Chapter Twenty-Three: Who are you in the Dark?

Revan woke up and distantly realized that Mira was staring down at him. Something was sticking into his back, and he was lying on the ground. Smoke was rising into the sky, and there was heat was on his face.

"Are you alright?" asked Mira. "Revan! How many fingers am I holding up."

Revan tried to focus on the hand and took a wild guess. "A number."

"Good enough," said Mira.

Revan stood up and found his lightsaber was still on hand. He should hope it was, what kind of hack of a Jedi would lose their lightsaber in a crash. "I'm surprised you didn't walk off without me."

"Don't get me wrong, I'd love to," said Mira, raising her blaster. "But right now, we're in the Undercity, and I don't want to be on my own."

"Where's Mune?" asked Revan. Was he dead?

"Here," said Mune, coming out of the wreckage of their shuttle with a number of bags. "Are you alright?"

"Yes," said Revan. "Where is HK 5?"

"Your droid survived," said Mune, "but, not Edus."

"Edus?" asked Revan, dusting himself off.

"The pilot," said Mune sadly. "He broke his neck. He was a valuable subordinate, and worked for me for years."

"I'm sorry," said Revan.

"Yes, well, our situation could be problematic," said Mune. "I have set up a distress beacon and posted your droid on the lookout."

Revan looked around and sensed at the same time. Far above, he could see the spires of Coruscant rising so high as to blot out all-natural light. But by the light of windows and street lamps, he could perceive cars moving this way and that, over many bridges. From them, he could sense the trillions of people throughout these huge skyscrapers. And he felt growing anger bleeding out.

Looking at the ground, he saw only bare dirt. The air was stuffy and thick for lack of wind, and huge stones could be seen here or there. "Lookout for what?"

"...Things," said Mune, a tone of fear in his voice as he raised a pistol and checked it. He obviously had no idea how to hold it. "Horrible things."

Revan focused his senses upon the city and felt...

Darkness, a pure and malignant darkness was lying at the base of Coruscant. It was like a festering wound, sending out the infection to plague the rest. Like cancer sapping the life from those who were here and above it. And then there were life forces here in the darkness. They were twisted, wordless, minds with snarling, wicked minds.

"I sense something, darkness..." said Revan. "We need to move into hiding."

"Why?" asked Mira. "We've got a distress signal."

"Think about it," said Revan. "Someone shot us down; they might be following after us."

"He may be right," admitted Mune. "It cannot hurt to be a bit away from here when they arrive. Watching from hiding until we know all is well."

Revan looked up and saw HK 5 walking forward. "HK 5."

"Statement:" said HK 5. "HK 5 is ready to serve, Master."

"Lead them over behind those rocks," said Revan, sensing something coming. A familiar presence, Calo Nord. "I've got to make some changes."

"What are you doing?" asked Mira.

Revan moved over to the engines of the shutter. They were still intact. Drawing out a repair knife, Revan began to cut certain fuel lines. A haze of green fuel was soon pouring out in a small cloud, while above, he heard a shuttle.

"Rigging the shuttle," said Revan. "Go!"

They ran to the rocks, even as a shuttle, civilian from the looks of things, touched down. The doors opened, and out of it came a band of thugs. They held blaster rifles and were of a variety of alien species. Moving forward, they scanned the area, going near the smoke.

And there was Calo Nord, duel blasters in hand.

"Calo Nord," said Revan behind the rocks. "So, I thought."

"No one outside," said Calo Nord. "Search the ship."

"Yes sir, but..." one of the men halted as they moved in. "What's this mist."

Revan drew his lightsaber and sent it spinning through the air while ignited. As the blade touched the mist, it ignited. Apparently, Calo Nord saw it, because he turned and leaped for cover. The others were not such luck, as the entire ship went up, exploding into a fireball that consumed all within it.

"What did you do?" asked Mira.

"Oh, I cut the fuel lines so it would spill out in gas form. Then I lit it up with my lightsaber," said Revan.

"You killed like, a dozen people," said Mira.

"They'd have done the same to me," said Revan. "And they were working for the Exchange. More air for the rest of us. With them dead, fewer resources will be consumed on Coruscant, so fewer people will go hungry. The Exchange will have less muscle to hurt people, so they'll be weaker. Which means law and order will be easier to establish.

