Return
Connan stood next to Obi Wan as the ship to hold the two viceroys let down its ramp. The viceroys were in front of Padmé, now fully dressed as Queen Amidala.
"Now, Viceroy," She started. "You're going to have to go back to the Senate and explain all of this." Panaka stepped forward, stifling back a chuckle.
"I think it's time to kiss your trading franchise goodbye." He suggested. He motioned for them to follow him. After the viceroys boarded, Obi Wan, Connan, and Anakin walked to the side of the ship to meet the new chancellor.
Palpatine met the three, grinning. Connan felt a chill go up her spine. Something wasn't right.
"We are indebted to you for your bravery, Obi Wan," Palpatine bowed slightly. "And to you, Time-Traveler, for your excellent battle strategies which proved flawless."
Connan stiffened. How did he know she wasn't from that time? Only the Jedi Council knew that. Connan glanced down at Anakin, who wasn't paying any attention. She clenched her fists together.
"And you, young Skywalker," Palpatine patted the boy's shoulder. Connan squeezed her hand onto his other shoulder. "We will watch your career with great interest."
Connan scratched her head, squinting in bewilderment. Something had changed about Palpatine; and not just the new title to Chancellor. When Connan met him, he was at least friendly. Now his friendliness seemed icy, as if he was planning something.
Obi Wan broke her from her thoughts, nudging her shoulder with his.
"Hey," He whispered. "Are you alright?"
"Does anything seem different about Palpatine to you?" Connan murmured back, glancing down at Anakin to see if he was listening. He was watching Palpatine converse with Padmé.
Obi Wan shook his head. "I haven't felt anything of it. Are you sure it's not just you being jumpy? You haven't recovered much from that battle."
"I don't trust that man." Connan growled. "He's planning something. Don't turn your back on him."
"Together," Palpatine finished saying to Padmé. "We shall bring peace and prosperity to the Republic."
"There's nothing wrong with him." Obi Wan insisted, holding a hand to the chancellor. "How can you think that?"
"I'm telling you, Obi Wan, that man is bad news." Connan pushed. "Just please keep a close eye on him until I can figure out why he seems so—I don't know… Dark Side. Alright?"
"Alright, alright." Obi Wan smirked. "So I guess that means you're staying here?"
"Until the Byssual comes, I see no reason to leave." Connan shrugged. She rubbed Anakin's hair. "Plus, I promised Little Ani that I'd tell him why people are always calling me 'three thousand years old' and 'time-traveler'."
Anakin whirled around at the sound of his name.
"You're going to tell me?" He asked. "You're really going to tell me?"
"I promised I would, didn't I?" Connan flicked his nose. "Now let's go find somewhere nice so we can talk."
"I'll have to take a rain check." Obi Wan backed up. "I've been summoned to a meeting with Master Yoda." Connan nodded.
"Okay, we'll catch you later." Anakin waved.
-----
"Alright. You want the whole story?" Connan sat in the garden with Anakin and Padmé, sipping her own concoction of Juma Juice. Anakin had asked if Padmé could hear the story as well, and Connan was happy to let her. It was Padmé who suggested that they tell it in the cool grass of the Naboo Palace garden. Anakin and Padmé sat with their legs crossed, eagerly expecting her to tell the story.
"Yes, the whole story. Start from the very beginning." Anakin clarified. Connan shrugged.
"Alrighty, then. Have either of you heard of the planet Korriban? It's about three light years away from Nar Shadaa." Connan explained.
"Korriban I've heard of. Nar Shadaa I haven't." Padmé said. "Korriban is supposed to be deserted though; for at least three thousand years. It's nothing but rock and sand."
"Well, almost four thousand years ago, my ship, the Ebon Hawk, landed on the planet, when the settlement was still there but the Academy was closed. We were going to search through a Sith Lord's tomb. The tomb of Marka Ragnos."
"Why were you grave robbing?" Anakin asked.
"We weren't grave robbing!" Connan whined. "We were looking for an artifact; or at least clues to its whereabouts. A long staff that can absorb the Force from places. If that staff fell into the wrong hands, it could be dangerous. We were going to find it and destroy it." Connan explained.
"So, what happened?" Padmé asked, pulling her legs closer into her.
