"Shooting at us? Shooting?" Revan repeated incredulously.
"Yes, shooting!" Atton spat impatiently, swerving the ship suddenly to avoid incoming blast fire. "Why, did you think I was shaking the ship around for fun? We got hit—though thankfully our shields absorbed all the damage. Our hull's still intact… for now. Don't know how much longer our shields will hold if they keep firing at us, though."
"But… I don't… why?" Revan cried. "Why are they shooting at us?"
"I don't know!" Atton exclaimed, exasperated, struggling to avoid the blasts aimed at the Hawk. "I didn't think to ask them. I thought my time would be better spent avoiding their fire rather than inviting them over for a cup of Chandrilan herb tea to discuss our feelings."
Revan stared out the cockpit window, gaping. Atton had turned the Hawk around and they were now facing the enemy ship. It was a rather small vessel of a make Atton was not familiar with. He frowned. "Who in the blazes—"
"Sith," Revan breathed, still apprehensively staring out the window. "It's a Sith ship—like… like the ones we encountered in the Unknown Regions. Strange that there seems to be only one."
"Well, that's one too many, if you ask me," Atton commented, avoiding more blast fire. He waited for a second to see what Revan would do, and, when she simply stood still and stared at the enemy ship, impatiently demanded, "Well? Are we going to shoot back at them, or are you waiting for them to call for backup first? You know I can't do a thing from here, safe from flying this junk pile."
Revan's head jerked toward Atton and, having snapped out of her reverie, she ran out of the cockpit toward the gun turret. Atton rolled his eyes. How did this woman ever become a general, then a Sith lord? She's utterly useless in battle. His thoughts were interrupted by the crackle of his comlink.
"All right, I'm here," said a metallic, distant voice. "I see them… try and get as close to them as possible… and try to avoid their blasts."
"Gee, thanks," Atton said sarcastically. "I hadn't thought of that one." Some blue blaster bolts flew from the Ebon Hawk toward the Sith vessel. "Hey, Rev," Atton wondered with dripping sarcasm as he moved his ship closer to the enemy, "ever think about installing a second gun turret on this ship?"
"I am now!" the voice at the other end of the comlink spat. Revan's last word was cut short by the sound of blaster fire. "Get closer to them!" she ordered. "I can barely do any damage from here… plus it's really difficult to aim properly."
"Working on that," he replied, avoiding more blaster shots. He felt a sudden tremor and cursed in Huttese.
"Way to avoid those shots!" quipped the comlink.
"Hey!" Atton protested. "I'm doing my best, here. Unlike us, they appear to have two gun turrets. I'm going to try to sneak up behind them. Their ship is built strangely… I'll bet they can't fire at us if we're behind them."
"You're right," Revan concurred. "They can't. I've seen these things in action before. I don't know what the Sith were thinking when they built these, but… well, I guess they weren't."
"Okay, then it's simple… all we have to do is sneak up behind them, and…"
"Easier said than done," Revan replied as she fired her guns. "They'll see you coming a mile away. Those ships can be pretty fast… but you've noticed that, I'm sure.You'd have to really catch them off-guard so they don't turn around."
"Well, that's easy en—"
"ATTON!" The voice hadn't come from the comlink, but rather from the direction of the cockpit door. The pilot started and, keeping his eyes firmly planted on the enemy ship, felt a slight rush of blood to his head. The short woman in brown Jedi robes ran up to him. "What's going on? Who's shooting at us?"
"I dunno, Jens. Rev seems to think this is a Sith ship. They just started firing at us out of nowhere, just as soon as we dropped out of hyperspace. It's almost as though they were waiting for us."
Jena scowled at the window. She couldn't see anything at first, but Atton turned the Hawk around again, and the enemy ship was in plain sight. "It's the Sith, all right," Jena agreed. "I've seen these ships before. This doesn't make any sense. How would they even know we were coming? And why would there be only one?"
Atton shrugged. "Well, either they were waiting for us specifically, or they make it a habit of firing at any ship that comes out of hyperspace close to Coruscant. My credits are on the first option… because I somehow don't think an enemy ship firing randomly at everybody would last very long this close to the galactic capital. The Sith probably sent scouts throughout the galaxy looking for you… this is just the only one that found you."
