suitably_heroic | Korriban, Some Time After Last

Atton	"We just ran away from a Sith Lord," Atton shouted. "Are you crazy?!"
Meetra	"He's not coming after us," Meetra said. "Look, if you don't want to do this, you can go back to the ship." They'd hurried down through the narrow pass to get back to the valley - and then the feeling had struck her. An impulse from the Force, irresistible in its compulsion, drawing her to an opening in the cave. There was something in there she needed to see; something that assured her she would be fine, for the most part, if she went.
Atton	"No, I don't want to go back to the ship, I want us to go back to the ship," Atton snapped, glancing over his shoulder. His fingers had curled around his blaster. That was still instinctive. "But if you're stupid enough to go into this cave, you're not doing it without me."
Meetra	"This is not a discussion," Meetra said, taking several steps into the cave. "I'm going."
Atton	Atton snarled in frustration. A look in Bao-Dur's general direction just netted him a shrug. "Fine," he said, stomping in after her.

Meetra	In retrospect, it was a good thing Atton had come with her. The way through the cave had been perilous. Peace came only after they knocked several Sith off a very thin bridge that stretched across a deep ravine. It had almost been them plunging into the abyss - but no. That was not what the Force had in mind. "We're almost there," she said.
Atton	"We're almost where?" Atton asked irritably. He was cold, he was miserable, he hurt, and the constant push and pull of this place was driving him out of his mind. It would probably be worse on someone who'd been a Force user during their dark side days, like Visas or Kreia. That didn't mean it was easy on him.
Meetra	Kreia whispered in her ear through their connection. Meetra's fingers found the rock wall and followed it. "We're almost..." And then there was a door. "...here."
Atton	"We're raiding Sith tombs now?" Atton asked incredulously. "That sounds like a great idea that totally won't get us killed."
Meetra	"Not we," Meetra said. "Just me." She stepped through the door, and it immediately shut behind her.
Atton	Atton spat out every alien expletive he knew and a few Earth ones besides. "Jedi! JEDI!" he snarled, finally, and turned to Bao-Dur. Who shrugged. Of course.