"We'd decided ahead of time that Carth, Jolee and I would be the ones to search the tomb. Me because I'm the best fighter ever, Jolee because he's so old, he could remember the most of Marka Ragnos, and Carth because he was the only one I'd listen to." Connan reminisced. "Force, I miss those two."
"Who were they?" Anakin asked.
"Jolee was a half-Jedi, I suppose. He wasn't really Dark Side, but wasn't all that Light, either. He was an old bald man who knew his way around the Force, basically." Connan chuckled. "And Carth was an Admiral.
"Anyway, we landed on the planet and got out. Æliesha and I ran ahead of the other two. Then, suddenly, a big purple blob appeared in front of us. It swallowed me and my dog up. Then I woke up on Coruscant with Quai Gon." Connan shrugged.
"How do you know so much about battles and the Dark Side?" Padmé asked.
"Heh, that's a funny story. And it's much longer than the last one." Connan scratched the back of her head sheepishly.
"We've got time." Anakin smiled.
"Alright," Connan took a deep breath. "Let's start off with the fact that my real name isn't Connan Frai, it's Revan."
"Revan? That's it? No last name?" Anakin asked.
"I probably did. But all of my life I went by the name Revan." Connan answered.
"So why are you called Connan Frai now when your name is Revan?" Padmé asked.
"Because…." Connan sighed. "I was a Sith Lord until the Jedi came and wiped my memory clean so I could destroy what I worked so hard to set up. Now people think of Revan as an evil sadist. So I steer clear of the name. I like Connan Frai better, anyway."
"Ooh! Now we've got to hear this story!" Anakin squealed.
"I lived on a planet called Sajor with my parents until I was four. My mother loved me but my dad seemed to hate my guts. He sent me away to a Jedi Academy, where I met my master, Kreia. She taught me everything she knew, including some things the Jedi Council would have objected to. I was a pretty advanced Jedi.
"When I turned eighteen, the Mandalorian Wars came down upon the Republic. The Jedi refused to join in the war, saying they saw something cloaked from the war. The war was a diversion. It took years for anyone to react to it." Connan pouted.
"The Jedi did nothing?" Padmé gawked. "Why? They let the Republic struggle on its own two feet?"
"Well, back then we had our own Republic army. The Jedi didn't have to fight all the wars, they just had to help." Connan shrugged. "Anyway, my friend Malak and I had had enough of all the losing the Republic did. We took a handful of Jedi and sprang into the war."
"Well, that's great!" Padmé grinned. "Thanks for the help!"
"Well," Connan continued. "I found something in the Unknown Regions that was being concealed until the Wars were over and the Republic was weak. Something that would have destroyed the Republic if I hadn't done something. I didn't have many options. I didn't know what else to do."
"So you became a Sith Lord?" Anakin gawked, tensing.
"Sort of. I acted like I was a Sith Lord. I wore a mask over my face so no one could see that I wasn't really a Dark Side Sith. I found a ship called the Star Forge and began using it to make small bands of Sith to attack the Republic in key places. I used it to assassinate Republic Senators who could end up hindering the Republic."
"So you made the Republic stronger when they thought you were making it weaker." Padmé finished. Connan nodded. "That's brilliant."
"What happened to Malak?" Anakin asked. "I heard you mention him once."
"I'd told him what we were going to do. At first he was all for it. Then, he began slipping into the Dark Side. I watched him fall, sadly. There was nothing I could do. I pretended like I'd fallen, too, to keep my gimmick up.
"But, Sith do have strange ways to promote themselves." Connan groaned. "The Jedi attacked our ship. I was to hold them off until I could get into the escape pods. But Malak saw his chance to gain possession of everything I'd built for the Republic and attacked his own ship. Everyone thought I'd died. But Bastila—the leader of the Jedi squad who attacked our ship—kept me alive. She and the Council wiped my memory of Revan and gave me a new life, a new story, and a new name." Anakin chuckled.
"Connan Frai."
"That's right." Connan nodded. "Then, you know, I get a crew, some Jedi training, and a dog and blew up Malak's ship and his head. The memories come back and the best Jedi in the galaxy regains her strength. Great story." She stood, brushing the dirt off of her back.
"Connan," Obi Wan stood in the entrance to the garden. He stared at her, a little pale. Connan raised an eyebrow. "You'd better come see this."
