Author's Note: Very brief this time. The poll will be going down sometime tomorrow, probably about 12:00GMT. If you want me to take note of your opinion, get a bloody move on. Sorry if it seems to move too quickly for you, but it is my story and I just happen to write it like this.

Rhen Var, 289ATGS

Rana ducked under the Mandalorian's vibroblade before stabbing her lightsaber through his chest. Her cloak swirled around her as she spun around, decapitating another Mandalorian. Her lightwhip cracked as she slashed it at a group of Mandalorians, tearing their chests open.

Three months had passed since the Republic had arrived at Rhen Var. Three months since her master had torn through six hundred Mandalorians with ease. After the initial victory, the two hundred Republic ships had taken positions in orbit, under the command of her master when he returned to the Dauntless. Every attempt by the Mandalorians to retake the planet had failed. For two months, Revan had prevented them from so much as setting foot on the planet. Then three hundred Mandalorian ships had arrived, smashed through the seventy remaining Republic ships and landed forces on the planet.

As far as High Command was concerned, Rhen Var was lost two months ago when the fleet's numbers dropped below a hundred and so they would not receive any reinforcements. Despite this, Revan refused to surrender the system. On the ground, Republic soldiers faced off with Mandalorians, preventing them from taking total control of the planet. Revan's fleet, augmented by ships retreating from beyond the Tion Cluster, constantly harassed the Mandalorian fleet, ensuring they were unable to focus on the planet.

Revan's plan was working exactly as he had planned. The fact that the Mandalorians were unable to bomb the planet was excellent but Revan was still there for a different reason. The Republic often seemed incapable of standing on an even footing with the Mandalorians and if a system on a hyperspace lane fell, relief would often take a while to reach the systems beyond that system. Revan was proving that the Republic hold its own against the odds but on top of that, he was buying time for those beyond the Tion Cluster to retreat.

Over the three months, Rana had earned the respect of the Republic soldiers she had fought with. When Revan had returned to the Dauntless to oversee the fleet, Rana had stayed on the ground and continued to aid the Republic soldiers. The Republic soldiers had taken to calling her the Red Knight of the Republic and her presence was almost as much a guarantee of victory as Revan's. After the fleet's numbers had dropped below a hundred, Revan had remained with the ships to keep the Mandalorian forces at bay, leaving her the only Force user on the planet.

As Rana entered the FOB after the skirmish, she found Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart speaking with Revan's hologram.

"There is no other option, Brigadier. You and your soldiers have performed admirably but the Mandalorians have us outnumbered in space and it is only a matter of time before my ships can no longer keep them preoccupied. There is also the fact that we are running out of supplies. I'm afraid this is my final decision, Brigadier. You had better get ready, we'll be in position within the hour," Revan told the Brigadier before he vanished.

"What's going on, Brigadier?" Rana asked as she approached.

The Brigadier looked over his shoulder at her before sighing.

"We're pulling out in one hour. What is left of the fleet will move in as close as they can so that our dropships can get us off the planet. Damn shame to leave after all the work we've put in to holding this place," the Brigadier explained.

"Agreed. But if those are Revan's orders then that is what we must do. It has been an honour serving with you, Brigadier," Rana stated, saluting for the first time.

"Likewise, miss Zathera. Maybe we'll work together again sometime. Now then, would you mind helping us prepare to leave?" Lethbridge-Stewart asked.

"Of course. Where do you need me?" Rana responded.

As the Republic forces on the ground prepared to leave, Revan readied his fleet to get them out. Of the original two hundred ships, very few remained. Despite the arrival of retreating forces from beyond the Tion Cluster, there were now a mere twenty-seven battered Republic warships left in the system. The Mandalorian fleet currently numbered around one hundred and eighty due to Revan's efforts. Now, Revan was preparing to execute quite possibly his most unconvential plan yet.

As the Dauntless drifted amongst the asteroid belt, accompanied by the other twenty-six vessels, Revan activated a false distress beacon. The beacon had been placed in the asteroid belt on the opposite side of the system from Rhen Var. As the beacon received the activation command, it started transmitting its signal.

"This is Vice Admiral Surik of the Dauntless! My fleet has taken heavy damage! We need immediate assistance!" was the message broadcast across all frequencies.

