AN: Well this took a heck of a lot longer than expected. Hope it was worth the wait!
Mritha
"You are troubled." A calming voice said behind her.
Mritha didn't turn to acknowledge the Jedi, choosing instead to stare off into hyperspace. "It's worsening. I can't feel anger, but increasingly I want to. When the Grand Moff talked about Coruscant… I wanted so badly to hate him, but I couldn't. Want so badly to feel anger, but I couldn't." She scowled at the stars whizzing by too fast to count. "It's not fair, Theonoe! It should be MY choice which side of the Force I serve!" Mritha huffed then, her voice sounding more like a complaining child than a Jedi master to her ears.
Theonoe sat in the chair beside her, likely feeling she would be here long enough to warrant the action. "Does your other half feel the same?"
"I don't know. I haven't been in contact with her since…" Mritha shook her head. "I don't know."
"If given the choice, would you turn to the Dark Side, just because you then could?"
A pale finger tapped on the console as she considered a response. She didn't want to answer the question, for multiple reasons. But then the stars slowed and stopped, coming to rest in the distance. In relief against a sun, Mritha could faintly make out a space station in the distance; their destination. "We're here. Get ready, everyone." She announced over the ship intercom with a click of a button, glad for the interruption.
Once it had been switched off, Theonoe gently touched the shoulder of her troubled friend. "Whatever happens, I am here." She offered a comforting smile, then rose.
Mritha watched her friend leave, she suspected to check on her padawan and ensure Naudia had recovered enough for the mission. She heard the shuffling of people moving around, checking weapons and armor, but for the moment didn't move to join them. She tapped a bare finger absentmindedly on the console again, out of battle the Jedi preferred to remove her gloves and feel air on her hands. For not the first time, Mritha wondered why Theonoe, who had saved a handful of Jedi masters from the Dark Side and uncovered the First Son of the Emperor, landed a spot on the Jedi Council. Mritha had still been a padawan when she saved Tython and nearly the entire Jedi Order from annihilation, and later struck down the Emperor himself, and yet was given only the rank of master. The Jedi felt no jealousy towards her friend and in truth didn't want the responsibilities that came with a seat on the council, yet still her curiosity forced her mind to return on the matter. Was it because she temporarily joined the Empire? Because it could be viewed as favoritism with her relation to the Grand Master? Or was it because of her mental handicap. Though she'd never outright asked the Jedi, she suspected Satele knew.
Though, now was not the time to dwell on such matters. Setting the shuttle on autopilot, she rose and retraced the steps of her Jedi friend. "…In general, it's going to be the same teams as before. Yuun, Dorne, and Naudia are on security, Vik, Four-X, and Kira are guarding the ship. Doesn't matter if we free Revan if we don't have a fallback position and a way off this prison." Kerrithi instructed as Mritha entered, catching only part of it. "Thanks to Sergeant Yuun, we know the exact location of the security control center and a tentative location of Revan, but we'll need you to hack in and give us an approximate location of where he is being held." The Havoc squad commander gave the Gand a pointed look as she spoke to him. "We don't have time to go checking cells, they already know we are coming, and it's unknown how much time we have before the fleet over Taral V makes their way here also."
"Master Oteg is leading a Republic fleet to the prison." Mritha broke in. "I sent them coordinates from the Gree computer and they will be here as soon as possible. We'll need their support."
"Good, that buys us more time. But regardless, let's not spend more than we have to in this place." The Cathar advised, receiving nods in agreement.
"I will pilot us in." Scourge said in a rumbling voice, making his way to the cockpit after he saw the final debriefing was over. Mritha took note of Kerrithi tracking the Sith pureblood with a calculated eye as he stalked past her, her unease rippling through the Force. Aside from Yuun, all of Havoc understandably didn't trust the Sith as far as they could throw him and considering his large frame, even for Vik that wasn't far. Still, they were willing to work with him, which was all that was required for now. The Jedi glanced over at Four-X. Unlike the organics of the team, he had been completely unwilling to fight alongside a Sith and no amount of reasoning could penetrate his programming. So, with Kerrithi's reluctant approval, the war droid's programming had been tweaked and he now thought Scourge was no more than an ill-tempered Jedi. She wondered what the Sith thought of that, but hadn't yet had the opportunity to ask.
Mritha fingered the twin lightsabers on her belt as she felt the shuttle descend. She could trust Scourge to an extent, she knew due to his vision of her defeating the Sith Emperor once and for all kept him from killing her in the past, and would continue to stay his hand. In their private conversations, he'd mentioned she was a lost cause, too deep in the taint of the Light Side of the Force to ever be a worthy Sith. So Mritha didn't have to worry about lightsabers in the dark from her self-proclaimed protector, nor did she have to endure his prattle as he attempted to seduce her to the Dark Side, at least until he was convinced Vitiate was forever gone. Then her own life may be at stake, and certainly once Scourge realized she had no intention of breaking the Jedi Code to have children; he'd already expressed his desire to train them if she had any.
As the hatch opened, letting in the sound of blaster fire, Mritha shook away her musings. Jorgan and Elara she sensed were manning the ship's guns, making easy work of the welcome party. Still, her sabers were drawn as she descended the ship's ramp, the rare black core of the lightsaber blades casting an odd contrast on the deep purple glow around it and in some ways, appeared to absorb the darkness in the dimly lit hanger bay rather than reflect it, as did a normal lightsaber with a white core. It was a private joke she shared, a being bound by Light wielding weapons of such dark appearance, while a being bound by Darkness carried a lightsaber reminiscent of young star, so full of light and life.
Vik raised his blaster and killed an Imperial running for door, the only one to survive the onslaught from the ship's cannons. "You missed one." He said with an ugly grin when Jorgan joined the crew in front of the shuttle.
"I didn't want to hear your whining because you were bored." Came the smart reply.
"Enough chatter. You know your job, let's move out." Their commander sharply ordered. Vik faked a yawn and leaned against the shuttle, a contrast to Kira's tense form and Four-X's ever vigilant stance.
"May the Force be with you." Mritha said calmly to her former padawan.
"Likewise." Kira breathed out.
The darkly dressed Jedi could sense her former padawan was more upset at being left on guard duty rather than nervous of what was to come, as she likely would be seeing much less action than the other two teams. But Naudia was younger and less experienced, Mritha agreed with Theonoe that the girl needed this time in the field to learn and with a station likely crawling with Sith, Mritha didn't feel comfortable leaving any team without a Force user who could, if nothing else, provide a warning in advance of enemies coming their way. By the time Mritha caught up with the rest of the group, Yuun already had the door unlocked and open and a brief firefight erupted from the guards on the other side.
