Hello there dear reader!
Well, who would have thunk? I'm back with another chapter! I've been working on this story for over ten years now! Life, work and other passion projects take up a lot of my time, but I have a duty to finish writing this. A duty to the young version of myself who was inspired to try and create a world with words. A duty to this story, if it wasn't for this story, I would never have discovered my love for writing, and probably would not be working on a lot of the stuff I am today.
And of course, I have a duty to everybody who has read Searching Stars. It really means a great deal to me that people still find my words interesting. We're coming to the climax now guys, I'd say there might be about two chapters left in this story, so we may get there by 2030.
Thank you all again for still reading. I hope you enjoy it.
30.
And the sense of wavering cold, quivering with uncertainty in the distance, grew closer.
And the pale and ancient stone at his feet itself began to tremble.
And the deep hum of anger grew in might as it gripped at the air.
The footsteps behind him began to fade. He had been here before. There was a presence. Unrecognisable through the fog. Was he dreaming?
The red itself was first to pierce the cloud. Then, a silhouette of hate.
"Revan."
Green eyes flickered desperately around the foreign landscape in search of the voice that he craved. He knew that he was not dreaming. He knew that the sound was real. Slowly, and with restraint, Revan centred his mind and focussed deeply on the wellspring of darkness that the sound had originated from. There was a presence there, he was certain. Cloaked and withdrawn. But no longer was there a festering hole where the bond of theirs had been. The connection was dampened. The barrier was strong. Dark confidence revealing to his bond-mate her untapped prowess. Still, she had chosen to open the link.
"You're here." Revan whispered through his mind. There was something. A ripple in the air. Though no reply. No familiarity pouring through their bond. He attempted to calm himself. The silence from her creating a hollow tunnel with no light.
"Revan!"
The man's neck twisted instantly, all sense of familiarity dispersing along with the motion. He followed the thread of sound to the source, and the little blue Twi'lek's lips pursed at his confusion. She had been the quickest to adapt to his old name. Though when Revan truly thought about it, if he were to stand in-front of her as his truest self to plead his case, she would probably align herself to him anyway. Mission's eye, in its open and lovely form, had a way of cutting through the needless masquerading of moralities. She could see the heart of a person in an instant, and this was a quality that Revan treasured dearly. Still, hers was not the voice that he had wanted to hear. He closed his eyes for another moment and tried to will himself towards the memory of sound. He heard nothing, and in frustration, turned himself fully towards his female companion, grunting a half-hearted what in eventual reply.
"You might want to get yourself over here." The girl's voice was trailing, yet there was an urgency to her tone. Revan sniffed and thought to himself as he lazily dragged his body towards the pile of scrap that she had conquered, this was Mission. Aside from slicing terminals and picking locks, creating drama out of thin air was her maker-given talent. It was a trait that Revan wouldn't change if he had the chance; though it was a dynamic that irked him when he was feeling reclusive and melancholy, as he tended to these days. He sighed to himself once again as he began to climb up the makeshift metal hill that his companion had chosen to ascend. As pressing as the situation with their ship was, all that Revan could focus on was the presence that he knew was dwelling on the planet. He flared his nostrils as he internally debated how to make his excuses and leave his companions in pursuit of it.
"Mission, we don't have time for-" The blue girl interrupted his sentence with an outstretched index finger. The extremity was pushed forth with the same confidence that every motion of hers held. Revan followed the finger, and soon found his eyes trailing out into the distance, just as her voice had done a few moments before. A creature was standing on the edge of a shoreline, looking directly at them. It was placed perfectly between two stone pillars, and behind it, a heavy stone door.
"I get the feeling we're expected." Revan quipped as the girl extracted her digit from the blustery air in front of her.
"Top marks for observation." The man frowned briefly and grumbled at her response as he made his way down the steep metal curve he had been perched on top of. The ex -Jedi had made sure his companion could see the effects of her cutting jibe on his ego; pouting in mock agony before raising his dark brows with a smile as he had passed her to let her know that he was jesting. The girl, on her part, raised her shoulders in an exaggerated shrug and then mockingly muttered something about how she could save the Galaxy and still not get it right, before descending the slope and gestured for her Wookie friend to follow.
The creature before them was tall, almost as tall as Zalbarr, and he was considered large by Wookie standards. It stood like a human, yet there was something utterly alien in its aesthetic. It wasn't the leather-tinged skin that made Revan uneasy, nor was it the disk-like eyes resting on either side of its head. These poked out a little under the creature's heavy hood and glinted slightly in the light, revealing nothing still but black. He didn't think the unease rested in the limbs either. Brown hands were clasped in front of it, and large, jagged wrist-like protrusions poked out from under the starch-white sleeves that covered the rest of the arms. No, Revan concluded, the unease came from a feeling that he had met this creature before.
