head, and closed his eyes, shaking his head slightly as if to clear a fog from his mind.

 

"You alright?" asked Atton, feigning concern.

 

Revan shook his head. He looked up`at Kira, and saw that she was giving him an odd look. "You feel it too," he said. It wasn't a question.

 

She nodded.

 

Atton arched an eyebrow. "Feel what?"

 

"Nothing," said Revan. "That's just the problem. There's... nothing. The Force is... gone. Silent."

 

Kira looked up at the trees around her. "It must be those Ysalmir or whatever things. The ones we saw in the security recording from Bastila's ship."

 

"We should proceed with caution," said Revan solemnly.

 

"Agreed," said Kira, nodding. "Without the Force, we're vulnerable to attack."

 

Atton rolled his eyes. "Jedi..." he muttered. "Let's get moving."

[Grace]

As she examined the wiring and technology beneath the controls of the TARDIS, Crystal began humming faintly. After a moment, she rolled over and stood. "Doctor, hand me your sonic screwdriver, won't you?"

 

"It's broken," he objected. "You wouldn't know how to use it anyway."

 

Nevertheless, he handed it to her. Smiling as she took it, she began to speak. "Doctor, when we first met, I was barely aware of my telepathic ability. As time moved forward and with a little exposure to the Shards, I began to discover more that I could do. Telekinesis is another trait. Even small things..."

 

She stared intently at the sonic screwdriver, as if learning from the device itself exactly what its correct form was. As she stared at it, the screwdriver's familiar whirring and the blue light sputtered to life again. Crystal smiled in satisfaction and switched it off, handing it back to the Doctor. He took it and stared at Crystal, more than a little puzzled.

 

"Telekinesis, huh?" he murmured. Then, a wide grin split his face. "Fantastic!"

 

Crystal chuckled. "It's just a matter of being able to see inside it," she said. "To see what's wrong with it... and to place it back where it belongs."

 

"Now let's find out a little more about you," the Doctor said, changing the screwdriver's setting and again moving to scan Crystal. With a puzzled frown, he held the device at the base of her neck, just above her spine.

 

"That's..." he began, a little flustered. "Well, that's just impossible."

 

"What's impossible?" Crystal demanded.

 

"That technology there," the Doctor answered. Spinning her around and staring into her eyes, he went on, "There's a little control mechanism... no, that's not the right word... weapon? No... Device is the best way... Crystal, you have this little device embedded in your spine... well, just above it actually. But the tech required to make it... it's not invented for another ten thousand years!"

 

"Wonderful," Crystal muttered. "Add it to the growing stack of impossibilities about me. Seal of Rassilon on my necklace, some sort of innate knowledge that the thought of you repairing your Chameleon Circuit is hilarious, and now future tech in my spine. Anything else to add, Doctor?"

 

"Yeah," he answered. "We still haven't come to a conclusion about you..." He halted abruptly. "Why is me repairing the Chameleon Circuit so funny?"

 

Crystal laughed again and shook her head. "I don't know," she admitted, still giggling. "It just is."

 

Shaking his head, the Doctor moved to scan Crystal again. But this time, she began pacing.

 

"Hold still, will you?" he demanded. Crystal ignored him, once even going so far as to take a feeble swipe at the sonic screwdriver.

 

"Not now, Doctor," she murmured. "I think I'm remembering something."

 

"Remembering what?" he demanded, suddenly intense. "What are you remembering?"

 

"Go fix your ship," she said faintly. "Let me worry about that..."

 

After one further failed attempt to scan her, the Doctor gave up and did as she'd ordered.

[The Doctor]

((22 days. That's how long I've been gone. I've had some family issues that I needed to see through. But I'm back now, and it's time we brought this story to a close soon.

 

So let's get started. I'm going to step in as the Threadmaster and get the story back into action. I'm going to take over for a post. Everyone.))

 

 

Bastila sat cross legged in her cell, her eyes closed, trying desperately to meditate. But her mind consistently wandered, and without the ebb of the Force to comfort her, fear and panic were beginning to take their hold.

 

"Do you mind, Atton?" snapped Jasra suddenly.

 

Atton caught his ball again, glaring at her. "Not at all," he said darkly. When she looked away, he threw the ball to the floor again, catching it again when it returned to waist height.