Orange blaster bolts screeched as they bounced from her lightsaber and back to the enemy troopers. With a swing of her arm, one lightsaber left her hand and spun towards a trooper in the back, cutting him down with one well aimed slice before returning to her hand. A dropped grenade exploded, killing some and stunning the rest, adding more disruption to their ranks and ending the battle. With the first of many fights over, the two groups split up. Elara led the way for Yuun's team, as the former Imperial was familiar with the typical layout of Imperial starships and space stations. Mritha watched them vanish down a corridor before focusing her attention down the hall. She could sense the presence of her ancestor here, and followed it like bread crumbs. She could sense darkness here too, from all the Sith who currently and formerly resided here, like a stench left on the walls as a monument to their visit. But as she leapt to a distant target to begin the next small battle, the Jedi sensed that there was something else, too, like a strange light in a sea of darkness. Even over the blasterfire and hum and screech of crossing lightsabers, Mritha heard a voice. "The Scarred Man has followed you." Amidst the skirmish in the hallway, her eyes locked for the briefest of moments with Theonoe. She'd heard it too. "Master Oteg in flames. Mercy, is the Jedi's defense."
Mritha waited for more, but the voice was silent after the single warning. The inquisitor she faced backed away, a distant look forming in his eyes as he focused on a globule of purple darkness collecting in his hand, steadily growing in size and potency. Mritha closed the recently formed distance between them with smooth strides and spun, kicking him in the head with the heel of her boot and forced the Sith to stumble, his focus broken and his dark side energies dissipating, worthless without the will to maintain them. A red blade suddenly appeared in the center of his chest, a shocked expression forming on his face as Scourge allowed him to fall.
"We are at the security console. The man they had guarding it… he was more machine than human, extreme even for a cyborg." Naudia's surprisingly strong voice announced over the team's personal com channel. "Sergeant Yuun is hacking into the security now."
"That was quick. Good work, all of you." Theonoe transmitted.
"Receiving transmission. Broadcasting to our channel." Yuun's garbled voice announced.
"Your persistence is most impressive; most of my foes have the decency to die quickly." A familiar voice said calmly.
"The Grand Moff…" Mritha muttered.
"Yes, I arrived before you and bided my time in the nebula. Oteg spread his forces too thin. It will cost him his life, and yours. Darth Malgus will be most pleased."
"You are counting your victories too soon. You haven't won yet." Naudia warned.
The Moff's voice darkened. "Not this time. I planned our battle down to the last detail. Scurry about our prison if it pleases you, after I destroy your fleet I'll find you." The sound of static followed, indicating the end of the transmission.
"Yuun, can you give us a status on the fleet? Is he telling the truth?" Mritha asked, ducking to avoid a Sith's slice at her neck. He cried out before she could retaliate, a smoking hole in his back revealed when his body fell face first on the floor. She nodded her thanks to Jorgan.
"He speaks truth. Republic ships and Imperial ships, many of both. But the battle slides against us." Yuun announced. There was a pause, then he continued. "Receiving second transmission. Broadcasting."
"This is Oteg. We've sliced the enemy's com frequency. Kilran's got us pinned between his fleet and the prison's autocannons. The Jedi prisoner must be freed, even if it means losing the fleet. As long as we're between you and Kilran, you're protected."
Naudia immediately spoke up without conferring with the others. "If you stay here, you'll die! Fall back, that Moff can't stop this rescue. We'll manage."
"Then we'll make a tactical retreat; fall back, divide their forces. Good luck."
"Good work, you just got rid of our shield." Vik muttered over the team's frequency.
"Yea, a meat shield! We can do this without Master Oteg and his people sacrificing themselves." Naudia said forcefully over the com.
"She is correct. We are closer Revan's cell, I can sense him now." Theonoe answered, ever calmly, as she levitated storage crates and slammed them against an Imperial battledroid blocking their path. "Waiting on Yuun to give us the exact location, but Moff Kilran will not succeed in stopping us."
"Just keep the back door open, Vik. We'll see you shortly." Kerrithi ordered.
A sarcastic "Yes sir." Was the only response.
Mritha led her team to another door, the red security light turning green as they neared. Yuun must be monitoring their progress and unlocking their path while also looking for Revan. Behind the door a long hallway awaited with a, to her mind, unnecessary high ceiling that wasted a lot of space in favor of aesthetic appeal. Two large battledroids patrolled the length of it, the clunking sound of their three legs echoing in the large area. What looked to be two, no. Three squads of Imperial troopers scattered about in groups, talking. Unlike the droids, they were relaxed. Odd, Mritha thought to herself. Perhaps they thought when the alarms ceased to blare from Yuun's tampering, they assumed the threat had been neutralized? Were they not listening to their coms, which surely were alive with news of the attack? But it mattered little, this would only make things easier. Mritha picked out her target, the farthest battledroid from their location, and used the force to leap to it. She blocked out the sounds of blaster fire, surprised yelling, and a grenade going off, her attention solely on the battle in front of her. Her lightsaber left a sizable scorch mark in the droid's armor, but didn't penetrate through to the vital systems within. Her lightsabers became a black and purple blur, deflecting the blaster bolts of the droid back at it or towards Imperial soldiers she saw in her peripheral vision, grateful she'd taken the time to train enough in Shien to be able to do this. While far from a master of the form, she'd built the muscle memory to deflect blaster bolts back to their targets while focusing on another part of the battle, a trait not native to Niman, or Form VI, that she trained most heavily in.
The droid's own attacks deflected back did even less to its armor than her lightsaber did. When the droid creased its attack and appeared to be charging for something, she lifted it and threw it back onto a group of Imperial soldiers, crushing one and surprising the others, the barest moment of their attention being diverted elsewhere was more than enough for Havoc to shoot them down. With the two troopers providing a distractive stream of fire, Mritha rushed forward and plunged her lightsaber as hard as she could into the already slightly damaged armor where she'd struck a glancing blow at the beginning of their fight. With beeps of distress, the droid's systems shut down. Mritha's attention immediately left the fallen droid and focused on the last remaining soldiers, her eyes skimming over the second battle droid in a smoking heap. With a toss of her lightsaber, one Imperial fell while Theonoe swiftly cut through the belly of another. The sharp sound of blaster fire died even as he did, the silence loud in the oversized room where sound previously echoed noisily, signaling the end of the current fight. "All clear, let's keep moving." Kerrithi said to the group, her rifle trained on the next door in their path as she approached it.
