Disclaimer: I own nothing.

AN: The necessary summary for Revan's characterization. Oh, and Chapter 1.

Chapter 1: Insight

The first thing a Mandalorian child is taught outside of the simplistic basics of infant and toddler survival is to respect the power of an unknown foe. The teachings are so ingrained into the minds and bodies of Mandalorian-raised children that it becomes a kind of instinct as their lives progress and they near adulthood… the age of thirteen for most humanoid sentience. Beyond the obvious wisdom of such teachings lays a unique philosophy. Mandalorians are taught to respect what they fight, taught to understand each motion and breath of a foe. To know the heart of your enemy is to know the face of war. All taught in the ways of the warriors knows an enemy is an obstacle to overcome. Not all obstacles are physical and just as much respect comes from mental prowess as physical.

Perfection of survival is the Mandalorian way. The perfect warrior is one who not only can overcome any foe or environment, but also one that understands the ways of the unknown. One who understands that there is always more to learn and that a reckless gambit into the heart of an unknown is as foolish as it is doomed. Mandalorians make war because they understand their foes… and find them lacking in honor.

Revan Qel-Droma of the Mandalorian Clan Bloodraven was a follower of Resol'Nare, the heart of Mandalorian Law. The law was simple and it was to be absolutely respected by all bearing the name Mando'ade or "Children of Mandalore."

Ba'jur, beskar'gam,(Education and armor)

Ara'nov, alit, (Self-defense, our tribe)

Mando'a bal Mand'alor, (Our language, our leader)

An vencuyan mhi. (All help us survive)

Revan was fathered by the Dark Jedi Ulic Qel-Droma and carried by a half-breed Taung warrior who's name was lost when the man was but a adiik. (Child between 3 and 13 years.) Trained by the Clans until his recruitment into the Jedi Order at the age of ten, Revan was near his trial for adulthood when his path took him to the Republic and its greatest warriors, the Jedi Knights.

From there, Revan trained as a Jedi warrior and learned their ways. The boy had even begun to respect the Jedi's Spartan lifestyle and even their disciplined and peaceful ways when his trials as a Jedi Knight were completed and he was free to return to his people with the gained knowledge of the Jedi Order's ways.

Then Cathar happened. At the behest of Mandalore the Ultimate, the Mandalorian Clans descended upon the Cathar people and under the warlord Cassus Fett's guidance were utterly destroyed. It was a crime beyond the scope of cruelty. Every man, woman and child of that world that did not die in the fighting or were fortunate enough to escape were driven by the pursuing warriors and their war-machines into the oceans and there, they were boiled alive by the fires of Mandalorian weapons.

It was an act of revenge for the Cathar's part in the Mandalorian's earlier defeat by Republic and Jedi Forces in Exar Kun's Great Sith War. To those who saw beyond the glory to be gained in the war the Mandalorians were provoking the Republic into fighting, it was a crime done by an entire race of once-honorable warriors who had forgotten the point behind their laws and embraced a simpler, crueler doctrine. That of revenge and slaughter. The Mandalorians had lost their honor and became dar'manda. (One who has lost identity, soul or heritage.)

As a Mandalorian following the code of his people, Revan was compelled to fight a war with his own kind. The result was not favorable for either side as it led to the Jedi General's return to the Republic as a Sith Lord and the utter destruction of the Mandalorian people over Malachor V.

As Darth Revan was escorted to C-Sec Academy for processing, his eyes scanned the various sentient beings around him. Humans were easy to spot, but other species unknown to the former Jedi General as he was led to an elevator and pushed to the back. Four C-Sec guards, two human, a Turian and a Salarian were keeping him under guard while the lift began its slow ascent. Music of some sort played in the background and Revan cast a glance towards the speaker within the lift, his mind filing away the wealth of unfamiliar, yet easily recognizable technology. Being a trained Jedi Knight and Mandalorian warrior; Revan was a patient man and so when the lift finally did reach where he was to be processed by C-Sec, he only wanted to maim whoever designed the blasted device, not kill.

Mandalorians made their own armor and weapons once they had proven themselves as adults and while Revan had never officially undergone the trials for adulthood within the Clans, his JedI trials were an acceptable alternative as it was so closely related to a religion and the Clans accepted all religions and species so long as they did not detract from the Mandalorian ways.