"Also, if everyone who tries to collect the bounty on my head dies horribly, they'll be less likely to take it. And they were going to hand me over to the Exchange, so it's fair game."

"I was going to hand you over to the Exchange!" said Mira. "Would you have done that to me?!"

Revan blinked. "If I didn't know you? Probably."

"Praise:

"That's the way to tell her, Master. Would you like me to kill her now?" asked HK 5.

"No," said Revan. "Stop asking that. Anyway, we've got a shuttle now, so let's see if we can get out of here."

"...Revan, you are a cold bastard, you know that, right?" asked Mira. "What happened to the Jedi Code?"

"The Jedi Code?" asked Revan.

And for the first time in a long time, Revan found himself falling silent. He thought of the code, of everything is represented how he had been taught time and again by Vrook to follow it without question and wondered what Vrook would say. Vrook, whom Revan now found a new admiration for.

But what was the code?

There was no emotion. There was peace.

There was no ignorance. There was knowledge.

There was no passion. There was serenity.

There was no chaos. There was harmony.

There was no death. There was the Force.

So Revan had been taught by Zhar, and Kreia, and Vrook and Vandar. Never before had he appreciated the code as much as he did now. It was said that when you were in the dark, you showed who you really were.

Revan was in the dark now. And in it, he'd killed a dozen men with hardly a thought. It had been so natural. Yes, they'd meant him harm and might have killed Mira and Mune. But it had been... easy. As if he'd been born to it. And then Revan chuckled to himself as he realized why.

"I'm following it," realized Revan. "I have no emotional connection to these guys, so I'm at peace with killing them. I'm not ignorant of what I'm doing to them and did this with full knowledge of the consequences. I don't have any passion for taking these guys out; I simply wanted their ship and them out of the way. So there is serenity.

"There wasn't any chaos here either. This was premeditated and executed with perfect harmony.

"Last of all, none of us died, and we used a great deal of force for this. Or if you want to take a spiritual bent, death is an illusion, and there is only the Force. In which case, what are you complaining about? Nothing has changed.

"You want to know what happened to the Jedi Code, Mira? It came into physical being! You are looking at the physical manifestation of it!" And he called back his lightsaber and drew it.

At that moment, all hell broke loose.

Chaos engulfed Coruscant on the upper levels. Flashes could be seen far above the darkened roads of level 0. Death, and hate, and rage long suppressed by a drugged populace was unleashed. And by the light of Revan's red sword, he saw the galaxy catching flame. He felt as though he could see all the worlds risen to action. And Revan beheld great wars, endless conflicts fought not for money, but ideals.

The strongest and truest of ideals thrived. Simultaneously, the weak, the depraved, were purged from a system that had stagnated too long. And from that great inferno would be tempered a galaxy, a Jedi Order, that was stronger and wiser.

Then he sheathed the blade, and he realized it was only a vision. Turning away, he looked at them. "We should get the shuttle before-"

And then Calo Nord stood up and started blasting. The bolts smashed off the rock as they took cover. Mira rose to fire back but was forced to duck. Then a grenade landed among them. Revan flung it away with force, and there was a distant flash.

"I'll admit, you're pretty good," said Calo. "But nobody gets away from Calo Nord in the end. Nobody."

"Hold on, my good man," called Mune around the corner. "Perhaps we can come to some kind of arrangement here."

"Sorry, but I don't break contracts," said Calo. "The second the bounty was put on this ones' head, he was mine."

"Well, yes, but perhaps I could purchase passage for myself and the girl," said Mune. "I am quite a rich man, you know." He glanced at Revan. "No offense."

"None taken," said Revan.

"Maybe you could," said Calo, coming around the rock. "Still-"

And then there was an ungodly shrieking from elsewhere. Nord looked up, and some sort of humanoid leaped down on him, only to be blasted. Others came behind it, and he fired rapidly, gunning them down by the dozens. Mira and Mune fired wildly at them, while HK 5 shot several down with calculated shots.

Revan drew his lightsaber and cleaved down two of the things as they came. Spinning the blade, he slashed a third down, and force pushed several away. Then he grabbed Mira's shoulder. "Come on, let's get out of here!"

And they ran.

