It has been one year since the destruction of Malachor 5 and the end of the threat of the "Shadow" Sith. With the Exile, Jayden Korr, having left the regions of known space in pursuit of the legendary Jedi and Sith Lord Revan to aid him in his fight against the True Sith, the Republic continues to rebuild and recover from the scars left by the Mandalorian Wars, the Jedi Civil War and the Second Battle of Telos. The Jedi Order lies in ruins with no Jedi Masters to train the numerous Force Adepts that have already received preliminary training. On the world of Kashyyyk a conference of all Jedi has been called by Jedi Knight Bastila Shan and Jedi Master Jolee Bindo under the watchful eyes of a Republic fleet commanded by Fleet Admiral Carth Onasi and the vigilant Wookies. Here, for the first time in years, the Jedi will assemble and decide upon the future of the Jedi.

However the thoughts of Revan and the Exile are ever present in the minds of the Republic and wonder if, perhaps, they shall return as Dark Lords of the Sith as in the Jedi Civil War and wreck havoc as before…and many wonder if the Republic could survive without a Jedi Order for the second battle…

It was a perfect, clear night on Kashyyyk and high above the ground among the wroshyr trees the cool, night breeze blew. The breeze was constant and was lost in the hair of a woman standing against the railing and gazing up at the night sky. She had gorgeous, short brown hair that reached her shoulders and possessed sapphire blue eyes that burned with an intensity that would even frighten her closest friends. Her name is Bastila Shan and she is one of the few remaining Jedi Knights in the galaxy. She felt a tremor in the Force and, glancing upwards, she saw the final transport of Jedi arrive and sensed the familiar presence of fellow Jedi Knight Juhani and, though unofficial, Jedi Master Jolee Bindo. The thoughts of these two close friends immediately brought back memories that crashed against the shores of her mind before receding and, once more, crashing again and always the thoughts came back to a certain Jedi and Sith Lord: Revan. Or perhaps he still preferred to be called under his false name: Daniel Starlight. In a way, she thought, it was appropriate: he was truely an example of the light side of the Force despite becoming the Dark Lord of the Sith, something which she secretly believed was not something he would have done willingly, and the light of all the galaxy and the Jedi. Yet what she found most disturbing was the fact that, after six years, he still hadn't returned as he had promised: oh sure he didn't know when he would be back but he had said no more than a year or two at the most and, needless to say, that had long since passed.

'When will he return?' she wondered. 'Oh Revan I miss you so much and yet, though a part of me thinks you may be gone, a far larger part of me believes that you are still alive. Though our bond is strained through our distance apart I KNOW you are alive: I would feel if you had died both through our bond and the great shift in the Force. I had wanted you to return and rebuild the Jedi Order...only you could possibly know what to do in its current state but, alas, you are not here and we cannot tarry...I cannot tarry. I believe it is the Will of the Force to rebuild the Jedi Order now and can only hope that my increased power, skill and wisdom will be enough.'

Sighing she decided to go back inside the Chieftain's building where Freyyar and his son, Zaalbar, were seeing to the arrivals. 'Barely anyone is left' she wondered. 'The Jedi truely have been almost wiped out...true far mroe Jedi have come than expected but still there are only 20!! And only one true Jedi Master, Joleee, and only two official Jedi Knights, Juhani and myself. There are others there who, perhaps, have the wisdom and skill to have been Knights but the rest, the majority, are still of Padawan level and require guidance; not to mention the fact that there are many Force sensitives that still need training including many Younglings and...'

"Argh," she exclaimed aloud in exasperation outside the entrance, "One thing at a time Bastila: remember to focus on the here and now else the future will crumble before it even has a chance." And with that she entered.

The first thing she noticed was that there were others in the room who were unexpected: they were all wearing long black cloaks that hid their faces and standing in the corner. However that was not their most distinctive feature: the most distinctive feature was that Bastila could tell they were masking their Force Auras to a level where people would think they were lesser Padawans. She, however, was a Jedi Sentinel and was well trained in sensing her surroundings and, especially, in discerning deception in any form be it lieing or hiding Force Auras and the fact that she had been able to discern Revan's Force Aura even when he was suppressing it to its fullest surprised Revan as much as everything else when she revealed this. Her probe into their auras, however, did not go unnoticed and at an unseen signal all of them approached her.

