"It would have helped, had he made her understand. But she was always strong-willed, that one, and did not understand war as Revan did."

-Kreia (3,951 BBY)

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic

"Revan's Shadow"

Chapter Six – Knightfall in the Republic

Revan approached the main gate of the Enclave at midnight. He had chosen this night to host his exodus for a few reasons. For one, neither of Dantooine's moons would be shining, which would make for a less conspicuous escape. For another, the gatekeeper's duty would happen to pass to one of the Knights that would be leaving with him, so the gate would be conveniently left open until someone took notice in the morning.

And, lastly, Revan had it on very good authority that a trader from the other end of the district would be leaving before sunrise, and that he would not mind taking on a few dozen passengers in the least bit.

A more perfect night to betray the Jedi Order, there could not have been.

With a quick nod to the gatekeeper, the main entrance was opened and the two of them made their way out of the Enclave.

"Hey, Revan," the gatekeeper said. "Do you mind?"

Revan turned back to the Knight. "Mind what?"

"I was going to get a last look at the place," he replied. "Just wanted a clear vision of it in my mind when we're out and... I don't know."

"You don't have to ask me for permission, Khed."

"I know, I know. It's just…" The gatekeeper, Khed, struggled with his words for a moment. "Spent my whole life in this place. I can't even remember what my life was before I was brought here to start my training." He scratched the back of his neck. "I don't regret what I'm doing, but it's difficult leaving all of this behind."

Revan grinned. "You won't be leaving it behind. We were never meant to stay here our whole lives. A part of this place will always be with you. When you spend so much of your life on something, you always get something else in return. There's a chance you'll see it more clearly once we've gone.

"Besides, Khed, if things don't work out for us in the near future, I suspect we'll see this place again."

"Why?" Khed asked.

Revan shrugged. "When we're taken in for our expulsion hearings, of course."

Khed's only reply was a weak chuckle. He stood there for another long minute, looking the Enclave over from North Campus to South. When he was done, he turned and followed closely behind Revan, and neither of them dared to look back.

—

When they reached the abandoned barn, Khed went inside to join the others, but Revan diverged off to a nearby tree where Malak sat calmly. The bald-headed Jedi Knight sat looking up through the tree's dead branches and toward the starry night above.

"Remember what Master Kae always told us?" Malak asked Revan, not even bothering to look down from the sky. "About our destiny being somewhere out there on one of those billions of stars?" He sighed. "Those words have never held more truth to me than they do right now."

He finally looked down, making eye contact with his friend. "I'm going to die on one of those stars, Revan."

"But not before you live, Brother."

Malak couldn't help but laugh. "You always have an answer for everything, don't you?"

Revan smiled. "A few, Malak, but they're always outnumbered by questions. A good thing, I suppose."

"This is your last chance, you know?" Malak said. "Your last chance to march our merry band back through the Academy gates and take whatever punishment may come from leaving the Enclave without merit. Your last chance to salvage the rank and prestige that you've worked so hard to attain." He shrugged. "Your last chance to stay a Jedi."

"How many times to I have to repeat myself, Malak?"

"At least once more, Revan"

Revan had justified himself many, many times already, not only to his fellow Knights, but to himself. But Malak was right to ask him this last time, because there would be no other chance to take a step back; their road home was beginning to crumble behind them. So all that Malak was really asking of Revan at that moment was not necessarily to justify himself yet again, but a friendly way of asking:

Are you sure about this?

It was then that Revan, too, felt compelled to look up at the sky. His eyes moved between the twinkling lights and across the blue cloud of the galaxy that belted the night. He tried to find where his destiny would lead him, but he just couldn't tell.

"There are darker things at work than the Masters would have us believe," Revan said. "There is something out there pulling strings and making us all dance into its hands. We cannot wait for this threat to reveal itself, because the Order is right about one thing: we are Keepers of the Peace, not soldiers. And if we let this war continue on for much longer, the Jedi are going to be all that stand in the way of whatever hopes to claim this galaxy for its own.