"Revan!" The sound of his name carrying across the winds without any hint of hesitation, drew the former Sith's vision away from the creature in the distance, and back towards the direction of the Hawk. Canderous was storming towards the trio. Agitation evident in his frame. The grizzled warrior did not get nervous or frightened. He embraced emotions, yes. They shone from his steel-stained eyes every time he recounted his deeds and glories long past. Hates and hopes and adrenaline dancing as the feelings mingled with the dust that had covered his words. Not even when they were captured and tortured did the Mandalorian's cold metal resolve waiver. Now though, Revan could see that the man was on high alert. That observation in itself, made his heart uneasy.
"We shouldn't linger here."
"Tell me something I don't know." The former Dark Lord said with a huff as he folded his arms out in front of his torso. "What troubles you Ordo? The olive skin surrounding the warrior's lips seemed to visibly tighten as the question was put to him.
"This place isn't safe."
Revan snorted at his friend's worried tone, smiling back to Mission briefly, before turning to let his dark gaze fall once again across the Mandalorian's face. He started to move away from the girl and her Wookie companion, beckoning Canderous to follow. "Where have we ever travelled together that you would describe as safe?"
"This is different." Ordo placed himself in front of the former Dark Lord. Forcing him to a halt as he did this. He could tell from Revan's expression that he understood. "This world. It is wrong. You can feel it, can't you?" Revan didn't reply, and Canderous took this as a sign to continue. "We're standing in the middle of a battlefield, yet look around. Look at the environment."
Canderous was right. The world around them was lush and green, yet the corpses of many ships baring the markings of different battles, species and creeds littered the landscape. Like ivy tracing its way up a headstone. Try as it might, the world couldn't conceal every body.
"Canderous-"
"Something happened, or is happening here and I don't like it. The feel in the air itself. It triggers something in my mind."
"Bastila is here."
The older man's upper lip snarled to a twitch at the mention of their past companion. He swallowed against the dry of his throat before straightening his body. " I thought your link was closed?"
"So did I." Revan struggled to keep himself in check as a wave of desperation assaulted him anew. Thoughts and images of the woman he loved pulling him in every direction. "I have to find her Canderous." The green of the fallen Jedi's orb seemed to retreat into itself as he thought about the last time their eyes met. Fear and longing passing between them as Bastila had thrown herself towards Malak. He pushed his lids closed. Forcing the liquid that pooled to stay hidden. It stung at the rims in protest. "I have to."
"It could well be a trap." Canderous placed a steady hand on his leader's shoulder as he spoke. The Force wasn't something that he understood fully, though he respected it. He knew that the connection between the troubled man before him and the woman that they had lost, was far more than romantic. The particles and atmosphere and little bits of matter insignificant to most, seemed to shift and thrum with energy whenever they were close to one another. A bond, they had called it. Canderous, a man who had not been trained to feel the Force or wield it, knew that the word did not do their connection justice. "Malak is no fool. He will know that her presence will be like a beacon in the dark for you."
"I know. But I failed her and I need to put it right." Revan rotated his shoulders as he forced himself retreat from the blackness of his thoughts. He was no good to anybody, least of all Bastila if he gave in to it all. "You're right about this place, Ordo. There is something deeply painful stitched into the fabric of it." Revan closed his eyes, before opening up to the unknown world as much as he dared. "So much death..." The whisper slipped over his tongue and shocked even himself. "I've been here before, a lifetime ago. I think that this planet is the gatekeeper to the darkness that looms over us all. I found something here, or perhaps I buried something...I can't remember."
The older man inhaled with a sniff as his creased brow furrowed. "You think The Star-Forge is here?"
Revan shook his head. "No. But the ones who created it. A people who scarred the stars for millennia. Their secrets yet linger." Memories began to assault the troubled mind of the former Dark Lord of the Sith anew. Fragments from the past as the man he used to be strode across the surface. Revan looked around, gesturing to no one in particular as he continued. "This place is the heart of it. The Infinite Empire."
"Infinite Empire? I've never heard of-" Revan didn't give his companion time to finish, instead turning briskly on his heel and making his way back to the Ebon Hawk with purpose. He motioned towards Mission and Zalbarr, and they soon dropped in behind Canderous.
"That creature that I saw in the distance. I've encountered it before, I'm sure of it. It knows how to enter the temple."
"Temple? What temple?" Carth's voice held a rasp to it as he worded the question. The crew of the Hawk had now gathered outside of the loading ramp. The sound of the gears of the droids grinding against the humidity was loud. T3, tinkering on some loose bits of wiring. Such a trusty little thing. And HK-47 standing far off in the distance. His metal fingers wrapped around his beloved RT-97C heavy rifle. The hunter-killer periodically drew the triple enhanced scope to his scanner, before lowering the weapon again and stalking ever further forwards. Revan briefly thought about the modifications that he wanted to make on the droid. He had built him after all. A revelation that came as a surprise to him as much as to HK. After outing his identity to the crew, the assassin droid's amnesia was lifted, along with his memory of creation at Revan's hands. What a small galaxy, though fate was a funny thing, and Revan was sure that the Force had a sense of humour.
