CHAPTER TWO
The tall robed figure walked down the corridor of the Mandalorian Frigate. His movements were fluid and graceful, the only sound the rustling of the dark gray cape he wore against the deck. His robes appeared to be the customary robes of a Jedi Knight, yet they were far from it. Lining the outside of his black shirt was a layer of Mark II ArmorPly body armor, and lining the inside was a layer of Prototype Kolto armor that would regenerate minor wounds within minutes. The armor covered all exposed portions of his body, but allowed him the most freedom of movement available. His black pants and the shirt he wore appeared to be made from leather, when in fact it was the two pieces of the special armor. The hood was drawn up over his head, yet it could not cover the lower portion of his face which revealed a strong jaw line and the outline of a neatly trimmed beard. Even through the armor, the muscular form of his body was evident. The leather belt around his waist carried several small pouches and on each hip was the hint of something long and cylindrical.
The tall figure carried an aura of power and grace and it echoed in his walk. He turned the corner of the corridor to see two of the Mandalorian Guard standing outside the door he was heading for. Their silver and gray armor reflected the light of the gleaming corridor, and matched the two Mandalorian Guards that shadowed him down the corridor. The red stripes on their shoulders and arms marked them as the personal guards of Mandalore their leader. Their movements were measured and protective of the figure they followed, their senses alert, even on their own ship. The figure stopped outside the door as the two Mandalorians stepped from his path to either side of the door.
The door slid open as he stepped in front of it. " Come in Rev." The female voice spoke from within.
Twenty-six year old Revan Panlie entered the private quarters in two steps, his eyes settling on the stunning younger woman sitting lotus style on the floor, an equally stunning Mandalorian female finishing the braids in the long silky white hair. " We have received clearance to land at the Jedi Temple dock." The deep voice told her.
Twenty-four year old Arren Vorsut slowly got to her feet and turned to the young Mandalorian woman, her white Jedi robes flowing around her. They held the same sort of armor reinforcements that Revan's did. " Thank you Vlaina."
Revan did not blink when the two beautiful women shared a soft kiss. Then Vlaina turned and retrieved the helmet of the Mandalorian Guard from the bunk and headed for the door. She placed a hand on Revan's arm and stretched out to kiss him lightly on the cheek.
" I will ensure all is ready." She spoke.
Revan nodded and turned back to Arren as she left. He stepped up to the much shorter woman and took her hands. " It never ceases to amaze me how much you resemble Aunt Brianna." He said with a smile.
Arren Vorsut returned the smile and stepped into the arms of the one man left outside her father and uncle who could put her at ease. Revan looked into the stunning pale blue eyes when he felt her tremble. " You are frightened." He spoke softly.
" I have no desire to confront them. No desire to see them. Not after what they are responsible for." Arren told him.
Revan nodded. " Nor do I." He told her. " But it is what our parents requested we do."
" We could find them on our own Revan." Arren spoke.
" Perhaps… but as our fathers always told us… better that you have the advantage with those you trust… than those you question."
Arren nodded. " I know."
" Vlaina seems prepared."
Arren smiled. " When have you ever known a child of Kelborne to not be prepared." She said with a hint of the smile he knew so well.
Revan thought about that for a moment and returned the smile. " To include your husband? Never."
" What is this? I hear my name?" The booming voice spoke from the corridor.
Revan and Arren turned and she stepped around him to envelope the broad upper body of the Mandalorian Commander in her small arms. Revan couldn't help but chuckle looking at how tiny she looked in the massive man's arms. In very un-Mandalorian like fashion, the commander crushed her to him and they shared a deep kiss in the corridor. Kelborne's eldest son had claimed her heart on their first trip to Dxun to train. She was only fourteen at the time, Dralor just short of twenty, yet Arren had persisted, knowing what she wanted from that first day. They were married five years later on that same moon in a Mandalorian ceremony that could probably be heard from nearby Onderon.
After the actions of her father upon Dxun and Onderon, alongside their adopted uncle Canderous Ordo, the sins of the past had begun to be washed away. And the Mandalorian colony on Dxun had grown steadily over the years, now numbering in the thousands. Yet these Mandalorians had changed. No longer were they the savage conquerors of the Mandalorian Wars nearly half a century ago. They were still a warrior species… deeply rooted in tradition, but now they worked hand in hand with the people of Onderon in nearly everything. Should any force attempt to try and conquer Onderon again, they would have to contend with nearly two hundred Mandalorian warships and thousands of Mandalorian soldiers. And the same could be said of Dxun. Twice in recent years, bounty hunters had come to Dxun to attempt to claim the bounty on the head of their adopted uncle. The first time they were caught by the Onderon militia, and mysteriously disappeared in a deep prison somewhere on the planet. The second time they came with two corvettes, thinking to demand what they wanted. They were suddenly faced with several Mandalorian frigates, and two heavy Onderon cruisers. The pieces of the corvettes drifted in the atmospheres of both planets for weeks after that.
Arren's husband finally released her and placed her gently onto the deck. He touched her cheek and smiled. " Our sons are safe on Dxun." he spoke. " You need not carry that fear in you."