Three of the things barred their path, and one leaped at Revan with claws outstretched. He cleaved it in half with his lightsaber, even as HK 5 shot another. Mira and Mune fired wildly, and one of the shots hit it in the head.

"Where are these things coming from?" asked Mira as they ran. Behind them, Calo Nord was being surrounded on all sides. He'd drawn out a sword now and was hacking them down as their claws scraped against his armor. The man was as good as dead without help.

Good. He was a murderer and a serious threat. Revan stood nothing to gain and everything to lose by his survival.

"Speculation:" said HK 5. "Master, I believe that these creatures are drawn toward Calo Nord by his blaster fire. It may be wise to avoid doing the same."

"Do you detect any electronic signals?" asked Revan.

"Explanation:" said HK 5. "Master, I believe there may be some systems to the north of here. There appears to be an energy field near here. I will lead you to it, but we may be shut out."

And so they ran through the blocks of abandoned cities. There were no doors or shops here; all of them had been walled in ages ago. They were alone in a labyrinth of buildings with only monsters for company.

Soon Revan sensed them following. Either they'd killed Nord, or these were new ones.

Then they reached the ray shield. It was blue and stood in a wall between buildings. Beyond, Revan saw a series of well-lit buildings with people. And there was a gate of sorts within the wall.

"Open the shield!" said Mune, coming to it. "We're being followed by Cthons!"

Revan turned and stood between Mune, Mira, and the Cthons as they streamed out of the darkness toward them. HK 5 fired again and again, and each shot killed one. He seemed to be a very good shot.

"Open the shield!" said Mune, voice desperate.

Then the shield in front of the gate opened, and a man came through. "Come on, through the shield, now!

"Come on!"

They sprinted through, and it shut moments before the Cthons reached it. The beasts slashed at the energy field and were thrown back. After a few more tries, they gave up.

Revan kneeled by Mira, who had fallen down and helped her up. "Are you alright?"

"Fine," said Mira.

"Thank you for this," said Mune.

"Don't thank me; this is the least we can do," said the man. "I don't want to leave anyone to get eaten by Cthons."

"What are those things?" asked Revan. "Where did they come from?"

"No one knows, but they reside at the bottom levels," said the man. "Some say they are descendants of murderers who were banished below the surface. Though I don't put any stock in that."

"Right, where is here, exactly?" asked Mira.

"This is a moss plantation," said the man, motioning to the buildings.

"Moss plantation?" asked Revan.

"You don't really think that Coruscant could survive entirely on imports, do you?" asked Mira. "There are trillions of people on this planet; even the Senate isn't detached enough to not have a backup plan.

"The lower levels are dedicated almost entirely to raising beds of edible moss.

"I've tasted the stuff, and it's disgusting."

"Yeah, well, growing it helps us make a living," said the man. "See, we grow em in stacks; there are dozens of beds in every stack. It helps keep people fed, and it's my living. And there are loads of unused soil in the base of Coruscant, so there's no shortage.

"It was initiated by Jedi Master Avar Kriss. I think she's hoping to do humanitarian work with the stuff. Solve famines with it.

"It also let's use the farms as a base for the hunters."

"Hunters?" asked Revan.

"Yes, to take care of things like the Cthons you were being chased by," said the man. "There was a period where they started to overpopulate and climb into the higher levels. That was the beginning of the Cthon wars, and the event got up to the surface.

"Eventually, the government put a bounty on the things. Now people come from all over to kill them. And by setting up farms in these regions, we also set up a safe zone. And a place for people who crash shuttles and air cars to run for help.

"The elevator is this way.

"Unless you'd like to stay down here?"

"Not at all, I assure you," said Mune.

"Keep in mind, this elevator only goes up to the tenth floor," said the man. "You'll need to take a different one to get the rest of the way up. I'd give you directions, but I live down here, born and raised. I don't go much above level 5."

"Well, in any case, at least we've lost the Bounty Hunter," said Revan.

"That sounds like it has a very interesting story behind it, Revan," said a familiar voice. "And, I'm inclined to inquire as to the details."

Revan looked up and saw Master Vrook coming toward him with Meetra with him. Meetra ran forward. "Yeah, why do you have a bounty hunter after you?"

"Master Vrook? Meetra?" asked Revan. "It's uh... it's a long story. Also, I think I went a bit nuts in here."

