Ch. 31: Distorted
Title: Distorted Fandom: SWTOR/Star Wars The Old Republic Characters: Zandromeda Kenobi (Republic Trooper) Word Count: 1,568 words Synopsis: Zandi faces off with her most difficult opponent yet, only the battlefield isn't one she is used to, not grounded in physical reality. Warnings: This is the 31st chapter and pretty much in the endgame of the Wraiths of the Past fic for my Trooper. If you wish to be unspoiled and read the other 30 chapters, the fic is located here on Ao3
under a cut for length!
Everything was…distorted. Weirdly distorted. Zandi recognized the cityscape of Coruscant…her home. Her real home. The Coruscant sunset with amber and golden hues falling in soft painted strokes over the buildings. But it wasn’t her home…It wasn’t actually Coruscant. Not really. She could feel it as much as see it. There were too many bits of Nar Shaddaa-esque bits littering the area around her. Strangely placed holos, signs, and even architecture in the same bold and gaudy colors of the Smuggler’s Moon. It was as if someone had taken both planets and very meticulously blended them together. Turning around, however, the difference became utterly stark. The Senate Plaza ended with a dramatic flair as the Nar Shaddaa Promenade began. Complete with the ostentatious Golden Statues of a Hutt. She’d long forgotten the name but… it was definitely something she recalled from her early childhood on Nar Shaddaa. Still, the statue was so utterly and ridiculously out of place in the otherwise well-blended cityscape that Zandi finally frowned. The confusion she was feeling finally showing. “What the…” She murmured. “Do you not recognize your own mind?” Came the deep, gravelly voice of The Terentatek. Zandi’s eyes darted about, searching every shadow as she whirled around. There was no sign of the large cyborg…save his low voice. “What is this?” Zandi demanded, fed up with whatever game this man was trying to play. She scanned the area around her, searching for him. “Don’t ask me, Zandomeda,” He replied, sounding amused by her confusion. “Only you can really know the answer to that. This is your mind, after all.” Zandi had to temper the panic that was trying to rise, induced by her state of confusion, uncertainty as well as the fact that she could hear this bastard but not see him. Her frown deepened as his words echoed about… Your mind… An image, distorted just like that of their surroundings took shape in front of her. It was strange and…rather unsettling to see the very memory she was recalling actually appear and play out before her. It even winked out of existence before the cables that were meant to connect to her cybernetic implants actually reached her. Unsettling and…terrifying as the pieces continued to click into place for her. “What the kriff did you do?” Zandi nearly shouted, glaring at everything she glanced at. “Stop hiding and show yourself!” Her anger laced through her words as it surged through her causing the sky and the sunset to shift in response to her emotions. Dark, heavy clouds rolled through the sky at a rapid pace on a low rumble of thunder. Streaks of lightning could be seen flashing in the distance. Her attention, however, was on the dark towering figure rather than the way the cityscape was responding to her. The Terentatek had stepped out of the shadows from behind the large Hutt statue and into her view. The smile he was giving her was one of malicious intent clearly born of whatever insanity it was that plagued him. The twisted metal and cybernetic shifted to pull at the skin hidden. A grotesque smile… There was no hint of the father she once knew. He was worse. Zandromeda couldn’t really say she had good memories of him. Her mother had left him when Zandi had been very young. What she did remember was…not this man. Not this level of monster. “Come now, you are smart enough to figure out what we need to do,” The Terentatek said, chiding her as if he was expecting better. “We must remind you just who you are, where you come from…And it is not Coruscant…” “Oh, I know who I am,” Zandi said, her voice level but cold as her eyes narrowed. “Forcibly brainwashing me to suddenly calling you dear ol’ dad and going on your crazy picnics sure as hell isn’t going to change a damn thing.” His smile vanished, leaving cold, icy anger in its place. “Choosing the hardest path isn’t always the wisest course of action, Zandromeda,” He warned. “Must run in the family,” She sneered. “You have-“ “Get out of my head and kriff off!” There was a feeling of