Arren nodded. " I know my husband. And I do not Dralor. There is little in this galaxy that could penetrate the combined defenses of Mandalorian and Jedi on Dxun, even the Sith. And Queen Talia informed me before we left that she would take a personal interest in their safety as well."
Dralor nodded. " She said as much to me." He looked up and turned to Revan. " I do not understand why your parents would want you to do this son of Lord Revan. They would be safer with us. Not just the younglings."
" You will get no disagreement from me Dralor." Revan replied. " But we must honor our parents request. It is what they wanted. And their training must continue."
Dralor nodded. " And we shall honor Lord Revan's and Lady Bastila's request. As we will Knights Dacen and Brianna."
Revan nodded. " I know you will."
" We will be docking in seven minutes." Dralor told them. " You should have seen the look on the face of the Jedi landing control when I requested clearance. It looked as if she had swallowed the leg of a cannok! It was priceless!" He turned to Arren. " Vlaina has prepared the others. They will be with you always."
Arren nodded and kissed his strong hand. " Just have your repeater ready if I call."
Dralor's smile to anyone else except those in the small room would have been cruel. " I would dare them to take my Jedi wife from me. What you do not slaughter… I will finish."
Arren chuckled and nodded. " I know." She turned to Revan and held out her hand. " It is time."
Revan nodded and took her hand, stepping up to Dralor. " I have no more trust of the council then my father or you Dralor. What we talked of… is it ready?"
Dralor nodded with a grin. " It is ready and already in motion. It is glad to see you have inherited your father's sense of tactics and battle, son of Lord Revan. It gives me pride to serve with you."
Revan patted his shoulder and followed Arren as she pulled him down the corridor, the Mandalorian Guard falling in all around them. She looked at Revan. " What was that about?"
Revan met her gaze. " Insurance." He spoke the one word.
Arren nodded in understanding. " I like insurance."
They walked without hurry, their Jedi robes rustling the floor of the one place both had sworn never to come too. Their hoods were drawn around their heads, but even still they could see and sense the emotion pouring from the minds of the Jedi Knights and Padawan learners that lined the long walkway to the Council Chambers. It helped little that Vlaina and two other Mandalorian Guards flanked them as they walked, their armor gleaming in the sunlight. Many of the Jedi Order still silently blamed the Mandalorians for the current weakened state of their Order. Without the Mandalorian Wars, there would never have been a Jedi Civil War, and Revan's father would never have turned to the dark side and become a Sith Lord that nearly conquered the galaxy. It did not matter that Revan's mother had brought his father back from the abyss with nothing but her love for him. And he in turn had rescued her in the same way, when Bastila had succumb to the dark side for a time. Between them, they were responsible for the deaths of millions. What everyone had seemed to forget was that they had saved many more millions. As a boy, there had been nights when he could hear his father weeping in the arms of his mother for all that he had done. Or his mother gasping in the arms of his father and weeping for her sins. It had taken many years for them to come to grips with the past. That the Jedi Council had sought to rip from them the only source of strength either of them had, which was their love for each other, made Revan's blood boil.
While Arren was the mirror image of her mother Brianna, Revan was the image of his father in physical appearance with the exception of his eyes, which he inherited from his mother. A deep sapphire blue, they were his most distinctive feature against his deeply tanned skin. It had been Arren's father that had gone into the reaches of the Outer Rim after his second victory at Malachor V that destroyed the planet. It had ended the echo in the Force and ended the threat to the Jedi from Darth Nilhus. A Sith Lord that preyed on Jedi through the Force. Revan did not know the details to his Uncle Dacen's rescue of his father. Only five people did. He knew it had been a horrible nearly five years his father had spent away from the woman he loved. Alone and fighting. And if not for his uncle Dacen… he would not be here. His father and uncle had grown closer since that time, closer than they were during the Mandalorian Wars.
He and Arren spent days with them exploring the landscape of Dxun, training to use the Force, training in the elements on the jungle moon. They had trained together for nearly ten years now, and knew what each other would do in any given circumstance. Revan and Arren trained in the Echani fighting arts under her mother and father, and in tactics and strategy with Revan's father. In meditation with his mother Bastila, and in light saber combat with both of their fathers, two of the most renown light saber duelists in Jedi history.
And then there was the Force.
They were both born with an unusual affinity to the Force, an affinity that surprised even their respective parents. What took years to master as a Padawan, they mastered in months. Their connection to the Force was so intense there were times when they actually frightened their own parents with their abilities.
It was that ability that they both used now as they walked, sensing the awe and hate and anger from all gathered. Many knew who they were without question. It was far too hard to hide anything within the academy here on Coruscant, and their arrival had created an enormous stir, the son of Revan and Bastila and the daughter of the Exile Dacen Vorsut and Brianna Kae, whose own mother was exiled from the Order, walking the halls of the great Jedi Compound. It did not sit well with many of the older Jedi Knights and many of the Padawans.
And it came as no surprise to Revan and Arren when four Padawans roughly their age stepped into their path.