"Surely you saw it as we approached?"
Anger flashed across Carth's frustrated features. "I was a little too busy trying to make sure the Hawk stayed in one piece to sight see."
Revan flashed his teeth as a humorous retort worked its way up his throat. "And here I thought T3 did all the work." Carth's face stiffened even further at the response. The rasp in his voice still lingered in the air, and Revan's eye began to track across the deep purples forming rings around the soldier's neck. Now it was his turn to flinch. He had done this to his friend. He remembered lifting him up into the air, squeezing at the little life-force that pulsed with an unquenchable will. Though through Revan's blood-haze, all he could see was the insignificance of the energy presented to him. The power coursing through his body, gave him the right to manipulate the forces around him. But looking back towards the soldier's battered and bruised neck, all that he felt was shame. Carth would never forgive him, he was sure. Revan couldn't blame this transgression on the fog of his former self, nor the temptation of Korriban, or even his devastation after losing Bastila. He alone had lost control. He willingly pushed all of his hatred outwards, using Carth as a conduit. Lashing out did not make him feel any better. Glancing again towards the dark bands snaking around the flesh of the neck, Revan promised himself that he would do better.
"STATEMENT: The temple sits at the top of these cliffs master. We were fortunate that the Republic meat-bag managed to crash us below and not ram us into the rock-face." HK-47 had taken a brake from his patrol to re-join the party. Genuine bloodlust burning in his orange slits as he moved his mechanical head to look at Carth. The assassin droid brought his rifle up to his metal chest before continuing.
"HOPEFUL QUERY: Do you consider our current predicament a failure on the pilot's part, master? The threat of punishment will make it afraid of a repeat performance. I could brake a finger. Just one?"
Revan couldn't help but smile at his droid's eagerness to inflict violence. He held his hand up with a chuckle, as if remembering for the first time just how much he had missed him.
"Not right Now, HK. Did your scanners detect anything, any lower labyrinths in the temple? Any Life forms?
"DISAPPOINTED STATEMENT: I am sorry, master. I did not. There are many heat signatures surrounding the structure, I suspect that these are merely local beasts. They mostly correlate to the patches of dense flora. I will happily exterminate the pests to secure a path to the temple.
"Damn, I don't want to walk in there blind!"
"EXPLANATION: I cannot scan the structure adequately because something is blocking my attempts."
Revan's forehead creased as one of his folded arms moved to rub at the knot at the back of his neck. "what could be causing that?"
"HYPOTHESIS: My sensors did detect a mass of energy gathered at the front of the structure. It would take an impressive amount of power, but I think that a barrier is surrounding the ruin. We need to disable it before I can scan."
The green of Revan's irises twinkled as realisation danced across his face. "That creature from before. It knows how to take the barrier down." His powerful frame shifted to move, but before it could, Juhani's clawed hand pressed against his shoulder; apprehension rippling through her movement.
"The droid speaks some truth, though sensors are blind to many things."
Her exotic accent weaved its way around the words, snaking up the shoulders. A sensation not dissimilar to the feel of her soft fur against his skin. Revan turned to meet her gaze.
"What do you mean, Juhani?"
"That temple...it is a place of evil. The Dark Side swirls around it, though it feels different to the Grove back on Dantooine...calculated."
"She's right boy." Jolee began as he struggled to his feet. He had been sitting cross-legged just to the left of the main party, passing almost unnoticed whilst sinking his body into the long, damp grass. Jolee grasped at one of the Hawk's side panels. Hooking his fingers into the groove to give himself leverage as he hauled his old bones off the floor, only there was a creaking sound that the Jedi chose to ignore. Within a moment, the panel had popped open, exposing wires of various colours and sizes. A few spilled out and now dangled in the damp air. Upon seeing what had happened, T3 rolled towards the offending Jedi so quickly, that it startled the onlookers. The droid bleeped furiously at Jolee, ramming his metal frame into Jolee's left leg several times.
"Oh stars," Mission chuckled as she elbowed her Wookie friend in his fur-covered hip. "check it out, Teethree's gonna space him!" Zalbarr gurgled in amusement and looked on as the droid continued to batter Jolee with his verbal assault.
"BLEEP BLOOP BLOOPEDY BLEEP! DE-DEET! DE-DEET! DE-DEET!"
"Hey, look, I'm sorry Teethree! I didn't realise you'd just repaired this section!" Jolee hobbled backwards, staggering over his thoughts and words. Completely stunned by the little astromech's outburst.
"DWRRRR DWO-DUUR! DOOP POOOR DWE-DO BLAP!"
"Whoa! Now that's uncalled for! I'm capable of managing by myself! It's not my fault if you didn't secure the panel properly!"
