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Chapter 6: A Balancing Act

The Force echoed, a sensation only a Master completely attuned to its will could sense. The tendrils of the all-encompassing energy folded upon itself, twisting as a myriad of feelings and colors and thoughts collided to prepare it to receive a new soul. The Force was preparing for death and only two in the Taris system could sense it. On the bridge of the Leviathan, Darth Malak stood with deceptive calm at the front of the bridge, his yellow-golden eyes flickering slightly as they moved left and right, studying the massive city that covered all of Taris' non-aquatic surface. Outside of the massive city of Taris seaports and underwater complexes that rivaled those of the Quarren and Mon Calamari from their shared homeworld peeked over glistening blue-green seas and the Dark Lord of the Sith felt the Force preparing itself to accept one of its servants.

"Perhaps Bastila will soon be of no concern to me..."

The voice in the tall human's head was not the one heard by the crew. If anything it sounded more like the cold, calculating voice of his former Master and Darth Malak tilted his head to the side, watching the Force coil as it prepared. Darth Bandon had failed him on the Endar Spire and had come back without Bastila Shan, or her head. As a result, Darth Malak had punished his apprentice's failure and Bandon would prove ineffective for days, likely weeks with how pathetically weak the younger bald human was. The top of what remained of his lip curling in disgust, Malak's mind briefly toyed with the thought of simply killing Bandon and finding a new apprentice on Korriban. Feeling a faint stirring, Malak could sense a Jedi, possibly two on Taris' surface and the muscles in his ravaged face pulled as his eyes narrowed, gleaming against the light reflecting from the blue-green gem before him. He loathed Taris greatly, it was nothing but a pathetic wasteland of corruption and scum. The things he and Revan had seen on the world were unspeakable and Malak swore to himself he would bring it to an end once Bastila Shan was in his possession. He would cleanse Taris in fire once his purpose there was complete and he would move on to training a much more promising apprentice.

"Surely anyone who could face Revan and leave unspoiled would make a worthy apprentice. Much more than that weakling Bandon."

Bastila's first act as his new apprentice, Malak decided would be to kill Bandon. He didn't care if the fool was healed, conscious or already dying, so long as he would not be troubled by such incompetence again. A great tragedy that Malak's mind conformed to a likeness of his old Master's. Lost was love and compassion and remorse, leaving only hate, rage and disgust. Maimed by a friend, a brother, Malak's heart had hardened and his mind had fractured, leaving only a bitter creature with the ghost of the monster its torturer had been. Were the Jedi Revan had once been have looked upon Malak, he would have wept. Would the Dark Lord Revan have looked upon Malak, he would have laughed cruelly at the small, meaningless things that troubled his apprentice and should the man Revan was becoming have looked upon Malak, he would have felt nothing.

Jedi Knight Kaera Nurr, twenty six years after joining the Jedi Order as an infant found herself in a bit of a bind. Her aunt had once been a Jedi Knight, trained by the famed Jedi Master Ood Bnar on Ossus before its fall and commissioned by the Jedi Council near the close of the Great Sith War of Exar Kun to find and destroy the Terantek alongside several other Jedi Knights. The young woman's aunt had taken part in the Great Hunt as it became known, her fate becoming a mystery to the Dantooine Council as all who had taken part in the hunt's final stages on Korriban and Kashyyyk were never heard from again. Her features matched her aunt Shaela Nurr's almost frighteningly, and her dark blonde hair's golden shade nearly matched the healthy flush of her skin as she breathed in an out, her sharp blue eyes narrowing as they fell upon a black-clad man with shoulder length hair that regarded her with a tired look.

"Hey! Easy there. You've been unconscious for a few days. You were injured on the Endar Spire and my companions and I brought you here... do- do you remember who you are?"

Turning her eyes from the black-clad man, Kaera's eyes focused on an older man who had dark brown hair and a neatly trimmed beard, though stubble from a few days was marring his otherwise clean look. The man wasn't quite as tall as the other but was by no means short. Taking in a breath, the Jedi brought her hand to her chest, grimacing as a dull ache shot through her. The black-clad man had his hands crossed behind his back, unnoticed by either Carth or the Jedi his right hand was pushing up the back of his red leather vest, revealing the lightsaber hidden at the base of his silver armored breastplate.

"I- Kaera Nurr."

