Private The Best Laid Schemes [Kai the Doppelganger]

[Jacen Nimdok]

It happened at an intersection. Nimdok was sitting in the midst of Coruscant’s infamous traffic, checking his chrono and wondering if the row of airspeeders in front of him were ever going to move. Though he felt that his speeder, with its flashy yellow paint job and convertible roof, was better suited to a much younger, hipper man, it was little more than a fancy rental—one of the perks of being a Jedi Shadow meant that he had access to such secret luxuries. He’d been concerned about chipping the paint or crashing the thing, but the skyways had proved a lot less breakneck than they looked in holovids. He’d only been sitting here idling for the past fifteen minutes. Did nine o’clock in the evening count as rush hour here?

Thud!

The speeder shook from an impact somewhere behind the driver’s seat, making Nimdok jump. Wincing, he hesitated to turn around and see what had hit him, dreading what he might find. Whatever it was, it had to be heavy to rattle everything that much...

As he swiveled to face it, his brow furrowed and he did a double-take. Lying sprawled in the backseat was a mangled, broken body. Covered from head to toe in black blood oozing from a variety of cuts, scrapes, and bruises, they were barely recognizable. Nimdok could just barely tell it was an adult male, tall and broad-shouldered. As he watched, transfixed in horror, the man coughed—despite his extensive wounds, he was alive.

Horns honked behind them. Pressing a button to signal to other drivers that he wasn’t going anywhere, Nimdok reached out with the Force, trying to calm his injured passenger, only to recoil. The man was shrouded in a veil of repulsive darkness… and beneath that, an all-too-familiar presence that left a metallic taste in Nimdok’s mouth, like the flavor of the air just before a lightning strike.

“You’re—!”

Before Nimdok could say more, there was another, duller thud. A female figure landed on the trunk of the speeder. Clad in full body armor, she softened her fall with the help of the Force. In her right hand a yellow lightsaber was drawn and activated.

“Stay where you are, citizen,” she said, her voice modulated through her helmet. “Don’t interfere. This is Jedi business.”

“I am Jedi Master Nimdok of the Silver Jedi Order,” Nimdok replied, sitting up straighter. “This man is under my protection. Stand down now.”

With her face covered by her helmet, the woman’s reaction was unreadable. But her tone of voice was cold and carefully controlled, hiding what he took to be irritation. “Jedi Knight Alema Rhysode, New Jedi Order. This is a dangerous Sithspawn." She gestured to the injured man. "He escaped incarceration at the Temple and assaulted a civilian and four Jedi.”

Nimdok’s gaze landed on the man, the Sithspawn. There was little about him physically which would lend itself to recognition—he certainly wasn’t a being of pure crystal. Nimdok never would’ve guessed that this was the one he had been searching for if he didn’t have the Force to tell him that this was him. The missing Bamarri who had been abducted from Chaldea and taken offworld to a destination unknown. The lingering coppery flavor of electricity in his mouth confirmed it.

He only wished they could’ve met under better circumstances. Nimdok didn’t discount Alema’s accusations; no doubt she had every right to be chasing him across Coruscant. But something about this didn’t feel right. Nimdok had heard rumors and reports of how the NJO dealt with Sithspawn. They were inconsistent. For every victim of Sith experimentation they rescued and rehabilitated, there were others that were either put down like rabid dogs on sight or imprisoned and forgotten.

The Bamarri-born Sithspawn hunkered down, smearing blood on the leather seat. Many of his wounds, Nimdok suspected, were inflicted by Alema’s lightsaber. Terror filled his presence in the Force, the fear of an animal caught in a trap, on the verge of gnawing their own leg off to escape.

Moved to pity, Nimdok turned his attention back to Alema. “Ms. Rhysode, despite what he looks like, he is only a child. Whatever he’s done, please, don’t treat him so harshly.”

“Child or not, he has committed serious crimes.” She inclined her head. “If you really want to help him, get us to the Jedi Temple.”

Something told Nimdok that the last thing he wanted to do was bring this Sithspawn to the NJO Temple. But what else could he do? “I was asked by his, er, guardian to find him and bring him home," he said, wondering if Alema would welcome the opportunity to get him off her hands. "He is native to the planet Chaldea, in the Inner Rim. She should be waiting for him there."

A flash of surprise—and rekindled hope—shot through the Sithspawn. But Alema shook her head. “All the same, we have to bring him in.”

