Dantooine

It had been a simple matter, Revan mused, slipping onto Dantooine's surface without the Jedi Academy being alerted. He supposed that being the hero of the Republic, and savior of the galaxy was a bigger advantage then he originally thought it would be. However it was far riskier to get to the ruins which, he suspected, held this 'starmap' that he had read about in the Trayus Academy. He couldn't very well walk through the Jedi academy to get to the ruins, it wouldn't do to reveal to the council what he was planning. Knowing those old fools, they would demand he be put on trial for disobeying their orders.... that, or countless Jedi Padawans would bug him to teach them something, neither of which he felt like doing. Not that it really mattered, he did, after all, have the full backing of not only the Supreme Chancellor but the citizens of the Republic. Of course, they all thought he was chasing down the remnants of the Mandalorians that weren't killed at Malachor V.

But what really had Revan worried was Alek, who had been renamed Malek after being chosen as his Sith apprentice. Malek wasn't sure that this was the right path to take, regardless of how many times Revan explained it. But then Revan hadn't revealed everything that he had seen within the core of the Malachor. So he didn't expect Malek to understand the importance of this, but even so Revan worried what may happen should Malek decide to return to the Jedi order. Even if Malek didn't know what they were looking for, he still knew about Revan's plans of conquest. And should Malek betray him, Revan would have to send HK after his best friend to keep his secrets. It wasn't something that he wanted to do, but he knew that it was a possibility, not one to likely happen since he knew that his best friend would remain loyal no matter what path Revan traveled.

But that was of no concern to him. What was a concern was figuring out how to get to the ruins that concealed the starmap. If he passed too close to the Jedi Academy he'd either be seen or sensed through the force. Of course, there was no guarantee that he and Malek had not already been sensed even though they landed their shuttle on one of the many plains of Dantooine. So how to approach the ruins? The best way to get in unnoticed was to go on foot, but that could take days time which he didn't have. He didn't know how long it would take him to find what he was looking for. But the longer he remained on Dantooine, the more likely it was that a Jedi could find him and Malek. But something was... bugging him. There was something... familiar near the ruins; he would worry about that when it came time to. Mounting the swoop bike he kept around, Revan and Malek took off for the ruins. It took a few hours, but eventually they came to it. To anyone else it would have been another hill, save for the multiple pillars that marked the entrance.

Upon entering the ancient stone structure, they came face to face with a... droid of some kind; it looked more like a cone with insect type legs, a single tube like eye swiveling around. When the eye rested on them, it started to speak in some unknown language. Revan couldn't figure out what it was and that worried him, he knew every language of most the races in the Republic. He may not be able to speak all of them but he could understand what was being said to him, but this language caught him off guard. He had no idea where this could have originated.

"Revan, what is this droid speaking?" Malek asked.

"I... don't know. There's nothing like it in the Republic," Revan replied to his best friend.

Then droid in front of them started to go through a series of languages. When one of them was a language he knew was that of the Sand People of Tatooine, he cursed himself for sending out HK-47 on an assassination mission, since the droid would have understood it. Eventually the droid spoke in something that Revan did understand, the dialect of the race that lived on the water planet of Manaan, the Selkath if Revan remembered correctly. Though the amphibious tone sounded out of place, the droid spoke, "There is no language of the slaves that I do not understand."

Finally they were getting somewhere, now to find out what Revan needed to know. "Who put you here?"

"I am an overseer that was placed here by the builders to oversee the slaves while this monument to the power of the Star Forge was being built." The builders? The Star Forge? What was this droid speaking about? Revan didn't know, but he voiced his questions, "It is the glory of the builders of the apex of their infinite empire. A tool of unstoppable conquest," the droid answered. Unstoppable conquest? That would help with his ambitions but it didn't answer what it was or where it was. So Revan repeated his questions only to be answered with the same answer. So, either that was all the droid was programmed to say or it couldn't reveal that information to anyone other then these 'builders' it kept talking about. "How long have you been here?" Perhaps if he could discover how long the builders' empire lasted, then he could have a guess of where to start looking for this Star Forge.

