15Full Summary: Nobody could have predicted what would happen between Meetra Surik and Darth Nihilus. Despite all of Kreia's intricate schemes, Nihilus survives the battle aboard the Ravager. What does this mean for the Galaxy, and why do they have a force bond now?
Chapter 1: Bonded Wounds
Meetra took a deep breath as she, Visas, and Mandalore walked down the bridge of the Ravager. Standing at the front of the command deck's observational window, a shadowy figure turned around. This was Visas' infamous master that she had heard so much about.
The Exile gathered her resolve as she examined this fearsome looking sith lord. Darth Nihilus looked nothing like she was expecting. He seemed like more of a ghost than an actual being, and the unusual fluctuations of force energy surrounding him could be felt even from where she stood. Everything around him felt condensed and powerful, but the area where he himself stood felt empty. This wasn't much different than a quasar surrounding a black hole. Using her force sight learned from Visas, Meetra could see this very well.
Nihilus spoke in some type of dark side, sith tongue as he stared directly at Meetra. The woman felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up as her entire body clenched in fear. This man…this creature was an unnatural force of evil. The bridge felt as if it was getting colder the closer they walked to him.
"There he is…this is my master, Darth Nihilus. He knew we were coming," Visas stated calmly. Despite her apparent confidence, Meetra could sense fear welling up from the Miraluka. She honestly couldn't blame the woman because this Darth Nihilus was possibly the most intimidating thing she had ever seen.
"So that's the guy? We should kill him and get the hell out of here as soon as possible," Mandalore said seriously. Nihilus faced Visas and spoke something unintelligible in his evil tongue.
"Miraluka, what did he just say?" the Mandalorian asked as he lifted his repeater blaster rifle up.
Visas shook her head, "He's angry at my betrayal…he says we were fools to come here."
"You can understand that gibberish screeching crap?" Mandlore replied surprised.
Nihilus spoke again in his ancient dark side speech as if confirming what Visas just said. Mandalore glanced over at Meetra and spoke urgently, "C'mon, let's get this done, exile. I'm not interested in talking to this bastard."
The sith lord's voice sounded angry as hollowed screams echoed throughout the bridge. Canderous immediately felt regret for his words as he covered his ears, "That sound…urgh!" The Mandalorian dropped over in pain moments later.
He fought through his pain as he immediately began to fire off blaster shots from his repeater rifle. Much to his confusion, they appeared to have little to no effect as Nihilus negated them with sheer force power. The Sith lord held an arm up freezing Canderous in place before a tightening clench followed.
The sith lord spoke again in his dark tongue as he began to force choke the Mandalorian leader. Canderous choked and writhed in pain as a streak of purple force energy flowed out of his body.
Meetra stared at Nihilus confused, 'What's he doing to Mandalore?'
"Stop that!" Meetra shouted as she interrupted whatever Nihilus was doing to the man. She force pushed Canderous a safer distance away from the sith and stood in front of him now blocking the flow of energy with her own force power.
The masked sith lord looked down at Meetra eerily. He spoke more calm, unintelligible gibberish as if questioning her reasons for being there. Meetra couldn't quite explain it, but she understood his intentions despite not knowing what he was speaking.
"I can't understand what you're saying…but it doesn't matter. We're here to kill you," Meetra said dismissively as she ignited her cyan colored lightsaber. She lifted the light blue energy beam in front of her face with one hand in a form II Makashi stance before twirling it in a taunting gesture.
Nihilus simply stood there for a moment taking in her appearance for himself. He held his arm up again much to Meetra's surprise and pressured her mind with his force powers. She froze in place unable to move, "What is this?! Release me or I'll blow your ship to hell!"
"It wouldn't kill me…" Nihilus' voice was finally understandable much to Meetra's shock. It sounded like a loud echo as if the voice was coming from far away.
"Kreia's lied to you! There are no Jedi on this planet! If you use your powers here then you'll exhaust yourself…and become vulnerable!" Meetra shouted as she broke free from the stasis.
"We'll see about that," Nihilus replied as he attempted to force drain Meetra right in front of him. Much to his disbelief, it proved completely futile and seemed to drain him instead.
Nihilus dropped to his knees briefly as an insatiable starvation began to overwhelm him. Meetra looked down at him and shook her head, "Even now you're weakened…your powers won't work on me. I'm like you."
The sith lord rose to his feet and his lightsaber ignited seconds later. A terrible echoing scream came from him as he spoke something unintelligible again.