Revan recalled the name of a Jedi before his time involved in the Great Hunt years before and he felt the Force coiling around him, preparing for him to simply strike. The Jedi was weakened, dazed and confused but that would not last and as soon as she came to that realization, Revan wound pounce, killing her instantly before she could become a threat and then he would kill Carth. Ignoring the way his hands tightened at that thought, Revan kept his mind clear, survival first in his mind before anything else. He'd made a mess of things but he was by no means suicidal or willing to leave himself at someone else's mercy.

"You... you were that soldier on the Spire, right? With the Echani?"

Revan recalled Trask Ulgo and eased his hand away from the hidden lightsaber, putting a false but convincing smile on his face. Part of Revan felt like the lowest filth that could exist in the plagued Undercity but he kept his feelings locked away, projecting a simple sense of relief.

"Yes though... I'm sorry to say Ensign Ulgo didn't make it."

The smile on Revan's face fell to the look he really wanted to show and his face became blank, his eyes hardening as he made a quick assessment of his situation. He wouldn't have to kill the Jedi or Carth and they could serve his purpose, aiding in his search for Bastila and a way off of Taris. The Jedi's disorientation only grew when her hands reached absently to her belt, a stirring of panic flowing through the Force as she searched frantically for her lightsaber.

"The greatest flaw of the Jedi."

Revan thought to himself, moving to the side to give the Jedi a line of sight to her missing weapon. Kaera sighed in relief when she spotted the weapon on a workbench and she reached her hand out, the Force stirring as she pulled the weapon to her hand. The Jedi seemed to grimace and her concentration broke, the saber dropping back to the workbench. Revan mentally shook his head as he briefly extended his shielding to include the Jedi.

"I don't know much about the Force but... won't the Sith sense that?"

Confusion was on the Jedi's face as she moved her eyes from studying her lightsaber to looking at Carth. The Jedi recognized the man as the Commander of the Endar Spire and frowned, a small worry line forming between her eyebrows.
"Wh- what do you mean?"

Revan and Carth exchanged tired looks.

"Your show."

Revan muttered, limping slightly as he seated himself next to the workbench, forcing himself to keep an annoyed glare from his face. Sure she'd been in a healing trance for two days, sure she was likely to be confused after her ordeal but Revan's patience had limits. He'd had the same training before he'd gone to fight the Mandalorians and he hadn't had the luxury of a chance to be confused before a bunch of burly armor clad likely distant relatives came after him. Recalling the few Mandalorian women he'd fought, Revan shuddered as he felt a familiar ache along his back where one had by some strange miracle of warrior prowess actually gotten behind him in a fight and nearly cut him in two. Mandalorians as a whole were deadly but you never, never faced their women alone. Something he'd known but hadn't really had the luxury of practicing. Battles were more chaotic than not during the war and he knew not to take anything at face value.

"The Endar Spire and her battle group was destroyed by a Sith battle fleet. After you were injured, Ensign Katarn and Ensign Ulgo, the Echani tried their best to get you off the ship after Bastila's escape pod was away. It was pretty touch and go there for a while but Tauryn here managed to make it with you to the escape pods and we made it to Taris' surface. Which brings me to the next point. Taris is under Sith control, they've quarantined the planet and their fleet is orbit forming a massive blockade. If the intelligence reports from Fleet Command were correct the Sith have likely already deployed a net of automated weapons satellite platforms and only ships transmitting the Sith code can make it past the stratosphere without being vaporized..."
Carth allowed Kaera a moment to absorb the information and the young Jedi Knight rubbed her eyes with a tired look crossing her face. Revan smirked mentally as he wondered how anyone could be tired after sleeping for three days before he felt himself yawning and cursed as it drew the attention of the Jedi back to him.

"I- I remember you helping me with that Sith on the Spire... I- I guess I owe you- both of you my life. Thank you."

Revan's face was carefully neutral as he heard the genuine sincerity in the woman's voice. She was actually of the impression that he was a bleeding heart and had saved her because it was the right thing to do. He'd only saved her because it suited him. As if he'd ever condescend to saving one of his enemies when he had nothing to gain. Rolling his eyes as he brushed a hand over his face, obscuring the gesture, Revan stood, pain flaring faintly in his left leg. Ignoring the stabbing of pain from the self-inflicted lightsaber burn, Revan merely grimaced as he projected pain through the Force, simulating what a Jedi would sense if someone was hurt and spoke, his grimace being replaced by a stony expression. His voice was completely toneless, flat and cold. A voice he had grown accustomed to as the Dark Lord of the Sith.