Exchanging glances with Anakin and Padmé, Connan strode to Obi Wan. He ushered her out of the garden and into a separate room.
-----
"How did the talk with the Jedi Council go?" Connan asked, crossing one leg over the other and leaning onto the clay table in front of her.
"The Council has given me permission to train Anakin." Obi Wan nodded, wiping his brow. Connan smiled.
"Really? That's great news! Did you pull me away just to tell me that?" Connan giggled.
"No, that's not it." Obi Wan shook his head. "Look, Yoda and the others researched the Byssual."
"Oh, did they? What did they find out?" Connan raised an eyebrow.
"Connan, the Byssual is a Dark Side entity." Obi Wan explained.
"I know that…. That's what Donella and the others told me about it."
"No—Connan, I don't think you understand it." Obi Wan laid his hands on her shoulders, alarming the Jedi. He'd never done something like that before. "The Byssual is a Dark Side living entity."
"You mean…"
"It's alive."
"But that can't be right! The old Jedi Council and Donella told me it wasn't living."
"They're wrong. It's alive. That's how it can reach things and pull them into it. And how it can move from place to place."
"So…. Someone has or had control over the Byssual, and it's alive."
"Right."
"Well that's not good." Connan rubbed her chin. "Well, if it's a living thing, it can be wounded can it?"
"Yes, but I wouldn't suggest hurting it. If it's going to come back to take you back to your time, why would you want to hurt it?" Obi Wan asked.
"I'm talking if it comes back after me. Not that I don't love you people dearly, but it's confusing trying to keep up with what's what." Obi Wan nodded.
"I understand, Connan." He hesitated next. "There's something else."
"What now?" Connan scowled. Obi Wan pulled a datapad out of his robes.
"This." He waved it in front of her face. "This is a datapad." Connan laughed.
"Really? Intriguing. And when did you invent this?" The sarcasm dripped from her voice. Obi Wan growled.
"Cute. But this is serious. This datapad holds information about your—death." Connan blanched.
"No." She stepped backward. Obi Wan second-glanced her.
"No?"
"No. I'm not going to look at that datapad if it's got my death on it." Connan shook her head.
"But Connan, it's important. You have to know this. It's—"
"I've learned from my old Master Kreia that knowing too much of the future is a bad thing, Obi Wan. That's why the Force doesn't show much of anything in visions, and even those can be second-guessed. Even being here would be a bad thing if it wasn't so far into the future."
"But—"
"No buts! I—" Connan was interrupted.
"We'll discuss this later." Obi Wan rolled his eyes. "There's no talking to you when you're like this."
"Oh, when I'm like what?" Connan crossed her arms.
"When you're stubborn and defensive and won't listen to reason." Obi Wan answered.
"What reason? I see no reason to risk changing the future by looking at how I die!" Connan argued.
"You wouldn't be changing the future if you still let it happen!" Obi Wan countered.
"Why would I let myself die? I am not suicidal anymore, Obi Wan." Connan spat.
"Anymore? So that means you were suicidal at one point." Obi Wan inquired.
"Of course I was. I'd just found out I was a Sith Lord and Carth wouldn't even look at me. What was I suppose to do? Dance around on my head and wish it all away?"
"See that's the problem. Nothing is a problem to you! You play it all off with sarcasm and biting jokes." Obi Wan pointed at her dejectedly.
"Oh yeah, like I want to be a serious Jedi with nothing to do but meditate and insist that the Sith aren't alive." Connan answered. "You're not the first Jedi to try and get me to change my ways, Obi Wan. Countless Jedi have tried in vain to tell me about 'the right way a Jedi should behave.'"
"Well maybe they'd stop if you'd actually act like one." Obi Wan sneered.
"Well then they're going to have to keep telling me, because the day I turn into a real Jedi is the day gizka can write in Basic." Connan concluded.
"What's a gizka?" Obi Wan cocked an eyebrow. Connan scowled.
"Never mind." She picked up her bag. "I'm out of here." She said.
"You're leaving?" Obi Wan gawked. "Why?"
"To go find a Byssual." Connan answered.
"You're going to miss Quai Gon's cremation?" Obi Wan asked. Connan sighed.
