Author's Note: Hello again, ladies and gentlemen. It's amazing what boredom can do for story writing. I am rather bored at the moment and so I'm writing lots for this story. Don't expect this trend to continue. I don't know if I'll even be able to upload a chapter a day for the rest of the week, never mind two. Now, before anyone complains, it wasn't just Revan's little display of awesomeness that caused him to become a Rear Admiral, it was that on top of everything else he'd done. Huttese will be italicised. Mando'a will be bold for this chapter.
Disclaimer: Knights of the Old Republic belongs to Bioware, including Revan. Star Wars belongs to Disney these days. Not to me. Although I am working to rectify that.
Dauntless, 288ATGS
The Dauntless drifted in orbit of Coruscant. After Revan Surik's promotion to Rear Admiral a week before, the Hammerhead-class cruiser in question had been assigned to him fresh out of the shipyards. Two Praetorian-class frigates and six Foray-class blockade runners floated in formation around her. The commanding officer of this taskforce was currently stood on the bridge, receiving their orders from the Supreme Commander.
"The Senate seems to rely on the Jedi far too much if you ask me. This Jedi has managed to go and get themselves into trouble with one of the Hutts, Falor Desilijic Tiure. It's nothing major but it is enough to require a small show of force to make sure the Hutts don't make a habit of forgetting just who they're dealing with," Tarrick sneered.
"I couldn't agree more. So you want me to get the Jedi out of there and bring them back to Coruscant?" Revan asked.
"Exactly. I'm sorry I can't give you more information but this is all I've been told. Good luck, Rear Admiral Surik," Tarrick concluded.
After an exchange of salutes, the Supreme Commander's hologram vanished.
"Set course for Nal Hutta. Time to go save a Jedi," Revan commented.
Moments later, the nine warships flickered with pseudomotion as they vanished into hyperspace. When they arrived at Nal Hutta, they received a call from the planet.
"What do you want here, Republics?" came a gruff voice in Huttese.
"One of the Jedi is currently in the custody of the Falor Desilijic Tiure. We are here to bring the Jedi back to Coruscant," Revan stated.
"There is no Jedi on Nal Hutta, fool. You should go now," the voice responded.
"We can do this the easy way or the hard way. The easy way involves you getting me a line to Falor Desilijic Tiure and us talking. The hard way involves us coming down to Nal Hutta to retrieve the Jedi by force," Revan threatened.
"One moment," the voice said after a moment.
As the line went dead, Revan watched his small fleet floating over Nal Hutta. None of the other vessels nearby would stand a chance against the group if it came to a battle unless they attacked en masse. After a minute, the line opened again.
"You dare threaten the mighty Falor Desilijic Tiure?" came the deep voice of the Hutt in question.
"I am like my kin, Hutt. I don't make threats, I make promises. You can either hand over the Jedi and we leave on peaceful terms or we will come down and retrieve the Jedi by force," Revan warned.
"How dare you threaten me? Who do you think you are?" the Hutt roared.
"I am Rear Admiral Revan Surik, former Captain of the Indomitable, Dark Knight of the Republic and Hero of Christoph," Revan retorted, using some of the titles the media had given him.
"W-W-What? My deepest apologies, Rear Admiral. I-I-I was merely joking. I shall send the Jedi up in a shuttle i-im-immediately," the Hutt stuttered in fear.
"Good. I expect the Jedi on my ship within ten minutes, Falor. It has been a pleasure doing business with you," Revan informed the Hutt before disconnecting.
"Well done putting the arrogant bastard in his place, sir. He sounds like he needed to be slapped down," Frenso chuckled.
"Indeed. Notify me the moment the Jedi's shuttle approaches; I'll be in my office. You have the bridge, Captain Frenso" Revan told her before he left the bridge at her acknowledgement.
Revan sat down in his office and raked a hand through his hair. This was going to be the first time he was in close proximity to a Jedi since he left the Jedi Order. It would be an interesting experience for certain. As Revan sat in his office, he felt the Force bond he shared with his sister flare. No, can't be, Revan thought in shock.
"Rear Admiral, the shuttle is approaching. It will be landing in hangar two," Frenso reported over the comm. line.
"Thank you, Captain. I'll go and meet them there," Revan replied as he stood.
Revan strode through the ship, nodding to the crewmembers that he passed on his way to hangar two. As he walked into the hangar, he saw an old and battered looking shuttle landing. As he approached, a lone figure walked down the ramp before the shuttle took off again. Revan's bond with his sister flared more than ever as he approached the figure.
