Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Chapter 23: The Wisdom of the Council

The Starmap's new information recorded, the crew of the Ebon Hawk returned to Anchorhead to celebrate their victory over Calo's gang. Bastila and Mission both disappeared during the party, Revan assumed Bastila was searching for her mother to show her the holocron of her father they had found near the Starmap. Revan allowed a moment of silent respect to his friend's father. Selrek Shan, Bastila's father, had to have been a skilled archeologist to be able to locate a remnant of the Rakatan's great empire on the desert world of Tatooine. Unsure of where Mission had gone, Revan commed his Twilek friend and received a tired reply.

"Yea?"

Revan spoke briefly with Mission, realizing she had gone off to try to sort things out with her brother and had gotten into another argument. Zalbaar had chosen to stay on the Ebon Hawk, not feeling sociable and Mission had returned to her hairy friend for comfort, not wanting to disturb the others. Revan told Mission to call him if anything happened or if there was anything he could do to help and went out to find Bastila, curious to see the woman who had mothered such a strong-willed young woman, though he had already spoken with the unpleasant woman he was curious to see the change in the mother and daughter.

Revan found Bastila crying in her mother's arms and abruptly made himself scarce. It was not something he should be voyeur to. Finding a Swoop track, Revan decided to spend the evening trying his luck against the other racers and gladly paid the greedy slug of a Hutt the credits to use the track. Soon Revan had attracted a little too much attention to his liking as the Tatooine swoopbike champion. Leaving his winnings with Mission saying she could use them for her brother if she liked, Revan returned to his nightly task of repairing Yusanis' brand.

Bastila was the last to make it back to the Hawk. Her mother had insisted on meeting the man her daughter had spoken so highly of and Revan found himself under Helena Shan's intense scrutiny. Revan locked himself in his quarters after promising Helena he would watch after Bastila though he had said she could more than take care of herself. Helena had booked transport back to Coruscant but Revan had suggested they take her themselves. The Ebon Hawk had to nearly cross the galaxy to get to Kashyyyk and Coruscant was on the way. Helena had agreed reluctantly and was soon in the Jedi Temple on Coruscant seeing the best of the Jedi Healers.

Bastila had silently thanked Revan for the idea and had resigned herself to her quarters after she and her mother parted ways.

The Jedi High Council had asked to see Bastila, all Masters present except for those on Dantooine and of course Atris, though a glowing blue hologram of the Echani Master resided over the meeting along with those of the Dantooine Masters.

Strangely enough, the Council had asked to speak only with Juhani. Revan surmised that it had to do with Bastila's currently unstable and emotional condition. Revan had joked with Carth that Bastila had gotten like that once a month and was sporting a new bruise since Bastila had happened to be listening in on the conversation. Needless to say, Carth was enjoying his time with the Ebon Hawk and her crew. The retreat away from the front lines was a welcome change and the crew were definitely entertaining. Still though, the need for revenge against those that had destroyed his homeworld remained and Carth knew if he stayed alongside Bastila and the other Jedi long enough, he would eventually get a shot at Karath.

Revan had chosen to be alone, his eyes traveling over a datapad a Twilek man had given him on Tatooine before they had left. After reading the contents, Revan decided it would be best to ignore the information. Getting involved with an intergalactic group of assassins was not exactly on his to-do list.

Juhani had returned slightly shaken after speaking with the Council and had sealed herself in the cargo hold. Of course things were never easy. The Cathar had found a young stowaway. Canderous had joked about flushing the girl out of an airlock, something HK-47 was more than willing to do and had tried. Revan had decided to speak with the girl, his work on Yusanis' brand nearly complete. Sasha. That was what the girl had called herself. Luckily for the Ebon Hawk's crew, their little stowaway had a family searching for her. Zalbaar had immediately recognized the name of the girl, having spoken with a Twilek man hired by the girl's family on Dantooine.

