Old Friends
The Vaapad dropped out of hyperspace, flying towards the blue and green pearl that hung in orbit. The Vaapad continued to head towards Telos. The planet had significantly changed since the Jedi Civil War, and had continued to thrive after the incident with Nihilus. The silver Citadel Station hovered over the planet, high in orbit—almost as if it covered the natural beauty of the rebuilt planet.
The planet was guarded by several hammerhead shaped Republic Cruisers, notably headed up by the Sojourn, Admiral Carth Onasi's flagship.
Before Dante could even transmit his vessel's identification, he was already cleared to land on board the Sojourn. "It would appear that Admiral Onasi would like to converse with us," he said to Rena, who sat beside him in the cockpit's chair, tapping away at several keys.
"Isn't he an old friend of yours, Master?"
"Yes—and we have a mutual friend." He breathed in the sight. "It would be good to speak to Carth, after such a long time."
"Remember Master," she began, mocking his voice, "we're here for a purpose—not for our own amusement."
"Ha Ha," he replied sarcastically.
She smiled.
"Don't worry, Rena. I am aware we have a job to do. Firstly, we should make contact with the locals—and that would mean Admiral Onasi."
"Seems I have a lot to learn from the Master," she replied.
"It would appear so," he said teasingly.
The vessel entered the hangar bay of the Sojourn and landed, as its engines and other vital systems began to power down. The Vaapad's ramp opened, revealing Dante and Rena walking down, to be greeted by four Republic soldiers standing guard and in the center were two very important figures—and a small one that stood behind Bastila, nervously.
"Carth, Bastila," Dante greeted the both of them.
"Dante, it's good to see you again," Carth replied, his hair lined with hints of silver and his face a bit worn. "I see you've been taking an interest in the latest styles," he pointed out, referring to the graying hair of the Jedi Knight.
"It seems you've beaten me to it, Carth," Dante said, smiling at the sight of his friends. He looked at Bastila, her soft brown eyes and caring features on her face. Her chestnut hair had grown longer and appeared to be pulled back in a ponytail. She seemed somehow tired, but Dante felt that was only because of the fact that Revan had left the Known Galaxy.
"Hello Dante," her warm melodic voice greeted him.
"How are you, Bastila?"
"I've been doing quite fine. There is someone here who would like to meet you," she said, moving away and gently—in a maternal manner—ushering out a young child—no more than 5 or 6 years of age.
The little girl appeared to have raven black hair—similar to Rena and Revan—and her eyes sparkled with the same intensity of them. She held on to Bastila's leg, nervous at seeing the figure before her. She looked a lot like Bastila, only a few features had seemed different.
"Dante," Bastila began, "may I introduce to you my daughter: Vera."
It appeared that Dante was wrong: it appeared Vera might have been keeping Bastila tired. He was shocked, unsure of what to say. It had been 6 years since he had seen Bastila—just as Revan was leaving. He had asked both Jedi to join him in rebuilding the Order, but now he could clearly see why they had to refuse. He never asked—and never held it against them. After a few more moments, he finally said something. "Your daughter?"
"Yes—Revan and my daughter, to be precise."
Dante nodded in understanding. It was obviously a surprise to him, to see a 6-year-old child when he greeted his old friends. He looked at Carth and asked, "don't tell me you have any surprises?"
Carth shook his head. "Nothing much, except that Dustil has been learning the ways of the Force from Bastila."
He nodded, realizing that Dustil still wasn't sure what to make of the Jedi Order—or rather, the new Jedi Order.
"Who's this?" Carth asked, shaking Dante from his thoughts.
"Who? Oh!" He had forgotten. "This is my Apprentice: Rena Naver."
"Nice to meet you, Rena," Carth said, as he took notice of her. "Say, you look familiar, have I seen you somewhere?"
Rena smiled politely and replied, "I don't believe so, Admiral. I grew up in Corellia and it wasn't until about 6 years ago that I ran into Master Ravenmoon."
