Vaukel boarded the Huntress and was brought to his quarters. The young man looked around at the scores of Revanite Troopers inside of the ship. They looked much different than the clone troopers he had come to know, they looked even more different from the imperial stormtroopers who hunted him.
Aside from the similar design of the helmet, Revanite Troopers sported a crest-shaped visor, their armor appeared to look light yet durable, with the exception of their legs and arms, which seemed to be heavily armored.
Vaukel looked over at a nearby Revanite and pointed to the troopers.
"Why give their legs and arms armor plating?" he asked.
"There's going to be a lot of heavy fighting friend, as such we need to make sure that our troopers limbs are protected to the fullest," said the Revanite, "don't be fooled by the chest plate though, it's made out a special alloy that's designed to absorb shockwaves and protect one's vital organs."
Vaukel looked back at the troopers.
"So that means the plating around the arms…" he said.
"Protection from shrapnel, yes," said the Revanite.
Vaukel gave the troopers one last look and then he continued to his quarters. When Vaukel arrived, he got a good look at where he would be staying: His room contained a nice, a simple bed, a wardrobe, a TV, and a full bathroom.
"It certainly looks a lot better than what I got during The Clone Wars," he thought as he got settled in.
Vaukel set his bag down and walked over to the bed, he placed his hand on it, then he sat down.
"Soft," he thought.
Vaukel looked around the room again.
"…Been years since I had participated in The Clone Wars, now here I am about to participate in another war," he thought.
Vaukel shook his head.
"No… No, no… Don't think like that Vaukel… This isn't a war… This is a liberation," he thought.
Vaukel allowed himself to smile as he thought back to the promise his master, Kayla's father, made.
"I wish you were here master… Finally, we'll have the peace that we worked so hard to try and gain during the war," he thought.
Just then, Vaukel heard someone at the door, interrupting his thoughts. With a sigh, he got up and answered it. It was another Revanite, a male blue skinned Twi'lek.
"Vaukel right?" he asked.
"I am," Vaukel said with a nod.
The Twi'lek extended a hand.
"Name's Nectije," he said.
Vaukel smiled and shook his hand.
"Never thought I'd find a Twi'lek all the way out here to these parts," he said.
"Didn't exactly have much choice. As much as I wanted to help my people liberate Ryloth, I learned that I wasn't exactly… Like the rest of them," Nectije said as he looked at his hands.
"So how did you learn you were Force Sensitive?" asked Vaukel.
"Oh, you know… Was on a sabotage mission… Someone was caught in a situation that was going to get them killed…" said Nectije.
"And then you saved them without lifting a finger," said Vaukel.
Nectije nodded.
"After that, we heard that an agent of the empire had landed and was hunting for a 'Jedi'. When I heard that this agent was armed with a lightsaber, I knew I wouldn't stand a chance," said Nectije.
"So, you ran," said Vaukel.
Nectije nodded, then he seemed to do a doubletake and cleared his throat.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to ramble like that," he said, "um… I wanted to come by and tell you that there's going to be a briefing soon."
"Thanks," said Vaukel.
Nectije started to leave when he took a glance at Vaukel's lightsaber.
"You're a Jedi, aren't you?" he asked.
"I was," said Vaukel.
Nectije smiled.
"Well… I'm glad you're here with us," he said as he walked away.
/\/\/\/\/\
"Sounds like the fighting's stopped," said a stormtrooper.
"Think those guardsmen won?" asked the second stormtrooper.
"Pfft, of course they did," said the first stormtrooper, "you've seen what they're capable of."
"Yeah, you're probably right," said the second stormtrooper.
The two imperial soldiers stood guard at the entrance in silence, then the second stormtrooper decided to speak up.
"Hey," he said.
"Yeah?" asked the first stormtrooper.
"You ever wonder why we're here?" asked the second stormtrooper.
"…Becaaaaause we had orders to come here?" asked the first stormtrooper.
"No, I mean, why are we here?" asked the second stormtrooper.
"Because we were ordered to guard the entrance," said the first stormtrooper.
"No, I mean… Wait actually now that I think about it, how come we were picked to guard the entrance?" asked the second stormtrooper.
"Hell, if I know-GACK!" the first stormtrooper screamed as a lightsaber went through his back.
