Chapter 3. A New Home
Revan was studying the displays of her search on the galactic database. She was looking for suitable locations that were isolated from the eyes and ears of the public. Upon looking at the data she collected, she noticed a particular settlement that had an intriguing location. It was set on Telos. She had heard of the project to remake the planet habitable, but didn't realize they had come far enough to begin making settlements. Revan researched the method they used to repair the planet's environment and was very pleased. They used very large shields to keep certain zones isolated from the atmosphere and teraformed the planet piece by piece. This meant that the rest of the planet was also isolated from the settlers and the workers. She thought there might be a way to make a residence in a sealed section of the planet, where no one would think of looking. She closed her eyes and probed the planet. She started with the most populated region, which was actually the TSF station orbiting the planet. There was nothing interesting there. She then looked at the new settlements on the regenerated portion of the planet. It had a small population, but it was too risky to live there because it would become more crowded every day. As she thought, she would have to probe the rest of the planet. She inspected the surface carefully and then found something. She felt a disturbance in the force, as she was inspecting the polar region of the planet. Atris. She thought almost aloud. What are you hiding from? She continued. Ah yes there it is, I feel it now. She looked into the future and saw some disturbing things. I have to speak to Steve about this. She thought.
Revan had no more use for the computer, so she made her way back to the Ebon Hawk. When she got in, she noticed Bastila pressing her hand against a door. "This door won't open" Bastila said after looking in Revan's direction.
"Interesting. I'll get it opened in a moment." Revan replied after inspecting the sealed door carefully. Revan grabbed a piece of metal that was lying around and plied open the door's control panel. She unplugged some of the wires and made them spark with each other for a second. The door then opened.
"HK" Revan said as she looked at her old assassin droid.
"What?" Bastila asked.
"Nothing. Never mind. We won't need this droid anytime soon. Let's just leave it there." She said.
Revan made her way in the Starboard bedroom where Steve was resting. She put her hand on his warm cheek and said:
"Can you join me in the cockpit?" Revan asked.
"Yes of course." Steve stood up and followed her into the cockpit and sat with her.
Bastila shortly followed in and asked: "Where are we going?"
"On Telos, to visit an old friend." Revan answered.
Bastila went back to the ship's common room and sat down on a chair until the ship was in hyperspace. She wanted to go back in the cockpit and get more details before she went to sleep. When she reached the corridor that led to the cockpit, she could hear Revan and Steve talking.
"It's your choice, Steve: whatever you decide, it's ok with me. There isn't much to like from either outcome, but, if you would feel better about giving her a chance, then I am going to support you all the way." Revan said to Steve in a sad tone.
"Is it going to get really bad?" Steve asked.
"I don't know… It's difficult to see. There are many things that can influence the outcome. I can say that, in general, it's bad." Revan said even sadder than before.
"I guess I'll know what to decide when I meet her." Steve said reaching Revan's face with his hand to keep a single tear from falling.
"It has to be this way. Don't be sad. You said it yourself there is a strong chance that I will survive." Steve consoled her.
Bastila was in awe of what she overheard. At first, she thought they were talking about her, and, when she realized it wasn't about her, she wanted to forget everything she heard. This part of the trip was none of her business. She turned around and went the ship's port Bedroom. She was also on a different time schedule. To her, it was much past her sleeping time. As she slept peacefully, she forgot everything she wanted to forget. She had taken in too much information this day for her to handle, and she deserved a break.
The view of Telos' surface was extraordinary. Because of the shields installed, the zones that had been remade looked like giant aquariums filled with plant life. Past that, it was the deserts of ruins. Beyond that, there was the untouched glassier of the planet's polar region. It was beautiful. The flawless white snow covered this region for many square hectometers. In the middle of the snowy mountains, there was a raised circular plane surrounded by four cone-shaped rock towers. It was no doubt artificial. Underneath it must have been an abandoned facility of some sort. However, it was not completely abandoned. Once the Ebon Hawk landed on the surface, Revan ordered everyone to leave everything in the ship and follow her. That meant lightsabers and shields. Bastila needed some convincing before she obeyed.
The outside was terribly cold. Revan reassured everyone that they would not stay there for long. Revan was walking towards a small snow dune that you wouldn't be able to see from any other view. It was some kind of hidden entrance. Before they reached the door, it opened. Five white women, dressed all in white, greeted them. They all held long staves with sharp tips. They were all Echani. They all looked identical except for one of them. The woman in the back of the pack looked a little different.
"Follow us now. If you struggle, we will harm you." One of the women said.
They were led in a holding room that had, coincidently, three force cages. It was a strange but good-looking room. It looked like it was used as a medical bay, storage bay and who knows what else. There were many things in that room, but they all looked clean, white and in order. Everything around was white or light gray-blue. It matched the Echani very well. Everyone was being placed in force cages, and then all the Echani left the room.
Bastila was not amused. She had no idea what was going on, but she didn't ask any questions. She would soon find out. Moments later, a tall woman walked in the room escorted by two of the others. She was Echani by the looks of it but not related to the other ones. It was Atris, a former Jedi council member. She was wise and proud like many of the others. Her reasons for leaving the council and retreat in hiding during the Mandalorian wars were unknown to many. Revan suspected something, though she would soon find out the details. After closely observing every prisoner, Atris said:
"You travel with odd company these days, Revan." She went closer to Bastila's cage and looked at her for a moment.
"You surprise me to travel with a Jedi… I've heard of this one… Bastila Shan, is it not?" She asked to the young Jedi captive.
"I am." Bastila replied.
"A promising young Jedi I was told. Is this another one of your victims, Revan?" She asked coldly.
"No. She's not a victim, she's a spy." Revan explained.
"Even after all this time, the council still doesn't know what to do with you do they?" Atris asked.
"They're not all eager to throw me to wolves like you are Atris." Revan said plainly.
"What about this young man here? Who is he?" Atris asked as she walked to Steve's force cage.
"Nobody." Revan said defensively.
"Nobody?" Atris said sarcastically and grinned at Revan.
"Nobody… Just a simple man I met beyond the outer rim. Leave him out of this." Revan said.
"I have no interest in your companions here, Revan. I want to know why you are here. Explain this to me and I'll consider letting you go." Atris proposed.
"We would like to live here with you… That is if you don't mind." Revan asked, almost sure Atris would not believe her.
"I don't know how you found out about this place but let me tell you something: I don't like you. To me, you represent everything I am trying to get away from. I live here now to stay away from the likes of you. I have some important work to do here, and I won't be bothered by anyone."
"What kind of work?" Bastila asked, expecting to better Atris' mood by showing interest in her work.
"That's not for you to know." Atris replied simply.