The Sithspawn’s breathing grew more rapid. His stomach heaved and he rolled over suddenly, barely managing to get his head over the edge of the speeder door before he vomited onto the rooftops of the skyscrapers below.

Moving swiftly, Alema placed her foot on the still-puking Sithspawn’s back, pinning him to the door.

“That’s not necessary,” Nimdok protested, his brow furrowing. The Sithspawn continued to empty the contents of his stomach unimpeded, but the sight of her boot pressed into his back was… disturbing. “Is he ill?”

“He's trying to distract me so he can escape…” With the Force she pulled him away from the edge, holding his arms taut behind him. Disgust radiated off of her in waves, her tight control over her emotions slipping for a moment. She raised her lightsaber, the burning blade buzzing like a hornet, presumably to deal a crippling blow—that is, until Nimdok seized her weapon, holding it firmly in place with the Force.

“Wait a minute,” he said. “I'll take you to the Temple. All you need to do is keep him in the speeder.”

She turned toward him, and for a split second he thought she would break free and strike him down anyway. But then the impulse to maim was gone, leaving only an eerie sense of calm in its wake. Keeping her telekinetic grasp on the Sithspawn, she lowered herself into the seat beside him. “To the Jedi Temple,” she agreed.

The speeder started moving, Nimdok flying it in the general direction of the Temple. “Should I close the roof?” he asked. “Perhaps it will deter him from further escape attempts.”

She nodded. “You may do so.”

Briefly taking his eyes off the skies, Nimdok flicked a switch. The convertible roof slid shut over their heads, sealing them inside the vehicle. A split second later, Nimdok reached out with the Force, touching Alema Rhysode’s mind. She fell unconscious instantly, no match for his telepathic abilities, and her grip on the Sithspawn was lost. Nimdok felt him beginning to panic again, bewildered at this new turn of events.

“Easy, easy,” Nimdok said soothingly. “I’m not going to hurt you. First we’re going to drop her off, and then I’m going to take you somewhere safe, all right?”

The Sithspawn faltered, still uncertain, but he at least didn’t try to break down the speeder door and escape. The possibility of reunification with his “guardian” was enough to keep him there.

Eyeing the slack form of Alema Rhysode in the rearview mirror, Nimdok sighed. This wasn’t going to do his already... complicated relationship with the NJO any favors.

“Do you have a name?” he asked the Sithspawn, trying to stay focused.

<Kai.>

The answer was delivered telepathically. Nimdok had been expecting it—the other Bamarri had communicated in a similar manner—but “hearing” the Bamarri’s inner voice and name only served to confirm his convictions. What a wild coincidence all this was turning out to be. Nimdok risked a small smile. Truly, the Force worked in mysterious ways.

“Nice to meet you, Kai. I'm Professor Errik Nimdok."

Arlo Renard​

 

[Jacen Nimdok]

After dumping Alema in a safe spot, Nimdok hid the rented airspeeder in an underground parking garage, planning to walk the rest of the way to the safehouse. But first there was the matter of assessing Kai's injuries. Nimdok got out of the speeder and ran around to the backseat, medkit in hand.

Kai stopped him. <I'm okay. You don't have to do anything.>

Nimdok blinked in confusion. But sure enough, at some point during the frantic drive through Coruscant’s skyways, Kai's wounds had closed. Nimdok conducted a brief examination with a medisensor just to be sure, but everything checked out. As a Shi’ido, bodily regeneration was hardly an unusual sight to him. He was more surprised that the Sithspawn had the ability, as well as the sheer speed of the healing on display. “Kai, do you know what species this body you’re in is?” he asked.

<I’m a Sith Doppelganger,> Kai replied. <A mixture of Shi’ido and Anzati. The regeneration comes from the Shi’ido.>

Nimdok’s eyebrows rose. He had fought a doppelganger before, many years ago, and was familiar with their species from reading documents stolen from Darth Prospero, their creator. “And do you know who made you?” Nimdok asked, wondering if Prospero, now deceased, or his fellow Sith “scientists” were responsible.

<A Sith Lord called Darth Transitus. His real name was Messala.>

Nimdok’s heart sank. Of all the Sith out there who played at being gods, toying with life, why did it have to be Messala?

As the awful revelation crashed against Nimdok like a killer wave, Kai noticed the shift in the professor’s demeanor. <Did you know him?>

“Yes. I dealt with him before.” To keep the doppelganger from getting too anxious, Nimdok smiled and said, “I am myself a Shi’ido. Have you ever met one of us before?”

