AN: Hello my lovely readers, it is great to be back! Firstly, I would like to thank all of you for your patience and support, and I hope that this story continues to entertain each and every one of you. I have been very blessed to receive the amount of support you guys have given to me over the past year and I cannot express just how much all the encouragement has meant to me. These past two months have been very challenging with finishing school (I finally graduated btw!), family drama, and some major financial troubles, and the thought of getting this chapter done and getting to engage with this loyal audience was one of many motivations that helped me through this recent season; so, in all sincerity, thank you.

Secondly, on a lighter note, I recently acquired the Mass Effect Legendary Edition (if you are wondering if it is worth buying, it IS!) and I am about to finally start playing ME2, for probably the 5th time if I am being honest. With that being said, I wanted to take a kind of 'poll' on if I should slowly start working on a ME2 x Revan crossover? I have read a few of these stories of the years, been inspired by one in particular, and I have always been a big ME fan, but I am not sure if I should try to take on two stories. So, with all that being said, what do you guys think? If there is enough interest and demand to see me write that story then I will, so if that's something you want to see please leave a comment on this chapter saying so!

Anyway, that's all from me! As always, please leave feedback, comments, criticisms, any and all thoughts you have! All feedback is good feedback and the more you guys engage the more motivation I have to keep writing. I hope you all enjoy the longest chapter I have written to date! (It seems no matter how much I try I can't write short chapters lol) Hope you all enjoy!

Chapter 9 – The Room Where It Happens

The sounds of lightsabers clashing together in an intense duel slowly became louder and louder in the complete darkness she was surrounded by. The fierce fighting rose in intensity as the obscuring shadow slowly began to clear in all directions. She was standing in the middle of a large, circular, red-copper-colored, and metallic room. More details began to come into focus as her eyes adjusted to the muddled lighting of the room, the first of which was the numerous blinking lights of various control and display panels that were scattered around the room. As she continued to look around a flash of light and the dulled boom of an explosion drew her attention to the upper portions of the room. Her mind instantly recognized the scene of a small spacecraft, most likely a fighter, being destroyed and the subsequent explosion that quickly dissipates in the vacuum of space. She realized that she was looking out of a fairly large viewport that wrapped around the entire room and she could barely make out a large space battle raging outside her unfamiliar environment. She also began to recognize the noise of alarms blaring in the background, the kind that was common on a capital ship or space station.

Suddenly, another, much closer, explosion occurred just outside one of the viewports, causing several metal panels to violently blast across the room, leaving exposed sparking wires behind. The explosion also reverberated throughout the room, causing her to be shaken and lose her footing, which now placed two individuals directly in the path of her sight. While she couldn't make out too many specific details, she could tell she was looking at two men. One was shorter than the other, clad in brown robes, while the other was bald with prominent tattoos on their head and was dressed in red. The two were engaged in a deadly lightsaber duel, neither fighter was holding back, and both had the clear intention of cutting the other one down. The blows of each saber were powerful and skillfully exchanged, the speed of which alone communicated just how experienced and dangerous these two combatants really were. While she tried her best to witness the battle, another explosion tore her attention away from the action in front of her. She turned around just in time to drop to the ground and avoid being sliced in half by another flying piece of debris. By the time she was able to shake off the scare and look back to the duel, the brown robbed man was standing over the other, victorious. What happened next surprised her as the winner of the match fell to their knees and let out a cry of pain and anguish. Before she could take any action, the room shook violently, and she was suddenly dropped through an instantly appearing crack in the floor.

Ahsoka woke with a gasp. Her breathing was quick, and she could feel her heart racing inside her chest. She looked around rapidly, trying to determine her surroundings and assess her situation. Wherever she was was dark, but contained a few dim lights along the floor and ceiling. Her senses began to notice that she was on a carpeted floor, which felt soft and clean. Just as her mind was starting to calm slightly, she attempted to reach up to her head but encountered that she had been placed in a set of binder cuffs. This immediately caused new anxiety and fear to swell up inside her, but thankfully her training kicked in and she took a moment to close her eyes, take a deep breath, and keep her emotions in check. Having dealt with her immediate emotions, for the moment, she slowly began to scan her environment more carefully, while also reaching out in the Force for any insight that could help her. The Force revealed that she was not in any imminent danger, and as her eyes adjusted to the lighting of the space, she began to make out a few spread-out tables and chairs. Lastly, as she reached down and felt the floor, she detected the subtle, but unmistakable feeling of a ship traveling through hyperspace, this was also confirmed as her hearing began to pick up the dull hum of the ship's hyperdrive.

Just before she could start formulating a plan in her mind, a door she had not noticed at the far end of the room suddenly slid open with a quiet hissing sound, causing white-blue light to shine brightly into the room. She raised her hands instinctively to cover her face, as her eyes did their best to quickly adjust to the sudden shift in brightness. Her muscles also instinctively tensed up, ready for whatever potential threat awaited her.

"Ah, good, you're awake." A steady and slightly familiar male voice spoke from the doorway as a humanoid silhouette appeared in the frame of the doorway. Ahsoka saw the shadow of a hand quickly press a button on a small control panel near the door and the lights of the room quickly faded up to a much brighter setting, filling the room with warm even lighting. The figure's face now came into view, and Ahsoka was surprised to find herself slightly at ease upon seeing Revan's unmasked face, though the rest of his form was still fully robed and armored as the last time she had seen him.

Determined to find some measure of control in the situation, Ahsoka quickly looked around the newly lit room and found that her earlier limited observation had been correct. She was in the middle of a fairly spacious lounge or seating area, with spread-out luxury chairs and tables, the former of which were all covered in the same high-quality red with detailed gold patterns woven throughout the carpet, that the floor and walls were also plated with. This combined with the observations of being in hyperspace led the Padawan to the conclusion that they must be on the luxury yacht she had attempted to keep Revan from leaving on and had obviously failed. The thought of that encounter triggered a strange, but foggy memory of what had happened to her just before she had passed out.

Realizing that she had not said anything in response to Revan's comment, she responded with a redundant question to try and stall for time to come up with some kind of escape plan. "Where are we?" She asked with as much sincerity as she could muster.

When she glanced at Revan to gauge his response, hoping he would give some important information away, she was taken aback by a small smile on his face, followed by a short, but sincere laugh. "You already know the answer to that question, didn't your master teach you to guard your thoughts and emotions in the Force?"

Ahsoka mentally scolded herself for her lack of focus. Granted, she had never been good at putting up mental guards. She had only been taught the basics of how to do so from Master Plo Koon, and while she had learned a lot from Anakin's patented "hands-on" approach, he had never been big on the instruction of the fundamentals of Jedi training and skills. Still, she was an experienced enough Jedi that she should have been more careful and prepared, especially since she had already encountered Revan twice and knew a portion of what he was capable of.

Ahsoka's mental frustration was interrupted by a small chuckle emanating from Revan. "Don't be too hard on yourself." He began as he walked further into the room, "Even if you had been better mentally guarded, I'm not sure it would have made a difference." He finished his statement by taking a seat at one of the few tables in the room, before gesturing to the seat directly across from him and saying, "Come, sit. You and I need to have a conversation."

Ahsoka's brow rose slightly in suspicion, but she slowly lifted herself from her position on the floor and cautiously sat in the offered chair. She reminded silent, however, deciding to let Revan initiate whatever this conversation was going to be about, and doing her best to concentrate on keeping her mind and emotions sealed in the Force.

Revan offered a small reassuring smile, but let out a sigh when he saw it did nothing to lower Ahsoka's suspicion or general tension. "I have no intention to harm you if that's what you're worried about."

Ahsoka could sense no lie from Revan in the Force, but she also could barely feel his presence at all in the Force even this close to him. Thus, she continued to keep her guard up, ready to spring into action if necessary.

Revan watched her a moment, switching his gaze between each of her eyes, almost as if he was looking for something, but couldn't quite tell if he had found it or not. Finally, he spoke again, "You must be wondering what you are doing here."

"Not especially." Ahsoka quickly responded back, a small level of anger rising in her as her mind fully settled on the fact that she had been taken hostage and separated from her Jedi companions. "I'm probably here as a hostage to keep the Jedi from coming after you again." And unfortunately, she knew it would work. The Council would most likely back off for a time with one of their own in danger. A small wave of sadness came over her at the thought of the frustration and anger that kind of order would cause her master.

A flash of sympathy, or perhaps guilt, went across Revan's face as her mind went through these emotions, but it disappeared as quickly as it had appeared. "While you most likely will not, believe me, I did not bring you along-"

"Kidnapped." Ahsoka interjected as a correction, a glare forming in her eyes.

Revan paused for a moment before continuing, "...Kidnapped, to make use of you as a hostage. Personally, I do not believe that any warrior worth their salt should have to resort to hiding behind live shields as cover."

Ahsoka was once again surprised with the conviction and slight anger she could hear behind Revan's words, but she still was not totally convinced that she was by any means safe. However, for the sake of information, and frankly to speed this conversation along, she decided to see where this was all going, "Fine. Let's say you're telling the truth and I'm not a hostage, that still doesn't answer the question of why I am here."

"You are right, it does not." Revan placed a gloved hand on the table and began to rhythmically tap his fingers on the metal surface, his mind clearly trying to calculate some kind of equation or next step. After several moments he finally spoke again, "Tell me...how much do you know about Force Bonds?"

Ahsoka's face looked slightly bewildered at this apparent shift in conversation, but pushing those questions aside, she leaned forward slightly as her mind began to concentrate on the question she had just been asked. A thought was beginning to formulate in the recesses of her mind, and her natural curiosity was starting to peak in interest. "Well...I have only heard about them a few times, during some of my early Jedi training sessions where we studied history in the archives. Though, to be honest I always got bored and stopped paying attention about halfway through most of the lectures."

Revan laughed at this honest response, before saying, "It seems I wasn't the only one who found those history lessons duller than a Rancor's social life."