 

Jarsa wheeled on him, her eyes blazing. "I'm serious, Atton. Stop it, now!"

 

"Shut up," spat Atton, throwing the ball to the floor and catching it again.

 

"I swear Rand..." she hissed, glarring daggers at him. "If you don't stop with that ball, when I get out of this cell, I'll-"

 

"STOP!"

 

They both turned to stare innocently at Bastila, who's eyes had snapped open. She struggled to her feet in the cramped space, and seemed to fill the room in her rage. "Both of you! You're acting like Children! Mindless bickering is not going to get us any nearer to escaping!"

 

They glared at each other again, but neither of them said anything. The seconds stretched on, and the silence was finally broken by the sound of the chamber door opening, and the sharp footsteps of Vros, flanked by not two, but five guards. Bastila took a deep breath, ready for what Vros had in store.

 

Vros motioned to one of the masked guards, and the force shields holding both Bastila and Atton dropped. Four of the five guards flanked them, while the fifth, the one who had shut down the force shields, remained at Vros' side.

 

"If you'll come with me, please," he said shortly.

 

"Wait," said Jasra, coming to the edge of her cage. "Why take Atton? He's not-"

 

But the rest of her words were drowned out by Bastila shouting a warning to Atton as he leapt onto the guard on his right. With a swing with his right hand, he drilled his fist into the guard's face, then delivered a sharp kick to his abdomen.

 

The mask fell off as the guard fell to the floor. Bastila stared, her eyes wide, and felt her jaw drop. She knew that face.

 

"R... Revan?!" she stammered, moving forward. "Is that...?"

 

It wasn't Revan, she could tell. His eyes were grey, where they should be blue, and his hair was graying, and his face had a blank, sunken look to them. His eyes were glazed and unfocused, and the spark of brilliance and life that usually shone from them was absent.

 

Vros smiled. "I'm sure you recognise Master Revan, Madam Jedi," he said venomously. "Or at the very least, my child here who resembles your dear friend."

 

Bastila turned to him. "What is this? What have you done?"

 

Vros' grin stretched. "Just my humble attempts at cloning," he said proudly, helping his servant to his feet. "A simple minded beast. Incapable of speach, reading, writing, or anything more than basic numeric equations. No emotions to speak of. But it serves its purpose. They all do."

 

"What do you mean, they all do?"

 

"Oh, all twelve of my guards were created using the same genetic template. A small sample of Master Revan's DNA obtained after the Jedi Civil War. Oh, how it was obtained is irrelevant," he said, waving a hand at Bastila's questioning gaze. He was growing impatient, she could tell.

 

"But enough chat," he said, turning away from Bastila towards the only door. The Revan-guards grabbed their prisoners and half guided, half dragged their prisoners out of the room.

 

== WILL BE ADDED TO ==

[steven]

"Tylor to TARDIS... We've located what seems to be a slaving establishment. We're currently setting up sniping poistions, we're planning to take out as much enemies as we can by reducing the risks of injuring one of our own men. Also we've place several mines and over explosives around the area, so if you head this way, be carefull." Came Tylors voice over the com.

 

"Sir, I have a visuall on the Trandosians new," The marine paused "slaves. God lord, they can't be older than 20... They're all teenagers. And sir, the cages which carry those children are accomiped by Ysalamiri. This could mean they're..."

[JasraLantill]

"Jedi Trainees," Jasra said glumly to Brax as they watched Atton and Bastila being led away by Lord Vros and his cloned army of Revans. "All this for stupid Jedi trainees." She sighed, hugging her knees to her chest as she sat in the middle of her Force cage. She looked upward at the Ysalamiri creatures affixed to tree limbs that were suspended above each cage. “What do they eat anyway?”

 

“The trainees? They probably eat the same things as….”

 

“No, not the trainees,” Jasra interrupted. She pointed upwards. “Those things.” She sighed. “You know, Brax, I liked it a lot better when we had our ‘connection’ thing going. I’m beginning to feel… lonely without hearing you in my head.”

 

Brax nodded and smiled grimly. “Me, too, love.” He looked up at the Ysalamiri. “As I recall, I believe the creatures sustain themselves by sucking out the nutrients they find in the tree limbs they are attached to.”

 

“Yeah, but the tree limbs aren’t attached to anything,” Jasra pointed out. “Doesn't that mean that they’ll eventually run out of food?”