Wide-eyed, Kai shook his head. <Does this mean that you hate me?>

“Err… no.” Nimdok’s brow furrowed. “No, I don’t hate you. I want to help you.” He gestured. "Come on. We're going to a safehouse... oh, here." His flesh warped as he disguised himself as a Duros. "Shift into something else. It'll help throw off our pursuers."

The safehouse was an apartment in a not-very-tall building. The neighborhood it was situated in wasn't quite low income enough to be considered part of the underworld, but it was lower middle class for sure. The locals paid no heed to the two Duros who headed up to the apartment, which was secretly maintained by the Silver Shadows as part of a network of Coruscant safehouses available to their undercover operatives and endangered persons.

No sooner had they walked through the door, Nimdok's comm began to ring. He looked at the device and his eyebrows rose. It was Miri.

"I'm afraid I have to take this call," he said. Leaving Kai sitting on the living room couch, Nimdok got up, changed back into his normal Near-Human form, and pressed a button, activating his holoprojector.

"Hi Dad," Miri greeted. Her body was projected in Nimdok's hand, a blue hologram of a teenage girl with long dark hair.

"Hello, sweetheart. Is everything okay?"

"Um, yeah. I'm calling to tell you that I'm here on Balamak with the refugees, but I'm not sure when I'll be home..."

As she explained that they were being quarantined there due to suspicions of a Bryn'adul virus outbreak, Nimdok sighed. "Oh, Miri..."

“I’ll be okay, Dad.”

“Even if you were in danger, with this quarantine in place, you can’t leave the planet and I can’t come and help you. What I am wondering, little lady, is why you’re there in the first place.”

“Uh… to help?”

“That’s very noble and compassionate of you. But why didn’t you ask me before you went?”

“You’re on Coruscant. It was nighttime there. I didn’t want to wake you. If I had waited until morning, it would’ve been too late.”

“And you wouldn’t be stuck in quarantine on Balamak.”

“Yeah, so?”

He stared at her. She crossed her arms over her chest and stared back, though blinking rapidly all the while. He finally cracked a smile and shook his head. “Fair enough. For future reference, don’t ever hesitate to call me before you do something like this, please. Whether you think I'm sleeping or not.”

“Yeah, but—”

“No buts. Anything else I should know?”

“How are you?”

His gaze briefly darted towards Kai, who was slowly melting back into his human form. “Dealing with a change in plans, but so far I’m all right. Listen, if you really are there to help, I won’t keep you.”

“Okay.” Pushing her hair back with one hand, she waved. “Bye. May the Force be with you.”

He echoed the phrase, then turned off the device.

<She is your child?> Kai asked, a strange expression on his face.

"Yes," Nimdok replied. "She can be a handful sometimes, getting into all kinds of trouble..."

<But you love her anyway.>

Smiling, Nimdok nodded. "Very much." Running a hand through his hair, he sighed and gestured toward the kitchen. “I'm going to make some caf. Do you want any?”

<Yes please.>

He returned to the living room a few minutes later with two steaming mugs. He handed one to Kai, who gulped down the hot drink all in one go.

“I take it you were thirsty,” Nimdok remarked, raising an eyebrow as he took a sip.

Kai lowered the empty mug, and for a moment he looked as if he were about to speak, but didn’t. Instead, he sat there staring at Nimdok, who frowned. It was difficult to sense Kai’s emotions through the pall of the Dark Side that had been imposed upon him, but it was clear from the look on the Doppelganger’s face that he wanted something. Nimdok was reminded of one of his daughter’s childhood playmates: a painfully shy Twi’lek girl who, rather than communicating with her friend’s father, would come and stand next to him in stony, uncomfortable silence, hoping he would eventually figure it out.

“Would you like something else?” he prompted.

Slowly, Kai nodded his head, but he still refused to articulate his desires. Nimdok waited a few more seconds before he tried to guess: “More caf?”

Kai shook his head.

“Something to eat?”

A vigorous nod.

“Well, there’s some food in the fridge—” He pointed toward the kitchen. “Go ahead and make whatever you like. The kitchen is yours.”

Nimdok watched as Kai got up and approached the fridge, rifling through its contents. The doppelganger chose several items, eating them raw rather than prepared or cooked. He seemed to have a ravenous appetite, gorging himself on whatever edible materials he could get his hands on.