"Do you still need time to recover or are you well enough to move about?"

Revan's voice was in what many would refer to as soldier-mode. A no-nonsense tone that brokered nothing but absolute truth and cooperation. Carth's slightly appreciative expression at the Jedi's thanks turned to a curious, slightly respectful look. Tauryn Katarn in Carth's mind wasn't wasting any time and had an understanding of just how dire their situation was. That he could appreciate.

"I- I have a bit of a headache but nothing a simple meditation or some pain killers couldn't fix. My chest is aching a little but its more of a dull ache... nothing too serious..."

The Jedi's blue eyes were bright with a suppressed pain and Revan knew the girl was still in a fairly good amount of pain. Nothing crippling but enough to be a distraction. Making a split-second decision, Revan stalked with a slight limp to the Jedi's bedside, thumping his left hand on the Jedi's chest, directly where the puncture had been. The Jedi hissed in pain, the Force flaring as it echoed the pain around her and Revan frowned at the girl, kneeling so he was eye-level with her. Behind Revan, Carth Onasi had moved his right hand to his blaster pistol, watching the exchange with a look of confusion and apprehension. Tears of pain glittered in the Jedi's blue eyes as she clutched where Revan had lightly struck her and she wheezed slightly, excess air in her chest cavity making the simple gesture of breathing painful.

"You suffered from a punctured lung. I am sorry for having to do that but we can't afford to have you slowing us down. As of two days ago the Sith were in total control of the upper levels of Taris and Bastila is MIA. Focus on the big, galactic picture here if you will. Bastila Shan is the only thing, the only thing stopping Darth Malak and his Sith. We all know the numbers he is throwing at us are growing. We will be overwhelmed within weeks if Bastila Shan is not at the front line, using her Jedi powers to sway the war in our favor. We need to find her, we need to be prepared. It will not be easy and you have to be at one hundred percent."

Taking charge of the situation, Revan laid down the simple facts in a blunt and rude manner. Seeing the glare in the Jedi's eyes soften slightly as the truth in his words ran their course, Kaera nodded mutely, still trying to regain her composure. Revan, sensing the Jedi searching her own body through the Force and mending her ailments withdrew a step, standing to his full height and ignoring the troubled look Carth was giving him. He'd had enough of moping about in a dark, dank hole and he wasn't going to waste any more of his precious time for Malak's Sith to find Bastila, or worse, someone else to get to the Padawan and kill her, which would likely result in Malak glassing Taris anyways for being denied his prize. A mental scowl worked its way on Revan's mental image of himself as he realized he was going well out of his way to save Bastila Shan. It was not required of him to have others annoying him as he searched but the presence of a veteran pilot and soldier as well as a Jedi Knight if the lack of a braid could be taken into account had kept him from running off on his own.

"I'm bloody contradicting myself... but this Jedi I hold no debt to... Bastila... Bastila Shan saved my life and I will in turn save hers... Then I'll bloody kill the troublesome wench myself."

Mentally cursing as he realized he'd actually need Bastila alive and well to slow Malak's destructive advance, Revan closed off his mind, projecting a sense of anxiety and a slight flare of guilt that the Jedi would sense from him. He couldn't very well let down his mental shielding and show what he really was or the girl would likely start screaming some nonsense about pure evil or the Sithari or something and he most definitely did not want to have his sensitive hearing damaged by screaming. Amused slightly at his own sense of humor, Revan briefly wondered what had become of his trustworthy assassination droid HK-47 before mentally shaking off the thought. He'd sent the droid to kill some foolish Mandalorian renegade who was prancing around the Outer Rim with a rusted Mandalorian mask and calling himself Mandalore. Mandalore was a title reserved for the bearer of Mandalore's mask or of the one who had defeated the last Mandalore in combat and that was a title Revan had earned through blood and pain and likely a good chunk of his sanity.

"If I'm Mandalore... Oh Bugger if HK comes gunning for me I will definitely scrap that rust heap."

A mental chuckle, evil in its tone echoed in Revan's skull and he fixed his attention from his scattered thoughts to the speaking Jedi before him.

"...managed to undo most of the damage to my body... If we are on a Sith world I will have to disguise my presence in the Force or we may risk discovery. I'll likely not be able to use my lightsaber... shame but I won't bring the risk upon us unless absolutely necessary."

