The Tyranny of the Jedi (Alt KotOR Saga): Cee's Story

[Liliedhe]

"No, it would not. At least darkness can be fought. But when you are dead inside, you can't even decide to fight... You will just function."

She stands up somewhat shakily and leans against the wall.

"Power like that of the Sith always turns on itself. But it can take a very long time..."

[Ascension]

"Then we shall wait, and hope they consume themselves quickly," Bastila suggests, "Not that we shall wait idly... Even without Vaklu's aid we have sufficient resources to harass Revan's forces and to stir up discontent within the Republic."

[Liliedhe]

Cee nods, color slowly returning to her face. Then, as her gaze strays to Carth, she frowns. "Maybe we still can warn Merrel and Vasto... What about contacting their ship through technical means?"

[Ascension]

"They're in hyperspace. We have a hypertransceiver, but to communicate with them, we would still have to be near where they entered hyperspace... at least within the same system. And I don't imagine we would be popular in the vicinity of Onderon right now. Still, we could try it..."

[Liliedhe]

"I suppose it might be less risky than trying to head them off to Malachor V. But this isn't my ship or my choice". The old woman shrugs.

[Ascension]

"Well, we wouldn't have to stay in the system long... just long enough for a quick transmission. We'll try it."

The Bad Idea drops out of hyperspace while Rhett and Carth plot a new course for Onderon.

"We'll only be able to send the message. The delay on the reply will be longer than I'm willing to linger in the system. You'd better go ahead and decide what to say in advance. We've got to make this one transmission count."

[Liliedhe]

"All right."

Cee tries to remember what she saw about the ship and who was onboard (as in, how many people are the crew, did the Ambassador have aides and so on? Who was there except the other prisoners from Serroco and Vasto?)

[Ascension]

Your shuttle was on a different landing pad. You never actually saw the others' ship. It is, however, safe to assume that there are other crew members and that the rest of the crew would be made up of men loyal to Vaklu... but probably not men entrusted with a full understanding of his plan.

[Liliedhe]

She thinks about it...

How can she warn them, without the information ending up in the wrong hands? Gnawing her lip, she walks up and down the corridor...

[Ascension]

Eventually the haphazardly modified shuttle reaches its destination: a spot lying just outside the gravity well of Onderon, a spot from which the diplomatic mission to the Sith set out on its journey to Malachor V.

The shuttle's arrival has not gone unnoticed... Vaklu's space forces have been on high alert since the Shan Fleet's sudden departure. Vaklu fears that the fleet simply pretended to defect from Revan's forces, and was merely performing a reconnaissance mission for the Republic... a mission which is now complete. In his mind, any new arrival to the system may be the first ship of a full-scale armada come to "cleanse" Onderon once and for all.

"We've got incoming... Here! I hope you've figured out what to say to your friends, 'cause we're gonna have to make this quick!" Carth shouts, tossing Cee a comm headset.

"We've still got the fleet's course to Kashyyyk in our computers," Rhett reminds, "and we're outside of Onderon's gravity well here. We can jump to them as soon as she's done transmitting."

[Liliedhe]

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I'll try my best, but I'm probably not so good at subterfuge and Codes Jedi might understand but others don't - Cee isn't one^^, her insider infos are very limited^^

"Send the following", she asks Carth, "To Captain Kolin: There are additional elements to this mission you don't know yet. Please inform the Jedi Merrel and Vasto, that the Exar Kun's teacher is involved and they might be in for an enlightening experience... Also, the Mandalore's gift will not arrive, so reception might not be as favourable as you think, warns the old witch."

She hopes very much that Kolin will feel at least enough loyalty to his fellows, that he will relay the message...

[Ascension]

"Let's blow this joint!"

As soon as the message is sent, the Bad Idea jumps back to Kashyyyk and the fleet waiting there.

En route, Bastila explains her plans for the near future.

"Revan only recently started jailing fellow Jedi. When he first became head of the Council he did not have the power to do so, and even if he had, the rest of the Council still had enough influence to have him removed from power at that time. Instead he had his enemies transferred to menial positions where they were supposed to be harmless, Service Corps jobs mostly. The worst offenders were enlisted in the Agricultural Corps. I say all that to say this: We will not be able to carry out a war against Revan alone. I think we should attempt to recruit some of the dissident AgriCorps Jedi to our cause. They should not be hard to convince, the only matter is extracting them from their research facilities. Revan is no fool, he knows how many of them hate him, they will be guarded."

Spoiler

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Given Exar Kun's "Jedi archaeologist" cover story, I think I have reason to believe that the Jedi Service Corps existed in some form even as far back as the Old Republic.

[Liliedhe]

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Sure it did. The reason the Exile goes to Telos from Peragus is because Kreia thinks that there might still be Agricorps Jedi alive there. She is wrong of course.

The old woman frowns. "That sounds like a reasonable idea, since an Alliance with the Mandalorians and the Sith proved to be impossible."

An ironic smile dances over her haggard features. "If somebody told me that a few days ago what I would be doing now, I would have done myself injury laughing..."

[Ascension]

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I completely forgot about that. Jeeze. Might have to go back and play the games again... ^^ I always kind of wanted to try an armored Sith build, and I never got around to it... might be fun.

"These are indeed strange times," Atris agrees, "full of occurrences one would once have easily thought laughable."

[Liliedhe]

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My first Exile went armored to the end, a Guardian/Weaponmaster... She got horribly trounced by Kreia, since I forgot ever build up defenses against Force Powers and made Kreia quite invincible^^. Exar Kun's armor rocks, though. And it looks nice. ^^

"Yes, they are."

Still smiling ironically, Cee finally sits down. Hard. "I'm getting too old for this stuff", she remarks.

[Ascension]

"The old Jedi Masters would say something pithy about the power of the Force overcoming the disadvantages of age. These days, though, old Jedi are becoming an endangered species. Blind acceptance of Revan's creed requires enough youthful idealism to abandon one's common sense."

[Liliedhe]

"In that case, I would like to ask them for their tricks, really." She touches her aching back.

"But yes, I agree with you. The things one does in youth because of the belief to be invincible, or not bound by the consequences the older generations experienced..."

[Ascension]

Your ship soon reaches Kashyyyk again, where the fleet still patiently waits for you. The news of their leader's rescue boosts their spirits greatly.

((Prepare to return to the Mandalorian thread when they reach the Shan Fleet. Then everyone will return to the main thread whenever the "diplomats" find the rest of you again.))

[Ascension]

((And contact has been made with the Mandalorians. Please head over to the other thread now.))

[Liliedhe]

"Yes, it is. In fact, that is why we called you... What do you know about Force Illusions? It is something Aleema Keto and my... former friends where quite famous for. It was never my own specialty, though I can create them, too."

The old woman looks at Atris with a speculative light in her eyes.

[Ascension]

"Yes, I am familiar with what the Ketos could accomplish with illusions... Do you think it is worthwhile to investigate the Krath's power? Could we replicate their feats... phantom fleets and the like? Do not say yes unless you truly think we could," Atris replies. Though a certain weariness still hangs on her, her expression is neutral, betraying no hint of her thoughts.

[Liliedhe]

"Yes, I believe it would be a viable solution. The basics, even I can teach, and if I had access to the Ketos' library the advanced abilities should be possible to reconstruct", Cee answers with quiet confidence.

"You don't happen to know where those materials got to after our defeat?"