The girl's mixed language gave Revan and Canderous all the evidence they needed that she had been a Mandalorian captive. Choosing to keep away from the girl, since they were both Mandalorians, Revan and Canderous left her in the hands of Carth and Zalbaar. Both of whom had taken an interest in the girl's welfare. A quick course correction and a few missed hours brought the Ebon Hawk to Dantooine and the girl back to her family.

Bastila had gone off to speak with the Council and the others decided a small rest was in order. Revan completed his repairs of Yusanis' brand and decided to relax, walking in the fresh air of the Dantooine countryside and finding an old spot where he and Malak had used to spend their days. More and more the memories of what he had been were eating away at Revan, enough so that he almost wished he was who Bastila, Carth and the Jedi believed he was. It would have made everything so much easier.

The Jedi spent most of the evening there, until the Dantooine sun began to rise. Making his way back to the Ebon Hawk, Revan waited for the rest of the crew to gather before the Ebon Hawk blasted off towards Kashyyyk.

Zalbaar was beginning to get more and more agitated. Deciding it was the Wookiee's business and that if he wanted to talk about it he would, Revan chose to seek out Juhani, wondering why the young Cathar was so upset after Coruscant.

"Juhani?"

Revan asked as he entered the sealed cargo area. Juhani slowly opened her eyes and stood from her meditation.

"Tauryn, I must speak with you..."

She began, not making eye contact. Warnings immediately went off in Revan's mind as he nodded and knelt before Juhani, waiting for the Cathar to do the same. With a wave of her hand, Juhani sealed the cargo bay and turned to Revan.

"The Council asked me to keep an eye on you. They told me who you really were..."

Revan nodded, it would make sense that the Jedi would want their people to know the situation.

"They are suspicious of you, Revan. They told me that if I thought you were beginning to remember that I was to... eliminate the threat to the Republic."

The former Sith Lord nodded again, expecting this.
"The Jedi do not kill their prisoners... no matter what their crimes. Lovely speech isn't it?"
Revan smirked at Juhani's confusion over the Council and their decisions.

"I'm still the same man I was then I went to fight the Mandalorians. I am still the same man I was when I chose to destroy the Jedi order and the Republic. My reason? Jedi lie and the Republic is too weak and stagnant to make any difference where it counts. I will not risk billions of lives for my goal anymore though. I will do it the... slow way."

Juhani gave Revan an uncertain look.

"What do you mean the slow way?"

Revan chuckled as he stretched and stood, clasping his hands together behind his back as he paced the cargo bay.

"When I first took the mantle of Dark Lord and assumed the title of Darth Revan, I used the Darkside of the Force to corrupt those that followed me and I used my power to make certain they would remain loyal... It was the fast way, the easy way and the mistake. The corruption of the Darkside blinded them and I to what we were doing. Regardless of the fact I knew and weighted each of my decisions... It was as thought I didn't care about the consequences... at least up until someone slapped me in the face."

Revan shook his head with a heavy sigh.

"I suppose you could say I took that first step towards the Darkside and never looked back until I was forced to..."

The former Dark Lord of the Sith trailed off, staring at the bulkhead with a distant expression. Deciding to leave Revan with his thoughts, Juhani made her way to her bunk and rested as best she could. It bothered her greatly what the Jedi had asked of her and she had difficulty centering herself when she reminisced about her life as a Jedi.

Kashyyyk was not as Revan had expected. The lush forests of the wroshyr trees that stretched for miles into the sky were littered with the scum of the Galaxy. Czerka corporation. Zalbaar seemed the most uneasy with the changed his world had gone through since the arrival of the Czerka slavers. Juhani seemed to share Revan's disgust of the situation as she, Zalbaar and the former Dark Lord of the Sith waited in the Czerka office for permission from the incompetent Ithorian, Janos Wertka, to enter the walkways.

Grumbling to himself, Revan led Juhani and Zalbaar through the walkways towards the general direction of the Starmap.