Revan nodded with Carth at the Jedi's assessment. A quick and powerful healing trance had restored her health and after a meal and likely a bit of exercise she'd be back to normal.

"I am sorry about earlier..."

Revan schooled his features to actually look sorry, though he was really just bored inside. Projecting a bit of self-disgust and shame, not too hard after his little pity-party with Carth, Revan saw the Jedi's eyes flicker with understanding as to his harsh approach and she gave a small smile that brought real feelings of shame and disgust to Revan as he realized he was actually sorry for causing her pain. She was a Jedi, yes but he had no personal quarrel with her... merely a difference of opinions on the same issue and the former Dark Lord of the Sith sighed, his mental shields impenetrable as he moved to the workbench, cautiously picking up the Jedi's lightsaber as if it would explode and handing it to the young woman. The Jedi's small smile grew slightly before she brushed a hand through her disheveled hair and ran her fingers across the lightsaber, her eyes critically and professionally examining its casing.

"Looks to have survived... though I suppose your leg can't say the same thing?"

The Jedi retaliated to Revan's earlier method of exposing her weakness in kind, much to Revan's shock by planting the toe of her brown boot directly on the field dressing over the lightsaber wound he'd purposely given himself to calm Carth's suspicions. Pain erupted in Revan's leg and he dropped like a rock, a loud curse in Mando'a escaping his lips as he frantically grabbed the side of the table, stopping himself from getting a face-full of floor. The Jedi's grin had vanished and a concerned, slightly guilty look crossed her face while Carth, not helping the matter at all cackled at the scene.

"Adenn chakaar!!" (Roughly translated: Heartless bitch.)

Revan grasped his injury, pulling his automatic response to kill the Jedi where she stood and hissed as pain burned along his wound.

"Oh! Are- are you alright?"

Small hands grasped his shoulders and black rage flashed across Revan's eyes as they flickered with a sickly yellow-gold gleam. The Force slipped slightly and a ripple echoed outward, causing Revan to curse himself for not having sensed the Jedi's intentions. Oh he could admit it was funny; Hell he was laughing at himself at that very moment but he was also so surprised by the action that a fracture in his mental shielding sent out a ripple through the Force. The ripple wasn't enough to be concerned about Malak suddenly appearing at the doorway and murdering them all with ease, more an echo of what he'd once been, confined to only the locality of his aura. The Jedi would have seen it, knowing instantly he was Force sensitive and that would make his life much more annoying. Now instead of following his own plans for how to find Bastila he'd have to act as if he were consulting the Force on an instinctual level and that was just blood boring. Not to mention he'd have to follow a rough pattern of what it was laying out for him.

"Shut up Carth or I'll blast you."

Carth continued to laugh as the Jedi's hands guided Revan to a seat and the former Dark Lord exhaled slowly, allowing a chuckle and a smile to replace the pained, angry look he had been sporting. The Jedi knelt before Revan, leaning forward to remove the bandage while Revan sighed to himself, leaning back and allowing the young woman to have a look. Blood was seeping through where she'd kicked him, breaking the healing skin along the burn and the Jedi's eyes widened as she realized what she was looking at.

"Oh Force! I am so sorry... Ensign, I-"

Revan chuckled mentally at the Jedi forgetting his false name. Realizing the girl likely thought he'd gotten the injury rescuing her and bringing her unconscious and to that point completely worthless carcass to Taris, Revan decided to play an age old game men had played for eons. He milked it.

"If this is the thanks I get for saving you life I think I'll pass the next time that opportunity comes along."

Wiping the amusement from his face, Revan wore a sullen expression as he gave the Jedi kneeling in front of him a glare. The Jedi's cheeks flushed slightly and she stammered an apology while Revan took on an offended look.

"Wait a second. Ensign? I save your bloody life and you don't even make a mental note of my name?"

Carth wasn't even bothering to hide his amusement as he held his sides, a relaxed and amused gleam coloring his eyes as he continued to cackle.

"Sir-"

Revan cut the Jedi off, seeing frustrated tears forming in her eyes. He was projecting real anger and realizing, Revan reigned it in, allowing a small amount of amusement come through his shielding.

"Tauryn Katarn. That is the name! Is it really so hard to remember? Half of bloody Alderaan is named Katarn!"