As the door slid open, the group was greeted by the sight of a massive war droid, far bigger than the two they'd just deactivated. Mritha paused for a moment, eyes drinking in the latest thing standing between them and their goal. It stood on three legs and its two cannons, mounted one on each arm, and were nearly bigger around than her waist. Scourge immediately took point with Mritha close behind, their lightsabers doing no more damage to its armor than they did to the lesser war droids. Still, it served to draw its attention away from the others and keep its guns occupied. At this close range, the droid wouldn't fire the huge cannons lest it damage itself. That didn't stop it from swinging its arms to try and swat them aside, the heavy durasteel most likely breaking bones if it made contact. "'Nades! Incoming!" Kerrithi called out from behind. Mritha found herself suddenly wrenched off her feet and sailing away from the droid, a thud followed by an annoyed grunt beside her betrayed Scourge's similar experience. Above her, their Twi'lek Sage lowered her hands and returned to her lightsaber stance from the quick reaction she'd needed to save her and Scourge from friendly-fire. As she rose back to her feet, several explosions rocked the droid from the thrown grenades of the troopers. The droid's armor was now blackened and dented where the explosives stuck, but functionality didn't appear to be impaired as was evident when the droid lowered slightly to brace itself against the kickback of its cannons and quickly sent the group scattering and diving for cover.
"So, that just pissed it off. Great." Jorgan muttered from his kneeling position beside Mritha after the two dove behind a crate.
"It was worth a try." The Jedi encouraged. "Do you have any more?"
"A few. Save them or spend them?"
"Save for now, there's no telling what else we'll find between us and Revan… I'd rather not use them all on a droid that's barely slowed down by explosives." Mritha admitted.
"If you've got a better idea, I'm all ears."
Before Mritha could answer, the droid launched a grappling hook and ensnared Scourge, who had stepped from behind cover to try and use the Force to lift the machine off its own feet, hauling him beneath itself where its legs gave way to try and crush the Sith under its own weight. A golden bubble suddenly flashed around him, keeping the droid at bay. Scourge quickly stood and plunged his lightsaber up into the droid's underbelly, repeatedly hacking at the armor. To try and distract the droid long enough for the Sith's efforts to take effect, Mritha took a running leap and all but flew across the room, her two lightsabers dancing and nicking at the frontal armor, more annoying the thing than damaging it. "Throw me a grenade!" The pureblood roared from underneath the droid.
Jorgan quickly complied. Catching the thrown hand explosive, Scourge threw it in the small hole he'd created and bolted, Mritha close on his heels. A muffled explosion rocked the droid from within and it finally collapsed to the ground in a smoking heap. Jorgan approached it cautiously, rifle raised as if he half expected it to rise again. "Let's hope there aren't any more of those things."
"The ceilings of most of the hallways here are too low to accommodate this droid, it should be simple to avoid it if we encounter another." Thenoe reasoned.
"Finally, some action!" Kira's voice excitedly proclaimed over the com. With her voice came the sound of blaster fire and the familiar hum of a lightsaber.
"And you thought leaving a rear guard was a waste of manpower." Jorgan chided, looking at the Sith in their group as they continued on past the fallen droid.
Scourge's expression never changed. "It is. They will not destroy their own shuttles, we could have escaped in one of them." The Sith growled in his usual tone.
"How is Oteg holding up?" Kerrihi asked, interrupting the not quite friendly banter.
"They took the bait, the Imperials followed them into the Maelstrom. So far we are in the clear." Naudia answered, her voice crackling slightly from static.
"Transmission incoming. Broadcasting." Announced Yuun.
"Oteg lives to fight another day, through cowardice of course. Now you're all alone." The voice of the Grand Moff said smugly.
Mritha threw her lightsaber, the spinning blade deflecting a surprise sniper bolt away from Kerrithi even as she yelled into the com channel, "Status on the fleet!"
"Nothing yet, Sir. But I expect to see enemy ships headed our way any minute now." Elara's calm voice replied. "Yes, they've now turned. We are about to have company."
"Reprograming prison autocannons. They will now target all ships in radius. Transmitting location of Jedi."
"Good work, Sergeant Yuun!" His commanding officer encouraged. With the enemies defeated, Kerrithi used the lulled moment to put away her rifle and retrieve her datapad from her belt. "Two intersections down, we take the elevator to the lower floor. From there it's a fairly straightforward trek to Revan." Her yellow eyes squinted at the screen. "Looks like we may have a couple rooms big enough for one of those droids, and no clear way around them."
"Fantastic." Jorgan muttered as his mate put away her datapad and retrieved her rifle.
Scourge tromped down the hall then, not looking behind him to see if the others were following. His heavy boots echoed off the durasteel floor, his red lightsaber, still activated, casting an eerie glow on the walls. For not the first time, Mritha felt the sense that the darkness welcomed one of its own in this place, despite his clear intentions. It made her uncomfortable to walk close to him now, after fighting alongside him for so long she knew that the more Scourge fought, the stronger he became, feeding off the emotions of the people before they died. The close proximity of the Dark Side left an oily feeling in her belly, grating against the Light. As they approached the elevator, thankfully without further interruption, the Jedi finally put two and two together. She knew from previous conversations with the Sith that Scourge didn't like fighting droids, she now suspected because they didn't have emotions. There was nothing to feed on, no passion or fear. 'Remind you of someone?' A voice in the back of her mind whispered.
Mritha frowned and shoved aside the nagging thought as the elevator slowed and came to a halt, annoyed that more and more it was harder to stay focused and not think of the new Wrath. The doors whisked open, and the Jedi Knight was grateful they were facing Sith instead of droids or Imperial troopers. The room was wide, open, and filled with hostiles and here they were crammed inside the elevator and a very easy target for blasters.
"Welcome to the Asylum!" A Sith called with a wild laugh, twirling his red saber staff. As they fanned out, Jorgan and Kerrithi opened fire, but he blocked their bolts with a lazy air. Working without a spoken agreement, Scourge engaged him while Mritha targeted the three apprentices slightly behind their master. Lightsabers screeched loudly in the large room as she blocked one cut for her side, then retaliated with a fatal slash to the apprentice's chest. Before he hit the ground she was already focusing on the remaining two, who were now much more cautious after losing one of their own so quickly. Her eyes remained on the Sith as they circled, trying to flank her, but in the short lull she opened her ears. Blaster fire, the screech of lightsabers, cursing, and the dying wails of some creature that considering their location was likely an abomination and creation of Sith alchemy.
Mritha allowed the female, a pureblood, to slip behind her while she kept her eyes locked on the Zabrak male in front of her. His eyes flicked behind her for she barest of moments, then charged. One lightsaber blocked his and pushed him back with a Force enhanced shove, then she whirled and caught the female by surprise, dancing nimbly aside to avoid the lunge for her exposed back and with one neat downward strike, severed both of her hands. As she howled from the agony and shock, Mritha turned back to the final apprentice, ducking to avoid his lightsaber throw. As it returned to his black gloved hand, Mritha met him halfway and pushed back with a flurry of saber strikes. His eyes were set in determination, his upper lip curled into a snarl. Though his defenses held for longer than she expected, he was simply no match for a Jedi Master. She feigned right and when he fell for it, cut him down, the scent of burnt flesh becoming even stronger. A quick glance around showed Scourge holding the Sith master up off the ground by his neck with the Force while the man clawed at his throat with one hand and one cauterized stump. Jorgan and Kerrithi had their backs pressed to each other, one firing at the circling beasts with both hands held tightly to his rifle while his mate kept one hand on the trigger, her other fisted around the hilt of a vibroknife. Theo stepped out from behind the body of a terentatek that when standing, would have been over twice as tall as she was. With a wave of her hand, the pack of hounds started howling and ceased their circling advance, as if they suddenly suffered from an internal agony. One collapsed, dead, and the rest were easy pickings for the troopers. Deactivating her lightsabers, Mritha tried to ignore the Sith behind her as he dropped the body of the master in his hands and permanently silenced the whimpers of his maimed apprentice.