"Is something wrong?"

Juhani asked with more concern that she should have. Revan shook his head.

"No it's just Czerka Corp annoys me."

Revan did not voice the other reason that was driving him mad. Bastila. The events on Tatooine had shown him she was strong enough to know the truth but he was too much of a coward to tell her.

"Would she go to the Council?"

Revan allowed the question to hover in his mind for a moment before he heard voices shouting to one another. Motioning to Zalbaar and Juhani, Revan cautiously walked along the shroud of the massive wroshyr trunk. Revan tensed as he caught sight of three Czerka slavers standing over a dead Wookiee and arguing about getting their pay cut. Seeing the same scene, Zalbaar and Juhani both glowered hatefully at the slavers. Revan took a moment to look around before he stepped from shadow of the tree trunk and approached the men.

"Do you have a family?"

Revan asked the man who appeared to be in charge. Frowning, the man, Captain Dehno nodded.

"Then you should find a new line of work. Its dangerous working here."

The man looked ready to snap back at Revan until he saw the former Sith Lord's two shadows. An extremely pissed off Cathar and a Wookiee. Turning back to his men, the man talked lowly, thinking Revan could not hear.

"We should make our way back for some reinforcements and come back."

The others agreed while Revan shook his head. Raising his hand, the former Sith Lord sent Captain Dehno screaming over the edge of the walkways and into the distant shadowlands of Kashyyyk. The other two looked on in stunned silence before raising their blasters towards Revan. The snap and hiss of Revan's crimson bladed saber greeted the slaver's eyes and they immediately dropped their weapons, raising their hands.

Zalbaar roared angrily as he charged the two defenseless men. Only Revan's intervention stopped the Wookiee from tearing the slavers to pieces.

"They haven't made a move against us yet, it would be wrong, Zalbaar!"

Revan shouted to the Wookiee. The Wookiee looked back to Revan, trembling with rage as he looked back to his fallen brethren.

"I will respect your judgement and my life-debt to you, Revan."

Zalbaar relented, backing away from the terrified slavers and growling threateningly. Revan turned to see Juhani resting her hand against her lightsaber, ready to strike down the slavers herself.

"Jedi do not kill their prisoners."

Revan reminded Juhani. Even if the Council was willing to make an exception for Sith, he was not about to let the young Cathar damn herself. He would kill these men first, it was he who was damned. Seeing the question in Juhani's eyes, Revan walked towards the woman while Zalbaar kept his bowcaster trained on the Czerka slavers.

"Would you throw away the years of Jedi training and your own values to murder two men. It wouldn't even make a difference to kill these two, look at them."

Juhani scowled as she looked past Revan to the terrified slavers. Beyond the fear she could sense that these men were not evil, just misguided. Shaking her head, the Cathar willed herself to comply with the Jedi teachings as she saw Revan turned back to the men and swiftly decapitate each of them in a single motion. Gasping in shock Juhani pulled her saber from her belt and raised it defensively, keeping its deadly blue beam inactive.

"What have you done!"

Juhani cried as she trembled against her will. Revan turned back to her with an unreadable expression.

"What you would have, had you fallen to the Darkside."

Revan replied simply. Instantly, Juhani felt her anger drain, the abhorrence at Revan's actions had made it clear to her that murdering anyone, regardless of how despicable was not her way. Zalbaar seemed less than angry at Revan's actions, roaring his approval of Revan. The former Dark Lord used the Force to throw both bodies and their heads over the walkway. Revan continued on, not looking back at Juhani as Zalbaar spoke to him, finally revealing the secret he had kept from Revan and even Mission.

As he listened, Revan found himself feeling sympathy for his Wookiee friend and was soon calculating how he could strip Chuundar's power. It was the right thing to do in his eyes. A Wookiee guard jumped from a wroshyr branch overhead, giving a bellowing roar into Zalbaar's face as it waved its arms in the air.