" The children of the exiles are not welcome here. Nor is the Mandalorian trash they travel with." The seeming leader of the small group spoke. She was a human female, about Arren's age. Her long black hair was pulled tightly into a single bun behind her head. She had tanned skin and looked in excellent physical shape, with a very shapely figure which the Padawan robes did nothing to hide in the least. Her blazing green eyes were alive with emotion.
Revan and Arren stopped walking only five meters away, their Mandalorian Guards closing in a little tighter. Revan looked at Arren under her hood.
(I told you this would happen.) He spoke to her in the ancient Rakatan language taught to them by their parents.
(So you did.) Arren replied.
Revan turned to the Padawan without lowering his hood. This young woman in front of them was extremely attractive in his eyes. " We have no quarrel with you young Padawan." Revan spoke in as smooth and calm a voice as he had. " Please step aside."
Arren grinned under her hood. (Revan… are you attempting to sweet talk her?) She spoke in Rakatan.
(What?)
(She is quite attractive… leaving her obviously rude upbringing aside.)
Revan couldn't help but chuckle.
" You dare laugh at me exile!" The Padawan growled at him. " The dishonor your parents brought to this Order is greater than Exar Kun could have imagined. And you laugh at me?"
Revan stiffened ever so slightly Arren saw, and she watched him reach up to remove his hood. She heard the gasps from many gathering around them as he revealed his face. She could feel the recognition from so many because he looked a twin to his father. And the face of Revan would never be forgotten.
" You speak of things you do not comprehend young Padawan" Revan spoke slowly and gently. Arren could sense he was trying to not inflame their situation any further than it was even though she could detect his heart beating ever so much faster, for reasons she did not yet understand. " I ask again… please step aside."
" I will not!" She snapped. " I am Padawan Anja Tamari of Telos! I will not let the son of the butcher of my world pass. Many members of my family were killed when your father decimated my planet!"
Revan met her blazing eyes. " For that I am sorry. However that was many years in the past… and my father redeemed himself many times over in the years that followed."
" Not to me!"
" I was not aware he had to redeem himself to you. Since it seems from your age… you were not even born when these events occurred." Revan spoke evenly. " Why is it that you harbor so much hate towards a man you never knew? And were not even alive to witness these events you speak of? And how is it that the Jedi allowed someone with as little self control as you are displaying now into their beloved Order?"
Arren had to choke back her laughter at his words and she could hear their Mandalorian guards snicker under their helmets. It did not go unnoticed by the gathered Jedi and Padawans. Many stepped a little closer at the taunt by Revan.
" You dare mock me!" Anja spat.
" I'm not doing anything young Padawan. You are making a fine fool of yourself without my assistance however." Revan replied. " Please step aside."
" I will not step aside for the son of a betrayer of the Order and his schutta Jedi wife!" Anja barked, igniting the blue blade of her light saber.
Revan's sapphire eyes narrowed to slits. Arren felt his pulse begin to race and she shook her head looking at the Padawan. " You are a fool!" She spoke to the girl. " You know nothing of what you speak!"
" I will ask once… and only once Padawan!" Revan spoke… his voice nearly a growl that everyone in the vicinity could detect. " You have dishonored my mother with your words of hate. A woman you do not know and are too stupid to understand. You are not intelligent enough to understand who or what my mother was. I suggest this out of respect for two of the Masters on the Jedi Council… whichever one of the remaining seven masters that put you up to this, reveal their name to me now… or there will be one less Padawan walking these halls."
" You think you can defeat me in a duel?" Anja spat. " I have been praised by the Masters for my skills with the light saber. I have never been defeated in a duel." She spun her blue blade elegantly in her hands. " Perhaps you think to test me?"
" I ask you…" Arren spoke up now. " We do not wish a conflict! Why are you forcing one? Why do you insult our parents who you never knew?"
" So now we hear from the daughter of another exile!" Anja spoke, her voice dripping in sarcasm. " How quaint!"
" I will ask only once more Padawan." Revan told her. " Please step aside."
" I will not step aside for the children of dishonored criminals!" Anja spoke.
Revan's eyes were nearly alive and glowing. " Very well Padawan… allow me to show you who my mother is!"
" Revan!" Arren snapped.
The name Arren barked froze everyone in their tracks for a split second, which she knew it would. As Revan's feet left the ground in a Force jump, Arren unleashed a Force scream that sent a shock wave of sonic energy pulsing through the gathered Padawans and Jedi. It sent many of them sprawling to the ground in agony, grasping their heads. Revan saw Anja's eyes grow wide as his Force Jump carried him to her in a millisecond. Her light saber came up in a far too slow attempt to fend him off, but Revan brushed it aside with Force pull, ripping it from her grasp. His jump landed him nearly on top of her and he gathered her into his arms tightly, his hand grabbing her jaw as he stared into her eyes.
" Let me show you my mother!" Revan nearly yelled, his eyes beginning to glow. Anja froze in his grasp as images raced through her mind in a blur.
