Before - Legends The Blue Side of the Force: Book I- Complements (6/14 -An unknown planet and an ACTUAL NEW CHAPTER)

Wow. bastila sure isn't very good with kids... not like Canderous (the big softy). I love the way you are enhancing these characters. They are the same as we all know from the game, but you have a way of making them all your own, unique. I love it!

Cheers,
Wyo

 

class wee post.

 

Here I am happily reading along thinking about corporate plots and little Mandalorian kids and THEN you slap me upside the head with this ending!

In response, the trio lit blood red lightsabers. ?Lord Malak was most displeased you escaped the destruction of Taris,? the leader replied. ?I think the bugs are the least of your worries.?

Argh!! Evil E-V-I-L cliffie!!!

Great chapter!

 

obi_webb: I will confess, Canderous is turning out to be a lot more fun to write than I thought. I'm glad you're enjoying his escapades.

Striker: Yeah, Z is in for a bit of trouble, methinks...

padawanlissa: Glad you like. Sasha was very much glossed over in the game, so it's fun to let her out to play.

Zan: Thanks.

WyoJedi: Characters can be surprising, and I like the idea that there's more lurking under the surface than even the game lets on. I'm glad you enjoy my take on them!

sdhfs: Thanks for reading.

oqi: I mean, it's not like I'm trying to impress my master of Evil... Nothing like a little misdirection to keep life interesting.

 

Egads! Lightsabers!

Aiden's really proving himself as a leader. Jedi novice maybe, but he's turning out to be the most mature person on this mission. His clear-headed thinking is probably going to help right about now...unless he tries talking like he did with Juhani, in which case I hope everyone is a fast runner! Or not afraid of bugs.

Canderous, what a sap.

 

hehe I love all of this, but I must say my favorite part so far has been watching Canderous and Sasha, now why couldn't they have made a cut scene like this in the game?

 

Canderous guilt-tripped Bastila - I love it. Great update and congrats on all your very well-deserved nominations!

 

Hehe, this is a really fun story. My only complaint is directed at myself. I've played KOTOR about 4 times, (LS Male, DS Male, LS Female, and something else) and KOTOR 2 twice, although, havn't do DS for that one yet... anyway, like I said, I've played them a few times, so I already know most of what is going to happen.

I love the changes that you have done. I really like how you are doing the dialogs between the "PC" and the "NPCs" by splitting them between your two OCs. The new dialogs that you are adding in are really well done. I thought that the dialog between Canderous and Sasha was priceless. I don't want to say anything specific, but I am really looking forward to some future conversations between some of the NPCs and your OCs.

I also like the fact that there are more then just 2 people walking around with the "main". Being an old Baldur's Gate vet. It never really made sense to leave most of your group behind.

Anyway, all that stuff combined, I am really enjoying this story and I am looking forward to future posts. Heck, this story might even make me dust off my X-Box and track down my copy of KOTOR. Keep up the great work!


Last Note: I've read your humor threads about KOTOR and I have to say, those were simply fantastic. I actually started to cry I was laughing so hard.

 

Heh, my valiant attempts to write more were eaten by the stress of the first week of classes. Ah well, things are settling in and hopefully I'll have a new chapter for you soon.

In the meantime, I'd like to thank everyone who nominated this story once more, because it's just really exciting to see so much support for one humble little tale. Also, thanks to those of you who voted for me, it makes me feel not so bad that I took so much time to write this. I never would have pegged this story for Best Action, but I thank you for the support anyway. Also, Leiraya is thrilled that you guys like her so well, and so am I.

Now... on to replies!

JadeSolo: Yes, if one thing can be said, it's that everyone has their own set of strengths. Aiden's got some surprises left for us, though, as does everyone else.

Iryla: Thanks! It never made sense to me that, even though you had a Mandalorian on board, you had to try to decode her language as some sort of sidequest. *eyeroll* Too much work for me, just grab the Mandalorian.

Lovely-in-Orange: Thank you kindly!

Jedi_Rike: Hey, a new reader! We always love to see new blood in a thread.

I also like the fact that there are more then just 2 people walking around with the "main". Being an old Baldur's Gate vet. It never really made sense to leave most of your group behind.