The crew of the Ebon Hawk watched silently as the droid's whoops and whistles became more frantic and high-pitched. Eventually, he produced a stun-ray from a compartment on his chest. The astromech lashed out with his metal appendage, briefly grazing Jolee's thigh. The old Jedi leaped to a safe distance with a yelp.
"That's enough Teethree." Revan said as he moved towards the droid. He knelt down and placed a hand on his head. Fondly stroking his index finder around the large central eye that adorned the centre of the flat, round dome. The droid eventually settled, almost purring in response to his master's attempts to calm. "I need you to stay and look after the ship. We need her ready to fly. Okay?"
The droid rocked his little frame from side to side as he accepted his orders, before turning his attention to the the freshly exposed patch of wires spilling from the metal flesh of the Hawk.
"I'm coming with you."
Revan faltered briefly as he slipped a few medpacks into a pouch on his belt. Even after Jolee's masterful work, his side had not yet healed properly and he didn't want a repeat of the encounter with Malak. Carth was standing behind him, he could feel the tense fingertips quivering around the hips, dancing against his holsters. He would not be quick enough.
"I'm not arguing about this, Carth. Jolee and Juhani are making up the party this time." Revan kept his back to his former friend, listening intently to the quickening of the man's heartbeat.
"Do you really think I'm going to let a Sith Lor-"
"Former." Revan briefly interjected.
"Whatever you are, you don't serve the Republic!" Revan decided not to react as he felt Carth's right hand reach down towards the blaster at his side. He did not turn as the soldier's previously twitching fingers were now filling with purpose as they wrapped around the grip. He let calmness wash over his mind as Carth pressed the barrel of one of his blasters against the back of his skull. Perhaps it was the sea air that was providing him with such tranquillity.
Revan's shattered mind briefly thought of Manaan. The place where he was reborn. A place of healing and beauty, with such darkness buried within. Storm-tinged eyes flooded his vision.
"Carth, I have never claimed to be a good man. I know I can never redeem myself in your eyes, or the eyes of the Jedi, or the Republic. I have the blood of millions on my hands. I know this..."
Carth inhaled as he buried the barrel deeper into Revan's jet mane. He knew that his former friend had let him raise his gun. He knew that he should pull the trigger. Instead, he waited.
"Even when I was Logan, I could see the stains on my skin. I could hear the cries as I closed my eyes. I still do. There are so many things that I don't remember, but I know that I had a purpose. I know that when I was the Dark Lord, I was doing it for a reason, not just for power. I've seen it in my dreams! Something out beyond the stars that I was fighting against." Revan slid his body round as he spoke, turning fully towards Carth, though making sure that the blaster was still connecting with his skull. When he had finished his movement, Carth's weapon was now situated firmly between his eyes. "I don't think that I was trying to destroy the Republic Carth. I think that I was trying to save it."
The little crinkles of crows feet around Carth's upper cheekbones deepened as he snorted in disgust. A silver-coloured breath tumbled out of his gaping jaw and his words followed soon after. "Save it? You killed my wife! You ruined my son! You destroyed my life!"
"You can't blame him for that, Republic." Canderous interjected as the rest of the crew moved closer, all sensing the rising tension. The words only seemed add more fuel to Carth's inner fire. His hand started to shake as he pushed his weapon forwards. The motion was enough to briefly stagger Revan, and he took a step backwards to steady himself. The gun still pushing against his skull.
"I deserve a bullet in my head Carth. I do. I would let you do it now if I could. But there are things I still need to do. I'm the only one who can stop Malak. And Bastila-" Revan couldn't escape a flinch at the thought of her. He could see her sitting in the tranquil courtyard of Dantooine academy. He could see her guarded features looking at him. Searching. The darkness around her shadowing the silver in her eyes. Blue shining through.
"I've never had such an...intimate connection with someone."
The embarrassment in her voice. The pinkness of her cheeks against the cold. The thought of her, bonded to him.
"Nor I."
His hand on-top of hers. Her walls, so high. A glimmer of hope. The feel of skin against skin. Her sigh against the night.
"He speaks with honesty, Carth." Jolee's venerable tone pierced the cloud of memories, and Revan's gaze shifted back to the present as an aged hand reached for Onasi's shoulder. Carth allowed himself to glance briefly at the old man as he grunted in question, before resting his hazel eyes back firmly onto his quarry. "I don't think that he was fighting for the sake of fighting. For the sake of dominance. If I felt that the blackness were Revan in his truest form, I would not be here. Look, I've watched him for a long time. We all wear costumes and hide ourselves and run from ourselves, but we can't disguise the colour at our core, and Revan has never needed to."
Green orbs briefly locked with brown ones as Revan's jaw twitched to an appreciative smile. He looked around for a moment to see the rest of his crew but one nodding in agreement. They believed in him.
"You would say that, y...you're his number one fan! Well, number two really. And look where that got Bastila!"