“Do you normally eat this much?” Nimdok asked.

<I have to eat a lot after I regenerate.> Pausing, Kai asked, <Do Shi’ido eat like this?>

“Oh, we eat a lot, but not… well, maybe a pregnant Shi’ido would eat the way you do,” Nimdok muttered. Recalling that doppelgangers, for all intents and purposes, reproduced asexually, he gave Kai a brief side-eye before sighing. He didn’t even want to go there.

Kai returned to the living room, plate in hand. Again Nimdok felt like Kai expected something from him. This time it was a little more obvious what he wanted.

"I owe you an explanation," Nimdok began. “I met your guardian on Chaldea around three years ago. I agreed to help her search for you. As far as I know, she should still be there, although I haven’t exactly been in contact with her since then…”

Continuing to snack, Kai asked, <What happened to her? I thought she was dead.>

“She—well, I should tell you about how I met her.” Nimdok took another sip of caf, then set his mug on the table. “I went to Chaldea to study the planet’s people and history for a book I was writing, but that was only the cover story. The real reason I went there was because I had heard Messala had been there and caused trouble. Messala is an old nemesis of mine. He kidnapped my wife and daughter, much like he did you, and experimented on them..." He sighed, not wanting to even think about what Messala had done to them. "But anyway, sure enough, during my visit to Chaldea I heard about a Finfolk woman named Gerda who seemed to be suffering from amnesia... she claimed to be a Bamarri, but no one believed her...”

He trailed off as he felt Kai reach out mentally, craving access to Nimdok’s memories of the meeting. The professor was willing to comply, letting him see...

<I need help.>

“Well, what do you need help with?”

In response, the mermaid raised her arm and pointed straight up at the sky.

<To find my friend,> she explained. <My friend was taken away by a satyr and a woman with the head of a jackal. They tried to kill me. I think they came from somewhere up there.>

“They tried to kill you? Is that what caused this to rip?”

<No. The jackal-woman struck me and I shattered. My spirit fled until I came upon this empty vessel and claimed it.>

Nimdok’s mind was racing. He was sure he had heard all of this before. Shattered… spirit fled… empty vessel… “Bumorri?” he said out loud. “No, uh… Bamarri? Yes! Bamarri.” He switched to professor mode. “I remember reading about them. They’re a very very rare species of beings native only to this planet—and by rare, I mean there’s usually only one in existence at a time. Their bodies are made out of fragile crystal, and if they are destroyed their spirits wander for three days before they must join with the Force. During those three days, they can supposedly live again by possessing the… the bodies of the dead.”

The pieces suddenly all fit together. Gerda’s suit had been compromised by the tear, probably in an accidental brush with some sharp rocks. She had drowned and her body had washed up on the shore, where it was possessed by the wandering spirit of a Bamarri—

“Kai,” Nimdok said in the present. As soon as he began to feel the doppelganger clawing at the barriers of his psyche with unrestrained hunger, he had closed off access to his mind. But Kai didn’t stop trying to get in. Trained as he was to resist such telepathic intrusions, Nimdok was still finding it difficult to keep up his impenetrable defense. “Kai.”

His tone was more forceful and commanding the second time around. Kai faltered, his gaze no longer distant with distracted longing. He retreated into himself, hugging his knees to his chest as he rocked back and forth.

<She couldn’t find me.>

“That’s why she asked for help,” Nimdok said gently. “And now that I’ve found you, I can reunite you with her.”

<By taking me back to Chaldea?> Kai’s brow furrowed. <But how will we get there if the Jedi are looking for me?>

“Well, if it’s that much of an issue, I could have her brought here. Either way, I think you had better tell me what happened to make the Jedi so upset with you.”

<That Jedi lady already told you what happened. I assaulted a civilian and four Jedi.>

“Something tells me there’s more to it than that.”

Kai winced, then looked away. <I wasn’t supposed to leave the Temple. Two of them found me outside, feeding on a gangster’s memories. I was going to take them and then tell the Jedi what I had found, so they could stop the criminals—but the two Jedi who found me didn’t understand. They attacked me just because they could sense the Dark Side in me...>

As he spoke, Kai projected fragmented images of the fateful encounter into Nimdok’s mind. The professor didn’t recognize either of the Jedi, and he understood the situation only through Kai’s terrified eyes. The fact that Kai had already developed a hunger for thoughts and memories was alarming, however.

