Star Wars: Darkness Falls

[Grace]

Raquel tensed visibly. "Familiar?" she echoed. Shaking her head, she answered, "N-no, I-I don't think so..."

 

The Doctor narrowed his eyes. "No, I'm sure of it, I've seen you..." He fell silent, his mouth open slightly. His eyes widened for a fraction of a second before he leaned back in his chair again. "Ah, must just have one of those faces, I s'pose."

 

"Right," Raquel muttered, relaxing into her chair. She knew now more than ever that she had to get away from the Doctor. But even more than that, she knew she could not simply run off that very second.

 

"S-so, you're a traveler," she said, trying to distract him from the mystery of her identity and engage in a somewhat more 'normal' conversation.

 

"I was," he said simply. "More recently, I'm a... a soldier."

 

"Soldier," Raquel muttered. Her eyes lifted to meet his and a flicker of anger passed through her eyes and she asked harshly, "And how's the war coming along, then?"

 

His face fell, and his eyes seemed to age a thousand years as he stared at the table. "It's over," he said, trying to smile.

 

Raquel nodded, not surprised. "All wars must end." She frowned thoughtfully. "Why do you still call yourself a soldier, then?"

 

He shrugged. "I s'pose I don't want to admit that it's over. That they're all... all gone..."

 

Suddenly, Raquel was filled with remorse. Why in all creation had she been so hard on him?

 

"Give him space," she muttered to herself. Then, she stared at the Doctor for a moment. Finally, she whispered, "I'm sorry." A tear made a little trail down her cheek. "I'm so sorry."

 

He looked up at her, a forced smile stretched across his face. "Not a problem," he said, trying to sound upbeat. "I won. That's something, eh?"

 

Raquel did not smile with him. "Maybe," she answered vaguely. Then, her eyes met his again. "But what if... maybe others survived?"

 

The Doctor shook his head. "I'd know," he said, tapping his temple. "Up here. If there is anyone left, they're so afraid to show themselves that I'll never run into them anywy."

 

"Afraid of you?" Raquel asked softly.

 

The Doctor looked at her for a moment before turning his head behind him. "Now I think of it, I could use a spot of tea. Don't s'pose they'll have Earl Grey, but... Where'd that waiter get to?"

[Sigundr]

Drake scoffed at the name. "Ah, the famous Revan. Only the whole galaxy knows of his escapades." He shook his head. "Hot head." He said under his breath.

[Master_Archon]

Scud was scanning the room when two people in particular caught his eye, a woman, and a man, they were odd, different. They each had strange accents, the man seemed too cheery, the woman too...everything, and what interested him the most were their hearts, or, to say more specifically, HIS, hearts.

 

Yes, Scud could tell, he could hear them, both of them, 'thump', 'thud', 'thump', they went, a strange thing to hear two hearts going, something you only felt in certain alien sprecies, not something you heard in humans.

 

He began observing them, listening to their conversations, they spoke of war, yet there was none, they spoke of others, but they acted as if they were dead, yet Scud questioned who these others were.

 

Scud leaned back, his interest was now focused on them, i was something to do, atleast, while he waited.

[ForceFightWMe12]

Kira glanced from the two men to Atton. Meeting the Soundrel's eyes, she nodded slightly towards the door as if to say 'take them outside, please?'. After a moment of simply looking at her, his eyes dark, the pilot nodded slowly and turned to the others.

 

"You guys look like you could use a drink." he said, spreading his arms and ushering them out. He looked over his shoulder at Kira, who was now alone with Revan, and gave her an unreadable look. Once everyone was gone, he shut the door behind them.

 

Kira looked back to Revan. "How did you get here?" she asked, flitting about and collecting a few medical supplies before turning to him again.

[Curt-Man]

"Sounds like a good idea." Daven said. "Do you mind if I help myself?" Daven said to Atton and then grabbed some drinks and started to mix them.

[The Doctor]

"I came in from the Tingal Arm, just past the Corporate Sector," he said, sitting up with considerable effort, and leaning his back against the wall. "I was following a sensor ghost, thinking it was a... well, that's another story altogether... needless to say, I lost the signal, and ended up tearing apart my ion thrust capacitor coming out of the Hyperspace Corridor. I tried to land, and I just... missed."

