[FIC] The Dusk Lady

[Lord Spitfire]

Well, I'll be waiting.

 

And as for the spoiler . . . if you're thinking what I'm thinking, then . . . well . . . then it's going to get ugly. And I like ugly!

[Sabretooth]

Episode 5

 

Garge beamed from a railed pathway which ran along the wall of the docking bay of his starship. Before him lay a light cruiser, which had been hastily accommodated to take up the slots for ten starfighters. The cruiser was oblong and had only one loading ramp at the extreme rear. It bore no insignia and had nobody but half a dozen guards and a beautiful lady. The Dusk Lady.

 

It was his greatest catch. Garge was a chivalrous Devaronian gangster. His parents were revolutionaries who were gunned down on a transport from Courscant to Spinia. Young Garge was taken under the apprenticeship of Filliman, a revered black market trader, smuggler and a drifting hermit. Filliman, who wanted to pass on the chest of tricks he had earned, found Garge suitable and Garge received an education in crime. He went on to become one of the more insidious gangsters, and made shiploads of credits. His reputation grew, and Garge turned the reins of his horse towards the empire of The Dusk Lady, who was unrivalled in refined spice supply.

 

Garge stood exactly six feet high and wore majestic indigo robes, complete with a cape. He had no hair, but his two horns were trimmed to complement his face. They looked great on him when he was friendly and unexplainably odious when he was angry. He had a tight face with a loose stubble that ended in a half-inch goatee. His eyes were artificially red-tinted and a sly grin always graced his lips. Despite his reputation, he always behaved cordially and could have been easily mistaken for a noble or a royal.

 

“What have I in my web?” he asked loudly, his baritone resonating off the walls. His steps clinked against the metal stairway that led to the floor of the dock. The Dusk Lady was already being led to him by an entourage of Garge’s highly trained guards. They were efficient, emotionless and quite like the Dusk Lady’s slaves. They were different in that they needed pay, and had their limitations. Being under their senses, however, was what Garge believed to be their greatest strength.

 

“I see my first guest on the Yordella is the famed Dusk Lady herself! What good fortune, wouldn’t you say, madam?” he addressed with a bow and led the Dusk Lady up the steps.

 

“I found your ship worth a look, though I cannot say the same about you.” The Dusk Lady sighed.

 

Garge laughed affably as he ushered her into an elevator, which was nestled amidst a group of five more elevators, in a chamber shaped like a hexagon.

“I had it made from Kuat. They were ridiculously low on funds, so I gave them a thick wad of cash. I got that from my latest deal.”

 

“I always thought you were the sort of shady character who would be hiding in the shadows. Kuat Driveyards is a fairly open company.”

 

Garge chuckled again. “I was hiding in shadows. Kuat’s shadow. You see, mingling with the open world is a risky, but infinitely rewarding business. Of course, that is not for you to know, is it? You make a living in the darkness.” He explained.

 

“Cut the formalities. Why have you captured me?”

 

Garge donned a sinister smile as he spoke, “Recently, my pool of scientist perfected a technology that the Republic, or the Sith for that matter, would give zillions to acquire. I want you to test it.”

 

“Zillions? What technology could this be?” the Dusk Lady asked sardonically.

“It is a technology that reads minds. It can read memories and convert them into digital data. It is a goldmine.”

 

“A sophisticated brain-reading solution is hardly something I’d want to test.”

“You might have noticed I never asked you.”

 

The elevator doors slid open to reveal the bridge of the Yordella. It was designed after the Sith warships Revan had brought. It was expansive, with a massive window and dozens of busy terminals. A nine feet wide pathway connected the viewing gallery to the entrance of the bridge and that was where the two presently walked.

 

“What do you hope to do with it?” The Dusk Lady asked, her tone surprisingly calm.

 

“With what? My mind reader? I’ll sell it, of course. To a rich buyer with a lucrative deal on his mind. Do you know who my last buyer was? It was the Republic. Paid me a handsome sum for something as trivial as… the Rakghoul disease cure.”

 

“My slaves invented it, you know.”

 

“But not before my scientists. Besides, the subject of the efficiency of your slaves as compared to my professional scientists is not open for debate.”

“I thought the Republic was hard-pressed at fending off the Sith. They wouldn’t spend a dime outside war funding.”

 

“It is part of the war funding.” He clarified, “I calculated it very well. You see, the Sith are concentrating heavy fire on Taris. With trade routes cut off, the Republic will be beaten. They will be forced into the Lower City, since the Taris Government is rather fickle and it goes to bed with anyone having power. Then they’ll launch a clean sweep of the Lower City, forcing the Republic to take the fight to the Under City. As any self-respecting Tarisian outcast will tell you, you simply cannot live, let alone fight in the Under City without a solution for the rakghouls.”

