KOTOR III: The True Sith Reckoning

[machievelli]

Mira

 

“Master, why is this so confusing to you?” I asked her a day or so later. She had been in a deep contemplative mood all of that time, and I hated to interrupt it. Tysy had always been easy going in her training. She had shown me the basics, then as I had tried new things, guided me gently through them. But Bastila was the ‘throw them in the deep end and make them swim’ type.

 

But Tysy wasn’t a member of the order any more. So far they had only tracked down five masters, and two of them had run so hard when they had been discovered that we despaired of ever rebuilding it. Visas and Brianna had tried to take up the training of other younglings until more could be found, but like me their training had been ‘haphazard’ according to Bastila.

 

Haphazard, does anyone really use that word? Tysy had returned to her power and quite honestly I think she could clean Bastila’s clock on her worst day. But she hadn’t gotten permission to return to the order so all of her training and abilities were suspect. Therefore so were my own abilities. Let’s not even mention someone that had been partially trained by Atris, or had been suborned by a dark lord. When I had mentioned Atton and Bao-Dur Bastila had merely sniffed. A man that had hunted and killed other Jedi and a man guilty of mass murder? What kind of Jedi would they be? Obviously the recruitment process used by Tysy was flawed, and that was it.

 

Bao-Dur had gone back to Telos rather than put up with the BS. Atton had disappeared gods alone knew where. I almost wished I had gone with them.

 

“The problem is that as Mical pointed out, the looting of the library on Dantooine was at first very thorough.” She replied. “A lot of the books and holocrons that disappeared were rare one of a kind items which cannot be replaced easily. In fact the only complete record of Jolee Bindo’s adventures is the one he kept for himself.

 

“But Dantooine wasn’t hit by Revan when she was dark lord. Neither was

Corellia or Coruscant. All of the looting done there was after the Diaspora of the knights when we faced Malak and the New Sith. It was after Malak’s death that the Korriban library was ransacked.

 

“It makes me wonder what would have happened if Revan had not taken that one book. Would it also be just a confusing riddle?” She looked at me, eyes haunted. “The facts point as Mical said, to someone who knew exactly what they were looking for and where. Someone who knew the books well enough that all they had to change was a single page.

 

“The only ones with that much knowledge within the order were the old masters and archivists. That is why I sent Sasha and Juhani to Telos. We’re trying to find out who had been there before Tysy returned. Someone must have known Atris was still alive. Someone we would have trusted.”

 

The ship came out of hyper, and we began our descent. She had gotten hold of a Corellian courier, commenting darkly on ‘falling into the ancient past’ when it was all the Navy could spare us.

 

She scanned the hypercom satellite. Nothing wrong with it. We orbited, sending down signals until we got an answer. The Ebon Hawk was on the ground near the ruins of the Academy.

 

“How did I know she would be here?” Bastila sighed. “Put us down beside the ship.”

[Diego Varen]

Another good Chapter, but it's been a while. I'm looking foward to more.

[Jason Skywalker]

I agree with Pottsie, another good chapter. But still confusing for me. Bah, i'll eventually get the hold on this.

[Tysyacha]

The Exile: Redemption or Further Condemnation?

 

I heard soft, muffled footsteps approaching the Ebon Hawk. Leina

Verista turned her curly dark head. "Someone is coming." Odd--that was

the second time she had reminded me of Kreia in less than an hour. Had

Traya's Force Ghost possessed her? I guessed not. I'd heard of Force

Ghosts in the Jedi histories, but never of Force Ghost possession. Oh, well.

Leina and I stood up and exited the vessel, coming face-to-face with--

 

"Mira!" Forgetting all my sense of decorum, I rushed forward and wrapped

the red-haired spitfire Jedi in a bear hug. "I'm so sorry I left you behind.

When I went to search for Revan, I had to see if I could restart the Jedi

Order. I"--couldn't finish, however, because Mira had returned my hug.

 

I sensed Leina glancing at us quizzically, so I kept my physical greeting

as brief as seemed proper for a Jedi. Even a former Jedi. There stood

another woman with Mira, tall and dark-haired, her eyes serious, aloof.