[ForceFightWMe12]

"Go 'head." Atton said, grabbing a Juma for himself. As he leaned against the wall, he examined the others as he took a drink. "So...where're you two from?"

 

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

 

"The graceful pilot as ever, I see." Kira said, smiling a bit as she returned with a cloth. "Hold still, it might sting."

 

With one hand beneath his jaw to hold his head still, the Jedi Exile began to clean the wound to his head, gingerly wiping at it with the cloth. Most of his wounds had already been cleaned and tended to, but the gash on his head wasn't nearly bad enough to be bandaged. A few disinfectants every once in a while, and he would be fine.

 

"So what took you so long to come back, anyway?"

[Sigundr]

"Me," Drake started, "I was born and raised in this **** hole." He said, knocking back a shot. "It's not the best place to live, but don't get me wrong, it has it's good sides."

[Shana]

Visas at this point stood close to the three men who talked amongst each other, but she remained silent. She was always meditating when she wasn't with the exile, trying to clear her mind and detect any danger that grew near to them. For now it was all quiet but in her experience with the exile, peace would turn into chaos in the blink of an eye.

[The Doctor]

He grimaced as the disinfectant did it's work cleansing the cut on his forhead.

 

"I fought an entire war on my own, Kira," he said, with a hint of indignity. "It takes time."

 

She frowned a bit, looking at him in confusion. "Fought an entire war on your own?"

 

He shook his head. "Not your average war..." he muttered darkly. He was silent for a moment, staring at his own feet, his eyes slightly out of focus. After a moment or two, he snapped out of his reverie, and turned to her, smiling. "What about you? What happened to you after you... you know."

 

"Oh... well..." she started, then paused as if unsure how to continue. Turning around, she began to bustle about again, putting the cloth away and doing other such things.

 

"It's been...a blur, to say the least," she finally said. "At the start of the war... I just... felt like I needed to get away. So I lost myself in the Outer Rim. I just...wandered for a few years before I found myself back here again."

 

He looked down at his feet again. "Kira... if I had... remembered... the Jedi Council, they screwed with my memories... If I had known you were out there... I would have looked for you."

 

She shook her head, her back to him. "Don't worry about it."

 

He pushed the covers off of him and rose from the bed, wincing as he moved up behind her. "Kira..." he said softly, gingerly placing a hand on her shoulder. "You know I would never have abandoned you. Not even after... after how things ended."

 

She turned to him, her eyes hard and tone mother-hen-ish. "You shouldn't be up." Kira said, her hand on his chest urging him back towards the bed.

 

He was weak, but strong enough to stop her from forcing him back to the bed. He tightened his grip on her shoulder slightly, bending down slightly to look her in the eye. "Kira, please. You have to believe me. I would never..."

 

She raised a gloved hand to his cheek, looking directly in his eyes. "Forget it, alright?" she said, "Now isn't the time. You need to rest."

 

=-=-=-=-=-=

 

"You summoned me, mi'Lord."

 

His voice echoed across the chamber that his Master inhabited, bouncing off the barren stone floor upon which he now knelt, trembling slighty for fear of being punished.

 

But the rasps that came from his master's mouth - at least, he assumed they came from a mouth, even though he had never seen that the Dark Lord even had one - did not sound angry. Quite the opposite. He was ecstatic.

 

"Master, the assassins have-"

 

The sharp hissing sound cut him off, and this time there was an edge of rage to them.

 

"Of course, mi'Lord. Your wish is my command... but it will take several hours for the message to reach them."

 

The Dark Lord continued, hissing and snapping in his odd language. His servant looked up, a dark smile stretching across his face. "Brilliance, Your Excellence," he said, his eyes scanning in vain for a sign of his Master. "The preparations shall be made. It shall be as you command."

 

He bowed as the Dark Lord dismissed him, and retreated from the room. As he stepped across the threshold, he could have sworn he heard a dark grinding sound that he had come to know as laughter.