"I'll consider letting you go. For now, I have some work to finish. You better behave… all of you." Atris said as she walked out of the room with her escort.
"A simple no would have done it." Steve said.
Revan laughed at Steve's sarcastic comment. Bastila looked at them. She was annoyed.
"I don't find any of this very funny." Bastila said seriously.
"What is Atris doing here anyway?" She continued.
"Some important research of some kind." Revan answered seriously as she remembered what she saw of the future.
"She's been in isolation for too long." Revan added in a sigh.
"Why would anyone even think of doing this?" Steve was puzzled.
"She takes her work very seriously. It's not uncommon among Jedi." Revan explained as Bastila looked over to her. She felt targeted by Revan's observation.
"I guess. But it seems so… joyless. It's cruel to ask this of anyone. Why would the council allow this?" Steve continued his questions.
"They value Atris' research more than they do her wellbeing. The Jedi live in servitude. They will do anything they can for whatever benefit they can achieve." Revan explained.
"She must have had the choice, when she was sent here. She may even have volunteered." Bastila said, defending the Jedi way.
"If she was given the choice, it would have made no difference: it would have been the illusion of choice. You can't just say no without having consequences." Steve said.
"He has a point." Revan added.
"The consequences would not be so terrible." Bastila said.
"That depends on who is concerned. If it was you who said no to the council, how would you feel?" Steve asked Bastila.
"Ashamed?… I don't know. This isn't about me." Bastila said defensively.
"No. I know. I don't mean it that way. I'm just saying that, like you, Atris would feel guilty, ashamed and who knows what else, and it would have terrible consequences on her career. You spend your entire life getting ready for things like this: How can you say no?" Steve explained.
"She did the right thing" Bastila persisted.
"Did she? Look, I don't mean any disrespect to your ways of doing things, but, if she did the right thing, why are you still stuck in that force cage?" Steve said seriously.
"She must have a lot of things on her mind; that's all." Bastila said.
"Too many things, I think. It's not good for anyone to have this kind of responsibility, and it will have consequences." Steve added. When he said it, Revan looked away with an expression of sadness and concern.
"What do you think is going to happen?" Bastila asked.
"Don't worry, she'll let us go." Steve reassured her. A few minutes of silence passed, and Revan asked Steve:
"What do you think of Atris?"
"She seems ok. I think she deserves better." He answered seriously. Revan nodded in acknowledgment to his true meaning. He had understood her true question and answered in the same respect. Bastila thought they were still talking about the Jedi thing and didn't realize they had changed the subject.
The rest of the captives' wait was quiet. Everyone sat down to meditate while Steve was just looking around the room and at the two beautiful women next to him. Moments later, two Echani women came in the room and released everyone from their cells. It was impossible to tell if they were the same two as before, but that didn't matter. "Atris wants you all to leave immediately and never come back." One of the Echani said.
Soon after they left the planet with their ship, Bastila noticed something different onboard the Ebon Hawk. She searched around the rooms, and, when she went in the storage room, she saw one of the Echani sitting by the storage tanks. It was the Echani that looked different from the others. Without thinking, Bastila pulled out her lightsaber and was ready to defend herself.
"Atris sent me here to spy on you… on Revan… I mean you no harm." The Echani said simply without getting up.
Without having noticed him approach, Steve put his hand on Bastila's arm and lowered it gently.
"It's ok, don't scare her." Steve said soothingly. Moments later, Revan came in the room.
"She's here to spy on us… on you." Bastila said to Revan while placing her hilt back on her belt.
"Hmmm. We wouldn't want to offend Atris by getting rid of her handmaiden, now would we?" Revan said sarcastically.
"We already have a spy onboard, what's one more going to change?" She continued after considering it. Bastila felt unwanted by that comment but understood that it was probably true. She was a nuisance to them, just like the Echani was, but hadn't seen herself from that perspective before. She was a spy, and she felt like she was in their way. Concerned about Bastila's changed mood, Steve placed his hand on the side of her shoulder and said:
"She didn't mean it that way. You're welcome here with us, Bastila." He reassured her. She remembered that she had saved both of their lives and thought this might be their way of thanking her. She wondered what this Echani did that would make someone like Revan decide not to kill her. She was once again curious to know what was going through Revan's mind. What was her plan? After a moment, Steve said:
"If Bastila doesn't mind, you can use one of the beds in the port room." He said to the Ecahny woman.
"Thanks for the offer... but I'll stay here." The Echani said.
"As you wish." Steve said.
"Take whatever you need." Revan added. After that, everyone left the room.
As expected, Revan would have to try living somewhere else for a time. She had already planned the next location she wanted to try. It was a large glass cottage bordering a lake. It was a beautiful place on the planet Alderaan, far away from the vast cities. The people of Alderaan had much more respect for their environment and left many wild life reserves scattered around. This particular reserve had very few cottages in it. It was forbidden to build more than a certain amount of them. It would be a great spot to lay low, but it was certainly not as hidden as Atris' residence. On the way there, Bastila sent a transmission to the Jedi council to let them know what was happening. She was happy to report that, so far, Revan had not been involved in any military plots or any harmful and dangerous conspiracies to take over the galaxy. She had not seen her contact the Sith or anyone else of her previous occupation. This didn't reassure anyone much though. Bastila and the Jedi council still feared the worst. They expected Revan to do something wrong eventually, but they were pleased it wasn't going to be anytime soon. Bastila was hoping Revan would never do something wrong ever again, but she thought that was too much to hope for. She still didn't trust Revan or Steve, but, after having all these chats and learning so much of them, she thought she would feel awful if they did do something wrong. She would feel guilty that she couldn't predict it. She decided it would be best not to speak to them much. She thought it would be better for everyone that way, should there be something that goes wrong between them.
Steve felt saddened about Bastila's reaction, but he respected her wishes more than anything, so he left her alone. He still had Revan's unquestionable attention, and he sought all the comfort he could get from her. They both had this in common: they both felt unappreciated by the rest of the galaxy. They were all alone. Revan didn't need anyone but Steve to feel loved again. Steve, on the other hand, had too big of a heart to fill up. He felt strange that he couldn't even feel perfectly happy with his soul mate at his side. He almost felt selfish. In reality, he was everything but selfish, but it still made him feel bad. The Echani woman wasn't very talkative. She spent most of her time training herself with her advanced Echani fighting moves. Steve liked observing her as she trained. He had never seen a woman that had such skill in martial arts. Then again, he had never seen an Echani before Telos. There was much he had left to see of this galaxy. As he questioned the new passenger, he was told that all the Echani were experts at many types of fighting. He asked her why she looked different from her other sisters, but she would not answer. He also wanted to know her name, but she didn't want to tell him that either. All she would say was that she was the last of her sisters. She was more selfless and submissive than even the Jedi. In her case though, it did not mean the same thing. She lived to serve Atris, and, as such, she had very little respect for herself. Steve did not like that at all. He was saddened greatly by it. He thought: How can anyone like someone who doesn't respect herself? It was not his place to give his opinion on the subject, so he kept quiet about it. He hoped that she would learn to respect herself just by being away from Atris long enough, and he would be there to make sure it happened. He had a big heart. He was not above accepting spies into his heart. Not even one that had trouble respecting herself. He left her alone when she wanted to be left alone.