Arren turned quickly and unleashed a Force wave at a group of Padawans regaining their feet. As she spun gracefully, nearly twenty more Mandalorian guards appeared all around them as if from thin air, their assault rifles leveled into the chests and faces of downed Padawans and Jedi. One Jedi actually made it to his feet and was closing on Arren when in front of him a huge red combat droid appeared and touched the barrel of the Mandalorian heavy blaster to his forehead.
Statement: One more step Jedi meatbag, and I will be forced to activate my assignation protocols and ventilate your empty cranium for attempting to harm my master's offspring.
The Jedi froze looking at the shiny HK series droid. He instantly detected the cortosis weave of the shiny red armor and realized his light saber would have minimal effect on the outer skeletal structure of the droid.
Observation: You will not be able to sever my limb from my frame before I pull the trigger Jedi meatbag. But you are welcome to try.
" ENOUGH!" The voice bellowed.
Arren turned quickly to see Master Bindo and Master Vandar walk quickly into the fray. She relaxed her guard only slightly even though she knew her adopted grandfather would not harm her.
Jolee looked to where Revan held the young Padawan frozen in his arms, his hand stretched across her cheek. " Revan! I said enough!"
Revan turned his head slowly to look at Jolee and Vandar caught a brief glimpse of his eyes before the glow in them vanished and he saw the son of Revan relax slightly. Revan turned back to look at the young woman in his arms, and noticed for the first time the suppleness of her body pressed against his, and the smooth flawless skin on her face and neck. Her eyes were a blazing jade green and for an instant it made his heart skip a beat.
" Put me down!" Anja screamed… regaining her senses.
Revan did so, unceremoniously dropping her on her butt. She grunted and looked up at him as he picked up her light saber from the ground and flipped it expertly in his hand, examining it. It was then that Anja noticed the two light sabers still attached to his belt. One slightly shorter than the other, but her eyes detected the mechanism to attach the ends together into one saber blade. Anja scrambled away from Revan, remembering from her saber training that one did not carry two blades unless one was a master with one. He looked down at Anja and focused his mind. With a simple thought the light saber in his hand shattered into three pieces. He dropped them at her feet.
" Perhaps more training is in order young Padawan." He spoke.
Vandar watched Revan in amazement as the young man stood straighter, the dark side aura emanating from him only seconds before simply dispersing into nothing, to be replaced with an amazing calmness of spirit. It was something he had seen only two times before.
" That means you as well HK!" Jolee barked.
Statement: This HK unit does not take orders from Jedi Master meatbag Bindo.
Revan turned to look at his father's loyal assignation droid. " Stand down HK." He spoke.
Statement: Very well young master. But protecting you has become my primary function. Your father programmed me to be wary around these Jedi meatbags. I will not hesitate to incinerate them if they threaten you or Lady Dralor again.
Arren looked at Jolee, her eyes brightening as she stepped up to him. " Grandfather." She spoke softly.
Vandar looked at Jolee with an inquisitive stare. " Interesting this is." He spoke. " Known where Revan and Bastila went you have. Hidden this from the council. All these years."
" With good reason Vandar. And you know it." Jolee spoke, releasing Arren from his embrace. He looked at Revan as he walked up to him, the Mandalorian Guard, now numbering near thirty, providing a semi circle of protection around Arren and Revan. " That was damn foolish boy. And you know it. I thought your father trained you better?"
" He did. Be thankful she is alive." Revan responded.
" Revan!" Arren snapped at him, her eyes boring into him. " Behave!"
Jolee shook his head. " I am far too old to argue with you boy! Your father taught you better control! I expect you to exercise it! You could have seriously injured many of the students!"
Revan looked at him, and nodded slowly. " I apologize grandfather." He spoke with heartfelt sincerity.
" And stop calling me that!" Jolee snapped. " Not around here!"
Revan looked at him. " We have called you that since we were infants. Why should we change that fact now? Simply because we are on Coruscant? Here in the Jedi halls?"
" Mind your tongue boy. You haven't outgrown a good spanking you know!" Jolee hissed.
Vandar stepped up to Revan, looking up at the tall muscular young man. " Much of his father I see." Vandar spoke. " Have Bastila's eyes you do."
Revan slowly got down to one knee and bowed his head to Vandar. " Master Vandar. My father spoke fondly of you alone. My sincere apologies, I did not wish a confrontation."
" Notice that I did, son of Knight Revan. Held back your true power you and the daughter of Knight Kae did. Most impressive it was." Vandar looked around slowly at the Mandalorian Guard, watching him intently. " Impressive indeed. Arrive on Coruscant you have, in a Mandalorian frigate, with Mandalorian Guard protection. Shocked many people you have. Most impressive indeed." He moved closer to Revan and decided it was as if looking into a mirror or a time warp, and the absolute twin he was to his father. " Why have you broken your vow to never come here young Revan?"
Revan and Arren looked at one another before he turned back to Vandar. " How do you know of that Master Vandar?"
