But without warning, the old woman, who seemed dead, got up from the bed and walked toward him, her hood covering her eyes.
"Are you finding what you're looking for among the dead?" the gray-haired woman asked Metra simply, in a neutral, calm tone.
"They thought you were dead, and so did I," the redhead said uncertainly.
"Close to death, yes, more than I would like. You are surrounded by the smell of a Kolto tank. How do you feel?" the Jedi master asked doubtfully.
"A little disoriented and I don't remember much. Who was I? Was it your voice I heard in the tank?" she asked her newly met gray-haired acquaintance.
"Yes, I expected that. I slept here too long and couldn't wake up. I may have probed unconsciously, and your mind may have been receptive to my powers, or you may be trained for such things," the white-haired woman said confidently.
"So you can reach into minds and fake death. Who are you?" asked the brown-haired woman with many doubts and questions in her mind.
"I am Kreia, your rescuer, just as you are mine. Tell me, do you remember what happened?" The old woman introduced herself and asked with a slight friendly smile.
"According to the records I found in the nursing console, your genetic tests say you are Kreia, Revan's teacher who disappeared. Now I can confirm it, so you must have those kinds of powers. The last thing I remember is being aboard a Republic ship called the Herald. What happened?" The young Jedi declared her amnesia, bewildered and with a slight headache from not knowing her past.
"My reputation precedes me. Later, I will reveal more details about who I am and why your ship was attacked. You were the only survivor, no doubt thanks to your Jedi training," the robed woman said confidently to her new acquaintance.
"How do you know I was a Jedi? I don't remember that," asked the amnesiac woman, who had just awakened and was still unsure of who she was.
"Your posture, your gait tell me that you are a Jedi, although you seem to be suffering, as if you were carrying a heavy burden," said the gray-haired woman as she sat down on a bed.
"Let's leave the past behind. Part of me feels like I don't want to know how I ended up here, because I might not like the answer. Let's focus on the present. What is this place?" asked the supposed Jedi with no memory, doubtfully.
"I don't know. I've been out of the loop while I was asleep. A review of the surroundings may give us some answers." The ship we arrived in, the so-called Ebony Falcon, must still be here. We should retrieve it and leave," Kreia said with equal uncertainty and doubt.
"Can you explain why you're in such a hurry?" the woman with no memory asked her new acquaintance.
"They've already attacked us once, and I don't think our pursuers will give up easily. Without transportation, weapons, or information, we'll be easy prey," the old woman explained with some concern.
"Are you sure there's nothing else you can tell me about this place?" Metra asked persuasively as she crossed her arms.
"Even while asleep, I felt a great uneasiness in this place. I had strange visions, minds tinged with fear. Now everything is terribly quiet. One last warning: I would quickly find out everything I could about this place. I fear we must leave as we came," Revan's teacher said uncertainly.
"We'll see. There must be some survivors around here who can help us and guide us out of here, out of the devastating events I saw in the records of the mining station where we are," Surik said, somewhat hopeful of finding someone who could take them to the Ebony Falcon.
"You might want to expand your search to clothing, even if it's just to make a new impression," the hooded woman joked amiably with a slight smile.
"The patients in the infirmary were killed by a lethal dose of sedatives, according to the records I saw on the infirmary console. Do you have any idea how it happened?" Surik asked her new acquaintance doubtfully.
"I don't know. Why did they spare you?" She wondered how her new acquaintance and potential ally had survived.
"They didn't. I mean, according to the records I saw, they gave sedatives to everyone without exception, but I survived the dose," the brown-haired woman clarified, placing a hand on her chin as she thought.
"Indeed, a Jedi trance would protect you from such poisons. In fact, the sedatives may have been intended to keep you unconscious for a while, but they would be lethal to someone unfamiliar with such techniques. How interesting," said the gray-haired woman, pondering the situation.
"I'll be back soon to make sure you're okay," the protective chestnut-haired woman assured her as she walked through the gate.
"I'll leave you to explore the place. I'll stay here and try to meditate," confirmed the Jedi master as she sat on the floor in the pose she said she was going to do, with her legs crossed and her knees tucked in.
Meetra went on her own to the stuck gate that she couldn't hack and armed herself with the plasma torch. She broke the lock on the mechanism so she could get through. She could see a small room and broken objects or mechanical ruins of devices, some round vents, two somewhat mutilated corpses, and a droid that appeared to have been dismantled in a less than peaceful manner. She checked the bodies and found a vidcutter on one, as well as a backpack on another, and on the automaton she found a droid interface for terminals. She put away the torch and the interface, armed herself with the short-pointing weapon, and noticed an armored gate on her left that she couldn't open and a gate on her right that she could open.