The instant the Mandalorian fleet heard the message, roughly a hundred and fifty of them turned from the planet and raced toward the other side of the system. The remaining thirty drifted aimlessly above the planet, awaiting their fellows' return. Their fellows would not, however, be coming back.

As soon as the Mandalorian fleet entered the asteroid belt, Revan detonated the improvised mines. A hundred salvaged starship reactors exploded instantly, sending fire, ice and rock flying in all directions. The Mandalorian fleet was destroyed almost instantly, one hundred and fifty once-mighty warships reduced to scrap metal and debris in an instant. As the explosion registered on the remaining vessels sensors, Revan contacted them.

"This is Vice Admiral Surik to the remaining Mandalorian vessels. Run," Revan warned.

As expected, half the remaining Mandalorian vessels turned and raced toward the asteroid belt, toward the source of the call. Or rather, toward the comm. relay Revan had bounced the call through. Once more, salvaged ship reactors, a dozen of them, detonated, destroying the Mandalorian vessels.

The seventeen vessels remaining in orbit pulled together around the remaining dreadnaught, waiting for Revan's fleet to arrive. This proved to be their undoing as a quartet of reactors, manoeuvred by Revan using the Force, detonated among them, vaporising those in the centre of the formation and reducing those at the edge to scrap.

With the Mandalorian fleet reduced to scrap and dust, the twenty-seven Republic ships advanced out of the asteroid belt. As they took up positions in orbit, dropships left their hangars and sped toward the planet. As they began to land, the Republic soldiers began to load all the remaining supplies and themselves into the dropships.

Within the hour, only a hundred soldiers remained on the planet's surface along with Rana Zathera. Unfortunately, this was the time the Mandalorians chose to mount an assault in an effort to take out what they could. As almost a thousand Mandalorians advanced toward the Republic dropships, Rana signalled the remaining forces to go. Stepping forward, she drew her lightsaber and her lightwhip.

"Come on then, boys and girls. Let's dance," Rana sneered.

In a flash, the twi'lek had crossed the distance between herself and the Mandalorians. Spinning around, her lightwhip slashed at those out of the reach of her whirling crimson blade. As she danced among the Mandalorians, the dropships started to leave as the remaining Republic soldiers fired on the Mandalorians. As more and more Mandalorians replaced those who fell, Rana began to tire. Before she could tire too much, her earpiece crackled.

"Rana, shield yourself," Revan ordered, sounding slightly panicked.

The young woman ducked and wrapped the Force around herself for protection. Not even a moment later, three Republic bombers raced above her head. Their payloads tore the Mandalorians to shreds, massacring them all in moments. Rana's shield almost fell during the bombing run due to exhaustion until Revan sent her energy across their still-developing bond, revitalising her and allowing her to hold the shield.

As the bombers soared into the sky once more, a dropship landed beside her. She leapt aboard and waited as they soared out of the atmosphere.

Dauntless, 289ATGS

Once the final dropship, carrying Rana, had reached the hangar, the Dauntless and her companions had left the system. As they were leaving, a Mandalorian fleet had arrived, thankfully too late to stop them. As the Dauntless raced through hyperspace toward Coruscant, Revan strode down the corridor, absolutely furious, Rana at his heels.

"I fail to see what you're angry with," Rana stated, question obvious.

"You," came the short reply.

"Me? Why? What have I done?" Rana asked, shocked.

Revan stopped and turned toward her in the middle of the empty corridor.

"Because you engaged the Mandalorians. We had orbital superiority; we saw them coming miles away. Did that not occur to you?" Revan snarled.

"What?! I was a bit preoccupied with the one thousand Mandalorians. I was trying to make sure the soldiers got away," Rana retorted, annoyed.

"I had already dispatched bombers to deal with them. You need to think more. I was not about to miss a thousand Mandalorians on the move," Revan growled.

"I'm terribly sorry, father. I should have paid more attention and thought things through in the way the almighty Revan would," Rana mocked.

Her words caused Revan to pause.

"What did you call me?" Revan asked.

Rana blushed and looked like a deer in the headlights when she realised that her emotions had caused her control to slip.

"N-nothing," Rana stuttered.

"No, I'm pretty sure I heard you call me "father"," Revan stated, grinning slightly beneath his mask.