"We can't let it come to that, Malak. I won't let this galaxy burn because of a few ignorant Jedi. If we fight, we will win, and we will lose our ranks—but I don't believe, in the face of all this, the rank of Knight was worth very much to begin with."

Before Revan could continue, Malak cut him off by standing up and holding up a hand. "A simple 'I'm sure' would have sufficed." He playfully socked Revan on the shoulder and moved off toward the barn to join the rest of the Knights. "Get one last look. I'll see you inside."

Revan took his next breaths slowly, savoring the minty briskness so prevalent in the air as a gentle wind carried through the grass. He held out his palms and let the cool humidity of the atmosphere pass along them. And when he closed his eyes, it all faded away. It all became one to his senses and he let himself drift off into it one more time.

Memories associated with the feeling swam through his mind. Master Kreia's voice whispered in his ears of the unity of all things in the galaxy. The recoil of a direct hit to his training saber tensed up his arm; hearkening back to a time when he and Malak were only younglings, when they sparred with harmless wooden blades under the watchful eye of Master Vrook.

And there was one memory in particular that came to dominate the rest. The sight Master Sunrider exiting a small transport with a young girl in tow. Even back then, Revan was astounded by the child's beauty, and as the girl grew, so did his affection toward her.

He remembered how often he made it a point to ensure that his and Bastila Shan's paths crossed as frequently as possible. Whether it was crashing whatever class she was taking or simply walking her back to her dorm, he found any reason he could to be by her side.

Most importantly, Revan remembered that night only a few months ago when he found her relaxing beneath a tree in the Enclave courtyard. He remembered the questioning look that drifted forth from her hazy, blue eyes as he approached her. How her lips trembled when he leaned over and kissed her under that tree. How they both pressed in and embraced each other tightly as the rest of the world seemed to catch fire by their deed. They didn't care. In that moment, the Jedi didn't matter. The Order didn't matter. The Code they had sworn by was but an echo. They had let go, in the best possible way.

There is no passion, there is serenity.

Those words held no meaning to Revan as he gave in to his passions and emotions and found himself more at peace than he had ever been. He remembered that moment, and knew that rescuing the galaxy from the Mandalorian threat was a risk worth taking. Being a part of the Jedi Order already seemed like a part of his life that was decades back on the road.

After one more deep breath, Revan opened his eyes and began to stride towards the abandoned barn. But something grabbed his hand in a warm and delicate grip. He looked back and found himself staring into a set of hazy, blue eyes yet again. He had to blink a few times to make sure he wasn't dreaming.

"Bastila?" Revan gasped. "What are you doing out here?" He took a quick look past the girl to make sure she hadn't brought any of the Masters with her. "How did you know where to find me?"

Bastila's eyes fell to the ground, the cowl of her robe hiding her face in shadow. "I didn't know," she said. "I could… I could feel…" Suddenly, her foot stomped the ground, and her expression shot from sadness to anger in an instant. "Why are you doing this, Revan! You would really sacrifice all that you've done just to go fight in some war? What are you thinking!"

Revan could only laugh.

"What's so funny!" Bastila hissed.

"That's not really what you wanted to yell at me about."

Bastila crossed her arms impatiently. "Pray tell, what was I going to yell at you about?"

"I don't know." Revan shrugged. "I just know your face gets all scrunched up like a kinrath pup when you have something on your mind. So let's hear it."

"A kinra—" She stopped herself, rubbed her forehead to calm herself down. She grew solemn in a hurry. "You know I… care about you, Revan. I love the times we've spent together. I…" Her voice trailed off. She wiped the tears from her eyes with the sleeve of her robe. "You didn't even say goodbye!"

Revan smiled to himself and brought Bastila closer into his embrace. She clutched his robe tightly and cried onto his chest.

"I respect your wishes too much," Revan said. "When you said it had to end, you were right. There are things in this galaxy more important than our little adolescent relationship." He moved his hand to her chin and guided her eyes up to meet his. "But not by much."

They held each other tight, the bond between them growing stronger with each passing second until, through the eyes of the Force, there was nothing left to tell them apart.

