Chapter 53
Revan
The laboratory was a smoking ruin. Silence blanketed the room like a shroud. Black marks scorched the once white walls where fire licked them. Lights flickered in their casings. Though most of the lights had gone out entirely, damaged by the explosion. In the heat of the plasma fires the workbenches nearly melted. They sagged sickly, smoldering on their foundations. Revan struggled to her feet gasping then coughing when smoke filled her lungs. She fell back to her knees and retched.
Move.
The voice in her mind wasn't hers but Revan obeyed it without question. Dutifully she rose to her feet again, holding her right arm carefully as she moved. The Force shield had not been enough to protect her through the inferno. From shoulder to wrist the skin was burned and blackened. Where flesh had been cooked away by layers, wet red muscle and tendon glistened underneath. Pain and exhaustion left Revan bereft of her abilities. She could not heal herself.
Forget the pain. Move Revan.
It was masculine and commanding. But somehow familiar. Revan took one step forward and then another. At her feet the charred body of the doctor. A black crumbling husk left unrecognizable by the flames. She stepped over Khaar unable to feel grief.
Going back to her knees Revan crawled beneath the half-shut airlock door. It was hard with her injuries and she moved slowly. Every little nudge or stumble stirred the pain. Gritting her teeth Revan stumbled towards the elevator.
Bastila Shan
"What's wrong?"
Bastila leaned forward, eyes wide and unfocused as emotions overwhelmed her. In the pilots chair Canderous began to rise. Worry dragged lines into his brow as a frown creased his thin lips. Waving a hand at him Bastila made an effort to pull herself away from the sensations of Revan's anguish and rage lashing out through the Force. Reluctantly sitting down the Mandalorian studied her silently.
"It's Revan," she said after a moment. Blinking Bastila turned her gaze to onto Canderous. Just slightly the woman shook her head. With a sigh she added, "She's been injured. And, something else. Something terrible has happened."
Canderous didn't argue or attempt to comfort her, for which she was grateful. Instead the big man accepted what the Jedi was telling him.
"Can you get any sense of how badly Revan was hurt," asked Canderous. He checked the instrument panel.
"No. She has so much rage it's hard to sense anything beyond that," she replied. It was an anger Bastila knew, having felt it from Revan when they'd faced each other on her flagship. But the woman who had rescued her on Taris, the friend she had become during the following months, Bastila believed to be above such base emotion. Revan displayed admirable control of her feelings and now it seemed as though the redeemed Jedi had lost control.
"We have roughly two hours left in hyperspace," Canderous told her, answering the next question before she could even ask it.
"Thank you. I need to speak with Dustil." Bastila pushed away from the console and stood. As she passed Canderous she put a hand on his shoulder. The older man looked up with some surprise at the gesture. But Bastila felt his concern for Revan. Wordlessly she let him know he wasn't alone.
Leaving the cockpit she headed for the cargo bay where Dustil passed his time following her last conversation with him. The young man was not alone as he perched on a crate. T3 was close by, motionless and quiet. She paused in the doorway. Dustil was taller than Carth, his shoulders a bit broader as well. But the dark scowl on his face was strikingly similar to his fathers.
"I felt it," Dustil said unhappily without looking up. "Don't tell HK."
Bastila blinked. She had not considered the droid, with its homicidal loyalty to Revan, who had been left alone in the garage.
"No restraining bolts on board," Dustil added. He glanced towards Bastila now, a brow crooked upwards. At his side the astromech droid whistled softly.
"Dustil, I do not know what happened. But I am certain Revan will be fine. She has survived much worse, when Darth Malak fired on her - "
"It's not Revan. It's Father."
"What are you saying?"
Dustil snorted, rolling his eyes. Unfolding his long legs he stood and half turned to Bastila. He opened his mouth to speak but quickly snapped it shut. Putting his back to her the young man ran a hand through his dark hair.
"I just know. There's only one thing which would drive Master Revan to that kind of rage," he finally said, spitting the words out.
Bastila realized she knew this but was loath to admit it. Dustil was right. Of course he was. The way Revan loved Carth was exactly the attachment Bastila warned against while chasing down Star Maps. She sighed remembering it. Despite the pressure, or maybe in spite of it, Revan allowed herself to form a strong attachment to the handsome pilot. The anger and anguish Revan projected was undoubtably because something had befallen the man she fiercely loved.
"Your father will be fine Dustil," Bastila said with greater conviction then she felt. The flat look the padawan returned worried her. "We're nearly to Gizer. Take this as an opportunity to exercise your meditation."
Revan
Revan half stumbled from the elevator and was caught by Zaalbar's massively furred arms before she could fall. A hoarse cry ripped from her throat. The lightsaber dropped from her good hand and she went rigid with pain. In his haste to catch her the wookie missed seeing the burns. At his touch several of the blisters burst open and a disgusting mixture of blood and pus flowed from them.
"Jolee!"
