The battle raged on. There was an explosion over head, "There's no way in hell we can keep the Mandalorians at bay when their Basilisks are blowing up our frontline," the Jedi screamed back towards his allies. Then, one of the troopers spoke up, "If I can distract the pilots, we might be able to pull them down!"
The Jedi nodded, "We'll keep you covered, Seran," one of the other Jedi said, igniting his other lightsaber. Seran raced across the swampy terrain, zigging and zagging, tucking and rolling, occasionally firing off a shot at the mandalorians that were piloting the Basilisk War Droids. Seran had to admit, the droids were a nice piece of hardware. The Basilisks quickly surrounded Seran. This gave time for the Jedi and other troopers to launch their attack. One Jedi threw his lightsaber, catching a mando across the back of his unprotected neck. Another leaped into the air, and kicked another off his droid. She landed with such precision, that even the most elite of the Mandalorian clans could have been in awe. The third Jedi deflected a bolt back towards the basilisk it came from, and highly damaged the main firing mechanism, thus disallowing it to fire anymore ammunition.
The rest of the troops seized this opportunity to force the Mandalorian line. The Mandalorian ground troops charged towards the oncoming Republic line. As the sides crashed into one another, there was a remote sense of uncertainty. Seran rushed to aide a knocked down squad mate, but was too late. The Mandalorian had already crushed her skull. Seran, in a fit of rage, fired his whole clip, and then threw his useless weapon at the enemy. She was caught by surprise, but regained her wits just a little faster than Seran could swipe at her. Out of the corner of his eye, Seran saw a green lightsaber flying toward them! Not far behind was a Jedi charging after it, maybe for a follow up attack. Seran ducked, and watched as the saber merely bounced off of the female's armor. It had ricocheted just so, that the hilt was close to Seran's hand to catch it. As he caught the saber, however, the Jedi slammed right into the Mandalorian warrior, and knocked her to the ground. The concussive force that occurred was astounding in the fact, that the Jedi wasn't wearing much in the sake of armor, but had driven the Mandalorian to stop her fighting for just a few short moments. Within that period of time, the Jedi decapitated her head from her war ravaged body.
Seran stood, and faced the Jedi. He was congratulated for his heroics, and was given a promotion. Later, He followed the Jedi and his unit to the planet Cathar, where the Jedi were investigating a mass genocide. The only evidence that was found was a mask of a Mandalorian, in the sand. One of the Jedi picked it up, and held it to his face for a moment. Then he proclaimed, "They were beaten! You didn't have to do it! One of you knew, but you didn't listen! I don't know your name - But I take up your cause. I will not remove your mask until there is justice - Until the Mandalorians have been defeated once and for all. So swears… REVAN!"
I awoke, in a pool of cold sweat, wondering, "What in the glory of Mandalore was that?!" My wife stirred next to me, but didn't awaken. I looked at the time on the galactic chrono: 0300 standard.
"Osik," I said to myself and got out from my bed. I gingerly crept of bed as to avoid waking anyone. I wandered the house before I dared to walk into our armory. As I walked in, I noticed that HK-47, my "protocol" droid was stashed in the corner, deactivated. I slid HK's core processor back into place, and he came to life once more. "Statement: Ah, master! It is so good to see you again! Question: How long have I been deactivated, master?"
"Too long, HK," I replied, "I need information…about Revan." If a droid could have physical emotions, it looked as if HK-47 bent backwards slightly. "Question: Master, what would you like to know about Master Revan?"
I thought for a moment, and then said, "Just a simple biography, if you could manage that. Also, I would like to know the significance of Revan's Mask. It's not every day a Jedi goes around with a Mandalorian helmet, unless it's my brother."
HK-47 gave the information about Revan, such as who he was, his exploits, his adventures, ect. Then the old assassin told of the Mask. He said that it had belonged to an unknown Mandalorian woman who had fought against Cassus Fett to protect the Cathar people who were conquered by the Mandalorians. "Apologetic Statement: I'm sorry master, but that's all of the knowledge that I have about master Revan and his mask. Statement: Those meatbags of the Jedi order may have more knowledge about my former Master…perhaps even where he hid his Holocron!" I thanked HK-47, and told him to go ahead and stretch his legs and move about the house. "Wake the rest of the family up around 0930 standard. I'm going to load up my ship - I feel like I'm going to have a long week."
"Statement: Master, I would very much like to join you in crushing the meatbag skulls."
"It's alright; I don't need anyone's skull bashed in…yet."
"Statement: Then I will eagerly await your command to destroy any meatbag that crosses you master."