Visas ignited her double bladed yellow lightsaber as she came in for the first swing. Meetra hoped Visas' form VI Niman would prove useful against Nihilus in combat, because she had no idea what kind of light saber expertise this sith lord had.
The onslaught Visas attempted to bring proved quite futile against Nihilus' strange movements. Every defensive move he seemed to make was quickly redirected into an offensive counter. It took relatively little effort for him to push Visas back.
'What form is he using? That's nothing I've seen before…it's not Makashi, but it appears just as effective at lightsaber dueling.' Meetra thought concerned.
Before Nihilus could push Visas further, Meetra dexterously tested his defenses as she jabbed around several times with graceful swings. Nihilus swung with aggressively swift parries and moved much faster than she was expecting.
As Visas and Meetra simultaneously attacked, the sith lord brutally overwhelmed their offensive attacks and redirected would be flurries and blows. Meetra barely had time to react as Nihilus slipped past her defenses, but let out a breath of relief as the back end of Visas' double bladed lightaber blocked Nihilus' red one.
With his free hand, Nihilus fired a massive surge of force lighting at Visas forcing her back again. It seared her quite a bit, but she managed to lift her saberstaff in time to ward off the worst of it. Visas dropped to her knees as Nihilus kept going with his overwhelming lightning. The force behind it was actually causing her feet to slide back.
Seeing that her companion was in trouble, Meetra attempted to jump in front of him and force push him away. It barely had any effect, much to Meetra's disapproval. She changed her strategy as she brought her lightsaber up to block the force lighting. Pushing back with all her might, she managed to hold her ground. Force lightning erupted and ricocheted everywhere throughout the bridge as it engulfed the two in a force storm.
Meetra negated it with a force wave of her own, which caused Nihilus to exert even more power. With as much fury as she could muster, Meetra repulsed the brunt of the lightning back at Nihilus. Seeing Meetra gaining the edge, Visas wasted no time jumping back into the fray as she attempted to flank Nihilus from the side. He ceased his force lightning and spun around in ghostly twirls before completely negating Visas and Meetra's follow up strikes.
Both were panting from the exhausting footwork and traded concerned looks as Nihilus stood still for a moment. Visas shook her head in despair, "He is…too powerful. We can't…"
"Don't quit on me now, Visas…just hold on a little longer. For Telos' sake…if we can't beat him here and now then the planet…no the republic is doomed!" Meetra tried to reinvigorate her companion.
Thankfully it seemed to work as Visas regained her resolve, "I will…try."
"You won't win, Nihilus! There's only so long you can stave off your own hunger!" Meetra said resoundingly as she charged in for another series of graceful swings. She began to get more aggressive in her stance as she wanted to put more pressure on the sith lord.
Visas charged in and twirled into a brutal flurry of spins. Nihilus riposted her easily before cutting her saberstaff completely in half. Thankfully, both sides seemed to work still, but now Visas was forced to dual wield her lightsaber halves.
She struggled with all her might attempting to land any kind of damaging attack against him, but was making no progress whatsoever. She spun and arced her light saber halves with ferocity, but was quickly force pushed off balance. Nihilus immediately fired force lightning at the downed woman again causing her to scream in pain. Had Meetra not been there to intercept it again, Visas would have been done for.
The exile briefly looked back at the downed woman, "Visas calm down. You're not going to break through his defenses with wild strikes. It leaves you too vulnerable to his force powers. We need to attack him together. He's weakening…we just have to outlast him," Meetra stated as redirected Nihilus' force lightning into the ground.
Nihilus ceased his sorcery and glided over with a ghostly swing of his lightsaber. He was beginning to attack more offensively with overpowering strikes now. Unfortunately for Meetra, this was a major weakness of her lightsaber form. She barely managed to negate his attacks, but was now forced into a purely defensive state.
Visas charged in again, hoping to lessen the pressure on Meetra, and swung both halves of her lightsaber in opposing angles. Nihilus parried her with one arm and simultaneously force pushed Visas off the main deck of the bridge. The Miraluka went flying with incredible velocity and smashed into the wall headfirst. She began to bleed heavily before collapsing down next to the mindless thralls working the ship.
"Visas!?" Meetra exclaimed worried as she averted her eyes over towards her now downed friend.
