Private Fading Neons

[Kinoan]

Nar Shaddaa
Cato Harth
​

Sirens wailed in the distance as the Imperial Knight stood upon the rooftop.

Most of the other Knights were back on Bastion, preparing for the upcoming fight on Tython. Some took the right path and were choosing to fight the Maw. Others chose to fight the Jedi. It was hard to believe that only a few years ago he shared the same title as them. But now, just saying that in Imperial space is a death sentence.

He was hear to release some physical, and mental, baggage. Ever since the death of his brother-in-arms Fisk, the Knight hasn’t been the same. Paranoid, worrisome, conflicted, and ashamed. There was nothing that he could have done to save him. The man knew he had to move on eventually, but the death still clung with him.

When he heard that one of Fisk’s original Jedi partners was operating on Nar Shaddaa, the man figured this would be the best opportunity to move on. The mental baggage would be freed and he could become the warrior he was destined to be. One holomessage later and the Knight found himself standing on the rooftop.

All that was left was to wait for the Jedi to arrive.

 

[Cato Harth]

Cato had learned at a young age that strange messages from unknown contacts were more often than not to be ignored. But this one wasn’t advertising single Zeltrons in his area, this one made specific mention of his past. A past he had not faced in some time.

The possibility of a trap immediately entered his mind; The Knight had done a fine job of pissing off local crime lords and gangbangers lately as is. Maybe he should have invested in the whole mask-wearing shtick sooner, if they’d already gotten access to his information. No matter, Cato was not one to back down from a challenge if it were so. And if it weren’t, then he’d want to hear what this was all about anyway.

---​

The contact was real, all right. Just where they’d said to meet. Cato crept up from the other side of the roof, only making his presence known with a clearing of the throat, “So… come here often?” He quipped, stopping some distance away from the man. The bottom half of Cato’s face was obscured by a dark mask, and his figure concealed by a long coat. Underneath, the hilt of a lightsaber shifted around in his grip. Can’t be too careful these days.

“It’s not every day I get a message from a secret admirer. So what’s this about, really?”

Kinoan​

 

[Kinoan]

Cato Harth
​

Spinning around, the Knight was greeted with a cloaked figure. Instinctively his hand shot down towards his golden lightsaber hilt. Grabbing the weapon in his right hand, the man ignited the blade, it’s golden hue only slightly illuminating the surrounding area.

The person’s cloak disguised their identity too much for the Knight to tell if it was the one he was searching for. Keeping the blade ignited, the man decided to ask some questions of his own.

“I am no secret admirer. My purpose here is to hopefully connect a piece of my past with the right puzzle, completing my part of this game.”

He shifted around on his legs. The figure across definitely had a presence in the force, that was for sure. Maybe this was his client.

“If you are the one they call Cato Harth, then I have something that you will be interested in.”

Cautiously, the Knight reach into his robe. Tucked away was a hilt from a great friend of his. One that was lost all too soon. Once pulled out of his robe, the Knight outstretched his hand toward the figure, hoping for some sort of confirmation.

 

[Cato Harth]

Cato picked up on the cue quickly, ignited his own saber almost in perfect sync with the opposite figure. Gold and silver light emanated from either side of the building, leaving only a sliver of perfect shadow between them. "Guess I should've invested a secret identity sooner," The sound of his own name was usually a bad sign here.

"I see a lotta types of folks around here. Imps? Not so much."

He took a step forward, and the light of their weapons intermingled. The mysterious stranger presented a second weapon, and Cato stepped forward again. He knew that design. A pregnant pause hung in the air.

"…Where did you get that?" Cato finally asked, a twinge of tension to his voice.

Kinoan​

 

[Kinoan]

Cato Harth
​

Under his mask, the man winced at the phrase “Imps”. While he did serve the New Imperial Order, they were slowly turning into something that he did approve of. Their original vision of eliminating all Sith from the galaxy was slowing starting to fade away. Now they were turning on the warrior Jedi they once called allies.

This was something that Kinoan did not stand for.

Listening to the cloaked figure, he could hear the slight crack in the otherwise carefree image they upheld. They have seen Fisk’s hilt before. Whether they fought alongside each other, or against, this hilt meant something to the person across the rooftop.

“This lightsaber belonged to a very good friend of mine. We fought valiantly together against the Sith, but unfortunately he did not survive the assault.”

Pausing, the Knight had to catch himself from letting his emotions slip. Regardless of if this was Cato or not, he had an image to uphold in this situation.

“Fisk had mention that he used to be apart of a Jedi collective. Your name was one of the few on his list of surviving members. Out of them, you so far have been the easiest to meet up with.”

Readjusting his stance slightly, the man stood more upright, yet the lightsaber still stayed ignited

“That is if you really are Cato Harth.”