I quote one of the friends who first played KOTOR with me: "I'm the most powerful Jedi in the galaxy- why can't I take my entire party with me? I think I should be able to!"

I'm glad you like the changes... my aim is, after all, to make it interesting even to someone who's already played the game a few times.

Last Note: I've read your humor threads about KOTOR and I have to say, those were simply fantastic. I actually started to cry I was laughing so hard.



Humour is, and will always be, my true love. Though I may write angst and drama, perhaps even a dash of romance, it is far better if they all turn into gizka at the end.

 

Damn, I need to read more. This rules!

 

Can you PM me when you update?

 

Cliffie Agghhh!!!!

Everytime you posted a fic in the OC dueling circle, I always meant to come check out "Blue Side" You've got a marvelous collection of characters. I'm most familiar with Leiraya; but they all have such easy interaction with each other, Aiden, Carth, Bastila, Canderous, and of course the Wookiee Zalabaar (be still my heart ; madclaw indeed! ).

This is one fantastic journey you've taken me on, and since I've never played KOTOR(I or II) I'll just attribute this to your genius DWH!!!


Could you tack on another to your PM list please???

 

I miss my Blue Side doeses....

 

I'm sorry, guys, life conspires to keep me ridiculously busy! But I promise, I have a post planned that I should be able to post by the end of the week. Before I go back to school, there will be something.

Believe me, you don't want to know my workload. I don't even want to know my workload.

New post soon, I promise.

 

Hooray! I told you I'd have something before I went back to school. c_a and princess, you are completely and totally added to my PM list of d00m, and I'm so very glad to have you aboard for this little adventure.

Chapter Sixteen: Evil April Fools Day Edition
No, really. This chapter is fake. See the date of posting? *points down* I mean, you don't have to skip it or anything, but just remember it's very, very AU.

Aiden stood, dumbstruck for several seconds. Malak? Why would he be even remotely interested in him? Well, he supposed that the whole Star Map thing might have influenced Malak’s ire, but his escape from Taris, of all places, should have been of no consequence to the Sith Lord. Bastila, he could understand, but she was back on the ship.

Confused, but wasting no more time, he hastily drew his own cerulean blade, but he had waited too long. Before he could raise his blade to the proper defensive position, his attackers used that single moment of confusion to knock him backwards. He stumbled into the gate, and tried to regain his balance. Carth and Zaalbar took cover behind a pile of baskets and tried to shoot at the Sith trio, but they blocked their shots with ease.

“No!” Leiraya shouted, and tried to move forward. She only made it a few steps before one of the Sith swiftly kicked her crutches out from under her. She promptly collapsed on to the ground with a muffled cry. Aiden, meanwhile, had launched himself forward, but he was moving too slowly. The lead Sith turned his saber pommel end down and it met cleanly with Aiden’s temple. The young Jedi stared glassy-eyed at his attacker as he fell, blood dripping from his brow.

“You’re coming with us,” the leader intoned. “As I said, Lord Malak was most displeased at your escape.”

“Not if I have anything to say about it.” Carth charged, blasters firing. The Sith looked at him incredulously, shocked that he would even think about challenging them after they’d taken out the leader. Still, they swatted his shots aside with little concern.

Leiraya looked up, eyes wide. “Carth, don’t! You’ll get yourself-“

“I’m not letting them take him!” He snarled, continuing his barrage of fire. “I fished his broken body out of that escape pod back on Taris, and I’ll be damned if I don’t get him back now.”

“I wouldn’t, if I were you.” The leader seemed to smirk behind his mask. “Really, I have no interest in killing you, as I have what I came for. But don’t think I’ll hesitate to run you through if you try to take him from me.”

“Do your worst,” Carth growled. Holstering his blasters, he grabbed a sword that had spilled from one of the baskets.

Leiraya closed her eyes, unable to watch. She was quite certain his swordsmanship was substandard, but at least he was smart enough to know that blasters were not going to win against sabers.

Carth, on the other hand, ran forward with a look of fierce determination on his face, vibroblade at ready. The Sith, completely nonplussed extended his saber, as though bored, knocked Carth’s blade aside effortlessly with one crimson blade. He plunged his other saber cleanly into Carth’s gut, deactivating it even as he pulled it back out.

