Public What do you do when all your friends are dead?

[Dominik Borra]

I blinked at the terminal screen that I had finally gotten working. In the corner it had the date and year written. 859 ABY. How in the... Last I recalled, it had been 849 ABY. Ten years? I had been asleep that long? Talk about a broken alarm clock.

I had awoken in the complete and utter darkness, seemingly suspended in the space. At first, I thought that I had died. Getting shot in the back and then waking up like this will make you think that. I had wondered if I had done too much wrong in the galaxy to earn any other afterlife. I had gone along with the brutal but effective training under Sith Lords to combat Jedi and rouge Sith alike. I hadn't any force powers, nor did any of the others in the project. But we all were skilled and plucked from our previous homes. I had helped the One Sith take multiple planets, murder Jedi and political figures, flatten military bases, you name it. I had left eventually when my only real friend decided to turn his back on the Dark Side, and I had helped. Lost an arm and an eye for that one, but it was worth it to help him.

Then I had worked a little mercenary work, being a bodyguard of sorts and working with others in The Free Colonies. I had gained armor, weapons, gear, and most importantly, friends. Allies and a home. The closest one like me could get to 'family' in this crazy galaxy.

And that's when I was thrown into a bacta tank from getting shot. And no one had come to wake me up.

I had been in Bacta tanks before, so after floating in the darkness and reviewing my life for a good hour or so, I noticed the slings holding my shoulders and the straps of the breathing tube around my mouth. I wasn't in an endless expanse of darkness, just a small tube of it. And all the lights were out. I won't go into detail, but it's sufficient to say that I got out of there. It wasn't easy doing it alone in the dark, and I may have fallen to the ground in a wet and breathless heap afterward, but I did it.

The small medical bay of a base I was vaguely familiar with flicked into view as I turned on a light. Honestly, I was surprised that it worked. Looking around the place, I was able to find some clothes and head out. They weren't really my size, or for my sex, even. But I had gone out to the closest Cantina I could find, got into a fight with some Mandalorians that, for some reason, were all together in the same bar without knowledge of each other. I then came back here after that good glass of wake-up-juice to look around some more. I was able to get this terminal working and connected to the network, and then noticed the date jump as it synched.

I looked through news headlines through the past 10 or so years just to make sure the computer wasn't screwy. It was true. The One Sith was dead, and so was the New Republic. Only a handful of intergalactic nations stood now, most of them neutral or Dark-side aligned.

Using the network I tried to get word to one of my contacts here on Taris, some on Coruscant, and half a dozen other systems. Finally, I tried a message to Vaulkhar , Kay-Larr , and James Justice . I then found sleep on the bunk in the corner of the medbay. By the next morning, there was no response. From any of them. A few more searches for names and locations told me what I needed to know. Anybody I knew personally was either dead or were hiding somewhere that the network couldn't find them. Or I hadn't put the right words into the search bar. I'm... not that good with computers.

What do you do when all your friends are dead? I had barely gotten them, and now here I was...

All my life, I had been one with skills and was directed towards some goal. I... the more I thought about it, I had honestly always been someone's tool at some point or another. I had only barely begun to break that mold before now. I had no real place to go or anyone to seek out. I was the exact same as one of those surgeon's scalpels in the drawer next to me as I leaned back against the terminal desk. Left to gather dust. Left for someone else, anyone else, without regard or care. Without someone else giving orders, or at least guidance, I really had no idea what to do.

So, I wandered. I was able to get my hands on more fitting clothes, but that didn't mean nicer. Dirty coats and jackets layered on top of each other, beaten pants. My hair had grown long, grazing my shoulders, and looked like it had been soaking in bacta for a decade. Not good, if you couldn't imagine it. 'Unkempt' and 'Ragged' was getting close to describing it.

I was leaning my head against the wall of some train or other. I held a bottle of some cheap booze in my hand. It was almost empty. I wasn't a drinker at all. I'm honestly not sure how I fell into it. The train went from stop to stop, to stop, to stop. And I just sat there.