I spent hours loading what I thought he needed: A few containment cells, extra ordinance if things got hairy, scanners, the works. I had been hiding a simple fact for a long time: I'd been collecting parts over the years to make a lightsaber: for protection, of course but as a bargaining chip mostly. My brother, the Jedi-Clone, had one and I saw the influence it could hold. I could say that I killed Jedi and Sith with that blade, and it could instill my employers a trust that I was tough enough to hunt down a rogue Sith or Jedi. He knew that he didn't deserve to build his own lightsaber, but he wanted to keep that small detail under the cover of shadows. During my time as a bounty hunter, I had also been instructed to steal Jedi Holocrons, most of which I had saved, to much of my disliking, but there had always been a thought tugging at the back of my mind: Someday, these will become very valuable to someone, and they will need them. One of the holocrons specified on how to build or create a lightsaber. Through the instructions of the holocron, I built my lightsaber. I had expected the saber to not work at all, considering I was an outsider of any Force order, and not Force-sensitive at all. I pressed the switch, and it activated, a brilliant blue blade emitting from the hilt. I gave a swing, then another. I deactivated the saber, and then activated it again. It did work, and I knew that it could come in handy for what I was going to have to do.
I placed the saber in my personal footlocker, which held my Katarn armor, Holotags, and my DC-17, with all the attachments. I only had a couple Anti-armor rounds, of which I'd disarmed. I replaced my rifle back in my locker, and shut it. I went about my business, securing all cargo, updating my custom security modules, and just making sure that my ship was ready to make this exodus that I was about to create.
Later that day, I decided to pay his brother, Jedi Commando Skirata a visit on Yavin IV. Maybe he had some knowledge about where to find Revan's holocron, or even a small history lesson that HK didn't have would have helped a little. After roaming around the Rebel base aimlessly I finally found him alone performing target practice.
"Here I thought they liked you," I stated. He looked up and turned to me. He replied, "I needed a little alone time. The adoration of scum and villainy is too much for me sometime."
"Scum and villainy? Adoration? What in the Force's name have you been smoking?"
"The smell of victory," Skirata replied. He jokingly sniffed himself, "Yeah, I definitely smell like it."
"Don't you Rebels understand how to bathe?" He shrugged, "Not really," he grinned under his helmet as he grabbed my arm and embraced me in a form of a man-hug, "Still alive ner vod."
"I was more concerned about you blowing your head off," I replied, "Joining a suicide mission against the Empire."
"Eh they're murderers without ijaat and deserve to have their shebse handed to them. So what brings you to Yavin? Empire's probably heading here soon enough."
"I just needed a history lesson."
"Lovely," I could imagine him rolling his eyes under his Mandalorian helmet, "What do you need?"
"To know what in your head made you love the Jettise like you do?"
"Because I am one," he replied frankly, "They may have a few stuck up rules but the whole love and compassion thing is pretty nice. Anyway that's not a question, that's a biology question more than a history one. All about mutations that, well, apparently for me worked out quite well."
"Look I know you think Revan was the greatest hero of the Republic," I stated. He nodded. I continued, "I want to understand something about him."
"You want to know why I respect a Jedi like him so much."
"More or less."
"He wore a Mando'ade helmet," my brother sarcastically remarked. I wasn't about to play any games as I grunted, "I need information and I think you know more than the average historical file."
"Nothing much more to tell," he replied nonchalantly with a shrug. He continued, "I mean he falls to the Dark Side, gets betrayed, forgets everything. Goes saves the galaxy, remembers who he is, still remains loyal to the Light, falls in love, defeats Malak, saves the galaxy. Then he wanders off to go stop the Sith Empire in exile, which doesn't go that well but he still keeps the Sith away for another 300 years. Then they fall," he chuckled, "like the Sith always do: nothing more to add."
"So do you know where his mask or holocron could be?" My brother shrugged, "I don't know anything about that. I'd have to say though; if you could find that mask it'd be like finding the original Mand'alor mask."
"So it would be priceless?"
"More or less, personally I think it belongs in a museum. I mean Revan is the ultimate redemption story, he's what it means to be a Jedi: to be the good guy."
"Is that where you had the urge to be overly heroic?"
"I guess," he laughed, "I just like being shot at to be honest."
"Of course you do," I stated, "Well thanks vod, good luck with…this crusade of yours."
"Shoot straight and run fast mate," he turned to leave before adding, "Oh actually, the Republic did have an orbital station around here because they were afraid of Exar Kun returning or whatever. You might be able to look something up there."
"Alright," I replied as I strode off. I didn't have much to go on, but I think Skirata had given me my next clue on my quest.
Yep, that's right folks, i'm pulling Revan into all of this. To tell the truth, i'm still trying to figure this thing all out, so bear(?) with me, here.