Juhani tensed, her grip on her saber never easing since she had seen Revan kill the two slavers without a second thought. Revan listened to the Wookiee's angry declaration and then to Zalbaar.
"What do you think?"

Revan asked when the Wookiee guard had calmed and ordered them to go to the Rwookrrorro village. Zalbaar shook his head sadly.

"We have no choice, Revan. I am sorry that I have brought this on to you."

Revan sighed, shaking his head as well.

"We'll deal with Chuundar when the time comes."

Zalbaar nodded, looking towards the direction of the village.

"I can only wonder what has happened to our father Freyyr."

The journey to the Rwookrrorro village was silent. Zalbaar pondering the reason his brother was in power and not his father and Juhani, Revan's actions against the slavers. It was clear to her that Revan had struck them down without anger. It was almost emotionless the way he had killed them. In a way it reminded her of the way a Jedi kills someone. Curious, she filed the thought away to dwell on later.

At nearly the same moment, Revan, Zalbaar and Juhani all tensed. Either sensing or smelling the threat. Zalbaar gave a small growl and Juhani held her inactive saber tightly in her grasp as she eyed their surroundings. Juhani saw one of Revan's saber's float to his hand and his next movement was a blur as a red beam of light streaked to where he was standing. Moments later more blaster bolts rained onto Juhani. Zalbaar quickly activated his shield and leapt for a wroshyr trunk, his claws digging into the thick bark as he climbed upwards with incredible speed. Moments later, the green bolts of Zalbaar's bowcaster struck the unseen assassin and a pained cry was heard as the Sith fell into the shadowlands. Juhani looked around warily and dodged as a violet blade shot from thin air. Hissing, Juhani realized that the Sith were concealing themselves with stealth field generators.

The Sith assassin paused as the Cathar Jedi vanished from his sight. Confused, he never saw the Cathar activate her own stealth field or felt the azure beam that shot into his heart from behind.

Revan was elsewhere, chasing after the other assassin as she frantically leapt from one wroshyyr branch to the other. Knowing that she was not going to make a clean escape, the assassin turned to face her opponent, only to see nothing. Turning around, the young woman gave out a surprised cry as Revan stood before her, his arms crossed.

"Do you know who I am?"

Revan asked coldly. The young woman nodded shakily as a cold smile spread across Revan's face and his eyes glinted with a predatory golden light.

"Then don't insult me by thinking you can sneak up on me."

Terrified, the Sith assassin nodded, unable to find words. Slowly, Revan depressed the switch of his lightsaber and watched the crimson beam shoot forth.

"I'll give you a choice..."

Revan began, holding the deadly weapon perfectly still as he pointed it towards the woman's throat.

"Tell me everything you know and leave the Sith..."

Revan smirked slowly as he looked motioned his head downward, never taking his eyes off the assassin.

"Or become one with the shadowlands."

The struggle already over before it began, the terrified assassin told Revan everything.

"Malak knows you are alive, Lord Revan. Calo Nord escaped Taris and told him everything. He assumed the Jedi would seek out the Starmaps and sent us in small groups to scout the locations... He is sending Lord Bandon personally to Manaan to safeguard the Starmap there."

Revan merely rose an eyebrow. It was not Malak's style to send his second in command. Malak was too arrogant for that and it was strange that Malak actually took him as a threat if he was so all powerful as he had said he was after his betrayal. The former Sith Lord felt his smirk widen with pride.

"Malak is afraid."

The young woman nodded as she trembled.

"Y-yes Milord."

Revan deactivated his weapon and attached it to his belt, eyeing the woman for a moment. There was something familiar about her that he could not place. It was likely she was one of his own apprentices he had trained to kill Jedi on Malachor V.

"What of Malachor V and Lady Traya?"

Revan asked, his demeanor calming significantly. The young woman looked downward.