Meetra	Atton would not be happy, she knew that. But Atton's happiness was not Meetra's primary concern - not in this life, not on this path, regardless of her feelings about the man. Kreia had been clear that this tomb was hers alone to traverse, and though she did not know what it would bring, she was sure the old woman was right. Or at least, she became so the moment the second set of doors slid open and revealed a group of familiar Jedi, many of which she knew were dead - during the Mandalorian Wars, or during the Civil War that followed. She stepped forward and joined them.
Vision	Before her stood Malak - no, not Malak, but Alek, the idealistic Jedi Knight that Meetra had known in her youth. Not the Sith Lord she had only heard of in tales. His expression was characteristically concerned. "Do not heed the words of the Jedi Council," he said. "The Republic will fall if we do not act now. Already the Mandalorians have taken three systems along the Rim. They will only grow more powerful with time." He gestured towards the gathered Jedi. "Come stand with me. We will use our might to help the Republic in its time of need. Together, we will battle this menace."
Meetra	Meetra watched as one young Knight slid past her, joining Alek at his side. Yes... she knew this, still. It was a vivid image, once she had tried not to linger on in the harsh years afterwards. It had all seemed so simple back then. "I've been here," she said quietly. "This is when you recruited me for the Mandalorian Wars."
Vision	Alek smiled at her. That, too, was tinged with his worry. "The Jedi Council is wise, but it will take too long to deal with this threat," he said. "We must act now to stop the Mandalorians." His eyes found hers. "I have heard of you," he said. "Your masters speak well of you, of your skill in battle. Please, join us."
Meetra	A Padawan brushed past her next - against the will of his master, no doubt. Yes - it was Talvon Esan. She remembered him. She watched him go, too. "I joined without hesitation," she recalled. "Against the wishes of the Council."
Vision	"The Jedi Council is wise but can make mistakes," Alek continued, as if he had never heard her. She supposed he couldn't. He was a vision, after all. "History has proven this time and time again." His eyes skimmed over the others. "The Council seems content to watch, to debate, while entire systems fall to the Mandalorians. If we don't act now, there may be no Republic army to assist in the future." He turned to Meetra anew. "I sense you will join us," he said. "What are your reasons?"
Meetra	She wondered how her crew had experienced this very moment. Had a young Atton already snuck away from his parents and joined the Republic Army? Had Mira huddled up with her Mandalorian family, preparing for the next strike? Was Mical sitting in quiet anticipation right now, awaiting word of a Master he would never receive because all available Knights had left for the war? But that was not the question being asked of her. After a moment, Meetra tilted her chin up. "I couldn't sit by while so many suffered," she said softly.
Vision	Alek nodded with satisfaction. "A good reason," he said. "Delay would have brought ruin, and there was much suffering. You had to act." Another Jedi slipped past Meetra, coming to a stop by Alek's side. "It was within our power to end the war," he said. "And the Council chose to debate behind closed doors while planets burned."
Meetra	"We never did give them a chance to reveal their plan," Meetra said. She smiled a wan smile. Not that she was sure it would have mattered, by the time they acted.
Vision	"Their vaunted wisdom brought only inaction," Alek pointed out. "And that would have led to destruction greater than anything born of the dark side." Yet another Jedi Knight joined him. "So if you could do it all again... the question is, would you? The Mandalorians await on the edge of space, eager to crush the Republic." He made a gesture with his hand. "You know how this turns out. Would you do it any different? Knowing what it costs you, knowing what it costs the rest?"
Meetra	She found, to her surprise, that the answer to that was as simple as it had been all those years ago. "No," she said. "I wouldn't do anything differently. My choices made me the person I am today."
Vision	Alek's smile broadened. "So knowing all that would transpire, you would still follow Revan and I? Excellent." The Jedi at the far end - Bastila Shan, Meetra recognized her immediately - walked to Alek's side. "And now you are alone," he said. "Would you join me now? You didn't follow Revan and I down our path. Join us. Your journey hasn't ended yet."
Meetra	But Meetra was frowning - at the newest Jedi at Alek's side. That... That wasn't right. "Wait," she said. "Bastila didn't join you. She warned us all to obey the Council."
Vision	"She didn't join us that day," Alek allowed. Or was it Malak now? His face was still that of the young Jedi, but his words were not. "But in time she came around to our way of thinking. And even before then she wavered, and wondered what would have happened." His smile faded, then disappeared entirely. "It is a familiar path," he said. "There were those who wished to follow you to war, yet remained behind. They came to hate you for the choices they wished to make."
Meetra	He was speaking of Atris. That, Meetra was sure of. Perhaps others, too. "I didn't follow you then," she said. Her voice was quiet, but there was steel underneath. "And I certainly won't now."
Vision	"Are you so certain?" Alek wondered. "Every step along the way, we did what we thought was right. Perhaps the same path lays before you." He crossed his arms behind his back. Malak, now, then. "But the time of words is done. Now it is time you experienced the full power of the dark side." He gestured once, and then the Jedi at his side moved, lightsabers flashing, to attack her.
Meetra	They were visions, not the brave Jedi Meetra had known. She would remember that. She ducked, and their first blows went sailing over her head. Then she struck, lightening fast, battering them back. They hadn't been her match even at the end of the Mandalorian Wars - these young versions of her old friends could not best her. Not now, at least. Had she gone here first, she might not have been as powerful. When she landed the last strike, they vanished. The door before her opened, and she proceeded.
Vision	There was another familiar face awaiting her there. A woman, grey-haired, jaw set, dressed in a uniform of the Republic army. "Comm says we've lost another heavy droid transport," she said. "How can we break through the Mandalorian lines without support? The path is mined and the place is crawling with enemies!" The woman bit down on her bottom lip. "I know we've got our orders to press forward, but we're at quarter strength. We can't, General. It's impossible. We need to retreat."