[Rexraptor2000]

Phoenix took a seat at a table nearby Atton and the other two men, ordering himself a Juma, although not to get drunk. His system broke down the alcohol to quickly for it to get him drunk. Instead he used it to maintain appearance. After all, who was going to look more suspicious: The guy at a bar drinking, or the one at the bar doing nothing?

 

The actual reason he had come in here was more out of curiosity. He had reached the crash site when they started to leave, but he recognized the three who had taken the injured one away. Though not a sympathizer to those in the refugee sector, that was where he was raised. Add to the fact that the whole moon was in a buzz about the Jedi, he himself had decided to make a trip to the sector. That ended with Goto's Yacht being destroyed, so it interested him now that they had returned.

[Curt-Man]

"I grew up far from here, in more ways than one.." Daven mumbled as he drank his drink. "Mostly I travel, so I have no permanent home, how about you sir, I don't even know your name." Daven asked.

[The Doctor]

The Doctor had been right. The waiter gave him a blank look when he asked for Earl Grey, and settled instead for a drink that seemed similar enough to the tea he knew - a thick, sickly sweet liquid that the waiter said they didn't sell a lot of.

 

After they finished their drinks, they stood and left the bar discretely, Raquel leaving a few credit chips on the table. As they stepped into the street, the Doctor took a deep breath, coughing slightly.

 

"Seems as if the regeneration is complete," he said, beaming. "I must say, that's been one of my smoother changes - normally, my mind is addled for a good few hours."

[Grace]

Raquel frowned, nodded, and looked as if she would say nothing, but then she abruptly opened her mouth and said, "Umm, yeah... exactly how does that work?"

 

The Doctor shook his head. "You wouldn't understand the biology behind it," he said simply. "It's an ability my people have. When we're close to death, or our body is damaged beyond healing, we regenerate. Our body is revitalized - every particle of DNA is broken down and rebuilt from scratch."

 

Raquel considered this for a moment and then her frown deepened. "Completely rebuilt?" she asked, sounding a little startled. "As in, nothing the same? Like you look different too?"

 

He nodded. "Look, sound, smell, probably taste - though I wouldn't want to find out, personally."

 

Raquel shook her head and muttered something unintelligible. Then, she looked over at the Doctor. "So what's next?" she asked. "By all appearances, you crash land on Nar Shaddaa, babbling about a war. No one here is going to believe you, you know, especially not if you start yapping about... regeneration." She frowned. "So what's next for you?"

 

He shrugged. "Dunno. Probably just wander about here for a while, then shove off somewhere else."

 

Raquel flinched almost imperceptably. "What, all on your own?"

 

The Doctor shrugged. "Why not? Nobody else left anyway. Mind you..." he looked at her with curiousity. "Raquel Annerire... Why does that name sound so familiar? You're not famous for anything, are you?"

 

"Only to a little, barely civilized planet in the Outer Rim," Raquel answered, blushing ever so slightly. "Made a dying woman vanish from her hospital room, and no trace of a body or anything was ever found afterward." She smiled faintly, remembering. "They called me the Angel of Death..." Frowning sharply, she added, "It's been true enough on occasion... though not that particular time..."

 

He eyed her curiously for a moment, as if about to say something, but seemed to think better of it, and shrugged. "Must just be me then," he said. "Hard to keep names straight when you've got as many as me up here," he continued, tapping his temple. As they walked, Raquel suddenly reached over, stopping the Doctor where he stood.

 

"Hold on," she said, frowning thoughtfully. "I know that ship." She gestured to a ship landed nearby.

 

The Doctor leaned forward slightly, eyeing the ship himself. His face split into a wide grin. "Yes, you certainly do. That's the Ebon Hawk. Revan's ship. Or rather, Kira Starr's ship, by this point in history. Always wanted to meet her."

 

Raquel shot an odd look in his direction and shrugged. "Seen her in passing once or twice," she said. With a frown, she demanded, "You're not just going to barge in and introduce yourself... are you?"

 

He looked down at her, still grinning broadly. "S'pose I do?"

