Disclaimer: The places and people belong to Lucas, Bioware, and/or Obsidian. I just tell stories.

A/N: Thanks so much to Alexandra3 and Lossefalme for the wonderful feedback... and for listening to writer's block rants for the past six months.

The week long journey from Dantooine to Coruscant was uneventful. In a way, Carth found it rather boring. For the past month prior to his departure, he had spent every day with Sage. He wasn't sure he had ever spent that much time with one person before. Even in the early days of his marriage he'd still spent at least a few hours of the day away from his wife.

His wife… he'd thought a lot about her in the past two weeks. First the destruction of Taris had sent painful memories rushing back to him. And then only a few days after, he'd found himself somewhat morose about leaving the company of another woman. Leaving a traveling companion was one thing. Kissing her goodbye told him she might have become more.

All in all, it was a good thing he had left when he did. Marin Sage was the last thing he needed in his life. All she ever did was make him crazy. Now she was to become a Jedi. He harrumphed at the thought. Let her torment some of those Masters for a change. He laughed to himself as he thought she would do exactly that. Those poor bastards.

It was mid-morning on Coruscant when the transport arrived. The vessel set down on the northern landing platform of Fleet Headquarters. Carth was thankful for his expedited delivery. He was anxious to move on to his new duties and glad he didn't have to deal with the hassle of the Coruscant transportation system to get him where he needed to go.

His first order of business was a debriefing with Rear Admiral Boleeq. The meeting was standard protocol, especially under the circumstances Carth had been involved with in the past month. What had not been standard were the other unexpected attendees of the meeting.

Carth had been ushered into a large conference room by a young ensign. Most of the faces he'd recognized from various functions, but few he'd actually met. Admiral Boleeq was the first to address him. The man wasn't much older than Carth, but somehow looked younger. He held a hand out in greeting and said, "Captain Onasi, it's good to see you safe."

Carth shook the man's hand. "Thank you, Admiral," he replied as he glanced around the room at the others.

The Admiral extended an arm in invitation for Carth to take a seat at the rectangular table. The seat was in the middle of the table and closest to the door. Carth reluctantly accepted the chair and immediately felt somewhat vulnerable as all eyes focused on him.

Admiral Boleeq sat across from him and began the introductions. Starting at Carth's left, he said, "Captain I believe you may know some of the faces here today. But allow me to formally introduce Admiral Dodonna, Admiral Pasch, Senator Trae Storm, Minister of Defense Challaun, and Master Jedi Zez-Kai Ell."

Carth didn't like it one bit and fell into a well-honed habit of being on his guard. Sure he knew Dodonna; he flew under her command prior to being assigned to the Endar Spire. He'd known Boleeq for years. Admiral Pasch had pinned a medal on him once, but that was as close as he ever got to him. The Minister of Defense had been present at many victory celebrations at the end of the Mandalorian Wars. From the looks of him, the years had not treated him well. The man looked… tired. As for the Senator and the Jedi, Carth had never seen either of them before.

Admiral Pasch spoke up, "Captain, I'm sure you're aware that it's uncommon to have so many attendants to a mission debriefing. However, the situation at hand is of the utmost importance. Malak's forces have formed a blockade around Taris. He is presumably searching for any signs of Bastila Shan. It will only be a matter of time before he discovers her escape. In the meantime, we'd like to get a better understanding of the events surrounding the attack on the Endar Spire."

Carth hesitated. He wasn't sure why he bothered submitting reports when nobody seemed to read them. He said, "I'm not sure what else I can add that wasn't in my report. We were on our way to Taris to acquire a secondary synthesizer for the mess. There wasn't time to form all the details of the attack. Ensign Turcal informed me we came out of hyperspace in the midst of a Sith armada. They immediately blew out our shield generator. By the time I reached the bridge, we'd already lost life support in several sections. Our only course of action was to evacuate. However, soon after I issued the order, we were boarded.

"My first priority was to get Bastila to the escape pods. I stayed behind until all survivors made it to the pods. Myself and another crewmember escaped on the last pod just moments before the Endar Spire exploded."

Carth paused at the memory of the final destruction of the capital ship. He shook his head. "I suppose it shouldn't be any surprise they destroyed the ship with their own men still on it. I mean, the streets of Taris were crawling with Sith Troopers at the time of the orbital attack." Carth recalled another time the Jedi leaders had sent their troops to their imminent deaths in the interest of victory. No, the forfeit of the Sith ground troops hadn't been surprising at all.

The Jedi asked, "And what of the survivors?"

