Disclaimer: I don't own Star Wars, KOTOR, or anything else. Just playing in the universe. This will end up heavily AU, just a head's up.
Veins Of History
-I-
The walls of the Ebon Hawk thrummed with the vibrations of her engines as Jak't Tiossen, the famed Jedi Exile, leaned back in the pilot's chair and ran his hands through his dark hair. It had been four months since his duel with Kreia on Malachor, four months since he had said goodbye to the truest friends he had ever known and flew off to find and support Revan. He sighed, and ran a hand over his eyes.
Four months from her, he thought, and not for the first time wondered where the Miraluka woman was and if she really would wait for him like she said she would. The crew had rescued him while Malachor dissolved around them, and it had been a short jump to Telos and Citadel Station from there. There had been parades and speeches - by the Force, how he hated those crowd-pleasing pieces of Sithspit - and finally he had been able to get Bastila and Admiral Onasi into a secluded room. He had told them about the navicomputer being voice-locked, and of his unsuccessful efforts to open it. He and the admiral had both agreed that, knowing his ship would in all likelihood return without him, Revan would not have used his own voice as the locking frequency.
Jak't felt a small grin forming despite himself, as he remembered finally convincing Bastila to come aboard the Hawk and try to open it. After many minutes of blushing and confusion her crisp "Open" had ran like an ion blast through the computer, lighting screens long dormant and indeed unlocking the navicomputer. It had shown a series of jumps, planets Jak't had never heard of, and beat a path directly into the Unknown Regions. It had taken all of his skill in persuasion to get the two of them to believe that he would wait to leave, and the help of T3 to get clearance to launch late in the night.
An incessant beeping jerked Jak't out of his reminiscing, and his hands quickly worked the instruments in front of him. The glow of atmosphere shone before him, and he thumbed the interior com control as he initiated a search for a suitable landing zone.
"HK, T3 - get ready to land. Charge up your weapons, I don't know what kind of welcome we'll get here...if it's like last time, I don't want to be unprepared," he said. The last planet they had searched had been host to somewhat primitive natives...angry, primitive natives.
"Required Answer: Master, the beeping trash compactor and I will be ready, provided your meatbag piloting skills do not plaster us all over the planetside first."
Biting back a retort, Jak't picked an open field near what seemed to be a settlement and initiated a landing sequence. Once the Hawk had set down and he was sure the ground was indeed stable, Jak't quickly unstrapped himself and walked over to the exit ramp, feeling the reassuring weight of his lightsaber on his hip and catching HK-47 and T3-M4 moving to flank him out of the corner of his eye. The ramp slowly lowered, steam pouring out from overworked metal joints and hydraulics. Sparing a glance back at the two droids, Jak't simply gave them a simple sentence before turning to stride down the ramp.
"Let's go."
Once the trio was outside the ship, Jak't's eyes immediately started roaming the area. He saw a relatively easy path down to the settlement - at least, he hoped it was a settlement.
"HK? T3? Picking up anything?"
T3 began to answer in a series of beeps and whistles, but was quickly cut off by HK's rough vocabulator.
"Answer: Long range scans show minimal life forms, Master."
"How about with that new scanner I installed? The one attuned to perceive Force fluctuations, I thought-"
"Surprised interruption: Master, I do believe, regardless of your meatbag skills in installation, that my new scanner is indeed reading a major fluctuation in the area near the settlement. Shall we investigate further?"
Jak't had already started to move down into the settlement with T3, requiring HK to hurry after them. The three of them eased their way past the wreckage of what Jak't assumed to be homes...he had seen a lot in his exile, but he had no prior experience with dwellings like these. They looked like groupings of high, narrow cylinders with no clear doors or windows with the exception of those obviously caused by explosions. Looking closer, he came to a strange conclusion - whatever had blown these "buildings" up, had exploded from within the buildings themselves. The only evidence that this planet had anything to do with their search were the red skinned humanoid corpses surrounding the buildings - "True Sith," Jak't had learned, and the only proof that they were on Revan's trail at all.
