Time/Date Started: 5/5/08 2:59 Central Time
Author's Notes: It's still Cinco de Mayo, and it's still the day before my birthday. I hope I get a lot of stuff.
Anyway, this is the last chapter, unless I decide to write one over the summer. I'm still deciding whether or not to put in a Defying Gravity II or something. I'll think on it.
Chapter Nine: The Warrior
It took a long time to get this far.
It was true. It felt like decades, instead of just four years, to get into the final stages of the war. She remembered her first battle, across Dxun, where she had to ultimately pull back her troops and try again to just free the people of Onderon.
And now here she was, on the edge of Malachor V.
She took a step to one side, pacing in front of her fellow Jedi. The Revanchists, they called themselves. They looked up at her, pacing upon the stage, and gawked. She wasn't surprised. She was always very awe-inspiring when she was about to give a speech. They knew that whatever that was about to come out of her mouth would be glorious and moral-enhancing.
Revan didn't disappoint them.
"Fellow soldiers and Jedi," She started.
"Revanchists!" Someone shouted. The call took form, and soon everyone threw their fisted hands into the air, calling the name as if it was a lifeline.
"Revanchists," Revan corrected with mock-annoyance. "We have come quite a long way over the years, haven't we?"
A murmur fell through the crowds, and Revan shushed them. "When we started, we were a bunch of outcast Jedi and desperate soldiers trying to save their beloved Republic. And now? Now we are ending this war and declaring peace for our people!"
Another cry rose.
"Yes, there will be lives lost today." Revan explained, pacing around and surveying the determined faces looking at her. "There will be people on our side that will fall, both to the Dark Side and to death." Actually, many of the Revanchists had already fallen to the Dark Side; they just thought she couldn't sense it. "There are soldiers out there who will be lost to their families. There will be Jedi who are never heard from again."
There was silence as she continued. "But we will make sure that for ever Jedi fallen, for every soldier down, for every breech in rank we suffer, they suffer tenfold!"
The crowd screamed joyously.
"This will be the final resting place for the Mandalorians. This will be where they make their last stand. It will be a bloody fight, but we will take back the lands they've stolen from us. We will avenge those who had been captured or killed in the midst of battle. And we will win!"
The Revanchists began chanting her name. She crossed her arms, looking smug. "And who is going to defeat the Mandalorians?"
"We are!"
Revan grinned. "Good. Rest up! We attack at dawn!"
She turned and left the stage, meeting up with Malak backstage as she made her way off. She wanted to sleep before she would have to waste more lives.
"Humph." Malak growled. "As if anyone could tell when dawn was on this godforsaken planet."
XXXXX
As a matter of fact, dawn was only in five hours.
Revan sighed, rubbing her eyelids lazily as she lay down onto the bed. She threw her arms out to the sides and stared listlessly at the ceiling, spread-eagle. She blinked a few times and took a couple of deep breaths, watching the ceiling fan as it circled around itself.
So this was it. After this, the Mandalorians would be no more and the Sith would be forced to reveal themselves. Then she would lead the Revanchists into battle against them, and their Republic would be safe once and for all.
She had no idea why the Mandalorians had made Malachor V their last stand. It certainly was a desolate world, one that practically stank of the Dark Side. The moment Revan's ship doors opened to let her scout the area, she'd immediately stiffened and tried not to recoil.
Revan shifted and sat up, staring at the dark wall in front of her. She didn't know what was going to happen. The Force would not let her see the future. She didn't even know if they would be victorious or not, though she was confident enough to believe in her own skills.
It still scared her.
XXXXX
"All right," Revan pointed to the large screen behind her, and the point where her finger met the map turned green. "I want Admiral Sommos to take her fleets spaceward and stay hidden on the western hemisphere." She sent a hard glare toward the Admiral in question, who saluted. "You will stay over there until either you see blaster fire or you are told to do so."
"Yes, ma'am." The woman bowed.
Revan hmmed. She didn't like Admiral Sommos that much. The woman was too concerned about what happened within the military than what happened to the war. The soldiers had been known to fight from time to time, and the Admiral was never happy that Revan just let it happen. Of course, Revan always stressed the point of unity, so there were never many fights among the soldiers, but she didn't see anything wrong with the military policing itself.
