Cumulus
By daeana
Summary: This is my interpretation of Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, dealing with a female main character. Spoilers for the entire game ahead.
Disclaimer: I don't own any part of the Star Wars universe. In this story, the only thing I own is the main character, her wacky thoughts, and the dialogue and plotlines that are not straight out of the game.
I was rudely awakened by a loud crash. Sitting up in bed, I looked around to try to determine the source of the noise. The room shook violently.
My brain defogged as I woke up. Where was I? It was clear that I was on a ship, but what ship? From the size of my quarters, the second bed, and the fact that the only storage space I could see consisted of footlockers, I figured that I wasn't one of the higher ranking people on the ship, as they probably would not have to share quarters, especially quarters this small, and they may have real drawers. I noted the overturned table in the corner and decided that had been the source of the noise. Getting out of bed, I looked down and noticed that I apparently slept in my underwear and socks. I pulled my hair back into a ponytail as I headed towards the corner, debating whether I should fix the table or overturn everything else so nothing else would make any more noise.
The room shook again as the door whooshed open and a rather pale, panicked man ran through. "We've been ambushed by a Sith battle fleet! The Endar Spire is under attack! Hurry up - we don't have much time!"
Deducing that the Endar Spire was the rapidly disintegrating ship around me, I asked the next logical question. "Who are you?"
"I'm Trask Ulgo, ensign with the Republic Fleet. I'm your bunk mate here on the Endar Spire. We work opposite shifts; I guess that's why you haven't seen me before. Now hurry up, we have to find Bastila. We have to make sure she makes it off the ship alive!"
I absentmindedly pondered Republic Fleet regulations that stuck me with a male roommate, who, to be fair, either had been very recently assigned to this room or was the neatest man ever, while I formed my next question. "Who's Bastila?"
"Bastila's the commanding officer on the Endar Spire." He frowned, correcting himself almost as an afterthought. "Well, not an officer, really. But she's the one in charge of this mission." Getting back to business, he continued. "One of our primary duties is to guarantee her survival in the event of enemy attack. You swore an oath just like everyone else on this mission. Now it's time to make good on that oath." I didn't remember taking this oath, or really doing anything else ever, and wondered why he felt the need to point this out to me. "I heard what everyone's saying about you: you've explored the farthest reaches of the galaxy, you've visited planets I've never even heard of. People with your skills and abilities are hard to find; it's no wonder the Republic recruited you for this mission." Ah, so apparently I was very talented. "But now's the time to prove yourself. I know you're a scout and not a soldier, but Bastila needs all troops at her side during this attack."
Since I was apparently bound by an oath, it seemed logical that the best course of action was to cooperate. "Ok, let's go help Bastila."
Looking increasingly impatient, Trask shifted his weight between his feet. "So hurry up and grab your gear."
I decided that the footlocker closer to my bed would be the one with my gear, so I turned towards it and opened it. Inside were what I assumed were my preferred weapons, a blaster pistol and a short sword, a few medpacs, and clothing. Holding the clothing up, I grimaced. THIS was what I usually wore? I'd rather run around the ship naked.
Between the room shaking again and Trask's growing urgency, I decided I'd do just that. Getting dressed now would just be a waste of time anyway. Besides, running around mostly naked might distract any Sith who may have boarded. Shoving everything, including the clothing, messily into a backpack, I turned to him. "Ok."
He looked momentarily taken aback by my choice not to get dressed, but the room shook again and he immediately turned towards the door. "Okay, let's move out. We should stick together. Because of the attack this room is in lockdown, but don't worry, I've got the override codes." If the room was in lockdown, how did he get in? And how were we supposed to get to the escape pods if we were locked in during an attack? Who came up with that genius protocol? I was starting to hate my brain. Fortunately, Trask was able to open the door.
A voice suddenly came out of the device on my wrist, which I had previously assumed was a chronometer. "This is Carth Onasi. The Sith are threatening to overrun our position. We can't hold out long against their firepower. All hands to the bridge!"
Trask immediately explained things to me. "That was Carth contacting us on our portable communicators. He's one of the Republic's best pilots. He's seen more combat than the rest of the Endar Spire's crew put together. If he says things are bad, you better believe it. We have to get to the bridge to help defend Bastila!" The man was a walking tutorial.
I decided to mimic his impatience. "Let's move out." I headed down the hall.
He looked concerned, and pointed at the next door. "That door's locked, and I don't have the codes to open it."
Fascinating. How did he get in? I walked up to the door and looked at the locking mechanism. Without thinking, I reached out and picked the lock.
The door opened, allowing us to witness two Sith kill a Republic soldier. Trask was not amused. "These Sith must be the advance boarding party." He grabbed his blaster and started firing at them. "For the Republic!"