"That explains the smell of this place." Kerrithi said with a wrinkled nose, eyeing the terentatek. "I won't ask why they have this place filled with ugly pets."
"Its best that you do not." Theonoe answered, turning away from a row of various torture devices lined up neatly on the wall and on a table adjacent to it.
"I am curious why there are cobwebs, normally you can expect the Empire to be pristine and sterile." Jorgan commented as he checked the charge on his blaster rifle.
Mritha walked past them, taking her place at the front of the line with Scourge and leading their group out of the large room and down the hall. She spared a sideways glance at the Sith, but he offered no explanation to the musings voiced. Turning her attention back to the hallway stretching before them, she noted Jorgan was right, cobwebs dangled from the ceiling and supporting pillars, in addition to a layer of dust and the prevailing stink of animals. It was quiet however, aside from the thumping of four pairs of boots against the durasteel floor. Theonoe made not a sound. But just as she noted the quiet, it was broken by a hound growling up ahead.
The Jedi sentinel's tightened on her two lightsaber hilts as the hallway opened up to a large circular room, a single Sith standing in the center with a single red lightsaber, drawn and held down, relaxed, as if they were not worth his caution. Her yellow eyes danced quickly, taking in the many cages lining the walls, most with hounds within, scratching at their prisons and drooling for release. Turning her gaze back to the pale Zabrak, she discovered he hadn't moved. Jorgan and Kerrithi stepped to either side of the door, back against the walls as Scourge strode forward, saber drawn. In response the Sith before them raised his fist, and a light tremor in the Force betrayed his intent a heartbeat before the locks on several cages broke in a shower of sparks, releasing the beasts within. The smell and sound of blaster bolts being fired filled her senses as Mritha followed Scourge, engaging the Sith. Despite his girth, he was surprisingly nimble and while he gave ground, he took as well. Suddenly, the Sith before her was replaced by a man equally as large, but he wore a gray mask reminiscent of a droid. The simple purple, red, and black robes were replaced by ornate dark green and gray with oversized shoulder pauldrons. Just as quickly as he appeared, he was gone, but it left her mentally shaken. Sensing her distraction, the Sith swept past her defenses and landed a glancing blow to her left side, missing her chest in a fatal strike only due to Scourge's crushing bulk ramming into him. Agony burned her skin, muscle, and bone as if she were on fire and she cried out, the lightsaber in her left hand slipping from her grip and clattering to the floor, her knees hitting the ground next to it. The room threatened to spin, but Mritha grit her teeth and reached for the Light, fighting past the pain and seeking the calm. Her breath began to even a heartbeat before she felt the itching of skin and sinew knitting back together. She didn't need to look at the Twi'lek to know it was her doing. Using the Force to call her lightsaber back into her hand after she stood back on her feet, Mritha advanced back into the fray, if a bit slower and favoring her left side. Even the Barsanthor needed time to heal, though she was quicker than any Jedi Mritha had fought alongside.
As she neared, Scourge moved to her left side, protecting her weakness from their foe until she'd healed fully. The act warmed her, even though she knew the Sith was incapable of caring. It was for his own self-interest that he protected her. The Zabrak danced back several steps, long enough to break the doors of more hound cages before the distance between them closed again, keeping the troopers busy. Mritha had defended against and landed clashing blows of her own several times in the next long seconds before she realized she had unconsciously switched back to her basic training, fighting primarily with one lightsaber in the fluid, precise, and tightly controlled movements of Form II. Yet another indication that she was still off balance.
Again she reached for the Light Side, allowing herself to bathe in its calm. She forgot her side was injured as she brought her second lightsaber back into play, returning to her favored and mastered Form VI. When her offhand saber slipped through the Sith's defenses and bit into his heart, she knew she'd succeeded. The temporary loss was gone and balance had returned. "I'm fine." Mritha said quietly to Theonoe's questioning glance as the green skinned alien examined her side. All that was left now was a pink bruise that ached when pressed, soon even that would be gone if Theo kept up the healing connection between them. Her armor would be repaired when they got back to the fleet.
"We will talk when we return to the shuttle."
"Fine." Though her friend's tone had left no room for argument or avoidance, Mritha planned to do just that when the time came. She knew who she saw, and she knew why. There was nothing to discuss.
She followed Scourge's large shadowy frame away from the carnage. As the prison trembled and shook, the lights flickered. Some went out with a sharp popping sound, leaving the halls dimly illuminated. "I'm not one to believe in ghosts, but this place feels haunted." Kerrithi murmured. The dim lighting worked well with the grime and cobwebs, adding to the already dark atmosphere of the place.
"Is the shaking from the autocannons, the attacking fleet, or is the prison just falling apart around us?" Kira's voice chirped over the com.
"I'd safely say all three." Jorgan replied, eyeing a support beam that had clearly been broken for some time. Mritha turned back to look at him when she sensed his pause. He was critically eyeing the beam as if he considered nudging it to see just how broken it was. But his gleaming slitted eyes traced the cracks up to the ceiling and seemed to think better of the idea.
With his hesitance confirmed to not be hostile target related, Mritha turned back to the path before her and lengthened her stride to catch up with Scourge.
"Coming up on the second room large enough for the droid." Kerrithi announced from behind.
Mritha tensed, but didn't allow worry to nag her. The hallway brightened with a reddish glow from the room ahead, the rumbling from the prison's autocannons echoing louder. Stepping into the large room, her yellow eyes took everything in in a heartbeat. The place resembled a circular hanger, though they were too far from the outward prison walls to be a practical placement for one. The walls were lined with cages, many of them empty now, and stretched high into the ceiling. Their hallway opened up to a small platform where Sith either didn't notice them or ignored them, scurrying about and manning several consoles. Over the edge of the far end of the platform, the cages extended down as far as she could see. She opened her mouth to speak, but the loud sound of screeching metal cut her off. The red energy field on the floor faded, a Flayer crawling out with meaty fists bigger around than even Scourge. "Well… at least it isn't a droid." She offered, previous comment forgotten.
Kerrithi snorted, checking the charge on her blaster. "That explains why they were scurrying about like kiliks." The many Sith in question backed away from the creature as it roared, standing to its full two story height.