“I told you not to try anything,” he drawled. Turning to his partners, he motioned to pick up Aiden. “Careful with him. Lord Malak wanted him alive.”

Leiraya narrowed her eyes and reached for her saber, but she found a blade pointed squarely at her throat before she could do anything. “I wouldn’t,” the leader reiterated. “Sure as I’m standing here, you wouldn’t walk out alive. And as much as I do love killing Jedi, I can’t be bothered to waste my time fighting a cripple. However,” he added, almost as an afterthought, “take the Wookiee. He’ll fetch a nice price with the slavers.”

Zaalbar, still immobilized, was unable to do anything, though Leiraya could feel the rage rolling off him like crimson tongues of flame. Wincing, she braced herself to stand, but it the Sith anticipated her. Her world went dark as the hilt of his lightsaber connected solidly with her head.

* * *

“Something’s wrong.”

Canderous raised an eyebrow as Bastila stormed into the hold. “What, did you find some new way to taunt our young stowaway?”

“No. I haven’t found her yet. But Aiden’s hurt.” She closed her eyes, a pained expression on her face. “Someone’s taken him.”

“And you know this... how?” Canderous asked skeptically.

“We have a bond,” Bastila explained. “It’s a long story, but I can feel what he feels. And he feels unconscious.”

“Well, if Wonderboy has gone and gotten himself killed...”

“Not killed,” she corrected sharply. “Unconscious. Someone wanted him alive.”

“Well, then, Princess, what are you going to do about it?”

“I’m going to find the others.” She brushed stray strands of dark brown hair from her eyes and straightened her utility belt. “You stay here, mind the ship.”

“Anything you say,” Canderous leaned back.

Bastila nodded tersely and turned to leave. Pausing, she turned around and hastily added, “Don’t mutiny, I want this ship to be here when I get back.”

With that, she ran down the ramp to find the others. She could only pray that they were all right.

* * *

Leiraya awoke an indeterminate amount of time later, head throbbing even more than her knee. Blinking, she quickly took in the scene and saw that the Sith had long since left, taking Zaalbar with them. Squeezing her eyes shut, she fought angry tears. If I ever get my hands on them...

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a cough. It was Carth.

“Oh no...” she couldn’t stand, but she dragged herself over to where he lay. “Carth, can you hear me?”

He grimaced, then looked up at her. “I think they got me.”

“You’re going to be fine,” she assured him, only half believing it herself. “Don’t give up on me, okay?”

“Fought in all the wars,” he tried to laugh, but his face screwed up in pain. “Always thought I’d die in battle. Thought it would be on a ship, though. Lightsaber... now that’s something different.”

“You’re not dying,” Leiraya’s voice caught in her throat. “You can’t leave, we need you. We need to find Aiden, and you can fly the ship, and...” she sniffled as tears began to escape her eyes. “I’m not letting you die.”

“Not your choice, sweetheart.” He coughed and tried to focus his eyes. “I know a thing or two ‘bout field injuries... this one is bad.”

“No!” She squeezed her eyes shut against the harsh reality. “You can’t leave. Not you too. Not after Skyler, then Kylan...”

“Hey, hey...” he reached up and grabbed her hand. “My time was coming. My wife... I can go join her now.”

Leiraya looked at him sadly, her eyes softening. “You love her very much.”

“Yeah,” he managed a nod. “But I’ve gotta say... you spun me around.” Seeing her confused look, he continued. “Never met anyone quite like you. Thought your type was crazy until I did.” He coughed again, wincing. “But you’re really something else. Never thought I’d be able to talk to anyone again, but you’ve been there. Even when we were flaming mad at each other.”

“Carth, I...”

“Shh,” he quieted her. “Don’t have much longer. You’re an amazing woman, Leiraya Moran. Don’t ever let anyone tell you otherwise. I...” he trailed off, eyes starting to glaze over.

“Don’t stop talking,” she begged him. “Just stay with me, please.”

“Sorry,” he murmured, mustering a half smile. “I’ll miss you, you know.”

