Tempted (Kotor Novelization)

Prologue

I was at the end of my shift in maintenance, thank the Force. I was really tired and just needed some sleep. The droids were in constant need of memory wipes and repairs, I had been working long hours the past few days and, to top it all off, I had been having lots of crazy dreams lately. I should have just stuck to exploring the remote areas of the galaxy and treasure hunting. At least that was exciting. I know the Republic's doing its best with the war against Darth Malak sucking them dry and all, but it would be nice to get paid a little more. I stifled a yawn as I fixed another one of the combat droids and decided it could wait until my shift tomorrow. I yawned again making no attempt to hide it and stretched my arms above my head. I put away my tools and left maintenance.

As I walked to the dormitory, I noticed a few Jedi walk by me. I didn't have a great love of Jedi or their council, but they could at least try to get along the engineer who makes sure everything's working properly. Not that I found it difficult to find something valid to argue with them about. Just yesterday I got into a heated debate with one of the Jedi about the ticks in the power couplings. The ship had been in a couple of minor fire fights with some Sith fighters (which was to be expected since we were a Republic warship headed to Taris to break the Sith blockade there) and the Endar Spire wasn't liking it. The fighters got a few lucky hits on the ship and then she started to fall apart. Thankfully, we managed to fix it...mostly. The Endar Spire still worked just fine but there were still some minor systems that needed some repairs. Not that those systems were all that important; we could still hold up if we got attacked again.

One of the Jedi walking by blocked my way, forcing me to stop. Her intense grey eyes locked with my own green ones. I'd seen her around plenty of times. She was the Jedi I had argued with yesterday. She looked about twenty-years-old-maybe younger-and, though her face was devoid of most emotion and had a snobbish look to it, her eyes told a different story. There was a pain inside them that I couldn't describe but could easily understand. It was the kind of pain one only felt if they lost someone very close to them. Maybe this woman lost a close friend in the war against Malak?

"Why aren't you fixing the last of the damaged systems?" she asked.

"Because they are working just fine. Besides, we're pretty much there and those systems won't have any effect on any battles we may get in anyway." I yawned again but this time I really couldn't stifle it. The best I could do was covering my mouth with my hand. The woman and the other two Jedi looked highly offended that I wasn't taking all my time to fix everything completely.

The black-haired Jedi woman that was standing beside the grey-eyed Jedi opened her mouth as if to say something, but she was interrupted by a brown-haired man, who looked like he was well into his thirties. It was Commander Onasi. I'd heard about the Commander, but I never actually met him before now. He was an ace pilot and was rewarded several times for his bravery in the Mandalorian Wars.

"Bastila, we've got a problem!" he yelled, looking scared as hell. The woman with the grey eyes looked at the Commander with an expression of bewilderment across her face. Bastila? As in... Bastila Shan? I heard quite a bit about her though it was just vague rumours in cantinas and later on, from other soldiers. How could I not? She was the captain of the Endar Spire, after all and she was apparently the Jedi who fought and killed the Dark Lord Revan, Malak's Sith Master. Although, I had to admit, I was not entirely sure how true that was. I mean, if what I heard about Revan was true, then she was a strategic genius and had some serious dark mojo. Bastila's expression suddenly shifted to that of anxiety.

"What is it, Carth?" she asked. Commander Onasi looked at me and his facial expression changed to a much more... professional look.

"You should come to the bridge. We'll talk about it there." Whatever was going on, it must have been too important for a lowly maintenance officer to hear.