"Master Jedi, welcome aboard the Dauntless. I'm Rear Admiral Surik," Revan greeted as he approached.
He stopped in his tracks when the Jedi whirled around at his words revealing his sister. Before he could react, she stormed up to him and slapped him soundly across the face.
"You leave out of the blue and then all the news I get comes from the Holonet? Did it not even occur to you to call once in the last five months?" Meetra shouted at the stunned Revan, slipping into their native Mando'a in her anger.
"I've been busy. I haven't had time to do anything much," Revan protested, slipping into Mando'a as well as the ship shuddered as she leapt into hyperspace.
"I doubt you were that busy, you honourless coward," Meetra screamed at him.
"Don't call me that. You have no idea what has been happening to me, do you?" Revan shouted back, infuriated by her insult.
"And whose bloody fault is that? You never tried to contact me to tell me what's been happening to you so it's your own bloody fault," the woman yelled.
"You want to know what's been happening to me? Fine. I've ordered the destruction of dozens of my own people's ships, been responsible for the deaths of thousands of my own people, personally killed over a hundred of my people in combat on the ground and seen the deaths of thousands of Republic soldiers. I can barely sleep at night because I think about what I've done to my own kriffin' people. So yeah, I can see why would call me an "honourless coward"," Revan bellowed at her.
By this time, most of the hangar had stopped what they were doing and were watching the two of them shout at each other. Through their bond, Revan could feel Meetra's anger, which only served to fuel his own.
"Well if it's all so hard then just stop. Go join the Mandalorians if you find it so bloody difficult to fight them," Meetra shouted.
"Problem is, I don't agree with what their doing. I would love to join them but I just can't. I can't fight for something I don't agree with," Revan sighed, sounding pained and defeated.
As he spoke, he just seemed to deflate. Seeing him like this caused Meetra's anger to fade, albeit only slightly. Stepping forward, she enveloped her older brother in a hug as he broke down. The siblings stood in the middle of the hangar, arms wrapped around each other as Revan sobbed into his sister's shoulder. The crew hanging around in the hangar looked in shock at the sight of the legendary Revan Surik displaying such vulnerability. Eventually, after a few muttered words, the two left the hangar to continue their conversation in the privacy of Revan's quarters.
"So, Rear Admiral now is it?" Meetra asked as she sat on his desk.
"Yes. So from now on, you will address me as either "sir" or "Rear Admiral Surik", understood?" Revan retorted, putting on a pompous voice.
"Psh. Dream on, asshole. If anything, I'll call you Rear Admiral Asshole. How does that sound?" Meetra asked.
"Rear Admiral Asshole would be more appropriate for Rear Admiral Jelethor. The twi'lek is so stupid it is unbelievable. Biggest problem is, he can't even accept help. The only reason he is where he is would be that his uncle is a very influential senator. Bunch of idiots the lot of them," Revan complained.
"You chose to join them," she reminded him.
"I know. But anyway, enough about me. What's been happening in the Order? All I get to hear is what the Holonet says. Give me details," Revan demanded.
"Ok then. Well for one, a couple of Jedi are thinking of "pulling a Revan Surik" and quitting the Jedi Order to join the Republic military. To be honest, I'm one of them. So is Alek. Not Bas, though. She's adamant that the Council is correct and that you made the wrong choice when you left," Meetra told him with a roll of her eyes.
"There's a surprise. It's a shame the Council managed to brainwash her as well, despite our efforts," Revan remarked with a slight shake of his head.
"Tell me about it. But anyway, someone nicknamed us "the Revanchists" because of our thoughts about following you. Also, you're in the Archives," Meetra informed him with a grin.
"Of course I'm in the Archives, all the Jedi, former Jedi and Republic officials are," Revan pointed out, confused.
"Not in this way. The Archives recently got a small bronzium bust made of you to add to the Lost Knights. You know? The ones who left but didn't join the Sith," Meetra told him, still grinning.
"Wicked. I'm surprised they actually let that happen. I was expecting them to refuse to do so," the former Jedi commented.
"Oh they were going to. A lot of the Council felt that you shouldn't be counted as one of the Lost Knights. They felt that someone so "young and inexperienced" was unsuitable to be the twelfth Lost Knight. Thankfully, there was sufficient outrage amongst the Order when word got out that they had no choice but to do so or risk a great deal more people causing problems," the Jedi explained.