 

I cleared my throat. "Ahem," I began nervously, because I didn't know her.

"My name is Tysyacha Dvukh, and depending on your perspective, madam,

I'm a Mandalorian War criminal. I am known as the Exile for following Revan."

 

After I saw Leina's face scrunch up with what could have been either

confusion or irritation or both, I knelt down before the taller woman.

"I am at your disposal, either alive or dead." My vow was sincere.

 

The Force flowed through this bastion as powerfully as it had through

Revan, or at least it had when he had been my Master. Who was she,

and what connection did she have to "power, the heart of the Force"?

 

Mira looked puzzled, her right eye squinted. "Stand up, will you?" She smiled.

[Diego Varen]

Another good Chapter Tysy. Nice to see Tysy too.

[machievelli]

Bastila

 

As much as I wanted to hate her, I couldn’t. Tysy had not chosen her exile. She hadn’t chosen to remain exiled either. I wanted to shake my head. Better yet, I wanted to grab the half dozen masters that had exiled her and not survived to lift that ban. I needed more people for the training!

 

I know I had denigrated the training the three women had gotten from her, but by the same token until we had enough masters together to be properly defined as a Council, we could not lift that exile.

 

At least she was properly penitent about it. “Yes.” I echoed my apprentice. “Get up." I looked at the woman beside her. “You are?”

 

“Leina Verista. I am one of the Archivists working with Mical.”

 

“Oh yes.” I turned back to Tysy. “I assume you are looking for the Sarcisoma Sithic and the references to the Tal-Shayana.” I motioned, and Leina handed me the book she had found. “This copy has been altered as well, Apprentice.”

 

Mira rolled her eyes at me, taking it. “Yeah. It says Suchin.”

 

“Altered.” Tysy looked at her friends, then at me. “By whom?”

 

“If I knew that, it wouldn’t be a mystery, would it?”

 

“So what does this damn thing do?”

 

I explained what was known. The size, even the shape of the Tal-Shayana had never been recorded. Ajunta Pall in his translation had merely mentioned that it was a legend of the original Sith race, and left it at that.

 

“So let me get this straight. We’re looking for something bigger than a bread box, hidden where? On one of those planets?”

 

“No. Those planets give clues to locating it.” I demurred. “I seriously doubt they would have left it to find that easily.”

 

“Why not?” Leina asked.

 

“If you had the ultimate weapon, would you leave it where anyone could find it?”

 

“That’s true. The Traya Academy had been hidden on the core of a gas giant.” Tysy commented. “So what do you want me to do?”

 

“Let us divide this search up. You check on Korriban and Mesialia. We will check Suchin and Margialo. We will meet...” I considered. “We will meet on Korriban at the old Academy site.”

 

She nodded.

 

“Then let us be about it.”

[Diego Varen]

Short but good Chapter. Something tells me that this Fic isn't updated much.

[Jason Skywalker]

Long time no see a chapter, and another good one in fact.

[machievelli]

Short but good Chapter. Something tells me that this Fic isn't updated much.

 

Sorry about that, Pottsie. I'm writng a third 'faerie' realm book (If you're not at least 18 don't bother to ask) and trying to update acceptance at the same time. My version of the Jedi Trials may not be what everyone likes, but I am trying to incorporate everything I have interpreted from Outcast and Academy.

[Tysyacha]

The Exile: Monastics on Mesialia

 

"So it's to be Korriban for us," said Leina wryly once Mira and the mysterious

Bastila Shan were out of earshot. "She sends us to investigate one of the

darkest of Sith homeworlds, when she herself never mentioned she would go

anywhere as dangerous as that. What do you think that portends, exile?"

 

"I don't know," I said, "but I think you should give her a break. I mean,

she's a Jedi, and she has a definite plan to try and find the Tal-Shayana.

Who knows? Maybe Bastila and Mira will find more danger on Suchin and

Marchialo than we will on Korriban and Mesialia. We should never assume

that our suffering will be greater or lesser than someone else's. That sort

of one-upsmanship leads to hatred and even more suffering, I think."

 

"You are wise. All the same, I do not trust her. I've spent enough time

around Jedi and their artifacts in the Archives to recognize someone who

believes she knows better than most people what is the right thing to do.