"Admiral Veltraa, I want you to take a larger fleet of airborne soldiers and meet the Mandalorians head-on in space." Revan continued, pointing to another section of the map. "I trust you to come up with your own strategy, which will at some point include Admiral Sommos and her troops when you signal them to join you." She frowned before adding, "and you will only call for Admiral Sommos when your flanks are about to break. Make the Mandalorians seem like they have the upper hand."
Admiral Veltraa saluted as well. "Of course, madam."
"Admiral Karath will accompany Malak, the Revanchists and I onto the planet itself, where Mandalore the Ultimate will be with his own special troops. While Malak and I lead the Revanchists against the Mandalorians, Admiral Karath will take the last fleet of troops through Malachor and complete a very special mission."
"My Lord?" Admiral Karath bowed, making Revan snarl. No one liked a suck-up. "What mission would that be?"
Good question. Revan ran a hand through her hair. "One of the mechanics was kind enough to construct for us the weapon that will make us capable of defeating the Mandalorians." She continued when everyone stared at her curiously. "We're going to blow Malachor V to pieces after we win."
There were shouts of surprise.
"My Lord, what about the people still on the planet?" Saul Karath asked, wide-eyed.
"Honestly, Admiral. If all you do is sit around and think of ways to flatter us, I'm surprised you're still alive. Will you think for once in your life?" Revan could feel Malak's stare burning into the back of her head. Malak liked Karath, and never appreciated it when Revan ripped his head off. "I have a plan."
"And what will that be, Revan dear?" Kreia asked from the side of the room.
"To be able to detonate this bomb, someone—or something—will have to be on the surface with it." She started. "I have asked the mechanic—this Bao-Dur—to construct a droid like his small sphere for this purpose. Once Mandalore the Ultimate has been defeated and the refugees and miscellaneous Mandalorians are taken care of, we shall vacate the planet as fast as possible. Admiral Karath will take the droid with him when he leaves with his fleet and will leave it behind when he returns."
"But…" Admiral Veltraa asked meekly. Revan nodded for him to continue. "But My Lord, why would we need to dispose of this planet once we've won?"
Revan was silent for a moment, choosing her words wisely before she continued. "Good question. The Mandalorians made this planet their base planet for a reason, Admirals." She started. "And I came here to find out what it was. When I stepped onto this planet, the Dark Side affinity was so strong it knocked me off of my feet and very nearly succeeded in dragging me into the Darkness with it.
"That was what the Mandalorians came for. They wanted to stay here so the Dark Side could make them strong enough for battle and they could win over us."
Admiral Veltraa chewed on his lower lip for a few seconds, and then opened his mouth to ask something else. "But isn't destroying a planet Dark Side in itself?"
Revan nodded to him, clearly impressed. "Someone's been reading up." She mentioned. "This new bomb is truly new, however; Bao-Dur did an excellent job on it. It is not used to destroy life, per se. It's meant to first disarm the planet. In layman's terms, this machine will be placed where the Force is the strongest, and will detonate there, destroying the strong Force affinity and thereby cutting it off."
"What kinds of repercussions are involved in this?" Kreia asked. Revan shrugged.
"Since we've never used something like this before, we can only assume the side effects." She explained. "It could be anything from temporary Force deafness to a large vacuum forming in space. Whatever happens, though," She looked around the room at all the faces. "Would you rather risk that than the chance for the Mandalorians to become as strong as they are now?"
The faces brightened. "That's brilliant, ma'am." Admiral Sommos gawked.
Revan sighed. "Yes." She answered. "Now all we have to do is survive."
XXXXX
Revan paced back and forth as the Mandalorians came nearer and nearer. Using the Force she took count of the lives walking toward danger. There were at least a thousand of them, but they were traveling with their camp altogether. Perhaps only two thirds of those were soldiers.
They were running straight for them.
"Kill only those who try to kill you." Revan yelled behind her. She counted off twenty people in her mind and Force Pushed them slightly so they'd pay attention to their assignment. "Those I just nudged will guard the pass over there, where the Admiral just went along with his troops. You are to remain hidden and wait for stragglers to come along and take care of them. If they send a battalion over toward you, fight them off. Do not let them through that canyon."