"Funerals were never my thing." Connan shrugged. "I'm going to say goodbye to Anakin and Padmé, then be off."
"Where will you look?" Obi Wan asked. Connan shrugged.
"I think the thing that swallowed Æliesha after she was stabbed," Connan choked as she talked about her poor dog. "Actually was a Byssual. It only swallowed her after she was stabbed."
"So what?" Obi Wan asked.
"Well, it's Dark Sided entity, right? So what if this is a different sort of reenactment of Darth Nihilus? He was drawn to all sorts of power. It annoyed me and Donella when we were partners because he wouldn't get off of our tail until Visas helped us kill him. Anyway," Connan saw the confused face of Obi Wan. "What if this thing was attracted to death of the things that had passed through it?"
"It would explain why the Byssual went for Æliesha and not for HK-47." Obi Wan shrugged. "But don't tell me you're going to go jumping off of cliffs or getting ambushed by indigenous tribes?"
"I'll figure something out." Connan shrugged. "So… I guess this is goodbye."
"So it is." Obi Wan smiled warmly.
"Well, for both of our sakes, I hope I won't see you again. But if I do, I'll stay around a little longer." Connan waved. "I'm going to go say bye to Anakin and Padmé."
-----
"I'll catch you guys later, Anakin." Connan rubbed his hair.
"But I thought you were staying!" Anakin whined. "It's not fair."
"I thought I was staying, too. But some things came up and now I have to get home. I'll see you and Padmé sometime again." Connan placed a hand on Padmé's shoulder.
"We'll be waiting." Padmé smiled.
"I hope you can get back." Anakin admitted. He sulked slightly.
"Hey…." Connan rubbed his head again. "If I ever come back I'll show you so many new tricks it'll make Obi Wan look like a novice. Deal?" Anakin's eyes lit up.
"Really?" He asked. Connan nodded.
"It's a promise."
The room became cold. Connan looked up at the doorway. Palpatine stood there, his hands folded and a smile on his face.
"Leaving so soon after victory, Connan?" He asked snidely, striding up to the three. Connan stood protectively in front of Anakin and Padmé.
"I'm afraid so," She said, faking kindness. "I've some things I must take care of."
"Well I wish you'd stay longer, you're going to miss Quai Gon's cremation." The Chancellor bowed his head in remorse. Connan inwardly rolled her eyes.
"I paid my respects to him, and he will understand, I'm sure." Connan nodded.
"Well do you know where you're going to go?" Palpatine asked.
"I'll just wander around Korriban, and I'm sure that I'll find a way… or it'll find me." She shrugged.
"At least allow me to give you transport." Palpatine offered. Connan sighed.
We will need a transport to get to Korriban, you know; it's not like we can walk. A voice said to Connan.
I know, I know. I just don't like taking things from him anymore. Connan answered, giving up.
"Alright, then."
"I wish you well, and I hope we meet again." Palpatine bowed and held out his hand for Connan to shake. Connan hesitated before extending her hand to him, grimacing.
"I'd best be off." Connan attached her pack to her right shoulder and strode out.
-----
Connan wiped the sweat from her brow, blocking out the sun with her arm. Korriban was now the hottest planet she'd ever been on, including Tatooine. There was nothing but yellow sand blowing in the wind, and large, stone walls which held the entrances of the tombs.
"Wow, if it didn't take a week to get to Coruscant, I'd start heading back." Connan sat on a golden rock, holding her head in her hands and sighing. "This is getting me nowhere."
She took her bag off of her shoulder and slapped the dust off of it. Opening the pack, Connan pulled out a scrap of food that she'd acquired from Panaka before she'd let the ship leave the desolate planet. Eating it slowly, Connan examined her next few steps.
While walking around the largest planet in the system she was in now had certainly gotten her completely exhausted, Connan didn't have a clue where she was. So the first thing she needed to do after her break was to figure out exactly where she was. Then she'd need to find exactly where the Ebon Hawk was when she disappeared. After that she'd be able to find where the Byssual took her and Æliesha to the future. It seemed the most logical place to start.
After swallowing the last morsel of food she had, Connan stood, stretched, and began trekking to one of the stone walls.
"Hmmm…." She felt across the pale structure. "This feels like Naga Sadow's tomb, so the Hawk was…." Connan began taking large steps away from the side. "Here." She stopped where her guess the Hawk was.