Sensing that the man had calmed and was toying with her, Kaera frowned, unsure of how to react. The woman's soft features were marred with worry lines and Revan, despite his massive amount of self-control, found his eyes wandering over the woman's athletic form as she shifted. He wasn't too concerned with physical intimacy as some of the other Fallen Jedi had become. His obsession had always been destroying the Truth Sith and the few distractions he had allowed himself were passionate, yes but with no lasting attachments to the women. Still, he was a man and the Jedi kneeling in front of him, redressing his now bleeding wound was pleasing to look at. Feeling the need for a distraction from his stress, which seemed to increase ten-fold with the addition of the Jedi, Revan turned his thoughts to his goals. Bastila needed to be found, secured and-

"Carth, I'm not joking. I will shoot you if you don't stop laughing."

Revan turned his attention from a rather interesting mental image of Bastila Shan that had begun to form in his mind, partially due to his Mandalorian nature of liking women who had kicked his ass... or tried to and his eyes narrowed into a cold glare he cast at the still-laughing Republic Commander. Carth waved his hand, shaking his head and Revan felt a bit of vindication at giving the man some joy. Feeling his shoulders trembling slightly, Revan chuckled, laughing along with Carth and the Jedi soon followed, her soft voice adding to the men's deep roaring laughs as they all had a good long laugh.

"The neighbors probably think we're insane."

Carth muttered, wiping tears from his eyes. It had felt rejuvenating to laugh so hard, something he'd desperately needed as the grim truth of their situation was setting in. The almost polar change in his fellow soldier's attitude had been a bit vexing at first but he found an almost instinctual understanding of the younger human. He was picking up the slack as the leader, a job which in truth the Jedi or Carth would have been more qualified for with what he knew but Carth found he didn't mind following the younger man's orders. Tauryn Katarn as Carth and the Jedi Kaera knew him had given them all a good start in a bleak situation behind enemy lines and Carth valued the man's discipline as well as his laid-back manner. It was a paradox almost, but it gave him confidence in the plan and faith in the leader, Tauryn Katarn.

"I daresay we should probably find me some new clothing."

Revan finished off his laughing with a wheezing chuckle, gesturing to the table beside him.

"I look the liberty of finding you an outfit. Armor, modest and practical."

Kaera seemed to realize she had been unconscious for three days around two men and a faint flush colored her cheeks as she nodded shakily. Unfamiliar with some aspects, the Jedi had to compensate for lack of understanding by what others said of such matters and she wondered briefly if she'd been taken advantage of. It was a completely un-Jedi-like thought but Kaera Nurr was human, and a young woman to boot and such thoughts could not often times be helped. As if he sensed her thoughts, Kaera saw Revan lean in closer to her, speaking in a low whisper as his face grew deathly serious.

"I may have taken the liberty, but not the advantage."

Recalling his crude joke to Carth about the unconscious Jedi, Revan cringed mentally. He'd joked about something that even as Darth Revan disgusted him to no end. Mandalorians did not take advantage of women, they did not rape. The honor-obsessed structure of their society absolutely forbade the mere thought. Mandalorians trained their women to be more fierce warriors than the men so they would be able to control their own fates and that was something that never left Revan's mind. There were few honor-less Mandalorians who'd taken liberties but it was such a small amount that it could scarcely be considered a part of the Mandalorian's society as many other cultures mistakenly believed. It couldn't even be considered a handful. Any honorable Mandalorian warrior seeking glory would much prefer to fall on his own blade than take part in such honor-less, weak behavior. Weakness of the mind or body was what the Mandalore believed the greatest evils and if one couldn't control themself, how could one consider themself a true warrior?

"I should go freshen up."

Kaera stated, pulling Revan from his grim thoughts. He'd gone absolutely insane when he'd first been on Taris because of the corruption and many of the Jedi with him had as well. There were likely still decomposing bodies, dismembered by lightsabers still rotting far below Taris' upper levels where the Jedi that had followed Revan to war had exercised a bit of vigilante justice on the slavers and overall scum that had gathered on Taris. Scum, Revan was truly sad to say the Sith under his command that later followed Malak were becoming. The strong survive and the weak perish was not exactly enlightened and cheerful rhetoric and the Sith were becoming ridiculously corrupt without the threat of instant death that Revan promised should he catch anyone in such a compromising position. Revan allowed his mental barrier to show his true and genuine horror at such an act and he'd seen in Kaera's eyes that she believed him. As memories of mass murder, torture and wars long over and not yet begun flashed across Revan's mind, he took comfort in the knowledge that he retained some honor. It was a small comfort to the fear he'd seen in Kaera's eyes. A fear he'd seen written in the faces of Jedi he'd tortured viciously to suit his purposes, of minds he'd all but ripped apart. With a heavy sigh, Revan wondered if there really was a line between destroying a mind and body and the crime he so despised.