"You're right. They had to have been waiting for us. But I still don't get how they could possibly have known—"
Atton shrugged again. "Rev contracted her friend Bastila on Coruscant a little while ago. Maybe they intercepted the message, knowing we'd be communicating with the Jedi Council sooner or later about you and Daynn."
"She what?" Jena cried in disbelief. "Why would she do that? Of course that's what happened! What was she thinking? She should've known they'd be waiting for transmissions from us! She's endangering all of us, and her own son! Of all the stupid—"
"Hey, don't be so hard on her," Atton protested gently, surprised at his own words. "She didn't know. She probably figured we couldn't well just show up here unannounced."
Jena stared at her former padawan. "You're… you're kidding. Are you actually defending her actions, while you're still in the process of dealing with their repercussions? You?"
Atton's face grew red. She's right. What the hell is wrong with you? You're defending Revan to Jena
"I'm just… I just meant…" he stuttered, desperately trying to backpedal. The ship shuddered again from having taken another hit. Jena leapt to the copilot seat, buckled herself in, and consulted the monitor in front of her. She started pushing some buttons and focused her attention on the console.
"Never mind that," she snapped. "I'm going to work on keeping our shields up. They've taken three hits already. The next hit is bound to take them out for sure if we don't try to maintain them. I'm going to shut down some of the less necessary procedures so I can harness their power to restore the shields." She picked up her comlink. "Bao-Dur? Bao-Dur! Come in! We're under attack. We need to shut down all unnecessary procedures. We're going to need all the power we can get to keep those shields up."
"Roger, General," her comlink responded. "I can take the hyperdrive offline, if you deem it necessary."
Jena and Atton exchanged glances. "Do it," Jena ordered. "We probably have a better chance at escaping them if we land than if we try a jump anyway. Besides, it's not like we have anywhere else to go but here."
"Roger, General," Bao-Dur repeated. "I'll get right on it."
Atton gritted his teeth and was thankful he had worn his piloting gloves. The controls were a lot less likely to slip out of his hands than if he wasn't… and the way his palms were sweating, the odds of ungloved hands slipping were quite high. He avoided a few more blasts, took a deep breath, and maneuvered the ship in such a way that they were now racing headlong toward the enemy ship.
"What are you doing?" Jena and Revan—through Atton's comlink—both cried.
"Trust me," Atton commented casually, his eyes focused on the ship straight ahead. "The Republic didn't keep me on as a pilot during the Mandalorian Wars for nothing."
"That's true," Revan conceded. "I'd heard your name mentioned… and if I heard about you, it's because you were good. But even so, Jaq… what are you doing?"
"I told you earlier, Rev! I'm trying to sneak up behind them."
There was a pregnant pause at the other end of the comlink. "Yes, but… are you planning on flying through them? You're headed in a straight line! You look like you're aiming point-blank for their cockpit."
"That's because I am," Atton grinned. "I told you to trust me. Leave the piloting to me, and just worry about shooting at them. Be ready to fire when I tell you to."
"O… kay…" Revan said hesitantly, wondering if maybe she should have asked Carth to take over piloting.
"Don't worry!" Atton assured. "Jena here could tell you how I flew us out of an asteroid field when we left Peragus." He winked at his copilot. "Couldn't you, Jens?" As an afterthought, he added, "Oh… and you might want to tell the others to buckle down. This could get rough."
Jena shot a worried glance at Atton. Sure, she had once witnessed him escape an asteroid field, but that was a couple years ago… Just how much piloting had he had the opportunity to do while she was away? Real piloting, that was, not just lifting off and landing? She had an inkling that he had not had much practice while helping out the Ithorians. She knew he had successfully crash landed onto Myrkr without harming anybody on board… but he had, in fact, crash landed the ship. Doing her best not to let worry get to her, she spoke a few words of caution into her comlink and directed her attention back to restoring the shields. Bao-Dur had been doing his homework—there was enough power available to restore the shields almost fully. She raised her head. The Sith ship's cockpit was dead ahead. Her eyes popped open wide just as she heard Atton yell, "FIRE!" The Ebon Hawk suddenly dove down underneath the enemy ship and reemerged on the other side. Atton promptly pulled a one-eighty and yelled "Fire!" again. "Fire!" he repeated. "Go nuts, Rev! Take those schuttas down!"