Carth shook his head. "We were fortunate to land on one of the Upper City streets. We'd heard that some of the pods landed in the lower levels. The only other pods we found were in the Undercity." Carth paused again and steeled himself for his next admission. "The Undercity was infested with… creatures like I've never seen before. From what I could determine, those that survived the initial impact into the Undercity were soon after ravaged by the many creatures that dwelled there."

Carth didn't want to go into details about the rakghouls. He thought back to the transformation of Lieutenant Panos. It was best for the young man's family to believe he died in the crash. The reality was inconceivable.

Minister Challaun asked, "When you say 'we,' do you speak of the crewmember with you in the escape pod?"

Carth nodded. "Yes. Marin Sage."

Admiral Boleeq asked, "How did Bastila Shan manage to survive?"

"Many of the pods had been scavenged by members of a local gang. Bastila was found by one of them."

Admiral Pasch asked, "What happened after they found her?"

Carth shifted in his seat. He was certain Bastila would not want the intricate details of her enslavement made known to everyone. "She was their prisoner until we found a way to rescue her. Once we did, we worked on a plan to get off the planet. I'm sure you're aware the Sith had the planet under quarantine while they searched for her."

The Jedi said, "It's fortunate for her you were able to find her before the Sith did."

Carth nodded. "I've thought that many times myself."

Minister Challaun asked, "This crewmember who assisted you… she wasn't a soldier?"

"No, she was an advisor to the Jedi."

The Jedi spoke up, "Marin Sage was the advisor placed on the Endar Spire at my request."

Carth glanced quickly at the man. Was he the Jedi Sage had talked about?

Admiral Pasch said, "Tell us of your escape off Taris, Captain."

Carth steeled himself for a long explanation. The events regarding their escape had gone by in a blur of activity. So much had happened that recounting it in his report had been taxing. Now here he was going through it all over again. "We had to break into the Sith base to retrieve the launch codes. Once those were in hand, a Mandalorian, of all people, led us to the estate of the local crime lord. We, uh, used his ship to escape."

Admiral Dodonna spoke for the first time. "Will that crime lord be able to attest to Bastila's escape?"

Carth tried not to look sheepish. "No." He wanted to avoid the entire ethical dispute on whether killing a man for his ship was within reason. Therefore, he quickly added, "The Sith started their bombardment just as we acquired the ship. We took out a handful of fighters on our way out, but otherwise remained undetected."

Dodonna asked, "You're sure it was the Leviathan that led the attack?"

Carth was pleased to know someone had apparently read his report. "I'm certain."

Admiral Boleeq asked, "Why Dantooine?"

"It was Bastila's decision. She felt it was the closest safe harbor we could find," Carth explained.

Boleeq asked, "And you agreed with her?"

Carth sighed, "Not at first." The others waited for him to continue. "Sage agreed with Bastila. Over the events of the last month, I've come to respect her opinion."

The Senator, who had remained quiet and done nothing but study Carth the entire time asked, "Why?"

Carth considered the younger man for a moment. "Not only is she a skilled fighter, but she's highly intelligent. And if there's one thing I learned about her in all of this… she knows how to stay alive."

The meeting continued on until it had spanned several hours. The questions ranged from one extreme to the other. There had been discussion on ship protocol as to crew level access to outside communications on the Endar Spire. Carth made a point to mention the lack of sufficient escape pods for the whole crew. At first, Carth thought that was why Senator Storm had attended the debriefing. The only time he'd ever heard of the young Senator was with any mention of ships produced by his home planet during the Mandalorian War. But ever since the Jedi Civil War had started, Sienar Systems had stopped producing ships for the Republic. Carth doubted the Senator was there on behalf of Rendili.

Many other questions arose regarding his and Sage's activities on Taris. Carth supposed with only three survivors, there weren't any others to speak of. Therefore, Carth divulged the information on Sith quarantine practices and the procedures they had to go through to gain the access they had needed. A request was made to the Jedi on Dantooine to gain access to T3-M4 to possibly decipher Sith security protocols.

By the end of the meeting, Carth was ready to go. He realized he was the only member of Fleet personnel who could provide information regarding the attack on Taris, and for that reason alone he held his patience in check.

At the end of the meeting, an Ensign gave Carth the information regarding his accommodations. Carth had not found a permanent place of residence as of yet. It had been almost three years since the attack on Telos. In that time, Carth had gone from one mission to the next with no time between. It was better that way. He could stay focused. Downtime for Carth was something he dreaded. It only served as time to dwell and recall everything he'd lost. The last time he'd tried a temporary leave, he'd ended up at the bottom of too many bottles.

