Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Chapter 24: Fish People and Sith Lords

"I know that I am Revan."

Revan's words echoed through Bastila's mind and she pulled away when he tried to take her hand and explain that he could remember who he had been. Everything. When he told her he had known since before he had boarded the Endar Spire it had almost become too much for her to hear. Again and again the Jedi Code ran through her mind. After a long silence, Bastila shook her head.

"I-"

Bastila Shan was silent for a moment, staring at the man before her. He was telling the truth. The Padawan lowered her head, the loss of her father and her mother's sickness as well as the torment she had put herself through over this man running through her tired mind. Standing slowly, Bastila looked down at Revan. His face was blank though through their bond she could sense the misery he tried so hard to hide from her.

"So you are."

Bastila walked away, sealing Revan in the cargo hold that had become his home. She needed to meditate on this and speak with Juhani and perhaps the new addition to their crew. He had been a Jedi once and she thought perhaps he could help. Sitting on her bunk for a moment, Bastila buried her head into her hands and released a frustrated scream before she let exhaustion take her.

Carth Onasi sat in the pilot's seat of the Ebon Hawk with a deep frown on his face. A moment ago he could have sworn he had heard screaming. Shaking his head, the Republic Commander entered the course for Manaan and thought of his son.

"I'll be there soon, son. I'm coming..."

The sound of a doorway opening caused Carth to turn. Tauryn stood there, his face showed nothing. No anger, no annoyance. Nothing. Raising an eyebrow, Carth nodded to the Jedi. Tauryn nodded back, seating himself in the co-pilot's seat.

"What's up?"

Carth asked, hoping to get the answer as to the Jedi's robotic behavior. The Jedi's jaw clenched for a moment as he looked at the hyperspace trail.

"I lied to someone I shouldn't have."

Revan answered, self-loathing welling up inside him. Bastila was in shock when she had heard him say those words, Revan knew that much and now he could feel the turmoil that assaulted her unconscious mind. It was all his fault. Sneering, Revan glared into the blue-white hyperspace field.

"Everything is my fault."

The Sith were there, laughing at his foolishness as they destroyed the enemy he had nearly died dozens of times to score minor victories against. He now knew why they had fallen back to their homeworld. It was likely the massive fleet he had left behind upon his return to his empire was nothing more than floating debris or at best a minor nuisance to the Vong and Sith.

Turning to the Republic Commander, Revan entertained the idea of telling the man who he really was. Carth was likely to blast his brains against the cockpit or laugh at his joke. Seeing that the news of his son's survival had brightened the soldier's otherwise dark mood, Revan shook his head of the thoughts, knowing that it was rare for the Commander to be at peace and it was not his place to destroy that peace.

Jolee was speaking to Mission and Zalbaar about his experiences on Kashyyyk. The Wookiee wanting to hear how his world had fared in his absence and Mission eager to hear about her friend's homeworld. Juhani stood silent watch over Bastila. It was obvious to the Cathar that Revan harbored strong feelings for the young Padawan and Juhani felt she owed Revan. HK and T3 were shut-down to conserve power and recharge and Canderous was reading a report he had managed to intercept from a Republic comm line that showed the Sith's movements.

The Mandalorian's brow furrowed as he caught sight of something strange. The Sith were moving a massive fleet near the Raioballo sector. Brushing his chin for a moment, Canderous walked to the Hawk's starchart and checked the information. The name of a world caught his attention. Dantooine. Putting two and two together, the Mandalorian weighed his options. He had no love for the Republic or the Sith and could care less which side won the war. The Jedi he could care less for as well but Revan seemed to respect them to a point.

Shaking his head, Canderous decided to wait until they reached Manaan to tell flyboy or any of the Jedi. With all the racket Princess was making, Canderous decided it would be a lot less peaceful if he tipped them off to a Sith invasion of Dantooine.

Manaan was as Revan suspected, noisy and filled with angry mobs of Republic and Sith soldiers. Around every corner there was a fight between the two armies or an argument. Shaking his head, Revan looked over his shoulder at his companions. Juhani was observing the Sith and Republic forces on the watery world warily while Bastila stared directly at him, her face expressionless. For most of the journey to the Republic embassy Bastila did not take her eyes off the former Lord of the Sith. All the while her thoughts ran to what she would do about this revelation. Killing Revan was out of the question and turning him over to the Republic would have been a death sentence. Frowning, the Padawan's thoughts trailed to what she had been told about Revan's condition after his capture.

"His mind is too badly damaged to ever fully restore his memories... if he is to live we must build a new person into the shell of what was once Revan..."

Vrook had told her those words, as well as many of the other Masters. Only Zhar Leskin, Kavar, Atris and the Sunriders did not answer her question. A dreadful thought entered Bastila's mind and she cringed as she thought of what the implications of this man's restoration would be. If the Council had been telling the truth she would never have been in this position and if Revan truly had suffered massive neurological damage as she had been told, he would not remember their friendship, or at least not in the detail he seemed to.