 

Raquel glared at him. "You'd better not!"

 

He turned away, ducked around her arm, and moved towards the ship, giving her a look over his shoulder. "Watch me," he said. He jogged up the docking ramp, stopping at the top. He rapped sharply on the inner hull, sticking his head into the corridor inside."

 

In an instant, Raquel was right behind him, demanding angrily, "What the hell are you doing?"

 

The Doctor grinned back at her. "You dared. I'm introducing myself!" Into the ship, he called, "Anyone home?"

[Shana]

Visas moved to the loading ramp and saw a woman and a man standing there. She had just felt them and walked into them as the doctor yelled.

 

- "Yes? Is there something you wish?" - Visas asked in her calm voice.

[Master_Archon]

Scud had followed the strange pair, they had interested him beyond his normal interest in people, and this caused him to be a little disturbed, if not intrigued by the fact he was so interested in them. So by this odd reasoning, he followed them, listening to there conversations as he followed from a safe and inconspicuous distance.

 

They eventually stopped coming upon a ship, they started speaking of...the Ebon Hawk? And Kira Starr? He knew the ship, from his experience as a Bounty Hunter, he had to know that ship, along with all owners, past present, and any potential owners for the future.

 

This intrigued him more, as the man charged up to the ship, the woman following in haste, he himself, watched from a short distance, wondering if this, Kira Starr were still owner of the ship. He would see...or hear, this all so very much, interested him, yet he didn't understand why, he was hardly ever interested in anyone, or anything.

[ForceFightWMe12]

Kira's head raised as she heard Visas' voice calling out. Frowning a bit in confusion, she set down the bandage that she had been working with and gave Revan a glance.

 

"Stay here," she told him, "I'm not finished bandaging your side yet. I'll be back in a few moments."

 

Moving around the medical bed, she exitted the medlab and moved to the loading ramp, where Visas was apparently speaking to someone outside.

 

Casting a glance outside, the Exile caught sight of a rather strange pair. Well, only one of them seemed strange, in all honesty. The woman was dressed normally, and looked as if she could be any other spacer of Nar Shaddaa inhabitant. The man, on the other hand...

 

"Yes..." she called, "Can we help you?"

[The Doctor]

The Doctor's face cracked into a wide grin as the woman came down towards them. "Amazing..." he muttered, reaching out a hand. "Simply fantastic!"

 

Raquel frowned at the Doctor's back. "That's my word," she muttered.

 

He ignored her, starring intently at the woman who had greeted them. "It's wonderful to finally meet you, Miss Starr," he said, shaking her hand vigorously.

 

Kira blinked at this strange man, her arm limp as he shook it so violently she felt that it was in danger of falling off.

 

"Er... nice... to meet you too... I suppose..." she said, pulling her hand back and rubbing her fingers, "Who exactly are you?"

 

"I'm called the Doctor," he answered. "And this is Miss, uh..."

 

"Annerire," Raquel filled in. "Raquel Annerire. Sorry about... him. He's a little..." She gestured with a hand to indicate the Doctor was crazy. Shrugging, she went on. "I've seen you in passing once or twice, Ms. Starr. You leave quite the trail behind."

 

Annerire... She recognized that name.

 

"You leave quite a trail yourself," the Exile answered, her eyes growing slightly sharper, "Angel of Death."

 

"I admit the title has been applied on occasion," Raquel agreed. "But don't believe all the stories."

 

The Doctor wasn't paying attention. He had dropped off the docking ramp and was admiring the underbelly of the Ebon Hawk. "Amazing!" he remarked incredulously. "Simply amazing! Looks just like the history books - Miss Starr, I don't s'pose we could come aboard for a bit? Take a look inside?"

 

"What I wouldn't give for a very strong drink right about now..." Raquel muttered. "Doctor, do you know anything about rules of conduct when interacting with new people?" she asked, as he leapt up onto the docking ramp again. She glanced apologetically at Kira, who was eying the Doctor oddly.

 

The Doctor shrugged. "Doesn't really matter - must be off anyway." He turned to Kira. "Apologies for disturbing you, Miss Starr. I see that now is not the best time for us to drop by. Perhaps we'll meet again soon."