Scourge simply scowled and raised his hand, lifting the creature with the Force and dropping it over the side. "They send beasts to do what they cannot." He sneered, descending the stairs to dispose of the ones responsible for releasing the creature.
Mritha danced nimbly aside to avoid his crushing bulk flying back her way, then cringed when the Sith he'd been charging let lose a Force roar in her direction, the mild shockwave setting her ears to ringing. She could sense Scourge's annoyance at being Force pushed against the far wall and with an outstretched, clenched hand, lifted the Sith by his neck in a Force choke. Was he weaker from the exertion of lifting the creature, or had he just been taken by surprise? There wasn't time to analyze his Force signature, she was too busy parrying the lightsaber strikes from two Sith at once. The Jedi gave ground to not only watch the three in front of her, but the many surrounding her. She'd never faced this many Sith at one time and while most appeared to be mere apprentices, their sheer numbers made her wary. From the sound of clashing lightsabers to her left, she could tell that even Theonoe, who normally fought from a distance, was engaged in a lightsaber battle of her own. Mritha's lips formed a grim line as she increased her flurry of attacks, stealing the offensive despite being outnumbered. Theonoe, while one of if not the greatest Force-healer she knew, the sage couldn't last long in a direct lightsaber duel. Like anyone, her strengths were balanced by weaknesses. A feint and a fatal strike later, Mritha advanced against the two remaining Sith. They were so focused on her that they didn't notice a flash grenade roll to their feet. Sensing threat, Mritha called a Force shield around herself, protecting against friendly fire yet again as she turned away from the blinding light. The Sith had no such protection and the distraction was enough that with a twist of her hips, both crumpled from her sabers and lie still.
Turning her attention to her companion, who was saber-locked with her foe, Mritha threw her lightsaber at the Sith backing her friend closer to the ledge. Apparently sensing the threat, the dark force-user de-activated his weapon and let the Sage stumble forward as she overcompensated. Stepping around her, the Sith bashed the butt of his lightsaber into the back of the Twi'lek's skull, extending a free hand that caught the thrown lightsaber as she collapsed, now wielding the weapon originally intended to harm him. Aiming to end her right there, the man roared and raised his weapons to impale Theonoe to the ground before blaster fire screeched towards him, forcing him to simply block the bolts, reflecting them back to the two troopers who barely leapt out of the way in time to avoid them. Closing the distance, Mritha fell back to Form II and attacked with a ferocity yet was quick to give ground, trying to pull him away from the Twi'lek behind him. By now though, Thenoe had recovered from her daze and pushed herself to her feet. Sensing this, the Sith shoved Mritha back and again turned towards the healer, knowing as long as she was still standing the others would be significantly harder to kill. Acting quickly, Mritha stabbed towards the man's back with her remaining lightsaber, forcing his attention back to her. Locking lightsabers with one hand, she gripped the hilt of her stolen tool with her free hand, trying to wrench it from his firm hold. At nearly the same time, Theonoe extended her palms and unleashed a concussive blast with the Force, aiming to shove him off the ledge, too late realizing the grapple her fellow Jedi and the Sith were in. Off balance, the Sith released the stolen lightsaber and in vain tried to grab onto the broken railing. Mritha cried out as her head snapped back, a wild pain erupting in her scalp. Scourge yanked her back onto solid footing by the first thing he'd managed to grab, her short black hair. Deactivating her lightsabers and rubbing her head with a wince, she heard his gruff voice, "You'll be fine."
Mritha wasn't sure if she should thank him or hit him for that, but settled on a sigh. Turning to Theo, she asked, "You alright?"
"I was just dazed for a moment, it won't even bruise." Came the reply.
"They have no shortage of these flying things." Kerrithi muttered.
Mritha turned her attention to the troopers, then to the ground littered with corpses of sheieks. Well, that explained why despite the constant sound of blaster fire, few bolts were aimed at the Sith. The prison rumbled again, dust raining down on the group from the rafters above. It served as a reminder to keep moving.
While the upper level was filled with droids and Imperial troopers, the lower levels seemed to contain little other than Sith and their pets. "There isn't much left of Kilran's fleet. Not much left of the prison's autocannons either. It looks like boarding shuttles are trying to slip past now, I don't think many of them will be hit." Elara's voice rang over the com channel some time later. "Yuun is locking the blast doors between you and them, hopefully that will slow them down."
"We are almost there. Just one more hallway it seems." Kerrithi assured after checking her datapad.
Mritha didn't comment, but was immensely grateful. She was beginning to tire, and the many statues of Vitiate that now lined the halls made her uneasy. Though it was a childish fear, she couldn't shake the feeling that the stone eyes hidden beneath the dark hood were following her, watching. A chill snaked down her spine despite her efforts to push the feeling aside. If Scourge picked up on her unease through the Force he didn't react, but she could feel Theonoe's presence reaching out to her, trying to soothe her mind. Mritha didn't fight the mental contact with her fellow Jedi.
As forewarned by the ex-Imperial, at least one shuttle slipped past the waning defenses of the prison. As soon as the durasteel doors opened to Revan's prison room, the group was greeted by the sight of Kilran standing at military rest with not a wrinkle in his dark gray and black uniform. He and his squad of enemy soldiers stood firm between her little band and Revan. "So much trouble from a handful of Republic operatives, it almost strains credulity." Then, turning to a holo image of a menacing Sith Lord beside the walkway, the man spoke. "My lord, I promise to rid you of this nuisance. This embarrassing farce ends here."
"Securing the Emperor's prisoner is your only priority. Deal with this annoyance another time." The Sith advised. Between the brute-like frame, scarred face, and a presence Mritha could feel even through the holo, she knew this was none other than Darth Malgus.
"There is no time like the present, my lord, I'll accomplish both objectives."
"You abandon calculated tactics for revenge… this will not end well." Theonoe cautioned.
Scourge drew his lightsaber, crimson blade flashing to life with a familiar snap-hiss. "Let him throw caution into the wind. I will show him the error of such a choice."
"By all means, persist in your overconfidence." The Moff answered dryly.
Darth Malgus looked at Scourge and while the lower half of his face was hidden by a breathing mask, Mritha could see the frown in his cold yellow eyes. He remembered Scourge's former station within the Empire. "Reclaim your honor, Kilran." Was all he said before his image blinked out of view.
"Glory to the Empire!" Kilran shouted, suddenly bringing his blaster rifle to bear. "My honor will be satisfied!"
