Bastila gets a couple wake up calls in this one. Yes I am melding quite a bit of Knights of the Old Republic 1&2, no regrets. Please, if you enjoyed it, review.


When Bastila's door slid open she expected to see either Revan clad in gym sweats, Atton in his crisp uniform, or HK-47 in his rust red malevolent glory. What she hadn't expected was a towering brute of a man clad from head to toe in burnished metal armor, nor had she expected to feel his judging gaze through his helmets T-slit visor.

"So...you're the brats new toy? Well, you're pretty enough at least, get up, we have to get to it."

Bastila was admittedly puzzled by this situation, namely, that this man could call the Empress of the Sith Empire a brat, refer to Bastila herself as a toy, and have his body language very much indicate he expected to be obeyed. Standing up slowly she placed her data pad on the table and approached the man who, seeing her standing proud and not shirking under his gaze in the slightest, nodded in approval.

"You've got a spine, good. Malek did too but it was born from pure arrogance, conceit that he could stand on his previous victories to assure his future conquests. You...you look a bit like the brat, unsure, but committed regardless, it's good to acknowledge your weaknesses, it helps you kill them. I'm Mandalore the Preserver, also known as Canderous Ordo.

Bastila wavered a bit before bowing slightly, "Bastila Shan, technical Padawan of the Jedi Order."

Canderous's helmet clad head tilted to the side slightly at that, "Technical Padawan?"

She shrugged lightly at the questioning tone, "I've found myself wary of definitive labels as of late."

He snorted at that as he began walking down the hall, forcing her to quickly follow in his long legged wake.

"Yeah, I'm sure you're floundering a bit, she's taking her time with you, the brat that is. Normally when she gets her hands on one of you Jedi she lets her Inquisitors have their fun and torture them into becoming her pawns. You? Hell, I don't know what to think about you.

"Frankly I'm half tempted to simply believe she wants to have sex with you but who the hell knows with Revan, the woman thinks in ways most can't even comprehend. There is a reason she defeated my people and pushed the Republic to the breaking point after all."

Bastila did her best not to blush and blanch at this statement, but she had no time to dwell on those thoughts as they entered a massive gymnasium. Grabbing a staff off the wall Canderous threw it at Bastila who quickly caught it despite being numb to the force. The man froze then nodded his head in approval.

"Good, you're learning to not rely on that super natural gobbledygook, you're already doing better than your predecessors so that's points in your favor." While he said this a woman entered from the other side of the chamber clad in skin tight green leathers and a rather exposing black tank top.

"This the little Princess I'm supposed to toughen up Mand'alor?" The redhead stated in a bored tone, like it was an everyday occurrence she was to spar with a Jedi...albeit a Jedi who couldn't touch the force at the moment, but still...

"This is the brats chosen apprentice Mira, show her how a Mando'ade fights, make her feel true aaray."

Mira stared at Bastila a moment before glancing back to the massive armored man, "She is the cyare of the Lady, I'd rather not have my sweet ass electrocuted for bruising her up."

Bastila, while only understanding bits of the conversation could easily tell that Canderous was rolling his eyes, "Mira seriously, it's fine. This is all on the brats orders so there's no need to act a hodar about it. She is your hibir, treat her as you will, just know that the Empress will be annoyed if you break her."

Mira sighed lightly before nodding a moment, "Alright alor, but if I get any shavit for this I'm blaming you!"

Canderous laughed at that as he turned and walked towards the door, "Of course Mira, enjoy your time with the Princess, I've got work to do." As the door slid shut Mira pinched the bridge of her nose and shook her head slowly.

"If he wasn't the closest thing I had to a father I'd kill him... Ah well, the Empress wants you to be properly trained on how to fight with a staff saber without relying on the Force. Up until recently, that's how I operated as well, so do some warm ups while a pick a weapon."

Bastila, still slightly confused over this situation did just that. About five minutes later Mira stood before her with a staff in hand and she smiled, "So we begin."


Revan was honestly annoyed beyond words at the moment, the Republic was on the back foot, without Bastila they couldn't really hold up to her strategies. So, in desperation they fell back on Mandalorian tactics, which, frankly, worried the hell out of her.

"What's the problem Empress?" She really hated that title, but Atton meant nothing by it so she let it slide, after all you really couldn't buy the kind of loyalty he held for her so best not to alienate him.