Silence hung in the air as Carth's words pierced Revan's amour. Wet slid slowly down his pale cheeks in response. He could not argue with the truth, and so he just stood there as the pain engulfed him.
Jolee's grip on the soldier's shoulder tightened as he began to pull him away from the source of his anger, saying "let's get you back to the ship." as he did so. Carth made it three steps. Just three before he shrugged the old man away and pulled the trigger.
The collective intake of breath was the first thing that Carth noticed. What had he just done? What had he just done? The anger. The visceral blackness of it. Was Jolee just talking about him? He couldn't think, He could only see Revan's shaking hand as he lifted him up with the Force and pinned him against the dusty stone walls of the Korriban cells. He could feel the pressure around his throat as green gave way to red. Carth didn't think of himself as evil. As a murderer. But what he had just done. Had his eyes turned red in the moment? But Revan had let go. He had let Carth go, he didn't pull the trigger. What had he just done? He remembered the gnawing flat note that had clung to the air as the Force had bended to Revan's will back in the cells of Korriban. A sound of raw power being captured and manipulated. A sound that he could hear ringing in his ears now, and so he pushed himself to look outwards, and the sight left him feeling even more bewildered.
A ball of pure white was hovering in the air, almost frozen, but not quite. Red tinged at the outlines, and it was vacillating, as if it wanted to move but was being held into place by pure will alone. Carth looked past the bizarre sight and saw Revan standing there. He was not looking at anything in particular, almost as if he were lost in his own thoughts. Perhaps he couldn't believe what had just happened, or perhaps he was thinking about Bastila. Perhaps he was going to redirect the frozen bolt back towards his own skull instead. Carth wasn't sure, and so he just stood there and waited.
"There are things I still need to do." Was the eventual sound that cut across the groaning. Revan closed his fist, and the blast that was meant for his head, simply transformed into nothing. He pushed past Carth, heading in the direction of the creature that Mission had spotted earlier. Jolee eyed Juhani, and they quickly trotted after their leader.
"* You return.*"
"Yes."
"*Is there anything else that you wish to take from us? The clothes from our backs? The air that we breathe? Our children?*"
Revan groaned into his skin as the creature before him made it clear that their last encounter did not end well. This was a complication that he did not need. Time was running short, he could feel it. He had to get inside that temple. Revan held up a hand, making the decision to lay all of his cards on the table. Brief fragments of memory danced across the black patches of his mind; like the coloured wings of a butterfly, unfocused against the morning light.
"I know you, Rakata Elder. Please let me explain myself before you banish me." Revan waited for a moment and took the lingering silence as a sign to continue. " I know that I approached you before for help to enter the temple, and I know that I gained your trust through trickery. I know these things, but not much more, I lost my memory you see. And now I am left chasing ghosts as punishment for my past misdeeds. I come to you and beg for your aid, or at least for a chance to regain your trust, and my honour."
The disks on either side of the creature's head, soon found themselves covered by leathery flaps as it closed its eyes in contemplation.
"*I think that you had better come inside.*"
A significant amount of time had passed since the Rakata Elders had decided to give Revan another chance. The priests had informed the former Sith of his previous betrayals, sullying the sacred stone by allowing more than one to walk through the hallowed halls of the ancient temple, and taking the terrible technology of their ancestors for himself, even though he had promised to destroy it all and help the tribe rejoin the galactic community. The Star Forge was the source of so much suffering.
Through honest answers and negotiation, Revan managed to convince the Rakatan leaders to help him one last time, on one condition, He had to free a Rakata being held captive by the leader of a rival tribe known simply as The One. The Elders had informed Revan that on his previous visit to the planet, he had met The One and his Black Rakata first, and he had betrayed them also, and that there was little chance of negotiation.
They were right.
The Force-wielding trio found the prisoner in The One's reclusive lair. His white robes were soiled and tattered, and he was sitting in a large cage filled with other captives. Or former captives, and bits of captives.
"*The sanctimonious ones have more flavour.*"
The open admission of cannibalism was all the permission that Juhani needed to launch into an attack. Twin rancors were being kept collard on either side of the circular room, and within a moment of The One drawing his sword to engage the female Jedi, the beasts were freed from their binds and they began to lurch simultaneously towards the noise. Juhani paid no heed to this new threat, trusting her companions completely to cover her back. She was a fantastic duellist, and her Cathar heritage aided her abilities in battle. The lightsaber form of Ataru was a natural fit for the young Jedi. The fast paced, aggressive nature of the style complemented her abilities perfectly, and it wasn't long before she had overpowered her opponent.
"Yield." Juhani purred over the thrumming of her heartbeat. The tan laces of her tunic flowing as she moved to point her blue blade down towards the creature at her mercy. "The Elders will decide your fate. Comply and they may show you mercy." Without a moments hesitation, The One brought his now broken blade up to shoulder level, and drew it roughly across his own neck. Juhani sighed and deactivated her blade as she watched the bright pink of Rakatan blood pool at her feet.