What planet was I even on now?

 

[Kuxirra Tano-Bonteri]

Kuxirra stepped into the train. Sensing Dominik Borra , she looked in his direction and subtly moved to stand by him. "You're confused, too, huh? Trust me, it'll get better...I hope." She sighed, fidgeting with her arm guards absentmindedly. "We all get disoriented sometimes. I'm Kuxirra, by the way. Padawan Kuxirra Tano-Bonteri."

 

[Dominik Borra]

Even with the alcohol in my system, I still picked up instantly when someone was coming towards me. I didn't move, but sat there, watching this Togruta( Kuxirra Tano-Bonteri )walk up to me to speak in my peripheral. From what I could make out without moving my eyes was that they were a force user. No one else dressed like that.

She spoke to me about things getting better, then introduced herself. I frowned at that and turned my eyes to her and then to look around the train, then back to her. "Announcing yourself like that," I said, my voice gravelly, "is a good way to get killed. You don't know who could be listening."

 

[Kuxirra Tano-Bonteri]

The Padawan smiled softly. "I think I can take care of myself." She said in a low voice. "I'm bad at social stuff, but I'm fairly certain that when someone introduces themselves, it's polite to introduce yourself." She said softly, her face breaking out into a grin

 

[Dominik Borra]

I stared at her a little blankly. She seemed genuine, and that soft smile couldn't belong on a Sith. Plus she was just a kid. My hind-brains told me that I could take her in a fight, but my forebrain tried, slogged down by the alcohol, to push that thought aside.

"I'm-" I said before breaking into a small coughing fit. I had to clear my throat rather loudly after that. I took that time to try and think of whether or not it would be good for me to give myself away, but the alcohol was stopping those thoughts from getting too far. After 10 years and the One Sith being dead, who would still be looking for me? "Call me Dominik. And I'm usually better at the social stuff. Sorry." I apologized.

 

[Kuxirra Tano-Bonteri]

Kuxirra chuckled at Dominik Borra 's comment. "It's fine. It's nice to meet you, Dominik. Where are you from?" She knew he was drunk—she could smell the alcohol on his breath, but she wasn't trying to take advantage of that, only make friendly conversation.

 

[Dominik Borra]

My brows furrowed at the question and I thought vigorously. This karked alcohol was getting in the way, what was the stuff made of? I set the bottle aside and heaved deep breaths in and out.

"I'm not really sure, I forget the name." I said. "But I haven't been there since I was a child. Don't think I would even recognize the place if I went back." I huffed a chuckle. "I haven't had a real home in a long time." I shook my head. "What about you?" I asked. "Or rather, what side of the force are you on?"

 

[Kuxirra Tano-Bonteri]

"I was born on ShiliI, but I left as a baby. I was raised somewhere else, away from my family." She said, her voice almost a whisper. "Like the rest of my family, I'm a Grey Jedi, but I've only been one for a few months." She said, keeping her voice down.

 

[Dominik Borra]

I felt my eyebrow raise. "A Padawan, then?" I nodded thoughtfully. She was about the right age. "Tell me, does the Grey Jedi lean towards the dark or light these days? And what do you think about them?"

 

[Kuxirra Tano-Bonteri]

Kuxirra nodded. "Yeah. A Padawan." At his next question, she thought carefully. "Our aim is balance. I was raised in Darkness, so I'm searching the Light. I'm trying to learn Form Zero." She meditated briefly—a few seconds—before giving her next answer. "They're wonderful. They don't push me past my limits. They're good to me."

 

[Dominik Borra]

I couldn't help but smile at her answer. Grey Jedi still used the dark, but they weren't Sith. Not yet, at least. "Take it from one who knows kid," I said, then cleared my throat again to get my voice sounding a tad more normal. "Keep in the light. The Dark side has nothing you want. Form Zero will be your greatest solution to peace." I believed that your limits needed to be pushed so you could handle more, do more, but she was just a kid. The scars on her midriff told me that she already had pushed some limits in her life.