They had reached their new home a day after they had left Atris'. This glass cottage was very nice. It looked like it was made to be a luxurious one. It was filled with empty space. It had two floors, but the first one was half berried underground. It was built that way to stay level on the slope that led to the lake. From the side of the lake, it looked like a two story building, and, from the other side, it looked like it only had one. Even if it only had one story, it would be plenty big. This cottage was very long in length. The main floor was almost completely empty. It had two giant rooms; one facing the lake, and the other facing the forest and the road that led to the cottage. On the east side of these two open spaces was a series of small rooms interconnected to each other. Among them were bedrooms and bathrooms. On the west side of this floor, there was a large stairway that led to the bottom floor and a porch that led outside. The sublevel was mainly a big kitchen and a garage, though it possessed a few other rooms for extra storage or anything else. Not only was the cottage large, but, also, the property itself was very big. Between the road and the cottage, there was a clearing of rocks; most of them were the size of human skulls, but, like anything else, they varied in shape and sizes. A forest surrounded the gravel road. To separate this forest from the cottage's property, there was a tall dune of rocks that was parallel to the cottage. It made the full length of the cottage until it reached the road, where it leveled down. This road was much closer to the east of the cottage, but, since the entrance was on the west side, the field of rocks also served as a road. This field could easily serve as a landing platform, but, upon purchase of the place, there was no mention of one, which is why Revan was forced to leave her ship at a hangar in the nearest town and purchase a small speeder. This transaction combined with the cost of the cottage will make it hard to purchase anything else, but, if she had to, Revan knew where to get more funds.
It took a full day to get settled in. The cottage was very clean and in good condition, but it was left mostly empty. There were many things that had to be done. Bastila helped but kept to herself most of the time, and so did the Echani. Revan and Steve were too busy to speak much, but, when they had time to talk, they made sure they spoke of all the important issues they faced.
The next morning, the Echani was up first. She was also in a different time zone. She had to sleep much sooner than the rest, and, as a result, she was the first to get up. She did her business and contacted her mistress, as she had done the day before. She gave her all the information she had requested. She had plenty of time before the others got up, so she went down to the kitchen to cook something. She was accustomed to cook for her mistress and sisters; this time would be no different. Soon, Revan and Steve, intrigued by the smell that made its way to their room, went down to feed themselves. Not long after, Bastila was there too. It was great to have someone around that knew how to cook. Afterwards, everyone went up to find the Echani woman to thank her for the meal. At the time, she was practicing her moves in the giant room on the forest side of the cottage. She was pleased that her work was appreciated. In the middle of their next conversation, Revan made her way to the windows and looked out with concern.
"What is it?" Bastila asked. Revan immediately turned around and said:
"Steve, Echani, head towards the forest. Get out of here. Quick!" She said without raising her voice.
Steve knew what was going on and picked up his shield on the way out. The Echani woman followed him without question. As they ran towards the forest, a speeder came from the road and crashed through the windows right where Revan and Bastila were standing before they leaped out of the way. Three Sith men jumped out of that speeder, moments after it crashed there. Among them was Darth Brandon: a Sith student that had the luxury of training with some of the most powerful Sith in the empire, including Malak himself… briefly. Steve and the Echani woman jumped over the dune of rocks and laid down to watch what was happening. Instants later, another speeder came from the streets and parked near the porch. Four of them came out from this one. Three of them went in the cottage through the main entrance while the other stayed with the speeder.
It didn't take long for the Sith man next to the speeder to notice Steve and the Echani. As the Sith walked towards the dune of rocks, Steve stood up and got his shield ready. He thought of running away with the Echani girl but remembered that it would be even more dangerous to get separated from the group. Knowing that there was no escaping, Steve marched towards the man. The Sith man expected him to run away, but, when he saw that he didn't, he smirked. When he was close enough, the Sith man ignited his lightsaber and started thrusting it against Steve's shield. It went very much like the other time: Hit after hit, his opponent would grow bored and angry. This one had a short temper and didn't take long before using his powerful legs to kick Steve's shield. When he found out Steve could withstand his kicks, he decided to try using both his legs at the same time. He jumped in the air into a cannonball shape towards Steve and opened up as fast as he could, forcing Steve down to the ground with all of his weight and leg strength. It worked very well. Once Steve was on the floor, the Sith man tried to kick and slash Steve only to be avoided by a series of rolls. When the Sith grew bored of fighting Steve, he started moving towards the Echani woman, who, by now, was standing at the top of the dune thinking whether or not she should do something to help. Steve was still on the floor. When he noticed that the Sith had changed his target, he got scared. He looked around him for a sharp rock. When he found one the size he needed, he took it with his hand, holding it as tightly as possible. Before the Sith man reached the woman, Steve stood up and charged at him with all his might. As soon as the Sith turned around to face him, it was too late: Steve was up in the air, covering his entire body with his shield, and moving towards him at an incredible speed. His shield hit the man's chest and kept his blade from moving for a split second. At that moment, Steve cracked the man's skull open with his rock and landed in a pile of blood that was not his own. This scene disgusted him greatly. Not only was his opponent's brains scattered around the rocks, but he also felt awful about killing people. It was not in him to do so. He did not want to take any life, not even that of his enemy, unless he had no other choice. In this case, he had to do it to protect the defenseless handmaiden. She was looking at him in relief. Steve dropped the bloody rock and walked to her. When he reached her, the woman saw the sad look on his face and comforted him. She gave him a hug and thanked him. As they hugged there, they heard the sound of another speeder enter the field of rocks, not far from them. Only one person came out; it was Atris.
