Disclaimer: George Lucas Owns, enough said.

Chapter 18: Manaan

"I really... REALLY HATE THIS FISH FILLED PLANET!"

Revan shouted as he stalked up the landing ramp of the Ebon Hawk. The former Dark Lord sat down and scowled at a canister that lay on the ground, kicking it into the bulkhead. Stressed was the best word to describe Revan. The side trip to Tatooine had turned into a complete disaster. Canderous had been confronted by an old warrior of his, Jagi and the two had an all out brawl over their honor. The result had been several dozen dead bodies and a Mandalorian who had gone soft after killing an old comrade. Revan had found himself 'comforting' the Mandalore with spars and talks of past battles, though Revan had to recount his in a little more vagueness. Canderous had caught on to that quickly and had grown suspicious, but was no longer brooding and destroying machinery with his anger. The deal Mission made with Griff had not turned out well, he had ruined the Tach glands and jumped the first transport, leaving Mission to clean up the mess. Not long after his departure a group of Exchange thugs had shown up demanding to take Mission as payment for a slave. Juhani had been with Mission at the time and the fight had not been pretty.

"At least what was left wasn't!"

Revan mused, making a note not to bring up the subject of slavery in front of the enraged Cathar. Ever since setting foot on Manaan, Revan had been badgered constantly by Sith and the locals. Several fights had erupted between the Republic and Sith and they had taken it upon themselves to label him, Jedi Knight Revan and former Dark Lord of the Sith, Darth Revan the mediator of the pointless squabbles. Jolee had taken an interest in the imprisonment of one of his old friends, though it was soon discovered that he had indeed committed the crime he was accused of. Revan had decided to allow the events to play out, the man had not received the death penalty but had been imprisoned for life.

"Damn that Sunry."

Carth grumbled as he stalked up the landing ramp and gave a good kick of his own to the defenseless canister on the ground.

"The Selkath are cutting the Republic's Kolto shipments by thirty percent because of him!"

Revan nodded, though his mind was more concentrated on the brutal murder he had witnessed on the holo he had found in the Republic database. The fact that the Republic would cover up a cold-blooded murder had shattered any stray thoughts that the Republic was there to uphold justice through the galaxy and since the Jedi where pretty much slaves to the Republic he began entertaining the old, dark thoughts he had during the Mandalorian wars when he was not satisfied with how things were run.

"Do you think justice was done?"

Revan asked, turning to Carth. Carth glared at him for a moment.

"You should have gotten him off so that wouldn't have happened!"

He snapped. True, the Republic was probably going to suffer for the loss of Kolto but it would have been covering for a murderer. A shudder ran up Revan's spine as realization hit him that he was a murderer as well and that the Jedi were covering for him.

"Not so high and mighty now are they..."

Revan sneered, causing Carth's scowl to turn to a look of confusion.

"It would have been wrong..."

Revan hissed, though his old reasoning, what had caused him to fall to madness and the darkness began to take hold in the back of his mind.

"But it would have saved lives..."

Carth sighed.

"I guess you're right. If we let murderers run free we'd be as bad as the Sith."

"As bad as the Sith..."

Revan whispered, the previous comparison between the Jedi and Republic's habit of covering their shame passing through his mind again as a familiar, yet old rage boiled within him.

"If you were given the choice to kill one innocent child to save a million lives, would you do it?"

Revan asked, turning to Carth. Carth frowned and shook his head.

"Hell no."

"Think about it, a million lives."

Carth frowned as he sat on a small chair, looking at his friend.

"What if those million lives were all the biggest scum in the galaxy?"

Carth retorted intelligently, much to Revan's surprise.

"I never thought about it that way... How worthless all those hundreds of thousands of lives are when compared to the exceptional few..."

Carth snorted.

"What it, you're starting to sound like Darth Malak or Darth Revan there."

"Sadly I'm not..."

Revan responded quietly, knowing Carth wouldn't hear. Carth shook his head, standing.

"No, that's not right. Those bastards were always saving lives right? But they always thought in numbers. Attack Malachor V directly and loose two-hundred thousand men or surround it and starve the Mandalores out and lose five-hundred thousand."

