KotOR I: Orin Dakall

“I...” The indignancy slid from his voice as he remembered some of the things he’d... He’d backed her into a wall, accusing her of being a spy. He sighed. “Okay, I give up. You win.”



Orin looked up. “I win? Win what?”



“The argument.”



“Oh,” she said, disappointed. “I already knew that.” She looked around. “Think Mish got eaten by the rancor?”



“Not a clue,” Carth said, now looking at her with curiosity. “You don’t want your prize?”



She clapped her hands together. “We’re giving out prizes to the victor now? What is it?”



Carth hesitated. This was like handing a child a bomb to play with. I owe her. “Someone to talk to.”



“Um... I already talk to you.”



“Talking that doesn’t require fighting first.”



Orin looked intrigued. “What will we talk about?”



“You’re the victor, remember?”



“Oh, that’s not fair. You’ll never get to pick.”



“Just pick,” he said through gritted teeth.



She shrugged. “You already know what I want to know.”



Yeah. Yeah, I do. He studied his hands. “When I think of all the men... and women,” he couldn’t help adding, “who have betrayed us, the one that stands out above them all is the one I respected most. Saul.”



“What, the Admiral? Or a different Saul?”



“Admiral Saul Karath,” Carth said darkly. “Commander of the Sith fleet and half the reason Malak’s done so well in the war.”



“Half? Wouldn’t that make him as... Sorry, go on.”



“Saul was my commanding officer back when the Mandalorian Wars first began. He taught me everything about being a soldier... and I looked up to him.”



“So, you learned your strict moral code from a Sith?” She couldn’t help a smug smile. “Obviously a lesson to be learned there. Loose morals are far harder to stray from.”



“Will you shut up and let me finish?!” he snapped.



She looked... contrite. “Sorry.”



“Saul approached me before he left. Talked to me about how the Republic was on the losing side, and how I should start thinking of my survival.” He shook his head. “I know now that he was trying to recruit me into the Sith, but I couldn’t have conceived of it back then. I argued with him. He got angry and left. I haven’t seen him since.”



“How could you not have seen through that?” Orin asked in disbelief, then clapped her hand over her mouth.



Carth looked at her coldly, then gave a half-hearted shrug. “I didn’t want to, maybe. Are you so sure you would have?”



Orin kept her hand firmly in place.



“Saul was my mentor... he led us to so many victories against the Mandalorians, even when things looked to be at their worst.”



Well, so did Revan, Orin couldn’t help thinking.



“I just... I couldn’t conceive of it. He... he couldn’t be serious.” He made a helpless gesture. “I was wrong, of course... he not only left us for the Sith, he... he gave them the codes to bypass our scanners.”



He pulled his knees up to his chest, wrapping his arms around them.



“I remember waking up as the first of the Sith bombers snuck past our defenses and began destroying half our docked ships. I knew right away what had happened. And I... could have stopped him. I could have stopped it all.” He rested his head wearily on his knees.



Orin lowered her hand. “So you blame yourself for trusting your friend?” she asked softly.



“I blame Saul, not myself.” He looked up at her. “I was stupid and I ignored the danger. He nearly destroyed us all.” His head turned as he heard footsteps. Mission was slowly walking towards them. “If I ever catch up to him,” he said lowly, “he will regret what he’s done. He will regret it.”



“I’d do the same thing in your shoes,” she replied with a nod and a surprising amount of sincerity.



Carth wasn’t sure if he appreciated her concurrence, or if he now had to rethink whether it was a good idea.



“The rancor’s ahead. The rest of the rooms are just a couple dead ends. I already looted them.”



Orin nodded her approval and stood. Maybe babysitting won’t be the disaster I thought it’d be. Or at least not quite as catastrophic.



“Uh, thanks,” Carth said.



Orin looked over and realized that her hand was outstretched. He took it and she pulled him up.



“Let’s go,” she said, gesturing for Mission to lead the way.



They reached a long ramp and Mission hesitated. “You aren’t really going to fight the rancor monster, right?”



“I wasn’t planning to,” Carth offered.



“Why wouldn’t we?” Orin asked. “We’ll kill rakghouls and Gamorreans that get in our way, but not rancors?”



“I believe the idea is to fight the battles you can win and avoid the rest.”



“That’s stupid,” she said, heading down the ramp.



“How? How is that stupid?” she heard him ask after her. “Hey!” He caught up with her. “Because Mission and I don’t want to die fighting something we can’t handle?”



“You don’t know you can’t handle it,” she said. “What if you can? What if you are stronger than a rancor?”



He looked at her as though she might be a little mad. “Why do you do this? The dueling ring, the needless fights.” He reached up to take her shoulder, pausing a breath away when he saw her eyes narrow. “Do... do you have a death wish?”



Oh the melodrama. “Nope. Much simpler explanation.” She started down the ramp again. “I’m not afraid of a challenge.”