“Who’s missing who?” she shot back. “I’ll be the one giving the funeral.”

She waited a few beats for a retort, but his hand went limp in hers, and his head rolled to the side.

Closing her eyes, she bowed her head and let the tears flow freely. Carth was gone.

* * *

Bastila made her way to the Great Walkway as quickly as she could. The local merchants had been absolutely useless, and the Czerka representatives were generally insufferable. However, she’d managed to find one particular disgruntled representative ranting about do-gooders who could at least give her an idea of where to go.

She approached the gate purposefully, but was stopped by the guards. “Sorry, but we can’t let you through.”

Bastila narrowed her eyes. “Why not?”

“Policy, ma’am. Can’t have people just wandering around there, what with the wild Kinrath and all.”

“Listen, I’m going to tell you this once. You’re going to let me through, and you’re not going to give me any trouble.”

“And why’s that?” the guard asked sullenly.

“Because I have had it up to here with frustrating people, and I swear if you prevent me from passing, I’ll run you through.” Never mind that it was completely against the Jedi philosophy, these men weren’t likely to know the difference. Not anymore. Nobody knew the difference between a Jedi and a Sith anymore. Glaring at the hapless guard, she stroked her lightsaber and raised an eyebrow. “Are you going to let me through, or is this going to get messy?”

The guard glared back at her for a moment, then backed down. “All right, lady, you can go through. But don’t say I didn’t warn ya...”

Wordlessly, Bastila looked away and pushed through the gate.

There, mere feet in front of her, she saw Leiraya and Carth. Carth was dead, that much she could feel in the Force. Leiraya was crying. Aiden and Zaalbar were nowhere to be found. “Oh, Force...”

Leiraya’s head snapped up. “Bastila?” She sniffled, wiping tears with her sleeve. “The Sith... they captured Aiden. Sold Zaalbar to the slavers. Knocked me out and killed Carth when he tried to stop them.”

“You’re bleeding,” Bastila hurried to her side, pulling a medkit out of her belt. “How long ago did it happen?”

“I don’t know,” she answered, allowing Bastila to tend to the wound on her forehead. “I don’t know how long I was out. But if you didn’t see them, then they’ve probably gotten away.”

“Blast,” Bastila grunted sourly. “Well, we’ll have to find them. He’s still alive.”

Leiraya looked confused for a moment, but then remembered. “Oh, right. That bond thing.”

“Yes. But we’ll have to move quickly. Can you travel?”

“Get me my crutches, and I’ll be fine.” Leiraya straightened up, then looked down at Carth’s body. “We can’t just leave it here for the scavengers.”

“Of course not,” Bastila agreed. “We’ll have to carry him back to the ship, I don’t have a stretcher with me.” She walked over and retrieved Leiraya’s crutches. “Here you go.”

“Thanks,” she accepted the crutches and stood, tossing her head to get stray chunks of hair out of her face. “Let’s get moving, we don’t have much time.”

Bastila locked gazes with Leiraya, and for the first time there wasn’t even the most remote amount of resentment. She has lost much, Bastila thought. But she will never let that show. Not on purpose, at any rate.

Bending down, she picked Carth’s limp form from the ground, drawing on the Force to pull him up. He was probably twice her weight, but she would make it.

It was the least she could do for a friend.

* * *

“Telos?”

“That’ll be the place. I think we should return him to his family.”

Canderous snorted. “Nobody’s on Telos anymore. The place was reduced to rubble.”

“I know,” Leiraya replied softly. “That’s where his family died.”

The Mandalorian shrugged, and set the course into the navicomputer. “If you insist.”

“Thank you,” she said, then turned and limped out of the cockpit. Her knee was on the mend and she could walk without the crutches, albeit very slowly. Making her way to her bunk, she found Bastila waiting for her.

“I know,” she spoke before Bastila could say anything. “We don’t have time for a funeral. Aiden’s been captured and we can’t waste time.”

“Actually, I was going to say that a proper funeral was a good idea.” Bastila shifted uncomfortably, looking sympathetically at Leiraya. “Captain Onasi was a good man, and he deserves it.”

“I just wish I knew the proper Telosian practices. I couldn’t find anything on the HoloNet that was particularly useful.”