Ahsoka smiled at Revan's joke, despite herself, her tension and worry started to take a backseat to her curiosity. "Wait, you were Padawan?"

Revan nodded in response before answering, "Indeed I was, though I imagine my training had many significant differences to your own."

Before he could continue his explanation, something clicked in Ahsoka's mind, "So...that's what you meant when you told me you weren't stealing anything from the Temple Archives."

"Correct. You're quite a quick study for someone so young."

Ahsoka felt a small bit of pride well up inside her. Anakin was quick to give encouraging words, but specific and intentional complements were not something she was accustomed to, mostly just scoldings or reprimands, something she had started to understand better the more she saw how Obi-Wan interacted with his former apprentice. Her training kicked in again and she realized that she had lost all focus. Shaking her head slightly she locked eyes with Revan and said, "Regardless, what does you kidnapping me have to do with Force Bonds?"

"Yes well, now we get to the heart of it, don't we?" Revan rested his other hand on the table and leaned forward slightly. "Ahsoka...there's no convenient way for me to explain this, but..."

Ahsoka's eyes slowly grew larger as her mind raced ahead with the conclusion that Revan was already headed towards. In an instant, her mind flashed back to her and Bariss in the Archives, where Ahsoka could sense an attack but Bariss couldn't. Later, she could feel Revan in the Temple when none of the other Jedi even knew he was there. Then, on Tatooine, she knew Revan was on his way back to town, but none of the other Masters could even sense him. Finally, at the hanger, she remembered, she had seen memories, she had looked into his mind. "We're Bonded?" She asked in a mixture of confusion, worry, and bewilderment.

This time it was Revan's turn to be surprised, he had only barely paused when the Padawan had spoken up and finished his dialog for him. Sensing the flood of emotions coming off of the young Togruta, he waited a moment before responding, "Yes... That would be the correct conclusion."

"How? When? Why did this happen? What does all of this-"

Her questions were cut short as Revan raised a hand as a signal for her to stop, which she reluctantly did. "Take a breath. Steady yourself. Do not allow your emotions to control you."

While a flash of anger and frustration crept up inside her, Ahsoka heeded the wisdom in his words and did as was suggested. Having found her center again she spoke, "At least answer my questions."

"I would if I could." Revan leaned back in his chair, folding his hands together as he did so. "The frustrating reality is that I have been meditating on our...situation, for the better part of several hours, while you slept, and I have yet to find a satisfactory answer to the questions of how, when, or why this occurred. All I am currently certain of is the reality of this Bond we now share."

Ahsoka watched Revan carefully for several moments, trying her best to detect any trace of dishonesty. Having found none, she asked a new question, "So what does this mean for us? I'm still not totally familiar with the subject of Force Bonds, only that they serve as some kind of two-way connection between two Force users."

Revan nodded slightly at Ahsoka's basic explanation. "That's more or less the whole of it. When two Force users are bonded they have the ability to communicate with one another in the Force, but not just with words. They can transmit or receive thoughts, emotions, instincts, physical stimuli, and even memories and knowledge."

Ahsoka looked down at the table, pieces of the puzzle and the past few days were slowly beginning to fall into place, but she was still missing large portions of the picture. "If that's all true, then why can't I feel anything in the Force from you right now?"

"Let us just say I have some...experience with Force Bonds." Ahsoka looked up questioningly, but Revan continued speaking, "While a Force Bond can be used to powerful effect between two allies, it also can be very dangerous. If one individual's mind is more unstable or powerful than the other's, certain memories or traumatic events can overwhelm the weaker mind without warning. Additionally, if a Bond is left open and unguarded, then any physical wound one individual suffers will be felt with equal intensity by the other. These potential dangers and exposed weaknesses only grow as the Bond is deepened, but so do the potential benefits. This is why when any Force Bond is formed, there must be careful training and actions that should be taken to ensure the safety of both individuals."

"So you've experienced a Force Bond before," Ahsoka locked eyes with Revan to judge his reaction, "and you're sealing your side of the connection off right now."

Revan met her gaze and did not look away as he answered, "Correct, once again."

As assured as she could be, Ahsoka looked away and continued to process the information. "So, this is why I'm here... No matter where you go, or how well you hide yourself in the Force, I still have the ability to find you."

"Precisely. It seems you are a very fast learner."

"But, if you can seal yourself off from this connection, why take me?" Ahsoka asked confused.

"It's not a permanent solution." Revan answered simply, "At some point, I will lose focus on sealing my side of the Bond. I will be in battle, I will have to sleep, or I will simply become occupied with other more pressing matters. At some point, you will gain access to my mind again, and just as I suspect happened on Tatooine, you will be able to sense my location no matter where I am in the galaxy."

Ahsoka slowly nodded in understanding. "...How do we get rid of this connection?" She asked with great seriousness.

Revan chuckled and took a deep breath before responding, "I am afraid that information is unknown, even by your great Jedi Council."

Ahsoka looked at him questioningly, but he waved his hand and began to answer her unspoken question, "Force Bonds are extremely rare, even among the Jedi. Because of this fact, studies on the subject have been extremely...limited, to say the least. Even after all these thousands of years that the Jedi have been recording countless volumes of information, the ones who have studied Force Bonds are still not sure how they form, much less how to sever the link."

Ahsoka's face fell and she stared at the floor. Several moments passed in silence before she spoke, "I guess this means you're going to lock me up in some cage until you're defeated, or you no longer need to hide."

Revan studied the Padawan for a moment before answering, "That is one possibility I have considered… However, I feel that would be quite a waste for both you and I."

Ahsoka slowly looked up, her curiosity beginning to take charge again, "What do you mean?"

"I would like to offer you an...agreement. In exchange for your cooperation, meaning you will not actively attempt to escape, I will allow you to stay at my side and live in monitored freedom, to do as you like."

Ahsoka's eyes narrowed in suspicion, "You're asking me to join you?"

"Not entirely. I am no fool, Ahsoka. I know no matter how many layers of security I put around you, you are going to attempt to escape and I am sure I will have to dedicate a serious portion of resources to ensure that you do not."

Ahsoka smirked slightly at this comment but continued to be wary of what exactly Revan was offering. "So if I choose this other option, I can walk around, but I'll still be a prisoner?"

Revan shrugged slightly in response, "More or less, but the significant difference is that you will actually be able to learn things during your imprisonment, rather than simply staring at a metal wall for weeks or months." Ahsoka cocked her head to the side, and Revan continued by answering her unspoken question. "By saving me the time, energy, and resources in containing you, you will gain the benefit of knowing some of my plans, getting to explore my facilities, and even gaining key intelligence that could completely defeat me. I do not doubt that at some point either you will escape or your Jedi friends will manage to retrieve you. Would you not rather be reunited with them having gained a wealth of knowledge on one of their enemies?"

Ahsoka once again studied Revan closely to try and see what he wasn't telling her. "...Why would you risk that important information, just to not worry about me escaping for the next little bit? And how do you know I won't make a break for it as soon as we land?"

Revan simply shrugged again, "Perhaps it's pride or overconfidence that compels me to offer this deal, but I can tell you this, you will not learn anything more about me or my motivations locked in a cell. As for you making a break for it as soon as we land, I do not believe you will." He leaned forward again and locked eyes with the Padawan before continuing, "Just as you have looked into my mind, so I have looked into yours. You are a loyal and committed Jedi, one who understands the value of their word. You do not break the oaths you take lightly."

Ahsoka felt like shrinking back away from his gaze, which seemed to slice straight through her, but despite her fear she simply gripped a fist under the table to stable herself and did not back down from the exchange.

Revan smirked slightly at seeing her courage and determination, he then leaned back to give her mind a break, saying as he did so, "So, Ms. Tano, have we reach an accord?"

Ahsoka was frustrated that she couldn't read anything off the man in front of her. However, as she mulled his proposal over in her mind she began to soften to the idea. He could have simply killed her in that hanger when he realized the threat she posed. Even before that, he could have killed her and Barriss at the Archives, or Vos when he was chasing Revan through Coruscant. Additionally, Revan clearly wasn't a Sith, Ventress attacking him more than confirmed that. While Ahsoka was nowhere near understanding this man or his motivations, he had done nothing that was unforgivable, and surprisingly enough all the damage he had caused could have been much worse. She was sure there was a catch to what Revan was offering, but as he said, she wouldn't know what that was sitting in a cell. "Well," she finally began, "if I'm going to be a prisoner for the foreseeable future, I might as well pick up a hobby to kill the time."

Revan smiled at her response, before standing up from the table. "I am very pleased we could come to an understanding about this situation." He then waved his hand in front of him and the binder cuffs clicked and dropped to the floor.

Ahsoka was surprised by this action, and as she rubbed her wrists to ease the soreness she said, "...Thanks."

"You are welcome. Now, please excuse me, I should go check on our pilot and progress." He gestured to a small bar on the opposite wall. "There's water, some food, and other beverages all in there. Feel free to take whatever you would like." He looked at her, leaned forward, and mockingly whispered, "I won't report you to the Council if you decide to have a real drink."

Ahsoka simply rolled her eyes at the joke, but she appreciated the offer of food and water. "Where did you get this nice of a ship?" She asked looking around with new appreciation for her surroundings.

"Courtesy of one Hondo Ohnaka-"

"The pirate lord?" Ahsoka asked before Revan could continue.

He looked at her slightly surprised, before asking his own question, "You know him?"

"I've had my share of run-ins with that scum."

"Huh...it really is a small galaxy." Revan muttered, mostly to himself. He then turned and began walking to the cockpit. "Oh!" He quickly spun back around, causing Ahsoka to look at him curiously, "I almost forgot." He added before reaching into his black layered robes, then proceeded to pull out two silver lightsaber hilts of slightly different sizes, which he quickly tossed to Ahsoka.