"Malachor V..."

Revan muttered, his eyes glossing over with a yellow sheen as he gazed vacantly into the bulkhead. Rapidly approaching footsteps snapped him out of the memory of his madness as he looked to the ramp and saw Bastila's concerned and fearful expression.

"Rev, what is it?"

She asked softly, completely ignoring Carth's presence. Taking the hint, Carth made himself scarce, muttering something about checking out the swoop races. Revan motioned for Bastila to follow him, leading him into a soundproof section of the ship and sealing the door.

"I keep being reminded how I gave in to the darkness, Bastila..."

Bastila shook her head and gave a face of pity and remorse.

"You can't change that, you know I- I still lov- respect you.."

Revan turned to Bastila, giving her a hollow expression.

"You don't know what I've done, even before I killed all of those Jedi and became the Dark Lord I was well on my way to the Dark Side, I had already murdered..."

Bastila frowned and placed a hand gently on Revan's shoulder.

"You can trust me, Revan."

Revan slapped the hand away.

"How can I trust you if you don't even know what I've done!"

Revan sneered, glaring openly at Bastila. Hurt flashed across Bastila's cerulean eyes before the azure depths shifted to anger, barely contained anger.
"Well if someone would tell me dammit I would know!"

She snapped, placing her hands on her hips and glaring right back. Revan continued to scowl.

"Oh I'd think you'd run screaming from me, girl, if I told you what I've done."

Bastila growled slightly, continuing to glare at Revan.

"Look, we've been through this before, I told you that the past is the past and I FORGIVE you."

Revan turned around, his arms crossed over his chest.

"You don't have the right to forgive me..."

Revan closed his eyes, waiting for the indignant response and was not disappointed.

"WHAT! Who do you think you are to go against the Council's ruling. They had spoken with you and recounted all of your experiences, the mind-healers cleared you and you've told me countless times the atrocities that burn in your mind, you are repentant and that is what makes you good, Revan."

Revan laughed bitterly, uncrossing his arms and clenching on tightly in a balled fist as the other fell weakly to his side.

"I'm not sorry for what I've done, those weaklings don't stand a chance against what is coming and I wasn't able to harden them up enough..."

A startled gasp hit Revan's ears but he ignored it as he continued to glare at the bulkhead in front of him.
"The Mind-healers and the Council don't know everything that I saw, the Force had blocked their ability to probe my experiences on Malachor V and they were certain that I fell to the Dark Side before that when I was on Dantooine but..."

"But what?"

Bastila asked in a whisper, her hands clenched together tightly over her chest as she stared sadly into the back of the former Dark Lord. When he had uttered that he had nothing to regret she had felt a sharp pain shoot through her chest and all her anger was forgotten as only pain remained. Revan turned and was shaken slightly when he saw the reflection of contained tears in Bastila's eyes.

"While I was on... Malachor V... I- Malak and I found something... something evil... Whatever it was it had killed those that were with us with but a single thought and it somehow tore its way into our minds, tearing through us and showing us the horrors it had committed in its lifetime..."

"What was it?"

Bastila asked softly, her eyes shining in the dim light of the room.

"We didn't know at first, we thought he was a Dark Jedi, working with the Mandalorians but- but it was so... Malicious..."

Bastila frowned and took a step closer, willing Revan to allow her to comfort him. Revan pulled away instinctively and crossed his arms over his chest again, tightening the hold almost protectively.

"It was a Sith..."

Bastila frowned but did not disturb Revan's words.
"Not some Dark Jedi that thought he was a Sith or what was left from the war with Exar Kun... this... this was really a Sith, a Massassi..."

Bastila's eyes widened in horror.

"WHAT! How- how is that possible, they've been extinct for nearly a thousand years..."

Revan smiled, but there was no joy or humor in the expression. It was almost as if it was some sick dark joke.

"Oh how they hate us..."