After getting a quick dinner at one of the vendors outside of Headquarters, Carth found his way to the partly vacated Fleet residence building. He remembered a time when the building adjacent to Headquarters was overflowing with activity. But resources were slim and personnel was not what it used to be. Whatever the case, he wouldn't be there for long. He expected to receive his new orders within the next two days. Then he would be able to continue his quest.

The door slid open to his newly appointed accommodations. A Captain in the Fleet didn't get the most upscale quarters within the Fleet center, but they at least had privacy. For that, Carth had been thankful.

He stepped into the gray interior of the room. It wasn't much more than a hotel room with the exception of the small kitchenette off to the right. He set his bag down on a high chair next to the counter. The common room was narrow and spanned the length of the left side of the space. There was a comm. center, a table with two chairs, couch, and holoset.

Carth walked to the far end of the room to peer out the half wall of windows. The floor he'd been assigned to wasn't high enough to have any kind of decent view of the city. The sun had begun to set, making the lights of the passing speeders more visible. He stood there for quite some time looking upon the busy city-planet. He looked down to where the city had already descended into darkness. The view was not all that different from the apartment they had occupied on Taris. Sure Coruscant seemed much better kept than Taris, but Carth had no doubt the Lower City and below would be quite similar. He had gained a whole new understanding while on Taris. The strife he witnessed on that planet would remain with him for a long time. He took a slow deep breath as he once again fought back the sadness and anger.

Carth turned away from the window and headed for the sleeping chamber. His footlocker had already been delivered and sat at the foot of the decent sized bunk. The room wasn't very large. The windows were too high to look out of. There was a refresher off to the right. Carth decided that would be the first thing he'd indulge in - a water shower.

After his shower, Carth sat on the couch in the common room and stared out at the passing lights. The room had become dark, but he made no move to illuminate it. He leaned his head onto the back of the couch and closed his eyes. The wait was always the hardest part.

Jedi Master Zez-Kai Ell sat in one of the many meditation chambers within the Temple. He wanted to take time to mull over the events of the previous day's debriefing. He felt a pang of sympathy for the Captain. There sat a man who spoke fondly of the former Dark Lord. Sadly, he'd been the only person in attendance unaware of her true identity.

Admiral Pasch and Minister Challaun had been former allies of Revan's. They had been strong supporters during her campaign to join the war effort. Although their allegiance to the Republic had never been in question, speculation still formed as to how they had maintained their current positions while other colleagues had met less fortunate fates.

The most questionable attendee had most certainly been Senator Storm. Zez-Kai contemplated on how the Senator came to be in attendance at such a top level, as well as top secret, meeting. There were only a small amount of people who knew of the Jedi plan. Zez-Kai was quite certain the Senator was not among them. It had been no secret the entire Tion Sector had been left unmolested in the past three years. The Senator had insisted he'd had no involvement with the Dark Lord. Yet his planet had remained unscathed. Now it appeared the Senator was aware of the Jedi plot. And the only answer as to why he would be allowed to attend such a meeting was blackmail. Zez-Kai had no doubt the Senator was more than capable of it. The question now was how the knowledge had come to him in the first place. Oddly, the Jedi had sensed nothing but concern from the Senator during the meeting; concern mixed with an underlying fear. The best guess would be that perhaps the Senator's alliance was with Revan and not Malak.

Setting the events of the meeting aside, the Master concentrated on other thoughts that plagued his mind; his role in the events of the past year. He had strongly objected to the Council's decisions regarding Revan. Zez-Kai believed there was a possibility for rehabilitation. But many believed Revan had given up all her rights when she chose to oppose and later declare war against the Jedi. Of course, they had a point. But what good was a person's redemption if it wasn't their choice? The Jedi had not only turned into gamblers, but cheating ones at that.

At first the plan had been simple. Revan would be eased back into society, but under close supervision. Zez-Kai had made great efforts to be sure her initial welcome into the galaxy would go as smoothly as possible. The Master had no significant weakness for Revan. He'd had no attachment to her through any stage of her training. But to send a once great Jedi into the world with no bearing of who she was or what she had done didn't seem right. Therefore, he took it upon himself to be the one to insure her safe return to the world.

He'd taken her to Nar Shaddaa. It was a planet he was familiar with and he was fairly certain he could manipulate events in his favor there. He had an old friend that ran a medical facility in one of the quieter sections of the Lower City. Zez-Kai had been able to take Revan there with only the doctor and two members of his staff knowing. Of course, none knew who the unconscious patient was. To them, she'd been rescued when her ship crashed on nearby Ylesia.