Steve knew what was going on and got his shield ready. The Echani woman next to him was confused. She did not know what her mistress was doing there. To Steve, it was obvious: Atris had come to kill him; to take away what Revan loved the most, the same way Revan had taken countless Jedi away from Atris during the wars. It was revenge she wanted. She wanted Revan to feel the way she did. Steve didn't know what to do. There was no way he could survive an encounter with a Jedi master, but he had to try something because, if he just stood there, she would kill him for sure. Steve walked forward a little, to the bottom of the dune, and waited for Atris to meet him where he stood. Atris activated her lightsaber. The blade was of a silver color that Steve had never known existed. It looked good with Atris because, as an Echani, she was all white and wore white clothes. Atris struck his shield, but Steve held his ground and started to circle around her. They had traded places: Atris was now at the base of the dune, and Steve was closer to the speeder. His plan was to try and make a run to the speeder. Atris was no fool, the moment Steve turned around and began to run, she moved up the dune a little, leaped as high as she could and landed between Steve and the speeder. She was not amused. She charged at Steve and struck his shield again and again, but she was much quicker than his previous opponents, and she soon found a weakness. She got closer and closer to Steve and then slipped her lightsaber past the edge of his shield. With a flick of her wrist, she cut the top half of the shield, just above where Steve's arm was. The shield was broken and could no longer protect him. Atris placed her lightsaber back on her belt and summoned all the power she had to send Steve slamming against the dune of rocks. Steve tried to get up but found that he could not move at all: he was paralyzed there. He didn't even feel what was wrong with him, but he must have been injured somehow. Atris moved slowly towards him, happy to see that she had made him completely helpless. Now, she could do whatever she wanted. Steve could move his arms enough to unstrap the broken shield from his arm and place it beside him. When Atris was beside him, she kicked him on his side again and again. Her powerful kicks had moved him enough to dislodge the stone that had entered Steve's back. He felt the pain but was free to move again. As soon as he felt strong enough, he stood up and charged at Atris. He carried her down with him to the ground and held her down by the shoulders. Atris took the hilt that was still attached to her belt and pressed the tip of it against his abdomen, as close to the center of his body as she could, and ignited it. The beam pierced through Steve's body and exited his back. A loud scream of pain sounded. Steve was shaking, as the blade was burning his flesh around what had become a permanent hole, just a few inches to the side of his belly button. Atris was thinking whether or not to twist her blade and split Steve's body in two. As she looked at his shaking body and at the terror in his eyes, she thought of a better plan: Steve would survive this wound and make a great prisoner. This would make Revan hate her even more. She liked the idea. She closed her lightsaber but did not move. Steve let go of her shoulders and fell down against her chest. It was as though he was shivering, as whatever blood was still in his wound steamed away from him. The lightsaber had cauterized his blood vessels and burnt everything around the hole it had created. Steve's entire body was shaking, but he managed to lift his head up next to Atris' ear, and, as coherently as possible, he said:
"Revan will forgive you. And I forgive you." Steve turned his head and kissed Atris on the cheek and then lost consciousness, as the pain was too great to witness.
The handmaiden had not moved one inch from where she stood for the entire time. She was completely confused, and, after witnessing Steve's near lethal injury at the hands of who she once called her mistress, she cried. She could not believe what she saw. It was not something she thought Atris was capable of. A Jedi would never attack a helpless opponent like that, but it was worse: she did it with so much hatred. Steve had done nothing to her mistress. He did not deserve this. As Atris was pushing off the unconscious corpse from on top of her, the handmaiden yelled:
"Why have you done this to him? What has he ever done to deserve this?"
Atris stood up and approached her handmaiden.
"You like him don't you? What is it, you lust for him, you want to touch him, what?" Atris was furious.
"He's a friend… he's a good person…" The handmaiden was going to say more, until she got hit hard on the jaw by Atris' punch.
The woman stood up straight again in tears but did not try to defend herself. She was struck again, but, this time, she fell to the ground. Atris was about to kick her but suddenly stopped.
"Why do I waste my time with you. You are nothing." She said as she walked back to Steve. She lifted him up, placed him in the speeder and drove off.
Revan and Bastila got up from the shattered glass that covered the floor and switched on their lightsabers. They could hear more Sith approach them from behind. They were surrounded. Though Revan was strong enough to kill them all, this time, she had another preoccupation that took control of most of her mind. She had to keep Bastlila alive. Revan stood beside bastila and waited to see who would attack first. Darth Brandon was observing his minions as he stood by his speeder. The two that came with him attacked first. One of them moved against Bastila while the other went after Revan. Moments later, the Sith behind them split up to attack the two targets: Two of them against Revan and the other against Bastila. Bastila had more than she could handle: she was constantly distracted by the Sith striking from behind to properly attack the Sith in front of her. Every time she was in danger of receiving a hit that she couldn't defend herself against, Revan's blade would intervene to keep her safe. Revan was incredibly fast, but, with all she had to worry about, it was almost impossible to move to attack. It was all about defense. Bastila was astonished. She kept thinking it was the end of her, but, every time things would get hopeless, Revan was there to back her up. She was surprised that Revan would waste her time defending her when she could use her as a distraction and tip the tides of this battle. It took a while for Bastila to understand that Revan was not going to let her be harmed. At that moment, the battle became a lot more even. Bastila finally felt safe enough to concentrate on the opponent in front of her. As she had wished, Revan was defending her against the Sith behind her. This way, Bastila could gain the upper hand and drive her blade into her opponent's heart. With one less enemy to worry about, the battle was practically over. Revan moved Bastila beside the wall as the four Sith that were left surrounded them. They feared Revan too much to attack her, so they concentrated on Bastila. Revan foresaw this and in this position, she could cover Bastila from every angle of attack. It did not take long for her to cut through the nearest Sith to her. Soon after, she killed the next closest one. Bastila took out one herself, and, with the two of them attacking the last one, this Sith was cut to bits very quickly.
Brandon was observing the whole thing but did not intervene. He was sure that Bastila and Revan would never get through this alive. Having trained a little with Darth Malak, he had seen how powerful one could get but knew that even he, with this kind of disadvantage in numbers, would surely fall. He had underestimated Revan's power. He had also underestimated the bond that had developed between her and Bastila. There was no way to predict this outcome. Revan had fought more bravely than he ever thought possible. Now, he had to face her and the Jedi that followed her. There was no way he could survive this encounter, but he was no coward. He activated his double bladed lightsaber and began attacking both of his enemies. He was very fast, no doubt something he learned from Malak. Revan, however, was far ahead of him. She had much more speed and even more precision in her attacks. With only one side of Brandon's lightsaber attacking her, Bastila could hold her own. Soon after, she was able to see an opening and made a move that split Brandon's hilt through the center and took off much of his arm. At the same time, Revan severed his head from his body and watched as it fell to the ground. The two women were exhausted and had to catch their breath. After looking around, Revan noticed that one of the men was still alive. She moved towards him and drove her blade into his chest. Bastila was still in shock of all the danger she had been in to say anything.
Moments later, the two women saw the handmaiden running towards them in tears.