The twenty or so people nodded, eyeing the valley in question. It was a small thing, only large enough for four or five people in a row to fit through at a time, but for some reason Revan had sent a lot of people in that direction with an important mission. If they were given a job to protect the pass, they would do it.
Revan then looked onto the rest of her people. "Jedi will make a frontal assault!" She called. The Jedi let their lightsabers loose and raised them into the air, calling out. Revan had to shout to be heard over them. "You will deflect any and all blaster shots from the soldiers while you're making your way to the Mandalorians. Once you're into their ranks, your jobs are to eliminate as many as possible before they eliminate you."
When the ranks were silent again Revan continued. "You will leave Mandalore the Ultimate for me."
This caused more ruckus than the previous statement had. Everyone burst into cries, blasters were thrown into the air, and the teeming mass surged forward impatiently.
"They're not in range yet; stay still!" Revan called. "Let them fire the first shot."
On Revan's right stood Malak, who already had his saber out and crushed between his hands. He kept his face squarely on the approaching Mandalorians. His eyes were slightly narrowed in concentration. Revan knew he would do a good job in battle.
On Revan's left stood Donella, otherwise known by the troops as The General. She held one orange saber in her left hand and one violet in the other. She stood with her arms down at her sides, and she stared calmly at the battle coming before her. The windy planet pulled her blonde hair behind her and whipped it around viciously. Her hard blue eyes surveyed the Mandalorians calmly.
Revan wondered if she was the only one inwardly freaking out. Her grips on her two blue sabers shifted constantly. She hated the wait for battle. She was fine in the hours before the battle, when there were planning and last-minutes emergencies to keep her occupied. She was also fine during the battle, because her thoughts were solely on surviving and completing her mission (and besides, she was of the mindset survive now, panic when it's over) and her mind had no room for worrying about what was to come.
Now, though, when they had nothing to do but wait until the fated minute came, she would start to think.
After this battle, the Mandalorian Wars would be over. After that, they would go in search of the Sith and she would be able to find them and make sure they never harm her Republic again. She'd been reading up on the war with Exar Kun, so she had a rough idea on what to expect when the time came. She intended to pull up every Jedi still loyal to her and drag them all to the Unknown Regions with her, where they would once and for all find the Sith threat and destroy it.
Revan was pulled out of her thoughts by a small red laser flashing by her head. She cocked her head to the other side and let the blaster shot roll past her.
The result was instant.
The Jedi leapt up as fast as they could and heaved themselves into the midst of battle, Revan, Malak, and Donella among them. They held their lightsabers tightly and slashed at the oncoming Mandalorians, determined to stop them in their tracks.
As what usually happened, Revan couldn't see her own hands. She saw an enemy in the corner of her eye and the next moment her lightsaber was upon them and their life was over. She didn't look at what she was doing or who she was killing. Such things only slowed people down, and she was not in a position to be slowed down.
A small chirp came from her comm. link and she flicked it on in the middle of battle. She shouted over the ruckus around her for whoever called her to talk.
"My Lady," It was Admiral Veltraa. "We have met face-to-face with the Mandalorians. We are holding as fast as we can. Some of our troops keep disappearing over toward the other side of the planet, where Admiral Sommos is waiting for them. We will pull back in full once the Mandalorians think we're lost and running, and ambush them within the hour."
Revan smirked. "Good." She ducked a vibrosword and slashed at another Mandalorian, who fell instantly. "Our side is doing well, too. Call me when you meet up with Admiral Sommos' troops."
"Yes, Ma'am."
A large roar tore through the Mandalorians, and she watched them as they raised their blasters and pulled their vibroswords out threateningly. Revan kicked one Mandalorian backward and slashed at one next to her, who blocked her attack and threw her backward.
Revan huffed. This Mandalorian wasn't Mandalore. How could he have thrown her down? She must have been more tired than she thought she was.
She leapt back up and in an instant their swords connected again. She swished her free hand through the air and used the Force to tear the man's helmet off.