THAT was his battle cry? Great. He was also a walking propaganda machine. I found my blaster and started firing at them too. Fortunately, they had even worse aim than I did, probably due to their helmets, so it was a pretty easy fight.
Trask turned to me and continued his endless commentary. "I've got a feeling that won't be our last battle with the Sith."
I agreed. He was right. In the next room, we ran into two more Sith, with approximately the same amount of fighting ability as the first two. Noting a footlocker in the room, I headed immediately towards it. I found a combat suit and more swords in it. I sneaked a glance at Trask. He was rummaging through the backpacks on the Sith corpses, and looked rather busy. I looked back at the combat suit I was holding, and considered putting it on. Despite the continuous explosions on the ship, life support systems were beginning to fail, and the ship was starting to get cold. Slithering into the combat suit, I admired its adherence to my body.
I turned around to find Trask looking at me in surprise. Apparently he had expected me to continue being mostly naked. In the next corridor, I counted four Sith fighting three Republic soldiers. Well, two Republic soldiers, I amended, as one fell over. One of the Sith ran up to the two remaining soldiers and pulled a vibroblade. As I pointed my blaster at the Sith and prepared to fire, I was surprised to see Trask put a hand over mine and shake his head. I looked at him in confusion. He tilted his head and indicated that I should just wait and watch. Which ended up being a good decision, as the Sith decided to lob a grenade at the Republic soldiers and killed both of them along with the Sith fighting them. Then they noticed us.
After the fight, we went through their packs and grabbed some more supplies. Opening the next door, Trask gasped and kept me from going through the door. A Jedi and a dark Jedi were dueling with lightsabers. "It's a dark Jedi! This fight is too much for us. We better stay back. All we'd do is get in the way."
I watched, pondering the scientific issues of lightsabers. The Jedi finally got the upper hand and killed the dark Jedi, but was immediately killed by an explosion from behind. I admired their lightsaber design, which extinguished the moment the handle was released.
Trask was unhappy again. "That was one of the Jedi accompanying Bastila. Damn, we could have used her help."
Blasting a few more incompetent Sith, we arrived at the bridge. Trask muttered something about using melee weapons and pulled out a short sword, so I followed suit. Fortunately, we only had to fight two Sith before an explosion took out everyone else on the bridge.
Looking increasingly panicked, Trask ran over and checked all the bodies. He turned to me, relieved. "Bastila's not here on the bridge. They must have retreated to the escape pods."
He led me towards the starboard section of the ship. As we passed a door, he stopped. Staring at the door, he walked towards it, almost magnetically drawn. "There's something behind here." The door opened and proved him right. "Damn – another Dark Jedi! I'll try to hold him off, you get to the escape pods! Go!"
I opened my mouth to comment, but he had already closed the door behind him. I sighed. It figured that the walking Republic tutorial would be a martyr. I had no time to think any further, as my wrist spoke to me again.
"This is Carth Onasi on your personal communicator. I'm tracking your position through the Endar Spire's life support systems. Bastila's escape pod is away. You're the last surviving crew member of the Endar Spire. I can't wait for you much longer; you have to get to the escape pods!"
I managed to dispatch a bunch of Sith on my own before he spoke to me again.
"Be careful! There's a whole squad of Sith Troopers on the other side of that door. You need to find some way to thin their numbers. You could reprogram the damaged assault droid to help you, if you have enough repair parts. Or you could use computer spikes to slice into the terminal and use the Endar Spire's security systems against the Sith." He was just a bundle of suggestions. Why didn't he do something?
I decided to fix the droid. It woke up, headed towards the door, and proceeded to kill the entire Sith squad. I waited around the corner until the firing stopped, then went into the next room and started looting, finding a neat vibroblade on the squad leader.
Going through the next door, I ran into a man wearing a blindingly orange coat. This must be Carth. "You made it just in time. There's only one active escape pod left. Come on, we can hide out on the planet below!"
I looked at him suspiciously. He had been tracking me through the ship, but he had never done anything to help me, such as dealing with any Sith for me, so I was concerned. "How do I know I can trust you?"
He almost rolled his eyes at me, but fortunately his military discipline kicked in. "I'm a soldier with the Republic, like you. We're the last two crew members left on the Endar Spire. Bastila's escape pod's already gone, so there's no reason for us to stick around here and get shot by the Sith. Now come on - there'll be time for questions later!"
I turned toward the last remaining escape pod and frowned. Apparently I was claustrophobic, because just the thought of getting into the pod filled me with great dread.
The ship shook, reminding me that we were about to die a horrible fiery death if I didn't swallow my anxiety and get into the damn pod, so I climbed into it and allowed Carth to control it. I probably shouldn't have. The pod shot loose from the Endar Spire and spun uncontrollably towards the planet below. The last thing I remember was looking up and seeing a giant fireball in the sky, presumably the destruction of the Endar Spire. Then the pod hit something, my head hit something else, and it was dark.