She caught them and her eyes grew slightly wide as she realized they were her sabers. By the time she looked back up at Revan, he had already re-entered the cockpit, the sliding door just closing behind him. Despite everything she at just learned, all the emotions and questions running through her mind, and her general confusion about what to think of Revan and his methods, Ahsoka felt a small smile slowly appear on her face.

Count Dooku was suddenly stirred from his daily meditation. He had been sitting quite comfortably for only a short while, allowing the Force to ease his mind and bring comfort to his aging body. What had broken the momentary peace was the small, yet consistent, and slightly annoying beep of his personal communicator, which he kept near himself at all times, just in case any urgent matters needed to be attended to. He scowled as the noise continued to invade his private and comfortable mediation suit at his home. Taking a deep sigh he leisurely reached over and activated the communicator before saying, "This had better be important."

A smooth, robotic, feminine voice of a personal assistant droid answered back across the two-way line, "I do apologize for disturbing you my lord, but it seems you have a requested call in a few minutes on the high-priority line."

The Count's eyes widened slightly, and he felt his pulse quicken upon hearing this information. He had only just received the report on Ventress' mission, but he had hoped to have more time to formulate an answer for her failure. Shaking his head he willed his reactions under control before answering in his usual modulated tone, "Very well. Inform my master that I will be available to receive his call."

"Very good, my lord." The droid answer before the call was terminated.

Dooku quickly rose from his plush meditation cushion, before making his way into a small bathroom to change into his usual black robes and brown cloak with a connecting silver chain. Once he was in proper attire, he made his way through a few adjacent hallways before finally arriving in the main hall where his desk and primary computer were. Seeing the red flash of an incoming call, Count Dooku knelt in the proper location to be seen, bowed his head, and accepted the call.

A large blue hologram appeared before the Count, displaying a cloaked figure whose nose and mouth were barely visible under an obscuring hood. "What is thy bidding, my master?" Dooku asked without looking up from the ground.

"I have just received the report from the battle on Tatooine. It seems your assassin's performance left much to be desired." The cold and gravelly voice of Darth Sideous answered back to his apprentice.

"I assure you, my Lord, this disgraceful failure will be answered for in swift and harsh punishment." Dooku spoke, anger and frustration rising slightly in the back of his tone.

The large hologram simply waved its hand dismissively. "It does not matter that she failed to secure or kill Revan, we have gained a wealth of knowledge and information from that one fight alone. I never expected her to succeed, the fact that she survived is surprising."

Dooku slowly looked up at his master, his face showing a small level of confusion. "This means you anticipated that Revan would escape?"

"I needed to assess his capabilities, and with the recordings from the droid's data banks, as well as the information from the Jedi's report, I now have a much clearer picture of the individual we are dealing with."

Dooku nodded slightly before asking, "What has been your conclusion then? Is this the Revan from our galaxy's history?"

Sideous paused a moment before answering, "I still cannot say for certain, but thus far all the evidence points to that possibility. I doubt anyone else living, or dead, in the galaxy could have made it out of such a death trap. From this point on, we will be treating Revan as if he truly is from our own history."

"I understand, what would you have me do?"

"I will begin my own study into the possibility of time travel, and search for how Revan could have possibly entered our time. I want you, and the various generals of the Separatist army to begin reviewing the plans, tactics, and strategies from Revan's past exploits. I want his next step predicted and intercepted before he makes it. Lastly, send General Grevious with a large fleet to Hutt Space and have him send probes and other search teams to all the systems near Tatooine. If Revan has gone to hide somewhere in that cluster, I want him found and eliminated. Do what you must to appease the Hutts, but do not allow them to impede the search."

"It shall be done, my master." Dooku said before bowing his head again.

"And Tyranus," Dooku looked up again at his master, "this new enemy is not to be underestimated. See to it that you do not disappoint me in this endeavor." The threat was well understood by both parties and was accented with Sideous walking out of view and the hologram slowly fading away.

Dooku was surprised with how well that conversation had gone and found himself having to consciously loose the tension in his shoulders. Picking himself off the ground he made his way to his seat at his desk, and after a few seconds of typing on his terminal, a small hologram of a mostly mechanized cyborg appeared just to Dooku's right.

A husky and slightly robotic voice spoke as the intimidating figure bowed slightly with one arm, "What are you orders, my lord?"

Padmé Amidala and Bail Organa were sitting side-by-side in a standard grey with red trim Coruscant airspeeder, with Padmé driving. The pair of senators were flying through the middle of Coruscant's infamous mid-day rush hour. While Padmé was clearly a skilled pilot and expertly flew the craft in between the heavy traffic above the clouds, Organa still found himself consistently gripping the support handles whenever they flew a little too close to another vehicle.

"Just for my sake, let's go over the plan again." The senator from Alderaan said, mostly as a way to take his mind off of his fellow senator's style of aggressive driving.

Seeing her friend's obvious discomfort, Padmé smirked slightly before deciding to humor his request. "Don't tell me you're getting too old to remember things Bail?" The look/glare she received from her older companion was enough to make her put up a hand, "Okay, okay, just joking. As for the plan, it's pretty simple. You already called ahead and set up a meeting with the local sector chief of Coruscant Security to discuss increasing your own private security detail. While you are very early for your meeting, my contact in Security will get us further into the main headquarters of this sector. With you keeping an eye out and acting like you're supposed to be there, I will be inside the archives to pull any data I can find with this." She accented her plan by holding up a silver data drive that was clearly modified.

"And what exactly are you looking for that your contact couldn't have sent to you?" Organa asked while taking a curious look at the device.

"Unfortunately, Coruscant Security has started to monitor archive information more heavily, and apparently the entire Revan investigation has been labeled as 'highly classified,' so my contact has lost all access to those files."

"Uh-huh...and what happens if we get caught? What we are doing isn't exactly legal."

"And when has that stopped us before?" Padmé looked at her friend with a mocked raised eyebrow.

Organa laughed slightly in response, "I suppose that's a fair question, but you still haven't answered mine."

Padmé simply shrugged, "You already have a meeting set up, if anyone asks what you're doing, just say you got lost and need help getting to your appointment. You're a good actor, they'll believe you." She said with a small smile.

"Simple enough, but what about you? At the very least they're going to have your image on their cameras."

"Got that covered. My contact still has access to the building's security, today's footage is going to mysteriously get corrupted. I.T. is always running into problems nowadays. And if I get into real trouble, I'll improvise. I've certainly been in worse situations." She ended her explanation with a wink.

Organa smiled back, but then sighed heavily before saying, "Padmé, you're very capable, and I know you think you've found something important here, but if this goes wrong, this could have massive repercussions for you and your position as senator." He fully turned his head and looked at his friend with seriousness in his eyes, "I want you to be sure this is something you have to do."

Making sure the air in front of them was clear for a while, Padmé turned and met Organa's gaze. She stared back with a unique firey conviction the older senator had never found in another individual, and said, "I'm sure."

A few more seconds passed before Organa finally nodded back and said, "Alright, I've got your back."

The speeder flew around a towering building before headed directly towards a large isolated structure, surrounded by various police and military craft.

Ahsoka was suddenly stirred from her idle meditation when she felt the familiar jolt of a ship exiting hyperspace. Getting up from the chair she had stayed in since her earlier conversation, she attached her two sabers to her belt and made her way to the cockpit door. The door slid open and she found herself standing inside a comfortably sized two-person control room, with Revan sitting on her right and the Ithorian from the hangar on her left. Ahsoka hesitated at the sight of the alien before her memory reminded her of where she had seen him before.

Revan turned his head slightly at the sound of the door opening and said, "I was wondering when you were going to join us." He then turned to his co-pilot, "Sterr, this is Ahsoka Tano, Ahsoka, meet Sterr, one of the finest mechanics I have ever had the pleasure of meeting." He said with a genuine smile on his face.

The Ithorian seemed both surprised and pleased by the compliment, proceeding to turn his long neck and give a kind of seated bow to Ahsoka, "It is an honor to meet a Jedi, Ms. Tano. I must apologize for the...unfortunate circumstances we had to meet in."

Ahsoka was taken aback by the Ithroian's demeanor but quickly smiled reassuringly before placing a fist in her other palm and bowing to the Ithorian. "No apology is necessary Sterr, and please, call me Ahsoka."

The Ithorian nodded before turning back to look out of the wide viewport that was directly in front of the pilots' seats. Revan leaned forward and pressed a few buttons and switches on the control panel before taking hold of the two-handled yoke that was dedicated to his chair. "I'll take it from here Sterr, this area is going to be a bit tricky to get through."

Ahsoka finally took notice of the movement outside of the spacecraft, proceeding to move forward in the cockpit until she was standing between both seats, resting her hands on each for support. The yacht was flying directly towards a densely packed asteroid cluster that seemed to revolve around and almost entirely encompass a small dwarf planet, or maybe a very large asteroid, that had about a quarter of its mass broken and floating into space, no doubt caused by multiple impacts over thousands of years.

As the craft flew closer and closer to the orbiting cluster, Revan reached into his robes and pulled out a small, metal, bronze-colored cube, with thin green lines running across its surface. He gently placed the cube on the dash directly below the viewport's glass before placing his hand back on the yoke.

Ahsoka watched with curiosity as the cube's subtle and thin green lines began to glow and seemingly expand ever so slightly. She also observed how Revan continued to glance between the cube and the window, making small adjustments and course corrections whenever the cube would dim or shift its lighting. She was also impressed with how naturally and expertly Revan navigated the dangerous environment they were surrounded by. Even only having watched him fly for a few minutes, Ahsoka could tell he was an experienced pilot.

Finally, after several minutes of tense and careful flying in relative silence, save the various sounds of the ship's engines quick adjustments and responses to Revan's commands, Revan finally spoke, "We've arrived."