"With such a good opponent, it's only fair that we should see each other's faces, don't you agree?" She asked the man.
The man looked a bit older than her, as most Mandalorians did, but he couldn't have been any older than thirty, really. His hair was already graying, and he had wrinkles forming down his face, but Revan put that to the strain of war instead of old age. His steel grey eyes bored into hers, and she could tell he was impressed with her. He whirled his vibroblade around experimentally and smirked.
"All right, short stuff," The Mandalorian smirked at her flushed face. "Have it your way."
He lunged.
Revan lunged too, clearly insulted at the name. She was not short! She was taller than Donella, anyway, and that woman was too short for her own good. And she was extremely taller than Master Vandar, who insisted that he was not small but lethal sized.
Anyway, she blocked the Mandalorian's attack and made one of her own, twisting around backward to strike awkwardly at his side. He blocked it, and as his foot came up to knock her over, she grabbed a hold of it and twisted back to her original spot, tripping the Mandalorian and flooring him.
Revan pointed her saber downward and thrust strongly at the Mandalorian's stomach. The Mandalorian rolled out of the way and Revan's lightsaber met with the hard, black rock that created the surface of Malachor V. She retracted it quickly and opened it just in time to stop another attack. She pushed the Mandalorian backward and snorted.
"You're very good." She remarked.
"So are you." The Mandalorian slashed at her, and she side-stepped the attack. "If you had been a Mandlorian, we would have been even more invincible."
"Flattery will get you nowhere, Mandalorian." Revan replied. Her saber scorched the side of his armor where she intended to slice him but barely hit the mark. Grey eyes widened in surprise.
"It won't?" He thrust his shoulder onto Revan's, knocking her off balance and onto her back. "What a shame."
Revan kicked her legs in the air hard enough for her body to follow, and she collided with the Mandalorian's chest, making him collapse onto the floor.
"It looks like I've finally got a challenge from the people who have been effectively destroying the Republic." She taunted before slamming her saber into his chest. The Mandalorian frowned before he parried and got up from the ground.
"Don't mock us." He warned slowly.
Revan frowned as well. This sounded strangely familiar.
"I—" She squinted at the Mandalorian in front of her, trying to recall where the strange familiarity had come from. "I'm the farthest from mocking."
Suddenly the memory came back to her, one of the first battles she participated in with the Revanchists with her, on the planet Taris, and the confrontation with the leader of the Mandalorians there. What was his name again? Candy? Carto?
"Your name." She demanded.
The Mandalorian's eyes lit up, and his smirk turned into a grin. "Mine for yours."
"Damn," Revan swore. She would have to guess. Before she could call out the name Cardest, the words flowed from her mouth. "Force, Canderous, I would have thought you knew my name by now."
The Mandalorian—Canderous, it seemed—took a large bow. "Indeed I do, Revan. I knew not every Jedi was as good as you are, or we would have lost long ago."
Revan nodded to him, once again throwing her saber at him. He dodged and bolted backward, forcing Revan to pursue.
"Didn't I tell you that we would win?" She asked, stopping in front of him and connecting their swords.
"You haven't won yet, short stuff."
There was an abrupt stop in their battle for their lives, as the ongoing fight paused enough for one voice to reign over the silence.
"Revan!"
Revan knew that voice. She'd heard it many times, when she'd been face-to-face with his army at times much like these. She could hear the malice in his voice, as if he knew what was coming, too. He knew that when she and he met again, it would be for the last time.
Revan vs. Mandalore; it was time for one of them to die.
She swore. Revan looked around her and flicked her comm. link on one more time.
"Talk to me, Admiral Veltraa."
There was static for a moment before someone else replied.
"He's gone, my Lady." Revan heard. "Destroyed right before Admiral Sommos came to our aid."
Revan growled. "And who are you?"
"I'm—well, now I suppose I'm Admiral Jenks."
Revan snickered. She liked her Admirals with a bit of humor. "And how are you faring?"
"Faring, My Lady?" Admiral Jenks asked. "We've already won!"
Revan looked pleased. "Good. Stay in the air. Do not come down to the planet."
"Yes, ma'am."