"Ten full revolutions of the system's outermost planet have passed since I was placed here."

Malek interrupted saying, "Ten full revolutions?! Revan, do know what that droid is implying?"

"It would mean that the complex is more then twenty-thousand years old, which means we can assume these 'builders' are far more ancient then anything I could have possibly imagined." Revan couldn't imagine the wealth of knowledge these 'builders' must have possessed. The prospect of learning their secrets, of controlling the galaxy for so long tempting was in and of itself. "Can you tell me how to find the Star Forge?"

The droid's head swiveled to look at the door behind him, "The starmap tells of where the Infinite Empire stretched. But first you must past two trials," here the droid's head turned to look at the door to the right then to the left, "Only then will you be able to see the starmap." The droid fell silent, having answered all of the questions.

Revan walked over to the left, opening the door and immediately blocking the blaster shots fired from another droid from within the room. His hand come up, lightning shooting forth overloading the droid's circuits and shutting it down. Revan walked past the deactivated droid and stood in front of a console. On the screen, there was nothing that he could understand, but he did notice a small port big enough to fit a datapad in. Taking one from his belt, Revan inserted it into the port but the screen only flashed a few times before the datapad was ejected. When he looked at the screen it read, "Identify the three Life-giving seed world types" followed by six choices of "Oceanic, Grassland, Desert, Volcanic, Arboreal, Barren". So what did that mean?

Giving the moment a once over in his mind, Revan answered with the "Oceanic, Grassland, and Arboreal" chooses. The screen flashed once saying, "Correct, breaking Life Seal." The second 'trial' wasn't any different, except the answer called for the other three chooses, 'desert, volcanic and barren' or the "Death-giving Planets". The door behind the droid opened up to reveal an empty room. Revan was about to curse in several different languages before he noticed the other door at the other end. He took a moment to pace in front of the door, briefly wondering if there was anything else the droid forgot to mention... but that didn't matter.

"The Dark Side is strong in this place," Malek said, "I can feel it's power." Turning to face Revan, Malek continued, "Is this wise? The ancient Jedi sealed this archway. If we pass beyond this door we can never go back. We will surely be banished."

So Malek still held some doubts about what they were doing, did he? But Malek was wrong about one thing, the ancient Jedi didn't seal the archway. If any of the Order had, then there would have been something within the archives, but there wasn't. Revan had read every entry within the archives and there had been no mention of these old ruins. So if it wasn't the ancient Jedi that had sealed the archway, then who was it? Revan could feel the small amount of Force energy keeping the doors shut, so whatever race had sealed these doors had been Force sensitive. Considering that the Dark Side was strong in this place, could that mean that the 'True Sith' had something to do with the Star Forge. But that couldn't be it either, within the archives of the Trayus Academy it had mentioned an ancient race, therefore Revan knew that if this 'Star Forge' was created by them, then the 'True Sith' would not have simply disappeared.

A small wave of his hand undid the Force seal and opened the door. Revan heard Malek follow him in saying, "Are the secrets of the Star Forge so valuable? Can it's power truly be worth the risk?" If Malek could only understand the threat Revan foresaw... but Malek could not. Malek could not understand that the Jedi would do nothing to help the Republic. But Revan also feared that the power would consume Malek, and then Malek would only care about his own power forgetting the reason why they set out to search for it to begin with. That was a risk Revan was not willing to take.

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She had felt it, she had felt that familiar Force presence. At first it was so faint that she wasn't sure, none of the other Jedi had sensed what she had. She knew it was him, and she knew it was dangerous to go and find where she had sensed him. But she had to, she had to see him and she had find out why he hadn't returned after the Mandalorians were defeated. Was he simply afraid of what the council would do to him? No, that wasn't like Revan, she knew him better then that.

What was he up to? She had to find out, she simply had to. She knew that Revan taken her with him to fight the Mandalorians, because she took the side of the Jedi High Council without a second thought. But wasn't that their duty? To follow the code and the High Council? Wasn't that what they had sworn to do when they joined the Order? Yet, what she had overheard Revan say when he had argued with the Jedi Council on Dantooine haunted her. She had been on her way to the archives to study when she had heard the shouting from within the Council Chambers. Curious, she listened even though she knew she shouldn't…

"Are you just going to let the Republic fall?!" she instantly recognized Revan's voice.