Having long ago taught his two mechanical companions the hand signals Jedi used to communicate in silence, Jak't quickly made the motions for keep your eyes open and proceed with caution as he moved under cover to what he assumed to be the main intersection for the town. He slowly took in the carnage, hands still clutching weapons and cauterized wounds on faces and arms and torsos. Lightsaber wounds – maybe we've finally caught up to him, Jak't thought, and turned back to look at his mechanized companions. T3 was, as always, unreadable...but HK tilted his "head," slowly and meticulously pointing his rifle from Jak't to an open doorway across the courtyard. His photoreceptors flashed, and Jak't nodded.
Unhooking his double-bladed lightsaber from his belt, Jak't slowly strode towards the doorway, letting his senses stretch and feel the Force flow around him - he felt T3 sliding his dual heavy blasters out of their concealed compartments, felt the minuscule puffs of energy being released as the assassination droid charged his rifle...and had no sooner moved to rest his thumb on the activator switch on his lightsaber when a bright blue blade erupted inside the doorway and leaped out at them.
Swearing, Jak't leaped to the side...but felt his movement stifled. With a horrible revelation, he realized that the figure was using the Force to hamper his movements...he hit the activator, felt and heard the comforting hum of the twin viridian blades leaping to life, and slid a foot behind him to keep his balance. The figure leaped out of the doorway, effortlessly batting T3's and HK's bolts aside as he twirled through the air, landing between Jak't and the droids. With a wave of his gloved hand, the two droids simply turned off and collapsed. Jak't slid into a Makashi stance, but couldn't help letting out a gasp of shock at the sight of the figure's face...
"Revan...?" he asked, still holding his blade at the ready.
The man paused, lowering his blade until the electric blue glow lit the tattered and stained white robes that hugged his legs. "...Jak't? Jak't Tiossen?"
The Exile nodded, and Revan slowly thumbed the activator on his own lightsaber..but continued to hold it cautiously. Jak't mimicked him, and took the opportunity to reconcile the man standing before him to the holo that Bastila had shown him the night before he had set out - his hair was longer, but not yet the length of Jak't's own...his eyes were harder and less giving, more promising of a quick death than a heartfelt laugh. His robes were beaten and shabby, although his stance still bore the same nobility and honor that it had even in those days before the Mandalorian Wars.
"How did you find me, the signal I left on the Hawk?"
Jak't nodded. "It's quite a long story, but I think it is one better left for a place less...open. Now, what exactly– "
"Why did you come, to aid me or attempt to gain revenge on me? Speak quickly, I don't think we have much time." Revan's eyes roamed as he spoke, finally latching on a trail leading out of the settlement.
Jak't nodded again, quickly retelling his experiences with Kriea and the Sith Triumvirate, how he had found several companions along the way and trained them into other Jedi. He ended with his meeting with Bastila and Admiral Onasi, conveying the Admiral's message. He had just begun to speak of Bastila when Revan raised his hand, stopping him.
"I...I can't hear about her, not in this place." Revan shook his head, and waved his hand at the droids again, sparks jumping over them as they reactivated. T3 let loose with a serious of beeps and whistles and HK's "head" snapped back up, photoreceptors flashing. "Unneeded Threat: You'll pay for that, meatbag!" They both fell silent, however, when they took in Revan standing with the Exile.
"Hi T3, HK. Sorry about that, I didn't permanently harm any of your systems, did I?" Revan asked, and Jak't was amazed to see the smallest hint of a smile on his face as he took in the two droids.
"Overjoyed Exclamation: Master! It is very rewarding to see you again, are you fully functional?"
"Yeah HK, I'm fine...all my watery innards are still working." Revan chuckled, and inside himself Jak't released the small breath he had been holding - despite whatever Revan had been through, he still had some of his humanity left. To his shock, however, HK's photoreceptors registered the lightsabers and quickly pointed his rifle at him.
"Direct Request: Master, is this meatbag threatening you? Shall I remove him now?
Revan chuckled again, until he saw the look of shock on Jak't's face. "No, HK - I don't want you to harm Jak't, understood?"
"Weary Resignation: As you command, Master."