On cue, dozens of blaster bolds started raining down on the small Sith ship. The latter began turning around to face the Ebon Hawk, but it was too late. The hull damage it had taken was too great, and the ship blew up. Atton whooped victoriously. "All right!" he shouted. "Now this is piloting!"
Jena smiled nervously, her eyes still widened by fear. "You're… insane," she finally breathed. "Completely, entirely, insane."
Atton grinned. "You betcha." He grabbed his comlink, set it to the common frequency, and announced proudly, "Atton all passengers, this is your pilot speaking. The Sith are gone. I repeat, the enemy ship has been blown to smithereens. I would like to thank our resident Sith lord, sitting in our gun turret, for some of the sickest shooting I've seen in a while." He threw his comlink down and exhaled contentedly. Jena unbuckled her seatbelt, stood up, tousled Atton's hair a bit and said distantly, "Good going," right before exiting the cockpit.
Atton, the adrenaline still flowing, barely noticed her leaving at all.
"Unidentified vessel—you are approaching the galactic capital Coruscant. Please identify yourself, and state your business."
Atton groaned and reached for the communicator. He hated having to deal with spaceport authorities… though that was mainly an aftereffect of his days as a smuggler.
"This is Atton Rand, pilot of the Ebon Hawk. We are here to meet with the Jedi Council."
"'Pilot', you say? Are you also the captain of this ship?"
"Ye—" Atton stopped short and frowned. Pursing his lips, he continued a little bitterly, "I mean, no. I suppose that would be Liah Stari. It's my understanding the Council is expecting us."
"Indeed it is. We have been notified of your upcoming arrival. Very well, pilot Rand. Please make your way to docking bay G-102. And welcome to Coruscant."
Atton steered the ship toward the landing pad, grumbling to himself something to the effect of there needing to be a galactic law requiring so-called ship captains to pilot their own ships if they were going to continue calling the shots. He began landing procedures and gently touched down. He smiled in a self-satisfied manner over his perfect landing, regretting that for once he was alone in the cockpit and that he had no one to gloat to. He certainly would have like to, after all the comments the crew had made about his infamous crash landings. Well, at least at this point they knew he could fly. It would have been hard not to recognize that after the stunt he had pulled with the Sith ship.
Having turned the engines off, he got up and headed to the main hold, where he assumed everyone else would be. He had been right—the entire crew of the Ebon Hawk, including Mical, Bao-Dur and the elusive droids, had found its way to the main hold… but it was not so they could all have one last fond farewell before they all likely parted ways. Indeed, as Atton walked down the corridor and got closer to them, he realized that someone was shouting.
"But you could've gotten us all killed!" Jena cried.
"I'm sorry!" Revan protested. "How was I supposed to know they'd be tracking us like this?"
Atton furtively stepped into the room and walked over to Dustil, who stood nearby. "What… uh… What's going on?" he asked the young man in a low voice.
"Catfight," Dustil whispered back. "I'd watch out if I were you… considering who's involved in the argument, your name's bound to come up at some point."
"But I didn't do anything!" Atton argued under his breath.
"I don't think that'll make a difference," Dustil breathed.
"Did the fact," Jena shouted, "that I had been hiding out on Myrkr… on Myrkr… for a month with Daynn just so the Sith couldn't track us down not ring any bells? Of course they're tracking us! They've been tracking me since I left the Unknown Regions! And of course they would know we'd end up on Coruscant sooner or later. I can't believe you of all people didn't think of that! You should know how they work… You are a Sith, for Force's sake!"
A small gasp was heard throughout the room, and everyone waited apprehensively for Revan's reaction. It came—very slowly. Her nostrils flared and she turned white.