“So is Carth getting a Corellian sendoff?”

“It’s all I have,” she shrugged. “Do you have any better ideas?”

“No,” Bastila shrugged. “We had few enough funerals on Dantooine that I wouldn’t even begin to know how to run one.”

“The last funeral I went to was for Skyler. I... I told Carth about all this. Went off and got himself killed in a stupid war that should never have happened in the first place. We were only twenty at the time.” Blinking back tears, she shook her head. “I’ll never understand.”

Bastila put a comforting hand on Leiraya’s shoulder, then drew her into a sympathetic embrace. “I hope you never do.”

* * *

Telos.

The world floated placidly beneath them, as though nothing were wrong with the galaxy. But even the planet itself was not right. In place of the vibrant blues and greens that should have been typical of the world, the surface was covered in swirls of brown and grey. Derelict ships still floated in space, orbiting the planet until they came close enough for gravity’s pull to call them to their final rest on the planet’s surface.

The Ebon Hawk entered the scene, a strange spot of life amidst a sea of death.

Inside were mourners. A Twi’lek girl who had looked on him almost as the father she’d never known, a Mandalorian who respected him as a soldier, a stowaway who never had the chance to meet him, a padawan who barely knew him, and a padawan who owed him her very life. And then there was a padawan who had been his most unlikely friend.

The body had been cremated and, as Corellian tradition held, the ashes were compressed into a synthetic diamond. This was a tradition reserved strictly for those who had gone away to war and hadn’t come home alive. The stone was cut, and then set into a dark blue, almost black crystal orb, seeming almost like a star in the black of space.

This orb was placed in a pod, to be jettisoned to the graveyard. It was not a graveyard planned and painstakingly maintained by loved ones, but one made by a man they had all trusted. A man Carth had trusted.

“We come here to remember Carth Onasi,” Leiraya recited shakily. “Noble in battle and valourous in life. I...” she shook her head sorrowfully. “I call on the spirits of the four oceans to guide him and protect him in the life beyond. May they bring him peace and rest.” She bowed her head respectfully. “May the Force be with you, Carth.”

The crew remained respectfully silent as she pressed the button that moved the pod into the airlock. They watched as the pod streaked out into space, soon disappearing amongst the mass of floating rubble.

“Thank you, Leiraya.” Bastila squeezed her shoulder. “I know how much that meant to you.”

Smiling sadly, she looked up at the other woman. “Probably not, but I appreciate the thought. Now,” she straightened herself and looked as determined as she ever had, “let’s go find Aiden.”

“Right,” Bastila nodded. “I think I know where to start looking.”

The party filed out of the space, and Canderous returned to the helm. As silently as it had come, the Ebon Hawk winked out of sight.

Telos remained in silent anguish, but at least one spirit was at peace.

 

You better tell me that was an April fools joke.

Please tell me that was a joke.

I really, really don't know how to react right now.

Call me when Carth isn't dead. Please.

He and Leiraya have to get together....

OK, so I'm a tad more coherent now, though not much. I must know- does this make the rest of your Blue Side arc stuff AU if its true? Because I love watching Carth and Leiraya together and its just no fun when you kill him off like this! I mean, ghosts don't generally make good husbands or anything like that.

And if its true, CARTH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! How could you get run through with a lightsaber? How?

This post depresses me.

 

You killed Carth??!! How could you do that! He was one of my favorite characters! How can this continue without Carth?


If this isn't a joke, I might stop reading

 

I'm with Lissa!

 

that was one of the biggest shocks i ever had reading something. the cliffhanger last time i figured, "oh some sith. no big deal. should be an intersting fight though." i NEVER suspected for the fight to have these kind of consequences!
aiden gets captured, hardly getting a chance to fight back and carth.....
this was one of the most emotional death scenes i've ever read.
?Hey, hey...? he reached up and grabbed her hand. ?My time was coming. My wife... I can go join her now.?

Leiraya looked at him sadly, her eyes softening. ?You love her very much.?