"I'm proud of you, Juhani," Revan said after they had tended to the last surviving prisoner. "of your clarity and serenity just then." She looked up towards her former saviour with a solemn smile.
"He should have faced justice though." Revan nudged her with his shoulder in response.
"It was enough. You saved that prisoner. You did not act out of anger and you gave him the option. I can't think of anybody who fits the definition of a Jedi Guardian more than you." She smiled at him. "Anyway, I'm proud of you."
After the party of Jedi escorted the injured Rakata home, the Elders agreed to perform the ritual required to bring down the barrier encasing the ancient temple. Revan refused to delay, insisting the ritual be performed as soon as physically possible. Though the few hours that he was made to wait as the priests made their preparations, seemed to reach out into eternity. Revan could see himself standing there outside the temple. He could feel the cool and guarding presence of the bald man sanding behind him. No, not standing, towering. And no longer was the feeling soothing and reassuring. There was an itch in the air, his companion was moving forwards and retreating into himself at the same time. Like morning dew slowly regressing into the frost that lay the night before.
Malak.
Revan had kept his eyes closed as the commotion around him began to flicker; just as the embers from a small and tranquil campfire could suddenly and without warning, breathe into life. The Rakatan Elders had been preparing for several hours near the entrance to the temple. Jolee and Juhani had both returned to the Hawk to inform the others that only one could complete the mission. Revan had stayed close to the entrance, choosing a small clearing overlooking the stone path to settle himself down and cross his long legs. He had been meditating the whole time, though upon lazily opening his eyes, he felt no clarity or renewed sense of purpose. The feeling was more like one of resignation.
"-you don't understand!" The thick and heady accent of the Cathar cut into the air, finally pulling Revan back into the present. He opened his eyes and slowly slipped down off of the ledge that he had been occupying. His tattered charcoal cloak fluttering along behind him as he used the Force to steady his descent. "We have to enter the temple, the danger is too great!" Revan sauntered up to the quarrelling group as Juhani spat out at her words. He placed himself at the base sand coloured stone. As soon as the barrier was down he would run for it. He didn't care about anything else. That flicker of life from their link had felt like the brush of a finger and a gaping hole all at once.
"But I had a vision!" Jolee's gruff bark fully snapped Revan back into focus. A vision. Had he seen her? Had he seen Bastila? The pink lips of the younger human tightened as the sentence was finished. "Look, the fate of the galaxy is at stake! If that boy doesn't have us with him, if he doesn't have an anchor...well everything could be lost!"
Ll'awa the Elder Guide blinked. The dark, ridged skin on his fingers, brushed against the crisp white sleeves that hung against his sides. He had been the one that Mission had scouted earlier, and he had been the one that had so eagerly ushered Revan and his cold companion into the temple all of those years before. This could not be fate, Ll'awa thought. No, this choice was a test of worthiness gifted by the Force.
"*I trusted you once before,*" Ll'awa began, turning on his hocks to face Revan fully. "*and you used my naïve nature for a selfish purpose. Though looking at you now, I see no conflict, but I'm not sure if you can trust yourself. The three of you will enter. I pray they council you wisely.*"
Revan grunted and nodded his head, dark locks flopping forwards and hanging against his pale skin as he jerked into the movement. He wasn't sure that this outcome was entirely welcome. Jolee said that an anchor was needed. All Revan wanted to do was float away. Malak and his crazed crusaders had to be halted, but if Bastila was truly waiting for him in there, he would go with her. He would take her to some backwater planet far away from anyone they would ever know. Where it could just be the two of them. Maybe some untouched marsh in the Outer Rim, where they could explore the Force and themselves in peace. Where they could heal. Where he could apologise for all of the pain that he had caused to her and to everything that she held dear. The thought of seeing her again made him nervous. He swallowed hard as he shifted from foot to foot, agitation seeping into his limbs as he waited for the priests to bring the barrier down.
A pulsing of energy wooshed from behind as the field that had been previously encasing the ancient structure, began to flicker and die. Soon, the old stone door at the centre, creaked and groaned. As if it was surprised at itself to be moving and breathing after laying dormant for so long. Revan didn't say anything. He didn't even look at his companions. Instead, he simply unclipped his weapon and headed into the unlit passageway.
"You might want to slow down a bit kid." Jolee breathed with effort after trotting after his charge. There was an equal measure of apprehension and urgency swirling around the man. A cocktail that never mixed well.
Revan pushed onwards, briefly registering the layer of dust that had recently been disturbed on an ancient terminal as he brought it to life and punched in a few commands. "There isn't time." He grunted. He quickly downloaded the temple's layout and some other files onto his datapad, before returning the device to its resting place inside the deep of his pocket.
"There's time enough to think! To prepare in case-" Jolee stopped himself as he felt the brooding frame lurch towards him, green flints sparkling in the dark. Numerous unnamed accusations frothed into the air. Unease needed to remain unnamed.
