"This is it." Triff's hands rested on the controls as he procrastinated. The Force told him the ship they approached held Revan. He had heard some of the stories that had happened during his exile: how she had fallen to the dark side and became a Sith Lord; how the Jedi council had captured her and turned her back to the light; how she had defeated Darth Malak and ended the Jedi civil war along with some of her friends; and how she had fought the ever-growing Sith threat, eventually travelling into the Unknown Regions to battle the source of the problem, rather than merely the symptoms.
Knowing the stories didn't prepare him for reality, though.
"I can go first, General, if you'd prefer," Bao Dur offered, his soft voice breaking into Triff's thoughts.
"No," Triff sighed, standing. "I should."
Pressing a few buttons, he recorded a short message to send to Revan's ship. She would need allies in this war, and he was unfortunately the best to be found.
Almost immediately, he received a reply. It was a voice-recording only; no image of Revan accompanied it. The sexless voice Triff had taken so many commands from during the Mandalorian wars gave him permission to board.
"Revan," Bao Dur breathed.
"We found her," Triff said without emotion. It hadn't taken as long to find her as he'd thought it would, but he supposed that could be attributed to the Force guiding them.
Nervously, he prepared to board Revan's ship.
"I've got the com link, General," Bao Dur said reassuringly. "I'm only a beep away."
Triff nodded and stepped off the tiny two-man vessel they'd been using.
Revan's ship wasn't huge, but it was certainly enough to serve her well in the war she fought. Triff looked around him uncertainly, still not quite sure what he'd gotten himself into.
"Hello?" A voice, similar to the one that had given him so many orders over the years caught his attention. Instead of being asexual, however, this voice was decidedly feminine.
Triff looked to the source of the voice, and there she stood, smiling brightly at him. Revan.
She came closer, reaching out a hand to shake his. His wits lagging, Triff shook her hand mechanically.
He'd forgotten how tiny she was. During the Mandalorian wars, she'd taken to wearing large boots and big, flowing capes that hid her feminine stature. She didn't quite reach Triff's shoulder, though, and he wondered idly how many Mandalorians would feel their honor impugned at being bested so thoroughly by such a tiny figure.
She'd cut her hair short, just below her jaw. In all his memories of her from Dantooine and during the Mandalorian wars, in all the holovids from the time after, she'd worn it long. She'd often pulled it back, to keep to keep the copper locks out of her way, especially when fighting, but it had always been long. The blunt cut surprised him.
Triff smiled wryly. It was amazing how the little things brought a sense of reality to the situation. She'd been missing for years, and he was fixated on her hair.
Revan looked at him critically, her blue-green eyes assessing… what, he had no idea.
Finally, she spoke.
"I know you," she said, but her voice was slightly uncertain, as if she were trying to place why he might seem familiar.
"General Triff Chaal." Clearly, he hadn't made much of an impression on the legendary prodigal knight. Although he supposed there was no reason he should be any more significant in her memory than any other Jedi who followed her to war. "We were padawans together at the Jedi enclave, and later I served under you in the Mandalorian war."
Her eyes lit with recognition. "Oh! Of course." She flashed an easy grin, the smile that had charmed thousands. "You'll have to forgive me. My long-term memory is a bit… faulty." She looked almost mischievous as she said this, as if she'd just made some sort of joke.
Triff wasn't sure how to respond to that.
Luckily, Revan didn't find herself at a similar loss for words. She grabbed his arm in a friendly gesture. "Come on in, take a seat, General. Have you come alone?"
"No, actually, I have a Jedi tech specialist with me…" he realized how strange the combination sounded as he said it "…and you can call me Triff."
She smiled again. "And you can call me Danna. It's what most people I like call me these days."
Triff used his com to signal Bao Dur. "Danna? What's wrong with Revan?"
Revan sighed. "'Revan' has certain negative associations. Go figure. You create an evil empire, kill a few million people, and you start to get a bad rep." She smiled and nodded as Bao Dur came into the room. "Most of the people who call me Revan still think of me as the Sith Lord. Danna is a name the Jedi council gave me. Nobody has reason to hate Danna."
Two other women entered the room, a Twi'lek and a Cathar. Revan smiled fondly at them, her gaze resting on the Cathar as she added, "Although there are a few people I'll still let call me Revan."
The Cathar didn't smile back. Instead, she looked suspiciously at the two men in front of her. "Who are these Jedi?"
"This is Triff," Revan said, laying a soft hand on his arm. "He fought the Mandalorians with me. I remember him. Barely, but I'm sure my dreams will fill me in on whatever details I've forgotten." She laid her other hand on Bao Dur's shoulder, blue-green eyes assessing the Zabrak the way they had the exile. "I'm sorry, I don't think I know you."
"I'm Bao Dur," he said, his soft voice visibly soothing the Cathar. "You've never met me, but I was a technician specialist during the Mandalorian wars. I put together the mass shadow generator on Malachor V."
Revan looked pained at this, but she let Bao Dur continue.
"The General and I have done a lot of fighting, and when he said he was off to join you, I thought an extra hand might be helpful."
"You've both seen war and can use the Force," said the Twi'lek, her voice low and almost sultry. "That's a good enough recommendation for me. I'd love to stay and chat, but I need to get back to the cockpit."