Mritha threw her lightsabers, their deadly spin aimed for his chest. But without warning, the Moff vanished in a black cloud of smoke and the lightsabers harmlessly sliced only air. Blaster bolts whizzed past her from behind, one by one finding their mark. Mritha ignored the Imperial troopers, trusting in the two members of Havoc squad to deal with them. Theonoe deflected a sniper bolt off her lightsaber, following after Scourge and Mritha. For being pudgy, the Moff covered an astounding amount of distance in such a short amount of time. Mritha drew upon the Force and leapt to him, then curled her lip in annoyance when he performed the same trick. She landed in the midst of a cloud of black smoke, her lightsabers doing nothing more than dispersing the mist. The Force screamed a warning and she quickly threw up a barrier of focused Force, narrowly avoiding the effects of a grenade exploding at her feet. She stepped over the body of an Imperial trooper and scowled at the once again distant Moff. Part of the wall behind him tore itself loose and rammed into his back, taking him by surprise. Scourge used the distraction to dash forward and rake his red blade across the belly of the Moff, who dropped his blaster rifle and looked down at the wound in total shock. "I didn't deserve this," He said, almost in a whisper. "There was so much left to conquer…" And with that, he breathed his last and collapsed.
"Disgusting and cowardly." Scourge sneered at the perceived weakness of the man.
Theonoe frowned at him, but chose not to say a word. Mritha approached her ancestor, suspended in air by his prison and seemingly oblivious to the world around him. Quickly typing at the console in front of his cell, the blue glow and soft humming keeping him contained faded and he dropped to his feet, then his knees. Mritha rushed in and grabbed him before he collapsed entirely, dragging him carefully out of the cell. His face was horribly scarred, even more so than her own, the raw lines framing his face as if carved there. She sported a single close call with death, his betrayed the survival of countless battles, each more brutal than the last. "Theo! Help me!" She called out.
The green Twi'lek knelt beside her and pressed a softly glowing hand on Revan's chest, reaching for his wounds through the Force and knitting them back together. Reaching into his muscles and reviving them, reminding them how to support weight after three hundred years of doing nothing. Finally, his eyes opened, and his dark brown eyes locked on Mritha's piercing yellow. "Where… what's happened? I can feel…" Then his face changed to one of horror and dismay as he slowly rose. "No, no! What have you done! There is nothing to restrain him now!" He exclaimed, stumbling back over to his cell and looking up where he'd spent the past three centuries.
"Restrain who? You were the one stuck in a prison cell." Kerrithi questioned.
"My struggle held the Emperor in check." He answered, shaking his head. "How did you find me?"
"Your strength fails. You must be free or all is lost." This time even non force sensitives heard the voice, both Kerrithi and Jorgan quickly scanned the room, rifles raised with mistrustful and wary eyes.
"You should be one with the Force, finally at peace." Revan said softly after a grim pause. He spoke as if he knew that voice.
"No peace while you suffer." The voice answered. Then a soft electric blue glow collected beside Revan, taking form into that of a short haired human woman in simple robes. A Jedi.
"Well I'll be dammed…" Jorgan muttered mostly to himself.
"He wants me to be Darth Revan again. To serve him as I did centuries ago." Revan admitted. "I led my allies to the edge of the galaxy to destroy the Emperor. We didn't understand his true power." Mritha shifted uncomfortably, the parallel not missed by her. "I lost everyone, betrayed from within." With the last statement, he gave a dark look at Scourge, who stood there without a word as the Prodigal Knight continued. "The Emperor imprisoned me, kept me alive with Sith alchemy. Used me!" But then he relaxed slowly, as if fighting the hate and desire for revenge in his heart. He turned back to the Jedi spirit beside him. "It was your shield that gave me the strength to resist him all this time… I didn't realize that until now. Thank you." Revan smiled softly at him as he turned away, walking back to the monitor and passively studying it as he continued to explain. "The Emperor used me as a link to the Light side of the Force. Through me, he was able to see visions. But that same link also gave me influence over him. I convinced the Emperor that peace was in his best interest; tempered his hate."
"That peace is lost. The Emperor has been defeated, but he will soon rise again stronger than before." The Jedi spirit said in warning.
"Defeated? How? I felt him weaken but I never thought…"
"I struck him down on Drumund Kaas nearly a year ago." Mritha answered his questioning. "Until recently, I thought I'd killed him." Revan turned to her, as if seeing her again for the first time. Mritha wondered if he knew. But the moment past without him uttering a word.
"You must stop him. Flee this place, while you still can." The Jedi spirit said softly, and then faded.
Revan stood for a moment, watching the place where her image could no longer be seen. "Thank you, old friend. I will. I WILL finish what we started."
As Kerrithi and Jorgan made their way through where they'd come, Mritha approached her ancestor. "Can you fight? There shouldn't be too much opposition left, but we likely won't make it back to the shuttle without incident. This is after all the most secure Imperial prison we have seen to date."
Revan rolled his shoulders a bit, still trying to work out the stiffness. "Go on ahead, there is something I must find here… I will be but a moment."
"With all due respect, too many lives have been lost in order to free you. We cannot afford to have you wander off on your own." Mritha said, handing him one of her lightsabers. Even if all he could do was block a blaster bolt aimed for his head, she'd be happy. "We'll go with you, and make it quick."
"Glad to see the Order has gained the ability to recognize when violence is necessary. It would have served them well in the past." He twirled the borrowed lightsaber, getting used to the weight, and started down the hallway and out into the cat-walks of the prison. After a few yards, the prodigal knight stopped, closed his eyes for a moment, and then continued as if he were allowing the Force to guide his movement. Kerrithi frowned when wherever he was going didn't appear to be an exit, but followed without a word. Her blaster rifle scanned in sync with her eyes, searching for hostile targets.
She didn't have to look far. A door opened in front of them and a squad of troopers rushed out, covered by two probe droids. Mritha threw her lightsaber and caught one of the Imperial soldiers in the chest before it returned to her hand. She felt nude almost, with only the one, but adapted quickly and returned to Form II, what she'd been trained on many years before as a padawan under Master Orgus Din. She watched Revan out of the corner of her eye, he moved slowly but clearly wasn't about to stand idle while a skirmish played out in front of him. Mritha positioned herself next to him, unwilling to risk his life. Her lightsaber deflected a bolt aimed for him that he was just slightly too slow to block on his own, but the next four he deflected with the weapon she'd lent him. Brows pressed together and movements sharpening with each shot, her ancestor was showing, even now, that it wouldn't be long before he fully recovered. The blaster fire shooting over the Force users' heads from behind forced the remaining Imperial soldiers to take cover behind the walls, but Scourge was eager to flush them out. One man scampered away and avoided the red blade arcing for his throat, but he bought only seconds more of life. He didn't see Revan standing beside him, but with a scream he felt the lightsaber carve through his back and sever his spine. Mritha wondered if it was all the war he'd seen that transformed her ancestor into such a ruthless and cold man. Somehow he was still a Jedi, despite obviously not above stabbing someone in the back. Or was it muscle memory that did that, from his time as a Sith? Scourge finished the last soldier and Revan stepped over a body, continuing on. In just a short time, his strength had grown. He walked steadily now, his back straight rather than shuffling hunched over from his long confinement.