"Atris… She came here and took him. She took Steve. She was angry… very angry and she almost killed him!" She cried.
Revan walked out of the cottage and everyone followed. In the distance, she saw a part of Steve's broken shield and ran towards it. She looked at it for a moment and noticed a sharp rock a few feet away with blood on it. She covered her mouth with her hand and a tear fell from her right eye. Everyone was looking at what she was looking at and expected Revan to go crazy. They expected her to take a speeder and pursue Atris to the end of space, but she didn't. Revan just walked back towards the cottage. She stopped for a moment to look at herself and then decided to head for the lake. The two other women followed, but, when they realized Revan was going down to the lake, they stopped. They stood beside the cottage and watched. Revan stood on the beach and looked out in the horizon for a moment. Then, she took off her vest and walked in the water until it reached her bellybutton. She splashed some water onto the blood that stained her white tank top and scrubbed it. Normally, a lightsaber battle was not bloody. In this case, it was the shattered glass that flew onto her that had made her bleed. She was just glad that none of it hit her face. As she scrubbed, she became hopeless as the stains didn't leave. She was upset. She tore the tank top off of her and threw it far into the lake. She put her face in her hands and cried. When she realized she was being watched, she moved her hands from her face to her hair and stopped crying. The other two women looked at each other and decided it was best to leave Revan alone.
Revan got out of the water and put on the red vest that she had left on the beach. She went back up into the cottage and looked at the mess that was left. Bastila and the Echani woman approached behind her.
"What are we going to do now?" Bastila asked.
"Nothing." Revan whispered sadly.
"What! What about Steve?" Bastila was stunned.
"You don't understand. He knew this would happen to him. It was his choice." Revan said coolly.
"What do you mean?" Bastila asked confused.
"We knew what was going to happen to Atris: we knew she would fall to the dark side. Steve thought that the right thing to do was to give her a chance. Even though her chances at redemption are slim, Steve felt she deserved one. It was the right thing to do… now we have to continue what he started." Revan confessed.
"What do we do?" Bastila continued.
"We just wait. Wait until Atris understands." Revan answered.
"What does she need to understand?" Bastila was confused.
"She needs to know that I am not seeking vengeance for what she has done to Steve… and what she's about to do." After Revan said that, she went to her bedroom and closed the door.
"I know my sisters well, and, if they can, they will torture him." The Echani woman said to Bastila.
"How bad will it get?" Bastila asked with much concern.
"If they get bored of him before Revan comes after him… It could get really bad." The Echani woman was imagining what her sisters would be tempted to do to Steve and thought it would be best not to give out any details.
"No one deserves to be tortured, least of all Steve." Bastila said plainly.
"He's a good man; I can see why Revan likes him" The Echani said to Bastila.
"I don't think I've ever seen a man like him before. If what Revan said is true, I don't think any man could ever come close. I just wanted someone to blame, and I just couldn't realize it until now… I wish I had believed him. I just hope it's not too late." Bastila said, regretting how she treated this man in the past.
"I just hope my sisters don't tare him apart." The handmaiden said. When she saw the disturbed look on Bastila's face, she regretted having said it.
Steve woke up in a force cage. He was sitting at the bottom of it, leaning against the hard surface of it. In front of him, he saw Atris and the other Echani women looking at him.
"Do whatever you want to him. I don't care. Just keep him alive." Atris said to her first handmaiden. Atris left the room and never came back.
"Let's let him heal for today." The first Echani said. Everyone walked out of the room. Steve fell asleep. The next day, one of the Echani women brought him some water and food. Steve did not think of eating. His digestive system suffered greatly and feared that the food would kill him. The water was fine, though, as it was absorbed by his stomach fairly quickly. A few hours later, two of the Echani came in the room and took Steve out of the force cage. Steve could not walk well because his abdominal muscles were damaged, so the Echani women dragged him to the training room. The rest of the handmaidens were waiting for him there. He could see that someone had brought a rack filled with shock staves into the training room. When he was on the training mat, the two women who held him let him fall. The first handmaiden went into one of the rooms and came back with a small knife.
"You two hold him up." She said to her two sisters standing beside him. The two sisters held Steve's arms firmly and pulled him up almost to a standing position. The handmaiden holding the knife cut Steve's outfit right off his body until he was completely naked. The woman then observed his wound and touched it. Steve could not feel it, but she had intended to cause him pain. The first sister then traded her knife for a shock staff. She activated it until an electrical field surrounded its tip.
"Just keep holding him." She said to her sisters. She started pressing the side of the tip against Steve's tender flesh. The pain started as a mild shock entered his skin, but, after a moment, it turned into a burning sensation. After leaving the tip in that same spot long enough, Steve's bodily hair started singeing. When the handmaiden removed the staff she noticed that Steve had developed a second-degree burn in that region. His skin started to swell up into a bubble of white dead skin. The handmaiden was amused and did it again but in a different spot. When she was bored of it, she started hitting Steve with the staff instead of pressing it. She hit and pressed almost everywhere on the front of his body, leaving his head completely unharmed. The pain was great. Steve could feel his eyes swell up as tears fell down his cheeks. It wasn't as much the pain exerted by the staff that caused him to cry; it was seeing these women enjoy every minute of the torturing. Steve was sad that people like this existed. They didn't know if he deserved to be tortured or not; they simply didn't care. To Steve, that was torture enough. All he wanted was for people to like him, and this was his reward. The first handmaiden made sure she shocked the full surface of the front of Steve's body. She burnt him everywhere except on his wound, for fear that it could kill him. She kept herself from trying to shock inside the cylinder-shaped hole he had in his abdomen, but she made up for it by harming Steve sex more than the rest of his body. When she was done, she handed the shock stick to her nearest sister, who had been watching the show from beside the first handmaiden. She was the second handmaiden.
"You can do his backside." The first handmaiden said to the second. As she was instructed, she repeated much of the same on Steve's backside, making sure she doesn't hit the wound. When the deed was done, Steve was dulled by the pain. He was unable to respond to anything. The first handmaiden observed him for a moment and then said to the two sisters holding him:
"Clean the sweat from his body and cover him with the skin healing lotion. After that, you can throw him back in the cage."
They did what they were told and brought him in the shower room. They cleaned him up as best they could and brought him back to the holding room. They placed him on one of the surgical tables, and one of the two got the skin healing lotion from a canister.
"Here, you put this on him. I'll go clean up the training room." She said to her sister. As she applied the lotion, she started to feel bad. She didn't like men. Other than the last handmaidens, none of her sisters did, but she was different; the last handmaiden had a different mother, and that changed many things. As she looked at this man, she thought differently. He looked so harmless. He was not at all like the other men she had seen. As he laid there, he looked almost peaceful. She felt terrible, but she would do what she was told. When she had applied the lotion everywhere, she wrapped him in a robe and placed him back in his cell.