"Lady Traya was betrayed by Lord Nihilus and Sion. Malak was in league with the two and had her eliminated before he attacked you. They both control the Trayus academy, Milord."

Revan sighed heavily as he shook his head.

"It is not the same, Lord Revan... Are- are you coming back to us?"

There was almost a hopeful note in the woman's voice. Revan thought back to his reign as the Dark Lord. Most of it spent chasing the Vong from the Outer Rim and trying to strengthen the weak Republic into an Empire powerful enough to crush them. Then Revan saw Bastila. Her blue eyes burning with betrayal and anger as she glared at him with all the pain and hatred she could muster on his own flagship two years before. It was not a difficult choice for Revan to make, the galaxy could burn.

"No... My ways was... too costly."

Nodding understanding, the assassin bowed her head, closing her right hand to a fist and bringing it over her heart.

"Hail, Lord Revan. I will convince as many as I can to leave."

Revan tilted his head once. It was good to know that there were still some loyal to him alive in the Sith Empire.

"Go to Cornet city on Corellia. Gather with as many loyal followers as you can. It is time we ended the Vong."

Bowing deeply, the woman responded.

"Of course, Milord."

When she looked up, Revan was gone.

Juhani jumped with a start as Revan dropped from a wroshyr branch above and landed silently before her.

"We must move quickly."

Revan stated without emotion. Zalbaar roared his approval as they made their way quickly to the Wookiee village. Once there, Revan was forced to endure the self-proclaimed leader of the Wookiees speaking highly of his own questionable actions. The only thing that had caught Revan's attention was Chuundar's order to kill a mad Wookiee in the shadowlands and his brief explanation to his brother of their father's tragic enslavement.

Revan and Juhani were forced to leave Zalbaar behind, something that did not sit well with Mission at all. After some reassurance, the young Twilek calmed and all but ordered Revan to take her along. Revan reluctantly agreed after a small argument. Bastila, Carth and Canderous all stood at the ramp of the Ebon Hawk as Juhani filled them in on the Sith ambush. Revan noticed Bastila seemed slightly shaken by this and decided his silence in the matter of his true identity was a good thing. It was too much pressure to put on Bastila, especially on an Outer Rim world and far away from the Jedi and Republic.

"I'll tell her the moment we reach Manaan... She's bound to find out when Bandon opens his big mouth."

Revan could recall a few details of Malak's new apprentice. He was the Sith that had boarded the Endar Spire and killed Trask and was beyond bloodthirsty. The man was likely insane with the darkside. Bastila eyes Revan for a moment warily. Revan thought for a moment back to Juhani's warning. If Juhani knew, it would make sense that Bastila would know as well.

Shaking his head, Revan wondered if the Padawan suspected the truth, not knowing that Bastila was struggling with herself for precisely the opposite reason. Bastila had not been informed by the Council of Revan's condition ever since that fateful meeting with the Council on Dantooine where Vandar Tolkare had erased her memory. The Council knew the deep feelings Bastila held for the former Dark Lord and the risk was too great, partly the reason they entrusted Juhani with the task of eliminating Revan should the Dark Lord return.

Bastila was more concerned with the similarities she felt within Tauryn Katarn and Revan Bloodraven. It was almost absurd how similar they were. Bastila's mind raged with unanswered questions as she returned to the Ebon Hawk to meditate. Canderous and Carth spoke briefly of the Mandalorian wars and of Carth's family. That is until an old friend of Carth's spotted him and delivered a bit of startling news. Even Canderous was inclined to charge into Korriban after hearing Jordo's news that Carth's son, Dustil had survived. Mandalorians held to family and Clan bonds tightly and Canderous saw much of his own values in Carth. The burly Mandalorian General felt a small amount of respect for the Republic Commander he harassed so shamelessly and shook his head, waiting for Revan, the cat-woman and blue-girl's return. They may just be making a detour to Korriban after all.