There were 5 of them and they approached her slowly. At this Bastila readied herself for combat, expanding her senses ready for any sign from the Force that they would attack and secretly preparing herself. She was right that they would attack: one of them leapt at her with a Jedi Guardian Force Jump while the other 4 froze the entire room of Jedi in a powerful combined Force Stasis. Ready for this she let the Light flow through her using the technique known as Master Valor to heighten all her senses and abilities and summoning the Force to speed her movements all the while pulling her double-bladed lightsaber into her hand through a Force Pull. The attacker, with momentum on his side, tried a vertical slash and, to his utter surprise, Bastila simply sidestepped the attack and Force Pushed him with such intensity that the attacker smashed through the wall and off the walkway to fall down the many kilometres to the ground of Kashyyyk.

"One down, 4 to go!" exclaimed Bastila. The other 4, caught off-guard by her quick dispatching of their ally, were momentarily stunned for a second: their mistake. Leaping at the nearest attacker, with a Force Jump normally only known to Guardians, she viciously assaulted him mercilessly. Her double-bladed lightsaber moving as if it had a life of its own with repeated horizontal and vertical slashes attacking both sides of the person's body. With a single lightsaber the unknown person tried to defend herself, and to her credit she held well, and was able to withstand Bastila's assault until her 3 allies joined in. With all of them drawing a single lightsaber and attacking her, Bastila was forced onto the defensive using all her skill and drawing heavily on the Force to be able to keep up her defence. Sweating profusely and aware of her rising fear she quelled her fear and trusted in the Force. With a calmness and serenity about her that the 4 remaining attackers had only felt once before, Bastila nimbly evaded one of the attacker's vertical slashes with a sidestep and leaped over them, narrowly avoiding being cleaved in two by a raised lightsaber. Focusing on all her remaining power she released a massive Force Wave that hurled all 4 attackers apart: one left; one right; and two forward. She knew she only had a momentary advantage and Force Jumped to the left person quickly cleaving her lightsaber in half and applying superficial lightsaber wounds to her arms and legs. She repeated this on the man on the right before facing the two attackers who had recovered and simply stood still behind her. Turning to face them Bastila decided now was the perfect opportunity to open dialogue.

"Why do you do this? You are not Sith...I do not sense the Dark Side within any of you and yet you have attacked me without provocation. What is your motive in all of this? And, if you don't mind me asking, why in the name of the Force would you have chosen to take the risk and attack me in front of my fellow Jedi?" Exasperation and a trace of anger and menace lined Bastila's voice.

"It's quite simple," replied a limping attacker at the doorway: the one who had fallen off the walkway no less.

Shocked and surprised that he had survived she eyed him warily.

"Go on then! Explain!" patience quickly evaporating.

"Well," replied the male from theright, "we had to be sure that the one leading the rebuilding of the Jedi Order was worthy of our services. After all its no good if we, hastily trained adepts, could defeat you then you really wouldn't be up to the task now would you Princess?"

At the mention of the word 'Princess' she immediately thought of Canderous...and of how much that title infuriated her. Obviously it must have shown on her face or through the force because instantly the 5 were chuckling to themselves.

"It's just as Canderous thought," replied one of the women, "She really does get riled up easily. Oh boy am I going to have fun with this one!"

"I concur," replied the second women on the left, "She will be a most welcome distraction from intensive training."

"Ha!" answered the third women, "She may be skilled but I can still teach her a few things. After all she does not know the Echani arts which I have no doubt would make her more formidable than she is now."

Throughout all of this confusion and curiosity got the better of her and she had to ask, "Just who the hell are you all? Who trained you?"

"I believe I can answer that," replied a cloaked figure standing in the doorway. Audible gasps could be heard from the 5 as they all instantly dropped their hoods revealing an Iridonian, a Miraluka, two humans and an Echani. "The Iridonian is called Bao-Dur and he is the finest engineer in the galaxy." Bao-Dur instantly responded with a calm yet intense voice that was laced with deep respect, "You honour me General. It is good to see you again."

The cloaked figure nodded in acknowledgement. "This man here is Atton Rand, greatest scoundrel of the galaxy. And these women are Brianna, Mira and Visas Marr."

"It is good to see you well."

"Likewise. Glad you could keep yourself together after all this time I mean on Nar Shadda without me you would have been.."