 

“Eventually.” Brax snorted. “How long they can survive without sustenance is a subject upon which I have no knowledge.”

 

There was a muffled scream of protest in the direction Bastila and Atton had been taken, and Jasra’s brow furrowed with worry. “Brax,” she said determinedly, “we have got to get out of here. When Vros is finished with Bastila and Atton, he’ll come back for either you or me. And I can’t handle going into that machine again.” She shivered, then looked up at the creatures again. “We’ve got to kill these things.”

 

Brax fluttered his gauntleted fingers allowing the claws at his fingertips to scrape against each other. “I would gladly oblige if I could, love.” He punched at the force field that surrounded him. His blow caused some sparking and flickering but did nothing to the integrity of the glowing blue energy surrounding him. He then scraped his claws along the floor of the cage. They didn’t leave even a single scratch mark. He shrugged with defeat.

 

“There’s got to be a way out.” Jasra sighed. “We’re just not seeing it.”

 

“The only way out is for the force field to be disabled from the outside,” Brax stated.

 

Jasra thought for a moment, then grinned. “You’re right. That is the only way.” She coughed a few times. “You know, Brax, I’m not feeling too well all of a sudden. I think that Vros’ Force Extracting machine must have messed up my metabolism or something. Maybe it has something to do with having a Force Bond with a non-human. A Force Bond that I’m now cut off from.”

 

Brax raised a guarded eyebrow. “Oh?”

 

Jasra coughed, more loudly this time. “I might need some medical attention. I’m feeling all… queasy. And weak.” She laid down on the floor of her cage and then winked at him before slowly closing her eyes. “Very, very weak.”

 

Brax began to grin with understanding. Then he quickly suppressed his smile and shouted, “Hey! Someone help! My mate is… ill!”

 

Jasra cracked an eye open and frowned. “Ill?” she mouthed.

 

Brax frowned back at her with frustration, then shrugged. He cleared his throat. “Guards! Guards! Please, someone! Anyone! Hurry! She’s losing consciousness!”

 

“Dying,” Jasra suggested discretely between coughs.

 

“She’s dying! Help!” Brax raised a brow in query.

 

Jasra listened for a moment. “Louder,” she said again between more coughs.

 

“GUARDS!” he yelled at the top of his lungs. “GUARDS!!”

 

Jasra grinned, then closed her eyes again and feigned being sick.

[ForceFightWMe12]

"Jedi." Kira breathed, finishing Tylor's sentance.

 

Atton grabbed the communicator. "Can you tell where they're landing, Tylor?"

 

After recording a few coordinates on his datapad, the pilot returned the comm. to Revan.

 

"They're just a few kilometers east, but it doesn't seem like Tylor knows exactly how many people and ships there are. I think it'd be best if someone scouts the area."

 

"Revan," Kira looked to him, already beginning east, "Copy the codes from Atton. We'll go and scout things out and watch for them landing--"

 

"Actually," Atton stepped up quickly, starting to follow Kira, "I already have the grid and coordinates set up on my datapad. Don't worry about it Revan - I'm sure the Ebon Hawk could use some tending to from your expertise."

 

And before he could protest, the two were gone.

[steven]

"Negative Ebon Hawk. Don't do anything! We can handle it, believe it or not but us non-force users are accutally quite capial of dealing with tasks like this. Best thing you can do is provide aerial support with the Ebon Hawk when I give you my signel," Tylor order through the comlink

[ForceFightWMe12]

"Negatory, Tylor." Kira answered through the comm. "We don't want our presence known yet, and a fight in space would only kill whatever innocent slaves they have onboard. I repeat, stand down! Atton and I will check things out and, when we're ready to make our attack, we'll let you know."

[steven]

"They're in prison cells, in the jungle. The closet transport is several clicks down from our current location, I've allready sent one of my men to scout out the transport for whoever's inside and rig it to blow. Not to mention we have sniping poistions which cover the entire base, however if we don't act too soon our cover will be blown."

[The Doctor]

((Kira, for the love of all that's Holy, sign on to MSN!))

[RobQel-Droma]

(((OOC: OK, guys, I finally got around to coming back and checking out this RP again. I probably should have let you know several weeks ago - so thanks for taking over my character - but I'm officially leaving this RP. I just don't really have the time to try and keep up with it, and this is my first post in all of LF since several months ago.... (last year, maybe?).....