" Nearly 800 years I have." Vandar replied. " Was present the day your father and mother vowed in the council chambers never to return to Coruscant. Anger and sadness I felt in them. I was saddened for many days after. You are your father's son… this I see. The vow you would have kept. Until now. Why young Revan? Your parents we do not have. Nor yours daughter of Knight Kae. So the question begs an answer. Why have you come here?"
" For protection." Revan spoke.
Vandar, for the first time in nearly two hundred years was dumbstruck. " Protection young Revan? From what? For who?"
Revan stood to his full height. He turned his head. " Vlaina?"
The obviously female Mandalorian Guard stepped up to him. " Now children." she said simply.
Vandar's small eyes opened wide when directly in front of him, spread out behind Revan and Arren materialized four young children ranging in age from seven to sixteen. Two boys and two girls. The older children… two of them, were dressed in Padawan robes with light sabers attached to their belts. Revan ushered two of them to him, both the older boys. Two of them went to Arren.
" Master Vandar… allow me to introduce Padawan Dorak and Zhar Panlie. My brothers." Revan spoke.
Arren drew the older girl and the small boy to her. " Master Vandar… I present to you Padawan Hanna Vorsut… named for my mother's half sister. And Padawan Yusanis Vorsut. Named for my mother's father."
Vandar was almost staggered under the presence in the Force that he felt standing in front of him. He shook his small head. " Did not sense them in the Force until they revealed themselves." He looked at Revan. " How is this possible young Revan?"
" Perhaps we should move inside Master Vandar." Revan said. " There is much we need to discuss."
Vandar nodded. " So it seems young Revan. So it seems."
Though they had never been inside the Council Chambers, it was exactly like how their parents had described it to them. Revan and Arren stood in the center of the circle of Jedi Masters, their brothers and sisters standing very close to them, yet with a confidence in their eyes that none of the Masters had ever seen in ones so young. Only Vlaina had been allowed into the chambers with them, and only after she threaten to contact Dralor and have him lay waste to the Temple docks. They had taken her assault rifle and sidearm, but a Mandalorian was never without weapons, and the Jedi who had searched her were clumsy and missed the hold out blaster tucked into her armor, among other things. She had removed her helmet, and her eyes alone had told the Jedi who searched her to tread very carefully.
Revan and Arren stood there in the center allowing the council members to size them up. They could sense the questions, the awe, and the fear in them all. Their eyes moved to the one place where they felt hate.
Atris could not hide her feelings upon seeing the daughter of the handmaiden who had betrayed her. And everyone in the room could sense the controlled rage Arren felt flowing toward Atris when her pale blue eyes settled on her.
" Sense your anger we do, daughter of Brianna Kae." Vandar's voice broke the silence.
Arren looked at him. " I was not aware that Atris sat on this council Master Vandar." She spoke.
" You will address me as Master Atris young lady!" Atris snapped.
Arren turned to look at her again. " I will address you as I see fit!" She spat. " You murdered five of my mother's half sisters, and nearly my mother herself Sith witch! If not for my father you would have killed her! Do not make the mistake of telling me how I will address you woman! You may be redeemed in the eyes of this council… but not in mine! You actions toward my parents after that day are proof enough!"
(Arren… now I must council you to use control.) Revan spoke to her in the Rakatan tongue. (We knew she would be here.)
Arren met his eyes and nodded. (Thank you Rev.) She replied. (I did not realize she would affect me so.)
(Aunt Brianna said as much.)
And again in less than an hour, Vandar was stunned at what he saw. The dark side aura simply dissolved into nothing and was replaced by calm. Only this time all the Masters sensed it.
" How dare you threaten me whelp!" Atris snickered. " In these halls!"
" Threaten you?" Arren spoke. " Atris… as Revan has reminded me… you are not worth the effort to threaten."
Atris eyes widened and she came to her feet. " And now you insult me! Vandar, why have we allowed them entry to this place? They are a risk to us all! To our Order! To our teachings! We saw what they did upon arriving here! They attacked our students! The dark Side envelopes them!"
Revan and Arren burst out laughing at her words, as did the next oldest of their brothers and sisters. This shocked even Vandar and he looked at them.
" Joking matter this is not, young Revan!" He said calmly. " Atris's words have truth to them. The Dark Side we sense in all of you. Strong is its presence, yet tempered."
Revan looked at him. " And what else?"
" The power of the Light. Balanced somehow with the Dark. Not seen this before."
" You wield both sides equally." Master Grana spoke now. " How has it not consumed you? We can sense the emotion seething through you, all of you. Yet even in the youngest of you it is controlled. Harnessed."
" A gift… from our parents." Arren told them. " It is something they have taught us. To control it. Harness it. Not let it rule what we do."
" How is this possible?" Master Ki-Van Or spoke now. He was one of the Cerean Jedi Masters and had been on the council since the last days of the Jedi Civil War.
" It is something all Jedi could have learned." Revan spoke again. " You chose instead to exile my parents. For their love for each other."
" Jedi do not have attachments son of Revan! It is against the Code." One of the Twi'lek Masters spoke. " You would know this if you were a Jedi."