—

It was then that Revan, Malak, and forty-two of their fellow Knights departed the planet Dantooine under cover of darkness. And as they flew further and further away from the world, the Force grew quieter in their absence.

It was still dark outside when the entirety of the Jedi Academy awoke to the terrifying sound of silence.

—

Revan couldn't tell where he was when he finally woke. He and his followers had switched between so many different transports on so many backwater planets that he wasn't even sure they were still on their way to join the main Republic Fleet. Though, he couldn't help but trust the pilots who came to assist them. When word began to spread that a small legion of Jedi Knights were defecting to aid in the Republic war effort, hundreds of pilots quietly offered up their ships to the cause.

This, unfortunately, meant that Revan would have to break up disputes between pilots when they'd arrive at their next layover and find two transports in wait. After three days of this, without sleep, he finally let himself pass out. Now, he was wishing he hadn't.

"Malak?" Revan spouted out as he sat up, finding himself in a cargo hold loaded with steel crates and sleeping Jedi. "Malak, you here?"

There was a brief snort as Malak roused from his slumber. "I'm up, I'm up," he mumbled and rubbed his eyes. He had been laying on his robe for comfort and using a sack of spice as a pillow, but he didn't look very thrilled about leaving it. "What's the matter?"

Revan shook his head. "Just checking. Sorry, didn't mean to wake you."

"It's all right… I can function on one hour of sleep, I suppose. But I do believe we're still all here and accounted for."

"Yeah," Revan said. "We all here." Something didn't feel right about the mood in the cargo bay. To him, it felt as though nothing had changed. If someone had told him that he was still on Dantooine, he probably would have believed it.

He got to his feet, clumsily, and weaved his way around the unconscious bodies and toward the corner of the hold. When he got there, he found a Knight huddled up under a cloak and flanked by two crates as if the Jedi had been trying to hide. He kicked the body with his foot, and what returned was a very familiar, feminine groan.

Revan clicked his tongue. "For being so opposed to what I talked to you about, you sure are a very long way from home." He kicked the body again. "Meetra."

"I heard you," Meetra said, slapping Revan's boot away. "Just leave me alone, would you?" She flipped back over on her cloak to try and fall back to sleep.

"Hey, just hold on a minute." Revan kicked her again. "This isn't something I can just ignore. What are you doing here?"

Malak asked, "Did Master Sunrider finally find out you chipped her holocron?"

Meetra sat up. "No, Master Sunrider didn't find out about the holocron. Yes, Revan, this is something you can, and will, ignore." Her eyes burned with fury, and suddenly Revan and Malak had nothing to say. "Just know that I'm here to assist the Republic, and you. My reasons are just that: mine. So let that satisfy you for now and leave me alone until we arrive at the Fleet."

She lay down again and turned over to face the corner. Revan and Malak exchanged worried glances, but obeyed their friend's wishes and left her alone.

For the rest of the trip, they discussed things of a different matter. Mostly concerning what they had found in the ruins back on Dantooine, and what effect it could have on their campaign. They knew, both of them, that their findings only threatened to further complicate their rather unpredictable future. Yet, they couldn't help but debate, plan, and wait for the right moment.

—

When the Neimoidian pilot of the Jedi's transport entered the cargo bay and said, "We're here," the mood lightened substantially. Their road was finally at an end, at least for now.

The loading ramp was lowered and Revan's legion found themselves surrounded on all sides by dense jungle. They were confused and alarmed for a moment until they saw a Republic officer waiting nearby with a few landcruisers large enough to seat all forty-two Jedi.

The officer was quick to make excited introductions. "You must be the Jedi Knight Revan we've been hearing so much about," he said, feverishly shaking Revan's hand. "Welcome. Welcome to you all. We can't tell you how thankful we are to see some Jedi with a sense of honor about them."

"Right." Revan was still distracted by their wild surroundings. "Forgive my ignorance, but where are we, exactly?"

"Ah, no, you must forgive me," the officer replied happily. "With all of the layovers you must have had to avoid Jedi detection, I don't envy you one bit. You're currently a few parsecs deep within the Gordian Reach Sector—the forth moon of Yavin."

