Chapter 2: Arrival

I woke up and felt the warmth of Brianna's body next to me. I stayed in the position I had fallen asleep in, which was strange as I usually tossed and turned through the night. I looked at the clock above me, and saw I had once again woke up a few minutes before Mira began cooking breakfast. Brianna was usually up and training.

I guess she had noticed me stirring and rolled over. She had obviously woken up before me, though not long before.

"Morning." Brianna said, flashing a smile.

"Good morning." I said, smiling and feeling a bit to giddy given all the things that had taken place the past few weeks. She made me happy.

"I see you slept very well, Matt." She said glancing at my apparently wild hair. It struck me that she had called me Matt. I liked it.

"Well, excuse me then. I'll go visit the refresher and straighten up for you." I said grinning. She sat up to allow me to move past her. I realized that I was only in the pants of my gray robes, and tensed up. I had never been one to show off, I had been a Jedi and always practiced extreme modesty, even during the Mandalorian Wars and throughout most of my exile. I knew Brianna had very little modesty about her, but even she had slept in her Knight robes, minus her over-robe.

I walked into the refresher room and looked at myself in the mirror I seemed like I had aged half a decade over the past few months. I was once again broad and muscular. I had lost a lot of weight during my exile, as I was wandering aimlessly and not fighting a war or sparring padawans and other knights. I was six foot tall, just like Revan, a little taller than most republic soldiers.

My hair had grown out a bit, but still wasn't touching my ears, as I had usually kept it neat and trimmed with an undercut hairstyle. I pushed it back and out of my face, using some water to tame some of the messiness. I ran a comb through the hair on the back of my head to fix my bed hair. Revan had always told me I cared too much about my hair.

"It will only get wind tossed and you will have to fix it again." He had told me several times trying to convince me my efforts to look nice were futile.

I trimmed my beard that covered up my squarish face and jawline then brushed my teeth. I stared at myself for just a moment in the mirror. I had been told several times in my adulthood that I was a good-looking man. Several times while in cities I could see women and even sometimes men staring at me. I had a hard time noticing what look good about me, but I never complained about the extra attention. I quit looking at myself and headed back to my room to dress for breakfast. The Handmaiden might not have cared about my lack of clothing, but one of the crew would have.

I returned to the cargo hold and found Brianna still sitting on the bed, eyes shut, and eyebrows crinkled.

"You do spend a lot of time on your hair." She looked up and grinned. "I'm glad I paid attention to that listening trick you taught us."

I sighed. I should have known that would have happened sooner or later. Kriea often caught many of my stray thoughts, and I felt much closer to many of my friends then I had to her. She stood up and approached me.

"And you are right, I don't mind your lack of clothes." She wrapped her arms around me and laid her head on my chest. I was caught very off guard, but gently hugged her back with my good arm. She ran a hand down the middle of my back, then let me go and looked up at me.

"How close were you and Revan?" She asked, curious.

I paused a moment, trying to decide how much to tell her. "We had once referred to each other as brothers. We sparred and trained together, were similar in force skill for most of our Padawan years, we were always the same height and build. We were like clones of each other, besides our faces and personality. He was much more outgoing and adventurous. He was never in the same place, always looking for an adventure or searching the ways of the Force. That is probably the reason his surpassed me so quickly in his power. He always wanted to learn more. Him, Malak, and I," I paused, a bit of nostalgia and sadness washing over me, "we were close." I settled with that as an appropriate answer to her question.

"What was Malak like, before the war?"