 

I'm not quitting LF, just this RP, and probably won't be at LF for a while until I get back into posting. I might even come back near the end of this RP, just don't count on it. So for now, goodbye....

 

HOWEVER, if you guys do start a "number III", please let me know. By that time I should be there for the rest of this RP series. Thanks for taking on my character while I was going, Jasra - and Doc - and whoever.)))

[JasraLantill]

((OOC: That's ok, Rob. We've all sort of let this one stagnate much too long. :s Having said that... let's see if we can at least finish it between the rest of us.))

 

~~~~~~~~

 

The ruckus that Brax was making about Jasra being ill finally paid off. Although, still covered completely in black, two of Vros’ Revan-cloned guards approached Jasra’s cell.

 

Jasra was really trying hard to convince them she was indeed ill. She choked and gasped, her hands up near her neck as she writhed on the floor of the small cage surrounded by its force field.

 

There seemed to be some sort of silent ‘discussion’ between the two clones, although they uttered not a single word, merely looked at each other pointedly. Then, in silent agreement with one another, they deactivated the force field from the nearby control panel.

 

The force field was hardly down before Jasra made her move. Force assisted or not, she was still physically fit and quick from her Jedi training in this timeline--and ruthless from her time spent in the previous one. In an instant, she had grabbed hold of one of the stun batons on the first guard’s belt, and used it against his companion standing next to him.

 

The guard spasmed and collaspsed, but the other guard was making for the control panel on the side of the wall—probably intent on activating Brax’s torture field or setting off an alarm.

 

“Oh, no you don’t!” Jasra twisted the switch for the stun baton on high, and then threw it at the control panel. Her aim was dead on. The panel shorted out, sparks showering out from it in all directions. Now she stood to confront the lone guard.

 

It had been a while since she had to fight someone hand to hand in a real match, not a sparring match. She struck out first, with a single jab to the guard’s throat. But the fight wasn’t over yet. He stumbled, but quickly recovered, retaliating with a sweeping kick that Jasra wasn’t expecting.

 

Her legs knocked from under her, she fell to the floor in a heap, scrambling quickly backwards to avoid the clone’s next attack. Jasra was actually rather shocked at how much she actually relied on using the Force without knowing it. Anticipating moves, reaction times, the strength of her punches—for most of these skills she relied on the Force. Now that it was gone….

 

She didn’t avoid the clone’s next attack as his heavy boot connected with her chin. She rolled away with the force of the impact, and tried to scramble to her feet, only to have them kicked from underneath her once again. Dazed, she felt the clone’s hand grab the back of her neck and pull her to her knees, facing away from him.

 

Knowing that she was outmatched in strength, she did the only other advantage she had. With as much strength as she could muster, she elbowed him sharply in the groin.

 

There was a slight, muffled gasp, and then the grip around her neck loosened.

 

Jasra grinned. “Good for me that Vros made you an anatomically correct clone,” she gloated. She extricated herself from his grip, standing and then delivering a roundhouse kick to the side of the clone’s head and neck. The clone went down, unconscious.

 

Jasra dusted off her hands, then looked at Brax.

 

“Well done,” he said to her, grinning. “Now get me out of here.”

 

Jasra smiled back at him. “With pleasure.” She went over to the control panel, then paused. “Erm….” The panel was still smoking from its encounter with the overcharged stun baton. She cringed. “I think I broke it.”

 

She looked up at the Ysalamiri that were suspended directly above the cages. She went over to the first guard she had stunned, and took his stun baton. “But I think you might be able to get out yourself, love, if I take care of one…small… furry… problem.” She switched on the baton.

[The Doctor]

Revan watched Kira and Atton depart, supressing a sudden urge to take the hilt of his lightsaber to Atton's back, and keyed open a comm signal to Karda.

 

"Revan to Karda. Kira and Atton are heading around the other side of the platform. Tylor's going to meet them there. I'm on my way to you now. Don't act until I get there. Copy?"

 

Karda's voice came through in a low whisper. "I copy. See you in a few minutes."

 

Revan nodded, signaled Tylor with the same orders, and headed off into the trees, throwing a final, uneasy glance over his shoulder.

 

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

 

