Haha! First chapter up within a week! Quite short but more to come. Thanks to all reviewers, well, both of them so far: yellieisarobot and Lady Sara Revan. Hope you all like it.
As always, I don't own Star Wars or anything under that label. The names Taryn Lanar and Hana M'teli are mine, as well as planet Arcadium and scoutcraft Peregrine. Oh yeah! Revan's Coda is mine. GL, you can't have it. Sorry.
Chapter 1 – Ad Infinitum (1)
Revan stood outside her self made home, a one-storey building of wood and stone which she had built with the Force and her own hands. Her one-man, long-range recon fighter was parked next to it. She was on an uninhabited world, rugged and beautiful, where it was easy to find food and water as there was a stream running by the back. She had jokingly called it Arcadium.
She had claimed this place as her base for finding the True Sith just two and a half years ago, after four years of moving from planet to planet, finding small symbols and clues of their existence but never anything concrete. It was as if they were avoiding her for some reason, or maybe they did not exist or had been wiped out. Maybe her recollections had been nothing more than delusional memories of her life before the Jedi had rescued her; or maybe, she was going mad.
Then, six months ago, a long dormant strand of her being that was connected to another had awoken. There was a message, with a familiar feel about it, it said, 'I'm coming.' Then it faded, again.
Taryn Lanar, the Exile, flew swiftly through space in the scoutship she had bought with the credits she still had in an unmarked account the she had created when she was still a general under Revan. She had christened it the Peregrine (2) before setting off for the Unknown Regions to look for her old friend and comrade-in-arms.
Revan had formed Force bonds with all her trusted generals so that she would be able to command them more effectively; but after she had been Exiled, that bond had been broken, but now was renewed as Taryn regained her connection to the Force. A month after she defeated Kreia, or rather Darth Traya as she had called herself, she had tried to send a message to Revan through the Force, to prepare her for her arrival. Now, after six months of relentless searching, she was getting close.
Six months, following the indelible trace Revan left in the Force, like a bloodhound who had caught the scent. Revan had always been powerful, attuned to the Force. But some of the things she had heard disturbed her. Had Revan truly fallen so far in the years they had been apart? As she edged closer to a confrontation - no, she forced herself to think positively – a meeting with her old friend, nevertheless she could not discount the possibility that Revan had fallen that far, and she hadn't climbed back up.
Revan's trail was very conspicuous to someone who had been as close to her as Taryn. The feel of it told of loss and sorrow, interspersed with small bursts of happiness and love. If only she had known how much Revan relied on her.
She had left all her companions behind, as she knew that although Kreia had been the Betrayer, she had been telling the truth about the Sith Empire. When she had told them that she would be leaving, she knew how they felt, she had not wanted to let go. But it had to be done, as the True Sith would surely find some way to exploit the bonds between her and them. Only the two droids had been brought along, as they would prove to be invaluable later. But Revan had had companions too. And she too had left them behind. What had told her to? The Force? Why was she the only one permitted to stand beside Revan on this dark path?
Revan had felt the strength of the bond increasing as its other end neared her, like a single strand of string twisted with many others becomes a rope. She wished she could remember who the person was; there was a distinctively feminine feel about it, but she couldn't place it.
It was a memory still locked away in the depths of her consciousness. There were many gaps in her past, her true past, not that sham the Jedi had created for her. Hah! Hana M'teli, a falsehood, conjured out of nothing! For a moment she felt anger stirring in her breast, anger at their audacity, at Bastila's acting skills, at her own stupidity.
Suppressing it, she recited her Coda: 'I am one with the Force. I will not succumb. I will face the darkness. I will prevail. The Force is with me.' She had felt the words through the Force, those that seemed right. It helped when the darkness within threatened to overwhelm.
She stopped her expeditions, in order to settle down and wait for her visitor.
Taryn approached the slightly brown hued world on which she was sure Revan was ensconced. She told T3 to handle the automatic landing procedures while she went to activate HK-47, just to be prepared for anything; that Revan had been captured or worse, had turned to the Dark Side.
She approached the rusty red coloured droid and fumbled for a moment with the circuit controls, she'd never been that good with electronics, she wished Bao-Dur were there, but he had stayed on Telos to continue working on the Restoration. Ah well, T3 would have to do, after all, they were both Revan's droids.
She finally managed to connect all the proper circuits and HK came to life with a 'Sarcastic comment: Master, what an enjoyable time that was!' She opened her mouth for a retort but suddenly everything went black.
Revan watched the silver ship settled into the dust in a perfect three-point landing. The ramp lowered and her jaw dropped, then she ran up to the rusty red droid, 'HK! How is this possible? I told you to stay behind, to protect Carth and Bastila and the others! Who brought you here anyway? What's been happening while I've been gone?' The questions poured out.
'Overjoyed Reply: Master! How nice to see you again after all this time. I shall answer your questions in turn. It is possible because I flew here on this ship. Taryn Lanar brought me here. Since you've been gone, the crew has separated; the Ebon Hawk suffered extensive damage but was repaired; the Jedi have gone into hiding, including your friends; Taryn is the only one currently assured to be alive, but not for much longer; the Sith have shown themselves and are preparing to move. I believe that is all the relevant information for now.'
'What do you mean, not for much longer?'
'Concerned yet Sarcastic Answer: Why, she's just collapsed in the cargo hold, Master. I could not detect any airborne poison or pathogen, but just to be safe I engaged the disinfectant sprays. There is nothing more I can do. Sorry, master.'
'Fierfek,' she muttered before dashing into the cargo area, which smelled strangely of cinnamon from the disinfectant, where she found Taryn sprawled across the floor, her face pale and turning blue, bringing back many memories, both good and bad.
She put her fingers to Taryn's temples, feeling for a pulse, there was none. Then she too sprawled onto the floor, as if struck an invisible blow.
(1) Ad Infinitum - Latin - To Infinity
(2) Peregrine - I love this name, it means 'wanderer' so I find it appropriate.
So, two main characters coming together! I guess this answers your question, eh, yellie? By the way, the next few chappies are gonna be flashback style so I'm telling you guys in advance. I'm making a couple of interpretations about major events during the Mandalorian Wars.