 

“Your calculations are as impressive as the mynock count in an underwater starship.” The Dusk Lady commented, inviting several minutes of hard yet genial laughter from Garge. “I was never the best at mathematics.” He retorted.

 

The mind-reading device, which was essentially a recliner with a host of other devices crudely assembled, was positioned on the viewing gallery, before the great window. It was manned by four scientists, who were either assaying the device, looking out of the window, or watching the Dusk Lady’s silent march. They were guarded by the same poker-faced guards as before, only darker in skin and wearing dark glasses.

 

“Please,” Garge requested, waving at the machine, “and let me inform you, that this will not be most pleasurable experience in your life. In fact, it may well come to being your worst. We have tested it on non-sentient creatures before, resulting in their insanity. We learnt trivial information, like what they ate, or how many times they escaped a predator, but the real test comes from a sentient. What better subject than you, of course.”

 

The Dusk Lady approached the machine coldly. She noticed that the scientists were furthest from her. Only they could operate the machine, she guessed. Within a punctual move, she jumped off the footrest of the recliner and launched herself above Garge’s head. She then came down on one of the scientists, her lightsaber igniting at the last second. He was sliced cleanly in half. She swung her lightsaber to the right, her legs stationary, and chopped off another scientist’s arm.

 

The remaining two scientists shrieked and tried to escape, stumbling as they ran. The armless scientist closed his eyes tight and waited for the final blow. It never came. Instead, he felt a heavy body fall over him. Gasping, he moved it and found it to be one of the two guards. It was then that the sickening sensation of being unable to feel one’s arm came to him. He almost gagged and fainted.

 

Garge had called an emergency, and already from the entrances were pouring hordes of guards. They took up positions and began firing at the highly animated Dusk Lady, who was systematically slicing the machine. Garge was firing at her himself. The firing came to a halt when the Dusk Lady went missing. Garge guessed she was hiding behind what remained of the machine, and was probably injured. He gave a ‘stay alert’ signal and ordered one of the guards to inspect the area behind the machine.

 

Suddenly, he heard a grotesque sound of some two dozen bodies slumping to the ground. He turned around slowly, to see all of his elite guard force dead on the ground. An appalling silence strangled his throat and his mind went out of his control. The Dusk Lady jumped in only three inches in front of him. Garge noticed she had no lightsaber. He also noticed she was weary. He deliberately stumbled upon a guard and fell back, snatching a grenade from his belt. He swiftly hopped onto the recliner and turning the grenade to ‘instant-burst’ mode, he threw it for the Dusk Lady.

 

His element of surprise did not go in vain. The shot hit his opponent in the chest, sending the Dusk Lady three feet back, her face and abdomen blackened. She was alive, and not dying. She was too strong for a meagre frag grenade, and Garge knew that. He drew his pistol and rapidly fired shots. The Dusk Lady had been immobilized. She tried to get up, but could not. She deflected the shots with the Force, and raised a hand to silence Garge.

Garge stopped, and came to his senses. He was heaving and his familiar smile returned. He took a few steps closer. “You, my dear, are now my most prized possession. A shame the title is ripped off of this ship.” He sputtered.

 

The Dusk Lady grinned. “I am a clone. A Jedi engineered to look like the Dusk Lady. I am being controlled, to some extent, by the Dusk Lady remotely. I have a bomb inside my body. A very dangerous bomb. One strong enough to detonate the proton core of this ship, which will obliterate this ship as well. This bomb is activated if I die. Am I clear to your battle-drunken head?” she asked, as if in a trance.

 

Garge took a few seconds to take it all in. His face had a baffled expression on it. “What?” he uttered.

 

“A long goodbye.” The clone replied. “Remember, Garge, the rumours. They were true. You cannot kill the Dusk Lady.”

 

A lightsaber came swinging from over Garge’s head and penetrated the clone’s chest. He heard her scream and saw her body writhe for just the fraction of a second. Then he was consumed by a great white fireball, and some seconds later, so was the entire ship.

 

 

The Dusk Lady chuckled. She was facing a computer terminal, where the screens had gone blank. “You cannot kill the Dusk Lady.” She said.

[Sabretooth]

And that finishes the Dusk Lady. Personally, I don't like the last episode as much as the earlier ones (especially the first one), but what the hell. Hope you all liked it!