Sighing heavily, the Padawan chose to remain silent of this revelation. Reporting Darth Revan's return to the Jedi Council was not something she looked forward to. A small part of her wanted to keep his true identity a secret.

"Perhaps then he can..."

Bastila's thoughts trailed off as she caught sight of a bald-headed Sith Lord. The man had a goatee and wore obsidian armor and robes, a double-bladed lightsaber hung from his waist.

"Bandon..."

Bastila whispered as she caught the Sith Lord's smirk. Shuddering, Bastila walked quickly towards the security of Revan and Juhani. Sith Lord or not, she would rather be in Revan's company that the traitor Bandon. Bandon had been a promising Jedi once and had willingly joined the Sith in his lust for power.

As she neared Revan and Juhani, Bastila noticed that Bandon had not escaped Revan's eye. For a moment the two Sith Lord's eyes locked and they glared silently at one another. Before she could say anything, the contest was over, Bandon turning away with a surprised expression. Turning to Revan, Bastila noticed his glare remained and his already significant presence in the Force had nearly doubled.

"We shouldn't linger here. If Bandon knows, so does Malak."

Revan was beginning to curse the Council for sending Bastila along. For one it was a fool decision to send the only thing keeping them from the end of Malak's saber right into his hands, but it was another thing completely to not send a single Master along on such a vital mission. For a moment, Revan began to doubt the sanity of the Jedi Council. True, Jedi were reckless at times but never as suicidal as their actions made them out to be.

Curious, Revan reached deep within the Force, sensing no Jedi on Manaan.

"Strange..."

The former Sith Lord muttered as he turned to Bastila.

"I would have expected a target as vital and valuable as Manaan to be under watch from the Jedi but we are the only ones here aside from the Sith who wield the Force effectively..."

Hearing this, Bastila paled and Juhani bristled. The Cathar glanced back at the vanishing form of Darth Bandon, a scowl reaching her lips.

"We will have to make certain that we are soon the only ones."

The Cathar voiced, much to Revan's approval and Bastila's surprise.

The Republic officer in charge of the embassy was very helpful, Revan decided it was time to take care of two problems at once and charged into the Sith embassy, his crimson and azure lightsabers ablaze as he cut through the dozens of Dark Jedi and Sith troopers. The Selkath were none the wiser and Revan was able to fight his way to the training facilities where he knew his target awaited him. Bastila and Juhani paced nervously in the Republic embassy. Bastila's worry growing as to Revan's decision. She had said nothing to him when he had told her what he planned and she waited, her thoughts running wild with the possibility that she may never see him again. It was then that she heard a shout.

Looking up, Bastila spotted several Sith troopers coming from an underwater docking port connected to the Republic embassy. Turning to her fellow Jedi, she nodded and quickly pulled her double-bladed saberstaff. Juhani pulled her saber and stood beside Bastila in a defensive stance as her blade came to life and deflected the deadly energy back to the faceless Sith troopers.

Revan eyed the room of Selkath apprentices warily. Apparently the Sith had been more ambitious on Manaan than he had given them credit for. Even with the Star Forge he would have never placed the Kolto shipments to his empire from the small blue world at risk but Malak or whoever was in charge of these operations in the wake of his absence were fool enough to think it would succeed.

"Or greedy enough..."

With a small bit of persuasion in the Force, Revan managed to convince the Selkath that the Sith were using them and gladly made his way to where Bandon awaited him. As the doors opened, Revan saw a group of half a dozen Dark Jedi and a Sith Master who he held to recognition of. Surprised by Bandon's absence, Revan did not hesitate to attack, cleanly decapitating one of the Dark Jedi with his right arm while his left and its weapon found its mark in another's chest. The other Sith dropped within seconds until all that remained was Revan and the Master.

"Lord Revan, it will be an honor to be the one that finally kills you!"

The Master stated arrogantly with an air of supremacy. Not wanting to hear the Sith Lord monologue for another half hour and sensing that Bandon was up to something, Revan raised his hand and sent the Sith Master flying into the bulkhead. A loud crack resounded through the room as the Sith Master's body fell lifeless to the ground.

"You sure finally killed me."
Revan muttered, rolling his eyes for possibly the first time in his life.

Bastila, Juhani and the Republic garrison held the Sith troopers off until the appearance of Darth Bandon. The bald Sith Lord cut his way effortlessly through several Republic soldiers before he advanced on Juhani. Hearing his approach, Juhani dodged the attack, striking with her own single blade towards the Sith's wrist. Bandon felt a sharp pain in his left wrist and was stunned for a moment that the Jedi had even laid a glancing blow on him.

Dropping to the ground and rolling away, Bandon recovered quickly as the Cathar charged him with a hiss. Bringing his staff high to block, Bandon crouched and swept his leg under the Cathar, a move she anticipated as she leapt over his attack. Quickly raising his hand, Bandon halted the Cathar Jedi's movement and smirked as he swung his blade to Juhani's face.

A golden beam blocked the blow and Bandon felt himself being knocked backwards by the Force of the block. Surprised, the Sith Lord looked up to see his quarry, anger brimming in her eyes.