To his surprise, he found a similar room with a hatch at the back, but in this one he encountered two unfriendly spider-like droids that were operational. Surik did not know how, but he managed to narrowly dodge the blasters that grazed him and approached with great speed and agility, managing to slash one and cut off its weapons, then slashing its central body, deactivating it.
She picked up the deactivated body and used it as a shield to protect herself from the attacks of the second droid. She managed to throw the automaton's body at her enemy, causing the droid to try to throw off the dead weight, and in doing so, the amnesiac Jedi managed to impale its head with her weapon, killing it.
The girl gasped a little. She didn't know how she had done it, but she had.
"I must definitely be a Jedi, but it's hard to remember who I am," she complained as she leaned back a little while trying to calm down.
She gathered the things the robots had and the bodies that were also there. She only found a mining blaster on one droid and continued to move forward cautiously, worried about what she might find in this place. She opened the hatch and saw more bodies, ruins, a room similar to the others, also with a hatch, as well as enemy droids. With her sword, she managed to block their attacks.
"This feels familiar, as if I've done it before. I must focus on surviving," she declared determinedly, slashing one droid in the head with her blade and then the other, finishing them both off.
"It's getting easier," she said to herself as she opened the hatch at the back of the room.
She could see a room similar to the others, but there were no hostiles, only inert organic and mechanical bodies on the floor. She noticed two hatches: one in front and one to her left. She first checked the bodies and found parts in a broken droid that would be useful later.
"I have to get money somehow, and that will be by taking items from my fallen enemies. It's not my fault they want to kill me." She explained to herself as she went to the door on the left and tried to hack it, but it didn't work.
In her mind, Meetra visualized Kreia saying.
"This is the exit, but it's sealed. How strange! In my visions, it was open," the old woman questioned herself.
"Kreia?" said the gray-haired woman, somewhat puzzled.
Meetra returned to her current situation.
"I must find a way to open this hatch, maybe I can open it at a nearby terminal," Surik assured herself as she continued on her way.
She went to the gate at the back, opened it, and saw a small room with a gate on the left, a security terminal table on the right, very close to the center, lockers, corpses, and some benches.
She checked the bodies and lockers and found a security opener tip, which she kept, two ion grenades, and other basic useful items, which she put in her backpack.
She accessed the security terminal, which displayed the following message.
Paragus security check
Emergency lockdown.
Main console commands.
The interaction options were:
Check security logs.
Access remote camera controls.
He selected the first option.
Where it was shown that the records on the table were damaged and access was restricted.
He accessed the Paragus security orientation hologram
which showed a male human officer with white skin, short hair, and a simple but elegant uniform.
- Is the recording on? If so, Log 233-09 from Maxir Tillo, chief guard and security officer at the Peragus II mining station, 5 years after the destruction of the Star Forge, stardate 21102 DFR, month 02, day 12, at 08:00 AM, location Peragus II in the Peragus system, then pay attention, especially you, Coorta, listen to why I am not willing to repeat this warning. The officer warned in a somewhat angry tone.
"The next idiot who tries to smuggle a blaster or, worse still, any kind of military fragmentation weapon into this facility under my charge will be thrown out the airlock for a walk. The man sarcastically threatened the others for their behavior.
"And you wonder why, boss? What's wrong with that? You studied for years, but it seems you've forgotten that Peragus fuel is highly explosive at high temperatures. That's what devastated and literally blew up almost half of the planet Peragus II, resulting in this asteroid field," the officer explained, very annoyed and somewhat aggressive.
"So if I find anyone with anything other than a sonic charge or a mining laser, they can forget about their contract, security out, end of recording," warned the sarcastic, aggressive, and annoyed officer as the holographic recording ended.
"Looks like someone wasn't in a very good mood," Surik commented with a slight smile. Being so tense about the situation, that recording gave her a little joy and peace of mind.
She went back to the records to see what else she could find.
I'm looking for the accident log.
The same security officer appeared.
"Record 233-10 from Maxir Tillo, chief guard and security officer at the Peragus II mining station, five years after the destruction of the Star Forge, stardate 21102 DFR, month 02, day 12, at 16:07 PM. And according to one of the miners, it was because one of the sonic charges was activated prematurely, and as before, it was the fault of a mining droid. The three idiots were so close together to the charge that it was like a grenade, their bones turned to dust. The white-skinned man explained the incident while thinking about how it could have happened.
"The explosion destroyed the internal components of the droid that caused it, so we can't even investigate what happened," the man said sadly, with uncertainty in his voice.