"You weren't taken in at a much younger age?" Bastila asked, curious as to what Dante had been intending in his new methods of the Force. Bastila seemed to stare intently at Rena, something had struck her as odd; almost as if there were some familiarity with the young woman's presence.
"No, I wasn't," Rena admitted, feeling somewhat uncomfortable at the level of attention Bastila was giving her.
Dante felt Bastila's wariness through the Force and he felt how uncomfortable Rena was. He also noticed something peculiar—Vera seemed to accept Rena's presence, almost as if the child had felt the presence of the young woman too, but on a much deeper scale. He interrupted Bastila's line of thought as he realized that Rena would probably become exceptionally irate. "I believe there is something the both of you could help me with," he quickly quipped before either one of the women could say something.
"I was about to ask what brought you here," Carth said. "After all, with your new Academy, I can understand that is must be something important for you to leave it."
"It's fine in the hands of Masters Jace and Frreral," Dante replied. "Besides, I think this is something of mutual interest for the both of us."
"How so?"
"Because it involves a secret Telosian installation on the Northern Ice Cap, Carth."
"Oh."
After he had gone through details of Atris and the installation, Carth ordered a detail to investigate the claim. Meanwhile, Rena kept Vera company, while this allowed time for Dante to speak to Bastila.
"Bastila," he began, sitting down on a chair beside her, "why didn't you tell me before?"
She looked up at him with something akin to sadness and regret. "I wanted to, Revan wanted to. But we couldn't—Revan began to have visions of the Temple being invaded by a cloaked Jedi and thousands of white armoured soldiers. That same young Jedi had killed several of the Younglings. Revan felt that the man who killed all of those Younglings was our child. He made me promise not to bring our child to the Order, for fear of someone waiting to twist the mind of Vera."
"I understand," he said, "but, Bastila, Vera is a girl. When did Revan leave?"
"Before she was born."
Dante nodded silently. "Revan doesn't know that this vision isn't of your daughter. So, who is it?"
"I don't know, Dante." Bastila was honest in her answer.
After a moment, he looked up at her and smiled softly. "It is all right anyway, Bastila. I wanted to let you know that, after Rena is sworn in as a Knight, I will be leaving Known Space to look for him."
She looked up at him. "Do you honestly mean that?"
"Yes, Bastila. I am going to bring him back."
"But what about the war?"
"Revan and I will find a way. I know that the Exile--,"
"Theresa Falcus," Bastila said.
"Is that her name?"
"Yes."
"I'll find both of them—we'll find a way to end the war and eliminate the Sith. I won't allow anything to happen to them," he promised.
"Do you think that you will end the war before it even begins?"
"Of course," he replied, "after all, we have two of the greatest Generals. And to top that off, they're both Jedi. We'll finish this war before it will even begin. Then we will continue to rebuild the Republic."
"You can count on myself and Carth to help in whatever way we can," Bastila replied determinedly.
"I know, Bastila. Also, be wary—we do not yet know the intentions of Atris. I sense an insidious presence creeping through the Galaxy. I do not yet know where—or what—this presence is. You and Carth will have to ensure the security of the Galaxy, and you won't be alone. Master Jace and the others will be ready to help."
"We will have the Republic back to itself when you arrive."
"I know, Bastila. I know that Revan had really fought for us—and that the old Masters were misunderstood in Revan's intentions. We will end the presence of the Sith once and for all. Their oppression will no longer exist." After a moment, the young Knight's comlink beeped and he looked at Bastila and said, "it is time for us to leave. Carth's group has arrived."
"I understand," she whispered as he rose from his chair.
"Tell Carth that we're sorry to leave him without saying goodbye, but we will meet again. Rena," Dante alerted his apprentice, who rose up and realized it was time to go.
"I'm sorry Vera," she said softly, "I have to leave."
The young child look saddened to hear that. "Why?"
"Because I have to. I need to go out and help others, Vera." Rena lifted Vera's chin up and handed her something—a toy. "Take this and remember me by it."
Vera could only smile.
With that, both Jedi left to the hangar bay and soon thereafter, a shuttle left the Sojourn, eager to make its destination and meet the awaiting team down on the planet.