The exile turned her gaze back upon the ghostly Nihilus with anger. She attempted to unleash a furious onslaught of flurries as the two were now fighting one on one. Despite the aggressively, dexterous form behind her swings, she could not outmatch Nihilus without leaving herself exposed to his force powers.
They continued fencing for a considerable amount of time before finally, Nihilus force pushed her away. Meetra caught her breath as she glared at Nihilus intensely. She dropped her stance confused when she saw his lightsaber shut off.
"What are you doing? This battle isn't over yet!" Meetra said seriously.
"You're like me, you say? It makes sense that Traya would send you here. She is a master of deception and manipulation," Nihilus spoke. Despite his echoing, weird voice, she was able to understand him again.
"She told me about how you and Sion betrayed her. I can't blame her for wanting to see you two monsters dead," Meetra said.
Nihilus stared at her emptily, "If what you say is true, then you are indeed no different than I am."
"I may be a wound in the force, but I'm nothing like you! I wouldn't kill entire planets just to feed my own power!" Meetra said resoundingly.
"You're nothing more than a tool in Traya's hands. She's too weak to fight me herself and so she sent you instead…a trap to exhaust my power. Where is she now?" Nihilus asked.
"Like I'd tell you anything!" Meetra gritted her teeth.
Canderous finally seemed to recover from whatever happened to him earlier and immediately started firing his blaster rifle at Nihilus. As the bolts flew in, Nihilus blocked them before firing a large blast of force lightning at the Mandalorian.
It quickly sent the man to the ground frying from electrical burns. Nihilus continued firing his force lightning despite the fact that Canderous was already down. The Mandalorian leader growled with anger as he rolled out of the way and threw several thermal detonators, "Take this you sith bastard!"
They appeared to hit Nihilus, and effectively staggered him, but unfortunately, he was still standing from the blast. He began to force choke Canderous as he slowly approached and simultaneously shot more lightning at him.
Thinking fast to save her companion's life, Meetra ran in and jabbed her blade through Nihilus' chest area. Canderous quickly caught his breath and fell back under cover as he began to apply a medpac to himself. Fortunately Meetra's intervention stopped the force assault, but for some reason, Nihilus didn't seem affected by the lightsaber wound as Meetra pulled her weapon out. Meetra felt a sharp pain in her chest shortly afterward. She could barely believe the painful sensation as she dropped to her knees injured.
'What's going on?! When did he stab me?!' Meetra thought concerned. She was having a difficult time controlling her emotions which unfortunately made the matter worse.
Nihilus leaned down over her kneeling form and was now face to face with the Jedi. Meetra gathered her strength as she got up and attempted to cut Nihilus down. Much to her disbelief, the sith lord grabbed her wrist and held her arm still. She pushed with all of her might forcing the cyan blade closer to Nihilus' mask.
Her struggle seemed futile sadly as Nihilus managed to overpower her and force the blade above her head. Reaching out with his free hand, he grabbed her around the throat and held Meetra off the ground. As she struggled against him, Nihilus brought her closer. Orange streaks of force energy seemed to spark between the two as they stared back and forth in the struggle.
Meetra could finally see Nihilus' eyes much to her surprise, and noticed that they were completely black. As more force energy sparked between the two, a strange feeling came over Meetra. She could feel Nihilus' force wound connected to her own. Instead of them draining one another, they seemed to connect somehow.
It was hard to describe the feeling she got as the Sith lord's black eyes began to gain color. His irises were now red much to her surprise. Meetra felt herself weakening from the clash of force energy, but at the same time, her strength felt much greater. She angled her light saber arm down as she began to overpower the sith lord's strength. Nihilus finally let go and force pushed her away a considerable distance. He seemed confused as he looked at Meetra disbelievingly.
Meetra herself was at a loss for words as she felt the pain from her chest healing. Nihilus stared at her intently before speaking, "What have you done?!"
"Me? You're the one who did this!" Meetra protested as she immediately realized what had happened. The two of them had somehow formed a force bond mid battle. Undoubtedly it had something to do with both of them being similar wounds in the force.
Meetra suddenly felt an overwhelming hunger fill her senses. She dropped to one knee clutching her stomach. It was an extremely painful sensation, but from what she could tell, Nihilus was experiencing the exact same feeling.
"You can feel it can't you? The hunger…I can't wait any longer," Nihilus said as he turned around. He held both of his hands up as he stared out the window towards Telos.