"What the!?" exclaimed the second stormtrooper.
Suddenly, he dropped his blaster and started clawing at his throat before letting out a pained gasp and dropping to the floor, dead. The first stormtrooper felt the lightsaber get yanked out and he dropped to the ground as well.
"Boring conversation anyway," said Shokan.
"Agreed," said Nikron.
"Jedi!" barked another stormtrooper sentry.
"Aw crap," said Kayla.
The sentry ran for the alarm. Kayla ignited her main hand lightsaber and threw it, sending the blade flying and striking the imperial through the chest, killing him. Nikron picked on the second stormtrooper's blaster and fired one shot, taking out the alarm.
"There," he said, "now they'll never know we came in."
"Let's find that imperial officer," said Juzem.
The hunters headed deeper inside.
/\/\/\/\/\
Vaukel headed to the hanger bay for the briefing. It was packed. Hundreds of thousands of Revanite Troopers had gathered, along with scores of the Revanite's Force Sensitive warriors, Revanite Champions, Pursuers, Shaman, each one of varying races that Vaukel did or didn't recognize. Standing at the front of the hanger bay was a group of Revanite Commandos, and four Revanite Masters, one of whom Vaukel recognized as his own master, Julsha.
Up above, the holoprojector came to life and revealed a holo-image of the Revanite High Master, Malakam.
"Knights of Revan, champions of the Force… All your life, you've trained and lived by a code… And while others may find it trivial, you alone have taken it to heart," said Malakam, "Flowing through all, there is balance. There is no peace without a passion to create. There is no passion without peace to guide. Knowledge fades without the strength to act. Power blinds without the serenity to see. There is freedom in life. There is purpose in death. The Force is all things, and I am the Force."
Vaukel saw the other Revanites murmur amongst themselves.
"The Jedi sought to use the Force as means to protect others, to bring peace to all life in the galaxy… Yet during The Mandalorian Wars, they did not lift a finger to protect the systems that fell before Mandalore the Ultimate, centuries ago," said Malakam, "they were weak… Only moving on the offensive as a last resort."
Vaukel made a face. Even though he didn't declare himself a 'Jedi' these days, that still hurt.
"The Sith sought to use the Force as a means to gain power. They sought to control all life in the galaxy… Much like the Jedi sought to use the light to snuff out the darkness, the Sith did the same. But for all their power, the Sith tore each other apart due to their lust for power," said Malakam, "and now, after so many years, the current Sith Lords have been felled by each other, leaving only their hounds of darkness alive, their… Inquisitors and Dark Jedi."
Vaukel made a face again.
"The empire is shattered and even now, our hunters have begun to snuff out the Rebel Cells scattered throughout the galaxy, and thanks to our Harbingers, both the empire and Rebellion are in chaos thanks to our perfectly timed attacks," said Malakam, "now the time has come for us to reveal ourselves to the galaxy! Now the time has come for us to achieve the dream of our Lord and Master! REVAN!"
The champions, pursuers and shaman all cheered.
"Remember, spare those who surrender to us… And for those who do not know the meaning of surrender, let them know the meaning of no mercy!" roared Malakam.
All of the Revanites let out a unified cheer. Even Vaukel found himself smiling and cheering with them.
"The liberation of the galaxy shall begin! For, the Grandmaster! For Revan!" roared Malakam.
"For the Grandmaster! For Revan!" the Revanites cheered.
And with the briefing done, the Revanite armada made the jump to light speed. Before the year is out, the galaxy would soon belong to the Revanites.
/\/\/\/\/\
"I repeat, we are under attack!" a stormtrooper screamed on the comms.
A heavy trooper went flying and slammed into a wall. The stormtrooper whirled around and ended up decapitated.
"Kayla, if I didn't know any better, I'd say you were enjoying this way too much," said Nikron.
"That's because I can kill these guys without worrying about the consequences," Kayla said as she choked out another stormtrooper and dropped them onto the ground.
"We've got more droids!" barked Shokan.
"More droids? Heh, I feel like I'm participating in The Clone Wars," said Juzem.
"If that wasn't a joke Juzem, I'd beat you over the head with a pipe," Kayla said as she sliced another prison droid to pieces.
"Play nice girls," said Kylvin.