Darth Malak was bored and growing more bored by the moment. Sure being an evil overlord of a galaxy-spanning Empire had its perks but it also had its down sides. One such downside was tolerating the countless incompetents surrounding him who were charged with but finding a single Jedi Padawan. That even common Republic soldiers evaded capture on Taris brought to the forefront of the Dark Lord's mind a simple truth. His soldiers were expendable and if they could not find Bastila, when his patience finally ran out he would have their incompetence forever buried in the ruins and ashes of Taris. The pathetic world would no longer plague his mind with visions of horrors long ago buried beneath even greater horrors and he would move to another world, cleansing its filth in the fire of his fleet's turboblasters. Two gleaming golden-yellow eyes narrowed as if in thought and Darth Malak continued to study Taris, reaching out with his dark power and searching, ever searching for a solution to his problems. Bastila would be but a single step, riding himself of Bandon's incompetence would be but one more step towards a greater end.

Bastila Shan groaned weakly as she opened her eyes. Memories long buried beneath years of Jedi training plagued her minds. A vision of a distant world, her homeworld Talravin. The kind face of her father and the stern features of her mother, scolding her for some long forgotten childish thing. A smile worked its way on the Padawan's lips as she recalled her father, the loving warmth and feeling of security he invoked in those long-buried memories before a flash of a burning world, the demonic visage of a fallen Jedi Knight glared at her, golden-yellow eyes reaching out from a destroyed mind to kill her. The neural disruptor fitted to the Jedi Padawan's neck was doing what it was made to do, clouding the rational thoughts of a conscious being with memories buried deep within the subconscious and a child-like whimper escaped the Padawan as she curled into a ball in her cell, locked away to be bartered as a trophy for the Swoop Bike Championships. The demon of her nightmares, Revan reached for her and the Padawan's mind shied away, the bond she created when saving the Sith Lord's life flaring in response to the interference. The Force willed the bond, though it was created in no small part on Bastila Shan's part.

"N- no! G- Go away!"

The Padawan's incoherent words were lost in her delirium and she remained haunted by memories her own and memories of a man she'd saved from certain death. Memories Revan himself cringed at from time to time. The Force had a will of its own, ever seeking balance and it saw a once bright aura of one of its greatest servants clouded in a darkness so cold the sum of his noble actions before a simple four year reign of terror and destruction had to be reversed for the balance to be maintained. If nothing else, the Force sought balance. For the Force was a force of nature and balance was of the utmost importance. A storm was brewing within the Force, the loss of the True Sith a thousand years before causing chaos as the light gained in strength. Many uprisings of Dark Jedi and wars of beings weak or relatively blind to the Force had sated the imbalance but like lightning seeking ground, the Force stretched out, twisting against itself as events unfolded, wars were fought and at the center of all this, a former Jedi and a former Dark Lord was placed, like a pawn for the Force's will. Intangible and lacking any sentient thought, the Force could not influence the mind of sentients as a Jedi or Sith could through Force-manipulation. Instead, the Force merely showed its favor to the weaker side, granting the weakened darkness its gargantuan power, creating stronger, more powerful Sith and weakening the Light of the Jedi that had reigned almost supreme for a thousand years.

Balance. It was what made the threat of the True Sith so great, what gave Revan and the Dark Jedi he once controlled the destructive strength to overcome the Mandalorians. The Mandalorians were but a symptom of this force of nature, their own wish for glory driving them to destroy and strengthen the darkness that grew, gathering with the True Sith beyond the borders of the known galaxy where they waited, preparing to wipe out the Jedi and the Republic that had defeated them before in one glorious assault. Revan's first Jedi Master, the once librarian of the Archives Kreia knew of this. Through her teachings she sought to teach Revan the subtleties his actions caused, the ends of his actions rippling outward and touching others, who in turn spread their own actions, strengthening the weaker side of the Force. Revan had failed to understand the scope of the threat, giving the enemy, the darkness a name and form in the True Sith but the True Sith were mere pawns of a greater game. The true battle between light and dark was not fought on fields of battles as soldiers and warriors thought of them, but in the hearts and minds of all beings, of all life. And it sought ever to gain balance, to be at peace with itself.