Revan sighed heavily. " My father told me you would say that." He said. " I have no desire to be a Jedi in 'your' Order." He hissed. " Even after all you have witnessed with my parents, and Arren's parents, you still cling to your flawed teachings."
" Revan… watch your tone!" Jolee barked.
" No grandfather… I will not. Not anymore." Revan stepped forward. " Your teachings drove my parents together. Your underhanded decisions and sly manipulations are what put them together all those years ago. You cared not for their safety or their well being! They were only a means to an end for all of you. And when they fell in love… it was the strength of that love that not only saved my mother, but saved them both! You still deny that to this day! And because of the love that saved them… saved the Jedi and saved this damn Republic… you exiled them!"
Arren reached out with her hand and placed it on Revan's arm. " Rev…"
Revan shook his head. " No Arren… I must say this. You know this as well as I do!" He turned back to the Masters, who all had stunned looks on their faces. Even Jolee… who had watched Revan grow up was surprised.
" This Order drove my parents into exile! They wanted nothing more than to remain among their comrades and continue to do good as Jedi, to attempt to redeem themselves for their actions in the past. You denied them that! You cast them out because of what saved them! Their love for each other. In all the years after I was born, never did I hear one word of regret at their decision to accept this council's ruling. Yet as a child I could hear them crying in the next room because of the sentence you pronounced on them. It took many years for that hurt to fade away. More years than I care to tell you. And in those years… they never… never lost their faith in this Order! Never! And when they taught us, it was with that faith! They told us you were all wise and had all this knowledge. They told us the Order had changed. I can see that it has not."
Revan turned to Arren. " It was a mistake to come here Arren, regardless of what they wished. We should have left them with our younger siblings."
" Siblings?" Vandar spoke again. " There are more?"
Revan looked at him. " I have twin sisters. They are four. Arren has twin brothers. They are four as well."
" And where are they?" Atris asked.
Arren shook her head. " No. We will not reveal that. They are safer where they are than anywhere else in the galaxy."
" Yet you brought your other siblings here?" Ki-Van Or spoke.
" It was their wish should anything happen to them." Revan said.
" What do you mean?" Grana spoke.
Revan looked at Arren who slowly nodded her head. He removed the small holo emitter from his belt and placed it on the floor. It shimmered into life with a bluish light and suddenly before them were the figures of Revan Panlie and Bastila Shan, as well as Dacen Vorsut and Brianna Kae. All of them looked older with gray just seeping into the senior Revan's hair, but on all four of them, their eyes were still bright and full of life. It was the senior Revan who began to speak first.
" Hello my son. If you are viewing this… you no doubt have Arren by your side, and you have discovered your mother and I, along with Uncle Dacen and Aunt Brianna are gone. There is much we must tell you but first… listen to your mother for a moment. What she will tell you comes from all of us Revan… including your mother and father Arren."
Bastila stood close to the senior Revan, her beauty still a sight to see. She was grasping his arm tightly, her sapphire blue eyes still as bright as any sun he had ever seen. And their love for each other still poured forth even in the holo image. " Revan… my son. We have no illusions about whether you and Arren will follow us. None of us do. We have only two requests before you begin your journey. Your brothers and sisters, they need to be safeguarded. They will be in great danger as well once we begin this quest, and they do not have the training yet of you and Arren. It is something the four of us have decided we have to do. Before the darkness grows stronger and destroys everything we have worked for all these years. Everything the Order has worked for. The Republic is still fragile… still rebuilding… as is the Order. Your father and I are… we are responsible for most of it… and this battle that comes… this war… well we need to fight it. We have to do this to save the Order.
" We have spoken with your Uncle Canderous. The sanctuary is the safest place for the twins. Not even this darkness could hope to penetrate the combined defenses of Mandalorian and Jedi there. The Queen has also pledged her assistance in this matter. They will be safe at the Sanctuary. For Zhar and Dorak however, as well as Hanna and Kaleb Arren… you must take them to the Council. They will protect them. And give them the guidance they need at this point in their training. We are not there to do it… and the four of us have agreed this is best. Insure they understand we will come for our children when we have returned… and if we don't… Clan Ordo will. This is our wish. There will be no discussion in that regard. Make that clear to them Revan. If we do not return… if you and Arren do not return… they are to be returned to the only family they have known all these years. And that is Clan Ordo. And let them know… if that does not happen and they try to keep your brothers and sisters, the Mandalorian Wars will pale in comparison to what your Uncle Canderous will do."
The last few sentences were delivered with firmness in her voice that many of the Masters did not recall from Bastila Shan. She had always been very controlled with her emotions. Having been exiled and motherhood seemed to have changed her. All of them could still detect a slight resentment in her voice as well.
Arren's father spoke next, leaning forward, but her mother's hand always on his shoulder. " Arren… we have left you and Revan coordinates to follow after your trip to Coruscant. Our second request is this. Take them… you will find help, others who have fought beside the four of us like your Uncle Canderous. They will provide you assistance and weapons and ships if you need them. They too have a stake in the outcome, and they too are part of our family and are in danger. They have instructions should you arrive. Tell no one where you are going. No one. Especially no one on the Council. I will not allow them to expose our friends and family for their own gains or allow them to influence them in any way.