 

[Kuxirra Tano-Bonteri]

Kuxirra nodded. "My parents told me that a psychopathic scientist kidnapped me as a baby. I was experimented on. Now my senses are sharper. My reflexes faster. I'm stronger and have more stamina. I was trained as a super soldier. Thing is, I can't bear to hurt anyone. It pains me to see the suffering of others, but to cause it..." She shook her head. "I am trained in several forms of combat. I will use them only to defend those who can't protect themselves." Though she was only sixteen, it was clear that she was determined to help others.

 

[Dominik Borra]

I lifted both of my eyebrows this time. That was quite something to happen to you. It was more or less what happened to me, minus the kidnapping and experimentation, and add in years of using those abilities. Maybe if I had gotten out sooner, I would have been better off, like her. One eyebrow was lifted for that. My other eyebrow lifted for the fact that she was just telling me all of this. Did the force bring her to me? If it did, I would have no real clue as to why. That's what asking questions are for, I supposed. "Kuxirra, why did you come talk to me?" I asked after a moment. "I mean, I'm just a bum on a train." I knew what I looked and smelled like. It was to make people avoid me, leave me alone. It then clicked in my head as to why I was drinking.

 

[Kuxirra Tano-Bonteri]

Kuxirra shrugged. "Maybe it's because you're a bum on a train. I've found that if someone's in trouble or confused or something and needs help, I feel a need to help them. It's who I am."

 

[Dominik Borra]

I thought about that for a moment, then couldn't help but break into a wide, toothy smile. "A lot of the galaxy is full of the Dark side, and here comes the Light to tell me it's still around." I said, shaking my head lightly. "You could be a full fledged Jedi of the Light if you wanted to." I commented. "If they're still around... are they?" I asked, a little hopeful.

 

[Kuxirra Tano-Bonteri]

Kuxirra nodded. "Yes. The Jedi of the Light are still around, but I feel the path of the Grey Jedi is the one for me."

 

[Dominik Borra]

I chuckled, wanting to continue to debate about how she, who didn't want to hurt anybody aside from self-defense, probably wouldn't fit in with Grey Jedi too well, but wouldn't. I didn't know her.

As I understood the force, the Grey Jedi used both Light and Dark emotions to fuel their abilities and desires. Sounded like a slippery slope down to the Darkside to me, but the order had stood for much longer than I would have supposed it to. Either way, the Dark side necessitated using darker emotions of hate and fear for greed and power, personal pleasures. As far as she had stated, she was the opposite of that, fully on the Light side of the Force.

All I said was, "One day you'll look in the mirror and find that either the robes don't look good on you, or you had changed to match the robes." I then looked around, taking note of my surroundings. "Hey, where... are we?" I asked.

 

[Kuxirra Tano-Bonteri]

"Coruscant." Kuxirra said, also looking around. "It's my first time here, too. Don't ask what level, though. I'm still figuring that stuff out." She smiled

 

[Dominik Borra]

I almost fell out of my seat when she said the name of the city-planet. And then the train must have rocked or something, because I actually fell down onto the floor. "We're... what?" I asked before standing to my feet and looked out the window. "How did I get here?" I asked aloud. "And on level 348, no less. Or, are we on 548?" I mused to myself. I had been on most levels of the city at some point or other. I didn'tknow them like the back of my hand or anything, but I could recognize the signs. Literal signs, I mean. "They look the same to me."

I turned to her, picking up my mostly empty bottle. "Why are you on Coruscant?"

 

[Kuxirra Tano-Bonteri]

Kuxirra shrugged. "Why not? I've been on the same planet since I was three months old and now I'm finally free from that wretched place. I want to see more of the galaxy. Get some experience. I never learned much in the way of culture, and as someone once told one of my ancestors, 'experience outranks everything.' I'm not looking to outrank anyone, though. I'm just eager to learn, and experience is the best teacher."