"The Republic, they resorted to nuclear weapons at Corulag. It wasn't even a full invasion fleet, sure it was a stab at the deep core but it didn't necessitate the use of banned weapons."

Atton just shrugged at that, "If I'm going to be honest with you your Majesty they probably saw it as something more intense than a probing action and simply overreacted."

She pouted at that while leaning back in her chair, "You know I haven't killed nearly as many people as they seem to think I have. Their reactions are far too spastic to justify the end result despite what I've done."

Atton raised a single black brow at that as he replied, "It isn't the deaths ma'am, it's the territory. You've conquered or annexed half the known galaxy and are on the cusp of claiming even more. They're desperate, so in turn they are willing to make shavit up in order to save face."

Before she could let out another groan her quarters door slid open and a disheveled Bastila clad in sweat stained clothes stomped forward placing her hands firmly on the desk. A moment later she seethed out, "Bath. Wine. Now."

Darth Revan, the Dark Lady of the Sith and conqueror of the galaxy grinned like a school girl as she hopped out of her chair and escorted the bruised and bleeding beauty to the bath room. Atton snorted and busied himself with a puzzle game on his datapad while he awaited the Empress's return, five minutes later said woman fell back into her chair looking highly amused.

"Hadn't expected that, funny though. Candy is certainly taking his duties more seriously then I thought he would, my mistake I suppose considering the fact he looks at me like I'm royalty."

Atton snorted at that, "You are seriously the only person in the galaxy that would deign it acceptable to refer to the Mandelore as 'Candy'. I know a lot is lost in translation but does he even realize that pet name makes him sound like a cheap prostitute?"

Reven grinned widely at that as she kicked her bare feet up on the desk, "Nope! It is after all what makes it fun! Ok since they resorted to nukes I want that asteroid we had a hyperdrive built into prepped and dropped in Bothan space. They want to go WMD well, we'll just start dropping rocks on the capital cities of all their most prominent worlds. Dismissed."

Atton shot to his feet and saluted quickly, "Of course ma'am, it will be done immediately!" Once he left Revan melted further into her chair as she waited for Bastila to finish her bath. As the minutes dragged on she soon fell asleep and dreamed of nothing, for once she was gifted with the sound of silence.

That is until her apprentice woke her up, "Revan? I...think I have an answer for you..."

Snapping awake the Dark Lady of the Sith sat up and blinked at Bastila who was standing a few feet from from her, nodding slightly she relaxed and waited for the younger woman to speak.

"You...you are conquering the known galaxy, but you aren't destroying it. Most people look at your organizations actions as a whole, when you break it apart though the image portrayed changes. Everything Malek had a hand in was overly violent, needlessly destructive, and was ultimately counter-intuitive to what you where trying to accomplish.

"If you cut those scenarios from the over all theater you get an entirely different picture. You only take out what attacks you, and you quickly assimilate local law enforcement and military units into your own forces.

"You make a point of keeping the industrial infrastructure of every planet you conquer intact and you do very little to effect the local governments unless they had been needlessly corrupt before you acquired them."

Revan nodded slowly at these statements before replying, "Quite true on all fronts, what does it mean though?"

Bastila huffed as she blew a loose strand of hair away from her eyes, "It means you're trying to unify the galaxy, not destroy it, the question is why? Why are you conquering the Republic, why are you destroying that which you sacrificed so much for? Why are you doing this!"

Reven stood up and walked around her desk pulling Bastila to her feet, meeting the younger woman's gaze evenly Revan eventually spoke.

"Are you sure you want to know? You can never lose the knowledge, the burden will always be there and there will be no escape. This is my only warning, accept it, and you will forever share my burden."

Bastila gulped silently as she stared into those all knowing eyes, wanted very much to just walk away and huddle in the corner. Unfortunately she was a Jedi, and their very existence was all about sacrifice.

"Let me share your burden."

Darth Revan smiled at that, shaking her head in pity, "Very well."

A moment later she pushed her consciousness into Bastila's and let her know the real truth.

Revan cried as the young woman in her arms screamed in horror, unable to do anything but offer comfort as the former Padawan finally, truly, grasped the burden placed on the young Empress's shoulders.

"Thank you," was the only thing the Dark Lady could manage to say as she held the sobbing Jedi, at the very least, it was nice to know someone else was aware of how thoroughly screwed the entire galaxy was.