 

"Erm.... right. Yeah." She blinked, totally bewildered by this strange man. "Very well."

 

Raquel hesitated, looking from Kira to the Doctor and back. "I'm sorry..." she finally told Kira. "I-I've got to go with him." She smiled in way of goodbye as Kira blinked, but before she could say another word, they were both gone.

 

The Doctor kept his back turned to the ship as Raquel caught up with him. "You're not coming with me, are you?" he asked.

 

"Sure I am," Raquel answered, a false cheerfulness in her voice. "Besides, in the way of payback... you asked for it." She grinned. "Or don't you remember?"

 

He shrugged. "Usually people don't take to me so quickly. If you want to come along, that's fine. But I should warn you..."

 

They had reached his blue box, and he was in the process of opening the lock. "You're going to see all sorts of things. Ghosts from the past... Marvels from the future..." He managed to get the door open, and stepped inside, still not looking at her. "It won't be safe, it won't be quiet, and it won't be calm. But I'll tell you what it will be..." He turned to face her, a small smile spreading across his face. "It'll be the trip of a lifetime!"

 

"Would you cut the promotional and get us going?" Raquel laughed. "Already said I was coming, didn't I?"

 

The Doctor beamed. "Right," he said, dashing to the console in the center of the room and flicking switches. "Sorry to rush you away from a historical figure like Kira Starr, but this is important. The TARDIS was calling to me, telling me to come back. It doesn't do that simply when it gets lonely. Something's wrong. Something big."

 

"It's fine. Historical figures are always better in history books anyway," she quipped. "A TARDIS in trouble? Now that's something not worth missing."

 

The Doctor didn't seem to be listening. He was leaning over the console, staring at a small screen roughly built in to the central column. It was flashing through a series of odd symbols and rotating figures. His bright blue eyes scanned the controls, and his face grew dark.

 

"What is it?" she asked.

 

He looked up at her. "Oh, Raquel... And to think, I was already planning our first outing. London, 2005. Earth - great planet. S'where humans came from. You'd have loved it."

 

"Alright... Why can't we go?"

 

He shook his head. "Got work to do first. There's a temporal rift forming in this galaxy, and it's getting bigger by the second. I thought I'd put them right before I crashed, but I guess I missed one."

 

"Temporal...?"

 

He gestured helplessly with his hands. "A sort of a... a ripple, in space time. The fabric of existence is like a huge piece of cloth. The cloth is supposed to stay flat - but a good stiff breeze'll send it rippling all over. The Time War was like a hurricane. The entire fabric of space-time was tossed about, constantly changing. But now the storm's over, and it's time to iron out the wrinkles to make it flat again."

 

Raquel frowned. "That kind of tossing... so much must be very different from what it was..."

 

He nodded. "But the TARDIS can't repair all the damage itself - that's this thing, by the way," he added, indicating the ship around them. "Time and Relative Dimension in Space." He sighed. "I can't fix it all from here. I'll have to repair some of the damage manually. And it looks like one problem stems right from where we just came from."

 

"Fantastic," Raquel muttered. "So we're going back?" She rolled her eyes. "The Exile must think we're insane already... just think of how she'll feel when we pop up again..."

 

He sighed, nodding. "I don't have a choice. We'll have to intrude on her hospitality for a little while. Hope she won't mind."

 

He flicked another few switches, and pulled at a small, crude-looking air pump on the console in front of him. He gave it a few strong pumps before smacking down a final lever.

 

The ship lurched, and the column in the center of the console began to rise and fall methodically, matching with the the grinding noise that had filled the streets when he had arrived. He flew around the console, grabbing levers and flicking switches as he went. Over the din of the ship, he hollered over to her.

 

"Hang on!"

[Shana]

Visas moved to the passenger hold where she always remained she was being ignored but this did not bother her so she stayed in meditation for the time being as she did not know the destination. Revan returned and suddenly Visas asked herself if Revan had fulfilled his mission on the Unknown Regions? Why did he come back so soon?