"Surrender, Sith Lord."

Bastila hissed, activating the other blade of her staff. Bandon snorted with no amusement, raising his hand and sending a blast of lightning towards the Padawan. Seeing that Juhani was not able to move out of the way, Bastila took the blast, blocking most of it with her saber. The blade flickered for a moment as the tendrils of lightning struck the cylinder. A moment later the golden light of her weapon died as the blue-white of the lightning coursed over her. The Padawan screamed in pain for a moment before it ceased.

Looking up from where she had fallen, Bastila saw Juhani standing before her, her crimson cloak pooled on the ground as the Cathar prepared for her rematch with Bandon.

"I will be your doom!"

The Cathar chanted as she rushed forward, slashing at the dazed Sith Lord as he struggled back to his feet from the push of the Force Juhani used to stop his assault on Bastila. Bandon ducked, lunging forward and spinning his staff in a flurry as he twisted away from Juhani's lunge. The Cathar cried out as one of his beams caught her thigh and dropped roughly to the ground. In the same motion, Juhani threw her saber to a recovered Bastila. The Padawan rushed quickly to her fellow Jedi's aid, blocking Bandon's first strike against Juhani and his counterstrike against her.

Bandon grew frustrated that he had not yet killed either of the troublesome Jedi. If he stayed around any longer there was a danger that other Republic soldiers or Jedi would arrive and corner him. Backing away, Bandon leapt back, vaulting himself off the wall and over Bastila's head. The Padawan raised her borrowed blade, striking Bandon's armor.

As the Sith Lord landed, he staggered for a moment, surprise on his face as he turned back to the Padawan. With a growl, Bandon rushed the Padawan, only to see her drop to the floor and kick both her boots into his abdomen, launching him over her position and into a bulkhead. Dazed and weary, Bandon stood just as an arc of azure light reached his vision, followed by the smell of burning flesh. The Sith Lord blinked once, then twice before his body dropped from his head and he fell into the oblivion of the Darkside.

Within moments, Revan burst through the doors of the Republic embassy, if it had not been for the Selkath trying to stop and question him he would have been here sooner. The former Dark Lord's fear turned to relief as he caught sight of a weary, but unharmed Bastila and an injured, but living Juhani. Seeing Revan, Bastila felt her weariness leave her. The Padawan strode over to the former Dark Lord of the Sith and wrapped her arms around him, burying her head into his chest. Surprised, Revan slowly raised on of his arms and gently rubbed Bastila's back. His eyes fell on Bandon's corpse and he felt a small amount of pride in the young woman in his arms and the one that stood a few feet away, shooing the Republic medics.

The Selkath chose to ignore the events within the Republic and Sith embassies, glad that it had no spilled over into their city streets. The young Selkath Revan turned from the Sith soon came forward and denounced the Sith, causing the Selkath to place heavy sanctions and taxes on the Sith.

Taking a submersible to the underground lab, Revan and Canderous tore through the insane Selkath that infested the station, killing every last one of them with brutal efficiency. Finding a pair of survivors, the two Mandalorians were able to find the Starmap and calm the gigantic Firaxan shark that had caused the devastation of the facility.

The Republic was not worried over the loss of their machinery, knowing that the recent sanctions against the Sith did not include them and glad that Bastila and her companions were able to fix most of the problems that had plagued them since the beginning of the Jedi Civil war.

Revan walked Juhani back from the Republic medical facility, watching the Cathar favor her uninjured leg slightly.

"It's a wonder what Kolto can do in a few hours..."

Revan muttered. Juhani nodded, content to be in the silent company of this man she felt herself respecting so greatly. A gruff voice stopped the Jedi's journey as they both took in the sight of a sickly violet-skinned Twilek. The man, if you could call him that, leered at Juhani, asking Revan if he could purchase the Cathar, all the time ranting about one he had to put down on Taris. The mention of Taris was what had sent Juhani's building anger over the edge. With a roar, the Cathar lunged for the despicable man, only to collide with the outstretched arm of Revan.

"Remember the slavers on Kashyyyk."

Revan whispered into Juhani's ear. Glaring hatefully at the man, Xor, Juhani turned away, doing her best to ignore the man's ranting. That is until Revan calmly released his hold on her and struck the Twilek across the face with his right fist. The Twilek dropped to the ground like a stone.

"He will answer for what he has done..."

Juhani nodded, walking away as Revan stood over the unconscious Twilek. Cracking his knuckled, and popping the stiff joints in his neck, Revan sneered.

"Its been a while since I've tortured a man who truly deserved it."

Smirking, the former Sith Lord lifted the unconscious form over his shoulder, disappearing for several hours before returning to the Ebon Hawk in a clean set of robes and ready to get the Force away from Manaan.

Author's notes: I HATE copying stuff that's already happened. I hope you all enjoyed my version of Manaan... hehehe as for why Revan is being so dark you must keep in mind that during my entire story he remains relatively the same person... Not much Revan/Bastila stuff here because I wrote this entire thing at 4 in the freaking morning, Show some appreciation punks I've been up for 46 hours.