<I got away, but then others came looking for me… no one wanted to listen. They just wouldn’t leave me alone… I didn’t mean to hurt anybody, but they gave me no choice!>

Nimdok opened his mouth, but was cut off before he could begin as the doppelganger’s emotions reached a feverish pitch.

<Damsy was right—they were just looking for an excuse to get rid of us. They don’t care about the Sithspawn they “save”. We’re just an obligation for them, something that they have to deal with. They’d rather kill us than go through the trouble of actually helping people that have been tainted by the Dark Side!>

“It’s not what goes into the body that defiles it, but what comes out of the mouth,” Nimdok said quietly. He waited to see if Kai had another outburst in store, but that seemed to be all for now. “What’s happened to you is a misunderstanding, true. Both the Jedi and you clearly made mistakes.”

<I can’t help it,> Kai shot back. <Even if I’m with Gerda again, it won’t change what I am.>

“I’m not willing to accept that there is no solution to this problem.” Nimdok picked up his mug. Realizing it was empty, he sighed and stood up to make some more caf. “There are things that can be done to integrate you into normal society, at the very least. Rehabilitation, therapy, isolation—”

The sudden sound of retching behind him brought him to a halt. He turned in time to see Kai crawl off the couch and onto the floor, vomiting up partially digested food tinged with blood.

The next few minutes were a blur as Nimdok dropped the mug, grabbed a trash can and the medkit. “Medisensor said nothing was wrong with you, clearly not the case...” he muttered, jerking open the kit while Kai continued to be sick into the trash. He didn’t know what else to do except try the sensor again and see if the readings were any different. No sooner had he activated the device, however, Nimdok’s danger sense sent a shiver down his spine. He rose to his feet, lightsaber in hand as he stretched out with his senses...

 

[Jacen Nimdok]

… and that was when the power went out.

“Drop the lightsaber, Nimmy, or your barfing friend gets it.”

Nimdok suppressed a sigh. Judging by the childish shortening of his surname and the electronically-distorted sound of the voice, one of Darth Xiphos’ infamous Neutralizers was here to kill and/or maim him. Sure enough, as Nimdok whirled around, he caught a glimpse of glowing red photoreceptors peering out at him from the shadows. Nimdok’s pupils appeared to glow white as he quickly gave himself nightvision to compensate. The Neutralizer’s metallic, skeletal face came into focus, along with the sonic blaster it was pointing at them.

“Please,” Nimdok said, his tone icy as he snarked back at the droid assassin. “If you’re going to make fun of my name, let it be my first name, not my last name.”

The Neutralizer’s threat, as far as he knew, was an empty scare tactic, part of their psychological warfare programming. Xiphos kept her Neutralizers on a tight leash; if this one was here to kill him, Nimdok didn’t believe for a second that it would intentionally harm someone else who just happened to be with him, let alone an apparent civilian who was currently vomiting on the floor.

“Not a whole lot you can do with a name as normal and boring as ‘Errik’...“ the Neutralizer pointed out, servos clanking as it shrugged its durasteel shoulders. Recovering its threatening tone, it snapped, “I wasn’t kidding—”

Nimdok flung his lightsaber above the would-be assassin droid. The blade sliced into the ceiling, sending chunks of plaster and duracrete raining down onto the Neutralizer. While not enough to crush it, the falling debris served as a brief distraction while Nimdok gathered the Force to him.

He unleashed a Force bellow which damaged the Neutralizer’s chassis and caused its electronic systems to go haywire. The scream was short-lived, however, as Nimdok’s concentration was abruptly broken by a telepathic cry of terror from Kai that echoed through his mind. Apparently the doppelganger suffered from a psychological phobia of vibrations. What an interesting discovery. What terrible timing.

Disoriented, the Neutralizer struggled to regain control. It had no idea what had caused Nimdok to halt his attack—but it wasn’t going to let the opportunity go to waste. It managed to levy its sonic blaster and fire at the professor, who narrowly dodged the shot, taking cover behind the couch as the blast shredded the cushions.

Once again Kai wailed, radiating pain and distress. Nimdok tried to calm him, spawning a bubble of Force energy to protect them both from the Neutralizer’s onslaught. Inside the bubble, the sonic blasts were muted.