"What are you doing?! NO!" Meetra shouted as she tried to stop him. She got up and charged behind Nihilus with her lightsaber, but dropped to her knees again as the unbearable agony of her hunger flooded her senses. The jedi watched helplessly as Nihilus began to suck the force energy out of Telos. From the observational window of the Ravager's command deck, it was quite an incredible sight to see though.
Streaks of force energy came up from the planet's surface and converged into one as they flew into the Ravager's bridge. Meetra watched with utter horror as Nihilus began to absorb what little force energy Telos had.
Raising her lightsaber again, Meetra fought through her pain as she attempted to reach Nihilus. Much to her disbelief however, a narcotic and relieving feeling began to drown out her pain. She was experiencing the partial satiation that Nihilus was and stopped dead in her tracks right behind him.
As the force energy flooded the bridge, it dispersed between the two of them. This continued for about a minute or two until finally Telos was a barren, dead world once more. Meetra felt tears running down her face as she stared out the window with a defeated look, "Noo…no!"
Nihilus said nothing to her as he focused on the nearby Republic Fleet that his capital ships were engaging. No longer on the brink of death, Nihilus felt his powers return mostly back to normal. With sheer force power alone, he forced one of the Republic capital ships to crash into Telos Citadel Station. Huge chunks of it began to explode and fall out of orbit shortly afterward.
The rest of Nihilus' sith fleet began to make quick work of the surviving ships forcing the Republic to retreat. Even the Mandalorian ones fled as well. No doubt the complete destruction of Telos had completely demoralized the enemy fleet.
Looking back over towards Canderous, Nihilus noticed the Mandalorian was no longer there. It was very likely that he decided to flee the ship when he realized Telos was doomed. Several loud explosions could be heard going off in various parts of the Ravager, but through sheer will in the force, Nihilus kept the explosions contained.
"We've failed…he was too strong," Visas' voice could be heard. The Miraluka was now back on the command deck, but was bleeding profusely. She limped over towards the traumatized Meetra.
"Telos is dead…again. The Republic is doomed…and Kreia got away," Meetra added in a defeated tone.
"Master…please have mercy. Kill me." Visas dropped down to her hands and knees in front of Nihilus.
The Sith lord looked at her without even an ounce of pity and spoke darkly, "You are no longer my apprentice…but I still have need of your abilities. You will serve me again, Visas."
"I can't go back to this…I'd sooner die," Visas said as she drew her lightsaber. Meetra watched with utter disbelief as Visas impaled herself with it before slumping over to the ground dead.
Both Meetra and Nihilus felt excruciating pain from Visas' suicide, but both managed to survive. After it was over, the sith lord and the Jedi exile traded a long stare.
"So be it…" Nihilus said callously. He looked at Meetra who was kneeling in pain still, and lifted her off the ground with the force. Meetra felt herself drawn to her feet and quickly released shortly afterward. She stood there confused as Nihilus continued to stare at her.
"You're not going to kill me?" Meetra finally asked after a long silence.
"I need a new apprentice…" Nihilus replied as he looked between Visas' corpse and Meetra.
"Me? I would never serve you!" Meetra said distantly and full of hatred.
"You've already failed in your mission…your friends are all dead…and all that's left now is you and me. Resist all you want, but sooner or later you will feel the hunger. Follow me, and I can teach you," Nihilus said convincingly.
"I won't do it. I'm a Jedi…I could never turn my back on the Republic. I won't give in to the dark side! You'll never make me a Sith!" Meetra resisted.
Nihilus walked past her and shook his head, "You're no Jedi…and neither are you Sith. If there's any teachings from Traya that you should take to heart it's that both philosophies are wrong and otherwise irrelevant."
"You're a sith lord…but you don't believe in the sith? Oh wait, that's right…you only care about feeding your own power," Meetra spat.
"Perhaps you don't understand the nature of this bond you created between us…our force powers are linked. My power is your power and yours mine," Nihilus explained.
"I didn't create a damn force bond with you!" She said aggressively.
"Where is Traya? Has she returned to Malachor V?" Nihilus asked.
Meetra looked away frowning, "Yeah she went back there."
"Do you not want your revenge? I understand the old woman was a friend of yours?" Nihilus said curiously.
"Why did this happen? Why…Telos…so many worlds are doomed now that Telos is dead again," Meetra sulked as tears welled up in her eyes.
Nihilus stared at her indifferently, "Even if you had succeeded in defeating me…you would eventually develop the hunger. Even now the desire for power wells within you. It is brimming throughout your fickle heart."