Years before the Jedi had exterminated the Sith, killing the last of the Dark Siders and their Jedi followers on Korriban by blockading them and destroying the surface of the world. The tombs of the ancient Sith Lords and their followers remained there though Revan knew the truth, had been forced to see it as the Sith forced his way into his mind. The genocide the Jedi and ancient Republic unleashed on the Massassi was but a bloody nose and had sewed the seeds of Rebellion within the Jedi's own ranks. The centuries had passed while the Sith watched from their hidden empire beyond the Outer Rim, carefully orchestrating the Dark Jedi they came across and Exiles until they had formed an army that they names after themselves and sent under the leadership of their strongest and most loyal servant, Exar Kun. Revan shuddered at the memories of the horrors he had seen, knowing all life within the true Sith Empire served them or was them.

"This- this is INSANE!"

Bastila screamed, looking at Revan as if he were a contagious disease.

"Impossible!"

She added in a whisper, though her voice sought any comfort. Revan turned his eyes to her and shook his head sadly.
"I wish it was... and the Jedi are blind to it... humbling isn't it?"
Bastila shook her head in disbelief. The stories of the Ancient Massassi Sith were spoken in whispers at the Jedi Enclaves and Temples in fear of drawing an angry spirit of one to taint you forever. The idea of one being alive, even one was enough to terrify the young Jedi Knight, the idea of thousands was beyond comprehension.

"What- What do they want?"

Bastila asked in a whisper, knowing she would need to tell the details of this to the Council as soon as possible. Revan's eyes locked with hers and for the first time since looking into them, Bastila could see the struggle the man held against his own darkness and despair.

"They want all life but their own dead... Anything they have not created or manipulated is destroyed. I- I have seen into their mind... what they want, what they can do... I never dreamed that the Force could drain the life from a billion sentient Force sensitive beings but- but the one I saw he- he did that... he destroyed all life on Katarr... they- well no all but one life which they enslaved..."

Revan closed his eyes, remembering the young woman that was a slave in all ways to the Sith and the terrible pain he could sense within her.

"Katarr?"

Bastila gasped, the Republic had quarantined the world after what was thought to be a disease had ravaged all life on the world that once held an enlightened and peaceful race of Force-sensitives.

"Yes..."

For hours, Bastila stood in shock as Revan recounted his violent confrontation with Darth Nihilus . Only his grasp on the darkness within his soul had prevented the confrontation from killing him and she had learned something even more important, the woman that the Sith had held captive had pleaded for his life for some reason and her Master had granted it. She did not know what to think, having no knowledge of the events though she felt a queasiness when she heard Revan mutter those words as jealousy flared through her. A knock buzz alerted both Jedi Knights to their surroundings. Bastila was silent, staring intently at Revan, still horrified by what she had heard. Revan slowly walked to the door and unlocked the mechanism, allowing Brin in. Brin gave Revan a knowing smile which Revan frowned at but said nothing to.

"Nice to see you two uhm, together... but Carth and I think we have a lead on where the Starmap might be..."

Mention of the Starmap seemed to pull Bastila out of her stupor.

"Oh?"

Brin explained the probe droid situation and the Republic's breach of the Selkath treaty. Revan scowled as he listened.

"Always bending the rules when it is convenient."

Bastila stopped her conversation for a moment and turned with a concerned and still slightly shaken look, giving Revan a 'are you okay' look. At Revan's nod, she turned back and calculated how they would get into the Sith Embassy. Revan felt a dark presence, a particularly powerful one that he was frightened Bastila and Brin would not be able to hold off individually.

"I'll go."

He muttered, stopping the conversation.

"I'm going too!"

Brin shot in, ignoring the glare from Revan and the exacerbated look of Bastila.

"No."

Revan stood and stalked away from the ship, not offering any further explanations.

Revan stood over a gasping Darth Bandon as the younger man writhed in pain from the lightsaber wound to his stomach.

"You bastard, you didn't think I'd remember did you?"

Revan hissed, twirling his lightsaber in his hand as he deactivated it and grinned down to the mortally wounded Sith Lord.

"Re- v- rev- Revan."

Bandon gasped as he felt an unbearable pain shoot through his body as his stomach acid burned away his insides.