"We are protectors of peace and justice, we do not fight wars." That voice belonged to Jedi Master Vrook.

"Then we should protect the Republic like we have sworn to do!" That was Revan again, she could almost hear his growing frustration.

"The Mandalorians are not alone in their conquest, there is something far greater waiting in the shadows." That was Jedi Master Vandar. What had he meant when he said that there was something in the shadows? It was the first time she heard such a thing.

"All the more reason to defeat the Mandalorians and draw out whoever is hiding!" she could not understand why Revan was so set upon defeating the Mandalorians, as Jedi Knights it was their duty to follow the council's wishes as well. "Why are we sitting here while whole worlds are being destroyed?! We swore to protect the Republic, and now that the time calls for us to uphold that oath, we do nothing!"

"Calm yourself, Knight Revan, do not let your emotions get the better of you." That was Master Zhar, one of the few that she knew had taught Revan when he was but a padawan. "The Jedi High Council on Coruscant have given their orders on the matter; there is nothing more we can do."

She could sense Revan's growing anger… or was that frustration? Yet she wondered how she could know that without reaching out through the force to him. Revan was helping her with some of her Jedi training so she supposed that she merely had a sense of his emotions because of all the time they spent together. Of course, none of the other Jedi Masters knew about that. She had a feeling the masters would do all they could to keep her from training under Revan. Why this was, she did not know for sure, yet she enjoyed the time she spent with Revan.

"Very well, then I'll take this up with the High Council on Coruscant." She hurried to hide, mentally cursing herself for wearing her easily recognized skin tight cat-suit instead of the regular Jedi robes. She tried concealing herself in the shadows, but she knew it wouldn't work… she never could hide herself from Revan's gaze if he wanted to find her. She held her breath, praying that he didn't turn around as he stopped mere inches away from her. "What's the point?" he asked himself. "Why did we swear to protect the Republic and uphold the peace… if we don't do anything? Why is it that they are content with sitting in their rooms and doing nothing? Are we not bound to our oaths? Are we not bound to do what is right? How can the council sit there and do nothing after we all felt the deaths of those upon Serroco's surface?"

She knew not if he was talking to himself or if he knew she was there and was deliberately saying these things to get her to question all that had been taught to her. She knew it was like him, Revan himself had been taught to question everything and find the truth for one's self. It was something he did often during their private lessons. It wasn't something she took to heart, she believed the Jedi Masters were right and a Jedi's first duty was to follow their orders as well as the Jedi Code. It was a point she had tried to make to Revan on multiple occasions, yet he was steadfast in his beliefs as she was in hers.

"There must be something that can be done." He continued to himself, "We simply can't ignore the Republic's plea for help. For if we did… we would be going against everything that has been taught to us." He paused here, lost in his own thoughts for several minutes, " Then there is only one thing left to do," Revan said finally, looking up at the ceiling, the dark brown hood sliding from his head, "If the High Council will not heed my advise, then I shall take matters into my own hands." His head turned, her breathe hitching in her throat as his piercing green eyes bore into her own sapphire ones, "For what else could you do… to uphold the honor of your oaths?" And with that Revan turned, pulling the hood over his head once more and walking away.

She released the breath she had not known she was holding, sliding down the wall as her legs failed to hold her weight. So he had known she was there, he had been talking to her and not himself. If her breath wasn't so ragged then she would have laughed. She should have known better, she should have known Revan knew she was there, listening to him talking to the council. She tried to regain herself, yet his words still echoed in her head, repeating over and over again, even as she made it back to her room within the dormitories, collapsing onto her bed staring blankly upwards. Closing her eyes she tried to get her raging breathing under control, though all of the Jedi meditation techniques failed her here. Revan's piercing green eyes staring back at her, even as she squeezed her eyes shut trying to sleep, his words still echoing in her mind… why couldn't she calm herself?!