Coldly calculating, the Neutralizer quickly switched its weapons. Surely the barrier would fail eventually, it reasoned. It only needed to wear down Nimdok’s willpower…

Bolts of electricity dissipated harmlessly against the shield. Orange flames were diverted, licking at the walls like the wings of a firebird, followed by blasts of cryo that created plumes of steam and chunks of cloudy ice that shattered as they fell to the floor.

Nimdok knew he couldn’t hold out forever. He was still working out a strategy in his head when the miasma of the Dark Side hit him, as potent as the stench of Kai’s tainted blood and bile. Oh Force, he thought. Is one of Xiphos' witch allies here as well...?

That was before he saw Kai lunge through the barrier, flinging himself at the Neutralizer. For a few moments the two grappled together, the doppelganger matching the Neutralizer in terms of physical strength. Nimdok wanted to help, but he was still protecting himself from the Neutralizer’s attacks.

Kai began to morph and warp, flesh seeping like slime into the tiny cracks that had already formed in the droid’s chassis, tearing at wires and secreting acid onto vulnerable internal circuitry. The Neutralizer began to malfunction, sputtering and sparking, but Kai still didn’t stop. It looked almost as if he was trying to absorb the droid, the way an urartu will digest entire animals whole in the wild.

Perhaps assuming it was being sabotaged with the intent of capture by the enemy, the Neutralizer, in a last programmed act of desperation, initiated a self-destruct sequence. This time Nimdok did act. He rushed forward, grabbing Kai and pulling him away, enveloping them both in the protective bubble once more—

The next thing he knew, they were lying on the ground outside the smoldering remains of the safehouse. He wasn’t sure if they had run out the door or been thrown through one of the blown out transparisteel windows. Nimdok picked Kai up and dragged him further away, past the burning slag of his rented airspeeder and a growing crowd of shocked onlookers coming out of the other apartments nearby. The two made it to the other side of the street before Kai began to fight him.

<You said you could help me! You said this place was safe!>

Weathering his blows with grit teeth, Nimdok tried to calm him. “Kai, stop—please—I can still help you—”

<Let me go!>

A kick aimed at his gut sent Nimdok sprawling. Kai was already fleeing by the time the professor got back on his feet, leaping over the edge of a platform.

“Kai!” Nimdok shouted, running after him. He caught a glimpse of the doppelganger swinging by a grapple from building to building. Nimdok looked around, hearing the sound of distant sirens approaching, then shook his head and jumped.

It only took him a few seconds to change form, becoming an unusually large hawk bat in midair. His new wings carried him after Kai, chasing the wayward doppelganger across Coruscant.

 

[Jacen Nimdok]

Airspeeders zoomed past as Nimdok flew after his quarry, wings spread to catch the night wind.

<Kai!>

There was no response. Nimdok called upon the Force to increase the speed of his flight.

<Kai, listen to me! I can still help you! Where are you going?>

His telepathic call was met with a chaotic torrent of flashing images and negative emotions. Kai was in great distress, so much so that he seemed beyond the medium of coherent communication. It was as if he had regressed to a primitive, animalistic state.

Nimdok considered calling for backup. He had friends and allies here on Coruscant that could assist him in catching the doppelganger. But he didn’t want to scare Kai any more than he already was…

Eventually, Nimdok lost sight of Kai’s swinging body. He continued to track him with the Force, barreling through the late night traffic, but then that too faded from his perception. Kai’s unique signature began to blend in with that of a large group of people, becoming lost in the crowd.

At least that gave Nimdok a clue as to where the doppelganger had gone. With his enhanced vision, he spotted the gleaming lights of a popular nightclub full of patrons. Landing just outside it, he transformed in the shadows, emerging once again in the form of the notorious professor—though he had changed his polyweave clothing into a jumpsuit to allow him greater mobility. He headed for the club entrance.

“Hang on a minute,” the bouncer stopped him. “You don’t look like the type for this place.”

“Oh, I’m very much the type,” Nimdok said, his tone deepening as he channeled the Force. “You’ll let me pass.”

“I’ll let you pass,” the bouncer agreed, moving to one side.

Nimdok nodded and entered the building. Immediately he was awash in darkness, punctuated by the glare of multi-colored lights and the pulse of throbbing music. People were dancing or lounging around with drinks in hand, some clearly under the influence of more than mere alcohol. He opened himself to the Force, but couldn’t detect Kai specifically out of the cluster of souls.

In a corner of the bar, a security guard spoke into the comlink in his ear, looking around worriedly. Nimdok was able to pick up his words.

“Somebody sick on the second floor… should we call a medic?...”