The five hunters continued slicing their way deeper into the prison. Both Imperials and their prison droid reinforcements were powerless against the Revanite assassins. Captain Kaddan, who was watching the conflict from the control room, started to turn paler and paler as he saw the intruders draw closer and closer to him.
"Captain, we've lost half of our forces and those Jedi are cutting down the droids faster than we can deploy them," said a stormtrooper.
Captain Kaddan frowned and fired up the holo-comm.
"Commander, we have a problem, five Jedi have infiltrated the forward base," he said, "I'm requesting immediate reinforcements."
The mysterious commander, who was an Imperial Shadow Guard, stared at Captain Kaddan in silence before speaking.
"…You wait until after the Jedi managed to break into the base to request reinforcements? You are slow as you are stupid captain," he said.
"Wha? B-But sir, you don't understand, the members of your faction, I thought they would be able to topple them; but they were cut down!" sputtered Captain Kaddan.
"…You've confused me with someone who cares," said the commander.
"B-But commander-"
The transmission ended.
"Commander… Commander!" screamed the captain.
Suddenly, a stormtrooper went flying and slammed into the console. Captain Kaddan and the stormtrooper messenger whirled around to see Kayla and her friends.
"What's up?" she asked with a cheeky grin.
The stormtrooper took aim. Kylvin drew and hurled his lightsaber at the man, slicing him in half. Captain Kaddan turned deathly pale as the five hunters marched up to him. Shokan was first to grabbed the imperial with Force Grip and hoist him a few inches off the ground.
"Did you seriously confuse us for Jedi?" he asked, "tell me imperial… Why would a Jedi have a reason to openly slaughter your people without even batting an eye?"
Captain Kaddan swallowed.
"Now… We have questions for you, and we demand answers. And your answers will depend entirely on how you'll be leaving this planet," said Shokan, "got it?"
Captain Kaddan nodded.
"Good, now… What are you guys doing on this planet?" he asked.
The captain swallowed and sighed.
"Look, I'll tell you whatever you want to know… Just on the promise that you'll let me live," he said.
Shokan looked back at the others, then he looked at Captain Kaddan and released him.
"You have my word," said Shokan.
"Okay… Okay… Sometime before the Battle of Yavin, an imperial governor stationed a tariff police because of an increase in smuggler activity," said Captain Kaddan, "one such crew of smugglers, The Phantom Corsairs, was carrying a large cache of ancient technology that no one could make heads or tails of… Though… Some speculated it to be rumors."
"Rumors aren't good enough did they leave of cache of ancient technology on this planet or not?" asked Shokan.
"Th-They did! They did!" sputtered Captain Kaddan, "one of the tariff police squads tailed the small squad of smugglers and saw them drop it off somewhere inside of The Tomb."
"What in the blazes is 'The Tomb'?" asked Kayla.
"I remember that name in a book I was reading," said Nikron, "during The Old Republic era that era used to be called by another name… The Deep Prison. That was where the worst of the worst were kept."
"That's right. However, the squad dared not enter The Tomb," said Captain Kaddan, "after The destruction of the new Death Star, the Sith Imperium had heard rumors that a retrieval team of smugglers returned to this planet and they gave chase, they shot down their ship and followed them down to the planet with everyone under their command."
"…And before they knew it, the Rebels came in behind them," said Shokan.
"If this cache is what I think it is, the Rebels can't be allowed to obtain that kind of technology," said Kylvin.
"…You didn't happen to get ahold of one of those smugglers by any chance, did you?" asked Shokan.
"Y-Yes… He's in Cell 365," said Captain Kaddan, "when the smuggler's ship crashed, the crew scattered in al directions to try and evade us."
Shokan looked back at the other hunters.
"Kylvin, Juzem, see if you can find the smuggler," he said.
"On it," said Kylvin.
The two hunters took off.
"That's everything that know and heard… Now let me go," said Captain Kaddan.
"Of course," said Shokan.
He stepped aside and extended a hand. Captain Kaddan gave Shokan a shocked look.
"Go on, you're free to go," he said.
"Oh… Thank you," he said.
The imperial started to leave when… Kayla stabbed the man through the back with her lightsaber and deactivated it.
"You… Promised," he gasped as he dropped to his knees and fell over.
"And he kept his word," she said.