Armor is not all there is to a warrior. The old saying was not only restricted to a warrior's prowess and most Mandalorian suits of battle armor were equipped with powerful energy shields, stealth field generators and a vast assortment of concealed and deadly weaponry as well as various useful survival implements for climbing, strength enhancement and survival in vacuum or against chemical weaponry. Mandalorians as a rule also had advanced nanites injected into their bloodstreams as children. The microscopic machines each housed a near-sentient droid that boosted the recipient's stamina, health and their ability to heal from otherwise life-threatening injuries. Machines, especially sentient ones were part of the Mandalorian's life. Basilisk War Droids were sentient as well and programmed to be loyal to their chosen riders for the course of each of their lives. It was part of what had made the Mandalorian war mounts such a terror and so effective at killing.

By Citadel standards, the nanites within Revan's body could qualify as semi-sentient and therefore a violation of the AI research restrictions. Since Revan was one quarter Taung, he would also not appear to be entirely human once C-Sec took the time to scan him. Of course, their scanners would have trouble piercing his armor as it was designed to fool the Republic's much more advanced scanners.

Walking through the clean and polished hallways of the Citadel, Revan tried to gather his thoughts as he was guided to a processing room with two long white tables in the center of the room and an Asari C-Sec officer eyeing a data pad with a frown on her blue face. The Asari glanced up at the entrance of Revan and his guard entourage and nodded to her fellow officers before approaching Revan and raising her left arm. With her right, the Asari began typing in a sequence in mid-air before her Omni-tool appeared and Revan rose a brow beneath his mask at the holographic keyboard. The technology wasn't unheard of to him, but it was unusual to see it being used in conjunction with a wrist-mounted scanner. A few key tones from the holographic Omni-tool removed Revan's restraints and the manacles dropped to the deck as Revan rubbed his wrists wearily.

"Please remove your armor, sir."

Revan merely nodded and began shedding his armor slowly, careful to keep the seals and hidden weaponry intact. Each piece of his armor would need extra care after the unscheduled dip he'd taken in the Presidium lake before it was up to a straight battle. The same could be said of his light sabers. The deadly weapons were not tuned to function in water and Revan was in no position to have a battle against projectile-wielding unknowns after his exhausting battle with the True Sith Emperor. Recovery would take time and cooperating with the mixed-species law enforcement of wherever the Hell he'd ended up was his only option. The Mandalorian part of Revan surmised that it would also be useful to know his potential enemy while the JedI side reasoned it was wise to pursue a peaceful outcome to his current situation.

"I'm going to need you to remove your Omni-tool as well, sir."

Free of his armor, Revan merely stared at the Asari in confusion, his brow furrowing as his eyes narrowed at the blue-skinned alien. What the Hell was an Omni-tool? Revan felt a hand grasp his arm roughly and pull him back. Out of sheer instinct, Revan shifted his wrist, driving his elbow into the sternum of whoever had grabbed him. The result was an out of breath and incapacitated human C-Sec officer. Pain blossomed in Revan as a flash overcame his vision. Staggering forward, Revan turned to see a Turian with a rifle stock raised. The expression on the Turian's mandibled features was difficult to read, but surprise echoed in the air around the saurian alien as Revan shifted his full attention to his assailant and sneered.

"Was that entirely necessary?"

Revan kept his voice controlled, though the rage was clear in his eyes. A flicker of golden light crossed the former Jedi Knight's brown irises and the Turian stared at the shift of the man's eye-color, uncertain of whether he'd seen it or not. A clearing of a throat drew both men's gazes to the Asari as she nodded to the communicator strapped to Revan's left wrist.

"Your Omni-tool, sir. I saw that your response was merely a reaction and I am sure Officer Donovan will not add charges as he should have informed you before beginning a search. Please remove the device on your wrist as well as any metal-plated clothing or objects on your person."

The Asari's blue eyes were calm in the face of the violence within the processing room and Revan stared into the alien woman's eyes briefly before conceding with a nod. The wrist-communicator joined his armor before he began undoing the leather straps that had held his armor in place.

Water-logged Jedi robes and a cloak joined his armor and communicator before Revan lowered himself to the ground and began removing his boots and then his gloves. A black, form-fitting unisuit covered Revan's body and he reached up and undid the atmospheric seal at his neck, the advanced pressure suit joining his other possessions on the table.

Nude, Revan spread his arms and legs, staring impassively into the Asari's face as she gave him a brief once-over and turned her attention to her Omni-tool. A small line passed over the alien's smooth blue features as she checked and double-checked her readings.

"That's strange…"

Glancing up from her Omni-tool, the Asari gave Revan's eyes a hard, searching stare before she lowered her scanner and crossed her arms with a frown, her lips pouting slightly in her confusion.