 

[Cato Harth]

Cato pulled away the mask over his face, visibly mouthing the name as he tried to comprehend what this stranger was telling him.

Fisk.

"Fisk had mention that he used to be apart of a Jedi collective. Your name was one of the few on his list of surviving members. Out of them, you so far have been the easiest to meet up with."

“Ouch.” He couldn’t help but quip, even if the delivery was very monotone. Considering he was (probably) one of the few of the old knightwatch gang that were actively trying to keep their identity low-profile, it was an amusingly unfortunate bit of information to learn.

Should have invested in a mask sooner.

“...Yeah… that’s me…” Cato confirmed with a solemn sigh. And so their numbers continued to dwindle. A sad twist of fate for what he had once dreamt would be so much more.

“...How’d it happen?” The Knight had to know that much.

Kinoan​

 

[Kinoan]

Cato Harth
​

With the confirmation the cloaked figure truly being Cato Harth, the man deactivated his lightsaber. Once clipped onto his belt, the Knight began to gaze upon the weapon of his old friend.

“At the time, I was a Jedi serving under the Galactic Alliance. We were sent on yet another assault to aid in the destruction of The Sith Empire. Joining with the New Imperial Order, our sights were set on Ziost.”

“The Jedi and Imperial Knights grouped up, each spanning out to different battlefields across the planet. It was a warzone. I happened to link up with Fisk Kamer, one of the newer Imperial Knights. Our fighting styles were very similar, and we found that we complemented each other very well. It was the perfect fighting duo.”

Pausing for a few seconds, the Knight skilled at the memory. If only he had more time to truly get to know Fisk as the warrior he saw him as.

“Our battle group was sent to the far reaches of the planet. It was here that we found two foes named Laertia and Maple. They were powerful forces users, just like us. We both fought valiantly against them.”

He stood there, collecting his thought for a few moments, trying to bring back a dark memory that he locked away.

“A Sith battleship was highly damaged in the orbit around Ziost. Instead of leaving it there to burn, the Sith sent down every last price of firepower onto the the surfaces of the planet. One such weapon was in the form of a massive turbolaser beam. Fisk…Fisk used the force to push me far away from the blast. He took the impact that would have killed us both.”

A few tears fell beneath the man’s mask. The Sith took away the one person he called a friend, and he would never forgive them for that.

 

[Cato Harth]

Cato listened, straight-faced and frozen in place. He stayed that way for a few moments after Kinoan had finished, enough that it may have seemed like he hadn't even heard any of it. Finally, he nodded, chewing at his lip. "...Alright." He nodded again, now facing the stranger across from him.

His own saber deactivated, and the knight took a step forward. "Fisk was a good friend of mine, when we were both part of the Jedi. Served as part of a group of Knights, all trained together for years… We had some good times," Cato gave a little more detail to what the Imperial had already been told, swallowing the excess of his emotions. Some things just weren't meant to be, it felt. "I'm glad you got the chance to know him." He forced a smile, unable to disguise a sniffle as he spoke.

Every loss weighed heavy on Cato's heart. The fact that he was only just now learning about it only racked up his reactive sense of guilt.

Kinoan​

 

[Kinoan]

Cato Harth
​

The man winced at the Jedi’s words. It was painful to know that Fisk had such a good influence on others, yet could not longer be with them.

“Hopefully this could bring some closure to whatever demons still haunt you on this matter.”

He didn’t like to admit it, but he started to feel sympathy for the Jedi. All of his life he had been taught to me never sympathize for those that were your enemy. Yet now the galaxy is changing, with some Imperial Knights siding with the Jedi, and others not. Perhaps he was with the prior.

“I believe that you should have this.”

Extending out his hand, the Knight presented Fisk’s lightsaber to Cato.

“He was a Jedi from the beginning, so he should be honored that way. It would be what he wanted.”

Not only was he trying to honor Fisk in the traditional way, but he was trying to lift the guilt and burden off of his own shoulders as well. He needed to move on, from both his past with the Jedi, and present with the Imperials.

This was the only way he knew how.

 

[Cato Harth]

Cato blinked as the lightsaber was offered. His glance shot between the weapon and its bearer expectantly, before he seemed to accept Kinoan's interpretation. The hilt was gingerly taken and weighed in hand. He nodded, "I'll take good care of it."

The winds of change were sweeping through the galaxy. Cato could feel it even underneath all the muck of Nar Shaddaa. Some for the better, some worse. In general, he was hesitant toward change, but by now such things were long out of his control. Whatever the others had been through, whatever Fisk had been through, he was at least glad to know that there was someone who still bothered to look out for him.

"Thanks. For telling me. And I'm sorry."

Kinoan​