Carefully the wookie adjusted Revan in his arms, trying to keep her on her feet. The pain was still white hot in her mind burning out all other thoughts. Her good hand clutched Zaalbar, fingers digging into the coarse fur as she sucked at the fresher air of the recycling tunnel.
"Let me - Revan!" Jolee reached the pair, eyes going wide when he saw the blackened flesh of the Jedi's arm. He whistled sharply through his teeth. Wasting no time the old man gathered the Force to provide some relief to Revan. With the extent of the wounds there was no way Jolee could heal her, she would need kolto, which was back on the Raptor.
Through the pain she spotted a familiar blaster laying on the floor. The sight of it dragged her mind into focus.
Pulling herself away from Zaalbar, the wookie growling in protest, Revan tried bending to pick it up. She landed hard on her knees her hand striking the grip. The blaster skidded when she knocked it, spinning away out of reach. It was Jolee who retrieved the weapon and when he extended it to her, she snatched it out of his hands.
"Carth," she breathed. Scuffed and old the blaster was cradled in her good hand. The Onasi family emblem caught the light, reflecting it back. In an instant her heart broke.
No burn hurt as much as the realization that Lassiter Osh had somehow taken Carth hostage. A high, keening wail escaped Revan and she clutched the weapon to her chest. Hands were on her, lifting her. She pressed her face into Zaalbar's furred chest and wept.
Carth Onasi
"I'm sorry! Stop! Just stop it!"
He was vaguely aware of Mission shouting but the shock of the restraining cage coursed through his body. Every nerve sang with pain and Carth couldn't think past it. The force cage continued the pulse of electrical discharge mindless of Mission's protests or his own screams. When the torture finally ended he sagged, gasping for a breath. Mission looked tearfully at him.
"Do you understand Mission? I won't hurt you if you try escaping again, but I will hurt Carth," the tall blonde said impassively. There was a chilling casualness to Lassiter and the way he inflicted pain.
"Leave her alone," Carth said recovering and squaring his shoulders to face the man.
"My apologies Admiral. Young Mission here needed to be taught a lesson, it unfortunately came at your expense," Lassiter replied looking at Carth. A cold smile came to his face and he glanced at the twi'lek. "But I think she's leaned it."
"It's okay Mission," Carth said focusing his attention onto her.
"I'm sorry," she said to him, hanging her head.
"I don't imagine Revan would be pleased you caused Carth so much pain," Lassiter said, waving a hand in the direction of the force cage.
"Don't you dare speak her name!" Carth growled. He felt rage followed by the temptation to slam his fist into the energy shield imprisoning him. It would be a useless gesture and one he was sure Lassiter would find amusing. Trembling Carth restrained the urge. But his hands curled into fists at his side.
"Whose? Revan?" Lassiter was amused. He clucked his tongue, shaking his head. "Oh Admiral, she and I go a long way back. All the way back to the beginning of Darth Revan as matter of fact."
"Just die already," Mission cried in anger.
Laughing the man gestured and an assault droid advanced on Mission. Reluctantly Mission backed away from Carth, her eyes shining with tears, then turned slowly on her heels and was escorted from the room. Instead of leaving Lassiter lingered. Carth had mixed feelings about that. He half hoped the man would leave him in peace, but he wanted him no where near Mission.
"I promise you Admiral this can be as painless as you want it to be. As soon as Revan accepts my demand you'll be free to go," Lassiter said in a gentle voice.
"What do you want from her? She'll never fall to the Dark Side again," asked Carth.
Lassiter smiled, then chuckled. Shaking his head he paced a few steps. "Are you sure? Revan used the Dark Side against me earlier, even more she enjoyed using the energy. If her smile was any indication."
"That's a damn lie."
The man merely shrugged, that teasing smile still fixed to his lips. Without a word Lassiter turned and left the cargo bay. The doors sealed behind him and Carth was finally alone. For a long moment the man stared at the doors.
Carth had never seen a ship of this design. Not that he had seen much. Since they boarded the Wager his only view had been of the cargo bay. But he looked again around the room through the yellow haze of the energy shield. There were a couple dozen crates stacked on the opposite side. Squinting Carth tried making out the aurebesh but was too far to read it.
After a while he couldn't keep his mind off Revan. She wasn't dead, of that he knew. Carth was certain he would feel that. That didn't mean she couldn't be injured, it was the only reason Lassiter emerged from the elevator instead of her. There was also the chilling prospect Revan could lose the pregnancy. He reminded himself of her premonition, the one where they had been on Telos with their infant. But no matter how hard he tried to ignore it, a part of him kept saying even Jedi could be wrong about the future. Premonitions didn't always come true. And unhappiness followed Carth Onasi like a shadow.
Slowly he sank to the floor of the cage, leaning against the single thin wall of the cell. He rested his arms on his knees, the heel of his hand pressed to his brow. Vacantly Carth stared at the flickering shield watching the yellow pulses of energy flowing.
Revan. I can't lose you again.