Meetra	"This is Dxun," Meetra murmured, looking up. The people... the room... "The heart of the Mandalorian crusade."
Vision	"We know, General," the commander said miserably. "But we just don't have enough men to accomplish our objective, no matter how important." She gestured towards the road ahead. "We already lost half the men just getting to the path. They've got the rest of the company pinned down by the crash site. You can't possibly ask the troops to move forward." Her expression grew more desperate. "If you ask us to charge, will it make any difference? Will our sacrifice mean something?"
Meetra	"Only Revan could answer that," Meetra said quietly. The wan smile had returned to her features. "Even afterwards no one could piece together what happened." She looked up. "We won, though."
Vision	The commander hesitated. "We... we will press forward if you wish it," she said. "The path is mined. If you ask us to charge, there will be losses, General."
Meetra	Meetra looked in the face of this long-dead woman, her smile broadening. For nostalgia's sake, it did, and not because it was caused by any kind of joy. "This time, let me go first," she said. "I'll disable the mines." Would it make any difference? She didn't know. But it would help her peace of mind.
Vision	The commander snapped into a salute. "Thank you, General," she said. "Thank you."
Meetra	Meetra pushed past her and her troops. She reached out with her hand and pulled in the Force, setting off each mine in turn. The explosions went off without causing any harm, blasting off into the sky. The soldiers rushed forward as soon as the last mine had been cleared. They were met head-on by Mandalorians at the other side. Meetra joined them, lightsaber whirling as it had done back then, taking Mandalorians apart at the limbs. Soon the battle was over, and their enemy dead. But as the spirits faded around her, she just felt empty. This had been wish-fulfillment. In reality, the troops had braved the minefield, and few had come out alive. She deactivated her lightsaber and pressed on.
Vision	And what she found behind the next door... ...was Kreia. The old woman turned around slowly. Her robes were darker than Meetra was used to, and her face was an unnerving shade of near-luminescent pale white. "You are to be commended for making it this far," she said.
Meetra	Meetra frowned. "Kreia?" she asked uncertainly. "What are you doing here?"
Vision	"You've revisited the dark moments of your past," Kreia intoned from her pitch-black lips, "and now you must face the present."
Meetra	"What do you mean?" Meetra asked slowly. She reached into the Force and could feel her bond with Kreia pulsing strongly in response. But... not here. Not here.
Vision	"Your confusion is natural," the vision replied. "The others and I will help you understand."
Meetra	Now, for the first time since she had entered the cave, Meetra felt out of her depth. Confused. This was not something she remembered, no straightforward vision. "The others?" she asked.
Atton...?	"Get away from her!" Atton's voice echoed through the chamber. He stepped past Meetra, his feet sure, and he was dressed in a Jedi robe rather than his usual jacket. "She's a Dark Jedi," he said.
Meetra	"Atton...?" Meetra's eyes found him immediately, passing over his body. Again, she could feel her link with him, but felt further away than this; not as if he was standing beside her, but as if he was far away. "Why do you say that?"
Vision	"Atton, I have enough of your snide contempt!" the vision of Kreia sneered. She paid no more attention to the Exile, occupied as she was with glaring daggers at her opponent. Her lightsaber was the first to hiss to life; Atton's bronze-yellow blade followed quickly.
Meetra	Oh, no. No no no no no. "Please," Meetra called, stepping in between them. "We must put aside our differences and work together!"
Bao-Dur...?	"Hey, what's the commotion here?" Bao-Dur stepped into view, frowning.
Vision	"Stay out of this, Bao-Dur!" Kreia called to him. "This is a personal dispute between Atton and myself!"
Vision	"You're threatening Atton with a lightsaber, and I'm just supposed to stay out of it?" Bao-Dur shot back. "No!"
Meetra	"Everybody," Meetra stated plaintively, "Please put down your weapons."
Vision	Behind Meetra, T3-M4 rolled up, screeching angrily. The little droid produced every one of its weapons, pointing them at Kreia. "The three of you would challenge me?" Kreia roared. "You sorely underestimate the power of the Force!"
Vision	"Think again, Kreia!" Mical appeared suddenly from the shadows. "Your dark influence will end!"
Vision	"Your 'friends' are all arrayed against me," Kreia observed, her lip curling up at the sight of the Handmaiden appearing, too. "Will you stand for this?"
Meetra	... No. She remembered the lesson from her previous encounter. She took a step back. "You're all just visions," she said. "It doesn't matter what I do."
Vision	"So you will do nothing?" the vision of Kreia demanded. She had turned again to face Meetra. "Apathy is death. Worse than death, because at least a rotting corpse feeds the beasts and insects."
Vision	Atton turned to her as well. "Apathy is death," he said.
Vision	"Apathy is death," said Bao-Dur.
Vision	"Apathy is death," said the vision of Mical.
Vision	"Apathy is death," the Handmaiden agreed.
Vision	"Apathy is death," Kreia said.
Meetra	Five sets of weapons bore down on her unexpectedly. She barely managed to counter them at all. The fight was chaos, each one of her friends running amock across the battlefield, using their greatest talents. Mical was the first to pass, fading as soon as her lightsaber brushed through his stomach. Then, Bao-Dur, his arm flaring one more time before vanishing into nothingness. Handmaiden fell to a strike to the neck. T3-M4's electronics sparked once and then died away. She met Atton one lightsaber blow at a time; she was grateful when one last strike to the face made his visage pass away from her, in the knowledge the real Atton was unharmed. It was Kreia who held out the longest, of course. Meetra did not know if it was that these visions were weaker than the people they were meant to echo, or that she had simply grown strong enough to take out every member of her crew - for Kreia too fell, and then Meetra was left alone in the darkness.
Vision	But it was not the end of her journey. The end of her journey laid down, down the slope that left the chamber where she had slaughtered her friends. Down, where familiar faces awaited: her own face, right next to a black-and-red mask. Herself, and Revan.
Meetra	"Why are you here?" Meetra asked, as her feet carried her down the slope. Why? Why any of this?
Vision	But Revan said nothing. He simply lit his lightsaber, a red blade she had never seen before, and began his attack.

