Obtainer of Rare Antiquities
Not sure if I can put this here, but this is a very rough first draft of the first section of a post-KOTOR 2 fanfic I've been working on. It's a very incomplete idea, but just thought I'd throw it here, since I'm sure there's some KOTOR fans here. (This is a 'non-canon' version featuring a male Exile and female Revan.)
On the farthest reaches of the Outer Rim, past any trace of known civilization, the Ebon Hawk drifted. No planets were near, nor were they close. The vast blackness of space, riddled with the white dots of stars millions of light years away, was the ship’s only backdrop.
Inside were only 3 passengers. 2 droids and one human male. None of them uttered a word, though all 3 were bunched closely together near the central computer of the ship. The man was seated, legs crossed, eyes shut. In deep meditation. The 2 droids - one HK and one T3 - stood staring at the holo appearing above the communicator. An image all 3 knew quite well. It was a still of an armored humanoid, standing tall, both hands behind their back. A dark cape flowed across their back, folded as if it were flying in the wind. And a mask of Mandalorian design covered their features.
Suddenly, in the silence, the man opened his eyes. His mouth, surrounded by a wooly brown beard, scrunched tightly. “Play it again.”
The rusty HK droid made a buzz akin to a sound of vexation. “Query: What is it you are hoping to find, Master?”
The man shrugged, perking his head up to look at the screen. “I’m not sure. A hint, maybe. Some kind of lead.”
The droid turned his head to face the seated human, as if to offer a rejoinder, but slowly turned back to the computer and pressed a glowing button on its interface. A crackle filled the air, the still holoimage becoming a full video. Though the figure remained perfectly still, their cape flowed gracefully, whirling every which way. The voice of a woman rang out through the video, quivering as she spoke.
“This transmission is for Admiral Carth Onasi. Carth, I hope this message finds you well. I won’t be able to give you any further updates on my progress. But I thought…well, I thought you might have maybe wanted a message like this. Something to keep hold of. I know you must hate me right now. I’d have felt the same if you went zipping away on some suicide mission across the galaxy. But…that’s what we do, isn’t it? From one adventure to the next.”
Slowly, her hands moved up to her mask, and she pried it off, revealing a frowning woman, a tear streaming down her cheek.
“I’m…I’m doing what I have to, Carth. I’m doing my duty. I wanted more than anything to stay. To build a home. To build a life. To finally settle down, after all the war, all the death. But I know I couldn’t have.”
The figure’s head drooped down, revealing the top of her hair, only slightly grown-in from a buzz.
“All of those deaths, all of that destruction. It’s all on my hands. It’s all me. For so long, it didn’t feel like me. It was easy to hide from that past, to pretend it was all lost to time and memory. But I can’t hide anymore. And I can’t live with myself until I fix it. Once and for all.”
Her head slowly raised, and she was barely able to force a smile. “Either I’ll be back, or I won’t. If I come back, I’ll come back strong. For you. For Dustil. If not, I’ll have done all I could. And I hope that will mean something.”
The woman raised her helmet back to the top of the head, and looked forward. She stiffened her lips, her frown fading into a forced look of determination. Then, slowly, she put the helmet back on.
“Goodbye, Carth. I love you.”
The video cut off abruptly, the blue figure blipping out, leaving the ship in silence once more.
On the farthest reaches of the Outer Rim, past any trace of known civilization, the Ebon Hawk drifted. No planets were near, nor were they close. The vast blackness of space, riddled with the white dots of stars millions of light years away, was the ship’s only backdrop.
Inside were only 3 passengers. 2 droids and one human male. None of them uttered a word, though all 3 were bunched closely together near the central computer of the ship. The man was seated, legs crossed, eyes shut. In deep meditation. The 2 droids - one HK and one T3 - stood staring at the holo appearing above the communicator. An image all 3 knew quite well. It was a still of an armored humanoid, standing tall, both hands behind their back. A dark cape flowed across their back, folded as if it were flying in the wind. And a mask of Mandalorian design covered their features.
Suddenly, in the silence, the man opened his eyes. His mouth, surrounded by a wooly brown beard, scrunched tightly. “Play it again.”
The rusty HK droid made a buzz akin to a sound of vexation. “Query: What is it you are hoping to find, Master?”
The man shrugged, perking his head up to look at the screen. “I’m not sure. A hint, maybe. Some kind of lead.”
The droid turned his head to face the seated human, as if to offer a rejoinder, but slowly turned back to the computer and pressed a glowing button on its interface. A crackle filled the air, the still holoimage becoming a full video. Though the figure remained perfectly still, their cape flowed gracefully, whirling every which way. The voice of a woman rang out through the video, quivering as she spoke.
“This transmission is for Admiral Carth Onasi. Carth, I hope this message finds you well. I won’t be able to give you any further updates on my progress. But I thought…well, I thought you might have maybe wanted a message like this. Something to keep hold of. I know you must hate me right now. I’d have felt the same if you went zipping away on some suicide mission across the galaxy. But…that’s what we do, isn’t it? From one adventure to the next.”
Slowly, her hands moved up to her mask, and she pried it off, revealing a frowning woman, a tear streaming down her cheek.
“I’m…I’m doing what I have to, Carth. I’m doing my duty. I wanted more than anything to stay. To build a home. To build a life. To finally settle down, after all the war, all the death. But I know I couldn’t have.”
The figure’s head drooped down, revealing the top of her hair, only slightly grown-in from a buzz.
“All of those deaths, all of that destruction. It’s all on my hands. It’s all me. For so long, it didn’t feel like me. It was easy to hide from that past, to pretend it was all lost to time and memory. But I can’t hide anymore. And I can’t live with myself until I fix it. Once and for all.”
Her head slowly raised, and she was barely able to force a smile. “Either I’ll be back, or I won’t. If I come back, I’ll come back strong. For you. For Dustil. If not, I’ll have done all I could. And I hope that will mean something.”
The woman raised her helmet back to the top of the head, and looked forward. She stiffened her lips, her frown fading into a forced look of determination. Then, slowly, she put the helmet back on.
“Goodbye, Carth. I love you.”
The video cut off abruptly, the blue figure blipping out, leaving the ship in silence once more.