"I didn't realise I had so much support amongst the Jedi Order," Revan murmured, shocked.
"You don't. They were mainly traditionalists who disapproved of the Council not honouring one of their number who had left for other reasons than the dark side. So you can thank those traditionalists you always complained about," Meetra chuckled as the ship shuddered as they exited hyperspace to adjust their course.
"The irony is not lost on me," Revan sighed.
"Rear Admiral, we have a situation," Frenso's worried voice came over the comm. link.
"I'm on my way," Revan answered before running out of the office.
Meetra ran after him, arriving on the bridge moments after her brother.
"What is it?" Revan asked as he approached the Captain.
Frenso merely activated the holotable, causing a hologram of Admiral Valerian Stanford to appear.
"This is Admiral Valerian Stanford to all nearby ships. Mandalorians are at Naboo. I repeat, a Mandalorian force is attempting to invade Naboo. All available ships are to report to Naboo immediately," the Corellia-born Admiral ordered.
"How old is this recording?" Revan asked.
"Not even a minute. It started transmitting shortly after we exited hyperspace," Frenso told him.
"No one else is close enough to reach him in anything less than an hour. Set course for Naboo," Revan ordered.
"With all due respect, Rear Admiral, we are on a mission," Frenso argued.
"And if we ignore that call then there may well not be a planet Naboo anymore, Captain. Set course for Naboo," Revan commanded.
Moments later, the nine ships once more disappeared into hyperspace. When they reached Naboo, the Republic fleet was in disarray. The organised Mandalorian fleet wasn't fighting the Republic fleet, they were slaughtering them. Revan's fleet had dropped out at the edge of the system so that he could assess the situation. Revan lept for the comms.
"All Republic ships, this is Rear Admiral Surik. Who is the ranking officer?"
"Well, sir, that would be you now. Admiral Stanford is MIA, presumed KIA, sir," one of the Captains explained.
"Dammit! Alright, form a staggered formation with the Hammerheads, two lines, one slightly behind and above the other but with clear lines of fire. Praetorians are to microjump to the Mandalorians' flanks and present them with full broadsides. I want the Forays up close and personal with the dreadnaughts; at close range against high numbers those dreadnaughts won't have a chance. My taskforce will move in from behind to cut off their escape and tear into their currently unshielded engines. Understood?" Revan asked.
A series of agreements came over the line, some more reluctant than others. The Captains began to act on Revan's plan, moving their ships into the positions Revan ordered. As the once-more organised Republic fleet began to fire on the Mandalorian fleet, Revan's ships closed the distance. As soon as they entered firing range, missiles and turbolasers streaked across space before impacting the unshielded rears of the Mandalorian ships. A dozen Mandalorian ships exploded after the first volley from Revan's ships while the organised lines of the Republic fleet allowed them to deal greater damage to the Mandalorian fleet.
True to Revan's statement, the one-fifty metre Foray-class blockade runners were more than a match for the three kilometre dreadnaughts, their superior mobility and combined firepower soon finishing the dreadnaughts off. The crossfire produced by the two lines of frigates prevented the Mandalorians from focussing on one side or the other for the risk of getting shot in the back. The dual lines of Hammerheads allowed them to use their powerful bow cannons to full effect. Revan's fleet, meanwhile, skulked among the asteroids of Arrissa's Field, using the asteroids to take the brunt of the Mandalorian return fire.
Despite the massive losses of the Mandalorians, the Republic was not without their own casualties. Almost two dozen blockade runners were destroyed as well as numerous frigates. Due to their formation giving them a small profile and the ability move themselves around to allow shields to recharge, the cruisers suffered very few casualties.
Eventually, the Mandalorian fleet turned toward Arrissa's Field with the intention of running. Giving the illusion of panic, Revan's fleet scattered in all directions. The Mandalorian fleet, still under fire from the pursuing Republic fleet, raced into the asteroid belt. When the Republic ships made to follow, Revan intervened.
"No! Stop! Do not pursue!" Revan ordered.
"But, Rear Admiral, we can't let them run," one of the Captains protested.
"And why shouldn't they we let them run into a minefield?" Revan asked.
"What minefield?" another Captain asked, confused.
As if on cue, a number of Mandalorian ships vanished in massive fireballs. As the rest of the remaining ships suffered the same fate, Revan smirked.
"That minefield," Revan remarked.