Chapter 36: Already Dead
'People of Mandalore, you have been led astray by a beast behind a mask. He was a Tyrant, and he led you to commit atrocities against the weak and helpless! You will all pay for his inhumanity. It is my will but not my choice to send you into doom, but Mandalore's actions must not go un-punished. You will all die!'
Malak watched as his friend, Revan, shouted from atop the cliff. The two had climbed it half an hour ago and watched as their soldiers marched the wounded and defeated Mandalorians across the plains before them. He had been shouting prophecies and judgements for a good ten minutes. Malak didn't see the point in demoralising the Mandalorians any further if they were merely going to be executed. They had paid the price at Malachor V and very few managed to escape, why torment the already dead? It would be a lesson he'd have to learn in time.
'You will all be exiled!' Revan shouted.
Malak was confused. Would they be executed or exiled? Maybe it was just another form of torture, make them believe they would be exiled and then gut them. Actually, for a Mandalorian exile was probably worse. For such a war-mongering culture exile would be incredibly shameful. Malak looked out and watched the hundreds of Mandalorians lined up, qued up or forced to run across the grass. Looking back he noticed Revan had disappeared.
Malak stepped over to where Revan had been standing. His master had merely stepped off the edge, allowing the Force to guide him as he landed on the ground far beneath. Revan had made his way to speak with one of his Commanding Officers by a large group of Mandalorians who had been forced on their knees. The apprentice approached Revan.
'Cassus Fett is not here, Master.' Malak remembered.
'That information I have just received. I would have preferred it received from you rather than he.' Revan spoke, slightly irritated by the news.
Cassus Fett had caused problems before. Cassus, Revan, Meetra and Revan had all participated in battles together. Serocco perhaps, Malak couldn't remember. The apprentice had seen years of warfare now and remembered not which battles participated when.
Malak watched as General Revan paced in front of the Mandalorians kneeling before him. One, a warrior in golden armor spat on the Jedi Knight. The saliva splashed against his black boots. The act stopped Revan entirely and after a few seconds made him turn to the Mandalorian.
Revan remained silent. He wrapped his gloved hands around the warrior's throat and lifted. Still he said no words. It was clear to Malak that Revan was suppressing the Mandalorian's movements with the Force. While he struggled to breath he put no fight into unwrapping Revan from his neck. The Jedi Knight swung around and threw the body into an opening away from any of the other Mandalorians or Revanachists.
No one rushed to abuse the Mandalorian. No one wished to defy the might of Revan.
A flash indicated from the far left of Malak's vision. A violet flash. The lightsaber was active. Revan wandered into view towards the scared and somewhat limp Mandalorian warrior before him.
'Warriors of Mandalore!' He shouted over the top of all his Commanding Officers. Everyone, hundreds of soldiers working for either Revan or the late Mandalore all turned to watch the events that would unfold. 'Let this be an example to you all! This schutta has made an effort to defy his fate! He wishes not to live, not to be exiled! For a culture based on respect and courage in battle, this individual is showing none of this. He is a sore loser. He will die!'
Revan effortlessly flicked the blade downwards. A flash of violet light signalled an end. The lightsaber deactivated and the Mandalorian collapsed, his head rolling away.
Silence.
'Round up all of the Mandalorian Commanders!' Revan barked orders. 'Execute them all! Let the soldiers under no leaders be exiled!' Revan continued before walking away from the corpse.
Revan stormed off towards another of the Commanding Officers. He was a Republic Soldier, much like many of the other Officers. They'd all been re-equipped with new Revanachist coats. This man had short brown hair hidden mostly beneath a cap. He held a Blaster Repeated in both hands, intimidating the warriors on their knees.
He leant in to whisper something to the officer. He was quiet enough not to let the Mandalorians nor Malak hear what he was saying. He turned away and back towards Malak. He stomped towards him, headed past. It was clear, even behind the mask that he was angered.
As he brushed past, Revan spoke under his breath.
'If anyone find where Cassus is, tell me and no one else.'
He pushed past. And Revan was gone.
For reasons of Spoilers, some of this chapter has been removed from the preview…
Revan returned to the grassy planet below. Much of the planet hadn't changed, but it was a planet. Why would it change? He had calmed down now. Malak was becoming somewhat pushy, and stubborn. Every few minutes Mandalorian leaders would be rounded up and shot at in a firing line. He watched as eight leaders in a line were shot at. Their lifeless husks fell back off the cliff edges and into the water below.
The armor was heavy.
It pulled the body into the shadowy depths.
The large orange tent to his right flapped in the wind. He moved towards it, hoping to find its occupant all healed up. He pushed through the entrance and found the medical droid monitoring the electronic consoles. Was she alive? He could still feel her heart beating aimlessly through the Force. Revan didn't quite understand the medical equipment but he hoped the droid's diagnosis would clear things up.