Ahsoka was about to ask what he meant but was cut short as they rounded a larger asteroid and the trio was greeted with an impressive sight. In a relatively empty section of the huge asteroid cluster sat a massive asteroid that clearly contained a space station directly inside of it. The structure was almost entirely covered by the asteroid but had a few what looked like ports, hangers, docking clamps, and various other extensions or pieces of the station that jutted out from underneath the grey rock, creating a harsh contrast due to the bronze metal material of the station. The station was very dark, with no lights or signs of activity, and with how far the surrounding cluster was from this system's star, Ahsoka was beginning to realize how hidden and isolated this location was.

Both the Togruta and Ithorian were stunned in silence as the full scope of the structure became more apparent as they flew closer to what could only be described as half of a small moon. "Where is here, exactly?" Ahsoka asked without being able to tear her eyes away from the sight before her.

"The Foundry." Revan answered simply, his attention being much more focused on steering the ship to one of the many hangers that ran around the equator of the asteroid.

Ahsoka stopped staring at the station and looked at the back of Revan's head, a mixture of confusion, curiosity, and slight worry going through her mind. "And, would you care to elaborate on that fact, or should I be expected to read your mind?"

"Tell me Ahsoka, how much do you know of the Rakata?" Revan responded back with, choosing not to engage with her obvious frustration.

Ahsoka's mind raced back through her memory upon hearing that word. Something seemed very familiar about it, but she couldn't quite place it, meaning she most likely encountered it during one of the various boring lectures she was forced to listen to as a youngling. Finally, a very foggy history lesson made its way to the surface of her thoughts. "They...they were an ancient civilization. Thousands of years before the Republic, or even Jedi… Didn't they enslave the galaxy or something?"

Revan nodded, not taking his eyes off of his intended destination. "You have pretty much got it. They were the first militant race in the galaxy, and the first to fully embrace the Dark Side, like the Sith later on. In fact, they created Galatic Basic as a slave language for all the races they forced to work for them, but that is an unimportant detail."

Sterr looked at Revan and Ahsoka with wide eyes, gulping slightly upon hearing this history lesson for the first time.

"Regardless," Revan continued, "they built a massive and powerful empire, the likes of which has never been seen since, and like all groups that amass too much power, they destroyed themselves. Now it is extremely rare to find any evidence of their existence, but a few of their greatest accomplishments were hidden away and protected. The Foundry is perhaps one of the greatest marvels they ever constructed."

Ahsoka was stunned with the information she had just received, and she slowly looked up at the approaching station, which had now become so large it completely encompassed the party's view. "So this is where you've been trying to get to all this time..." she said quietly, more to herself than to anyone in particular.

Revan didn't answer but simply glanced at his two companions, smirking slightly upon seeing both of their reactions.

"What is the function of this place?' Sterr finally spoke up, his technical mind slowly replacing his fear of the unknown with excitement about the possibilities of such an installation.

"It builds things." Revan responded flatly. "Primarily very advanced battle droids, but it also has the capability to produce almost anything one can imagine from ships to fighters, or even other more powerful space stations." Ahsoka noticed that as Revan mentioned the last item, his tone seemed to shift slightly, almost as if his mind drifted off to an entirely different place and time.

Before Ahsoka could observe the former Sith lord further, her attention was caught by the sight of a large, closed, hangar door shifting more prominently into view. Just as she was about to ask how they would get in, Revan wordlessly reached a hand forward and slowly waved a gloved, open palm just above the bronze cube still sitting on the dash. As his hand passed over it, Ahsoka could sense the Force passing over it, and the cube responded by glowing brighter for just a moment. Immediately following this action, several lights came on around the hanger doors, and two heavy bronze pieces of metal began to slide apart from each other in diagonal directions, followed by two other sets of doors behind them, the first horizontally and the last vertically.

Ahsoka watched in amazement as the ancient doors moved smoothly and without trouble. She was about to ask several questions when Revan answered predictively, "The Rakatans were advanced beyond even today's standard of technology. Somehow they were able to craft a kind of metal that could physically be infused with the Force. This allowed them to be the first and only civilization to fully and seamlessly combine the Force and their technology. This also allows the Force to mend and maintain their technology over time as it does with simple living organisms like plant life. It does not matter how old a piece of Rakatan technology is, as long as the Force is not hindered in its environment, it will work as well as the day it was made."

Ahsoka stared at the cube and the slowly opening hanger in bewilderment and awe. However, her mind slowly began to wonder what someone like Revan was planning to do with technology this powerful, and she could feel her body tense up slightly in worry with some of the more extreme predictions that came to mind. These mental gymnastics were interrupted as the hanger fully came into view. The interior was quite dark, with only the exterior lights of the ship illuminating the metal interior, it almost gave the sensation that the ship was slowly being swallowed by some ancient monster.

"The main generation is offline. We will have to restart it, but in the meantime, I doubt there will be any oxygen inside for us." Revan explained as a word of caution. "There should be a couple of environmental helmets and filters for each of you in the back storage."

"What about you?" Ahsoka asked.

Revan responded by unhooking his mask from his belt, bringing his undersuit up around the back of his head, and carefully placing the mask over his face until the hissing sound of sealing air was produced, followed by the slightly synthesized sound of filtered breathing. Revan turned to look at the Padawan and said in a modulated voice, "You do not believe this thing is just for show, do you?"

The red, black, and silver mask was still as dark and intimidating as when she had first seen it, but Ahsoka managed to push away the building fear and simply roll her eyes at Revan before walking to the back of the ship just as it landed with an audible thud.

After several moments of mostly dark silence, the main hanger doors having closed behind the spacecraft, the mechanical whirring noise of a ship's boarding ramp slowly echoed throughout the large hangar. Once the ramp was fully lowered, the sound of boots on the metal ramp also echoed through the hanger, as Revan cautiously descended from the ship first. He was followed by Ahsoka, wearing a simple breath mask, with one saber in hand, who in turn was followed by Sterr, wearing his own custom breathing gills that connected above his elongated neck, and was also holding a small blaster pistol tightly in both hands. Revan stepped foot onto the hanger proper and stopped, tapping the side of his mask several times as his head slowly panned and scanned the room before them.

Ahsoka took position directly beside him, doing her best to search the room both visibly and in the Force. "I'm guessing we might not be alone in here." Ahsoka offered as an observation.

Revan did not respond immediately, but as his scanning was producing nothing obvious he finally answered, "To be perfectly transparent, I have only set foot on the Foundry once before now, but I did encounter a few still active security droids at that time. In the thousands of years since I have been gone, I have no way of knowing if anything else stirred in this powerful station."

His words were accented as a low groan, like that of a settling metal house, drifted up from deeper in the darkness of the station and reverberated around them for a tense moment.

"I-I am af-afraid I may not b-be much help to th-the two of you. Pe-perhaps I sh-should stay on the sh-ship." Sterr barely managed to stutter out in embarrassed fear, the pistol in his hands noisily shaking despite his tight grip on it.

Ahsoka felt pity for the simple mechanic, who had now been throw far outside of his comfort zone. She was about to agree with his idea when Revan spoke while still scanning the room. "It is alright Sterr." She looked at Revan surprised as he had sounded genuinely kind and sympathetic. "Ahsoka and I will make sure nothing happens to you. Additionally, I cannot guarantee your safety if you stay on that ship, but I can if you stay near me and within my sight." Revan then turned to look at the Ithorian, placing a hand on his shoulder as he did so. "I know that I am asking a lot of you right now, but I have confidence in your courage and bravery. What I need from you right now is to believe you possess those qualities as well."

Ahsoka watched as Sterr met Revan's gaze and saw new determination slowly fill his eyes before he nodded with renewed confidence. She was beginning to understand how Revan treated his followers, and how even someone as common as Sterr could be inspired to follow him into this unknown and potentially dangerous place.

Before any more words could be exchanged, Revan's head suddenly turned to look at the darkness. Ahsoka felt it a second later and was about to turn on her lightsaber, but before she could Revan shouted, "Down!" and immediately two of the trio dropped to the floor, as Sterr and Ahsoka were pulled prone by an invisible hand in the Force. They hit the ground with a thud as several precise blaster bolts flew just inches over the heads and broke against the front of the ship.

A moderately sized set of double doors slid open as Senator Padmé Amidala and Senator Bail Organa stepped into the busy sector HQ of Coruscant Security. A flurry of noise, movement, people, aliens, and droids moved through the large octagonal lobby, most of them officers, a few were various civilians or legal representatives, and a small yet uncomfortable minority were comprised of various individuals in binder cuffs being led to their respective processing locations.

"Seems we picked quite the active day to come here." Organa mentioned quietly to his partner-in-crime as the two looked around the space trying to take in all the fast-moving information before them.

Padmé simply nodded in agreement without saying anything. She continued to observe the lobby until she spotted a recently opened help-desk, where a GU-series Guardian police droid had just taken up their post and was in the process of loading up their holographic terminal in front of them. Having found her target she made her way over to the droid confidently, only looking around in small movements to make sure she wasn't about to get trampled by anyone racing across the floor. Organa matched her air of 'I am supposed to be here.' And the two of them made their way to the desk.

The droid was occupied with trying to get their terminal up and running and obviously wasn't having a very successful start to their day.

"Ah-hem, uh, excuse me, officer?" The new noise pulled the droid out of their focus and their optics quickly adjusted to view the individual directly in front of them. Padmé put on her most practiced smile as the droid made eye contact with her.

"Oh! Uhm, yes, hello." The droid slowly responded, its processor obviously was quite a bit slower than the newer models that had recently been released. "How may I help you today citizen? I must apologize that I may not be able to access our visitor system or public records for a few more minutes, this terminal seems to be malfunctioning."

"That's quite alright, if you could just contact officer Rexl for me and let him know his lunch is here, I would greatly appreciate it." Padmé replied back.

The droid was surprised with the request and glanced up at Organa standing to the side of Padmé, who simply smiled back. "Uh, I...yes, of course. One moment." The droid turned around in their chair and began talking into their internal comms.

