[fic] KOTOR III: The True Sith

[sarpedon2]

The sound of speeders raced passed his ears as he Zayne barely sighted a Speeder below him that he could grab onto. His backpack held down his cloak tightly as the tattered hat he worn held tightly to his head. His lightsaber hung from the hook on his belt for dear life as attempted to grab the edge of the speeder. He screamed in pain as a burning sensation gripped his now blistered fingers. He let go and continued tumbling towards the lower city. By a stroke of luck, he landed onto another ship. Only problem was Zayne tried to overcome the smell that was set upon him, did he realise he was sitting waste deep in muck accumulated from the whole area, with 7 metres more below him. He dropped his face down and examined his blisters. He sighed, remembering this wasn’t the only time he was laying in rubbish and alien waste. The garbage barge continued its journey through the levels of traffic until the sunlight that reached down towards the bottom of the middle level, began to dim as the only light source was the collage of lights emerging from Cantina’s, billboards and apartment lights and spotlights that gave the lower city a glam that made it seem worse when travellers truly realised what it was really like.

The garbage barge finally settled among the clusters of ships that had docked near a long avenue that was filled to the brim with shops, cantina’s, restaurants and pazaak. An ever moving horde of aliens wandered through the market place as Zayne threw his hood up and joined. The barrage of dozen alien languages emanating from the stalls distracted Zayne from his path and the vast amounts of Technicolor lights that flashed constantly around him; along with the blaring sound of music; confused and startled him. It had been a long time since he was in a place like this and the atmosphere here was both mentally and physically choking. He swiftly moved through the crowds towards the stalls were a Quarren wrapped in worn clothes with faded ink symbols began the daily selling of black market goods. The approach of Zayne and the sight of his lightsaber dangling from his tattered belt alerted the Quarren and began to push away eager buyers of his stolen goods.

“Look Jedi, nothing here honestly. Please don’t get me arrested. I got kids to feed.” Pleaded the worried Quarren as he shook credits in front of Zayne. Zayne lowered his hood before leaning close towards the Quarren trying to face the pungent smell of the dealer’s last meal.

“Don’t worry. Beside I’m looking for someone. Know Marn Hierogryph?”

The Quarren relaxed and ushered Zayne into the back of a stall where a rusted protocol droid began stock examination.

“That dirty Snivvian. Yeah I know him. Gave me some ‘Sith Holocrons’. Said he went all the way to Korriban or Malachor V whatever which one it is, to get them. Never mind where he got them though, the Holocrons blew up in my assistance face!”

“Yeah wonderful” said Zayne as he toyed with the broken head of a droid that lay in a pile near the Quarren. “Know where I can find him? He’s an old friend of mine. More like partners actually.”

“Oh I see. Well you can find him about in CoCo town. Loves conning the newbie’s who head there. If you’re a friend, he’ll find you.”

“Cheers.” Said Zayne, slightly happier on where he had to go now. “Bye.”

“Don’t forget to come back here Jedi. Good prices and Guinkot!”

[sarpedon2]

Sorry for the long wait. I had nearly given up on this but today i felt the urge to write again, well here it is for anyone still wanting to read this.

 

As Guinkot attended to his customers, Zayne hurried out of back of the tent wormed his way through the tangled wires and scrap that built up near the edge of the platform and found himself near an air-bus station.

“One to the temple plaza please.” Said Zayne as he exchanged credits and curled up on one of the empty seats. The air-bus after a minute or so rose up and broke through the moving cloud of fumes and made its way to the temple plaza. T he cloud of smog dropped off as the air-bus neared the Jedi Temple. From afar, Zayne could clearly see how it had changed in last 15 years of his life. The single spire remained but in rested on an elaborate platform was ladled with cluster’s of gardens and dome and great windows that poured light into the temple’s great halls. A massive wall of stone now broke out onto the building that made up the Temple districts. Their brilliant friezes that depictured the order’s history had now become hidden by a veil of scaffolding that morphed into a sheet of dull metal that wrapped round the base of the temple, signifying the change that was being undertaken on this place of peace. The sunlight caught the tip of the spire and it sparkled brightly before fading back into a dull silver colour. As the air-bus finally landed, Zayne quickly left and the sunlight hit his eyes and he squinted instinctively as lowered his head and opened his eyes again. The excitement in his chest rose and he walked along the long, open plaza towards the Temple steps. This part of Coruscant seemed untouched by the thousand years of growth. Stone buildings still stood and their cracked and smooth arches were occupied by stores that hoped to capitalize on the Temple. Zayne had never been to this Temple but unlike Dantooine, the first sight of his possible new home was not of blur that was masked by showers of rain, but a brilliant burst of sunlight that raised the appearance of the temple to ever dizzying heights of grandeur. Zayne crossed beneath a cracked arch guarded by two ominous statues, the lightsaber’s drawn and implanted into the marble platform they rested on. A long expansive corridor opened up from the arched entrance, dressed in worn tapestries that we laced with good tassels. The first of many depicted a battle, a brutal fight between a legion of red-skinned warriors kitted in cast iron battle armour, their leader with an outstretched arm, contorting his enemy’s body and throwing them across the scorched terrain like ragdolls. This change in fortune shifted to the enemy in another tapestry as the enemy, Jedi, shattered the bodies of his enemy before igniting his lightsaber and engaging in a duel with the leader of the red-skinned army. The red-skinned leader drew his sword high, only to be bisected by the Jedi, the look of shock still on his face as his upper half slid away and his dead eyes flickered shut. Zayne frowned at the sight of a Jedi committing such an atrocious act, his master’s always made sure that such a style of killing was frowned upon and that a Jedi should show balance and calm in his fighting, not bloodlust. A company of Padawan’s were caught in corner of Zayne’s vision and he turned to see them unaware of his presence. They seemed near ten years his junior and as they first caught sight of them, they seemed hardly surprised and judging by his rugged appearance, his lightsaber hidden by his torn cloak, they thought him to be a tourist. One of them, a young boy with a weasel like appearance stared at him with unusual contempt. Zayne noticed the boy staring out him and set off down the corridor to confront him.

[sarpedon2]

Since i never got the feedback that i wanted which i believed was down to post sizes early on in the thread i'll be creating a new thread with shorter posts so as to not bore people to death:p