"Log 233-10 at 5:10 p.m., same location and same date as the previous entry. I don't like what's happening here at all. Since the Ebony Falcon arrived, we now know that it was Revan's freighter, the survivor Meetra Surik is a follower of his, and the body is that of Kreia, who was Revan's teacher. Thanks to genetic records, we both realized that. I don't understand so much awareness, but it doesn't matter. Things are getting worse. It's not just Coorta and his people, or the fights. Someone destroyed the communications antennas and their spare parts, as well as ships in this star system. We don't know who was responsible. It seems that someone doesn't want us to leave here. Our only hope is to repair it. Now the droids have gone crazy. If we don't find out what or who caused this, by the time the next freighter from Telos arrives, if it arrives at the facility, and if it doesn't arrive, it will be space dust. We need to repair the Ebony Falcon quickly to call for help. The officer said with great uncertainty, with some desperation, with great concern.
She decided to access the maintenance records of the mining droids.
Where the same grumpy security officer from before appeared.
Record 233-11 of Maxir Tillo, chief guard and security officer of the Peragus II mining station, 5 years after the destruction of the Star Forge, date of stardate 21102 DFR, month 02 and day 13 at 18:10 PM, speaking with chief engineer, recording begins, You're in maintenance, right? Then maybe you can tell me what's going on with those droids. The chief asked somewhat annoyed, and then the hologram of the engineer he was talking to was shown, wearing protective goggles on his forehead, with copper-colored hair, as well as his uniform, and a nervous look.
"I don't know, sir, it's as if their behavioral nuclei are undergoing binary decomposition, but I can't find the source. This shouldn't be happening," replied the subordinate somewhat nervously to the security officer, who appeared to be his boss.
"Well, I feel better now. If it's not happening, according to you, then the next time we almost have a rupture in the ventilation tunnels, I'll close my eyes and tell myself it's just my imagination. You'd better give me some answers. I want to know how much damage these droids can cause if they start drilling into us instead of the asteroid." The security officer replied sarcastically to the nervous subordinate in front of him.
"Sir, these droids are not combat models. Their mining lasers are less accurate than blasters. I doubt they could even hit one of us," explained the nervous man with glasses, somewhat intimidated by his boss's bad mood.
"Are you blind? What about the miners in the infirmary? This is sabotage, and it started right after the commander said we weren't going to sell the Jedi to the exchange, so I want you to find out how this sabotage happened, find out who is trying to pave the way to get the Jedi out of the facility, and stop them." The black-haired man shouted furiously, very angry.
"In the meantime, check that security is armed with all the iconic and sonic charges you can find. If those droids start chasing us, I'm going to need more than mining lasers to take them down. Understood?" ordered the security officer, very irritated.
"Yes, sir, chief maintenance control engineer out." The copper-haired man said goodbye with a nervous look on his face, cutting off the recording.
He accessed the administration console log.
The same security officer appeared.
- Log 233-11 from Maxir Tillo, chief guard and security officer of the Peragus II mining station, 5 years after the destruction of the Star Forge, stardate 21102 DFR, month 02, day 14, at 1:44 p.m. I have installed an override switch to shut down any of the droids on this level, in case I am isolated from the administration console. For added security, I have linked that switch to the detention cell circuits, which will ensure that it can only be opened if all the droids on the level are disconnected. I assure you that the officer is now calmer with things more under control.
I doubt that Coorta or his people have the ability to do something like this, but being in this floating minefield, I'm not going to take any chances. Whoever is responsible won't be able to get the droids to rescue them when I lock them up. Nothing can get through that door. They'll be trapped. The grumpy one confirmed, now more confident that he was in control, as he finished the search.
- Finally, it seems that I am in control of the situation, or at least, in part, I am succeeding. Let's see how things are going, I'll keep moving forward. Metraa wondered, seeing how the officer here seemed calmer.
Then he saw the inventory log for the security warehouse.
- Record 233-11 by Maxir Tillo, chief guard and security officer at the Peragus II mining station, five years after the destruction of the starforge, stardate 21102 DFR, month 02, day 14, at 17:13 PM. The Ebony Falcon is almost ready for takeoff. Among other things, I have locked the cloaking field generator inside one of the lockers in the security warehouse. If I'm not mistaken, the interface field should affect the droids' sensors. I just have to put on the belt and use my cloaking ability. As long as I don't get too close to the droids, they won't detect me. The white-skinned man explains the situation.
"If any of the droids start to 'malfunction,' the belt will give me enough time to reach the safety switch I placed on the communications room console. I'd rather shut them down than destroy them. I want to find out how they were sabotaged. Maybe I can even turn them against the saboteur." The officer explained the countermeasures as he finished the search.
Surik accessed the terminal's camera controls.