"You know nothing about me…or about what it means to be a Jedi. We protect…and if necessary we sacrifice our lives for the greater good!" Meetra stated strongly.
"Is that what you did on Malachor V? You protected…for the greater good? Do not preach morality to me…you are no Jedi." Nihilus countered.
"Pfft…you were on Malachor V too I heard. You must have been a Jedi once yourself…how could you even say something like that? Didn't you follow Revan for the same reason as everyone else? To protect the galaxy?" Meetra demanded.
Nihilus' red eyes focused on her seriously, "What makes you think I was a Jedi?"
Meetra's eyes lit up confused as she stared at the ghostly sith lord, "What were you then?"
"I was a Mandalorian…" Nihilus answered distantly.
"Wha-what?! A-are you kidding me?! How did you become a Sith Lord?!" Meetra said dumbfounded.
"I will tell you everything in due time…my apprentice. For now, we will gather more power before returning to Malachor. I wish to see that vile witch Traya permanently dead," Nihilus said as he turned towards the observation window again.
Meetra walked up next to Nihilus and simply stared out the window with him. Nihilus' fleet was reforming as they began to leave the system. The woman looked around at the ships curiously. Other than the Ravager, Nihilus had a lot more ships than she expected. She didn't really get a good look at his Sith Fleet on the way in, but it was considerably larger than she realized.
Other than the Ravager itself which was a former Interdictor-class Capital Ship, Nihilus had four interdictor-cruisers, six destroyers, and around a dozen or so frigates. Meetra recognized them as Foray Class Blockade Runners which were used frequently in the Mandalorian wars. Minus the additional shuttles and star fighters, Nihilus had about 23 warships in his armada. This was clearly a remnant of the Sith Fleet from Malak's brief reign.
Just then a concerned thought shot into the Jedi's head, "What happened to Mandalore?"
"He escaped on his shuttle…his survival does not matter to me. Yours does however. You wield the same power as I do," Nihilus answered.
"Listen, you can forget trying to torture or corrupt me or whatever. I won't be your apprentice…you'll have to kill me. Besides I don't need to the dark side to be powerful. You're going to pay for what you did you evil bastard!" Meetra said emotionally.
His head turned slightly as he looked at her, "You aren't like Revan…you never will be. Emulation will only take you so far. You are the only one fit to be my apprentice. I will teach you everything I know."
"What…so I can destroy the galaxy with you?! How do you live with yourself after killing entire planets?" she shook her head disheartened as tears continued to fall.
"It is easy to feel compassion for other lives when yours isn't in danger. But the will to survive transcends all things. That is a truer meaning of life than any code of morality you cling to. In the end, apprentice, the hunger always wins." Nihilus said carelessly.
"My name is Meetra…call me that if you must, but don't call me apprentice. I already told you that I'm not serving you! I would rather die than accept living like this!" she growled defiantly.
"You're not like Visas…you are much more valuable and important. I will not discipline you the same as I did her. Such acts of power only work against the weak anyway. You are far more deserving of the title of my apprentice than she ever was. In time you will be like me, Meetra," Nihilus stated callously.
Meetra cracked a fist angrily, "You're evil."
"If such a thing truly exists then yes…I am," Nihilus replied calmly.
The woman ignited her lightsaber again and held it to his throat, "This ends with one of us dying! You're going to pay for what you did to Telos…to Katarr! To Visas! And if I can't kill you, then I'll make you kill me!"
Nihilus immediately ripped her lightsaber out of hand with his force powers. Much to Meetra's shock, they were far more powerful than before.
He looked at the woman seriously, "You have no need of this weapon for now…I will hold it until you have accepted your role here."
"M-my lightsaber!?" Meetra gasped as she realized she was now defenseless.
Defiantly, she tried to punch Nihlus hoping he would kill her, but unsurprisingly, he simply stopped her mid punch with his force powers. A powerful stream of force lightning flowed from the sith lord's hand shortly afterward and Meetra immediately lost consciousness.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX An Indeterminate Amount of Time Later XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
The Jedi exile woke up with a horrible pain in her head and stomach. She looked around groggily as she tried to figure out what happened. It didn't take long for her to remember the events which led to her situation and jerked upright fearfully.
She was surprised to find herself on the bridge of the Ravager still. She looked over towards the observational deck and noticed Nihilus was standing there with his arms crossed. The sith lord stared out the window but spoke the moment she stood up, "It is fortunate to see you awake so soon, Meetra."