Padmé leaned against the front of the help desk and looked at Organa, "Guess we're waiting." The older man said to his younger colleague.

After only a few moments both Senators turned as they heard a voice call out to them, "Ah, there you both are." The voice came from a bluish-green Rodian, dressed in a typical police uniform, who quickly made their way to the two waiting humans. "Thanks, G7," the Rodian said to the still slightly confused droid, "I'll take these two from here."

Before the droid could respond with something about proper protocol for all visitors, the newly formed trio quickly made their way across the lobby and into the station proper, through a set of heavier doors where only non-police/criminals were allowed through. "Glad you two made it when you did, I only have a few minutes left in my break."

"Thanks for getting us in Rexl, I guess I owe you another bottle of that Nabooian wine." Padmé said somewhat jokingly.

"For everything I'm doing this time, you better make it two bottles." Rexl countered back with, half-jokingly, half dead-serious.

"What kind of timetable are we working with here?" Organa asked in a low voice as the group casually, yet cautiously, made their way deeper and deeper into the white and grey halls/corridors of the station.

"Guards patrol every 15 minutes through the more restricted sections of the station, which of course includes the digital archives. I timed my break and your arrival so we should arrive just as a patrol finishes their round, so that gives you 10 minutes to get in, get your data, and 5 to get out." Rexl suddenly stopped his explanation and gestured for his two companions to stop at the end of a hallway. The trio waited a few tense seconds as two security drones slowly hovered past them along a perpendicular corridor. After verifying that the coast was clear the group continued to move. "As soon as I leave you two I'll head to the main security hub and corrupt all the camera footage for the past several hours, including the upcoming hour you two will be here for, so if you see an active camera don't worry about it."

"And what about the guards currently watching the cameras?" Padmé asked quickly.

"All taking their lunch break, I may have paid a friend in the scheduling department to set that up." He then turned to Padmé and smiled slightly, "Maybe it should be three bottles, now that I think about it."

Padmé simply rolled her eyes and the group continued on.

"What about getting into the archives?" Organa asked. "Does the station monitor who access what areas at what times?"

"They do indeed, but that's simple. I just swiped a key card off another guy at the station." Rexl answered before holding up a small blue and white card with his index and middle finger.

After several careful minutes of sneaking through the mostly empty halls of the back portion of the station, the group arrived in front of a small black and red door. Rexl quickly swiped the key card and the door opened. "Alright, this is where I leave you. Remember, if either of you gets caught, I can't help you get out of this mess."

Padmé turned to the Rodian and said, "Thank you Rexl, you've done more than enough."

"After everything you did for Onaconda, don't mention it." Rexl responded back, all three persons in the group felt a wave of sadness as they were reminded of the death of their friend. "Alright, good luck you two." Rexl said before saluting them both and quickly jogging away.

Padmé looked at Organa, who said, "You better get to work, I'll keep an eye out just like we agreed, just be sure to keep your communicator close by."

Padmé nodded back at her friend, smiled, and said, "I won't be long." Then headed into the dimly light, black and red room of the station's archives.

Revan leaped into action before Ahsoka could even fully register what was happening. In an instant, after she and Sterr had been pulled to the floor, she had heard the sound of a lightsaber being ignited, simultaneously followed by Revan's robed form jumping into the darkness of the room to the source of the blaster fire. Looking up, the only thing she could see in the room was red blots connecting with a red saber that moved rapidly to block and deflect the incoming fire.

Ahsoka quickly pushed herself up from the ground and ignited both sabers, before Force Jumping to land near Revan. In mid-air she saw Revan close the distance between himself and the origin of the blaster fire, deftly slicing the barrel off of some kind of rifle. Her vision shifted when she landed, but when she looked up again she found herself confused. Revan had stopped moving completely, his red saber was pointed down at an angle in front of him, the low light of which barely illuminated some kind of figure which Ahsoka could hardly see.

"HK?" Revan's voice echoed slightly throughout the hangar in a clearly surprised tone, even with the synthetic filter of his mask.

"Query: Master?" A clearly robotic, yet somewhat human-sounding voice responded back from just in front of Revan.

Suddenly, several lights throughout the hanger turned on, adding a moderate amount of light to the large space. Ahsoka raised her hand in a reaction as her eyes quickly adjusted to the rapid shift in light. Once she could see more clearly, she saw Revan was standing over an almost rust-colored droid, a type of which she had never seen before. Her thoughts were further confused when Revan suddenly turned off his lightsaber and offered his hand to the droid, who quickly took hold of his arm and was assisted in standing to its feet.

The droid was tall, most likely more than 7 feet in total height. Its face possessed a slightly menacing quality, which was not helped by its glowing red, and harshly angular eyes. Squinting in suspicion, and keeping a tight grip on both her sabers, Ahsoka asked, "Wait, you know this thing?"

"I suppose you could say that." Revan replied before turning to look at the Jedi just a few feet behind him, "I built him."

Ahsoka stared in disbelief, her mind still mostly in a very offensive state.

"Declaration: Oh master, I cannot fully articulate how overjoyed my circuits are upon seeing you alive again! Though I must admit, I did not believe I would ever have the pleasure of your presence again." The droid spoke again, giving off an almost unnerving amount of organic emotion in its voice as it did so.

Revan simply chuckled before turning to face the droid again, "It's good to see you as well HK. I assume you gained some control of the station, what with the lights and everything?"

The droid nodded once, "Answer: That is correct, master. Explanation: Once I arrived at this station I ascertained that while the primary reactor had been dormant for some time, the backup generators were still operational. It was only a simple matter of creating a rudimentary program to be able to access the basic functions of the station that were still receiving power, which has been most helpful in dealing with unwanted meatbags over the years."

Revan tilted his head slightly upon hearing all this information. "How long have you been here, HK?"

"Answer: By my own calculations I have been residing on this station for just under 3800 solar cycles."

"And why did you come here?"

"Explanation: I followed my primary directive you set as long as I was able to, master. With great difficulty, I might add. Once the primary targets were no longer an option to protect, I defaulted to any secondary objectives that were left in my memory core, the highest of which was the protection of the Foundry."

Revan nodded slowly at his information, one hand idly rubbing the chin of his mask as he did so. Though Ahsoka could not see his face, she could feel a mixture of grief and peace come over Revan, something she quickly took note of for a later conversation.

The three individuals turned as they heard a voice call out very meekly from inside the ship, "I-is it safe to come out n-now?"

Ahsoka and Revan were surprised with how fast the Ithorian had managed to get back onto the ship. "It's alright Sterr," Revan called out to the mechanic, "you can come out now." Despite having been given the all-clear, it still took several moments for Sterr to peak his head from the boarding ramp, and longer still for him to cautiously make his way down, still tightly gripping his pistol.

Ahsoka took this opportunity to turn off her sabers and walk up to beside Revan, though she kept both weapons in her hands. "So is the Foundry secure, HK, was it?"

The droid looked at the Jedi with his unblinking gaze a moment before answering, "Answer: The Foundry is secure, and you may refer to this unit as HK, or HK-47." He then turned to look at Revan before continuing, "Statement: I see you still enjoy the company of various meatbags, master."

"Meatbags?" Ahsoka asked in disgust and slight anger.

Before HK could respond Revan held up a hand, laughing slightly as he did so, "I will tell you about that later. HK, I want you to refer to my companions by their proper names from now on. This is Ahsoka, and the Ithorian slowly making his way to us is Sterr."

HK quickly surveyed both aliens before speaking, "Disappointment: Very well, master, I will comply with your directive. Though I do wish it to be known I do not enjoy this command."

"Duly noted HK." Revan simply answered back, a small smile on his face upon hearing his old companion's entertaining remarks again.

"So..." Ahsoka began once Sterr had joined them, still warily glancing at the intimidating droid, "what's next?"

"I will head down to the primary reactor and get oxygen production back up and running. After that, I think we could all use some rest, especially myself. HK," The droid attentively turned to look at Revan, "take Ahsoka and Sterr and find them some suitable living quarters for the moment, we will have to figure out proper living accommodations like furniture at a future date. I will radio all of you when we need to meet again. If you want to look around and explore feel free, but I would advise going with HK, he knows this place better than any of us at this point."

"Statement: It is a pleasure to have you back, master." HK said before turning and making his way further into the station.

Ahsoka looked at Revan, who simply nodded at her. She decided to wait on her questions and began to follow HK, "Come on Sterr, I'll make sure that droid doesn't try anything on you." She said as a way of reassuring comfort, which seemed to help as the mechanic followed closely behind her.

It took Revan several minutes to reach the primary reactor of the station. The room was a massive sphere with a large cylindrical structure in the center that went from floor to ceiling. Revan stood in front of a large control panel, filled with buttons, switches, holographic projectors, and physical displays, all dark and silent like most of the station. He pressed the side of his mask and a small light projected from the far right of the visor, placing a small but bright spotlight directly onto the control panel. The light slowly moved across the panel until it reflected off of an almost invisible cube-shaped gap in the controls. Keeping his gaze on the empty space, Revan reached into his cloak and pulled out the bronze device from Tatooine. He slowly rolled the object in his hand for several moments, his mind pondering the consequences of the path he was about to go down. "Well, they never accused me of being too cautious." Revan spoke quietly to himself, a small smirk forming on his lips at his own joke. Slowly, but with heavy purpose, his hand carefully placed the cube into the slot, a definitive 'click' echoed through the room as he did so.

Several tense moments passed in utter silence, then, one by one the various lights and displays on the panel began to slowly illuminate back to life. A series of loud mechanical sounds began to emanate from the central structure, followed by a low rhythmic hum that sent out vibrations that reverberated around the room. Steadily, a light green glow began to radiate from inside the core of the reactor. Revan could hear the multitude of systems, elevators, transports, droids, and small nation of systems that made up and ran the station begin to stir for the first time in tens of millennia.

The Foundry was awake.