She saw the one in the main office and saw herself. She saw the one in the security warehouse and saw a room with a hatch and hostile droids, as well as corpses. She saw the communications room and could see three chairs, each with a computer. She saw a semi-transparent screen, as well as other controls, and a large window behind the screen that looked out into outer space.
He continued looking at more cameras and saw the cell camera, where there was a room with round cells on the floor and ceiling connected by a rectangle of components that was facing upwards. One of the cells had its field active, and the gate was closed with an energy barrier. then he saw the camera of the emergency hatch of the mine tunnels and could see the same hatch he had seen before.
He left the terminal and went straight to the closed gate, opened it, and then saw another one in a small hallway before opening the next one.
Kreia spoke to him through the Force.
"Be careful, there is a lot of energy in the other room, but it does not come from anything alive." He informed the brown-haired woman as she did not open the door.
"Kreia, why are you talking to me through the Force?"
"You can't feel them. Expand your senses, ignore what your eyes see, ignore what you see, and expand your perceptions. Remember, you have the Force, just like me," the old woman kindly asked Surik through her mind.
"Ah, you can feel them. The droids can't sense them, but you can feel the small oscillations of energy, sending out echoes. Meditate for a moment on the ground and feel the Force flowing through you," the gray-haired woman asked her acquaintance, whom she treated as her apprentice.
Meetra obeyed and sat on the ground meditating, feeling that power that for some reason she now remembers flowing through her. She could remember the Jedi civil war between Revan and Malak, who fought each other for power after having fought against the Mandalorian Empire that wanted to destroy the Galactic Republic.
"What is this I feel in my mind and body? Is this what it feels like to be a Jedi?" the amnesiac Jedi asked herself, full of questions.
Then she thought about the Jedi civil war
- What happened to Revan and Malak? They wanted to save the galaxy from the Mandalorians, only to turn to the dark side. I guess a Jedi who goes to war will be tempted by darkness. Their role is to seek peace, not war, but hey, they just wanted to save the Republic. The Jedi reflected somewhat sadly on how two heroes became Siths.
Meetra stood up, opened the door, and saw the hostiles mentioned earlier by Kreia with swords in hand. She noticed chests that she could loot later, as well as another hatch.
The Jedi slashed at the droids, of which there were about three, while at the same time dodging their attacks from side to side. She felt faster and stronger than before as her master spoke to her.
"Ah, you've heard it. It's faint, but it's there," the hooded woman assured her student.
"What's happening?" the brown-haired girl asked herself, doubts in her mind.
"What you feel is the Force. It hasn't been long enough for you to have forgotten it," the old woman assured Surik confidently.
"I don't know, but now I remember that this isn't when I'm supposed to have had it, but I don't remember when I felt it. I feel like it comes from far away." The amnesiac hesitated uncertainly as she thought about this power.
"Don't stray from it. Listen to it. Feel how it echoes inside you," the hooded woman asked her disciple affectionately.
- Come on, I'll guide you along the familiar paths. It will be essential if we want to survive and get out of this place. Revan's teacher explained as she stopped talking to her new apprentice's mind.
Then she attacked with the tip of her weapon and deactivated one, jumped with her legs over another and stabbed it in the center with her sword, then finally launched a downward slash at another, deactivating the last one.
She could feel how she was able to remember more of her powers; she could affect the minds of her opponents to have more power over their decisions and attitudes.
Then the novice Jedi opened the chests with her hacking skills. In them, she found basic materials, ion grenades, an invisibility generator belt, and medpacs.
The Jedi exited through the hatch and saw a corridor where she saw another one. She opened it and saw a large room with corridors, hatches, as well as computer screens, corridors, and more hostile droids. She destroyed it with a direct slash to its head.
As she advanced down the nearby corridor, which was curved and ascending, to see what she could find, she only found a closed hatch, so she retraced her steps to the large hall, where she turned left and destroyed another one with a sword stroke.
Surik decided to clear the area of hostiles, destroying all the droids scattered around the site. She then checked the containers and found only medpacs. She could see that this was where the communications room was, seeing the same consoles and screens as those seen on the security cameras.
Meetra went down another corridor similar to the one she'd been in before, ending up in a room similar to those near the infirmary. She saw more enemies to defeat, as well as the occasional item to steal from a container. She retraced her steps toward the great hall.
Just as she could see with the force that behind a magnetic door was the cell of the boy she saw, Kreia spoke to her student's mind.
"Ah, behind that door there's still someone alive. Be careful; his thoughts are hard to read, but you have nothing to worry about, and he could be useful to us," the old woman explained confidently.
"I suppose I should go to the consoles to open the magnetized hatch," Surik concluded in his mind, to see if the solution lay there.
"The End"