Summary: This is my interpretation of Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, dealing with a female main character. Spoilers for the entire game ahead.
Disclaimer: I don't own any part of the Star Wars universe. In this story, the only thing I own is the main character, her wacky thoughts, and the dialogue and plotlines that are not straight out of the game.
I was rudely awakened by a loud crash. Sitting up in bed, I looked around to try to determine the source of the noise. The room shook violently.
My brain defogged as I woke up. Where was I? It was clear that I was on a ship, but what ship? From the size of my quarters, the second bed, and the fact that the only storage space I could see consisted of footlockers, I figured that I wasn't one of the higher ranking people on the ship, as they probably would not have to share quarters, especially quarters this small, and they may have real drawers. I noted the overturned table in the corner and decided that had been the source of the noise. Getting out of bed, I looked down and noticed that I apparently slept in my underwear and socks. I pulled my hair back into a ponytail as I headed towards the corner, debating whether I should fix the table or overturn everything else so nothing else would make any more noise.
The room shook again as the door whooshed open and a rather pale, panicked man ran through. "We've been ambushed by a Sith battle fleet! The Endar Spire is under attack! Hurry up - we don't have much time!"
Deducing that the Endar Spire was the rapidly disintegrating ship around me, I asked the next logical question. "Who are you?"
"I'm Trask Ulgo, ensign with the Republic Fleet. I'm your bunk mate here on the Endar Spire. We work opposite shifts; I guess that's why you haven't seen me before. Now hurry up, we have to find Bastila. We have to make sure she makes it off the ship alive!"
I absentmindedly pondered Republic Fleet regulations that stuck me with a male roommate, who, to be fair, either had been very recently assigned to this room or was the neatest man ever, while I formed my next question. "Who's Bastila?"
"Bastila's the commanding officer on the Endar Spire." He frowned, correcting himself almost as an afterthought. "Well, not an officer, really. But she's the one in charge of this mission." Getting back to business, he continued. "One of our primary duties is to guarantee her survival in the event of enemy attack. You swore an oath just like everyone else on this mission. Now it's time to make good on that oath." I didn't remember taking this oath, or really doing anything else ever, and wondered why he felt the need to point this out to me. "I heard what everyone's saying about you: you've explored the farthest reaches of the galaxy, you've visited planets I've never even heard of. People with your skills and abilities are hard to find; it's no wonder the Republic recruited you for this mission." Ah, so apparently I was very talented. "But now's the time to prove yourself. I know you're a scout and not a soldier, but Bastila needs all troops at her side during this attack."
Since I was apparently bound by an oath, it seemed logical that the best course of action was to cooperate. "Ok, let's go help Bastila."
Looking increasingly impatient, Trask shifted his weight between his feet. "So hurry up and grab your gear."
I decided that the footlocker closer to my bed would be the one with my gear, so I turned towards it and opened it. Inside were what I assumed were my preferred weapons, a blaster pistol and a short sword, a few medpacs, and clothing. Holding the clothing up, I grimaced. THIS was what I usually wore? I'd rather run around the ship naked.
Between the room shaking again and Trask's growing urgency, I decided I'd do just that. Getting dressed now would just be a waste of time anyway. Besides, running around mostly naked might distract any Sith who may have boarded. Shoving everything, including the clothing, messily into a backpack, I turned to him. "Ok."
He looked momentarily taken aback by my choice not to get dressed, but the room shook again and he immediately turned towards the door. "Okay, let's move out. We should stick together. Because of the attack this room is in lockdown, but don't worry, I've got the override codes." If the room was in lockdown, how did he get in? And how were we supposed to get to the escape pods if we were locked in during an attack? Who came up with that genius protocol? I was starting to hate my brain. Fortunately, Trask was able to open the door.
A voice suddenly came out of the device on my wrist, which I had previously assumed was a chronometer. "This is Carth Onasi. The Sith are threatening to overrun our position. We can't hold out long against their firepower. All hands to the bridge!"
Trask immediately explained things to me. "That was Carth contacting us on our portable communicators. He's one of the Republic's best pilots. He's seen more combat than the rest of the Endar Spire's crew put together. If he says things are bad, you better believe it. We have to get to the bridge to help defend Bastila!" The man was a walking tutorial.
I decided to mimic his impatience. "Let's move out." I headed down the hall.
He looked concerned, and pointed at the next door. "That door's locked, and I don't have the codes to open it."
Fascinating. How did he get in? I walked up to the door and looked at the locking mechanism. Without thinking, I reached out and picked the lock.
The door opened, allowing us to witness two Sith kill a Republic soldier. Trask was not amused. "These Sith must be the advance boarding party." He grabbed his blaster and started firing at them. "For the Republic!"
THAT was his battle cry? Great. He was also a walking propaganda machine. I found my blaster and started firing at them too. Fortunately, they had even worse aim than I did, probably due to their helmets, so it was a pretty easy fight.