She remembered that day well, throwing herself into her Jedi training, achieving the rank of a Jedi Knight during the Mandalorian Wars. Eventually she switched out her single-bladed lightsaber for a double-bladed lightsaber… though she kept the yellow core crystal. When Revan rebelled against the Council and called hundreds of Jedi to his side to aide the Republic, she had argued against them, trying to get them to obey the Council and their orders. Perhaps she didn't care about the orders, perhaps she didn't care that he was rebelling, perhaps she wasn't just worried about what could happen to him, but her mind screamed at her to join them… join him. She knew she cared about him, she knew she shouldn't and it was against the Jedi Code and she knew it could lead her to the Dark Side of the Force. But she didn't care about that!

She found herself unable to be clam during meditation, unable to focus on her training without the thought of him entering her mind. Many nights during the war she would stare up at nothing, plagued by nightmares of his death. It frustrated her, whether at herself for not being able to remember her Jedi training or being unable to do anything about it, she knew not. So great was her frustration that she was unable to control her emotions and her Masters continually berated her for it. She had always tried to control her emotions and remember the Jedi Code, yet it failed her each time.

Was that why she came out here? Not to find out his reasons, but to make sure he was fine? Or just to see him again? Yes, it was. She wouldn't admit it to anyone or out loud, but she did care about him. She wanted to believe that she didn't, she wanted to believe that she didn't have these strange feelings in her heart whenever she thought about him. She wanted to believe that she was the perfect Jedi. She wanted to believe that she followed the Code obediently. Through all of this, a deeper part of her wondered briefly how long she was going to fool herself.

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Revan was surprised to see her waiting outside the ruins when he and Malek exited. He should have known that she would be able to sense where he had gone. Yet now that she was in front of him, he couldn't help but let his eyes roam over her form. He had never let the Jedi's beliefs about attachment and emotional control rule his actions. This allowed him to see the young woman standing in front of him, the tan skin tight cat-suit hugging her more matured curves, brown hair held within two short ponytails, a double-bladed lightsaber hanging from her belt, the twin colored sapphire eyes that he knew were staring into his own behind the mask he wore.

The sound of a lightsaber activating had his hand flying out to the side, Malek's red colored blade shooting into his hand and deactivating. Revan threw his apprentice's lightsaber over his shoulder, "Return to the ship and prepare it for launch." Before Malek had the chance to object, Revan turned his head slightly, glaring at his apprentice from behind his mask. Malek wasted no time in getting to his speeder bike and leaving.

"I knew you'd be here, Revan," she said, her eyes boring into his own, "Tell me why you haven't returned to the Order now that the war is over?" Revan could swear he felt the hurt and the pain in her voice. He could swear that he could see the worry in her eyes. He could feel his own heart ache, which surprised him since he didn't think he had a heart left. He wanted to reach out to her. He wanted to hold her in his arms and take her with him. But he knew that he couldn't. He knew that the road he traveled he could only walk alone. He had sacrificed everything to save the galaxy, yet that was not really why he was doing it.

He was doing this for her. He was doing it to protect her first and the galaxy second. Within the core of Malachor he had seen her death a thousand times over. It plagued his dreams and kept him awake at night. But what hurt more was knowing that it was because of him that she died. It was knowing that following him had caused her death. For this reason, he could not have her join him despite his desire to have her by his side. This was why he did not answer her… why he was cold to her. In the end, he could only hope that she would understand that. In the end, he could only pray that she didn't hate him.

He turned to leave, walking back towards his speeder bike. Did he notice the single tear roll down his face? Did he notice her falling to her knees, tears running down her own face? Did he notice the pain within both of their hearts increase with every step he took? Perhaps he did and perhaps he didn't. One thought repeated itself, over and over again in his mind as he rode away on his bike. One thought that he unconsciously sent through the Force and into her mind…

"Forgive me… Bastila."

I had originally thought that this was only going to be a oneshot, but after giving it some more thought I decided to continue it. How many more chapters after this I'm not really sure, maybe one... maybe two, we'll have to see how it all works out. Either way, please review and tell me what you thought about it.