Could it be? Was Revan really here? If what the scout had said was true then Juhani knew Revan had already fallen. She glanced at her chrono and noticed that her message to Carth had already been sent over an hour ago. No one had disturbed them, perhaps the message had never been sent. Or maybe, being in this room, no one had dared to disturb them with the news.

She moved quickly, gesturing for the other guards, "Take him somewhere to rest," she nodded to the scout. She let her gaze fall on the weakest looking guards, indicating they were the ones who should remain. Before the scout was carried away she approached him, "Your orders sir?"

"The children, Revan cannot find them. She must defeat Ghillihs first. Only then will her transformation be complete."

The sick feeling in her stomach was held at bay as she nodded an affirmative to the scout. "I will see you after it is done."

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Lord Gnillihs continued executing orders as he walked from the room and it took him a few moments to realize that nothing was being done, no one was moving, his orders were being ignored. Stopping, he looked at them all with incredoulity, "You are following him! You all believe I will be defeated?" He leaned his head back and gave a painstaking roar, "This is what your betrayal earns you." He gave a wide arc with his hand and in the next seconds he was left alone, their fallen bodies littered around him. He carried out the same action in each room he came across, slowly working his way towards his vessel. Pausing to peer more closely at one of the fallen he drank in their helplessness, how easily they succombed to his powers. When he brought his pyramids upright he was staring into the eyes of a small, even more fragile looking person than the ones scattered in his wake, "Revan, now it is your turn to die."

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"So, who are you really?" Carth inquired as they entered hyperspace.

"ALM – Alliance Liaison Missionary, or Mercenary, depending on ones ego. All I said was true about me, except for the stuff I left out." Treg grinned before growing serious once more, "I was just following up on the recruiting tip when I met you two. Didn't take long to figure out who you both were, how you were presumed dead after the last mission. I decided to hang around, see what you knew that I didn't. I never expected to get involved. I had my own personal agenda at the time. But here I am, discarding all that for a woman who might end up being my worst enemy."

"I know what you mean" Carth replied, lost in thought.

"I know you were reluctant to tell me before but Revan mentioned you have a contact, someone who you both trust. Have you heard from them? Will they be any help?" Treg inquired of Carth.

"I haven't heard anything, at this point I have to believe she failed. We're alone." Carth muttered the last words with a deep regret. Alone, once again without Revan, now possibly up against Revan. How can I do this? He knew how, but as important as they were, it still seemed to pale in comparison, I may have lost Revan but I won't let her take Aaron and Ariana down with her.

Treg grew somber, his next words as painful to himself as he knew they would be to Onasi. "It's not just this implant Onasi. If it were only that I might believe we have a fighting chance." His hand held out a small, rectangular silver plated device, "With this I can shut down the implant, although the range is not known. Most likely it would erase all her memories. It comes with some merit. She would be released from all that haunts her, but she would never know the love that was also a direct result of her past. You, me, Aaron, Ariana, I'm sure you understand where I'm going with this."

"If it will save her, then we are all worth that sacrifice. The Revan I know would never want to follow that path again." The determined voice grew unsteady, realizing that Treg had become more aware of her most recent thoughts than he had over their journey, "Do you agree?"

Treg scoffed, "That she would sacrifice herself to save the ones she loved – yes, she would." She's done that already Onasi.

"She would rather have me kill her outright before letting that happen. But I'd never be able to do that, even if I wanted to, she is too powerful. Although the reality of what we are talking about here, I'm not sure. One is dead without their memories. She lived through it once, I'm not sure, after what she had gone through, if she would want to do that again. I think she would rather take another option. I honestly don't believe she would want to be saved this way."

Treg's tone took on an even bleaker tone, "But as I mentioned, it is not just this implant Onasi. When she saved you, she did so through the dark side. I was witness to what transpired and it was not good." The shock from Carth's face registered but it didn't dissuade him from continuing, perhaps for fear that if he paused he wouldn't be able to go on, "What she did, I am certain, is at the root of her darkness now. And that I cannot stop. This device cannot stop it. Right now only she can stop it, if I can disable the implant she has a greater chance of success, since it feeds off of the force. But if she fights, if she uses her force powers – she will only be accelerating her demise into darkness."

Accelerating? They both knew she was already there, fully entrenched in the darkness, how much further would it take her? To the point of no return sounded ominously in their heads, but neither spoke of it.

"She's wonderful, she's brilliant, but she's also hurting very bad. She just wants to be accepted for the person she is trying to accept herself." Treg leaned back putting both hands behind his head, relaxed as if nothing was amiss, "You make her feel like shit Onasi. After awhile it's hard to dig out from that."

Carth didn't know how to take him, one minute he was telling him everything awful, the next speaking as if she was simply waiting on the other side of the planet for him to return. "Don't expect me to thank you for that comment." Trying to feign interest in the display and control his voice he tried to ask in the most nonchalant way he could muster, "How do you really feel about her?"

A smirk escaped Treg's lips before he replied, "It's insignificant if you can find a way through your own hate. Her heart lies with you, but you are bad for her, in your present state. You need to let go, accept the past for what it is, what it was. This is your own past, in case I'm not making myself clear. Then you can help her do the same."

Treg moved to rise, "If you don't Onasi, I'll be waiting to pick up the pieces, and once I play for keeps I don't back down quite so easily." Treg gave a final glance out the viewport before he left the cockpit.