A day later, it was almost the same. The skin lotion was not nearly strong enough to clear off his burns. He was still covered in first and second degree burns. He was red and white everywhere. It pained him just to sit down in his cell. The sisters brought him in the training room and dropped him on the mat, as they did once before. The first handmaiden started shocking him again. This time, she couldn't hold it in the same place for too long because the burns would get too severe. She was afraid that creating third degree burns, added to the near fatal wound he already possessed, might cause his nervous system to shut down and kill him. As Atris said, she had to keep him alive. She worked the areas that were more neglected than the others, like his armpits and his forearms. She looked at the rest of his body and burnt off the areas that still had hairs. When all the hairs of his body were singed off, she was bored. She went into one of the other rooms and came back with the knife.
"What are you doing?" One of her sisters asked.
"I'm going to cut off his…" The first sister started before she was interrupted by the fourth of them.
"No, don't do it. He hasn't eaten yet. If you make him bleed, he could die very soon." She convinced her.
The first handmaiden sent him to the shower room. As before, it was the two last sisters that cleaned him up.
"Why isn't Revan coming back for him? I don't understand." The forth sister asked the third.
"Maybe she doesn't really like him." The third sister answered.
"No, Atris wouldn't have brought him here unless he meant something to Revan." The other replied.
"You're right. I don't know what's keeping Revan, but, if she doesn't come soon, there won't be much left of him." The third said. This time, they took off their clothes and showered with him. They liked the way his body was left completely hairless, but he didn't look good at all. As before, the fourth sister was left to take care of Steve. This time, Steve was looking at her while she was placing the lotion on him. He was thankful that she had stood up for him; he recognized it was this one. He wanted to thank her but was too afraid to say anything. He was just looking into her eyes, wondering why she hated him and why her sisters hated him even more. He didn't blame her though; he was not someone who placed the blame on anyone. He thought of a few reasons why someone could feel the way she did and thought it should be left out of future conversation, as it must have been a touchy subject. He had better leave these women's past buried until he was safe again.
Back on Alderaan, the day after Steve's abduction, Bastila entered the big room where the Echani was practicing her fighting moves. This time, she was using a short staff. It was very similar to lightsaber training, except the staff was much heavier and the weight was not all at the base. It made a good training weapon, though, because it required more strength than the lightsabers. Everything else was much the same. Bastila thought it might be a good idea to train with her, after all the lightsaber battles that happened in the last week. She wanted to be more ready for the next one.
"Do you have another one of those?" Bastila asked the handmaiden as she pointed at the staff.
"Yes. There are a few more in the bag." She answered.
"Could I train with you?" Bastila asked.
"I suppose so. I wouldn't mind having a sparring partner, for once." The handmaiden answered.
They started sparring for a moment. The two women were very skilled. They both trained for a large portion of their lives. Bastila had the upper hand because of her abilities, but she tried to keep the match as fair as possible. She was rather surprised to see how well the Echani could fight like a Jedi. Soon after she entered the room, Revan observed the match for a moment. After a moment of consideration, she approached the two fighters.
"I think I should help you out. I know the Jedi masters won't allow me to interfere in your training Bastila, but I could show you a few tricks… all you have to do is be mindful and try to repeat them for yourself." Revan proposed.
"I'm not sure if that's a good idea." She answered.
"Bastila, please. If you intend to help me save Steve, you'll have to be at your best: Atris will not be an easy foe. If you don't wish to save Steve, I'll leave you be, but, if you do… Just let me help you." Revan looked in Bastila's eyes for insurance.
"I want to help you save Steve… I really do…" Bastila started.
"Just a few tricks, that's all." Revan reassured her.
"All right, but, if you're trying to lure me to the dark side, I'll never forgive you." Bastila said.
"I have no intention of choosing your path, Bastila; I like you just the way you are." Revan reassured her. Bastila nodded. Revan took a staff from the bag and got into a stance.
"I want you both to attack me and give it your best." She said.
As Bastila and the handmaiden tried to strike at her, they found the staff of Revan in their way. Revan was using the force to increase her speed and strength. She was able to defend herself with ease, and, when she caught one of her opponents off guard, she would swing her staff and stop it just before it hits. She was showing off her speed. When it was enough to show her friends how fast one could be, she stopped.
"Using the force, you can improve all of your natural abilities: strength, sight… everything. The idea is to feed your muscles with energy directly from the force. You can also use the force to increase your concentration so you can see everything more clearly. When your eyes and brain are focused with power from the force, everything will seem slower. Combine this to the power of prediction the force can naturally give you, and you don't even need to be expert at fencing to be unbeatable." Revan explained.
"How do I do all of this?" Bastila asked.
"By knowing it's possible, you can discover many things on your own. Let's try something else." Revan said. She moved back ten feet away from Bastila and the handmaiden and said:
"Ok, this time, I want to show you how to surprise your opponents. You can do this in many different ways. The most important thing is to keep a few moves or tricks in reserve for when you absolutely need it. This is just one of many tricks you should know. Get ready!" She spoke loudly so that the others could hear her from that far away. When she saw that the two women were ready, she summoned the power of the force and leaped forward head first through the air, like a bullet, in between her two opponents. When she reached them, she spun her body quickly and slightly pushed her opponents away with her staff before landing.
"Wow!" The two women said, as they still felt the impulse that Revan had transferred to them when she pushed them away with her staff.
"That was incredible." Bastila added.
"Maybe, but it could be dangerous to do on a more powerful opponent. You should only do this when you are sure it would cause a surprise. Let's try it again." Revan said. She moved back to the same position and concentrated on her next move. She leaped in the air, this time spinning on a vertical axis instead of horizontally. Instead of letting her slip between them, Bastila stood in her path. As soon as Revan ran into her, she backed up to make sure she did not fall over and concentrated on defending herself from Revan's fast moving staff. Revan was able to catch the Echani off guard, but Bastila withstood her ground.
"Good, very good. You're learning." Revan was happy.
"Ok, I need to fight against Bastila alone to be able to teach her the next move. If you don't mind." Revan said to the Echani woman.
"Of course, I'd love to see how this turns out." The Echani responded with a smile. She would rather watch this than participate. It wasn't something she could ever do herself, so she didn't feel she had any business in this fight, unless she was needed. Revan moved closer to Bastila and readied herself. Bastila did the same. Revan begun attacking at a slow enough pace not to overwhelm her opponent so early in her training. She started fighting as normally as usual and then turned her back on Bastila, fighting her without seeing anything at all. It made it hard for Bastila to predict her moves but could imagine it was worse for Revan. Revan held her staff straight up in the air but kept it hidden at all times. Then she begun spinning around to face Bastila. When her staff was about to enter Bastila's vision, she swung her blade around in the opposite direction she was spinning in. To her surprise, Bastila was able to stop the attack.