Finally, the Jedi stopped at a sealed door, running his fingers across his scarred face for a moment before stepping back a few yards and raising his hand, fingers curled inwards. The thick metal screeched in protest, bending beneath the man's power. Finally, Revan tore the door free, tossing it aside and stepping into the room with the two Jedi close on his heels. Mritha sensed Kerrithi and her mate stand guard on either side of the door. Though neither were nervous, their annoyance and slight unease at holding a position when they should be heading out rippled through the Force. Or maybe it was because Scourge remained with them. Turning her focus towards her immediate surroundings and away from the two troopers, Mritha glanced around the room, taking in its contents. It was small and had many objects locked in display stasis, rotating slowly in midair and illuminated with a soft blue glow and protected from the ravages of time. Various weapons, pieces of armor and clothing and even a datapad were among the objects. As Revan approached a strange looking red and gray mask, taking it reverently from its suspension, Mritha realized that all these things were the belongings of the prisoners held here. Why so many resources were spent to preserve the belongings of prisoners fated to never leave this place, she wasn't sure. Perhaps they were trophies as much as the prisoners themselves. She watched Revan place the mask on his face and pull up the hood on his robe, amazed at the immediate change when he turned back towards her. He seemed… much stronger now. Gone was just a man, in his place was a warrior who had saved the Galaxy, then nearly enslaved it, then saved it yet again. With the expressionless mask, he seemed inhuman, and far more dangerous. He took a lightsaber with a simple hilt design from the stasis pad beside the mask and clipped it to his belt, then with a lazy toss, returned Mritha her own lightsaber to her. "Thank you, I have no further need of this."
Mritha nodded, catching her lightsaber with ease. His voice was unnerving, hollow. "Are we done here?"
Instead of answering, Revan left the room through the hole he'd created, the two Jedi once again trailing at his heels. "Sergeant Yuun, take your team and head to the shuttle; we'll meet you there. Vik, fire up the engines." Kerrithi barked over the com.
"Yes sir." Said the muttered reply over the com from the Weequay.
"You believe they have enough military force to keep us from escaping?" Revan asked. His stance was relaxed, a contrast to the people surrounding him. Even Theonoe was on guard.
"That depends on how many shuttles got past the reprogrammed defenses." Mritha answered, walking briskly down the hall. "But regardless, dying while trying to stop us is likely a better fate for any Imperial over living to tell Malgus of their failure."
"Malgus? I am unfamiliar with that name. Three hundred years in stasis tends to leave one out of the loop." Revan replied, his tone relaying from behind his mask that she needed to explain things before she started using names that obviously meant nothing to him.
"He is a very powerful Sith, and ambitious. We believe he is aiming to take the throne and unlike his challengers, has the military backing that he may pull it off." Theonoe answered him.
"Well, the Empire will see what made me the Prodigal Knight and Dark Lord of the Sith should they try and stop us. I have no plans to remain in this prison, now that war has come." Revan answered dangerously, his earlier dry humor pushed aside so easily.
"Hostiles approaching." Jorgan announced. He and Kerrithi brought their blaster rifles to bear and slowed their pace, firing on their oncoming targets. By the time Mritha's thrown lightsaber returned to her hand after hitting and killing an Imperial soldier, four probe droids had already fallen to their blaster bolts. She frowned as another war droid returned fire, remembering the trouble the last two had been. Deflecting the blaster bolts that came her way, she inched closer to her targets.
Scourge simply plowed through the chaos, Mritha thought she saw him get hit but he barely broke stride, either his armor deflected the bolt or he simply didn't care and ignored the pain. Even as she contemplated this, the war droid lifted in the air and swept across the hall, mowing down soldiers and droids alike, before crashing hard into the far wall, sparks and smoke now rising from its mangled chassis. She glanced at Theo, surprised that the Jedi would take such a hostile approach to dispatching their enemies, but the green Twi'lek was frowning at Revan whose hand was outstretched from the action, his violet lightsaber now blazing at his side. Well, that certainly explained things. "I suppose I should be flattered for all this to keep me incarcerated?" He asked dryly as his arm lowered.
"Don't be. You are one of several people kept here." Jorgan replied, nudging an Imperial soldier with his boot to make sure she was dead. "But it does show the corruption in the Empire, all these resources spent to hold not even fifty people in a prison that supposedly doesn't exist to even their own people."
"Recall Belsavis?" His mate pointed out as she walked past him, continuing down the hall.
"I try not to."
"The Empire is but the bleed effect from the Emperor's depravity." Revan chimed in. "We destroy him, and the Empire dies with him."
"That's the plan." Mritha said offhandedly as she rounded a corner. A trail of fallen Imperial guards, soldiers, and droids littered the floor, blaster bolts and one lightsaber burn marred the walls and intercepted their path; they'd made a full circle. Without hesitating, she started following them back to the shuttle. "Kira, how are things?" She asked over the com.
"Quiet. Yuun and his team are almost here, shuttle is ready to depart as soon as everyone is on." Her former padawan answered almost with a bored tone.
Quiet was an unnervingly accurate description, Mritha decided a few minutes later as her thumb rubbed the hilt of her lightsaber. Granted the vast majority of the prison's internal defenses had been shut down, killed, or isolated on their way in, but Mritha was used to having to fight her way out of an Imperial complex in addition to fighting her way in. The few skirmishes they'd run into the prison seemed disproportionately small compared to what she'd been expecting, and there was so far nothing serious stopping them from leaving. It was a thing to be grateful for, Mritha told herself as they neared the hanger bay, but still the unease persisted. While they still needed to somehow get past the remains of Kilran's fleet and avoid the prison's autocannons, so far there had been no losses to any of the three teams. Mritha forced her mind away from where her thoughts drifted as she climbed the ramp to their stolen shuttle and entered the cockpit. It had been over a year, but she still missed the tightly wound Chagrian. Sergeant Rusk died on the mission on Drumund Kaas, but not before buying her time to reach the Emperor. "Everyone is on, let's get out of here." She instructed her former padawan after a quick Force sweep of the ship, touching briefly on the presences she felt to ensure all were accounted for.
"Reinforcements are coming." Revan said, more to himself than anyone else as he strapped himself in beside Kira.
The young Jedi knight glanced at the radar and saw nothing new, but chose to focus on getting out rather than question him. With one hand she manned the controls, with her other she flicked open the com channel. "Master Oteg, we are taking off and exiting the prison."
"Understood." The disproportionately deep voice of the short Jedi master quickly responded with a burst of static, interference from his ship being deeper within the nebula. "We have you on our sensors, we will cover your jump to hyperspace. As soon as you depart, we will follow."
"Appreciated, see you on the other side." Kira acknowledged, ending the conversation.
