A Rose By Any Other Name, Part Two

Disclaimer: The video games, Knights of the Old Republic and its characters are copyright to the appropriate creators and companies, specifically LucasArts and Bioware. Any businesses, logos or characters not belonging to the author are the intellectual property of the appropriate creators and owners. Any of the content (prose, plot, original characters, etc.) that does not fall in the above categories in the intellectual property of the author “Kian” and said intellectual property is protected under the copyright laws of the United States of America. The individual under the pen name of “Kian” is receiving no profit from the distribution of this story, nor does said author have any intention to receive compensation beyond hopefully some verbal praise.

Author’s Note: This is a companion piece to Resurrecting A Fallen Appellation. *cringes at the long name*

Arg. I know it took forever. My computer bit it a couple of months ago and I've only just recently replaced it. In the meantime, I played Twilight Princess and had to find my way back to KotOR after I had finished that. I know the second part was a long time in coming, but believe me when I say that part three is pretty well entirely completed as I write.

Part Two

They had set down in an enclosed landing pad, within the confines of Czerka Corporation’s outpost in Dreshdae, so for the majority of the time the crew had spent on the planet thus far, the Sith world had seemed much like any number of other scenic places they had traveled; endless expanses of cold metal walls, harsh industrial-grade lighting and ruthless, desperate people. Carth was beginning to understand Jolee’s romantic nostalgia for Kashyyyk.

Revan stopped at the top of the stairs leading down to the Sith Academy and, for the first time since they had left Manaan, Carth felt a sense of stillness from his companion.

He found his eyes scanning the series of buildings reaching up out of the craggy rocks of Korriban’s surface, the harsh landscape curling around it as though it would suck the place down into the core of the planet. Carth found it a chilling display of the planet’s proclivity for the teachings of those who lay in wait within the Academy. And somewhere inside, behind the gleaming black doors decorated with sinister etchings and what appeared to be long-dried blood mingled with the tawny dust that made up Korriban, was his son. He tried to repress the shiver that crawled up his spine, but he could still feel his body tremble slightly under the heavy weight of armor and cloth.

But she was not looking at the Academy. Revan’s eyes were gazing out at the endless maze of canyons and plateaus that stretched far into the horizon, shimmering strangely in the light of a sun that never fully set. Something akin to a tender pain crossed her face and Carth could see an unhappy smile tug lightly at the corners of her mouth.

Almost as soon as they had set foot on the planet, there had been both an easy acceptance of their presence – warranted mostly by Revan’s clever turn of phrase and the mystique of the Ebon Hawk itself – and pointless confrontations, most of which had brought out the sharp edge of Revan’s personality. They had made enemies already, though he seemed to be the only one concerned by this fact.

She had left Mission, Zaalbar and T3 on the ship, with Juhani in charge. Carth could understand leaving the Twi’lek girl behind with her friend, as well as reserving T3’s expertise for use on the Hawk. And certainly, the Cathar woman could be trusted to protect the ship and remaining crew from anyone foolish enough to try and nab the famed smuggler vessel out from under their noses. What worried Carth was the balance of the companions Revan had taken with her into the underbelly of the Sith world.

When challenged in the city by Sith apprentices, Revan had kept a tight rein on her anger when little more than impetuous kids had sought to bring her low for their own amusement, but the mask of civility had been a thin one at best. And Canderous had been only one step behind her.

Ever since she had taken him back to Tatooine to face his one-time comrade and had stood by his side in the battle, Canderous’ loyalty to Revan had become a near-solid thing, like a rope strung between them. Whichever way the wind blew for her, the Mandalorian would follow, and that made Carth nervous should they begin to lose Revan once again to her dark persuasions once inside the Academy; Carth wasn’t sure at all that he could trust Canderous to help him keep Revan from going Sith again. Though a powerful ally to their cause, the Mandalorian’s allegiances were subject only to the persuasion of their leader and should those intentions turn to ill, Carth was sure that he and Canderous would be doing most of their reasoning with each other by way of their blasters.

Likewise, HK-47 was subject only to his beloved Master’s will, and the assassin droid made no attempt to conceal the fact that Revan’s current trend of compromise and peaceful negotiations was not much to his taste. Carth had overheard the droid tell his Master that it approved of many of the changes in Revan, but that did not by any means indicate that if Revan fell the droid would not be the first in line to take orders from a Sith Lord restored to power.

Jolee’s intentions were at best murky when it came to Revan, though his feelings about the Sith were reassuringly clear. Nevertheless, the two former Jedi had grown close in the time since Kashyyyk and Carth feared that Jolee’s passive approach to guiding Revan could backfire on the old man and put them all in harm’s way. And though Jolee certainly pulled his weight, Carth wasn’t certain the older man could handle a battle with the other members of their sordid group if worse came to worse.

‘Death trap’ was all Carth could think of to sum up the situation.

And none of that trepidation had been eased by the events since landing. Whereas before Carth had chalked much of his friend’s hardball tactics up to posturing and acting the part, he now wondered at how convincing she could be when she “talked Sith,” as Jolee put it. And the amount of recognition their presence had garnered, both for the craft they were flying and the exploits of the crew, made Carth more than a little bit twitchy. He was used to being able to blend in more, but it seemed that they were incapable of doing that on Korriban.