The woman gritted her teeth angrily at her impossibly dire situation, 'Why is he keeping me alive like this?! Is it the force bond? Maybe he can't kill me…if that's the case, all I have to do is out will him. This bond has to work both ways.'
"Why won't you kill me?!" She shouted at the sith lord, "Is it because you can't?!"
"Insightful observation…while it is true, I also find myself not wanting to kill you. We are in fortuitous situation, Meetra. Your wound has fused with mine, but your force powers have also stabilized my wound. The wound is larger, but with two holes to feed it, the hunger is more easily sated. If you learned more about how to balance this power, we could keep it under control," Nihilus explained to her.
"If me doing nothing kills you faster, then that's exactly what I intend to do!" Meetra shouted defiantly. For some reason, her emotions were incredibly difficult to keep under control. It was hardly surprising considering her situation, but she still felt a bit of guilt for losing her cool.
"I will teach you force lightning, Meetra…it will serve you well in the days to come," Nihilus said calmly as a streak of purple force energy shot between them. Perhaps it was the nature of their force bond, but Meetra suddenly felt a wave of understanding flash through her subconscious mind.
It was almost as if Nihilus imparted knowledge into her with the force. After it was over, she collapsed to the ground. Nihilus held his hand up and fired a mild streak of force lightning at her.
Reflexively, Meetra held her hand up to block it, but much to her surprise, the lightning connected between their fingers and flowed between them like a conduit. As this was happening, Nihilus spoke approvingly, "You will serve me well, Meetra."
As he stopped the lightning, Meetra stood up with a defeated look on her face. Realizing she had no choice but to stay passive and go along with things, the woman sighed, "You'll never turn me into you. You may have beaten me, but I won't submit to this. I am a Jedi, and I will not give in to your corruption."
"You're definitely more Sith than Jedi. I can sense your anger and fear…and that small seed of lust buried within you." the cloaked dark lord stated.
This simple observation caused Meetra to immediately realize how emotionally unstable her actions had been. Deep down she sort of wanted to do what Nihilus told her. If she really could be as powerful as him, then she could kill Kreia easily. As she reflected on this revelation, Darth Nihilus turned towards the observation window again.
Nihilus spoke in an overmind voice throughout the bridge of the Ravager, "All ships converge into formation. Set destination for the Osnion System."
"What's the Osnion System?" Meetra asked.
He turned towards her briefly, "It is a primitive system of planets in the outer rim. We discovered it a year ago, but I never went there due to my weakened state."
"Why are we going there?" Meetra wondered.
"There is something there…a piece of technology even greater than the Star Forge itself. I have interest in it," Nihilus explained.
"I thought all you cared about was your hunger?" Meetra said confused.
Nihilus crossed his arms, "The hunger is a need…not a desire. Truthfully I seek knowledge above all else. I have less interest in the force than I do the secrets of the universe itself. Jedi and Sith waste their time arguing over different interpretations of religion. They care nothing for the unraveling of secrets…the truth of our existence."
"I don't understand…why do you care about such things? Especially considering the fact that you wipe out entire worlds. Life obviously has little meaning to you," Meetra stated.
"That is why I wish to see the truth of it," he replied.
Meetra frowned, "I guess that makes sense…in a strange way. So how did Kreia train you? She said you survived the mass shadow generator. I did too."
"I doubt it was much different than your story. The cunning witch manipulated me and took advantage of my wound in the force. Eventually Sion and I grew to loathe her plots and we sought to crush her. Traya's betrayal against you is no coincidence. She has trained some of the most powerful force wielders in the galaxy. Revan, you, Sion, and myself are among the most noteworthy," Nihilus replied.
"What does she want? Why would she train people like us?" Meetra couldn't help but wonder.
"Traya hates the force…particularly the Sith. She created weapons to combat their empire. Revan failed and so she resorted to us," Nihilus answered.
"Do you think you're as powerful as Revan?" Meetra couldn't help but ask.
The sith lord looked at her before shaking his head, "No…neither of our natural force powers will ever compare to his. As Traya once told me, Revan is like the heart of the force. Revan is naturally more powerful than any JedI or Sith I has ever seen. His command of the force matches that of the ancient sith lords. However, despite all of his power, Revan would not be able to kill me. In fact his power would be his greatest weakness against me."
"Sounds like you're underestimating him…I've seen Revan do incredible things in the force," Meetra said unconvinced.