Padmé quickly typed away at the terminal in front of her. She was alone in a dimly lit black and red room. The area was filled to the brim with floor-to-ceiling terminal blocks, each one containing millions of pieces of information and data. This was one of several data hubs for Coruscant Security's archived data, and there was a lot here. Directly beside the senator was a small silver device that was plugged into one of the large black towers that she was currently working at its single usable holo-terminal. She had paid a handsome amount of credits years ago in Coruscant's black market for this hacking device and its various programs to break through tough firewalls, and now she was very thankful she had done so.

Her eyes were narrowed in concentration as she shifted through the data before her. Levels of frustration were slowly building in the back of her mind as she continued to carefully look for anything she could find on the event of Revan's appearance in the chancellor's office just a few days ago.

However, what she was finding was not at all what she had hoped. It was almost as if everything related to that event had been scrubbed clean. The official security report she had been sent a copy of was even more redacted now. Parts of the investigation had gone through a wild process of being shuffled through multiple departments and agents before simply ending, and there was subtle evidence that some sections of the crime scene had simply been removed from all documentation. Nevertheless, she was determined to find something of value buried inside this archive, as the more roadblocks she hit the more she was convinced that someone was hiding something.

"Padmé, do you read me?" A quiet voice whispered in her earpiece, causing her to almost jump.

After a quick sigh, she whispered back, "Yes. I'm still looking."

"We need to go." Bail Organa said in response. "Your ten minutes of search are up and if a patrol is just a little bit early we're going to get caught."

"I know, I know." She said with clear frustration. "But I can't leave yet."

"I'm sorry you didn't find what you are looking for, but you can't afford to get arrested right now. There are important votes in the Senate coming up."

"Bail, I need more time. What I am seeing doesn't make sense, it's like the whole investigation has been gutted and scrubbed clean. You'd think for a major 'terrorist attack' there'd be a massive investigation dedicated to this, but there isn't."

"Then you were right and something is going on, but we can investigate that later, what you can't do is look further into this if you get put on trial for conspiracy."

Padmé heard the wisdom in her friend's words. She was about to walk away when something caught her eye. Buried deep in a pile of data scheduled for deletion tomorrow morning, she saw a file titled, 'Time-sheets.' Whether by instinct or luck she highlighted the file and saw that it was a video file, not a document. "Now why would a timesheet document be converted into a video...?" She quietly wondered to herself out loud.

"What did you say?"

Without responding to Organa's question, Padmé opened the file and her eyes went wide. She was watching the security footage from one of the cameras in the Chancellor's main office, the same room Revan had appeared in. "Bail...Bail I found something."

"What is it?"

"Footage! Security footage from the room where everything happened that day." She saw herself along with several senators and Jedi enter the room and begin taking their seats.

"Wait, what? I thought the report Rexl sent you stated that all the security cameras were destroyed in the initial explosion?"

"I told you someone is hiding something."

"Okay, I'll say it again, you were right, but we are out of time. We need to go, now!"

Padmé quickly typed on the terminal and began downloading the surveillance footage. "I'm going to download the file, then we're out of here."

"We can't wait that long, we can come back another day or get your friend to grab it for us."

"I can't, the file is marked for deletion at the end of the day when the system updates. This is my one chance to grab it."

A frustrated groan came over the comms in response. "Padmé, I can't-" but before he could continue she heard a new voice faintly come over the communicator.

"Hey! Who are you? You're not authorized to be here!"

Padmé tensed up and listened quietly.

"Oh, hello. I am Senator Bail Organa. I am here for a meeting with the station's chief, but I believe I must have gotten lost at some point." Organa said with an embarrassed laugh.

"Right...and who were you talking to on your communicator?"

"Ah, yes, that would be my wife. She called me just now asking me to pick up some blue milk. But, as you can imagine, I had to tell her I couldn't. It's a difficult thing working full-time and having a family. Are either of you two gentlemen married?"

A new voice came across the channel. "Why yes, I have been happily married for five years now, but it can be tough at times. Say, do you have any advice on an anniversary gift? You see-" but the second officer was cut off with what sounded like a hit to their shoulder.

"Cut it out." The first officer said. "Look, the archive door is unlocked. Shouldn't it be secure during normal hours?"

"I think you're right." The second officer said.

"I just wandered into this hall actually." Organa quickly covered for himself. "I'm not the most observant man, as you can tell." He said with another laugh.

"Mmhmm." The first officer spoke again, "Kal, go check it out, I'll stay here with our senator friend."

Padmé tensed up upon hearing this order, looked at the screen she still had a minute left before the download finished.

Kal sighed before saying, "Alright Mar, but I tell you, you're a bit too paranoid for this job."

Several tense moments passed as Padmé heard the door to the room open and footsteps slowly made their way through the rows of data blocks.

"Please, officer Mar," Organa spoke again, "if you and your partner could escort me to my meeting with the station chief, I would greatly appreciate it. I'm likely to get lost again on my own."

"Yeah...don't worry, we'll escort you down… After, my partner checks the archives."

The progress bar was almost done, and the footsteps on the metal floor were getting closer and closer. Padmé looked around desperately for a place to hide as soon as the download was finished, but the terminals were too thin on their sides and she was at the far end of the room.

Suddenly, a new voice rang out inside the archives. "Officer Kal, come in officer Kal."

The footsteps immediately stopped and Kal responded, "This is Kal, I read you."

"This is Central Command, is one...Senator Organa with you by chance? He's late for a meeting and the chief asked us to contact all patrolling officers in the station, there's some kind of malfunction with the security cameras."

"That would be affirmative, my partner and I just ran into him actually. Seems he got himself a little lost."

"Roger that, would you mind escorting him up to the chief's office?"

"Not at all. Over and out. Did you hear that Mar?" Kal asked over his communicator.

"...Yeah." Mar responded, clearly annoyed. "Did you find anything?

"No one's in here. Guess maintenance or one of the tech guys forgot to lock up once they were done in here. I'm coming back."

The footsteps quickly faded away from Padmé who let out a long breath of relief.

"Well gentlemen, shall we?" Padmé smirked as she could hear the smile in Organa's voice and imagined the frustration on Officer Mar.

A small beep drew her attention back to the console letting her know the download had finished. She grabbed her silver driver and cautiously made her way out of the room.

Anakin stood in the center of the Jedi Council, the evening light of Coruscant's bright star was beginning to cause long shadows to appear over the planet's urbanized surface. Some of the seats in the room were filled with different Jedi Masters, but most contained holograms of the members who could not attend this meeting in person. One of the many testaments to the effect this war was having on the Jedi.

"You're not going after her?!" The anger in Anakin's voice could be heard easily. Several of the Masters shifted slightly in their seats at this response.

"Calm down, Skywalker." The authoritative voice of Mace Windu answered back more quietly, but just as forceful.

"But I don't understand this decision, nor do I agree with it."

"I am sorry, Anakin." Master Ki-Adi-Mundi's hologram answered with genuine sympathy. "However, this is what the Council has decided."

"We read the entire report submitted by Master Gallia before the team returned to Coruscant." Aayla Secura spoke up, "We debated the subject heavily, but we concluded that without any more leads to go on, the wounding of Master Vos and Padawan Offee, and now the capture of Padawan Tano, we have clearly underestimated and failed to fully understand this Revan and the threat he posses."

"We cannot afford to risk the lives of any more Jedi recklessly." Saesee Tiin added as a last point of defense.

"I'm sorry, Masters," This time it was Obi-Wan who spoke up, leaning forward in his chair as he did so, visibly surprised by the decision. "but, I must ask, why did you not wait until we had returned to have this discussion?"

"With no disrespect," Windu began, "the Council felt that both you, and Knight Skywalker, were too close to Padawan Tano to objectively weigh in on this situation, and having just experienced her capture, might be clouded in your judgment."

"We're not the ones clouded in our judgment here." Anakin said in a low voice, his eyes glaring slightly as he did so.

"Make every effort to find Ahsoka, we will." Yoda spoke for the first time in the entire meeting. "But, wait on the Force, and opportunity to bring her back safely, we must. Strength there is, in patience. Strength your padawan will need from you, Skywalker."

Anakin was about to respond when another voice caught his attention, "I am sorry, Anakin." He turned to see Plo-Koon, his voice had carried a great deal of sadness and regret. He locked eyes with Anakin before adding, "I know the responsibility you bear in this situation, and I truly wish there is more we could..."

Anakin glared slightly at the Master before saying, "Whatever happens to Ahsoka, it won't be my burden to bear." He then turned and walked off to the elevator.

"Skywalker!" Windu called out with irritation.

"I'll talk to him." Obi-Wan said before quickly getting up and moving quickly to join his former apprentice in the elevator.

The doors shut and the two stood in silence for several minutes.

"...I am sorry...if I had known." Kenobi broke the silence.

"You would have done what?" Anakin spat back. "You always tell me to trust in the wisdom of the Council and their directions, is that still the same this time?"

Anakin's former master looked to the floor for several moments before finally saying, "I'm afraid so."

"Typical."

"Just think for a moment, Anakin." Kenobi looked up and said back with conviction, but still a touch of sympathy. "I feel just as responsible for her as you do, but we have no leads, nothing to go on, no way of tracking Revan down. We need to be patient and ready for an opportunity to actually do something!"

"And what if one never comes? Do you want to look back and think about how you did nothing?!"

"You're not thinking clearly!" Kenobi actually raised his voice in response and got closer to his apprentice.

Anakin did not respond, simply waiting out the last few seconds as the elevator arrived. As soon as the doors opened he quickly started walking away.

Kenobi watched him for several seconds before calling out with genuine care in his voice, "I am sorry, Anakin..." The older Jedi truly felt helpless at that moment.

Revan sat at an improvised desk inside a small storage room that he had picked out to be his living space for the moment. While he did miss having real furniture, he was in remarkably better spirits than he had been for the past several days, maybe even weeks. He had finally gotten to actually sleep for the first time in days, along with getting to remove his armor and layers of top robes. However, his mind was still focused on the task in front of him, so as soon as he had woken up he went right back to researching the information he had taken from the Jedi Temple.