"Hello?" Canderous made a slash at her waist, making her side-step in the nick of time. She'd forgotten all about him. "I'm still here, you know." The Mandalorian recoiled at the look she gave him.
"Let's fix that."
Revan smashed her hilt into Canderous' head, and kicked savagely at him, knocking him backwards. He slumped to the ground, completely knocked out.
"You're worthy of my respect, Mandalorian," She said to the unconscious man. "If you survive this battle, we'll let you live along with the other survivors. I'm sorry for blind sighting you, though. I'm even sorry for leaving in the middle of our fight. But there are bigger pests to kill."
Revan gave a ceremonial bow and bolted toward the forming crowd.
XXXXX
Revan leapt over a forming group of Jedi and landed swiftly in the middle of a circle. The Revanchists and Republic soldiers formed one half of the Circle of Death, and the other half consisted of Mandalorians—or what was left of them.
It seemed to Revan that she had picked her battles well. Her troops were alive and still ready to destroy the threat to their homes, while the Mandalorians were far and few between. The ones that were left looked ragged and worn out, but in their vigor for battle they'd shed their helmets and fought head-on.
The Mandalorians spread apart as a broad-shouldered man stepped through them, and for one horrifying second, Revan felt much like she had when Kreia found her at age four, cramped inside a barrel with a broken leg and no food to show for it. Mandalore hadn't even the respect to take off his helmet and fight her face-to-face, like Canderous had, and that made his seem all the larger.
In a matter of seconds Revan shook off her fear of the man. It didn't matter if she was terrified in the midst of battle, though she knew she would chide herself for it later. She knew that her Republic would need her to be lucid to win this battle.
"Why, Mandalore, you won't even take off your helmet? How disrespectful." Revan taunted, twisting her sabers through the air.
"No," The man seethed. "I don't think I will."
And the battle started before Revan could think. Mandalore tried to use the element of surprise and leapt forward threateningly, slashing with his vibroblade. Revan lurched backward, blocking with her own saber.
Something hit Revan on the top of her head as she whirled around to meet her foe. It began to rain. The black earth began to darken impossibly, and the air began to blend into the ground, and Revan felt like she was literally walking in darkness.
Mandalore was upon her before she could think properly. She was knocked backward onto the ground, and her hair was soaked with mud and water.
The soldiers around her cried out for her to get up. The Mandalorians all shouted praise to their leader. Revan heaved herself up and started again.
She tackled Mandalore with her shoulder, not knocking him over but at least driving him back. While he was still stumbling from the impact she whirled around behind him and kicked his knees inward. Mandalore cried out and fell to the ground.
"Your armor won't do you much good now, will it?" Revan asked, having to shout over her soldiers to be heard. They'd erupted into screams when they saw her rise again.
The frustrated Mandalore scrambled back up and drove a fist forward. Revan hadn't been expecting his; Mandlore still had his sword with him and wouldn't need to use his fists for quite some time. She barely got her hands up in time before she felt his fists drive into her open palms.
Revan grunted as she pushed back on the Mandalorian leader, and soon it became a match of strength. Revan knew she would lose. A woman is innately weaker than a man, Revan knew, though she would never admit to anyone. That's why women had to resort to more clever ways of victory.
Revan focused the Force onto Mandalore the Ultimate. She worked on driving his hands away from her and also to propel him into the air. She closed her eyes. This would end here and now.
Mandalore was a strong, bulky man. Pushing his hands away from her using the Force was hard enough to make her want to concentrate as hard as she could, but making the man fly into the air would hurt. She closed her eyes and sent an unchecked burst of Force energy toward Mandalore.
The man flew into the air.
Revan acted quickly. She called her saber to her and leapt into the air, and in one fell swoop, touched back down.
Mandalore's head landed with her.
There was silence on both sides, as the stunned warriors and enraptured soldiers stared at the heaving eighteen year old, listening to the rain, waiting for her orders.
Revan stared into the sky, watching the rain fall and feeling the droplets land on her exhausted face. She liked the cool sensation. It added to a few others she had.
They were finished. They'd won.
Revan took many deep breaths before finally speaking. "Gather all the surviving Mandalorians."