"I believe," interrupted Visas, "that what you are trying to say is that you are glad to see Jayden safe, yes?"

At that name Bastila instantly made the connection. "The Exile?" The figure let his cloak fall to the ground revealing his features: he had intense blue eyes and blond hair as well as a beard that stretched across his face implying that he may have had a gotee for a time before he let his hair run rampant. She also noticed his dual lightsabers, one on each side, and sensed a great power within the lightsaber on his left. Noticing her attention he smiled, "You are far more powerful than Revan ever implied or said. To be able to detect the subtle power emitted by my crystal is a great feat. Your power is indeed startling...I believe Revan would be most impressed with your progress while he has been away."

"Revan!?" she replied with a mix of emotions: fear, doubt, confusion, love, anger. Everything was there as she was assaulted by a wave of emotions. "Is he ok? What happened to him? When is he coming back to me?" The 'to me' part was not lost on anyone and Jayden merely smiled.

"Hmmm maybe I have overestimated your abilities. Or perhaps underestimated Revan's. Can't you sense him?"

"No..." she whispered straining with all her might. She even tapped into their bond but found nothing. "No I do not sense him at all. Is he still fighting beyond known space?" At this Jayden collapsed to the ground with laughter revealing the cloaked figure behind him. "Oh Revan," Jayden said to the figure behind him, "you are freaking good."

"Yes, I suppose I am," replied Revan with a trace of humour in his voice. Bastila instantly recognised it as well as the sudden flooding of his aura exploding through their bond and the Force.

"REVAN!" she exclaimed in ectasy as she hurled herself at him sending his cloak scattering to the ground and enveloping him in a deep, passionate kiss: full of 6 years of unfulfilled longing and a promise of a lifetime of utter devotion and love. Slowly pulling back from the kiss Bastila eyed him lovingly, as he did to her, before Bastila suddenly released a massive Force Wave directed solely at Revan: needless to say he was caught off guard. Lifted off his feet he flew straight over the walkway and slammed into a nearby wroshyr tree before tumbling to the depths below.

"REVAN!" exclaimed Jayden as well as his friends and all the recently released Jedi before everyone turned and looked at Bastila.

"Don't be stupid hes fine. Just incredibly annoyed at me right now which serves him right. I'm going to give him a piece of my mind once he comes back up." She ignited her lightsaber and jumped ahead just as Revan leaped up back onto the walkway.

"Bastila what the-" before he was cut off by her vicious downward hack which he barely avoided before summoning both of his lightsabers into his hands. There was little time for talk as Bastila's yellow double-blade traded blows with Revan's orange and cyan coloured blades containing the legendary Heart of the Guardian and Mantle of the Force crystals. Despite Revan being a Jedi Guardian, and Bastila a Sentinel, she was holding her own against him. Blocks, parrys and counters were all executed flawlessly by both of them, and all the others could do was watch in awe. Even Jayden, widely regarded as an excellent duelist and one of the finest Guardians in recent times, merely whistled and exclaimed, "That girl has some moves! I've never seen anyone able to duel Revan like that...even me! Me!" At this everyone glanced at Jayden before turning, deeply perturbed, to the battle in front of them: the unspoken consensus of everyone that Bastila truely was far more powerful than she had let on and had matured magnificently in the last 6 years since the Star Forge incident.

Orange and cyan blocked the yellow double-blade and both were now locked in a battle of strength: Bastila's blade held horizontally while Revan's were both completely vertical. Both were straining as hard as they could, trying to push each other back, all the while drawing heavily upon the Force to augment their strength.

"You surprise me Bastila," grunted Revan, "You have become far more powerful and skillful than I could have ever thought possible in these 6 years. Despite the fact that you have rarely seen any conflict your mastery of the double-blade, which many see as inferior to dual wielding, is exceptional and your combat abilities are far greater than when I fought along side you all those years ago. I can also tell you have gained great wisdom, despite your temper and emotion, which I must admit are still rather endearing and you have most definitely maintained your gorgeous figure." At this Revan playfully leared at her body and Bastila quickly responded.

"You Bantha herder! Do you know how long I waited for you? Six bloody years! And no word, no sign, no nothing! Absolutely squat and here you come just waltzing back into my life and you expect everything to be just as they were! Well let me tell you that unless you prove to me that you have NOT been wasting your time all these six years then I am NOT going to be falling right back into your arms!