Revan, Juhani and Mission where busy fighting off a small horde of Kinrath that had ambushed a group of Wookiee hunters along the walkways. The leader of the group, Chorrawl, was less than grateful for the outsider's assistance. Revan placated the Wookiee's rage and managed to get a small amount of information from the reluctant Wookiee before proceeding to the lift to the shadowlands. The lift guard, Gorwooken, was fanatically loyal to Chuundar. Something Revan knew would be a problem later on.

The deceit he had sensed in Chuundar was sickening and the amount of fear that Chuundar radiated when speaking of the crazed Wookiee and of course the blatant lie of his father being sold into slavery was giving Revan just about all the information he needed to piece together the puzzle of Kashyyyk's plight. Revan had already decided he would try to give Czerka as much trouble as possible. That was decided the moment he set eyes on Captain Dehno and his two companions.

"Perhaps this exiled Wookiee will hold the answer to this problem."

Gorwooken was silent, not speaking to Revan or his companions after his initial warning not to double-cross the wise and mighty Chuundar. Revan had to resist the urge to roll his eyes at the arrogant title of the Wookiee chieftain.

The upper shadowlands as they were known were littered with corpses of unfortunate warriors and travelers. After walking out of earshot of Gorwooken, Juhani voiced her mistrust of Chuundar and his intentions. Revan nodded his agreement while Mission made a face at a small Tach that tried to attach itself to her leg.

Revan continued to walk towards where he knew the Starmap was located, warily glancing at the fallen branches and trunks of the wroshyyr that seemed to block their path. A forcefield seemed to appear out of nowhere, its violet-pink glow illuminating the shadowy world.

"This wasn't here before..."

Revan muttered, frowning. Juhani and Mission glanced at each other before looking around the area.

"We could climb over it..."

Juhani suggested, pulling a cable-launcher from her belt. Revan shook his head, rubbing his light brown goatee in thought.

"No... I know someone who might be able to help."

Juhani and Mission appeared confused by Revan's choice of words, but shrugged to one another. Mission did not like the idea of climbing over the treetrunks and into the mouth of a Katarn and Juhani was curious to see this person Revan was speaking of. The silent questions Juhani and Mission held were soon answered as the humming of a lightsaber reached their ears. Juhani tensed and Mission shivered slightly, knowing that Sith were not the easiest targets when all she had was a vibroblade and a blaster.

The smirk on Revan's face calmed Mission slightly. Being in the presence of that man seemed to make her confident. Revan walked a little ways ahead of Mission and Juhani up a small embankment, leaning against a tree and crossing his arms as he watched the battle below. Juhani questioned Revan's actions when she caught sight of an elderly man fighting off a pack of Katarn with an emerald lightsaber. Revan shook his head, at Juhani's silent request to help.

"Trust me, he wouldn't appreciate the help."

Juhani looked back and was surprised to see the old man kill the entire group of creatures expertly. Reaching out with the Force, Juhani sensed nothing of the darkside within the old man and let out a sigh of relief.

"Bah, the damnable racket of battle!"

The old man cursed as he looked towards the direction of the newcomers.

"Watch yourself, even more of these crawling beasts are hiding in the underbrush."

Mission looked around warily and Revan smirked.

"Don't you recognize who you're talking to old man?"

Revan questioned. The old man narrowed his eyes for a moment as he gazed at Revan. Slowly a surprised look came over the man's face.

"Bah! You again! I never thought you'd be back here."

Revan's smirk turned to a frown.

"Times change, old man."

The old man shook his head, chuckling to himself.

"At least you brought more colorful companions this time."

Jolee motioned to Juhani and Mission. The two aliens gave Revan a questioning look.

"May I introduce you, old man?"

Revan asked, his smirk returning. Jolee rolled his eyes with a sigh.

"Go ahead kid, who's going to stop you?"