"In case of what?" Revan snorted. His jaw rotated from left to right as he dared his de-facto mentor to give it voice. "Jolee, in case of what?"
Juhani interjected, placing her velvet hands onto each of the men's shoulders. Trying to be that calming presence. "In case we need to fight." Her cat eyes locked focus with the tumultuous jade of her friend. He softened momentarily.
"*Thank you for downloading that information from my mainframe, Revan.*" The trio spun back towards the dilapidated and unassuming console as it announced itself in a deep Rakatan drawl. "*I would recognise your neurological patterns anywhere. That's why I allowed you access.*"
"Umm, thanks. And you are?"
"*I represent the glory of the Infinite Empire. A gatekeeper. I was built to collect and record the history and knowledge of my people. But you know all of this. We spoke for many hours on your last visit.*" Revan shifted uncomfortably at the computer's almost hurt tone. "*You shared so much about your own people. Those holovids you uploaded for me kept me riveted for the longest of times. The others I have spoken to pay me little heed.*"
The interaction with the dejected console, seemed to trigger a memory in Revan."Look, I remember you, but I had a bit of a smack to the head so I can't remember everything. I know that I need your permission to access the summit, so could you please open the way for me?"
The violet and blue of the front control panel slowly rippled as the computer seemed to consider Revan's request. "*I am not certain that it would pertinent to comply. You freely admit to not remembering our conversations. And after the trust that we built up. How do I know that your intentions are the same?*"
Revan scowled. Was he being hustled by the machine? A grumble clung to the orangey musk in the air as the datapad from before was once again pulled from its pocket. With a sigh and a few swipes of his finger, Revan had uploaded the whole three series of 'Observation Post 41'. A luscious drama filled mainly on Bespin, based around the dramatic lives of 'Listening Squad Alpha'. Two best friends become sworn enemies as they vie for the approval of their heroic superior, the beautiful and cold 'Commander Fray'. She must fight to keep her team together and undetected as they quietly search for the leaders of a plot to assassinate 'Ambassador Koreen Keldor', the woman commander Fray used to be in love with. The truth behind the plot threatens not just the galaxy, but a soldier's heart...
"That should keep you entertained for a while." Revan whispered quietly, feeling two pairs of eyes drilling into the back of his skull. It was Mission's smut, not his. He had never intended to watch it. At first.
"I'm not saying anything kid." Jolee sniggered as they stalked down another corridor. He sounded genuinely amused, but there was something stiff about it. Forced. It was as if he was trying to divert attention away from the blackened corners that surrounded them. Attempting to distract all from the sourness clinging to the air. There had been minimal activity further into the complex, save the carcasses of a few droids. The carbon scoring was recent and Revan felt his body moving faster and faster at the sight.
Eventually, the sprawling halls gave way to an open chamber. Little beams of light peaked through the cracks in the cream and ancient stone walls. The golden pallet a stark contrast to the slumbering tombs below. There was one door left, and the man in the charcoal cloak felt himself falter as he tried to move forwards. He had been here before. The rock began to crack and raise itself before him.
"Wait for me here please."
The two Jedi that flanked Revan, stepped forwards immediately as he spoke. "Don't be foolish kid, you need-"
"You can always come if it looks like I need aid." A sad smile worked itself into the corner of the younger man's cheek as he glanced at his companions. "I need to do this."
Red was glowing in the distance. Beneath a silhouette, no. A woman clad in black. So shocking against the smoothness of her surroundings. She was moving towards him, body curving with a confidence that he had never seen on her frame. Rvan's chest began to heave as she came closer still, water collecting once again on the rims as he struggled to control himself. It was as if she had kicked the life right out of him. The blackness of her frame and of her essence. Black against the brightness of their surroundings. Oh yes, he had been here before.
She was still shutting herself away from him. Not quite as acutely as earlier. He could feel the pieces that she had presented so carefully. Her anger, her arrogance. Her will and her longing. But she had opened the link. The action in itself was enough to send his head spinning. The feel of her swelling in the hollow of his heart, however alien her personality, he felt as if he had come home. This was her intention, of course. She had opened the link to tempt him. Or perhaps to taunt him. Revan knew that she had turned the moment he had crashed on this planet. Even so, he remembered what they had shared. Feelings so strong could never be simply wished away. She had missed him too. She had longed for him too. Seeing her and feeling her here, he was sure of it. Bastila would be saved.
"I knew you would come for me." Her plump lips curled upwards as she let her tongue caress the words. Regal jawline reaching backwards, like the neck of a swan would as she glared down at him. It was as if she had suddenly discovered the sexuality of her every motion. Revan couldn't help but watch, and she revelled in watching him do it. "Malak didn't think you would be brave enough, but I knew better."
Revan wanted to throw himself at her feet, just like in his dream. Though something was holding him back. Forcing him to question. "And what did you know, Bas?"