Jedi Knight Kaera Nurr exited the fresher donned in a light blue powered battlesuit with a light durasteel breastplate and other light armored plates placed around the battlesuit smartly to provide ease of movements but also a small amount of protection from blades and shrapnel. Her Jedi robes folded in a tight, neat little pile, Kaera still wore her lightsaber at her waist as she knelt down near the workbench, adding her robes to the growing pile of conspicuous armor and items that couldn't simply be thrown out for fear of discovery.

"There's an extra sword in there, light and curved, Echani design I believe."

Kaera looked over to whom she believed was called Tauryn Katarn, nodding politely. The man's intuitive sense was somewhat lacking but could be frighteningly clear at times. She'd sensed his outburst of Force-energy and the pulls on the Force when he was in deep thought and she realized he might be a much more valuable ally than a simple soldier. The man had an amazing array of skills from what she'd seen and she was quite sure there were more that were just waiting to be revealed. Checking through the junk as Tauryn had called it, Kaera spotted a cylindrical tube, inconspicuously labeled as a kolto pack. Grinning, the Jedi opened the cylinder, seeing only a relatively dry film of remnant kolto before her grin turned to a relieved smile. Out of the corner of her eye she spotted Tauryn approaching her with a light-looking but powerful blaster rifle and she wave the tube at him with a smile.

"Looks like I've found a place to hide my saber."

Revan raised a brow at the cheery tone in the young woman's voice. He was more used to Jedi speaking in grave, downright depressing tones and it was, dare he say refreshing? Smiling patiently, Revan showed the Jedi the workings of the blaster rifle as well as a folding stock and a selector switch for rapid-fire or semi-automatic fire. Handing the young woman a bandolier with extra power packs for the blaster and the light, curved Echani blade he's procured quite illegally, Revan watched with detached amusement as the Jedi took a torn section fo cloth from his old uniform, wiped the inside of the container clean and then tore another good chunk of cloth free, wrapping her blade carefully and making certain it fit snug with the container.

"Won't that shift and maybe trigger?"
Revan asked, adding some unease to his voice as the origin of his injury was loudly declared to Kaera by Carth. Kaera smiled, shaking her head as she fitted the 'kolto' tube to her belt beside her blade and explained.

"I have a switch housing that covered the activation switch. It must be flipped up and them the switch must be depressed to activate the blade."

Revan found himself nodding in approval. Once active the blade would remain until the switch was pressed again or the trigger was manipulated through the Force. There could be advantages to the Jedi's unique design and the former Sith Lord found himself appreciating the fact he hadn't had to kill Carth or Kaera just yet. They were an interesting pair and he could call his experiences with them enlightening and that was only after two days.

"Kill them or keep them, Revan. Kill them or keep them."

Shrugging off his internal monologue, the three humans made their way to the door, double-checking their equipment and gear before moving out of the apartment and into the complex.

AN: I hope you all liked my take on the whole Balance issue. I've been kicking that idea around in my head for a while and after sorta doing a quick review of the Star Wars universe, including the new comics set 130 years ABY (Battle of Yavin in Episode IV) The whole Chosen One thing I never really liked or bought. Just... too ridiculous I guess, even for my often ridiculous imagination. Plus the Chosen One and the prophesy states that the Chosen One will bring balance to the Force, destroying the Sith. With Anakin Skywalker dead at the end of Episode VI it should have been the end of the Sith and the darkside of the Force as a threat. Of course we would have to ignore all of the Jedi Academy stuff, the Valley of the Jedi the Dark Lord of the Sith Flint and the Dark Lady of the Sith Luminaya, both of whom were pretty much remnants of Palpatine and Vader's Sith Order being Emperor's Hands. Oh another BIG thing we'd have to ignore would be the Star Wars Legacy comics which are the ones that take place 130 years after the movies. In that a group of Sith, SITH attack the Jedi Temple of Ossus established by Luke Skywalker. So yea, I tend to ignore the Chosen One's mystical BS and view the Force more as a natural occurrence... hope that's not too confusing... cause I'm confused now... And people want to make the argument of an unbroken line of Sith Lords but look at the gap between the Great Hyperspace War and Freedon Nadd. I just see it like shifting tides, human nature expanded to a galactic level and pushed to two convenient sides. I'm all for the Gray Jedi deal, not the evil Sith or flawless Jedi extremes.