Revan's smirk widened as he motioned his hand to the old man, who have a mock-bow.
"Before you, ladies is the great and wise exiled Jedi Padawan Jolee Bindo. A hero of the Sith wars of Exar Kun, Jolee has chosen exile in these lovely surroundings for the past two decades and no one knows the shadowlands better."

"Except the Wookiees."

Jolee protested. Revan nodded, crossing his arms over his chest once more. Jolee sighed as he looked between Revan and his companion.

"Follow me to my camp and we'll talk a bit."

Jolee took off at a jog towards his hovel as Revan, Mission and Juhani followed.

"Nice."
Revan joked, drawing a mock-glare from Jolee.

"Well welcome to my home such as it is. Pull up a stump and be comfortable!"
Jolee announced excitedly, obviously lacking in companionship for some time. Revan leaned against a wroshyyr trunk and crossed his arms, looking off in the distance.

"So what brings the deposed and dead Dark Lord of the Sith to my corner of the galaxy?"

Jolee asked with a mischievous tone. Juhani and Mission again exchanged looks.

"Does everyone know who you are, Revan?"

Juhani asked incredulously. Revan shrugged, nodding towards Jolee.

"Malak and I met Jolee years ago when we first sought the Starmaps. We were... neutral at that point in our lives."

Jolee snorted.

"You were also insane and reckless. I recall you and your bald friend had a bit of difficulty with those Terantek."

Juhani's eyes widened.

"What are Terantek doing here?"

Revan answered for Jolee.

"An alien race known as the Yuuzhan Vong created the Terantek as a means of hunting Force sensitives, who they view as heretic."

The ease of Revan's statement confused Juhani. Casting Revan a questioning look, Revan sighed.

"They are the reason I used the Sith..."

Jolee nodded, smacking Revan on the back of the head.

"Good job there, Kid. The problem is the Vong were never the real threat."

This caught Revan's attention as he stood, glaring at Jolee.

"WHAT?"
Revan roared, causing Mission and Juhani to wince. Jolee remained passive.

"Terantek were not made to hunt Jedi, they were made to hunt something else that wielded the Force and gave the Vong enough trouble for them to specifically engineer the bloodhounds."

Revan became pale. Very pale.

"What do you know."
Revan asked in a whisper. Jolee shook his head sadly.

"I know what I hear, Revan and I know what the Force tells me. Don't you think its strange that you were losing so many to the Vong initially and then suddenly had them on the run?"

Revan frowned deeply, his face ashen.

"My wife, Nayama... She told me about Exar Kun and his plan. It was not very different from yours at first..."

Jolee narrowed his eyes in a silent glare.

"She told me there were other Sith out there... The first Sith. Hiding and waiting for the time to spring their revenge against the Republic. She also told me they were fighting an enemy called the Vong and were winning, easily. And she wasn't lying."

Revan dropped to his knees, his hands clenched into tight balls as he sputtered incoherently, his rage increasing. High above, Bastila's eyes snapped open as she felt Revan's power swell and darken. Shivering, Bastila stood shaking and made her way to the cockpit where Carth was arguing with HK-47 about killing off all lifeforms within a two kilometer radius.

"Carth."

Carth continued arguing with the assassin droid, not hearing Bastila."Carth!"
Bastila all but screamed. Immediately, HK and Carth fell silent. The Republic Commander gave Bastila a surprised look.

"Raise the landing ramp and have the ship ready for takeoff."

Confused, Carth nodded, knowing that the Jedi may have sensed something. Carth's paranoid feared the worst.

"What if Tauryn and the others were ambushed and killed..."

Bastila had even darker thoughts running through her mind.

"What if Darth Revan has returned?" What if he killed Juhani and Mission..."

Bastila felt sick to herself when she realized that she was almost hopeful that was the case. Shuddering, the Padawan walked to the rear of the ship to await the return of the Dark Lord as she pulled her saber from her belt.

"I will do my duty to the Order. I will end his evil..."