I have a distinct sense, and not through the Force, that Ms. Shan believes

that your training of her new apprentice, young Mira, is inadequate."

 

I nodded. "I sense that as well, but let's not press the issue. Right now,

I'd like to go to Mesialia. I'm not quite--ready for Korriban yet." I still

remembered the visions I had experienced in the Shyrack Cave--removing

explosives from the paths of ghost soldiers, defending a dark Kreia, and even

battling Revan himself. Mesialia, I thought, would be a more peaceful planet.

 

I was wrong. As soon as we arrived at the landing station on that world,

I saw the most unsettling thing I had since Traya at the heart of Malachor V.

 

Hundreds of Mesialians, both men and women with shorn heads, humans

and aliens alike, carried signs that read, "Repent! The end is near." Such

a sight would not have alarmed me if it were only one person doing the

marching, but the sheer volume of sentients all dressed alike chilled me.

They seemed to be progressing very slowly toward the distant horizon,

seeming out of place in their simple brown garments in the booming city.

 

"Excuse me," I said gently to one of the marchers once I had recovered

my composure. "What end is near? The Sith?" The marcher nodded sadly.

 

"The Harp of Doom," he said. "That is what Miortva says. She is the seer

of our people, and we must be done with craving and selfhood if the Sith

are not to destroy us. If we lose our sense of self, the Sith will bypass us."

 

Somehow, I shivered. "Take us to Miortva," I told the monastic. "Please."

 

I reached out through the Force and felt fear, sadness, loneliness, and a

concealed desperation in the marchers. Leina put her hand on my arm as

we meshed with the burgeoning crowd, making few sounds above a whisper.

 

"No Tal-Shayana has done this," Leina said coldly. "The fear of it certainly has."

[Diego Varen]

Another good Chapter. Well done.

[Jason Skywalker]

Yeah, agreed, very well done.

[machievelli]

Suffering from a slight case of writer's block, guys. Sorry. And I did not want to suffer from premature articulation as well. But here it is...

 

 

Revan

 

12 years earlier.

 

We came out of hyper space, and approached the moon. My flag ship Peragalian moved into orbit.

 

Malak came up behind me, his lips pursed. “So this is where it is?” He asked.

 

“Perhaps.” I didn’t want to tell him just yet. The clues I had found on Korriban and Mesialia. On Suchin and Margialo had led us here. But what I expected to find would still be illusive.

 

“I will be back.” I told him.

 

“You don’t trust me?” He sounded hurt. He knew what we sought. He knew how important it might be. But I could not tell him without taking the chance that all hell would break loose here. No one had touched this artifact in almost 30,000 years. Just being there might activate it, and when the odds are that something will go horribly wrong, I have always been the kind to do things alone rather than risk others. Just as when we had found the Star Forge, I would go down alone.

 

“My old friend, I don’t even trust me. You know how I am.”

 

Having known me for almost 30 years, he nodded.

 

The small shuttle felt good under my hands. It had been so long since I had been at the controls, and this felt so right.

 

The door loomed before me, and I pressed the communication panel, inputting the code. The musical notes played over the proper frequency, and the doors, large enough to allow Peragalian entrance slid aside. The Sith, as I had discovered on Korriban liked to build on the heroic scale. This door was larger than the facility required, but boy did it look grand! The compartment beyond it was almost mundane. Not a speck of dust anywhere. The shuttle settled down like a fly landing on a kitchen table, and I turned to the exterior environmental controls. There was no air in the compartment. Not surprising. The entry ways were thirty meters from the deck, except for a few personnel access air locks a few meters away. I shrugged into my space suit, then walked across the compartment. The gravity generators were still working, so it was not that difficult. I opened the hatch and hit the cycle button. The door snapped closed, and I heard the hiss of air. I checked the scanner, and grinned. Like a couple of the planets I had mentioned, the builders of this facility had assumed unauthorized access. If I had been without a helmet, I would have died slowly in that atmosphere. Not that it was poisonous, merely out of tune with a human’s metabolism enough that I would have gone into anoxia.