"I know you're upset," Revan said through her teeth, swallowing some harsher comments that came to mind, "and probably mainly because Daynn was in danger, so I'm going to pretend you didn't say that."
"Why not?" Jena said derisively, sneering. "You've lived the rest of your life in denial. What's one more thing?"
Atton's eyes opened wide. Oh no, he thought desperately. This is going to get ugly.
Revan glared at Jena. "Denial? Denial? That's rich coming from someone who ran away for ten years to forget about 'the horrors of war', instead of fighting like the rest of us."
Well, that can of worms is open wide…
"You're kidding, right? You're the one who started the Civil War in the first place!"
"Girls, please!" Carth interjected, stepping in between the two.
"Shut up, Carth!" Revan snapped. "Stay out of this."
"Don't start taking this out on him!" Jena snarled.
Revan raised an eyebrow. "Who are you now, Carth's little protector?" she asked nastily.
Jena narrowed her eyes. "Well, one of us has to be, and it's apparently not going to be you… not after the way you've been treating—"
"ALL RIGHT!" Atton shouted, joining Carth by stepping in between the two women. "I think you both need to take a bit of a breather. Come on…" He hesitated and his eyes traveled from one woman to the other. "Jena, let's go to another room for a bit, and…"
"That won't be necessary, Jaq," Revan said briefly. "I'm on my way to go meet Bastila." She spun around on her heels and stalked off, quickly followed by Carth.
Jena bit her lip and, looking genuinely sorry, also turned around and walked out of the room, in the opposite direction. Atton ran off, trying to catch up to her. He called out after her just as she was about to disappear into their dormitory. She stopped, sighed, and turned around. Before she could say anything, Atton put his arms around her and held her for a few minutes, until her breathing, which was rapid and irregular, became normal again. She then backed away from him slowly. "Atton," she scolded, "you shouldn't be… You should follow Revan. Go meet Bastila. I'm sure she'll want to see you, now that she's heard about Daynn…"
"I'm not going anywhere when you're this upset," he replied obstinately, grabbing on to her hand.
"I'm fine," Jena assured, shaking her head weakly, pulling her hand away. "There's nothing to discuss. I'm just being moody… I lost my temper. I don't know what came over me. I should… meditate, or something. Go. The Council is waiting for you."
"Jena, I don't want—"
"Just go," she insisted. "I'll be here when you come back."
A discreet cough coming from a few meters away startled Atton and Jena. Carth was leaning up against the wall, looking at them. "Actually, the Council is waiting for you, Jena," he said. "Liah told me they want to see both Daynn and you. They might want to meet Atton later on, but right now, it's you they want to see. Liah's waiting outside for you."
Atton's cheeks turned crimson, and he started to respond harshly, "Yeah? Well, 'Liah' can to go h—", but Jena promptly covered his mouth with her hand and said, "Very well, I'll meet with them."
"Jena!" Atton protested as he pulled her hand away from his mouth. "Don't you remember what happened last time you met the Council?"
"Hard to forget. But I'm not about to snub the Council because of the way a few of its former members treated me… I don't feel this Council is after me specifically this time. They only want to meet Revan and I so we can fill them in about what's going on in the Unknown Regions."
"How can you say that? You don't know that! Last time you thought they were going to help you, but all they were going to do was cut you off from—"
"I'll be fine!" she interrupted. "I'm fine. I've got nothing to fear. I can feel it."
Atton insisted obstinately. "But last time…"
Jena shook her head. "Last time, Master Vrook was there, and… well… he always despised me. Even before I defied him by going off to fight the Mandalorians." Atton looked skeptical, and Jena continued, "As for Kavar and Master Zez-Kai Ell… well, I don't know why they turned on me, when they both seemed to side with me when I met them individually, but I suspect Vrook had something to do with it. But that was then, and this is now. This is a new Council. I've been helping Revan fight the Sith… I'm sure she's put in a good word for me. Besides… this meeting isn't really about me; it's about your son."
Atton sighed resignedly. "All right," he said reluctantly. "You can go… as long as I get to go in with you. I'm not letting anything happen to you this time."