Revan shrugged his shoulders, and motioned to the path leading out of the settlement. "Don't worry about that...HK's base-level programming requires him to automatically revert to only obeying my orders when he's around me. I don't remember exactly why he's like that, other than I must have been worried about Malak even when I built him."
The two Jedi, flanked by the droids, moved stealthily out of the settlement and followed the path into the wilderness. Large plants with black waxy leaves lined the path, and Jak't had to push many out of the way as he and Revan quickly strode away from the settlement. There were so many questions he wanted to ask the man who walked beside him, so much that was left unknown...finally mustering up a little courage, he tilted his head back towards the Hawk. "Revan, just one thing...we got here in a little over four months, how could you have taken years to get here?"
A hint of a smile touched Revan's lips, but didn't reach his eyes. "Think about it, Jak't...you got here using the hyperspace routes I programmed, right?" Jak't nodded, and Revan continued as the trail started to work itself higher into the mountains behind the settlement. "I had to research all those jumps, and then had to use sublight engines only to make sure I didn't overjump the planets and end up in some random sun....not to mention fighting all these True Sith single-handedly."
"Also, what was the stance you moved into when you engaged me? I've learned a lot of Forms, and that wasn't anything like I've ever seen."
Revan nodded again, as he stopped to hold a few large logs out of the path so that T3 could move past them easier. "It's easy to understand why you wouldn't, old friend – I created it. I had started working on it during the hunt for the Star Forge, but I've only really finished it in the past few weeks. I call it Kar'rta."
"Kar'rta...that's Mandalorian, isn't it? Why would you use a word from their language and not Aurebesh?"
At first, Jak't question was only met with a shrug as Revan closed his eyes, clearly searching for something. After a few seconds, his eyes re-opened and focused on an overgrown offshoot from the path they were on. He walked over it, lifting a few branches out of the way and started walking down it. Jak't hurried to catch up, as did the droids...as he caught up, Revan started talking again.
"Yeah, Mandalorian...I don't know why I chose it, the word just came me one morning on Manaan when I was meditating. I don't know how familiar you are with the language, but Kar'rta means "heart."
"So...your form is, essentially, 'The Way of the Heart?'" Jak't asked, almost totally hiding the smirk that threatened to break through his handsome features.
Revan stopped walking, and for a second Jak't thought he had somehow senses the slightly mocking tone he had used. It seemed, though, like Revan was only really paying Jak't half a mind as he kept talking and moving forward. "Basically, yes. It's built around ten principles..."
"Revan, what princi–" Jak't started to ask, but the question died on his lips when he saw Revan flash him and the droids the hand signal for urgent silence and dropped into a crouch. Moving as silently as he could, Jak't crept to Revan's side and peered over the brush line. He saw, about 500 yards ahead of them, a cave that cut into the side of the mountain. He also saw three of the True Sith guarding the entrance, shifting about nervously. Revan turned his head slowly, motioning HK to join them. The assassin droid quietly moved up beside them, lingering a few feet behind them so that a large plant would break up his outline.
"HK, are they in range for you?" Revan asked.
"Confident Answer: Of course, Master. As you well know, my maximum accuracy range is one hundred and fifty kilometers, though I am often limited by the inherent inaccuracies of the weapon I use.
"Good, take them out quietly, I'd rather not have a huge battle."
HK nodded once, and Jak't watched as the droid slowly lifted the rifle it held until it was level with the droid's "shoulders." The Hunter-Killer droid's head tilted slightly, clearly working out the best pattern in which to move from target to target, before without warning three blasts of deadly light spat from the end of rifle. Jak't turned, but was only quick enough to witness the final bolt colliding with the guard's head.
"Joyful Statement: All targets removed, Master. Addendum: The Force scanner that the meatbag accompanying us installed in me is going quite crazy. It seems that the cave that the primitive meatbags were guarding is the source of the fluctuations it has been picking up since we landed."
Jak't looked at Revan, an eyebrow raised in an unspoken question. Revan nodded, mostly to himself, before standing and motioning for the rest of them to follow him.