The result was instant. Soldiers scrambled every which way, overpowering the Mandalorians and taking away their weapons. Soon all of the Mandalorians left alive were camped out in front of Revan, on their knees with their hands behind their heads.
Among them, Revan was glad to note, was the man from the clan Ordo. Canderous glared at Revan openly, insulted by having been struck out by a teenager while his back was turned. She gave him a weary smile and surveyed all the people.
Slaves and medics aside, there were about seventy warriors staring her in the face, their expressions mixed with rage and awe. Revan had to find something to do with them all.
She took a long breath so she could be heard by everyone. "Your Basilisk War Droids will be dismantled," She called. "Your weapons and armor are to be handed over to Republic officials."
She had to stop for a moment as the Mandalorians griped about their punishment.
"You have one hour to get off of the planet. You will not follow each other; only two ships in each direction." Revan ordered. "Our soldiers will be keeping watch of you. If you go anywhere near the Republic you will be shot down." Revan unleashed a bit of her power, sending a powerful wave of Force through the Mandalorians and flooring them. "If I hear of any kind of war stirring up again, you will be eliminated totally and completely. I will not tolerate such danger twice."
She glanced around, and turned to Malak standing behind her. A cut on his face ranged from the top of his head to his chin, and he was sweating. She leaned over to him.
"Make sure Admiral Karath and his troop have returned from their mission, then make sure all the Jedi get onto the ships. The soldiers and I will watch the Mandalorians."
Malak nodded and left.
XXXXX
It took major control not to bolt up the ramp of her ship and kiss the cold, metal floor. She'd never been so glad to see her ship before. The planet's Dark Side power had been getting to her for a while, and she was growing irritable by the moment. When she stepped onto the ship, the Dark Side feeling went away, and she was left with nothing but simple happiness that the war was over.
But she controlled herself and made a beeline for the cockpit. It took her a while, because she had to stop and converse with people and accept thanks and congratulations and generally be nice to everyone. She spotted Donella Segora and motioned for her to follow.
Revan and Donella entered the cockpit and found Malak, who was barking orders to people. He stopped when he saw Revan advancing.
"Revan, Admiral Karath arrived back with his troop ten minutes ago, and the surviving Mandalorians are all shipping out every which way."
Revan nodded. "Good. Get me Bao Dur. I instructed the mechanic to stay on the main level, so check there first." An officer near her bowed and left to do her bidding. "We've got a planet to destroy."
Revan sighed, rubbing one of her arms with the other. So the war was over, wasn't it? All the Mandalorians were scattered about the galaxy at this point, and they were now a weak and greedy people. There would be few of them now worth their salt. They would end up being mercenaries, thugs, or end up as plain raiders.
Revan's thoughts were suddenly switched to Canderous Ordo. She'd been on the planet long enough to have him pass her by, and she made sure to point him in the direction of Taris.
"Taris is a place where the oppression is high," she remembered saying. "The minorities are subjugated by the humans, and the Upper City is really the only sanitary place." Then she'd laughed at Canderous' snarl, and his question of why he should care. "There is a man on Taris, however. A Crime Lord. His name is Davik Kang. He will help you. It'll be a low job; the kills won't be honorable, but it'll be enough to keep you with credits."
She'd seen the man's eyes flash contempt at her thinking he needed help, and then there was a small flicker of gratitude before he turned away and loaded into his shuttle.
She knew he would listen to her advice. He wasn't an idiot; he could see a good offer when it came to him. Her only problem was if she would ever see him again or not. Her insides told her she was, that there would be a time when they would rely on each other to survive, but she couldn't see how or when the time would come.
She hoped it would be soon. It wasn't every that she met someone he could compete that well with.
"My Lady?" Bao-Dur's small voice broke her concentration, though her back was turned to him. She gave a small, tired smirk.
"Bao-Dur, activate the little remote."
XXXXX
Connan felt a pair of arms on her shoulders before anything, and for a moment she wondered what the hell was happening. She lurched upward and gasped once, and finally her eyes refocused.
"Open your eyes, idiot. I've got to put these drops in."
Connan knew that gruff voice. She sat up fully and tried to glance around, blinking moisture into her eyes.