He had spent the past several hours reading over the current state of the galaxy, the political climate and the Civil War were his two main areas of focus. As always, politics and various groups competing for power and money had pulled the galaxy into the largest war it had ever seen. By the looks of it, the Senate was still one big joke of bureaucracy and foolishness. In fact, the more he read about events like the Trade Federation and their blockade and various war crimes on Naboo, and how in the aftermath the Republic had essentially given them a slap on the wrist, he wondered how a group like the Separatists hadn't broken away centuries ago.

However, the more Revan studied the state of the galaxy and examined the large facts of this war, a certain pattern began to emerge. He read, studied, and examined various events, pieces of evidence, and the primary events that had all taken place one after the other to cause this war. Something wasn't adding up for Revan. Wars were messy, especially politically motivated ones like this, but they usually didn't last this long. All attempts at peace talks had failed and somehow both sides seemed to continue to take over more and more of the neutral or normally unclaimed portions of the galaxy. And then, the biggest missing factor of all for Revan: Where were the Sith?

He knew about this Count Dooku and had even met his apprentice, but when he searched in the Force the entire galaxy was shrouded in the Dark Side. If the Confederacy truly contained all of the Sith, why did the Force feel so out of balance? There were more Jedi now than had ever been, even during Revan's time, but none of this was adding up. The whole war was too...perfect.

Getting up from his chair he made his way out and began to wander, letting his mind slowly mull over the facts he had in his head. After several minutes he found himself near one of the interior hangers, which was used to house additional spacecraft in reserve, having no immediate external access. He stopped in his tracks and looked inside, his eyes going slightly wide as he did so.

Sitting in the middle of the hangar, all by itself and clearly showing its age, was the Ebon Hawk. Revan slowly made his way to his old ship, his surprise slowly leaving him as his mind rationalized that HK must have used it to get to the Foundry. He stood directly in front of the cockpit and slowly raised a single ungloved hand to lightly run across the ship's surface.

He sighed deeply as various memories and emotions came back to him. Then, an idea clicked into his mind, a thought he couldn't shake. Slowly pulling his hand away and resisting the urge to get on board and see if the ship still ran, Revan instead activated a wrist communicator he kept on him as a backup for his mask. "HK, do you read me?"

A moment of silence passed with Revan just looking with a mixture of sadness and fondness at his ship before a familiar voice crackled over the comms. "Answer: Yes, master, how many I assist you?"

"Bring Sterr and Ahsoka to the primary control room. Tell them we need to discuss something."

"Acknowledgement: I will see to it at once."

Revan took one last long look, before turning on his heel, and quickly making his way out of the hangar.

Padmé sat in her parlor room typing away at her portable terminal. She had only gotten back to her apartment moments ago, sending her staff away quickly. While she was a bit shaken from her close call with Coruscant Security, she was energized to see this footage.

Just as she was about to bring the file up, her elevator dinged, causing her to jump slightly and quickly turn off her terminal, hiding her data drive as she did so. Heavy footsteps were heard before Anakin came around the corner.

Padmé breathed a sigh of relief, smiling at him, but then she stopped herself and worry came over her. Looking at Anakin she could see he was in great distress. "Anakin? Are you alright?"

Skywalker looked at her and the rage he felt slowly melted away, replaced with guilt and sadness. He slowly made his way to her and the two hugged. The next hour was spent with Anakin telling her everything and confessing the blame he felt for letting Ahsoka get taken.

Padmé listened intently and was shocked to hear that the Council was going to do nothing but wait. However, part of her understood that decision, but she did not share that with Anakin and equally understood his anger.

"It's just not fair!" Anakin had gotten worked up again as he finished recounting the events with the Council. "She might die, and they're just going to let it happen!" He got up and began pacing back and forth.

He continued to rant and rave but was suddenly stopped as Padmé stood up and took his hand. The two locked eyes for several moments before she reached up and gently pulled him in for a kiss.

The two embraced quietly in silence for several moments as Coruscant's star began to dip below the horizon of its tall buildings.

"Thank you all for coming." Revan said as he exited an elevator into a large command room with various consoles, displays, monitors, control boards, and a large square holographic projector, directly in the middle of the room. Various Rakatan droids made their way through the room, each consumed with some kind of automated task to run the Foundry, though they seemed to pay no attention to Revan or the others.

"Like we had much of a choice." Ahsoka said half-jokingly, half-seriously as she sat on one side of the projector.

Sterr seemed much more comfortable than before and gave the Ithorian equivalent of a smile as Revan approached. "Sir, I must say, this station is an absolute marvel. I cannot begin to imagine all the possibilities something of this technological advancement is capable of." He stared in amazement as a droid walked past him and began entering commands into a nearby console.

"I am glad you like it, Sterr." Revan said as he finally stood in the center of the Northside of the projector. "And I suppose you would rather be in a cell?" Revan asked with a slight smirk in response to Ahsoka's comment.

She merely rolled her eyes in response before hopping down and putting her hands on the projector, leaning forward as she did so. "Alright then, why are we here?"

"HK," The droid walked closer to the projector, "how much information do you have on the current state of the war?" Revan asked.

"Answer: As you directed in my programming, master, I have kept small listening posts scattered throughout the nearby systems close to the Foundry, occasionally flying out on the Hawk to give repairs as needed." HK tapped on his side of the projector and brought up a map of the galaxy. "Continuation: From these stations, I have managed to gather a considerable amount of intelligence, both from various civilians, but also from the stray military channels on both sides."

"What about military encryptions?" Ahsoka asked.

"Answer: I broke each military's data encryption in little under a week upon encountering them for the first time." Even Revan looked at HK in surprise at this comment. "Explanation: I have had a lot of time on my hands with nothing to do. There is great motivation in solving a puzzle when it's the first challenging thing you have had to do in over 3,000 years."

Revan chuckled at this explanation, "Alright then, give us a map of the current battle lines, highlight any major points of contention."

The map quickly updated, covering the Republic side in blue and the Confederacy in red, with major points of fighting highlighted in purple and neutral or third-party space put in yellow.

"Wow..." Sterr suddenly commented, "Tucked away in a little shop on Tatooine, you forget just how much of the galaxy is at war."

"I get what you mean..." Ahsoka added in affirmation.

Revan waited a few moments before speaking again. "So, what do we know about this war?"

"Well..." Ahsoka began, "There are two opposing factions, the Republic led by Chancellor Palpatine, the Senate, and the Jedi Council; and the Confederacy of Independent Systems, lead by Count Dooku."

"Indeed, and both militaries are filled with an endless supply of craftable soldiers. Neither side wants to talk to the other, and the galaxy is slowly getting taken over by one faction or the other, with only minor gains or losses on the front lines." Revan added.

"Where are you going with this?" Ahsoka asked.

"Tell me, based on what we know, just the objective facts, does this war not seem a little too...convenient, too orchestrated?"

The group began to look at one another, the same thought slowly rolling in their heads.

"Wait," Ahsoka stared, "Are you talking about Darth Sideous?"

The group turned to look at her, "Who?" Revan asked.

Ahsoka looked at Revan, she still wasn't convinced she could trust him, but it seemed like this information couldn't hurt, maybe it could even help the Jedi if Revan knew. "Okay, I don't know the full story, the Council has kept this very quiet, but my master, Anakin-" She suddenly stopped herself as she thought about her master and how worried he must be about her, causing a feeling of guilt to well up inside her.

Revan felt her anxiety and worry about her master. He subtlety used their connection to help ease the worry and guilt, taking some of it onto himself. Ahsoka locked eyes with Revan as he did so. At first, she felt suspicious, but once she realized he was actually taking on some of her pain and not simply manipulating her, she calmed and was surprised he would help in that way. He nodded at her reassuringly, silently communicating they would talk about this topic later.

Taking a deep breath, she continued, "Anakin told me that Master Kenobi had been captured by Count Dooku at one point, and had tried to convince Kenobi to join him. He said that the entire galaxy, including the Republic, was under the influence of his master, Darth Sideous."

Revan's hand flexed unconsciously upon hearing this information, his missing puzzle piece was beginning to fall.

"But, it's just a lie, a trick of some kind, right?" Ahsoka looked around the room for reassurance.

Sterr shrugged, "This is all outside of my knowledge."

"Statment: Reviewing my databanks I can find no mention of this individual."

Ahsoka looked at Revan who was staring at the galaxy map, his eyes shifting between several locations in thought. "...What if he's not?" He finally asked.

A sensation of fear and surprise slowly began to tug at the back of Ahsoka's mind.

"Let us suppose, just for a moment, that Dooku told the truth." Revan continued, looking at each member present. "This, Sideous exists. Could he somehow gain enough power and influence to effectively run both sides of the war?"

The group thought a moment before Sterr answered, "Well, if this Darth person is Count Dooku's master, and Dooku controls the Confederacy, then he would essentially control them."

Ahsoka looked up at the map and slowly added, "And...the Republic votes on military actions through the Senate. If he got enough votes for what he wanted..."

Revan nodded in agreement to both individuals. "There is already established proof that the Senate is full of corruption and individuals who are motivated solely by power and greed."

"You can say that again." Ahsoka affirmed, various memories coming quickly to mind about her experience with Coruscant's political game.

"So if this is true, and it is quite possible, then neither side in this war can be trusted." Ahsoka looked at Revan with reluctance. He looked at her and continued with conviction, "Not even the Jedi, for they answer to the Senate, as far as the war is concerned."

Her eyes went wide slightly and she looked at the floor. She wanted to respond with something, but couldn't find the words, her mind still reeling from this conversation.

"But, this just a theory." Sterr spoke up. "How do we prove it to be a reality?"

