Some People Change:

A SW:KOTOR Novelization

By Elina Trevisan

Elina Trevisan: Welcome, everyone, to Some People Change. This is going to be a veeery long story, and as such I'm breaking it up into several parts. I'd like to say to start off that you don't have to have played KOTOR in order to understand this fanfic. You need only have basic understanding of Star Wars. I think that I've put enough extra bits in here for long time fans of the game to understand it, though. This first chapter is short, but most of them are much longer. Oh yes, and the title is taken from a Montgomery Gentry song. Many thanks to my brother, Gravaja Umbros, for beta reading.

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic or any of its characters. I own only this specific personality and appearance of the main character and whatever extra things that I've stuck in.

Prologue

Four thousand years before the rise of the Galactic Empire, the Republic verges on collapse. Darth Malak, last surviving apprentice of the Dark Lord Revan, has unleashed an invincible Sith armada upon an unsuspecting galaxy.

Crushing all resistance, Malak's war of conquest has left the Jedi Order scattered and vulnerable as countless Knights fall in battle, and many more swear allegiance to the new Sith master.

- - - - -

Catra opened her eyes and closed them immediately. The room was bright, causing her eyes to sting and water. Every slight sound caused her head to ache. Since she wasn’t able to see anything, she stretched out her other senses in an attempt to discover what was going on. Wherever she was, it was cold. She was covered in a rough blanket and lying on a hard bed. The room smelled strongly of disinfectants.

“Doctor,” a male voice said. “I think that she’s conscious.”

“This is amazing,” a woman said. Catra heard footsteps as someone approached her. “She’s healing at a remarkable rate. I thought that she would have had to stay in the kolto tank for another two weeks, at least.”

“Doctor,” the man repeated, sounding irritated.

“Oh, yes, of course.” Catra heard some footsteps and then one of her eyes was pried open. After a brief flash of light, it was allowed to close again. “Pupil dilation for the left eye is good.” The procedure was repeated in the other eye. “Both eyes. Very good. Temperature is normal. Blood pressure is normal. Brain activity is…”

“I think that she’s fine, doctor,” the man said sharply. Catra opened her eyes again and forced them to stay open. Once her vision had cleared, she saw a man in brown Jedi robes standing next to a woman in a doctor’s uniform.

“Hello,” the woman said, smiling kindly at her. “How are you feeling?”

“Where am I?” Catra asked, her voice hoarse. She thought that she smelled something familiar on her breath. It took her a moment to register it as the scent of kolto, the fluid used throughout the galaxy for healing.

“I suppose that you are confused by all of this. You’re in a hospital on Polmanar.”

“Hospital?” Catra murmured. Polmanar sounded familiar enough, and it explained the kolto.

“That’s right. Do you remember what happened?”

“I was… on the bridge,” Catra said. She closed her eyes and tried to concentrate. “There was a flash of light.”

“You’re correct,” the Jedi said. “There was a malfunction in your ship’s hyperdrive as you left hyperspace. It caused a cascade failure in several other systems. Once the cascade reached your fuel stores, it blew apart half of your ship. You were lucky to survive. Your ship had already cleared the atmosphere, so you were just falling to the ground. We managed to find you before you hit the ground, otherwise you would have been killed.”

“A cascade failure?” Catra muttered, more to herself than the Jedi. That didn’t sound right.

“Yes.”

“Where’s my ship?”

“I’m afraid that there isn’t much left of it. It’s impossible to repair. All of your possessions were lost, except for some of your clothes.” He kicked a brown bag that sat next to him. “This is all that’s left. The remains of your ship are at the Republic base, so that you may decide what to do with them. I think that the only thing that you could possibly do is sell them for scrap.”

Catra bit her lip. This man was a Jedi, champions of justice and all that, but she had to know. “I had… some cargo,” she said hesitantly.

“The spice was destroyed in the explosion. We found trace amounts of it in the wreckage, but your shipment is gone.”

Catra closed her eyes. All of that glitterstim, gone. The Hutts were going to have her head on a platter. That was going to be her last shipment, too. With the credits she was going to earn from that run, she was going to retire. Go live on some out of the way Rim world, try to avoid the bounty hunters that would inevitably follow. While this shipment would have gotten the Sleheyron Hutts off of her back, the Republic (not to mention about a hundred various other more minor groups) still had their problems with her.

She opened her eyes again and looked at the Jedi. “I suppose that you’re going to arrest me now?”

“Not now!” The doctor said, moving to stand protectively between her patient and the Jedi. “She needs rest, something you can’t get in jail. I don’t know exactly what she’s done, but-“

“I’m not here to make an arrest,” the Jedi said, holding out a reassuring hand to the doctor. “Madam, please get back to your work,” he said to the doctor, nodding to the door.

“I think that my work is here,” she said firmly. She folded her arms across her chest defiantly.

“If you’re concerned about the safety of your patient, I can assure you that she will be safe. However, I have something that I need to discuss with her in private. Please.” He raised his arm to indicate the door.

The doctor bit her lip and looked between Catra and the Jedi. “Fine,” she muttered. “But we do have security cameras here.”

“I only wish to speak with her.” The doctor walked out the door, closing it behind her. Once she was gone, the Jedi pulled a datapad from his robes. “Catra Nasan, notorious smuggler. Wanted for charges of smuggling, escaping from justice, breaking and entering into a Republic base, assault of a member of the Republic fleet, murder, and… well… the list goes on. With the combination of all of these charges, the punishment is death.” Catra nodded, but didn’t respond. “As you well know, I am a member of the Jedi Order, and could easily take you into custody so that you may receive this sentence.” He put the datapad back into his robes. “What would you give to receive a full pardon?”

Catra’s eyes widened and she sat up, ignoring the lightheadedness that came with it. If it had been anyone else, she would have thought that they were joking. But he was a Jedi, and seemed quite serious. “Why would the Republic want to give me a pardon?”

“You know that we’re at war. Darth Malak’s forces gain more ground each day. The Fleet could use someone of your… expertise.”

“I’m a criminal,” Catra said bluntly. “How will you ensure my loyalty?”

He smiled slightly at her candor. “You may be a criminal, but your record clearly shows that you are loyal to the Republic. You have never done anything to hurt the Republic in the long run, and many of your actions have actually been harmful to the Sith.” She recognized this as true, and did not refute it. He smirked even more. “Besides, your record will not be wiped clean until after you have given one year of service to the Republic forces. It will simply be suspended. We will also take care of your… unofficial… bounties.”

“Sounds like a pretty good deal. What’s the catch?” In Catra’s experience, nothing like this came without strings attached.

He tried to appear innocent, failing completely. “There is no catch.”

Catra snorted, but didn’t respond. “When do I start?”

The Jedi smiled. “As soon as you are discharged, you will be sent to a training center, where you will be taught about all of the ins and outs of the Republic fleet. Ensign Nasan.”

Catra groaned.