"The wounds we command are the exact opposite of what Revan is. It is his only weakness. For no matter how bright or large a star shines…it is powerless against a black hole. Even you would prove a great foe against Revan. If he failed to kill you quickly, then you would eventually leech his force powers and become more powerful than he is," Nihilus explained.
"That's crazy…to even think I would be a match for Revan," Meetra shook her head. Although she hated herself for it, the idea was now planted in her mind. 'Could I really match Revan? He always did get the credit for everything in the Mandalorian War. People seem to forget about all my contributions to winning. Wait…what am I thinking?!' Meetra shook her head trying to dispel the weird thoughts she was having.
Nihilus said nothing in response as the fleet of sith ships began to take off into hyperspace.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Ebon Hawk, Unknown Sector XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Atton let out a sigh of relief as he came out of hyperspace in an unknown location in the outer rim. Having recently escaped the battle over Telos, the former scoundrel was shaking.
"Damn it…I can't believe Telos is gone. Meetra was still on that ship too. She must be dead by now," Atton shook his head bitterly.
The Disciple, Mical, who was sitting next to Atton let out a depressed sigh, "I should have gone with her. Meetra, Visas, and even that Mandalorian were no match for the Sith Lord aboard that vessel."
"Yeah…who knew Visas' master was actually as strong as she said he was," Atton replied sarcastically. He seemed somewhat angry about the situation, and was especially worried over Meetra's fate.
Footsteps sounded behind them as a sassy voice interrupted their conversation, "I can't believe you just took off! We should have followed that ship!"
"Listen, Mira…I aint about to follow a Sith Fleet without so much as a clue to what happened aboard that damned ship! You saw what happened to Telos! There's no way in hell I was staying for that! If Visas' master managed to do that, then there's no way Meetra's still alive. I hate it just as much as you guys. Trust me," Atton spat.
Mira crossed her arms as she looked over at the galaxy map, "So what the hell do we do now? The old bat's gone, the Miraluka's gone, and now Meetra too?"
"She would want us to live on…and to spread her teaching about the Jedi way," Mical said distantly sad.
Mira sighed, "I guess…but what are we going to do about Kreia though? The bitch was an undercover Sith Lord this whole time."
"I'd hate to say it, but I'm with Mical on this one. We need to find somewhere to lay low for a while…at least until we figure out what the best course of action is," Bao-dur agreed as he walked past Mira.
"Statement: I believe tracking down Revan would be a better choice," HK-47 spoke as he followed Bao-Dur into the cockpit.
Mira rose a brow sharply, "Revan as in the famous Jedi Revan? The same one who's been missing this whole time? How in the world do you expect us to do that?"
"Answer: Well meat bags, it might interest you to know that I was once the personal assassin droid of Revan himself. Proud Statement: The T3 droid has a secret, encrypted program in his memory banks that could theoretically lead us to him." HK-47 spoke.
Bao-Dur looked confused, "Really? I suppose that might be worth a look."
"Where's G0-T0 at anyways? I'm surprised he hasn't chimed in with his infinite wisdom," Mira said dryly.
"Proud answer: I decided to remove that droid from the ship with a thermal detonator. Gleeful Explanation: He seemed most unhappy about being removed from the loop," HK-47 explained.
Atton laughed at his answer, "Well you'll hear no complaints out of me. I never liked that bastard anyways."
"We're getting an incoming transmission, patching it through now," Mical interrupted.
A hologram lit up in the cockpit showing none other than Mandalore himself. Canderous' armor looked completely seared with burns and he himself was wheezing.
"You all made it out, alive?" Canderous asked wheezing heavily.
"Mandalore?! You're alive?! What happened aboard the Ravager?!" Mical asked desperately.
Everyone focused intently on Canderous who was holding his head down in shame. The Mandalorian shook his head, "W-we…failed. Though I'm sure you've realized that by now. The exile, the Miraluka, and I weren't able to put up much of a fight against that ghostly bastard. I got out of there when he started to drain the planet. I couldn't see much, but Meetra was lying on the ground and the Miraluka was bleeding out. I detonated the bombs on the ship, but they didn't work for some reason. I got out of there on my shuttle…"
"You left her there!?" Atton demanded angrily.
Mira and Mical both glared at the Mandalorian intently. Mira shook her head disgusted, "You're kidding me right? You ran away and left them to die?! Where's the honor in that, Mandalore?!"