"That is to be expected," said Vrook. "There is some dark side presence within this place. My purpose here is to ascertain the source. However, we fear we have been too late.

"No doubt you've sensed the rage above?

"The aggression that has now been unleashed is spreading across more than just this world. Meetra and I were here, looking into the conditions of those below the surface. But it seems conflict has been unleashed on Coruscant."

"Who's your friend?" asked Meetra, coming forward and eyeing Mira.

Revan glanced back. "Oh, this is Mira, a criminal, and Mune, who is a businessman of the Trade Federation. We were shot down on the way in here.

"Mira, Mune, this is Master Vrook, one of my instructors from Dantooine and my friend, Meetra." Then he noticed a longer lightsaber at Meetra's side. "When'd you get a double-bladed lightsaber?"

"I've been practicing with it," said Meetra.

"Why?" asked Revan. "You'll slash your arm off with that."

"Master Vrook said that too," said Meetra. "It looks cool."

"No, it doesn't," said Revan. "A single-bladed lightsaber looks cool. Adding a second blade is just luxury."

Vrook cleared his throat audibly. "I believe you had an explanation for me."

Revan shuddered. "Alright, um, so, I'll try to explain. After the Jedi Covenant got caught torturing innocent people, they put me on trial. I was found innocent of being a Sith since they had no evidence and were half drunk. But when I left, the Senatorial Guard kidnapped me. They claimed they planned to sell me to Alas Czerka, who hates me for killing two of his employees.

"But a droid was also in the custody of the Senatorial Guard. He claimed to have grown beyond his programming. And he had given dirt on massive numbers of senators to Captain Trelius of the Senatorial Guard. However, here, HK 5 got Mira to come and rescue you, which is good because Calo Nord came in to try and collect the bounty on my head. He killed the entire Senatorial Guard HQ.

"So Mira and I fled upstairs to Mune, who gave us shelter. But while we were en route to the Echani Embassy, we got shot down by Calo Nord. We fled here, and now here we are."

"Why is there a bounty on your head?" asked Meetra.

"I think I've wrecked the Exchange's operations on Telos," said Revan. "So they want me dead. It wasn't the plan, it just sort of happened."

"The Force has a way of ensuring you are in exactly the place you need to be at any given time," said Vrook. "However, inconvenient. It is, at this stage, the only reason you continue to make so many enemies."

"Hey, I just wanted to disappear on Telos for a peaceful life farming," said Revan. "As soon as I was out, they pulled me back in. They've only themselves to blame if I've wrecked all their plans."

"Why was HK 5 separate from you anyway?" asked Meetra.

"Oh, um, it's HK 6 I left him behind to observe my room in case the Jedi Council tried to murder me," said Revan.

"What?!" said Vrook.

"They're in bed with the Exchange!" said Revan. "And Czerka corporation! And the Sith too, Jorak Uln's plantation was funding the Jedi Covenant! They're torturing people for being Sith while using the Sith as their agents! And what's worst is that this isn't even an evil plan! They are legitimately that irresponsible, out of touch, and hypocritical!

"Or at least they might be. I'm not discounting the possibility that I'm having a mental breakdown. But is it paranoid if they really are all out to get you?

"So, I wasn't taking any chances and got Bastila out of there."

"Bastila? What about her?" asked Meetra. "Why would you need to get her out? And out of where?"

"Coruscant," said Revan. "She's on Dantooine now; I sent her that way after I found out the students and instructors were abusing her. I didn't want her falling to the Dark Side like them.

"Oh, and Vrook, I'm sorry."

Vrook paused. "What?"

"All this time, I've always felt like your conservative bent was nothing but a problem," said Revan. "I felt like you put way too much focus on the Jedi Code at the expense of the moment. But now that I've seen the Jedi here on Coruscant, I realize it wouldn't take much for me to be like them.

"You were right."

Vrook frowned. "...And the riots?"

Revan ran some calculations. "My guess.

"The droid handed the information over to someone who went public with it. That's the only thing I know of that could cause this level of unrest.

"But it wasn't me this time, I swear.

"Kreia and Malak are on planet; they might have sensed my distress and come to help me. Maybe they stumbled across something, and it got out."

Vrook put his face in his hands. "...Well, this may be a problem."

Understatement of the century.