Nimdok headed up the stairs, taking the steps two at a time. He emerged on the second floor to find a small crowd gathered around a slumped figure. Kai’s flesh rippled and writhed. He’d lost control of his ability to hold a single form.

“I’m a doctor,” Nimdok said to the others. “Move aside, please.”

The crowd parted for him, but Kai leaped to his feet, scattering the rest of the startled clubgoers. Amid the gasps and cries of the people around him, a single telepathic sentence pierced through it all straight to Nimdok’s brain.

<Stay away from me!>

Had he spoken it aloud, it might have been a wail of despair. Pain radiated off of Kai in waves as he stumbled, barely able to stand.

<You need help,> Nimdok tried to reason with him. <At the very least, let me help you find a cure for this sickness.>

<I just need to feed,> Kai babbled. Nimdok suspected he was delirious. <If I can feed I can survive… I just need to…>

A bewildered woman standing nearby began to scream, clutching at her head. Nimdok pulled out his beamer and fired at Kai, but the doppelganger dodged and took off running with greater speed than his weakened state would suggest. Nimdok gave chase, still firing on the stun setting. By now bystanders were screaming and rushing toward the exits, trying to get away. Nimdok pushed his way through the fleeing bodies, his focus fixed on Kai.

The doppelganger got caught in a dead end—a large but enclosed area used for dancing. Holographic screens and bright lights towered up the walls, casting weird lights on the two shapeshifters as they were brought to a screeching halt.

Nimdok tried one last time to reason with him. “Kai—”

He was cut off by a sudden stabbing sensation in his head, as though someone had buried a knife in his skull. Fighting back against it, he took hold of the tendrils of Force power emanating from his attacker and tied them in knots.

Kai’s fury grew to the point where Nimdok became convinced he was channeling the Dark Side. The doppelganger reached out with the Force and jerked the beamer from Nimdok’s hand, then rushed forward, striking out at him with hands that had formed into crude claws. Nimdok evaded his swipes and kicks, though one slash to his gut managed to connect. Nimdok winced as the claw marks gouged his flesh, drawing forth black blood. For someone who was delirious and in enough pain that Nimdok could feel it by proxy, Kai certainly didn’t pull any of his punches. Nimdok was going to need to switch tactics if he was going to survive, let alone end this quickly.

The next time Kai aimed a kick at his middle, Nimdok dodged it, grabbed hold of the doppelganger’s leg and flung him at one of the walls. Kai crashed into the holographic screen, sending a shower of sparks flying in every direction. Before he could recover, Nimdok was upon him, striking hard and fast, but never with enough force to kill. He was no great martial artist, but he knew how to fight.

Under normal circumstances, Kai’s body would have regenerated the wounds sustained from each blow. Instead, dark bruises appeared wherever Nimdok struck, ugly splotches that did not clear up. As Kai crumpled to the floor, Nimdok immediately ceased his barrage. The doppelganger lay on his side, black liquid spewing from the corner of his distorted mouth. This vomit was devoid of bile or food content—at this point it was nothing but blood.

Nimdok knelt down beside him. “Kai, I didn’t want to have to do this,” he groaned, his abdomen smarting where Kai had clawed him.

<Dagon…> Kai’s thoughts were weak and choppy with delirium. <Sorry… tell Dagon… sorry… >

“You’re not going to die,” Nimdok insisted, reaching out to carry the doppelganger. Like a Shi’ido, his mental state was affecting his physical form, making his body writhe and churn, malleable as putty. Nimdok worked his own flesh into his, grasping the shifting mass in a tight embrace. “I’m going to take care of you…”

“Master Nimdok.”

He turned, coming face to face with Alema Rhysode, flanked by a squad of Jedi Knights and a small army of blaster-wielding foot soldiers.

“You are under arrest,” she said. “For assaulting a Jedi and for obstruction of justice. Hand over the Sithspawn, and perhaps you can minimize the shame you’ve brought down upon yourself tonight.”

“He’s in dire need of medical attention,” Nimdok said. The front of his polyweave jumpsuit was stained with black blood, both Kai’s and his own. “I’ll submit to your custody, but you must help him.”

“That is none of my concern—”

“If you don’t, he will die,” Nimdok snapped, his patience running thin.

“—because I am not a doctor,” Alema finished irritably. “I’ll give him to our healers for treatment once we reach the Temple. Now hand him over and put your hands up…”