Jena smiled a little. "And what do you suppose one single padawan could do against a room full of Jedi masters?"
"I don't know, but if they're going to harm you in any way, they're going to have to go through me first," he said stubbornly.
Jena chuckled faintly. "You're so cute," she replied before planting a light kiss on the spot between his cheek and the left corner of his mouth, and walking away.
Atton raised an eyebrow and shouted after her. "You're damn right, I am! And you best remember it!" He briefly shut his eyes and bit his bottom lip. He realized this way the first time in days that Jena's lips touched him… since they left Myrkr, in fact. He had forgotten how good it felt. He started wondering what life would be like if he lost Jena for good, and the thought frightened him. I'd be lost without her. I'm not letting Revan or any other Jedi screw this up for me.
Atton quietly followed Jena off the ship, where the rest of the crew waited. The moment Jena's eyes met Revan's, both women colored slightly and glanced away. Jena took a deep breath and walked over to her, leaving the others behind, just out of earshot. Atton eyed them apprehensively for a moment, as Jena appeared to speak animatedly, but he quickly realized they were talking more rationally than before. He breathed easier when he saw Revan hug Jena.
"Well, I guess that's that," Dustil commented to him. "Damn women. You never know how they're going to react. One second they're practically killing each other, and now they're hugging. Well, as long as they stopped fighting over you, that's all I care about."
Atton frowned. "Over me? What are you talking about? They weren't fighting over me! They were fighting because Rev helped the Sith track us down."
Dustil rolled his eyes. "Are you honestly this dense? That's not what that was about. Jena's just noticing that little thing between you and Revan."
"There's nothing between me and Revan," Atton hissed.
Dustil shrugged. "Whatever you say. Watching the two of you, I'd say otherwise. Which reminds me... Stay the hell away from her. My dad's already lost my mom, he doesn't need to lose her too."
"But..." Atton vociferated. "That's all I want! To get away from her!"
"Look, I'm not saying you're actively trying to steal her away from my dad... It's just..." Dustil glanced over at Carth, who was intently watching Jena and Revan talk. "Just stay away from her, all right?"
Atton raised an eyebrow. "I can't believe we're having this conversation. Are you actually threatening me?"
Dustil sighed. "I'm not threatening you, Atton. I'm asking you. Nicely. As a friend."
"Well, don't worry about it. I don't intend to spend any more time with your stepmom than I have to. As soon as we're done with whatever it is we're going to be doing here, I'm grabbing Jena and we're getting out of here."
If she'll let me...
Atton glanced uncomfortably at the two women, who were still in deep conversation. "Er... what do you think they're talking about for so long?"
Dustil smirked. "Worried, are you? Well, you're the one with the Force bond with Jena... can't you try to read her mind or something?"
Atton stared at Dustil. "You know, kid, you're smarter than you look."
Dustil rolled his eyes. "Thanks."
Atton looked intently at Jena, and remembered one of the lessons she taught him: how to listen with the Force. He felt a slight pang of guilt over using something she taught him to eavesdrop on her conversation, but rationalized that this was the only way he could know what Jena was really thinking. He closed his eyes and tried to reach Jena's mind... He found it very easy to read, as she clearly was making no conscious effort to conceal it. He slowly opened his eyes and managed to follow one half of the conversation between the two women.
"But don't you see?" Jena was saying. "He didn't fall because I was a poor teacher... he fell because of me. He fell because of the way he feels about me. How can I forget that? It was my fault! I can never forgive myself! I can't stop thinking about it! The whole thing is making me sick!"
Atton frowned. Is she talking about... Mical? To think I was worried they were talking about me...
Jena continued, "And what about Atton? What if the same thing happened to him? I don't even want to think of how he'd react... and what he'd do... if the Council did try to harm me. You know how unpredictable he can be."
Ah... so now they're talking about me... Atton squinted to try and make out Revan's response through her body language. She folded her arms and smiled smugly... and whatever it was she said, it ended with her laughing. Atton felt a sudden wave of bitterness come over him.