Revan smiled as the purple Twi'lek left. "Caffa?"
"No, thanks." Triff had never liked the taste of caffa.
"Good," Revan replied with a laugh. "I don't have any made. You'll save me the trouble."
She casually took a seat, motioning for the other to sit with her. They did.
Bao Dur seemed comfortable here. Triff wondered how much of that had to do with Revan's presence. Her vaunted charisma was as potent as it had ever been. Instead of feeling comfortable around her, though, Triff had always felt awkward. Something about Revan made him want to earn her approval, and while he was busy trying to figure out who to impress her, he sat there like a bump on a Kashyy log. She'd always had that power over him, even when they'd both been padawans.
"The Twi'lek in the cockpit is Yuthura Ban," Revan explained cheerfully. "When I realized I had to leave, I also realized I couldn't take any of my friends. I cared too much about them, and to bring them here would only hurt both them and me. I couldn't face spending the time alone, though, so I looked up Yuthura. We'd struck up a friendship, and I knew she had skills that would be useful, but we weren't close enough for it to be dangerous. She wasn't… family."
Triff thought of T3, HK, and Mandalore. From his conversations with them, they had each spent a lot of time with Revan, and felt abandoned when she'd left them behind. The exile could only assume they were part of the "family" she spoke of.
"Of course, Yuthura has been adopted since we left," the Cathar said, a smile playing across her lips. "Danna has a tendency to adopt strays."
Revan grinned. "I understand strays. You don't get much more stray than me." She turned her gaze back to the two men. "This is Juhani. She wasn't supposed to be here with me, but when I sent my T3 droid back with my ship, she used stealth to follow me. By the time I realized she was here, it was too late to send her back." Revan's eyes twinkled as she said this, telling Triff she wasn't particularly upset at Juhani's company.
"It was easier to avoid detection than it should have been," Juhani said softly. "You were distracted."
"I was leaving behind everyone I loved, and I might never return. Of course I was distracted!"
She still felt that loss; Triff could feel her sadness through the force. Revan made no attempt to hide it. She let herself feel the emotion, but didn't let it affect her beyond that. Apparently for Revan, there was both emotion and peace, but then again, she had always been the one to break all the rules.
"Speaking of people left behind," Triff said, suddenly remembering, "I have a message from an old friend of yours. Admiral Onasi?"
Revan's eyes lit up. "Admiral?" she repeated, her voice full of surprise and pride. "You saw him, then? What has he been doing?"
Triff nodded. "I met with him a few weeks ago, trying to keep the Sith from Telos."
"Oh, poor Telos," Revan sighed.
"Telos came out alright," he assured her. "The restoration efforts are still going. Telos will recover. The Admiral and the Jedi Bastila are still there, I think," he continued. "They're doing what they can to rebuild and stabilize the Republic. Following your orders, I understand."
"He… and Bastila…" Revan's tone was steady, but her disappointment could be felt through the Force.
"You mentioned a message?" Juhani prodded, her words clipped as if she were annoyed. Unlike Revan, however, the Cathar's emotions were not displayed for all to see.
"Yes, the message. Admiral Onasi seemed to know I'd be coming to join you, even before I knew it myself. He asked to meet with me as soon as the Sith threat was taken care of, and told me 'If you see her, simply tell her that Carth Onasi is waiting for her.'"
Revan's eyes were suddenly very bright. "He said that?"
Triff wondered how blind he had to be to only realize now that she and the Admiral were in love with each other. Admiral Onasi hadn't mentioned a romantic relationship, not explicitly, but he'd had more than a professional curiosity about what had happened to her. And her reaction when Triff had mentioned Bastila's name so close to the Admiral's suddenly made sense, too.
"He and Bastila are just… my understanding is she works with him as an advisor."
Revan nodded, happiness radiating from her. Triff fought the urge to smile at her, and realized both Bao Dur and Juhani were already smiling. Revan's influence was as infectious as his own.
Except she doesn't thrive off other peoples' power, he reminded himself. She's not a wound in the Force. She could be the poster child for Force sensitivity.
"What is it, Triff?" Revan asked softly.
Triff jumped. She must have picked up on his mood. At least, he hoped it was only his mood. He wasn't sure she'd appreciate being called the poster child for Force sensitivity.
Revan was power. Staring into her eyes was like staring into the heart of the Force, he heard Kreia hiss in his ear, and looking at the vibrant woman before him, he could understand why his teacher would think that.
"Triff?" Revan sounded worried.
"It's nothing," he said, shaking his head. "The journey here was… long."
She nodded, and her eyes understood Triff hadn't simply meant the flight into the Unknown Region.
"You probably need rest more than you need me to badger you with questions." Revan stood up. "Although I guarantee I'll drive you mad with my interrogations later."
Juhani smiled, and Triff wondered how accurate Revan's friendly warning was.
Before he had a chance to ask, however, the two women began to lead the way to the ship's cabins, where Triff could get some well-deserved rest and solitude before returning to war.
After so many years in exile, Triff was better at dealing with solitude than he was at being sociable. Given his close proximity to someone like Revan, however, he had a feeling that was about to change, whether he liked it or not.