?Yeah,? he managed a nod. ?But I?ve gotta say... you spun me around.? Seeing her confused look, he continued. ?Never met anyone quite like you. Thought your type was crazy until I did.? He coughed again, wincing. ?But you?re really something else. Never thought I?d be able to talk to anyone again, but you?ve been there. Even when we were flaming mad at each other.?

?Carth, I...?

?Shh,? he quieted her. ?Don?t have much longer. You?re an amazing woman, Leiraya Moran. Don?t ever let anyone tell you otherwise. I...? he trailed off, eyes starting to glaze over.

?Don?t stop talking,? she begged him. ?Just stay with me, please.?

?Sorry,? he murmured, mustering a half smile. ?I?ll miss you, you know.?

?Who?s missing who?? she shot back. ?I?ll be the one giving the funeral.?

She waited a few beats for a retort, but his hand went limp in hers, and his head rolled to the side.

Closing her eyes, she bowed her head and let the tears flow freely. Carth was gone.

espcially the "spun me around" line. that was so carth.
i really hope this wasn't an april fools joke! i applaud you shaking the story up like this! it might not be a popular descion, especially at first at the initial shock of reading it, but i think it was the right think to do for this story. it certainly upped the ante. i feel like anything could happen now..
and we still haven't found out what happened to kylan... i really hope leiraya finds him. especially now.
i feel like i could write a novel with my reaction to this right now.. i sensed a nice bond form between bastila and leiraya with this.. and i'm so curious how they go about getting aiden and zaalbar back
you certainly departed from the game storyline! and i think that's a good thing!
now here's to your schedule allowing you to post the next part SOON!

 

After I've slept on it, I'm not so nervous. I did the same thing to one of my characters in a fic I wrote (different fandom though). People were shocked out of their wits. He was also a uniform favorite too. I guess the thing that throws me here is your other Blue Side arc stuff (mainly the bedtime story one with Bryce, and the sister fics of the one that sees Bryce go missing). Either a) that stuff is now an AU, or b) Carth isn't really dead, or c) you decided to do an April Fools joke. I can't pick which right now. If you have killed Carth, I applaud you. You know how much we all love him, and that he's an incredible character, but you had the strength to do it anyway. you also knew you would probably get backlash. I too applaud you for that. It's a well written chapter, that's for sure. it's just tough to lose a character you love.

P.S- I'd definatly believe you if you did'nt post it on April 1st...

 

Wow, have to say that I most certainly did not see this coming. I can't even begin to predict where this is going to lead now without Carth. And I thought you were a HUGE Carth fan. Oh well, I suppose that if Lucas can order the deaths of Anakin Solo and Chewie, then I can understand your killing of Carth. Then again, how do we really know this is real? How do we really know that anything is real? Do things really exist, or is it all a simple illusion that we have created to fill the space inbetween the seconds? Perhaps I imagined the whole Carth dying...

Whoa, sorry about that rant. I was involved in an interesting discussion with some friends last night about the real nature of the universe and it seems to have spilled over a bit.

Anyway, great post (?) and certainly keep `em coming either way, real or fake.

 

Carth! No!

 

You updated!!!

I mean...

You killed Carth!!!

There was a discussion a few weeks back in the Pantheon about killing off characters and making it mean something...and you've definately done that DWH.

It gives the story a whole new all gloves are off kind of feel. Will certain individuals let their grief get the best of them?

The funeral was a very touching scene, with the details of compressing the ashes into a gem...

Thanks for the PM, great update!

 

Carth's dead? Dang. I don't have as big an emotional attachment to him as some people, but still...

Sometimes I go on about 'unnecessary angst' and killing of characters for the heck of it. I loathe it when that happens.

That didn't happen here. Quite moving and powerful, here. Now go get Aiden and Zalbaar, guys!

 

You killed Carth!
?But I?ve gotta say... you spun me around.? Seeing her confused look, he continued. ?Never met anyone quite like you. Thought your type was crazy until I did.? I really liked these lines - very sad but very fitting. I liked Bastila's intimidation tactics with the guard too and that she was actually sympathetic to Leiraya for once.

This is all a dream like that one season of Dallas right? Leiraya is going to wake up to accidently walk in on Carth in the shower... hey turn-about's fair-play!

But joking aside, a very touching chapter.