unbridled rage that rolled through the sudden rush of air she felt. It wasn’t her rage…She blinked and suddenly found him merely a few inches in front of her, towering over. He reached out and before she could react, pull away, his hand wrapped around her neck and lifted. “You will not speak to your father in such a disrespectful tone!” The Terentatek snarled, his rage barely contained in his voice. Her hands gripped his wrist for leverage and an attempt to get him to release her. His grip tightened just enough to make it difficult to breathe but not completely cutting her oxygen off. “Discipline will go a long way with you.” Despite trying to drag in more air than he was allowing her, Zandi narrowed her ice-cold glare on him, defiance sparkling like flames in the emerald depths just as more lightning flashed in the sky. “You’re not…my father…” She snarled right back, though it was hoarse. The Terentatek roared in his rage and with strength, she hadn’t expected he bodily threw her into the duracrete wall of a nearby building. The force behind the throw and her own impact was such the wall gave way. Pain exploded over her back and shoulders, making her see stars. Tumbling through the ruined wall and landing with a hard thunk on solid ground didn’t do much to stave off the dazed feeling. Moving on ingrained instinct, she pulled herself backward, trying to shake her head clear. She needed to move, and fast. She needed to get a weapon, find suitable cover, or simply a damn good place to hide so she could figure out some way to get him out of her head. Not to mention some way for her to wake up. Heavy booted footsteps sounded from beyond the ruined wall, snapping her attention from her thoughts. A cruel, angry laugh sounded, rumbling along with the thunder snapping in the sky. “Foolish,” The Terentatek said. “I can hear your thoughts, Zandromeda. Your mind is an open book to me now.” She rolled away, instead of saying anything. Spying a doorway, she hauled herself to her feet and moved towards it, stumbling slightly. If he could hear her then anything she planned would be pretty much on broadcast. Just like now. Of course, she didn’t really trust anything he said but it wouldn’t surprise her. Pushing the door open, she entered the room that looked like a mix of a Nar Shaddaa Cantina and General Garza’s office. Ignoring the weird melded room, she pushed forward, looking for another door. How in the Force was she going to do anything if this man was- That was it. They were in her mind. Not his. She wasn’t sure what she could really do but this wasn’t a physical battlefield…It was mental. Despite her current situation and the way she was moving through doors of whatever bizarrely melded building she was in, she couldn’t help but roll her eyes at the use of the word mental. It was both literal and well… this whole situation was… Shut up and move, Zandi, she told herself. He was moving, his footsteps and the whirring, clicking, and such from his mostly cybernetic limbs sounded almost too loud than what should have been normal. Even the crash that sounded, was much too loud. She guessed he was forcing his way through the walls and doors between them. Fear lanced through her as she pushed through more doors, even climbing out of a window and back onto a random side street she could barely recognize. The lighting of everything, even the darkened stormy sky took on a tinge of violet. The hue shifting back and forth in time with her own heartbeat. Not that she noticed this, just like the weather. She was much too focused on getting the kriff away from the man that haunted her…quite literally. The fear danced along her spine as she took off down the side street, then taking the first turn she could see. She’d faced down the worst the war had thrown at her, she commanded the most elite squad in the Republic… She’d survived battle after battle, from imperial grunts to Sith Lords… But this was not like anything she’d ever faced before. This was all in her head. In some twisted attempt
to “take back” what was “his”… Pain erupted around and from her implants, causing her to wince and nearly stumble into a wall. The pain was brief but it was enough it sent her vision blurring for a moment. Taking a very quick moment to pause in her running, she took a deep breath. The Terentatek was not close enough to have touched her but…she wasn’t sure what he was capable of in a…mindscape or whatever the kriff this was supposed to be called. His footsteps were farther away…She continued running again, taking any direction that took her away from him. She had no idea how she would fight him… Hells, she had no idea how she would survive this. Zandi needed help… And she couldn’t even scream out for it.