Mritha frowned as the shuttle lifted out of the docking bay, and with a jolt that pressed her into her seat, cleared the hangar. But it wasn't the takeoff that had her gripping her seat, it was the sudden surge of darkness she felt in the Force. It wasn't the Sith Emperor, his presence was familiar to her now. But it was strong, far stronger than any Sith she'd encountered aside from the Emperor himself. And it was rapidly getting closer. Revan's power must have near fully recovered, to sense a presence so early. "Kira, we need to go faster…" She warned her former padawan.
Kira gave her master a glance, now concerned, and encouraged more speed from the shuttle to clear the prison. "It's still mapping the hyperlane, not even a minute left I'd say."
Mritha glanced through the cockpit window to where Master Oteg's fleet, what was left of it, battled with the remains of Kilran's fleet and what ships had been stationed to guard the prison. She wasn't sure how many ships the Jedi brought with him, but only four remained and were heavily outnumbered, but still managing to hold off the Empire's forces somehow. "We've got an incoming. Just one ship though, a Harrower class from the looks of it." Kira announced after a glance at the radar. In the distance, the faint outline of the new addition appeared suddenly from hyperspace, its massive, triangular size dwarfing the shuttle even at this distance. It was hard to tell from so far away, but the ship appeared to be glowing red in the center of its mass. Before she had the chance to point it out to the others, a beam of red-white energy flashed from the Imperial ship and in the blink of an eye, consumed both fleets battling at the edge of the nebula, indiscriminately consuming both Republic and Imperial. For a moment, Mritha couldn't even breathe, the sudden death of so many rippling through the Force and causing her connection to it to flare in pain and sympathy. "Oteg…" Kira whispered. It took a lot to get to the young Jedi, but her voice shook now.
"The hyperdrive is ready, get us out of here before they head towards the prison!" Revan snapped, succeeding only in part of breaking her from her daze. Numbly, Kira manned the controls and the stars lengthened, the ship lurching into hyperspace.
The trip back to the Republic fleet had been made in morbid silence. Theonoe had been physically ill from the backlash of being so close to so much death but by now had recovered. As Mritha watched her ancestor study a holo replay of the space battle over the prison, his mask tucked securely under his arm, her mind drifted back to the strange weapon the Empire used against not just the Republic but also their people as well. She wondered if it were connected to the disappearances of several fleets the past several years. Losses were one thing, but there had been nothing left. Of Oteg's fleet, or the many others who lost contact not long after the Treaty of Couruscant was broken. "How are you holding up?" She asked to break the silence.
"The amount of people who died in order to free me… is staggering." Revan said, his eyes not leaving the holo.
"They understood that we needed you to win this war. The Emperor isn't dead… but no one knows where he is. What he is doing. You know him better than anyone. The people that died won't be forgotten, and neither will they have died in vain. We will win this war." Mritha said with force, as if she were trying to convince herself more than the three-hundred-year-old Jedi Master in front of her. It still unnerved her that the Emperor was alive, despite all she'd done and the heavy cost of doing it.
"Yes, we will. I have spent three hundred years in that madman's head, I've learned much about his plans and what he is truly capable of. Shortly, I'll be flying to Tython and informing the Jedi Council of everything I've learned."
Mritha didn't say anything for a moment. "Satele Shan is the Grand Master."
"I know." Revan turned finally and looked at her. "Your mother?"
"No." Mritha informed. "My mother… was exiled for first loving a Sith, then challenging the Council about the forbidding of attachments. She was reported dead years ago. She and Satele were cousins, I'm not sure what that makes her in relation to me."
Revan chuckled, but the laugh didn't reach his eyes. "Neither do I." Then he sobered again, frowning as if looking at a blemish on her attire. "You didn't succeed either, the first time you faced the Sith Emperor. He twisted you."
She shifted, wondering who told him that, or did he sense it. "I underestimated him. We all did. But the spirit of my fallen Jedi master helped me break free of the Emperor's control after several months under his influence. The second time I faced him, we were more prepared. We would never have pulled it off without Lord Scouge, however. I wouldn't have even escaped the space station if not for him."
"He told me of his vision. He said he saw you."
She tried to read his expression, but gathered nothing. "He believes he did, yes."
"You think otherwise?"
"I don't know what to think." Mritha said honestly. "I struck the Emperor down, I watched him die. Felt him die. So how is he still alive? If Scourge's vision were true, why didn't it come to pass then?"
"Why indeed." Revan said quietly. "Regardless, I am glad to see my line preserved, and strong. I doubt I could have ever escaped on my own, but I'll admit I never tried. When I discovered the amount of influence I had on the Emperor, I wanted to preserve it. To bring peace to the galaxy, so that my son would never know war as I did."
"You succeeded in that." Mritha said softly, thinking back to a previous history lesson. Then she remembered something Theonoe gave her, and pulled a datacron from her belt. "This is the holocron of Secrets… Bastila made it sometime before she died. I know it is just a preserved fragment of her… but I still thought you would want to speak with her."
Mritha wasn't sure if his hand was trembling when he took the datacron from her, or was it her imagination. He studied the cube-shaped device for a moment before meeting her gaze. For a heartbeat, the mask of flesh hiding his emotions, his true self, was gone and she saw into the face of a man who'd been broken and remade, killed and reborn, far too many times. Who'd quite literally lost everything and seen too much death and suffering, yet somehow despite all that remained a Jedi true to the Light Side of the Force. "Thank you. I… would like to see her face again. To hear her voice."
"Master Jedi. Your shuttle is waiting." A protocol droid interrupted.
"I'll be there shortly." Revan said, not bothering to space a glance at the droid. He took the time to carefully hook the datacron on his belt before following, but in the doorway, he paused and looked back at Mritha. He hesitated for a moment, then uttered, "May the Force be with you." He looked like he wanted to say more, but didn't.
"And you as well." His descendant replied. The door quietly slid shut behind him, leaving Mritha alone and in silence aside for the humming and occasional beeping of monitors in the room. Part of her wanted to go with him to Tython, to insist to the council that this man had seen enough war, to leave him alone. But even if they could be swayed, something told her that Revan would never consent to spending the rest of his life on Tython in peace while countless died in war. So long as the Sith Emperor lived, Revan would never stop fighting. Yet there was a foreboding surrounding her ancestor that Mritha didn't understand, couldn't pin down. She told herself that she trusted Revan completely, yet a nagging thought remained persistent. Just how far would he go to defeat the Empire?
AN: Normally I am very against pairing or having a blood relation with my characters and NPCs, but at the time I was role playing with a diehard fanboy of Revan and his character couldn't be related due to being a different species. Since at the time Revan was nothing more than a person seen or mentioned in all of four flashpoints, I went with it on the assumption Revan was nothing more than a nod to KoTR players and wouldn't be seen again.
Yep. That worked. But enough rambling. Next chapter we hop to the Imperial side for a change. I'll give you a hint who it is, he just blew up Oteg's fleet with that special weapon.
R&R and I'll hopefully see you again soon!