The medical droid was tall and cylindrical. Upon noticing him it turned to the patient and back towards Revan.
'I can wake her up now, she has had sufficient rest.' Came a robotic and female voice.
'Do it.' Revan replied calmly.
The medical droid rotated and faced one of the monitor's beside her. Meetra's blond hair was spread across the pillow. She had a small gas rebreather over her mouth helping her breathe. A small click from the monitor and the small Jedi General flinched, she slowly opened her eyes soon after.
She was weak. Revan tried to feel her through the Force but he couldn't connect with her. She didn't fall victim to the Mass Shadow Generator but to the whole battle. Revan slowly pulled the gas mask from her face. She took a deep breath and smiled.
'It was bigger than Cathar and Serecco combined.' She breathed.
He was unsure by what she meant.
'Excuse me?'
'The wound in the Force, that caused by the Mandalorians…' she groaned '…ugh, in Serecco and Cathar. You did it even worse on Malachor V.'
It was true. Revan knew it, not first-hand but he figured that using a planet destroying device would be more catastrophic than planet-wide massacres. He feared he was becoming a monster.
'I watched them.' She began. 'I watched as every single one of them died because of what we did.'
She couldn't have seen everyone die. It was a war, a massive battle. And he found it peculiar that she didn't blame Revan for the whole thing, she blamed herself too. Revan had ordered it, and Meetra had simply relayed the order to that Zabrak mechanic. Then he realised what it was she meant. She didn't physically see them die, she saw them through the Force.
It must have been traumatic.
Like she had died.
'What are your thoughts on the High Council?' she asked, her smile ceased.
How had she known.
'What do you mean?' Revan asked.
'The Jedi Council requested our presence a week ago. You, me and Malak. They want the three of us to stand trial for our actions.'
'I know.'
'They know!' she said, trying to highlight the size of the damage Revan had caused. 'Everyone knows!'
'I know.' Revan muttered guiltily, as if a child.
'How could they not!?' Meetra continued to lecture.
'I know!'
Meetra Surik sat up and stepped off her bed. She was wearing her Jedi Knight robes, the lightsaber still hooked to her belt.
She walked slowly over to the bedside table, she shook weakly. On the table was a large jug of water which she poured in a glass and drank from. It didn't help the pain or the weakness. Now that she stood the medical droid wheeled out the room.
'Malak and I aren't going.' Revan muttered.
Meetra pulled the table over, the contents in the drawer falling out over the grass.
'What!?' she shouted.
'The trials will be set up. If they're not going to kill us then they'll be sending us into something worse. They don't understand, Meetra. They don't know.'
'No, Revan. You don't understand. For the first time ever, I think you are wrong. I joined you because you were set on saving all those innocent people. And now you're punishing those who fought alongside of them by sending them to certain death. I watched them die! I listened to them all, one by one, from the time each one started to scream to the time they all stopped breathing. I listened to all of them because you wouldn't! I loved you! But you can't just do this! Revan, you were my best friend. And now all you will have left is your attack dog.'
She meant Malak. And still Revan couldn't bring himself to look at her. She was right, of course; but he was too afraid to go home. His mission was far from over.
For reasons of Spoilers, some of this chapter has been removed from the preview…
Revan led Malak into the tent. As much as he was angered by her decisions, Malak had been considerate enough to check up on her while she had been unconscious. Revan grasped onto this fact, hoping that this would stop his old friend from falling.
As soon as he had entered he stopped. Malak pushed past and stopped too. Meetra was frantically packing all of her belongings into the small back that had previously rested beneath her bed. Her skin was healed of all her scratches but in the Force she was weaker than ever and degrading ever still.
'I can't cope with this. The truth, it's unbearable.' She said, not looking back to check that it had been Revan and Malak who had entered.
'Where–' Revan had begun.
'Where are you going to go, Surik? Who will take you in?' Malak raged.
'No one. I'm going to the Jedi High Council. I'll accept whatever punishment they give me. I need to be redeemed. Revan…' she stopped and turned towards the man who had once been her best friend in the Galaxy. '…you are a horrible person for pinning the decision on me. It's your fault I had to watch those people die. You came up with this idea and are making me go to the Council. They will eat me alive because you are not there!'
She turned, tempted to pull her bedside table over. But she remembered she had already done this during Revan's last visit.
Now she realised.
It was Revan's fault. He should have told her that he wanted to follow her to the Jedi Council, that he wanted to be there for her or with her. But he would get the full blame and was too scared to suffer that kind of torment.
She pushed past Malak, knocking him back as she exited the tent.
The two watched as she headed to one of the several shuttles docked on the grassy fields.
'Put that new guild of yours to good use, or that stupid droid and get her assassinated.' Malak urged not taking his eyes from the young girl fleeing towards judgement.
'It won't matter.' Revan replied. 'She's already dead.'