The Padawan resolved as she struggled with her decision.

Mission and Juhani backed away from the enraged former Sith. His eyes held a golden glow as he raged through the shadowlands, picking up and throwing debris and screaming incoherently into the darkness. The only thoughts running through his mind what a waste it had all been. After several minutes, Revan calmed enough to stand, panting heavily as he glared through golden eyes at his surroundings. Slowly, Revan raised his blue-bladed lightsaber and crushed the hilt in his hands, letting the crystal and the metallic shards fall to the forest floor as he glared down at it, his face twisted with hatred.

Walking up to a startled Juhani and Mission, Revan looked at them with absent, brown eyes, his rage turning to despair.

"The Council was right. I should have waited. Force I lost so many..."

Revan shook his head, not making eye contact with the two woman.
"Malak is the least of our worries..."

Across the galaxy, Darth Malak's eyes snapped open. The mangled Sith Lord allowed a moment of fear to settle in him, harnessing it into anger and using it to fuel his power as his fleet rode through hyperspace towards the Enclave on Dantooine.

"So you have returned, my Master... my old friend."

Malak shook his head of the thought. He would turn the Enclave on Dantooine into a crater and capture the Jedi there. He would soon have his answer to how Revan had survived his assault.

Kashyyyk was a blur to Revan after hearing Jolee's revelation. He sensed no deceit from the man and knew that his fall to the Darkside, the thousands of people he had killed, even his heroics in the Mandalorian wars were meaningless. They were all made to weaken the Republic. The Mandalorians had been tricked by these Sith into declaring war on the Republic. These true Sith had left behind hints of their true power to seduce and corrupt Jedi and now they were killing the most deadly enemy he had ever faced with relative ease. It was nearly enough to drive him mad.

Revan mechanically killed a group of Mandalorian raiders and aided a Wookiee prisoner. He also found the crazed Wookiee who was as he suspected, Freyyr. A battle with a Terantek had given Revan the means to returning the Wookiee to power and Starmap recognized his brain pattern and gave the coordinates without a problem.

Following Revan's outburst of rage and anger, Juhani and Mission noticed the abrupt change. Revan did not joke or show concern, not even anger. In fact he showed nothing as he did the tasks appointed to him. It was almost like watching a droid. Jolee accompanied Revan and his group, using the excuse that he wanted off Kashyyyk. The truth being that he was concerned with how Revan had taken the news. And rightly so.

The billions that had died needlessly to the Jedi Civil War were nothing but a diversion for this enemy to prepare for their final battle. Burning within Revan was shame. Shame that he had been fooled so easily. Shame at all those he killed in the name of peace and later power and finally. Shame that he had betrayed Bastila to fight a meaningless war. Had the Vong been the true threat, Revan felt he could have lived with himself but in the end, he felt useless. Old and worn out.

Chuundar was deposed quickly with Zalbaar's help and Mission was happily, though her cheer was short lived due to Revan's mentality, reunited with her hairy friend. Juhani went ahead to tell Carth and the others about Jolee and an interesting development in Tauryn.

Revan sat himself in the cargo hold of the Ebon Hawk, gazing intently into Bastila's penetrating blue eyes as he took in a deep breath.

"Bastila, I have something to tell you."

The former Dark Lord began, knowing he could hide it no longer. His outburst in the shadowlands was likely felt on Coruscant. The uncontrollable anger that mounted had been building since he had learned of Bastila's father's death. It wasn't fair for her. The assassins and their news of Traya brought more anger and finally Jolee's seemingly casual conversation that had made the better part of Revan's life a wasted effort.

"I lied to you, Bastila. I am sorry."

Revan cast his eyes downward in defeat as he felt his anger completely drain away.

"I have no right to be angry. I was fool enough to rush headlong into things. I must live with it."

Shaking his head silently, Revan allowed a small mental smirk at his own dark thoughts.

"Or die with it."