Bao-Dur

"Will you please. Stop. Pacing," Bao-Dur said pointedly. He was exasperated. Atton's restlessness had been frustrating enough when this journey had began, but now it was beginning to be ridiculous.

Atton

Atton's fingers kept twitching. He'd been trying to redirect that energy by pacing up and down the length of the cavern, but it wasn't doing him much good.

He was worried, and Korriban picked up on that and ran with it. Worried and angry and barely warding off memories of times past that kept poking away at his head, picking at his resolve.

"No," he snapped at Bao-Dur.

Then he realized he was snapping for reasons that had nothing to do with himself, and he came to a stop, running his hand through his hair.

He needed to talk to someone. Like, now. Bao-Dur? Nah, not Bao-Dur. Sparkle? No, Sparkle wouldn't get it. Sia?

Ha. Yeah. Calling up Sia to have a hey, I'm having some dark side withdrawal problems conversation - great idea. Fantastic.

Cade? ... No.

He balled his hands up into fists to redirect some of the tension he was feeling, then he sat down and activated his commlink.

"I really, really, really hate you," he muttered as he punched in Anakin Skywalker's number. "I really, really, really, really, really, really hate you..."

[[ expecting one, though his commlink's on so open to anyone else too! ]]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only | Expand All

From:

sith_happened

"Skywalker," Anakin snapped into his comlink. He put down the hydrospanner he'd been using to tweak the flight simulator.

He knew the mechanics weren't why he'd done so poorly in the sim today, and that made him crankier.

From:

suitably_heroic

"Rand," Atton snapped back into his comlink, because he was in no mood not to be... well, he'd say a little suicidal, but Anakin was several universes away. "What in space crawled up your ass?!"

From:

sith_happened

"Belthazor," Anakin snarled. "He's teaching a class on how to annoy me."

And boy was it working!

From:

suitably_heroic

"I just got attacked by a Sith Lord, I'm on a planet that's doing my head in, and the Exile just ran off on her own into some spooky cave, probably to get killed," Atton snarled back. "Oh no! You're annoyed!"

From:

sith_happened

"Well, I'm not psychic through the comm," Anakin bitched. "You still have all of your limbs?"

That was how Anakin expressed concern.

From:

suitably_heroic

"I do, but she might not," Atton bitched right on back. "Space! Jedi! She shut the door on me!"

From:

sith_happened

"And your lightsaber doesn't work on doors now?" Anakin asked.

From:

suitably_heroic

"Not on crazy Sith doors on a tomb on Korriban it doesn't," Atton snapped.

Yeah, okay, that hadn't needed to be yelled. This place really was getting to him.

Bao-Dur shot him an irritated look. "Can you keep it down," the Zabrak called.

From:

sith_happened

Anakin took a deep breath and blew it out. "Oh. Take a breath."

From:

suitably_heroic

Atton blew one out. Did that count?

"I'm going a little barvy out here," he muttered.

From:

sith_happened

"I can tell," Anakin said, bad mood momentarily forgotten, "and that close to a Sith stronghold, that's very dangerous for you. Take another breath. Really."

From:

suitably_heroic

This time, Atton did actually take that breath. (Look, he'd called Skywalker for a reason, and this was it, even if he wasn't likely to admit it.)

"She could die in there," he said.

From:

sith_happened

"She could," Anakin said, not bothering to sugar coat anything. "I'm not going to tell you to rejoice for someone potentially rejoining the Force. That was the single worst piece of advice I've ever gotten. But you can't go in spoiling for a fight. Then you're lost and of no help to her at all."

From:

suitably_heroic

"I don't know," Atton said, glancing back towards the closed tomb entrance. "Always seems to have worked out for me before now."

Admittedly, he'd been a soldier and then a Sith and then a smuggler-slash-gun-for-hire, but still.

From:

sith_happened

Anakin snorted. "Yeah, for me too, right until it didn't. You're riding a razor edge and once you've fallen once, it's a lot easier to fall again, especially when your emotions are involved."

From:

suitably_heroic

"Blah, blah, lecture, lecture," Atton said. He reached up and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Kreia and the Miraluka ex-Sith decided to stay on board for a reason, I guess," he allowed, "but Meetra said she needed me."

From:

sith_happened

"Not a lecture," Anakin said a little waspishly. "Twenty years as a Sith with no limbs talking here. Meetra needed you, then shut the door on you?"

From:

suitably_heroic

"We went into the Sith Academy to find a missing Jedi Master," Atton said, kicking a rock over the edge of the ravine. "She's dead. On our way out, we ran into Darth Sion. Then she took off into this crazy Sith tomb while Sion's probably still prowling outside!"

From:

sith_happened

"Wait, Sion's outside with you somewhere?" Anakin asked.

From:

suitably_heroic

"I don't know," Atton admitted, running his hand through his hair. "As soon as we realized we weren't going to take him down, we went running. Somewhere along the way, we wound up in this cave, and the tomb's at one end of it."

He scowled.

"Should've taken his head off, even if he was just going to regrow it anyway."