"Dehlan, make a log to the Council. Subject is not entirely… organic or human… Scanners"

Shaking her head, the Asari officer motioned Revan to a shower stall and gestured to a pile of gray and orange prison clothing. No explanation was necessary and Revan merely walked past the officer, stone-faced and began cleaning himself off within the shower stall. The room behind Revan was silent in the wake of the scanner's results and Revan took his time enjoying the shower, his mind trying to catch up to the situation he was in while his body fought off the exhaustion his duel brought on.

"Sir?"

Revan started from his musings, turning to see the Asari officer's impassive features. While the blue-skinned alien appeared in her mid twenties by human standards, Revan could sense an old soul within the woman's eyes and was unsurprised by her neutral handling of the situation. Not that he had anything to hide.

Senior C-Sec Officer Shari'a tried to keep a neutral expression as the extremely well-built prisoner turned and accepted the towel she offered him. Drying himself off in what could only be described as a military fashion, the Asari caught sight of the strange skull-shaped tattoo of an unrecognizable beast on the man's powerful bicep. Despite the man's lack of weapons and armor, she knew from her scans how dangerous he was.

Violence was written upon each vein, each muscle within the man's toned and built frame. His height would do nothing to hamper his speed, she knew and despite the evident wear and exhaustion her scans had shown her, the scarring was evidence of what Revan could survive. Vicious and jagged marks marred the man's abdomen and back from blades, shrapnel while what looked like painful, deliberate burns that could only come from a superheated object touching vulnerable human-like flesh marred the slightly tanned pale flesh of her charge. Not knowing of blasters and light sabers, the weapons were unidentifiable to the Asari Matron and she forced herself to remember the being's origins and what else her scanner had picked up.

Millions of microscopic devices flowed through the man's bloodstream and a complete lack of immunization against common diseases as well as a variation within the subject's genome warned of genetic engineering and experimentation. A complete lack of Element Zero was curious, as was a lack of implants beyond the tiny machines within the man's bloodstream, but she knew what the flashing indicator on her Omni-tool had indicated as well as its implications.

The creature before her could only be the result of some sick experiment in gene therapy, cross-species bio-engineering and machine sentience. A Geth experiment, perhaps a relic of the rouge Spectre Saren's research into fields forbidden by the Council. For all she knew he could be a Geth cyborg of some kind designed for infiltration. It wouldn't explain the mark on the man, but it would explain the various injuries her scans had found.

Perhaps more troubling than the near-intelligent nanites and the wounds and genetic drift from the entirely human was the genetic decay telling of a man in his late twenties, perhaps early thirties. His human-dominant genetic materials predated the First Contact War and perhaps even human discovery of Mass Relays. It was improbable that the Geth would take an interest in the distant human homeworld and abduct humans or harvest human genetic materials only to place them in a manufactured super soldier before they even left their home system. The impossibility of the scenario and the complete lack of logic left more questions to his origins.

"Who- What are you?"

Shari'a finally asked once the man had finished drying himself off and dressed in the prison uniform. Kneeling on the ground as he pulled on his boots, Revan cast a quick glance up at the officer observing his actions and rubbed his nose as a foreign scent invaded his senses. It was dry, though not unpleasant and resembled a flower patch he'd been trudging through once on Dantooine as a teen. A quick and discreet whiff of the air told Revan it was coming from the Asari and her shrugged as he stood at his full height, offering a small smirk as he responded.

"A bastard if you ask my wife and utterly incorrigible if you asked my master."

Genuine surprise crossed Officer Shari'a's features as she stared at Revan incredulously. Three centuries as a C-Sec officer had given the Asari Matron insight into body language and certain tells when a sentient was lying. The body language of her charge was relaxed for the most part, though the edge to his posture remained, indicating his readiness for battle if it should come. Unless the man was a fantastic lair, he really did have both a wife and a master.

"You were a slave?"

The hard expression that crossed the man's face was one she'd seen hundreds of times in regards to humans when asked about slavery. The utter abhorrence humans viewed slavery and even its legal and distant cousin of Indentured Servitude was present for only a moment before it cleared.

"I was…"

A slave to who remained unsaid, though Revan knew the JedI Council's decision to mind wipe and reconstruct a false identity within his body was necessary for the Order's survival in the face of Darth Malak and the power of the Star Forge, he also knew it was slavery in its most brutal form. Forcing away his true identity and creating a programmable tool that would respond how they wanted it to respond was murder and slavery in his mind and a black, cold rage churned in the former Jedi's gut as he was led to an interrogation room.

"I- I need to know something before we start, sir."Revan glanced at the Asari silently, trying to gauge the reason behind the hesitance within the woman's question before merely brushing it off. She was a member of the law enforcement agency that saw fit to imprison and interrogate him and while he may not like the treatment he'd been given thus far, they'd been near-civil in their handling of the situation and with the Force as well as his training he was never defenseless. Should the situation demand it, he could easily escape and elude capture once he had a bearing on his location and the state of the region of space he found himself in.