"Of course not," Jena said. "You wouldn't want him to know how you feel about him."
Revan drew back slightly and muttered a quick response.
"Of course you know what I'm talking about," Jena replied. "You know exactly what I mean. I'm not blind, you know."
Atton shuddered. That feeling that came over him... where did it come from? Was it... jealousy? He frowned. It was very faint, but it was definitely jealousy. And there was something else... He felt... hurt. He realized that the emotions he had been experiencing were in fact the ones Jena was feeling and transmitting through their bond. His heart sank. She's hurt... I'm hurting her without even trying. Mical had been right. Dammit! And if she's feeling this way... Force, I don't want her falling to the Dark side!
"I know he does," Jena said in response to another comment Revan made. "I just wish he'd forget that he also once loved you
Jena's words... and the feeling that accompanied them... made Atton wince. He focused his mind on something else, just so he could stop hearing her thoughts. He looked over his left shoulder and he noticed Mical staring at him. The young Jedi seemed amused. "It certainly is taking them some time..." he drawled. "I wonder what they could possibly be talking about." Mical flashed Atton a knowing smirk. He knows... he knows I've been listening in.
"Can't imagine," Atton replied shortly. "You know women. Now that they've clearly made up, they're probably talking about shoes."
Mical's smug smile grew wider. "Yes... shoes... That must be it, of course. I can't imagine any other topics of interest that they could come up with," he said innocently.
Atton shot Mical a dark look. "Shouldn't you be repeating your Jedi code in your mind or something? You seem to be enjoying this a little too much. Doesn't this fall under 'There is no emotion'?"
Mical shrugged. "Hey, don't take it out on me. I tried to warn you this would happen. I tried to help you. But, as usual, you wouldn't listen, and now the two women in your life are exchanging notes... and it's very likely you'll end up losing both."
"I don't want both," Atton hissed dangerously. "I only want Jena. I love her. I'm sure that if nothing else, you can relate to that."
"You're trying to anger me... to distract yourself from the possibility that Jena might leave you. It won't work, you know. I'm not losing my temper with you... nor will you be able to forget the conversation you were so shamelessly listening to just now."
"How do you even know that's what I was doing?"
"I know you better than you think, Atton. But enough of that... here comes Liah now. I'm sure she'll have some interesting things to discuss."
Atton glared at Mical, and saw Revan and Jena walking back toward them. He also noticed, at the other end of the platform, a few robed beings heading toward the Hawk as well. Revan, with Jena in tow, arrived back at the Ebon Hawk and gathered the crew up.
"That's Bastila out there in the front," Revan said, jerking her thumb back to designate the brunette who led the group that was headed in their direction. "Jaq, I want you to try and not talk to her too much. She can be a little… irritating."
"What, more than you?" Atton asked flippantly.
Revan ignored his comment and merely said, "I just don't want she and you to start fighting, like I have a feeling you're going to. Just let me do the talking, and everything will be fine."
"I'll be the judge of that," Atton grumbled under his breath.
The young woman, accompanied by what appeared to be two Jedi, one male Twi'lek and one female Bothan, walked over to greet the crew of the Ebon Hawk. Daynn, who had started walking toward Jena, saw the newcomers and quickly hid behind HK-47, who looked as surprised and uncomfortable as an assassin protocol droid could.
"Dismayed statement: Please remove yourself from behind me, small meatbag. I've seen what you are capable of doing, and knowing you are standing behind me unchaperoned is causing me… distress."
Atton, overhearing HK-47's comment, called out to Daynn. "Hey, kid! Get away from there. Let's not make the trigger-happy homicidal droid nervous, shall we?" He waved Daynn over, and the latter slowly came out from behind the tall droid, and shuffled over to his father. "And stay here," Atton muttered. "We don't want to cause any more trouble than what I'm guessing we'll be getting into."
"Why do you think we'll get into trouble?" the youth inquired.
"Experience. Ever since I met your mother, I've had nothing but trouble."
Daynn burst out laughing, and Atton, who was surprised and secretly pleased that he managed to make him laugh, smirked and glanced quickly at Revan to gage her reaction. She was doing her best to ignore him, and walked over to Bastila to greet her.