They were all in for a treat when she woke up. The volatility of her emotions was understandable. She had no memory of who she was. And the amazing part had been when she'd shown no fear. Revan had been one of the few Jedi who had been trained from a very early age. The training had been ingrained into who she was. No amount of memory alterations could negate the fact that she still had the Force and was still able to use it on some subconscious level. Surprisingly, mental defenses were still in check. It made Zez-Kai question how effective the Jedi procedure would be on one such as her. It seemed to him there was a chance her mind was not as damaged as once thought. But such things were beyond his realm of expertise.

Not knowing the former Jedi Revan, Zez-Kai was able to look at the new individual as Marin Sage. Frankly, he liked her. By the end of her stay on Nar Shaddaa, she had the doctor and his staff working as efficiently as possible towards her recovery. At first the staff didn't appreciate the woman telling them how to do their jobs. But they soon discovered they all had the same goal in mind – to get her out of there.

Zez-Kai did his best not to answer any of the patient's questions. He simply handed her the datapad of facts approved by the Council to give vague hints of her new identity. It was meant as a subtle guide where she could fill in the blanks. If there was one thing Jek-Tal Roon had insisted on, it was that she would ultimately decide who she wanted to be. Zez-Kai agreed wholeheartedly.

Alas, things don't always go as originally planned. The Master had learned through years of experience that the Council will change their minds when they see fit. So when Marin Sage started to have memories that could lead them to Malak, all original plans were laid to waste. On the other hand, maybe Zez-Kai was never informed of the whole plan to begin with.

So that left her back in the hands of the Masters on Dantooine. She was out of his grasp. Why did he have an urge to protect her? He supposed it was because he thought he was the only one who cared. Sure Jek-Tal cared. But the younger man's reasoning was hardly objective. Zez-Kai felt the young Knight's attentions may do more harm than good… for both him and her. Unfortunately, it was the only hope the Master had left.

A dark figure sat alone at his desk in his crescent shaped office. The room's only light was that on his desk that illuminated the report he'd been studying. He'd worked long hours in the past year since Revan's fall. It was an event he should have expected, yet had oddly been blindsided by. In the wake of the change in Sith leadership, many people like himself were found to be scrambling to secure their positions and those they protected.

Though it was in the middle of the night, his trusted staff was still available. The right door of the room slid open and his Zeltron assistant stepped through. She'd always been a welcome sight. During the day, her fully-covered form was deceptively revealing. At night, there was no deception involved.

She sauntered over to where he sat and stood behind him. He leaned back in his seat as she placed her hands on his shoulders and glided them down over his chest. Bringing her luscious mouth close to his right ear, she murmured, "You have a message."

"Encrypted?" he asked.

"Of course," she replied.

"You mean you didn't come in here just to see me?" he asked coyly.

She brushed her lips along his ear and dipped her hands lower to play along his waistband. She said, "Come find me when you're done," before she slowly slid away.

He watched the graceful movement of her barely clothed form as she moved towards the exit and disappeared into the dark corridor beyond.

When the door slid shut, he tapped into his console to pull up the message. He entered his encryption algorithm to decode the message and then studied the contents. Once completed, he blinked with a quizzical expression and leaned back in his seat. "Dantooine?" he said to himself.

He contemplated the turn in events. The Jedi were smart to put her on Dantooine. There would be no way of containing her on Coruscant. Not to mention, chances were higher of her being recognized on the city-planet. He just couldn't imagine why the Jedi would take such a risk unless they thought there was a chance of defeating Malak. Sparing her life was the Jedi way. Rehabilitating her and training her in the Force was something much more.

Feeling his energy wane, he decided to set aside the intergalactic thoughts that had plagued his mind since first encountering the Jedi Revan. He rose from his seat and left to accept the invitation from the lovely Dalia.

It had been three days since Carth's return to Coruscant. He'd expected to receive his new orders in that time, but much to his disappointment, had not.

Carth sat in a café outside of Fleet Headquarters in the Upper City. The café was located on the edge of the Senate District. It had several tall narrow windows that faced an open walkway. It wasn't the quietest of places with the clang of utensils and serving dishes and the constant rumble of conversation emerging from the other tables. But he'd been hard pressed to find quiet places on Coruscant.