"You're the officer here and I the prisoner, go ahead. I'd just like to know my rights at some point in this charmingly fascist display of a military state."

Flinching at the snide, cutting tone of the man as well as the lack of legal niceties, Shari'a glanced back at her supporting officers as they kept a wary eye on her charge.

"You have no idea what this is do you?"Shari'a finally asked, seeing the total lack of unease within the Mysterious Stranger. A cold, cruel smirk flickered across Revan's lips before it vanished.

"I suppose I am being led to a quiet and isolated place where I can be aggressively interrogated as to how I came to be here, who I am and what my purpose is. This will all likely be followed by one of two things. A lengthy legal procedure and my release or a single shot to the head. Am I about right, officer?"

Sighing, Shari'a did nothing to deny any of Revan's claims as she cast a glance at the man before punching in her code to unlock the interrogation room.

"You were in possession of weapons in a restricted area. You appeared from Conduit with no identity logged within the Citadel's database and not only a deadly and powerful explosive, but also illegal technology. The… machines within your body violate the sanctions in Citadel Space against Artificial Intelligence research and while you can be cleared of the other charges if you do not turn out to be a Geth spy or saboteur, the very presence of such machines within you is enough to land you life imprisonment... Or worse."

Revan's features remained unchanged throughout the explanation and he stood still in silence as he considered his options. He still needed time to recover from the exhaustion brought on by his battle with the Sith Emperor as well as the event that had brought him to this strange space station. Cooperation would be wise for the time being and reluctantly, Revan entered the room and took a seat, allowing his arms and legs to be restrained while he stared vacantly at the two-way mirror in clear view along the side of the wall he was forced to face.

Time passed slowly as Revan relaxed his body in its restrained and uncomfortable position. A waking meditation was all that was needed to regain some of his exhausted strength and the three hours C-Sec kept his locked in the interrogation room and under close observation to catalogue his reactions was enough to give Revan some of his old strength back. Not refreshed, but in a much better position if combat were needed to escape, Revan mentally debated his situation.

The unknown but civilized aliens were unsettling as was the lack of knowledge of Coruscant and Ziost. The language sounded the same as Galactic Basic, but something was off about it all. Translators maybe, Revan shook his head to clear it when the door to his interrogation room opened and a human in a well-tailored suit. The man was in his late fifties and dark-skinned, but his steps carried the knowledge of battle and Revan straightened unconsciously.

"We need to know what you know about the Reapers…"

Councilor David Anderson watched the man carefully as he pondered his situation. It didn't take long for the man to respond, but Anderson caught the subtle shift of the man at his entrance, as if he felt threatened over the situation. Rightly so, since he'd had to practically run to the interrogation room after he found out the Council was just going to process and imprison the man for illegal AI tech without even consulting legal council… or the Human Embassy since the man's DNA was not entirely human.

"I don't know anything about the Reapers, sir. I do know that in most galactic civilizations the treatment I've received since falling through that damned oversized tuning fork would be classified as illegal. Were it not for the conscience of one of your officers I wouldn't even know what I am likely being charged with."

Disgusted, Revan couldn't keep the sneer from his lips as he clenched his hands and tested his restraints experimentally. An alarm sounded a warning tone and Anderson took a step back while the door to the interrogation room opened and Bailey entered with his pistol drawn.

"I'm going to have to ask you to stop that, son."Bailey's rough voice cut in, cold and flat with the very real threat of violence should the human representative of the Council he harmed under his watch. Revan ceased his brief struggle, lying back and giving the two humans a hard stare.

"My armor and weapons will tell you who I am. My mask has a data recorder with… years of information stored within its data stores. Once you've reviewed that information, I'll answer your questions."

Without another word, Revan turned his head away and stared at the two-way mirror blankly. Ten minutes of unanswered questions from Anderson and a few brutal punches from Bailey when he did not so much as grunt a response was all it took to drain both men of their patience.

"Leave him to the Council, then."

Anderson sighed, knowing he wouldn't get any information about the Reapers or anything if they continued to question the Mysterious Stranger. Following him outside of the interrogation room with a disgusted look on his face, Bailey rubbed his sore hand from the blows he'd given the prisoner and grunted his response to the human Council member.

"Council's deemed him too dangerous to live after the results of Shari'a's scans. They're sending one of their pets down to dispose of him."