 

I opened the interior door, walking down the hall as I checked the scanner. When I passed through the third such hatch 200 meters farther on, the oxygen content was high enough that I wouldn’t die. Still I kept the suit on.

 

It took me three and a half hours to find it. I was amazed by the simplicity of design. Our ancient forebears of every race tended to be a little more flamboyant than we are now. They didn’t have the color and possible fabric and material we had, so theirs was more in the order of using more and more of what they did have. But the Tal-Shayana was unadorned, almost barren.

 

I checked the device out. No, we could not move it without major equipment. The damn thing weighed almost 200 tons, and was made in one piece like so much of the Rakata equipment was. We couldn’t dismantle it.

 

I checked the room, and found a smaller version of it. That was only an arm full, and I picked it up. Then I looked at the full scale device again. Now how to move it from here to.

 

Where was here, by the way?

 

I frowned. Wait, I had not considered at that time how to move it. Why was I...

 

Three years previously:

 

“Get out of my mind!” I screamed. I was kneeling on the floor, holding my head at the agony. I had seen people being interrogated by the Jedi Masters before. It had not been a pretty sight, and it wasn’t, as I had just discovered, painless. The Sith use the same method, and unless this was the Sith method, it would be far worse.

 

My jailer grinned. “Soon you will tell me what you decided with the Tal-Shayana.” He gave me a jaunty wave. “Until then the small one will keep doing it’s work.”

 

I glared at him, then began to meditate. I built in my mind a solid wall of stone, with-

 

Present day

 

“Try again you bastard.” I opened my eyes. I had been sleeping, and found my memory flowing back. The wall I had built was still there, but if he had gotten me to go over it’s construction yet again, he would have found the way to penetrate it. After three years of this, I still did not enjoy the game, and his attempts to break and turn me with torture had stopped within the first weeks.

 

He shrugged. “They will look for it.” He told me.

 

“Who?”

 

“Those Jedi that still survive.” He gave me that wicked grin again. “I left them enough clues after all.” He laughed, walking away from the cell door. I wished right then that I had my saberstaff. If nothing else I could have removed myself from the equation.

 

As much as I hoped they would find my message, find the Tal-Shayana, rescue me, I hoped as much that it would never happen. Better that I died her, with him still unsure of where it was.

[Diego Varen]

An unexpected Chapter. Weren't expecting that. This Fic is on the up and down. Another good Chapter mach.

[Tysyacha]

The Exile: Five Unholy Vows

 

The crowd, as I expected, led us to Miortva, but what I did not expect

was for a stench of sweat and decay to emanate just as strongly from

her as from the rest of the brown-robed throng. I was overwhelmed. Who

was this woman at the spiritual head of hundreds upon hundreds, this

walking corpse with clammy skin and eyes as dry as Dantooine desert?

 

"Good day," announced Miortva without a trace of warmth in her greeting.

Instantly, all murmuring in the crowd ceased down to the faintest whisper.

"Who are our enemies? Who seeks to destroy all of life in their endless hate?"

 

"The Sith!" roared the people with one voice. Where was their anger, however?

Their passion? Their fear or worry? Was this only an inevitable fact for them?

 

"Why are they hunting us? Because we've been selfish. We've sought to

preserve our own lives at the cost of countless others. What creatures

have we killed and eaten, never to live again? What tiny cells have we

consumed while drinking or even breathing? As we sow, so shall we reap.

The Sith will slaughter us like all the living things we've slaughtered, unless

we promise to sacrifice ourselves so that the galaxy will heal. The Vows."

 

"I vow to take no food, lest I kill a living thing," the crowd declared as one.

 

"I vow to take no drink, for the cells within it once gave birth to all of life."

 

"I vow to wear no garment except these robes, which I'll let shred to rags."

 

"I vow not to cleanse the dust or bacteria from my body, since it too is alive."

 

"Lastly, I vow to remain chaste, touching no one except to help them stand."

 

I felt the fingernails of Leina Verista dig into my flesh and possibly draw blood.

 

"Exile. We leave. Now."

[Diego Varen]

Another good Chapter.

[Jason Skywalker]

Two great chapters, the plot is just fantastic!