She stiffened when he called her that. The black inside her hardened grey irises, expanding as colour crept along her high cheekbones. "I knew that you wouldn't be able to resist my call." Bastila ran her tongue along her lower lip; smiling as she rotated her womanly hips slowly. She took another step towards the man. "You left me. You left me with him and you knew what would happen. I was furious with you, but now I understand that this is what you wanted."
"Please don't say that."
She took another step forwards, Bringing her left hand up to rest against the column of her long neck. She dipped three fingers into the wet opening of her mouth, before letting the elegant limb slip back down towards the swell of her breasts, and up towards her neck again. Her digits pinched at the skin that they found there. Revan closed his eyes, unwilling to believe that this was happening, and unable to be confident in his own response. He swallowed and snorted all at once.
"Perhaps, I wanted this, Revan. Perhaps I was tired of being a puppet. A pawn of the Jedi council." Her breath was close to his now, and in his mind, he could see the copper strands of her hair glinting gloriously in the afternoon sun as he lay her down in the grassy plains back on Dantooine. Revan opened his eyes, still expecting to see embarrassment etched into her full brows due to their close proximity, but she didn't look awkward at all. Her heavy gaze was focused on his lips; teeth baring with every intake of breath. There was something truly predatory about the way her face was moving. Finally, the tears began to slip against Revan's skin. He sniffed, bringing his palm up to brush against the ashen skin on her cheek.
Their eyes locked, both trembling at the point of contact. Fingers grasped lightly, just as hers had done. Grazing backward to caress the soft flesh behind her ear.
"He didn't hurt you, did he?"
Bastila bared her teeth again. "He didn't have to. He simply showed me what I had been resisting for so very long. Do you think that Malak could make me feel like this?" The fingers that had been in her mouth a few moments earlier, now found their way into his. He put up no resistance as that very same hand was now trailing down his neck, just as it had with hers, and to his breast, and down. And down.
Revan clutched at her wrist as she stepped even closer on an exhale. "This isn't you-"
"-But it is! What do you think that I was thinking about all of those nights on the Hawk? Hearing your body moving, feeling you closer and closer. knowing you could kill us all in an instant! What do you think I wanted? The same thing that you did! Now we finally have a chance, Malak won't be expecting us if we leave now. We can kill the Dark Lord and rule the Galaxy together, and I will be utterly, utterly yours!" She moved her lips to brush against his chin, moaning into the taste, but all Revan could hear was the purr of the crimson blades that still shimmered by her side.
"Bastila, I need to save you."
Some unknown emotion flickered across the woman's face as she looked at him. The skin above the bridge of her nose creased lightly as she swallowed. For a moment, Revan thought that he had convinced her. That was until he observed her delicate features tense and contort into a primal snarl. Into someone barely recognisable. The man blinked in confusion. Her focus had been drawn by something to her right, and Revan allowed himself a glance to see Juhani standing there with her blue blade drawn. Revan could feel Jolee's presence further behind him, meditating.
"And there she is. The beast from the cave! I knew you'd be here, lingering in the shadows. Sniffing around after my scraps!" Juhani gripped her weapon tighter. She stepped closer to the pair as Bastila continued. "He doesn't want you Juhani. You have nothing to offer anybody. You're not even worthy of being a Jedi!"
"Bastila, I implore you. Come back to the light. Do not give into your jealousy and anger. You won't find any power there!" The Cathar's words enraged Bastila. She ignored the man in front of her completely, focusing fully now on the source of her hatred.
"Don't you speak to me about power! You know nothing! You who fled to a cave like some cowering animal at the very first taste of it! I will not be like you! You disgust me!"
"BAS! NO-"
It all happened so quickly. She had been standing so close to him. All of her hatred lurching forwards like the lash of a whip. The white heat of her weapon followed the motion. Her right shoulder rotating as she swung her duel blades above her head. Her body tensed as she brought the lightsaber down hard. Cutting diagonally from left to right as she imagined Juhani being sliced in two.
She made contact! Bastila hissed in triumph. Only when she looked again, it wasn't the body of the Cathar lying face down on the ground. He had stepped out in front of her. The weapon went limp in her hand as she moved to rush forwards. Though, before she could, Jolee was levitating off of the ground. A blast of energy rippled from his whole body, sending Bastila flying across the expanse. She hit a far wall hard. Bastila winced as she slipped to the earth. The pain didn't stop her looking up with urgency, her eyes roaming. Searching through the dust to see the two Jedi kneeling next to Revan's body.
There was nothing through their link.
She struggled to right herself. Unable to think. Unable to breathe. She could see the blue of Juhani's blade still ignited in the distance, and she staggered back towards her ship. It took her a moment to activate the launch sequence, and after that was done, she allowed herself to slump back down onto the floor. Letting out a guttural sob as she did so.
"Revan..."
