Love and Redemption Part 1
Love and Redemption Part 1
Revan sat in the copilot's seat in the Ebon Hawk, a seat usually reserved for Bastila. He reached out and gently placed his hands on the control grid, as though he was reaching out to the residual energy left from her touch. Revan closed his eyes; focusing on the real reason he was going to board the Star Forge. Yes, Malak needed to be stopped. Yes, the fate of the galaxy lay in his hands. But, all those could wait compared to Bastila...
When Revan and Bastila had dueled on the top of the temple, he felt his heart had been torn to shreds. He had been afraid to use his full strength against Bastila fearing injuring her on his part. Revan therefore forced the duel to go neither way, for or against the other. At first it had seemed she would keep fighting, but he had felt something in her stay her hand and forced her to flee. Now he had to face her once more and bring the light back to the surface...
"Hang on!" Carth shouted to the crew of the Ebon Hawk, forcing Revan back to the present. "This is going to be rough!"
Anti-fighter turrets opened up on the red and white freighter as she ducked and rolled to avoid the incoming fire. A Jedi fighter exploded as it failed to avoid a blast from the Forge. Another soon joined its comrade in becoming one with the force upon meeting the same fate. Revan heard a crash in the back of the ship after a Carth executed a perfect barrel-roll and heard a long string of curses, including some Revan had never heard before, escape Jolee's mouth.
"Fly straight, you orange jacket wearing, nerf herding, hutt-spawned--"
Jolee was about to complete his comment when Mission, in the Ebon Hawk's turret, blew away a Sith Interceptor that got too close. Mission's victory yells were heard all over the ship.
"I got him! I got him!"
"Great, kid," Canderous' rough voice, responded through the din. "Don't get cocky!"
Within moments, the Hawk had landed in one of the Forges hangers with the remaining Jedi landing right next to them or finding other hangers. Revan unbuckled himself from his seat and leaped to his feet, once again the valiant commander from the Mandalorian War.
"Canderous, HK, you're with me!" Revan called. "The rest of you stay here and defend the ship."
As everyone rushed to his or her tasks, Jolee stopped and looked Revan over. "You sure you want to wear that, lad?"
It was the robes Revan had worn during his time as the Republic leader in the Mandalorian war and as the recent Sith Lord. For some unexplained reason, Bastila had hidden them in a secret compartment on the Hawk before leaving Dantooine and they had only been recently rediscovered. Revan put his right hand on his chest and looked deep in Jolee's eyes.
"I cannot deny who I was or what I did as Darth Revan," he pronounced. "But I am not him anymore! And just as I have been reborn, so have these robes!"
It was true. Upon putting on the old Jedi garments, their usual black and red had been changed to gray and gold. Perhaps the light side Revan had now accepted had caused the change. But whatever the reasons, he was now truly reborn. Jolee nodded in satisfaction and joined the others with Revan just as the first Sith wave arrived and were attacked by the Jedi accompanying them.
"We'll hold them! You go!" Carth yelled as his pistols were whipped out of their custom holsters and he began firing away.
Revan, Canderous, and HK dove into the nearest elevator, watching through the closing doors as the rest of the crew rushed the numerous Sith. With a hiss and clank, the elevator closed and began to rise the remaining three to whatever destiny awaited them in the Star Forge.
The doors on the elevator opened revealing a squad of troopers about to get on board. Both parties stared for a moment, dumbstruck.
Finally one of the Sith troopers yelled, "Blast them!"
They never got the chance as Revan blew them backward with a Force-push while HK and Canderous finished off the rest who didn't fall off the walkway. Once the brief encounter was over, the three quickened their pace. The enemy knew where they were now, and they had to move if they wanted to reach Bastila and Malak.
Before long, Revan and the others reached a sealed door. Canderous was about to set charges when Revan, sensing danger, pulled Canderous back so quickly the Mandalorian bowled the two of them over.
"What are you--"
The answer to Canderous' unfinished question was soon known as the doors exploded in flying shrapnel and flame! Revan quickly threw up a shield with the Force, protecting the party from the debris. Through the smoke appeared a tall figure in red.
"Malak?" Revan cried, surprised.
It wasn't. A tall red assault droid appeared in the doorway, flanked by almost fifty more of them.
"As though we didn't have enough droid problems..." Canderous muttered as he threw two ion grenades and opened fire with his repeating blaster.
The droids began firing their own weapons in response as the three heroes pressed forward. Revan drew both his short and long lightsaber and began deflecting blaster bolts and slashing any unfortunate droid that came too close. HK used his modified sniper rifle to make more powerful and precise shots into the group of red droids, taking out two or three at a time as the blasts penetrated their armor through and through. Within 10 minutes, only a handful of droids remained. Revan finished these ones off by using his light side lightning to short circuit their systems and turn them into smoldering scrap piles.
"Query: Master, are their going to be more of these droids as we continue?" HK inquired Revan as he slapped a fresh clip into his sniper rifle. "I like a proper challenge."
"Well, these droids were probably made by the Star Forge, so I would think so..."
"Thanks for pulling me out of there, Revan," Canderous said gratefully, though it still sounded a bit gruff. "Now I owe you one..."
"We need to get moving," Revan ordered after acknowledging Canderous. "The droids aren't standing around talking, so neither should we."
As the party began to move forward again, Revan's thoughts went out to Bastila who was somewhere in the Star Forge. "Please, let me find you, my love...and let me save you..."