"What? I don't need that, there's a drink, it's better—"
"It's not." Canderous argued, standing up and hauling Connan over to a wall. "You haven't had anything to drink in hours, and after the workout you and I just had before that ironic little memory popped up, anything in your stomach besides water would just make you throw up."
Connan groaned.
"I know. Just open them. Don't make me go get your boy toy."
Connan then opened her eyes, but more to glare at him than to appease him. It didn't matter to Canderous; he dropped them in before she realized what he was doing. Connan cringed and sealed her eye shut again, trying to rub the dreadful drops out.
"Stop that." Canderous batted her hand away.
When Connan could finally open her eyes without blinking every three seconds, she glanced at Canderous. "I'm okay now."
"Good. I'd hate for your cute little play thing to come in, see me standing over you, think I'd killed you or worse, and attack me."
Connan ignored the pass at Carth, like she always did. She took Canderous' hand and stood up as quickly as possible, rubbing her eyes.
"I hate this." She whined.
"Well, I know I'm not the greatest warrior in the world yet, but that doesn't mean you have to hate our sparring matches." Canderous replied.
It took Connan a moment to get what he said. Then she snorted. "Funny. I meant I hate the memories."
Canderous stayed silent, waiting for Connan to continue her thought. That was probably why she liked him so much, she thought. He let her take her time in speaking, and he never spoke his opinion until she was done.
"Did you know I've seen memories of everyone here?" Connan asked. Canderous raised an eyebrow.
"I hadn't."
Connan scoffed, calling the two dropped vibroblades to her and setting them back on the table. She nodded to the Selkath guard and left the training room, expecting Canderous to follow. He did, of course.
"You were the last person, I've counted." Connan continued as they made their way back to Manaan's only good hotel. "It's very strange."
"It's not strange to me anymore," Canderous admitted. "Think about it. Back when we first joined up together on Taris, I thought you were nothing more than a soldier for the Republic with a great right-hook. You looked nothing like the Revan I met during the Wars. But the more your powers grew and the farther we got in our mission, the more you reminded me of her.
"Then the day came when you found out you were Revan, and I wasn't surprised at all. On the contrary, I was patting myself on the back for knowing so in advance."
"Thanks." Connan drawled. Canderous slapped her upside the head.
"Stop that." He ordered. "Anyway, ever since we've become a crew, so many seemingly strange things have happened that nothing should be surprising anymore."
Connan nodded. "You know, that makes sense."
"Damn right it does." Canderous opened the door for the hotel and turned to look down the other side of the hallway. "I think you'd want to go that way now." He pointed to the Republic Embassy.
"Why?"
"Because that's where Carth is." Canderous punched her playfully in the arm one last time and entered the hotel.
Connan turned toward the Embassy, thinking deeply. She thought so deeply that Carth put a hand to her forehead and took her temperature.
Connan smiled. She had everyone she needed with her now. She had people to argue with, people to agree with, people to fight, people to plot with, people to love. It was as if the Force had been providing for her even before she knew what was going to happen to them.
That was a happy thought.
So Connan sobered up enough to satisfy Carth, so he wouldn't drag her back to the Ebon Hawk and force Jolee into checking her up. She linked her arm with his and steered him in the direction of the Swoop Track.
"Why? You're only going to get into more fights," Carth groaned. "You're too good. You keep people thinking they can beat you, but you're just playing with them."
Connan had to focus on her legs and force them to keep moving. The irony was almost overwhelming. The same could have been said for Revan, too, she thought.
Connan laughed, flicking his nose. "Who knows? Maybe someday, I'll let them."
XXXXX
Date/Time Finished: 5/29/08 3:04 P.M. Central Time
End Notes: WHOO I've finished!! With two minutes left in the period. Am I good or am I good? School ends next week, so ciao! I'll get started on Defying Gravity II when I can, and I might even call it something different.
I've been doing a lot of band stuff lately. Like, this whole week. I've been going out for Drum Major. For those of you who aren't band proficient, that means that I'd be leader for the next two years (since I'll be a junior next year). I'll come back sooner or later and tell you if I made it or not.
As always:
Amme Moto