As if on cue, a black-clad Turian stalked past the two towards the interrogation room, a flame-thrower in his hands as he prepared to incinerate the uninvited guest, nanites and all. It was too dangerous to risk the microscopic machines activating some failsafe after the man was killed and despite the brutality of it all, the Spectre knew his orders and had long-since convinced himself his duty was more important than his morality.

Revan sensed the killing intent of the black-clad Turian Spectre that entered his cell and rose a brow impassively at the flamethrower pointed in his direction as the doors to the interrogation room sealed.

"Do you feel that?"

Revan's voice was barely a whisper as his fingers curled slightly within their restraints. Confusion crossed the Spectre's avian features before he merely stood still, neither advancing or responding as his body and the implants within him failed to respond. Even his advanced biotics refused to react as suddenly the restraints holding the near-human down fell away and the man stood with an easy grace that the Spectre recognized from a well-trained fighter.

"You can't breathe… you can't move, you can't even think or speak. I have been nothing but accommodating to you fools and in return you assault me and chose to murder me in a most vile way when you have yet to even ask me my name?"

Rage colored Revan's eyes with a golden light as he moved casually to the unresponsive Turian and eyed the alien with a disgusted expression.

"Far deadlier foes than you have tried to murder me."

A quick and precise blow to the side of the head knocked the Turian from the unrelenting hold Revan's Force-powers kept him in and he fell to the deck, unconscious before he hit the ground. An alarm immediately sounded and gas flooded the room while Revan knelt beside the Turian and relieved the Spectre of his HMWP Mark X sidearm before a wave of his hand collapsed the near-unbreakable material of the two-way mirror. Startled Council observers raised their hands in surrender as Revan trained his stolen pistol on them before the former Dark Lord of the Sith made another subtle gesture with his hand and they were all thrown about the room and into the thick and unmoving bulkheads, all falling unconscious at Revan's feet.

Smirking slightly at the chaos unfolding around him, Revan quickly grabbed one of the unconscious C-Sec officer's Omni-tools that happened to hold the security clearance overrides for most of the doors within C-Sec Academy and made his way quickly to where his armor and hopefully his light sabers were being kept.

The approach of a squad of heavily armed and shielded C-Sec enforcers quickly tossed that plan out the airlock and Revan was forced to backtrack and toss the Omni-tool when he realized a tracking device was encoded within the wrist-mounted tool. Shedding the orange jumpsuit of his prison clothes, Revan ducked into a locker room, quickly subduing the three startled human C-Sec officers within and relieving one of the lockers of its contents.

Using the Force, Revan masked his presence from scanners and moved from the lockers, bypassing the frantic C-Sec patrols and making a break for a series of air ducts that looked to be a promising escape route.

Through skills gained as a Jedi Knight, Revan was able to make a break for the docking bays attached to C-Sec Academy and the former General quietly stole away on a small, aged shuttle as it crept from the docking bay.

Within C-Sec Academy, Captain Bailey was shouting orders into his Omni-tool as he entered the interrogation room and checked to see if the Council Spectre and their observers were still alive. Strangely enough, the fugitive had not killed anyone, simply incapacitated them and moved on. The sheer efficiency and expedience of Revan's escape was almost unbelievable and Anderson cautiously entered the interrogation room with a wary expression on his weathered features.

"Goddamnit! Get the elevators locked down, put up kinetic barriers in all the air vents and get me a damned line to those Navy pukes. Tell'em to shoot down anyone failing to respond to a search of their craft. Stop all outbound flights, I repeat stop all outbound-"

Anderson drew himself away from Bailey's shouts to simply take in the destruction a single man had brought upon the interrogation room.

"The Council is going to need to see everything you got from this man."

Anderson finally stated as he approached Bailey and helped to shift the unconscious Council observers to more comfortable positions while they awaited a medical team. Bailey cast a quick glance to Anderson and nodded grimly as he moved to the command and control center for C-Sec Academy to oversee the logistical nightmare unfolding around them.

Thousands of light-years away, within a sizeable space station that only a handful of beings within the galaxy knew about, a man in his early sixties watched the feed of Revan's escape through twin ocular implants. Moving his left hand to a console on the side of the chair he rested in, the Illusive Man brought up the results from Officer Shari'a's scans of Revan. Taking a quick drag of his cigarette, the head of Cerberus set a quick text-only message to his asset within C-Sec Academy. In the chaos unfolding with Revan's escape and the subsequent search of the tens of thousands of shuttles and starships within the Citadel's crowded search-zones, no one realized the disappearance of the cause of the chaos' possessions until it was too late. By that time, C-Sec suspected the supposed fugitive and not the terrorist pro-human organization was responsible for the missing items.