Kira looked over her shoulder at Revan's retreating back, somehow sensing his unease without the aid of the Force. She tried to send a comforting thought to him, but the Ysalamiri prevented her from reaching his mind at all. She sighed, and turned forward, jumping slightly when she saw Atton watching her, an odd look on his face.

 

"What?" she said, blushing slightly.

 

He turned away. "Nothing." He wasn't smiling.

 

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

 

Karda flipped his comm unit closed and turned back towards the platform, crouching behind a large bush beside Rose and two marines, with Tylor and the others securing the perimeter of the platform ahead, preparing for the attack.

 

"Everything alright?" asked Rose in a hushed voice.

 

"Yeah," he answered quietly. "Kira and Atton are on their way around to the opposite side of the platform to meet Tylor. We're to hold our position until he gets here and gives the order."

 

She nodded, collapsing to the ground in a sitting position, massaging her legs. "Glad for that..." she said. "I haven't had a proper sit all day..."

 

Karda glanced at her. "You sure you don't want to go back to the TARDIS?"

 

She shook her head. "The Doctor wanted me to go with you, so that's where I'm going."

 

He shrugged, turning back to watch Tylor respond to Revan's instructions. "So, Rose..." he said after a moment. "How'd a girl like you end up travelling with the Doctor?" He knew the second the words left his mouth that he'd phrased it wrong.

 

Rose smiled slightly. "What do you mean, 'a girl like me'?"

 

He didn't look at her. "Well, you're young, just starting out... he's gotta be what, 40? 45?"

 

She shook her head. "You're starting to sound just like my Mum," she laughed.

 

"Seriously, think about it! How'd you get caught up with him?"

 

She shrugged. "I dunno, he just sort of... swept me off my feet," she answered simply. "Blew up my job, took me to the year 5 billion, then 1869, then back to 100 000... And I just sort'of... I dunno, stuck around."

 

"How'd you guys end up here?" he asked.

 

She laughed again. "It was sort of an accident... we were supposed to be going back to Earth. That's my planet," she added, seeing the confused look on his face. "It's... long ways off. A galaxy far, far away... Anyway, we got pulled here somehow. The Doctor mumbled something about 'converging temporal trails', but didn't explain. That's just how he is - never really explains anything proper."

 

"Doesn't need to," said Karda, peering over her back for any sign of Revan. "When he does, I know I sure as Force never understand when he does explain..."

 

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

 

Revan pushed aside a small sapling, revealing Rose, Karda, and a pair of marines a few meters away. Karda turned at his approach.

 

"Ready when you are," he said, as Revan crouched at his side.

 

Revan nodded, and activated his comm unit. "Kira, are you in postion?"

[Grace]

"Doctor, have you got anything for headaches?" Crystal asked softly, returning to the control room of the TARDIS. It had been at least an hour since she left, muttering something about memory.

 

"What sort of headache?" the Doctor asked in return. Without waiting for an answer, he gestured to a door on the opposite end of the room. "Through that door, up the stairs, three doors on the right, fifth door on the left, upstairs again, and the door straight ahead."

 

Crystal blinked. "Did you even bother to think of logic when you designed the interior layout?"

 

"Didn't design it," the Doctor answered with a chuckle. "But you sort of get used to it after a while... and that's when it changes on you." He sat up and looked at her. "Did you remember anything?"

 

Crystal shook her head. "Not really... just war, that's all."

 

"You were in a war, then?" the Doctor asked, suddenly interested. Crystal again shook her head.

 

"I don't think so," she answered. "But I honestly can't say..." She turned and headed for the door he'd indicated. "Thanks for the... directions."

 

As he returned to work, the Doctor heard Crystal mutter, "Doors, stairs, doors, turns, right, left... ugh, thought my head hurt before..."

[steven]

"Can we please now move? Everyone is in position and have been for the past ten minutes. We've got them out flanked and have the higher ground. And they also have their means of escape covered, which reminds me, Jones, what info did you gather from the transport?" Tylor asked through his comlink.

 

"The outside appears to be regular transport, logo idicated that it was built by the Bad Wolf Corperation and it's got some illegal weaponary fitted. However someone has done some redectorated. Most of space has been converted into a large prison cell. I can't wait to blow it to be honest." Came the reply.