The group looked again towards Revan. He placed his hands on the projector and leaned forward before stating boldly, "Simple. We draw him out." He let the statement hang in the air for a moment before continuing, "We cause enough damage, we make ourselves enough of a pain in his plans that he is forced out of the shadows to deal with us directly."

"Observation: You are proposing becoming a third side in this war." HK commented.

Ahsoka and Sterr quickly looked at Revan in surprise. "That is correct." He said.

Silence descended on the room. Ahsoka's mind was reeling. She was about to speak when Revan broke the silence, "I think you all have the right to know something: The entire reason I am here, my mission...is to kill the Lord of the Sith."

Ahsoka was once again stunned and looked at Revan even more confused than before.

"My original intention was to kill the Sith Emperor of my time, but by means I am not entirely sure of, I was transported through time. I truly believe this was not a mistake, but an act of the Force that I might not simply kill a Lord of the Sith, but THE Lord of the Sith. If this Darth Sideous does exist and has enough influence to affect the entire galaxy, then he would have more power than any Sith before him, or dare I say after; should he succeed in fully controlling the entire galaxy, not merely influencing it in certain directions."

More silence followed, then Ahsoka spoke up, "But... say you're right. Say both sides can't be trusted, you'd never win in a fight against both sides!"

"Agreement: Master, I hate to side with the meat-" Before HK could continue, Ahsoka glared fiercely at him, causing the droid to stop and then continue speaking, "side with Ahsoka, however even with the Foundry's remarkable capabilities and technological superiority, by my calculations it would take us approximately five years of letting the Foundry run before we even stood a slight chance of winning. Though it would bring me great joy to finally be able to kill something again."

Sterr cautiously stepped further away from the droid before speaking, "I concur with the crazy droid. We would need men, resources, funds, and territory to be able to store and gather whatever fleet or army this place could produce."

"Then we acquire some." Revan answered back. He quickly typed on the projector and the galaxy map zoomed in to one particular planet which now filled the projector.

"Mandalore..." Ahsoka muttered quietly, her thoughts already connecting the dots of what Revan had schemed up.

Revan looked at her curiously, feeling the memories and emotions that Ahsoka had of that place, but he did not search her mind actively for an answer. "Yes, Mandalore. Their current leader, Duchess Satine Kryze, represents 1,500 neutral start systems. Whoever controls Mandalore controls this Council of Neutral Systems."

The group looked at the hologram of the planet for several moments. "Observation: The Republic currently controls approximately 30,000 systems, and the CIS holds approximately 20,000, to say it would be an uneven fight would be an understatement."

"But we do not need to defeat either side, just cause enough annoyance to both. Only fight long enough to be considered a legitimate threat to Sideous. Plus, they will still be fighting each other so as not to arouse suspicion, and the Foundry will make up for whatever difference in power is left."

"But, these systems are pacifists." Ahsoka objected. "They will not join in this war."

"They are independents, mostly, only the most outspoken like the Duchess are truly pacifists. What these worlds desire is to be left out of this conflict. If their freedom was to be impeded on, if either side was to militarily act against them, they would rally behind a defender, one who is still neutral and promises to protect them from both sides." Revan responded back.

"And what would cause either the Republic or Separatists to attack the neutral systems?" Sterr asked out of curiosity.

Revan turned and answered, "A drastic political change in leadership. If Sideous is politically moving both sides as he sees fit, then the neutral systems are a steady and predictable part of the galaxy, something he can mostly leave alone and let be. This is evidenced by the fact that neither side has attacked them and tried to take over, causing the systems to run to the other for protection. If suddenly Mandalore's leadership is drastically changed, and the neutral systems claim total independence, not even trading with the Republic as their current alliance allows, Sideous would be forced to intervene swiftly."

Ahsoka did not like the implication of something bad happening to Duchess Satine, and she was beginning to once again question Revan's motivation and intentions. "Who would replace the Duchess, you? Would you kill her to get that outcome?"

Revan looked at Ahsoka, allowing her to see into his mind slightly to know he was being genuine, "I have no intention of killing the Duchess, it would only anger her allies both in and outside the neutral systems. As for who would replace her, well..." He looked at the planet as his mind began to wander elsewhere, "Let's just say I have something much more...dramatic in mind. Something Sideous couldn't possibly ignore." He smirked slightly to himself.

After a few seconds of silence, HK spoke, "Statement: Master, this is a crazy and probably suicidal endeavor. It's so good to have you back!"

Sterr glanced cautiously at HK before nodding slowly. "I have always avoided conflict and spent my life afraid. If I can save the galaxy from this darkness, this hidden evil, it will be the noblest thing I could give my life to."

Revan smiled in genuine appreciation upon hearing this commitment. "Thank you, Sterr."

He then turned and looked at Ahsoka. Her mind was still in chaos from this whole talk. She doubted this theory about Sideous, she doubted this insane plan, and she doubted Revan. Could this be real? Could the Jedi really have been blind to this truth? She looked into Revan's eyes, a mixture of skepticism, fear, anger, and sadness at the possibility that everything she had ever known had been under the shadow of darkness.

Revan's face changed to one of sympathy, and he said, "I know what it is to have one's life, one's entire existence be shattered in an instant. I am not asking you to trust me or place your faith in me, I only ask for an opportunity to gain your trust. I have not lied to you thus far."

A few tense seconds passed before she finally answered, "What opportunity?"

Revan smiled slightly, before turning to HK and Sterr. "HK, are there any Rakatan stealth ships ready for use?"

"Answer: Affirmative, master, shall I have one sent to the nearest hangar?"

Revan nodded in response. "I also want you to take another stealth ship and begin setting up better-listening posts, not only in the surrounding systems but also in strategic positions for the war. I want to be able to listen to both sides' plans at all times. Sterr, my old ship is here, but unfortunately, it's almost 4,000 years old and I imagine horribly out-of-date with current technology standards. I would like you to start familiarizing yourself with the Foundry's technology, schematics, and resources, once you feel comfortable enough, I would like you to update my ship the best you can."

Sterr nodded enthusiastically, an excited glint in his eye at the possibilities of working with the Foundry. "You will not be disappointed, sir."

"I am sure I will not be." Revan then turned back to Ahsoka who had her arms crossed and her brow raised as if to say: 'You still haven't answered my question.' To which Revan responded by taping on the projector one last time, causing an unfamiliar planet to replace the hologram of Mandalore. "How do you feel about...jungles?"

The star had completely set on Coruscant's city world, but the world was almost filled with more light as the nightlife of the planet came into full swing.

Pamdé Amidala's eyes opened as she looked at the sleeping figure of Anakin Skywalker directly beside her. After listening carefully for several moments that he was indeed asleep, she slowly slipped from under the covers, stepped into a set of slippers, and threw a nightgown on. She quietly made her way back into the main parlor, sitting down at her normal spot, and quickly pulled her terminal back up, inserting her data drive into the computer as she did so.

She pulled up the video she had secured from the archive and began to watch the footage from the Chancellor's room. She rubbed the back of her neck as she remembered the fear and stress of that day. She shook her head and moved the footage forward to after Revan appeared. The explosion from Revan's arrival did indeed damage and shift the camera, causing complete static to fill the screen for several seconds. Padmé held her breath until the static slowly faded as the smoke rushed out the newly shattered window.

For the next several minutes she moved the footage forward and backward, forward and backward, watching it over and over from Revan appearing to her being grabbed and the two of them flying out of the window. She continued this process for the better part of half an hour, a small amount of frustration building up in her mind as she zoomed, squinted, and combed over the video meticulously.

Finally, she leaned back into the cushions behind her, placing her hands on her forehead, and uttered a groan of frustration. This wasn't working. Was it all for nothing? Did she really risk her entire career and Bail's entire life over a dumb piece of footage?

She was just about to slam her terminal off and go back to bed when her eyes shot open. She shot up and almost knocked her terminal off the table in her rush to move the footage back to a moment she had just remembered.

"Where are you?... Where are-" She stopped muttering to herself when she saw it. On Revan's left gauntlet, she had seen a symbol etched into the silver metal. She zoomed in as much as she could without the image becoming too blurry and after going frame-by-frame, she found what she had barely remembered. Perhaps the news about Ahsoka, and a new motivation to help her Jedi friend had served as a reminder.

"Gotcha." She couldn't help but let a large smile form on her lips. Not waiting a moment, she clipped the zoomed frame, attached it as an image to a message, and typed up a quick explanation. She had a friend, a professor, at the University of Coruscant who loved researching obscure topics, and Padmé had sent him a number of things over the years.

Just before she hit send, she jumped slightly as she heard a voice, "Are you alright?" Anakin asked as he stood in the hallway entrance that attached the bedroom to the parlor.

Padmé let out a long breath and laughed slightly, "You scared me." She admitted.

"Sorry." Anakin said with his hands raised slightly, clearly still sleepy from having just woken up, "Just woke up and noticed you had left bed, so I came to check on you."

She smiled at him before saying, "I am fine, but thank you, that is very sweet."

He smiled back, then cocked his head slightly and narrowed his eyes curiously when he noticed the terminal, "What are you working on?"

"Oh, this?" Padmé said slightly nervously but quickly regained her composure as she quickly hit send. "Nothing! Just needed to reschedule some meetings for tomorrow. There's an important bill being voted on in the Senate." Part of her felt bad for lying, but it was partially true with the details about the vote. With the news concerning Ahsoka, she didn't want Anakin to have more to worry about with her possibly running off into danger, he always was a little too overprotective.

"Do you ever stop working?" Anakin shook his head and laughed, "You know, the Republic isn't going to collapse if you took a day or two off."

Padmé shrugged before walking up to Anakin, putting her arms around him as she did, "I guess I could take a couple days off... If I had proper motivation to do something for those days." She said with a smirk.

Anakin smiled back and the two laughed and kissed before heading back to bed.

Reminder: Please don't forget to tell me your vote for a ME2 xover fic. If no one is interested, not much point in me doing it! Thanks again, everyone!