"They were already dead and the planet was dying! I had to-" Canderous began to choke and wheeze heavily mid sentence before speaking again, "had to…at least make their sacrifice worth something. I tried to blow up the ship…none of it worked."
"So much for Mandalorian honor…" Bao-Dur said softly.
"Don't you dare judge me…you weren't there. You didn't see what that…thing could do. None of us stood a chance from the start. We need Revan's help to stop that guy," Canderous explained.
"Approving Statement: Finding my master would be an excellent choice. I believe that is the best course of action." the assassin droid added.
Mira banged the back of her head against the bulkhead of the ship, "Well I guess we don't really have a choice."
"Is there any chance Visas' master didn't kill her?" Mical asked concerned.
Canderous coughed, "I-I don't know…I didn't see him kill her but she was lying on the ground like she had been seriously injured. Although considering what happened to Telos, I wouldn't doubt if she was long dead by now."
"I should have known better than to trust her with the likes of you," Atton growled.
"Mind yourself, Atton…anger leads to the dark side," Bao-Dur calmed him.
Atton glared at Bao-Dur annoyed, "Oh spare me, Bao-Dur…don't go acting like your some kind of Jedi Master now."
"He's right Atton…getting angry isn't going to fix this," Mira defended.
"Speaking of Jedi masters, what ever happened with Atris?" Bao-Dur changed the subject.
"The Echani woman?" Mandalore interrupted, "I think Meetra spared her. She fled the system before the Sith arrived at Telos."
"We could probably use her help…" Mical noted.
"Yeah but in case you haven't noticed, we have no idea where the hell she even is!" Atton groaned.
Another Mandalorian joined Canderous' hologram transmission, "Actually, we caught the star chart trajectory of a ship leaving orbit shortly before the planet died. The ship signature was that of an Echani shuttle."
"Where did it go?" Mical asked hopefully.
"Coruscant I believe…that or one of the other core worlds," the Mandalorian answered.
"Well then…we should go find her. In the mean time, Bao-Dur should pick T3 apart and find out where the hell Revan is. I'm going to plot a course for the core worlds," Atton said authoritatively.
"Woah, hold on a second bud…who put you in charge?" Mira asked sassily.
"I've been here the longest…and Meetra trained me first. So seniority wins," Atton countered.
Mical shook his head disapprovingly, "You're too brash and hot-headed to make any kind of leadership decisions, Atton. I believe I would serve better as our leader for the time being."
"You?! Yeah right…like anyone would follow your high and mighty ass around," Atton shook his head.
"Look…nobody is calling shots around here without the say so of the group. This is a Democracy and we're not doing anything without the group's consent," Mira added.
Bao-Dur nodded, "That seems fair…besides I don't think any of us are really on par with the General in terms of leadership capability."
"That being said, finding Master Atris is a good idea. Do we all agree?" Mical asked.
"Yeah…" Mira nodded.
"Yes," Bao-Dur agreed.
"Answer: HK-47 has little concern for additional Jedi. Finding Revan would be much more beneficial to our cause."
"Shut up droid…it's going to take time to pick through T3's memory anyways. We might as well do something in the mean time," Atton responded.
"I think it might be best for me and my forces to remain in your company," Canderous spoke over the transmission, "I'll gather what forces we have and meet you at Coruscant."
"Yeah…because a Mandalorian Fleet arriving at Coruscant is going to go over well," Atton said dryly.
"I'll worry about that…you get this Jedi and join our fleet afterward. Hopefully by then, we'll be able to track down Revan," Canderous replied. Moments later the transmission ended.
Mira moved over towards the galaxy map and began to map out coordinates, "Well, next stop Coruscant I guess…"
"I hope Meetra is all right…" Mical said worriedly as the ship headed into hyperspace.
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Alright...so I'll be straight up. I loved Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic 1 and 2. They are some of my absolute favorite games, and I love the characters...FUCK SWTOR and everything it did to KOTOR 1 and 2. Damn you Bioware...I just wanted KOTOR 3...not another freakin MMO. They should have just let Obsidian keep it. I'm legit going to write my own KOTOR 3 story just so I can pretend SWTOR and all its dorky ass BS doesn't exist. I hope this introduction chapter sort of gives you an idea to how KOTOR 2 should have went and how 3 should have started.
Anyways, this story is mainly about Meetra, Revan, and all the various cast members of KOTOR. It's completely going a different way from the canonical SWTOR nonsense...so don't be surprised.