"He was an intense man, as he had been before, during, and after the Mandalorian Wars. But in a good way, always striving to be his very best. That's how he got so good with a lightsaber. Always talking and training with highly esteemed Weapon Masters and Jedi Guardians. He was actually quite the charmer. Very charismatic, he was. He had many friends and the girls in the academy loved to spend free time with him. He never showed signs of the Dark Side though. I would have never guessed him and Revan to be Lords of the Sith. He was once someone I had looked up to. Right before we were granted knighthood, he began to really pull away with his blade skill, often times, Revan and me both sparring him simultaneously or back to back. He showed me many forms he had mastered, which I had fallen out of touch with during my exile. Of course, I remastered some of them. But, he was a good man. An even better Jedi." I said, realizing how much I missed him and Revan both. Sadly, I would never be reunited with Malak. I felt that he had not become One With the Force at his death.

Brianna thought a moment before speaking, "It's strange to think some of the cruelest and most evil of the Sith were at one time great Jedi. Helping people, training with Padawans, meditating on controlling themselves, only to abandon it all for power."

"I agree it is strange. But there are some things that the Sith know that Jedi cannot defend themselves against. Revan, Malak, and even Bastilla fell to it. If not for me losing my connection to the force, I would have also fallen." I shivered at the thought. "That is why Revan ventured out to the outer regions. After defeating Malak, he realized how powerful the call of the Dark Side had been to some, and realized that whatever was causing it had to be stopped. He believed himself to be the only one capable of stopping it."

"Do you believe that to?" Brianna asked.

"Almost. Revan is so powerful. I saw him as unstoppable. Unbending. But there is something out there, Brianna. It is more powerful than Malak, Kriea, Sion, or even Darth Nihilus. Sadly, it is also more powerful then Revan." I lowered my eyes, concerned for my old friend. "He will need help. Once we get to Telos, we need to contact who we can of his old crew and go find him."

"Will that be enough, Matthew?"

"For the sake of the galaxy, and the Force, I hope."

We walked into the main hold and saw Mira loading hot food into the dispensers. She hollered for the rest of the crew. I noticed Atton was already in the hold, leaning against the wall and talking smoothly to Mira. I couldn't hear him, but Mira seemed pleased, a happy smile lighting up her face. HK passed me, still patrolling. Atton grabbed a plate and sat down, I was right after him and sat next to him.

He had a smug look on his face. He looked at me and grinned. "We need to talk after breakfast." He said quietly. Mira and Brianna came to the table talking under their breath in a schoolgirl manner. We were soon joined by everyone else sitting in their previous spots. Brianna kept looking up at me. I looked at her and made eye contact and she blushed a bit.

I couldn't help but notice Mira and Atton sharing glances and looks. Visas sat still, and emotionless, keeping her mind and thoughts closed to me, even though I was prying. Mandalore suddenly spoke up. "Sith's blood. There is not near enough rooms on this ships for all you frisky Cath Hounds."

I spit out the drink I had just taken all in the floor, instantly laughing. Bao-Dur chuckled as the others, except Visas, laughed hysterically at me for spitting out my drink. I wiped my lips and went to fetch something to clean up the mess. I came back to red faces and teary eyes. It made me feel good to have people close to me I could rely and count on to be there. I quickly cleaned up the mess and finished breakfast around the same time as everyone else.

Atton went and threw his plate in the refresher and walked towards the Cockpit, shooting me a glance. I got up and followed him so we could have our conversation.

"So," he asked shutting the magnetic door and grinning, "did ya sleep well, Matt?"

"Did you, Atton?" I asked picking up on the building relationship between Mira and my good friend. "If you slept at all that is."

"Trust me, Matt, that woman is more than enough to make me tired for the night." He said, obviously pleased with himself.

I dramatically ran my hand down my face, rolling my eyes. "But yes Atton, I did sleep well. Only, sleep." I said, trying to convince him that nothing had happened between me and the Handmaiden.

He stared at me, trying to read me, as he had countless times before. He nodded, "Okay, maybe not last night, but what about tonight?"

He smiled broadly, as I sighed, defeated as I knew it was only a matter of time before things progressed between Brianna and I. I felt the heat on my face.

"Don't take it too hard. I know it isn't your first go around, but it is hers. You have nothing to worry about." Atton said reassuringly, with a sarcastic undertone.