"Excellent!" Revan said with excitement. Bastila felt proud.
"You can be creative and choose to distract your opponent however you wish and try to surprise them somehow." Revan put down her staff and continued:
"I can teach you more tomorrow, but, for now, I just want to talk." She started.
"From what you can imagine, Steve's fight against Malak was all about who could surprise who first. I have no doubt this was one of the fiercest duels within the past millennia. He didn't have much time to learn, but everything he learned was to prepare himself for that battle. We owe him the same. Atris is a Jedi master; she's very strong. I have no doubt she will try and take advantage of her powers against you. My plan isn't to kill her. I want to convince her that I am not angry with her. She needs to learn how to forgive. If we can make her forgive herself, we might be able to turn her away from the dark side. Though this isn't very likely, it has to be tried. This is what Steve wanted all along. I need you to be mindful, and I'll try and teach you everything I can tomorrow. If you have any questions, I'll be in my room." Revan said before she started walking back to her room.
"Wait! Revan…" Bastila caught up to her.
"Who is he really?" Bastila asked regarding Steve.
"He's just a little man with a big heart. Someone I thought I could live without for so long." Revan answered as honestly as she could.
"How long have you known him for?" Bastila continued.
"The first time I met him in person it was just a days before he went after Malak." She answered.
"How is that possible?" Bastila asked.
"Just another trick I learned in a most desperate moment. I'll tell you in more details another time." Revan answered. Bastila was very curious, as usual. She was always left wondering after speaking with Revan, but, this time, she started to believe her; this time, she thought Revan had been honest all along. It was becoming clearer to her during the battle against Darth Brandon's men, and now it was becoming more and more obvious: Revan could be trusted, after all. Moreover, she could be a friend.
The day had come for them to rescue Steve and perhaps Atris, if she wanted to be rescued. Bastila had trained with Revan and the handmaiden to prepare herself for this battle. Steve was in pain for the entire time. His wound was not treated and his skin was not given time to heal. Revan and her crew abandoned the glass cottage to make their way to the village's hanger where the Ebon Hawk was stored. Revan was going back and forth through the ship. No one knew what she was up to, but they were sure she was thinking up a stratagem; she was known to excel at that. They approached the polar region of Telos and landed where they had done the previous time. This time, they were not greeted even though they were expected. Revan forced the facility's door open and everyone went in, in a hurry. Not only was it cold outside, but, also, they were all very concerned about Steve's condition.
"Echani, you go after Steve. Bastila and I will go to Atris." Revan said. The handmaiden did not expect her sisters to simply let him go, but she had to try. When she arrived in the holding room, they were all waiting for her. The first handmaiden took and extra double-ended shock staff and tossed it gently at her newly arrived sister.
"We won't let you take him without a fight." The second of them said.
"Sisters please! Think about what you are doing! Revan and Bastila are on their way to stop Atris. Steve is of no more use to you, just let him go." The last of them said.
"You swore an oath to stay loyal to Atris, as did we all. Your betrayal to her is a betrayal to us, and you shall be punished." The first of them said.
"That oath did not consider the possibility that Atris would fall to the dark side! How can you still be loyal after what she made you do?" The last of them asked.
"Do you think we care what happens to him? No. We only care that it was his fault if you betrayed us. Now you will pay for your impudence, as he has." The first of them said.
"You would do this to your own sister?" The last of the handmaiden replied worriedly.
"You were always the last of us, and now you will be no more of a sister to us than a dead animal." The second sister replied. The first, second and third sisters all attacked simultaneously, while the fourth one chose not to participate. The battle had started well for the last of them, but, slowly, she was being overpowered and had very little endurance left. One of her sisters slashed at her stomach and cut the skin deeply. The last handmaiden fell to the ground and bled. The fist of them approached to hit her some more, but then the last of them drove the pointed tip of her staff into her sister's chest and pushed it through until it came out of her back. Her sister fell to the ground dead. She tried to take her staff back, but it was stuck in her sister's corpse. She was still on the floor bleeding and was left defenseless against her other sisters. The second and third of them surrounded the last of them and prepared to strike. A blaster shot hit her closest sister in the chest. Everyone looked at where the shot was fired from and saw a tall rust-colored droid. It was HK-47. The third of the handmaidens tried to move away for cover, but, when another shot was fired, it hit her in the side of the neck. The fourth sister threw her double-edged shocking staff as fast as she could into the chassis of the droid. Sparks and flashes were released from the contact areas between the staff and the droid's circuits. The electrical shock was strong enough to fry HK's primary circuits but not before he fired a random shot in the handmaiden's direction. The woman was hit and fell to the ground. Only the last of the Echani sisters was left conscious. She was badly bleeding from the rather large incision across her stomach. It was only a surface wound though; with immediate care, she could easily survive. The handmaiden dragged herself to Steve's force cage and reached the deactivation button on the wall. Steve was released. He tried his best to walk around the room until he could find a large towel and wrapped it around the woman. When he was finished, he kept some pressure on the wound to slow down her bleeding.
Revan and Bastila entered Atris' meditation chamber where she had been waiting for them.
"It's about time you came. What's the matter; you don't care what happens to your friends Revan?" Atris was mocking her.
"I know more about friendship than you do, Atris." Revan said coldly.
"Well you're here now, and that's all that matters." Atris said.
"I seek my revenge, and you seek yours; now we are even, and only a final duel can settle this." Atris continued.
"Mock my words: there was nothing of revenge that brought me here." Revan said honestly.
"Lies!" Atris yelled as she switched on her silver colored lightsaber. It was a very odd color for anyone to have. Though having seen it, it reminded Revan of the color Steve wanted to have: if he was able to choose, he would have preferred white to any other color. Atris attacked Revan and Bastila with much anger. Revan did nothing more than match her speed. After what she had quickly learned from Revan, Bastila could hold her own. Atris pushed herself harder and found that her opponents kept matching her. Atris backed up slightly, fearing that she couldn't take two at a time, and, as quickly as she could, she unleashed a series of electrical discharges onto Bastila Shan. The young Jedi was not expecting Atris to use dark side powers on her and flew back a few feet. She was unable to move for a moment.
"Why have you brought her in this? This battle is between you and me, not her." Atris was shouting while pointing at the woman on the floor.