 

Anybody up for a season 2? (and BTW, Trivia coming soon)

[True_Avery]

Incredible dialog to say the least, amazing story, and the lovely sadistic Lady. Simply Genius.

[Sabretooth]

Thanks, Avery. Finally somebody compliments my dialogue-writing skills.

[Diego Varen]

A nice end to this Fan Fic, but more Fan Fics with the Dusk Lady would be good Sabre. Nice work.

[Bee Hoon]

Lol, I was wondering whether the Dusk Lady was tinkering with Malak;s mind directly. Now I see:) The last episode has a few mistakes here and there, a bit more finetuning and it'd be great. I preferred the earlier episodes too, but gosh, Garge is a moron for letting her keep her lightsaber! Besides that, it was still great reading. That girl is just so creepy! *shakes head* A fitting ending, though.

[Lord Spitfire]

This was a very good chapter!

 

Your descriptions were detailed and well-layered, and, of course, the dialogue was amazing too. Good job!

 

Only one thing . . . I didn't like the ending. It was much like the KotOR2:TSL ending; Packed up, well-written, amazing, fun story, but the end wasn't able to seal it up. At all. There are so many loose ends . . . it's as if this is the introduction to the Dusk Lady Saga, with all the storybases set up, and the real plot waiting to sprout out.

 

There is no choice. You MUST do a season 2. Because, just between you and I, I am really Darth Revan in disguise. And you see, if you do not do a season2, you will have no where to hide. My right-hand man, the Exile, is a Jedi Watchman, you see, and he will track you down, wherever you go . . . and so that I will torture you to death, with Force Lightning! Muahahahahahahahahahahah!

 

So, do a season 2 . . . or else, taste the wrath of Revan!

[Sabretooth]

LOL, well the episodes were supposed to be stand-alone. No real plot whatsoever.

 

But now that the almighty readers have spoken, I find myself looking for a plot. Come to think of it, this does feel quite like a set-up for a greater plot. In fact, I might do a trilogy (this being the first part, however ridiculous that sounds).

 

As for the loose ends, they were quite intentional. I may not tie them up if I make a sequel.

 

but gosh, Garge is a moron for letting her keep her lightsaber!

 

Remember that very little is known about the Dusk Lady. Garge had no reason to know or suspect that Klaren was a Jedi or a Sith. Considering his experience, he could well believe that his army of guards could take care of a non-Jedi woman wielding a lightsaber on his own ship. Then again, he was an idiot anyways.

[Lord Spitfire]

"The Almighty Readers Have Spoken"?

 

Now I like the sound of that! Bow down to Lord Revan! Muahahahahaha!

 

Okay . . . that was a bit random. .

 

Oh, and another thing - you BETTER tie up the loose ends, or I shall punish you! In fact, you will be such scum, that you will not be worthy for being killed by ME. I will leave the Exile to do it .

 

Seriously though, you need a plot, you have great writing.

[Niner_777]

I've read the first two episodes, and I must say, it is very good. I like the descriptions.

[Sabretooth]

Trivia

 

* The fic was originally planned for the March 2007 Javyar's Cantina Competition. It consisted only of the first episode, but I didn't see too much 'Betrayal' in it, so I dropped it.

 

* In the original draft, Klaren is not the Dusk Lady. The Dusk Lady was never supposed to be directly depicted.

 

* The name "Spike" is a reference to Spike Spiegel, from Cowboy Bebop. The episode was supposed to have a western feel to it, much like Cowboy Bebop.

 

* In the last episode, there was supposed to be a battle between the guards and the Dusk Lady's slaves - Wellar and Vaerro. I scrapped the idea.

 

* The first idea of the last episode involved Darth Revan tracing and attempting to assassinate the Dusk Lady via HK-47 and others. She escapes, and then the final line comes up. Chapter wasn't as good as I thought.

 

* Garge's appearance bears a similarity to the Devil's. That is completely unintentional and I'm not a Satanist.

[Bee Hoon]

Lol, I suppose he was. Any criminal mastermind worth his salt wouldn't let any enemies remain armed. Like the others, I agree that a sequel would be good:)

[Diego Varen]

I forgot that you wrote Trivas for you Fan Fics Sabre. I like those and I did try to do it for my Fics, but forgot about them until now. Also, was there a Trivia for Jaden Korr - Darth Qollous?

[Sabretooth]

Also, was there a Trivia for Jaden Korr - Darth Qollous?

 

There was not. I only started in Victim of Betrayal, which was a planned fic, more or less. JK-DQ was very, very improvised.