"Revan!" Bastila purred, trying to conceal a smile, and held out her arms. Revan met Bastila with a fierce hug.
After a moment, Bastila backed away from Revan and looked at the rest of the group. "And how are you, Carth? …Dustil? … Mical?" she grinned.
"Lovely to see you again, Master Shand," Mical said smoothly, bowing slightly. Bastila beamed at him and bowed back.
There he goes, sucking up to the attractive females again… Though I guess this one already knows him… and she likes him? I knew there was a reason I should hate her... other than the fact that she's a condescending, pretentious schutta.
Bastila's gaze traveled across the other faces. "I'm sorry, I don't think I have met the rest of you…" Her eyes rested on Atton's face and she smiled condescendingly. "Except for you, I suppose."
Atton's eyes narrowed, and he started to truly wonder what that woman had against him. "Yes, except for me," he said unpleasantly. Pretentious schutta! Pretentious schutta! His lips tightened, and he inadvertently took a small step in front of Daynn, providing the child cover from Bastila's inquisitive stare.
Revan quickly stepped in and introduced the rest of the group—Jena, Mira, Bao-Dur, and finally, Daynn—to Bastila. "Nice to meet you all," the latter said, her keen eye promptly noticing that both Mira and Bao-Dur also carried lightsabers. Her eyes then rested briefly on Daynn, darted toward Atton, and she shook her head lightly. If she had harbored any hope that Atton wasn't really Daynn's father, that hope was now quashed. She smiled at Daynn, but the latter disappeared completely behind Atton's back. Bastila shrugged and said, "If you'll follow me, I will show you where you will be residing during your stay on Coruscant." She motioned to them and started walking back toward the direction she had come from. Revan caught up to her and walked alongside her. "The Council wishes to meet with you and the Exile," Bastila told Revan in hushed tones. "As well as with your son."
"Did they want to meet with any of the others too? And by that, I mean Jaq… er… Atton."
Bastila glanced over the shoulder at the man who had started to broodingly follow them, and who eyed her suspiciously. "I don't think that will be necessary. This Jaq or Atton or whatever his name may be doesn't seem to be playing a big role in all this. Indeed, from what I can gather, his only role in this entire matter was to first father your child, and then accompany you as you searched for said child years later. The main thing the Council is concerned with is knowing what is going on in the Unknown Regions, and why the Sith are so determined to find your son. I will show your friends to the apartments they will occupy during their stay here, and then you, the Exile and Daynn can accompany me to meet with the Council."
Catching Bastila's last sentence, Atton piped up. "And me. I'm going along with them to see the Council."
Bastila, not bothering to slow down or turn around, replied, "While I don't doubt the Council will want to meet every single one of you rogue Jedi at some point, it has not expressed a wish to do so quite yet. So I'm afraid you'll not be accompanying them."
"Oh, I'm afraid I will be accompanying them," Atton insisted hotly. "Jena's not going anywhere near those damn Jedi without me. Don't think I've forgotten what your Council tried to do to her last time… fracking bishwags!"
Bastila did then stop and turned to face Atton. "Aren't you a Jedi?" she asked coldly.
"What's your point?"
"My point is I just find your choice of adjectives to describe the Jedi a tad puzzling, considering you are one. Why did you become a Jedi if you dislike them so much?"
"Jena needed the help. How's this any of your business, anyway?"
"It's my business as I am a part of the Jedi Council, and the Council never was even aware of your existence, much less of the fact that you were trained as a Jedi," she snapped.
"So what?"
Bastila stared at Atton in disbelief. "So," she said, "the Council was supposed to be notified of your master's intention to train you, at the very least, and you never should have undergone your training without its approval."
"Your Council," Atton snarled, "tried to cut Jena off from the Force for no apparent reason, even though she was trying to help it. So you'll have to forgive me if I'm not exactly happy about the idea of her going off to meet them without me again. Not to mention the fact that I'm not exactly ecstatic about them meeting with my son alone either, though I don't suppose Revan will let you do anything to him if she's there. I know what you people do… Whenever someone does something against your wishes, you step in and do things like… erasing someone's memory and giving them a new one. Sound familiar? But when people's lives are actually in danger… when millions of people die and beg for your help… all you're good for is sitting around and discussing the situation."