Carth had been mulling over yesterday's events from the newsnet feed at his table. The serving droid came by to collect the credits for the caffa and muja muffin he'd ordered. When he looked up at the droid, he noticed a woman sitting several tables away. He could only see the back of her, but she had shoulder-length black wavy hair. She wore a vest that looked exactly like the one Sage had worn when they escaped the Endar Spire. He dismissed her for a moment and returned his attention to the news feed.

After reading the same paragraph three times in a row without recalling a word of it, he looked up again. It was silly to think it could be her. She was on Dantooine. He took note of the woman's small frame and tried to concentrate on his reading again.

He detected movement in the distance and looked up in time to see the woman preparing to leave. He felt a tinge of apprehension, wanting to know for sure. If she would just turn to the side, he'd know. He had been back for a few days. It was possible things hadn't worked out for her and she could have left shortly after he did.

As the woman walked towards the door, her back remained towards Carth. The only time he thought he might catch a glimpse of her face, an Ithorian came between them and blocked Carth's view. He could still see the top of her head as she made her way for the exit.

He peered through the many windows of the café to track her course. She paused at the entrance, possibly deciding which way to go. Carth thought she might head in the opposite direction and found himself rising from his seat. Just as he fully stood, she turned towards him… and it wasn't her. The breath he found himself holding finally released.

Carth slowly sat down as the woman continued her walk past the window nearest him. But his eyes had drifted to an imaginary spot on the table. He sat unmoving for several long moments as he tried to understand his reaction. Why did his heart skip a beat when he thought it could be her? What was that feeling he felt when he found it wasn't her? What would he have done if it had been her?

He decided those were all questions he did not want to know the answers to. Brushing it off as idle curiosity, he collected his things and left.

After leaving the café, Carth headed to Headquarters. He didn't have anything to do there, but it wouldn't hurt to check on the progress of his orders again. He supposed there was nothing worse for administrative personnel than a grounded pilot. He had nothing to do and nowhere to go.

Admiral Boleeq had no additional news for Carth. The Admiral said, "I'm sorry, Carth. You know our resources are stretched. With this last attack by Malak, we're in a holding pattern waiting for his next move. I want to take some time to figure out where you're needed the most. I know you've been chasing down the Leviathan, but there's no chance we can go near Taris right now."

Carth shook his head and asked, "How much longer?"

Boleeq sighed, "I don't have that answer."

Carth didn't understand. The Republic was just barely hanging on against Malak's forces and they were keeping one of their best starfighters grounded. Nevertheless, he left the Admiral's presence in a respectable manner.

In order to maintain some sort of sanity in the meantime, Carth needed to find something to keep him occupied. The Fleet offered an outstanding training center that would suit that purpose. It would also be the best thing to work out his mounting frustration.

The facility was located on the twenty-fifth floor of the residential center he had been assigned to. When he stepped off the lift, he headed to the reception to check in and select his program. He studied his options for a moment before selecting the melee program. It had always been his weakness, but his experiences on Taris had shown him it was time to work on it. Sage had actually been very compatible in combat. With her melee skills and his blaster, they'd proven to be a formidable team. But what would happen next time when he didn't have someone with her skills around?

He hadn't been paying attention when he stepped away from the counter. As he headed for the locker room, he heard a feminine voice, "Carth? I mean, Captain?"

Carth turned to see a woman who seemed to have been ready to check in as well. A pleasant smile formed on his face as he recognized her. "Lieutenant Tarrk, it's good to see you again."

Carth had known Lieutenant Aerena Tarrk since she was an Ensign. She had always been a pleasant person in the past. She was a tall woman just a few years younger than himself. She had her light brown hair pulled back and looked ready to start her training.

A sheepish smile formed on her kind face as she said, "Actually, it's Captain now."

Carth smiled. "That's great. Congratulations."

She nodded politely and said, "Thank you."

Carth didn't know what else to say to her and an awkward moment passed between them. She finally spoke again, "I'm surprised to see you on Coruscant. I would have thought you'd be out in the middle of all of the action."

Me too, he thought. "I just got back. I should be getting my new orders any day now. How about you, what are you doing now?"

"I'm waiting as well. I just received the official promotion and I'll get my orders soon," she explained.

Carth said sincerely, "I'm very happy for you. You deserve it."

"Well, I won't keep you. Will I see you on the range?" she asked.

Carth shook his head. "Not today. I'll be practicing the art of not cutting off my own arm."

The woman laughed and held out her hand, "Very well. It was good to see you again… Captain."

Carth shook her hand. "Same to you. Take care."

Carth turned and walked into the locker room. He couldn't help but feel a little better about his day. These days, seeing acquaintances was rather refreshing as it marked another battle they had all survived.