Revan sighed. The dark side was very prevalent on this particular moon. He could feel it as clearly as he could feel the jungle heat at his neck. "Kind of an odd place to hold a meeting with Jedi, don't you think? Exar Kun's body probably still decays somewhere on this rock."

"I'm well aware of this, sir, and I must again apologize. But it was necessary. The Mandalorian Fleet has us stumbling backward constantly. We've only just set up operations here no more than two weeks ago, but now I hear that we'll have to abandon the outpost within the next few days, unless we want to be discovered."

He motioned towards the landcruisers. "The admiral can explain everything. If you'll all come with me, please."

—

While the rest of the Jedi were brought up to speed as to the current status of the Mandalorian invasion, Revan met with the admiral in his private quarters.

Admiral Saul Karath was a weary-looking man who was just beginning to lose the color of his hair, though Revan couldn't tell if this was natural or stress-related. Everything about the man communicated experience; from the various medals pinned along his tidy uniform, to the way he held his datapad as steady as a rock.

Yes, this was a man of experience. Revan knew he could learn much from him.

"Revan Versirath of Deralia," Admiral Karath began, reading Revan's file off the datapad. "Jedi of the Republic. Well-versed in xenolinguistics. An exam record second to none. One of the few to master the Juyo lightsaber form, and one of the few to attain the rank of Knight at the age of twenty-one."

He read through the file as if he was reading a Holonet tabloid: indifferent and unimpressed. "Quite a record. Says here that you attained your rank just under a year ago. Is that correct?"

Revan nodded. "Yes, it is."

"Hmm." Karath tossed the datapad back onto his desk. "Gave up quite a future to join a lost cause, don't you think?"

"That would be true if you were to assume that the Republic is a lost cause, and if you were to also assume my future lies anywhere else but here."

The admiral grinned, as though that had been the answer he was looking for. "I must admit, it's refreshing to hear a Jedi speak of the Republic so romantically. Stars forbid, I see any of that in the Senate where our pleas fall on deaf ears."

"The Council does not believe the Mandalorians to be the real threat," Revan said.

"So I've heard," Admiral Karath replied, sounding tired. "It's the same excuse I have to cram down my soldiers' throats while they bleed on the frontlines." He steepled his fingers and leaned back in his chair. "It's a terrible thing to say to a man or woman who's dying for you. To tell them that hope is on the horizon, but it wants nothing to do with you. To tell them that, in the eyes of the Jedi, we are nothing more than bait."

He gritted his teeth, holding back anger. "Real threat. Ha! Fifty-six star systems—Republic star systems—under Mandalorian control last time we counted. It doesn't get any more real than that."

"You know I agree with you, Admiral," Revan explained, trying to calm his host. "That's why I'm here. That's why these Knights are here."

"I see a group of Force adepts, all of them no more than half my age," Karath said, leaning forward. "We have no other options left. The Republic is dying within its own borders. That's why you're here. That's why you're heading to the frontlines. And that's why I'll be giving you your own command." His eyes were unblinking and firm. They stared into the young Jedi, questioning his every motive. "But just what good do you think you can do out there, soldier?"

Revan stared back, just as intensely, so that the admiral would understand that no false promises would be made.

"We will do what we came here to do," he said. "We will bring hope to those soldiers on the lines. We will take back Republic space and fulfill the promise that the Jedi Council has yet to keep. We will win this war, Admiral Karath. And Mandalore will fall at our feet."

The admiral held a fixed gaze, undoubtedly sizing up the young man in front of him. Seconds ticked by in silence until the man saw something agreeable to him. He nodded carefully and stood straight. "The best plan I've heard all year," he said, offering his hand to Revan. "I would be honored to have you and your group fight under our banner."

Revan shook the admiral's hand. "And fight we shall."

So it went, in a motion that would reverberate throughout the centuries yet to come, the Mandalorian offensive came to a swift and bitter end, and the true war for the fate of the Republic began.