"Okay, Atton, point taken. You embarrassed me and we both understand how we feel about our, 'friends'. How much farther to Telos?"

"About six hours. We will be there around three in the afternoon." Atton answered settling into the Pilot's seat to run his diagnostics.

"That's an awkward arrival time." I stated while walking out.

"Yes we didn't quite have the time to set a course that would help us reach the Station in the morning while fleeing a Sith army and a planet-sized explosion."

I chuckled as I exited the cockpit heading back into the main hold to pass time.

A few hours passed in relative silence when suddenly I heard HK's Heavy Repeater charge up. My ears perked up to the all familiar sound as the droid shouted in a very commanding voice, "Threat: Stand down meatbag! One move and you will be disintegrated very suddenly."

I rushed back to the cargo hold were HK was standing over a short, pale humanoid, clutching an unignited lightsaber. As I got closer I realized it was obviously an adult, but very short, and utterly terrified. I felt the Dark Side rippling strongly within it, fear, anger, and hate consuming its mind, but yet, I felt no power from it. I guessed it was male, but it held few defining features.

"HK, well done on sniffing this one out. But, it isn't a threat. You may stand by." I said nodding to HK.

He did not argue, and let the charge on his blaster die down. He took only one step back but remained in a combat stance with his blaster still pointed at the small man's head.

I crouched down and looked into his yellow eyes. I could fell his hate rolling off of him as I had approached him.

"Do you understand Galactic Basic?" No answer. I tried the same phrase in nearly a dozen core languages, but did not get any response at all. No shifts in body language, no eyes cutting back. Nothing. He held my eye contact and kept the same body posture he had when I walked in.

"Statement: Master, I say you let me disintegrate him then we can discard his ashes into hyperspace. It would be no problem at all." His eyes lighting up brightly while speaking.

I stood up tall. "HK that will not be necessary. He is not to be killed. Take him to the storage room and keep an eye on him. The authorities at Citadel Station can handle him once we reach our destination."

I went to walk out and when I had taken a few steps, I heard the humanoid began shuffling. I heard a hard metallic clang and a loud thump. I turned to see the small male crumpled on the ground.

"HK, was that necessary?" I asked annoyed with the seven and a half foot tall, half-ton assassin droid bullying a five foot humanoid.

"Explanatory Statement: Master, the small humanoid was trying to sneak up behind you. He had obviously underestimated my reflexes so I quickly disabled the threat with a quick, and very non-lethal blow. I assure you, he will live, Master." The droid said, irritated.

"Fine." I snapped. "Thank you for protecting me. Just carry him to the storage hold and make sure he doesn't get into anything. I walked into the hallway to be faced by the whole crew.

"Well?" Mira asked expectantly.

"I'm not entirely sure, but I think it is one of the Sith's slaves from Malachor. He must have ran away and hid from his masters. He knows how to mask his presence. I don't know how he learned, but I think that is how none of us felt his presence. He is no threat though." I said reassuringly.

They all shrugged and walked back to their activities. It was hard for things such as a simple stowaway to surprise them after all they had seen.

I walked back to the workbench I had moved into my room and began tinkering with my lightsaber. I looked at my crystal that had bonded to me, and noticed that the once dark blue aroma it had glowed with was now changing into a more light grey. Odd. I didn't know enough about bonded crystals to know the meaning.

I understood what lied in the near future, so I changed out my upgrades to improve defense and blaster fire into lightsaber and sparring defense. I knew many dark Jedi and Sith waited for me, and I would be prepared for them.

I was snapped out of my trance with a light touch on my shoulder. I looked back and saw Brianna.

"You've been in here for three hours. We will arrive at Telos shortly." She said softly.

I looked at the clock and confirmed what she said. I quickly closed up my lightsaber, done with what I had planned to do.

"What do you think will happen next, Matt?" She asked, a bit worried.

A smiled slightly, turning to look at her. "A reunion of course."