" You have, the two of you, trained together for a decade. You know one another as well as you know yourselves. Use what we have taught you. Be mindful of what you do and say. Always remain in control. They will not understand what you are capable of. The two of you. And your brothers and sisters. Trust in yourselves… in each other. We will see you soon."
Brianna leaned forward now. " Arren… we have left items for you and Revan. Items that belonged to us. We can not take them with us now. They are hidden within the sanctuary. Uncle Canderous knows where they are. Bring them with you and Revan. I know your husband will travel with you… so make sure our grandsons are safe before you leave. Your father and I will still want to take them on their first hunt together." This revelation caused a few of the Masters to gasp. Brianna continued. " And Arren… tell Atris… tell Atris I forgive her."
The senior Revan began again. " My son… she is there, where you travel on Coruscant, within those halls. You will know her when you touch her. Your mother and I have seen this. She will be your link to the Council… and your love. Be mindful of what you are capable of. She will know what she feels… but we are unable to see if she will go against all they have hammered into her head these past years. Do not force her. Leave yourself open to her… allow her to see what it means to be in love. To feel your passion… your desire… your…"
Bastila was seen hitting the senior Revan in the arm stopping his words. " Revan!" She popped. " Enough! He can figure it out on his own!"
" I had to help you!" The senior Revan shot back.
This caused their four parents to chuckle together. The senior Revan turned back to face the recorder. " I will bow to your mother's will my son."
Dacen chuckled even harder. " You always do." He snickered.
Brianna could be seen punching her husband. " And you don't!" She snapped.
" Follow your heart my son. It will not lead you astray. Mine did not. It brought me to your mother." The senior Revan could be seen taking Bastila's hand and bringing it to his lips for a kiss. " My friend Jolee… I assume our children will show this to you at least. Possibly Master Vandar. Both of you have always held our utmost respect and regard. Never doubt that.
We ask… as fellow Knights… that you do this for us. Jolee… I must put you in a position of sorts now. You need to impress on the Council the power our children have. The Force has willed that they have this power for a reason. Tell them… make them see… they will not be able to bend the will of our children to their whim. It will not only waste time… but it could very well lead to unnecessary violence. None of their students will have the training we have given them. They can do it alone if they need too… of that we have no doubt… but we would prefer if the Council saw fit to assist us. The four of us… we have saved the Republic and the Order. Twice. We accepted their exile on us even though it was not what we desired. Now… I believe it is time the Order helped us. I ask this of them out of my respect for them… but our children will do what we have asked. It would be in their best interests to either help us… or leave us the Force alone!"
The senior Revan took a deep breath. " We will be departing in a few hours. May you look after each other and may the Force guide you to us. We love you Revan. Arren. We love you all."
The holo imager faded and Revan bent to retrieve it. He placed it back in his belt and looked at the Masters.
" Children you have daughter of Knight Kae?" Vandar asked.
Arren looked at him and nodded. " Twin boys." She replied. " They are two years old. My husband commands the frigate that brought us here."
" You share a bond with your husband you do. Hear everything he has I take it?"
Arren nodded. " I keep no secrets from the man I love. My mother taught me that. And yes… He has seen and heard everything that we have discussed."
" And this woman your father spoke of young Revan? Here she is?" Vandar said.
Revan met his eyes. " She is Master. She will accompany me on our journey."
" And what makes you think that son of Revan?" The Iridonian Master spoke for the first time. " We could simply sequester all our students until you are gone."
Revan smiled. " Perhaps Master Corna, you should have thought of that before you encouraged her to test me in the courtyard. It was your doing that brought us together. She is your Padawan. I have already touched her and established a link."
" You had no right son of Revan!" The Iridonian came to his feet.
" The link would not have worked had she refused it Master Corna. It is not something forced on others… this you already know. She accepted it, willingly. Even though she will deny it at first. She has always been a student of history… and she has studied extensively the history of the Star Forge and my mother and father. I'm surprised you did not detect her inquisitive nature before now. I thought the bond between Master and Apprentice was deeper."
" She… she has been a difficult one since her acceptance in the Order." Corna spoke.
" Is that why you have held her back. Demeaned her in front of her peers. Never one word of praise for her skills… which are quite considerable." Revan spoke. " Perhaps that is why she is difficult."
" You dare challenge my teaching of my Padawan! You assume much son of Revan!"
Corna spoke.
Revan shook his head. " I assume nothing. I only share with you her thoughts. You knew we were coming. You sensed what I can do… yet you still encouraged her to challenge me to a duel she could not win. Why?"
" To test you." Corna said. " Your intentions in coming here."
" Your test failed." Revan said simply.
" Revan!" Jolee spoke now. " Watch your mouth boy!"
Revan shook his head. " Arren and I came here with the intent to do what our parents requested of us. I see now what they feared has come to pass. It was a mistake. After all these years… the Council has not changed." He looked at Arren and received a nod from her.