"W-well, you've been m-more of a father to me th-than my real father was," Rana managed to mutter, worried.

Beneath his mask, Revan scowled, wondering what her father had been like.

"Well, if it makes you feel any better, you're like a daughter to me. Despite only knowing you for nine months and you insulting or threatening me for most of that time," Revan told her, stepping forward to wrap her in a hug.

Rana wrapped arms sround him and buried her face in his shoulder.

"I guess what I'm saying is, I don't want to lose you, Rana. So don't you go dying on me yet, you hear me?" Revan told the girl.

Rana only nodded slightly, face still buried in his shoulder. After a minute, Revan felt that was enough.

"Right, come on. Your shield was pathetic. Let's go work on that," Revan commanded.

"But, master," Rana groaned, pulling her head off his shoulder.

"No buts. I don't care that we've just had a big heart-to-heart, that shield was sloppy and we need to correct that," Revan stated, extracting himself from her arms and turning down the corridor.

With a sigh, Rana hurried after him toward their training room. Much to Rana's dismay, Revan was true to his word and they spent six hours out of the eight-hour journey working of Force Barriers. Eventually, after a brief discussion about their prior conversation, Revan allowed her to go to her room and sleep.

Coruscant, 289ATGS

Once the Dauntless had reached Coruscant, Revan had left immediately, allowing Rana to rest properly for the first time in three months. First he went to meet with High Command where he was berated for disobeying a direct order from Supreme Commander Tarrick. Only the fact that his efforts had not only allowed a large amount of assets to be rescued from beyond the Tion Cluster and that his actions had boosted Republic morale and drawn Mandalorian forces to the relatively-unimportant Rhen Var saved him from being demoted or discharged. All involved had been given two weeks of leave except him, who only got a week.

After that was complete, he had gone to pick up some documents that he had requested. Then, after arranging to meet Meetra and Alek later in the week, he had returned to the small apartment he had bought last time he had leave on Coruscant. The apartment consisted of a main room (which included the kitchen), two bedrooms and a refresher. He hung his cloak up by the door and placed the mask and armour in a cupboard in his bedroom, leaving him in just some loose fitting trousers and a loose tunic. After sending a text message to Rana on the Dauntless, Revan sat down behind his desk in the main room and started filling out the forms he had collected.

An hour later, the door chimed. When Revan opened it, Rana swept past him and into the apartment, hanging her cloak next to his as she walked by. Revan shook his head slightly in amusement as he closed the front door again. Rana wandered into the main room and sat down on the sofa. Revan walked in after her and went back to his desk. Rana looked over to him from her place on the sofa.

"Master, can I watch the Holonet?" Rana almost whined.

"Yes, fine," Revan answered, not looking up from what he was writing.

This piqued Rana's interest and she sidled over to see what he was doing. Before she even crossed half the distance, Revan suddenly stopped writing and threw the datapad at her.

"Catch," Revan told her as it left his hand.

Reacting quickly, Rana reached out with the Force, only to find herself blocked. She fumbled with the datapad for a moment before she got a grip on it. Looking down, she found herself looking at Galactic Republic Official Legal Document Number 34.

"What's this, master?" Rana asked, glancing at Revan who now sat with his fingers interlaced and wrists leaning on the edge of the desk.

"Adoption papers. If you're up for it, fill in the blanks and, according to Republic law, you will become my daughter," Revan explained, smirking slightly.

Without a moment's hesitation, Rana started filling out the form, walking back to the sofa as she did so. Revan smiled slightly as he watched her. After a few minutes, Rana stood up again and walked over to Revan, who had spun his seat around and was staring out of the window.

"Done. What do we do now?" Rana asked, curious.

"Now, we go visit the Galactic Courts of Justice Building to hand this in," Revan stated, moving toward the door.

After visiting the Galactic Courts of Justice Building and handing in the documents, the pair wandered to a nearby café. Finding seats, they ordered drinks and lunch. Once their drinks arrived, Revan raised his glass slightly.

"To my new daughter, Rana Zathera Surik," Revan stated, inclining his head toward her.

"To my new father, Revan Surik," Rana retorted, inclining her head toward him.

Tapping their glasses together, the pair grinned at each other, amused and, above all, happy.