"You brought her into this. Not me. By taking away our friend, you made her come here. All we want is to get him back, that's all." Revan confessed.
"Why would I let you take him? He's my only key to you, Revan." Atris answered before attacking her as fast as she could. Revan was still only matching her opponent's speed, only preoccupying herself with defense. Bastila soon came back in the battle. She saw Revan holding back and she did the same. They tired Atris down while defending themselves for a while. Atris felt she had already lost and only attacked sporadically.
"I forgive you Atris. I forgive you for getting Steve involved as I am sure he has already forgiven you." Revan said.
"I had him tortured, how can you possibly forgive that?" Atris asked angrily.
"I've changed Atris, surely you've noticed something different about me. You can change too. If you can only bring yourself to forgive, we can continue on as if nothing happened." Revan said.
"Nothing is that simple." Atris said before continuing to strike at her opponents.
"It is that simple! Just let it go!" Revan said in between brakes.
"You dragged the Jedi away from me! Why?" Atris shouted.
"They followed me; it was their choice all along. You can choose to put the past behind us, and you can continue training as many Jedi as you want! Don't throw it all away for vengeance!" Revan expressed concern.
"Nothing can undo what I have done. I forgive you, Revan." Atris said sadly. Bastila noticed the change in her stance: she was about to attack in a kamikaze fashion that Bastila immediately recognized. Bastila yelled:
"Atris don't!" It was too late. Atris forced her two opponents to strike at her. In self-defense, Bastila and Revan were forced to kill Atris. They pierced her with their blades and let her fall gently to the ground. She was dead.
Revan bent over the corpse, shut Atris' eyelids and stood still for a long moment.
"In the end, it was herself she couldn't forgive. If only she had been less hard on others, she could have given herself a chance as well." Revan said to Bastila, feeling responsible to explain why someone had to die here this day.
On the way back to the Ebon Hawk, Bastila and Revan picked up the two wounded people that were in the detention room. Steve mentioned to them that they should bring the skin lotion with them. They set him on one of the beds in the starboard bedroom and the handmaiden in port bedroom. Bastila was left in charge of treating the Echani's wound while Revan was applying the lotion on Steve. Once the lotion was on, she wrapped a towel around his midsection. Steve looked very weak and told Revan how he was unable to eat and how it was mostly that that made him so weak. Revan knew what to do. Bastila finished attending the handmaiden and made her way to the starboard bedroom to check on Steve. She stood in the doorway for a moment to observe him and Revan from a distance. Revan had just finished kissing him before she left to make a nutritious supplement to inject directly in Steve's blood stream. Bastila walked closer to Steve and wanted to assess the damage he had taken. She stood next to him and looked at all the burns on his body. He was mostly red with patches of white all over him. Bastila was greatly disturbed. She leaned over him to get a closer look at the hole that was near his bellybutton. It looked terrible. She could almost see the bed cloth underneath him through that wound. It was surrounded in dark black burns that made it hard to distinguish anything that she could see within the wound. She stopped leaning over him and kneeled beside him. Steve was looking into her eyes. Bastila looked very sad. She looked back at his face for a moment.
"Can I look?" She asked softly while pointing at the towel wrapped around his midsection. Steve hesitated for a moment and then nodded. Bastila unwrapped the towel slowly. When she was done unwrapping it, she looked completely horrified. All she could think of doing was whisper:
"Oh no!"
She was so shocked that she couldn't stop looking at the details that horrified her the most: Steve's testicles had swollen intensely. It was a miracle that they didn't bust out of the vivid red and hairless sack that contained them. His penis was also left deformed: just before his gland, a section of the core had swollen greatly. The skin that covered that section had the bubbly white look of a second-degree burn. The rest of his penis was vivid red; it almost looked as if it was all blood inside his flesh. All the hairs in his pubic region, and everywhere else, were replaced by burns. Bastila wrapped the towel back around him and held back the tears that were desperate to come out. She stood up and took a few steps back. Revan was on her way back with all the equipment she needed to inject Steve with the supplement. Before she could set it on the nearest empty bed, Steve let out a scream of pain. Revan dropped the equipment on the floor and ran beside him.
"What's wrong" She asked at the shaking man.
"I'm bleeding" He responded as calmly as he could. Revan lifted his side just enough to get a look underneath him. She saw the blood that stained the bed and leveled Steve back down on the bed. Then she leaned over him and took a very close look inside his wound.
"What is it?" Bastila asked in great concern.
"His blood vessels are starting to rebuild themselves around the wound… If they continue… he could bleed to death." Revan said. Bastila was terrified.
"Can't you stop it?" Bastila cried.
"I can't stop it from inside the wound; it would take some pretty fancy equipment that we just don't have." Revan begun.
"We need to get him to a medical bay immediately." Revan said.
Both the women ran to the cockpit and got the Ebon Hawk into orbit.
"We can bring him to the TSF station, they have a med. Bay." Bastila suggested.
"No we can't; they only accept registered patients. Steve doesn't even have identification." Revan explained.
"Well, the only place they would accept him is in Dustun" Bastila said.
"How far is that?" Revan asked.
With a quick look at the navigation monitors next to her, Bastila replied:
"13 light-years"
"We'll never make it on time! What about Dantooine… the Jedi enclave?" Revan asked.
"They won't help him!" Bastila confessed after considering it.
"They have to! Can you convince them?" Revan said before she burst in tears.
"It's going to cost you Revan… It's really going to cost you." Bastila said after remembering that the Jedi don't trust Revan with her powers.
"I don't care! I'll do anything to keep him alive! Anything! Please Bastila help him!" Revan cried. Bastila felt guilty. If she were in the council's place, she would never refuse to help save someone's life, but, in this case, the masters had their reasons not to intervene. That reason was unfounded fear, and perhaps even paranoia, because Steve, and even Revan, were not the untrustworthy and dangerous people they had believed them to be. Bastila remembered the warning Vrook gave Steve and Revan concerning their next meeting and was certain they would use this event to their advantage and make Revan turn over her power in exchange for Steve's life. Bastila knew that was wrong in every way: you can't simply bargain with someone's life. Steve's live was worth anything to Revan, and it started to mean a lot more to Bastila too. If only the Jedi understood…
Thinking about it wouldn't help anything. Bastila agreed to transmit a message to the Jedi while Revan piloted the ship. Bastila made her way to the main room of the ship and begun her transmission. After explaining the situation as best she could, the council considered it and accepted to heal Steve in exchange for Revan's agreement to being prosecuted in a trial. As Bastila explained, Revan would agree to anything. The Jedi accepted the deal and terminated the transmission. All she could think about was how well the Jedi healers could take care of Steve, if they could deliver him on time.