Even the bartender knew more than he should about where they had been and what they had done. Or, more precisely, what she had done. Thankfully, it seemed that no one was interested in selling their group out to the Sith, but the loyalties of people inhabiting a Sith world were not exactly the most steadfast and this small reassurance did little to bolster Carth’s confidence.

“Revan,” the Mandalorian said quietly from her elbow.

She breathed out slowly, and her eyes shuttered for a brief moment. Then, turning, she smiled at them almost apologetically.

“Shall we, then?” Jolee quipped. “Can’t put it off forever.”

Revan nodded, looking them each over briefly as if taking inventory. When she came to Carth, she broke eye contact almost instantly to respond to Jolee.

“Let’s go then.”

They had managed to find a woman in the cantina with the power to get them into the academy and Revan had been careful to make sure she only sounded just eager enough to gain the woman’s approval, but reserved enough to seem a genuine Jedi runaway. As a backup, Canderous had made sure to pick a dead Sith’s pocket for the token given out to those accepted to the school. Carth had been the only one visibly disturbed at the way no one had reacted to their fight with a group of Sith students in the hall. The most activity he had seen was afterwards with the Czerka office’s clerk had called for a team of cleaning droids to haul off the bodies.

Token in hand, Revan led them to the gates of the academy, past fallen bodies of Sith hopefuls, some with lolling tongues whitened and swollen from thirst. The lone guard greeted them stiffly, clearly emboldened by his position and surroundings. Jolee’s performance as a senile manservant got the rest of their little group through the door, though Carth was curious how Sith could be so immune to the effects of sarcasm.

What awaited them on the inside was nothing less than evil. It pervaded every stone and column, was curling about them in the very air they breathed and snapped between each person like electricity. The master of the place set a chill running down Carth’s spine to rest like a lead weight in the pit of his stomach. Uthar Wynn moved like a serpent, weaving his way about the assembled group of students, stoking the fire of their enthusiastic contempt.

And before Revan he hissed softly, edging up to her as she stared him down with challenging eyes. The barest thread of confidence and security Carth could find in the whole ceremony of initiation was that while this twisted man snapped his teeth in an impressive show of strength and cruelty, what Uthar took for a promising student was one who had been at the very top of his food chain. But that they were now in a snake pit was all too abundantly clear.

Assigned a room, the other students sidled off while Revan waited, still in place, eyes tracking the movements of each passerby. It was only when Uthar ordered her away, visibly unsettled by her continued presence, that Revan turned to find her bunk.

That Revan located her “room” without instructions or directions unnerved Carth. That they seemed to share space with Yuthura, the Twi’lek woman who they had met in the cantina, only compounded Carth’s anxiety.

They stayed put in their bunk for two days, so far as Carth could tell. Revan and Jolee spent most of that time meditating, while the Mandalorian and HK-47 frequently ventured out into Dreshdae for food and to check in on those left on the Hawk. Carth was left to his panic.

The first night, he could not sleep and instead stayed perched against a wall, cleaning and priming his blaster in nervous agitation. After a few hours of watching this, Canderous had volunteered his repeating blaster for Carth’s attentions while the bigger man slept, which at least allowed Carth a new challenge.

Revan herself did not rest. She meditated for hours and hours, only stopping to eat. She communicated little, only giving orders and relaying messages for Juhani. While Jolee and Canderous were able to sleep for hours on the floor, undisturbed by the occasional scream or the whine of lightsabers and blaster fire, Carth sat up awake, watching Revan breath slowly in and out from across the room.

On the third day, they sat in a half circle facing the entrance to their little hole in the lair of Sith eating what provisions Canderous had been able to sneak past the guard at the entrance of the Academy. When she had finished her portion of the meager meal, she did not return to her place by the bed but sat waiting for Jolee consume the last few bites of his rations.

“HK,” she said softly, voice a little hoarse from disuse.

“Yes, master?”

“You stay here at all times. If anyone other than our group here enters…shoot them.”

If it were possible for a machine to perk up, HK-47 certainly did.

“Yes, master! Most readily!”

Revan smiled crookedly at her assassin droid’s exuberance, but turned her attention to the three men.

“The only way we’re going to find what we came for is if we play along. That may mean we walk apart from what seems right, but if we’re going to get at that excavation site, we’re going to need clearance to go there. I’d prefer to find this needle with as little blaster fire as we can manage, but I make no promises that this won’t get messy. Everyone watch what you say. From here on out, we’re going to be watched at all times. Don’t instigate anything, but don’t be squeamish about defending yourself either. We’re dealing with Sith here. Death means next to nothing in this place.”

She met Carth’s eyes with a firm, determined gaze for the first time in weeks.

“We will look for Dustil, but our first priority is the map. And your first priority is to the mission. Do not wander off looking for him on your own. Do you understand?”

Anger came upon him in a warm tide, but before he could lash out at Revan, a hand touched his knee. Looking up, Carth met the old Jedi’s eyes.

“Don’t let the place get to you. She’s right. You wander off by yourself and you run the risk of getting us all killed.”

A tense moment passed before he met Revan’s eyes again.

“Alright. I’ll play along, but we had better find him.”

Revan nodded sadly.

“If he can be found, then I have no doubt we will cross paths with him before long.”