"Wasting my time? WASTING MY TIME?!" Revan practically screamed. "Do you honestly believe that I would have spent 6 years apart from you, the love of my life, merely on some wild goose chase to make you long for me and love me more?" At those words Bastila's facace cracked, slightly, but she quickly restored it.

"Then prove it to me. The Revan I knew 6 years ago would have easily bested me in every aspect: prowress with the lightsaber, the Force, and intellect. But here I am, of your own admission, having had very little action and I am holding my own against you! What have you been doing all this time?" At this Revan smiled and looked at Bastila with a glint in his eye.

"Oh Bastila, you've seen nothing yet. I've just been toying with you." The gasps and looks of surprise were evident on everyone's face: even Bastilas.

"Bastila do you honestly believe that I could have faced the True Sith with the skills I'm showing you now? Bastila your skills have even surpassed Jayden but the both of you would only be able to defeat an apprentice of the True Sith. Well, perhaps Bastila you might have been able to take on a Knight...barely...but you would have been torn apart in seconds by the power of a True Sith Master. Let me show you what I can do."

With that he deactivated his lightsabers, took a step back, and reattached them to his belt. Bastila merely glared at him with a cold stare.

"Are you going to reactive your lightsabers now?"

"Nope."

"Revan just what are you-"

"Trust me. I don't need them" With a disbelieving glance Bastila decided to charge her, apparently, defenceless opponent. She planned not to actually strike him down but up came Revan's hands and he caught the blade.

"NO!" screamed Bastila as she heard the hissing of contact between flesh and saber however she found that she could not pull the blade away: somehow Revan was using his hands to hold onto the blade...and his hands were undamaged.

"How?" was all she coudl say before she was hurled backwards and was engulfed in a powerful Force Stasis: something which was meant to be impossible against well trained Sentinels like herself. She tried to break free but found it absolutely impossible: it would not budge and it was unyielding. Slowly Revan walked up to her.

"And that, Bastila, is only a small sample of the power I have gained. Do not think that I have done nothing and learned nothing all these years apart from you. I have not wasted my time."

And with that he released Bastila from the Stasis. Tearing up she jumped into his arms and embraced him, openly sobbing into his shoulder.

"I'm so sorry Revan I should never have attacked you like that! I...I guess my anger got the better of me."

"A bit," he said rather sheepishly, "but at least there was never a point were it controlled you: you were always in control. And that is remarkable as it is a very difficult skill to master and one that has found its way into your fighting style." At this Bastila looked up, confused.

"Revan's right you know," replied Jayden. "You have managed to create a version of From VII all by yourself. Incredibly remarkable considering both Revan and I had to be taught it by masters: are you sure you're not a Guardian in disguise?" he joked.

"Form VII?"

"A powerful form which requires channeling your emotions through you to your blade. It requires immense control of your emotions as it can easily overwhelm you and lead you to the path towards the Dark Side. Few jedi have ever truely mastered this and Jayden and I are probably the only two who have mastered it and currently alive. You, however, developed it all by yourself which is remarkable but your form is a bit sloppy. With Jayden and me instructing you though you should be perfect in no time!" he cheerfully exclaimed.

"Oh Revan! It's brilliant to have you back!" Bastila quickly engulfed him in another massive hug and passionate kiss.

"Yes, it is," replied Jolee, Juhani and Zaalbar simultaneously.

Far away, deep within the confines of unexplored space, there lay a sleeping and ancient Sith Lord that had gone into hibernation many millenia ago. With the recent destruction of many True Sith, the resurgence of the Exile, and the reunification of Bastila and Revan, the massive shifts within the Force had awakened this sleeping giant. Long ago forgotten, and even longer forsaken, his yellow eyes opened and he awoke from his slumber. The Dark Side practically exuded from his body as if he was an incarnation of the Dark Side... which was very close to the truth. So in tune with the Dark Side that he was forcibly put into hibernation by the combined power of Sith and Jedi from long ago: their combined might had stopped him and put him into a slumber from which he would never awaken.

But now, with the Force shifting ever closer towards balance between the Light and Dark, the massive fluctuations in the Force had finally awoken him. And without the Jedi Order, and the decimation of the Sith, there would be no containing or stopping his power. Save one flicker of hope, a tiny flame amidst the smothering darkness.

Revan...