"You deserve far worse for what you did to those girls..."

Revan scowled and kicked the dying Sith Lord.

"They were just children!"

Bandon smiled despite his pain and struggled over his next words.

"At least they lived, I'll be waiting for you in hell old friend."

Revan's hands clenched into fists as he glared at the corpse of Darth Bandon.

"Despicable."

Without another word, Revan moved out of the Sith base undetected, using the Force to manipulate the waiting Selkath guards. The former Dark Lord frowned as he mulled over Bandon's last words.

"What is worse? A mass murderer or a rapist..."

Scowling, Revan stored the thoughts away, remembering that he only killed to save lives and he never took a woman in his life, even as the Dark Lord. A smile played on Revan's lips as he shook his head.

"Oh the life of a Jedi..."

The former Dark Lord strolled into the Republic Embassy, forgetting his dark apparel and nearly getting vaporized by the base's autodefences until Carth came running to him and stopped the trigger happy and Sith-hating Republic sentry. After giving the recording device to the Republic, Brin, Bastila and Carth took the transport to the underwater Republic base in the hopes of finding the Starmap and finding out what happened in the Republic base. Revan decided to try his luck at the Swoop Races, inviting a thoroughly bored Mission and Zalbaar to cheer him along as he pummeled the competition. Revan smirked as he took the Sector championship as well as the healthy sum of credits, bowing graciously before approaching Mission with a smirk.

"See, I didn't crash and drown. Pay up Mish!"

Mission snorted.

"You know something Rev, I've been thinking..."

"Oh no..."

Revan spat teasingly, earning a rather hard punch in the shoulder from Mission.

"If you crashed and drowned how was I supposed to collect on our bet?"

Mission asked with a frown.

"I was either going to win or not worry about it."

Revan added with a grin, earning another punch.

"What do you say we go by the Cantina and celebrate?"

Revan asked hopefully, needing a stiff drink after his confession to Bastila and his confrontation and his own dark feelings towards Bandon. Mission frowned and looked around warily.

"I don't know, there's this really drunk Sith there that kept trying to grab my headtails."

Mission clutched her headtails protectively, earning a laugh from Revan and a low chuckle from Zalbaar.

"Well this place isn't too bad and I think there is a restaurant nearby. What do you say? My treat?"

Revan flashed his credit chips for a moment in a very unjedi-like manner. Mission readily agreed and Zalbaar, wanting nothing more than a full stomach growled approval. After stuffing their faces and inviting Juhani and Jolee along, the group ran into a heavily drunk Canderous.
"Poodoo!"

Revan muttered, rolling his eyes.

"Who wants to babysit a drunk Mandalorian?"

Everyone stared blankly at Revan before Revan smirked and stared right back.

"Zalbaar, you owe me a life-debt correct?"

Zalbaar grumbled, but nodded.

"Consider your debt repaid if you get him back to the Hawk without killing him or letting him kill anyone else."

Zalbaar sighed and dejectedly escorted Canderous back to the Ebon Hawk. Revan, Mission, Juhani and Jolee all sat in a public recreational area, admiring the scenery until a beep on their comm links alerted them to their comrades.

"Wedge."
Revan muttered into his wrist-comm.
"Rev, we need you to bail us out. Apparently the Selkath were a little paranoid about me blowing up the station."

Revan shook his head.

"Dammit Brin, what did Bastila say?"

Brin grinned.

"Can't you hear her shrieking at me about how we are dooming the Republic with this mission?"

"Huh?"

Mission asked, hearing her name. Revan snickered, shaking his head.

"No problem, lets get the hell off this stupid ball of water and pacifists who happen to enjoy the Death-penalty too much."

"Couldn't agree with you more."
Brin muttered, wincing at some of the curses Carth shouted to the Selkath that arrested him. Bastila went along peacefully, though internally she was fuming at the Selkath.
"Peace, Bastila."

Bastila sighed as she heard Revan's voice echo through her mind.
"Thanks, Revan."

Laughed echoes through the bond before Bastila scowled and threw up a mental shield, not seeing what was so funny with her current situation.