Bastila drew her head up and replied disdainfully, "I was not part of the Jedi Council during the Mandalorian Wars. I had no say about whether or not the Jedi would fight."
"Maybe you didn't… But you still didn't go, did you? Revan and Jena here, they went. They went off to war to protect the Republic. But you didn't. You stayed behind in your comfortable, safe enclave while millions of people died. You didn't start fighting until your own life was in danger, after some of the Jedi turned on you."
"Revan," Bastila said stiffly, "went to war, and look at what happened to her. She fell to the Dark side and tried to take over the galaxy. And as for the Exile, it's my understanding she also fell, but simply chose to hide in the Outer Rims rather than join Revan after she was cast out of the Order… though I can't understand why."
"Jena never fell to the Dark side!" Atton exclaimed angrily. "And that's more than you can say about yourself, little miss perfect! Don't think I can't feel the taint of the Dark side in you! I was around enough Dark Jedi during the Civil War to know what it does to a person… even after they've redeemed themselves."
Bastila glared at Atton and snapped. "Ah yes… the Civil War… I guess you would know a thing or two about that. I wonder what the Council would say if it knew a former Jedi Assassin is now running around in robes and a lightsaber, calling himself a Jedi, but sneering at everything a Jedi stands for."
"Fine!" Atton shouted, removing his cloak and hurling it to the ground. "I don't need your stinkin' robes and lightsabers! If I have to be a snooty, hypocritical schutta like you to earn the right to carry them, I don't want them."
"Atton!" Jena cried, wondering why she had waited that long to interrupt this argument that was going from bad to worse. Both Atton and Bastila stopped arguing and turned to look at her. Her face was white. She walked up to him, picked up the discarded cloak, stuffed it back into his arms and said, very quietly, "Atton, I think you should definitely not come with us when we meet with the Council." He opened his mouth to protest, but Jena silenced him with a gesture. "Please, Atton. Nothing bad will happen to me this time. I don't want you to start an open feud with the Council."
Bastila opened her mouth to interject that she felt it might be too late to prevent that, but changed her mind and instead muttered something under her breath. Atton smirked. 'There is no emotion, there is peace'? Repeating her Jedi code, just like Mical. I didn't realize anybody other than him actually did that of their own volition.
Noticing that nobody said anything else, Jena promptly added, "Just… stay behind in the apartment while I go meet with the Council. It won't be too long, I'm sure."
Apartment… well, I guess it's not so bad… wouldn't hurt for me and Jena to finally spend some time alone after having had to share a room with all these other people. Kind of nice of the Jedi to…
He frowned.
"Wait a minute… we are going to be in the same room, right?" Atton asked Jena.
Jena opened her mouth to respond affirmatively, but stopped. "I… don't know," she replied.
Bastila, overhearing them, smugly replied, "Well, the Council wasn't exactly expecting two Jedi to be shacking up together in the enclave…"
"Oh, this is ronto skrag," Atton interjected. "You're telling me I just traveled through the entire galaxy for weeks to find her, only to have some holier-than-thou Council tell me I can't even share a room with her?"
Bastila rolled her eyes. "As I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted, the Council wasn't expecting this, especially not from two so-called Jedi, but as you are, in fact, our guests, we are not going to impose any rules on you. You can share a room with whomever you wish. Don't let me or the Jedi Code stop you."
"Bast…" Revan growled warningly.
Bastila shrugged. "Come, now," she told Revan and Jena. "The Council is waiting for you." Accordingly, the group started walking again. Bastila then added sarcastically under her breath, so only Revan could hear, "Charming. Definitely charming. I can absolutely see what you saw in him." She glanced back at the glowering robed figure behind her and said, "Honestly, Revan, I think your standards were a bit low, even for a Sith lord."
Revan could not repress a smirk.