" I will return the children to the ship and we will take them back to the sanctuary." She said.
" Wait!" The voice came from the smallest of them and it made all of them turn. Vandar moved from his chair and came down to stand next to Revan. " Do not be rash young Revan. Discuss this we will. Stay for a time. I ask this of you because of the feelings for your parents I have."
Revan met his eyes and slowly nodded. " Out of respect for you and who we call Grandfather Master Vandar… we will do this. Two days. No longer."
" Find quarters for you we will."
Revan shook his head. " Arren and I will remain. Our brothers and sisters will return to the ship. They will be better protected there."
" You do not trust the protection of this compound son of Revan? The Jedi within it?" Grana asked, somewhat taken aback.
Revan met her gaze evenly. " Trust? Yes. Have confidence in? No. They will be safer among their Mandalorian kin. Not among those who consider them abominations."
" As you desire young Revan. As you desire." Vandar spoke softly.
So easily. He was upon me before I could even blink. I have never seen anyone move so fast. Faster than the Masters even. How? He is no Jedi. Not even a Padawan.
He destroyed my light saber. Without a thought. It was nothing to him. And he dropped it at my feet in pieces. An insult!
The woman… crying. Her tears stain the bed. So dark. The man… he moves to comfort her. She weeps in his arms and he shares her tears. The room is so dark! What is this? I don't know these people. Who are they? I can't see their faces.
Look deeper Anja Tamari. Focus.
" I can hear the screams my love! Still in my head! I can't get away from them. The pain! So much pain!"
The man stroked the woman's long auburn hair. " Hold me my wife! Hold me tight. I hear them too. Every night! Do not be afraid to face them. We have to make peace with them. Show them we have changed. That we aren't what we were."
" How! I don't want to hear them anymore my love!" The woman sobbed. " I want peace again."
" We will show them!" The man said. " We will show them in our actions and how we raise our son."
Deeper Anja. Look deeper.
" My love… is he our redemption?"
In her dream Anja glanced over to the baby cradle against the window. She could see the huge planet in the night sky and feel the warm breeze as if she was there. The baby sleeping soundly in the crib.
" Our son is… he is the first part of our redemption Bastila." The man spoke, causing Anja's head to snap around as the darkness lifted and she saw them holding each other on the bed. " Our children will be part of it. But there will be more."
Bastila was wiping her eyes slowly and Anja watched her turn those sapphire eyes upon her husband. " Then our redemption has begun Revan? It begins with our son?"
Revan nodded. " It is the will of the Force."
Now you have seen a little of who my father and mother are Anja Tamari. I know you. I feel you, as you now feel me. This is what we now share. As my mother and father did. A bond. I have allowed you to see into my memories Anja Tamari. Where no one else has been. Not even Arren Kae, who is my closest confidant. Now you know why your words of today were so hurtful. Had you been anyone else, I would have cut you down in an instant. You accepted this bond Anja Tamari… you could have prevented it. You did not. I can only hope it provides you some understanding now of where my path has taken me… and where I must go. I have sent you a gift. Please do not turn it away. Sleep well Knight Tamari.
Anja sat up in her bed with a gasp at the pounding on her door. Her upper body was drenched in sweat causing her shirt to cling to her ample chest.
" A dream." She spoke, reaching up to touch her cheek where the son of Revan had touched her. In that instant she thought his hand would crush her, yet the softness of his grip had surprised her. The glow in those sapphire eyes had… " His eyes!" Anja gasped. They were the same as the woman in her dream. " Bastila! But… how did…"
The pounding continued on her door, diverting her attention again. She tossed back the covers to reveal long tanned and muscular legs that she flung to the floor. " I'm coming!"
Anja pulled the light robe tightly around her curves and padded across her small room to the door. She slammed her hand on the panel and heard it hiss as it opened. There was no one there. Anja looked out of her door into the hallway but she saw no one moving away. She glanced down and saw the velvety cloth bag on the floor. Slowly she bent down and retrieved it. She untied the end and turned it over to see the gleaming shaft of a light saber drop into her palm. The shaft was crafted by what looked like a Master Swordsman, of that she had no doubt. It conformed perfectly to fit her small hand, and was weighted to fit her style. She blended power and grace in her light saber form and it was this that gave her the edge in saber training. And this light saber appeared as if it was made especially for her, even with her initials carved into the intricate shaft. She got to her feet and activated the blade, only to have her breath taken away by the brilliance of the blade. It was a silvery green color that she had never seen before, and shimmered in the night air with inspiring effects. It was a flawless blade, with no power defects anywhere that her trained eye could detect.
Anja deactivated the blade and once more turned to look both ways up and down the corridor. It wasn't until after she had retreated back into her room and secured the door that the lone Mandalorian Guard deactivated her stealth shield.
" Now…perhaps we will see if you are worthy of my Revan's love, Anja Tamari." Arren's voice echoed in the corridor. " Or just another heartbreak in a long list of ones."
Two other Mandalorian Guards lowered their stealth shields and walked with Arren as she moved down the corridor.