Trask turned to me and continued his endless commentary. "I've got a feeling that won't be our last battle with the Sith."
I agreed. He was right. In the next room, we ran into two more Sith, with approximately the same amount of fighting ability as the first two. Noting a footlocker in the room, I headed immediately towards it. I found a combat suit and more swords in it. I sneaked a glance at Trask. He was rummaging through the backpacks on the Sith corpses, and looked rather busy. I looked back at the combat suit I was holding, and considered putting it on. Despite the continuous explosions on the ship, life support systems were beginning to fail, and the ship was starting to get cold. Slithering into the combat suit, I admired its adherence to my body.
I turned around to find Trask looking at me in surprise. Apparently he had expected me to continue being mostly naked. In the next corridor, I counted four Sith fighting three Republic soldiers. Well, two Republic soldiers, I amended, as one fell over. One of the Sith ran up to the two remaining soldiers and pulled a vibroblade. As I pointed my blaster at the Sith and prepared to fire, I was surprised to see Trask put a hand over mine and shake his head. I looked at him in confusion. He tilted his head and indicated that I should just wait and watch. Which ended up being a good decision, as the Sith decided to lob a grenade at the Republic soldiers and killed both of them along with the Sith fighting them. Then they noticed us.
After the fight, we went through their packs and grabbed some more supplies. Opening the next door, Trask gasped and kept me from going through the door. A Jedi and a dark Jedi were dueling with lightsabers. "It's a dark Jedi! This fight is too much for us. We better stay back. All we'd do is get in the way."
I watched, pondering the scientific issues of lightsabers. The Jedi finally got the upper hand and killed the dark Jedi, but was immediately killed by an explosion from behind. I admired their lightsaber design, which extinguished the moment the handle was released.
Trask was unhappy again. "That was one of the Jedi accompanying Bastila. Damn, we could have used her help."
Blasting a few more incompetent Sith, we arrived at the bridge. Trask muttered something about using melee weapons and pulled out a short sword, so I followed suit. Fortunately, we only had to fight two Sith before an explosion took out everyone else on the bridge.
Looking increasingly panicked, Trask ran over and checked all the bodies. He turned to me, relieved. "Bastila's not here on the bridge. They must have retreated to the escape pods."
He led me towards the starboard section of the ship. As we passed a door, he stopped. Staring at the door, he walked towards it, almost magnetically drawn. "There's something behind here." The door opened and proved him right. "Damn – another Dark Jedi! I'll try to hold him off, you get to the escape pods! Go!"
I opened my mouth to comment, but he had already closed the door behind him. I sighed. It figured that the walking Republic tutorial would be a martyr. I had no time to think any further, as my wrist spoke to me again.
"This is Carth Onasi on your personal communicator. I'm tracking your position through the Endar Spire's life support systems. Bastila's escape pod is away. You're the last surviving crew member of the Endar Spire. I can't wait for you much longer; you have to get to the escape pods!"
I managed to dispatch a bunch of Sith on my own before he spoke to me again.
"Be careful! There's a whole squad of Sith Troopers on the other side of that door. You need to find some way to thin their numbers. You could reprogram the damaged assault droid to help you, if you have enough repair parts. Or you could use computer spikes to slice into the terminal and use the Endar Spire's security systems against the Sith." He was just a bundle of suggestions. Why didn't he do something?
I decided to fix the droid. It woke up, headed towards the door, and proceeded to kill the entire Sith squad. I waited around the corner until the firing stopped, then went into the next room and started looting, finding a neat vibroblade on the squad leader.
Going through the next door, I ran into a man wearing a blindingly orange coat. This must be Carth. "You made it just in time. There's only one active escape pod left. Come on, we can hide out on the planet below!"
I looked at him suspiciously. He had been tracking me through the ship, but he had never done anything to help me, such as dealing with any Sith for me, so I was concerned. "How do I know I can trust you?"
He almost rolled his eyes at me, but fortunately his military discipline kicked in. "I'm a soldier with the Republic, like you. We're the last two crew members left on the Endar Spire. Bastila's escape pod's already gone, so there's no reason for us to stick around here and get shot by the Sith. Now come on - there'll be time for questions later!"
I turned toward the last remaining escape pod and frowned. Apparently I was claustrophobic, because just the thought of getting into the pod filled me with great dread.
The ship shook, reminding me that we were about to die a horrible fiery death if I didn't swallow my anxiety and get into the damn pod, so I climbed into it and allowed Carth to control it. I probably shouldn't have. The pod shot loose from the Endar Spire and spun uncontrollably towards the planet below. The last thing I remember was looking up and seeing a giant fireball in the sky, presumably the destruction of the Endar Spire. Then the pod hit something, my head hit something else, and it was dark.