The rumbling sounds behind her unnerved the Jedi. She whirled around, calling her sabers to her hands and whirling them around. She paled, nearly falling over.
"Hssiss." She whispered to herself. "Four of them. Great." She held her two sabers protectively in front of her.
The first one jumped at her. She ducked under it as the second one lunged straight forward for her. Connan rolled out of the way. The third one jumped on top of her. She slashed her lightsaber across his ankles, tripping it and making it miss her. The fourth one attempted to trample her. Connan threw her sabers in the air, flipped into a handstand to miss the legs of the Hssiss and flipped back over, catching her sabers once more.
The four Hssiss turned on her once again at the same time, trying to surround her. She jumped on top of one's back and to the other side of it. Connan brought her lightsaber down onto its tail, slicing through it roughly.
The Hssiss screamed in pain, flailing about helplessly. It knocked into Connan without intention and sent her flying backward. She slammed into the Naga Sadow tomb. The other three Hssiss came bounding toward her. Connan jabbed at one with her right saber, nicking its thick skin. It winced in pain as it rammed its head into her stomach.
Connan smashed against the tomb once again, this time hearing the rib bones crack and feeling immeasurable pain in her chest. Screaming, Connan kicked the Hssiss away from her and thrust her lightsaber into its eye. It cried out, running away to try and heal its wounded eye.
The last two Hssiss attacked Connan roughly, as if they could sense she was already wounded and unable to move quickly. Connan blocked them with her lightsabers, thumping into the tomb every time.
"I can't keep this up." Connan whispered to herself. "I'm going to die if I don't get out of this."
Out of the corner of her eye, Connan saw a large purple mass form behind the Hssiss. Squinting, Connan looked full-onto it. A Hssiss his her chest once more. She screamed in pain, falling onto her knees.
What had that purple thing been? Could it have been—
Connan blocked another head-butt from the Hssiss.
"These things are going to be the death of me…." Connan whined to herself once again.
The purple blob formed once again. Connan sighed.
Great. That thing is the Byssual.
It disappeared. Connan raised an eyebrow.
"I'm getting nowhere standing here…." Connan told herself. She flipped over the two Hssiss and into the middle of the desert yard. She cringed, kneeling as her bones cracked. "They're going to kill me."
It came back again. Connan nodded.
"Alright, it comes when I tell myself I'm going to die." Connan shrugged, watching the Byssual disappear once again. The Hssiss were dashing toward her at full speed. A head-on collision would kill her for sure. "These things are going to kill me." Connan told herself.
Nothing happened. Stumped, Connan looked around. Not a Byssual in sight. It didn't make sense.
"The Hssiss are going to kill me if I don't get out of here." She said, louder and more clearly this time. Still nothing. The Hssiss were getting closer. She held up her sabers protectively.
"No, seriously though. The Hssiss aren't very merciful. I'm gonna die." Connan chuckled nervously. Nothing. The two Hssiss were lunging at Connan, laying their whole body weight into the attack. Connan covered her face with her arms, sheathing her sabers, and braced herself.
"Goodbye, future world!" She told herself.
A loud purring sound emitted from behind Connan. As the two Hssiss neared her, Connan fell backwards in a desperate attempt to dodge the fatal attack. She never hit the ground.
-----
"Connan!" Carth, utterly terrified, stared at Connan and her dog were sucked into the giant purple thing and eaten, just before the purple blob disappeared. "That stupid, brainless, idiot of a Jedi!" Carth kicked the ground.
"Lass!" Jolee had screamed. Nothing happened. He looked away. They hadn't been on the surface for more than ten minutes and already Connan had gotten herself stuck in something or other.
The purple blob appeared not even a fraction of a second after Connan and her Kath Hound had disappeared and threw Æliesha out. The dog flew into Carth, knocking him backward. He hit the ground, staring at the large hound on his chest. Æliesha held her head up wearily, stared at Carth, and froze.
Carth half-thought the Kath Hound was going to rip his face off. Æliesha had never liked him, and she absolutely abhorred it whenever Carth got near Connan. He closed his eyes and braced himself.
She licked his face lovingly, whimpering. Shocked, Carth sat up and rubbed the dog's ears.
"Where's—" He was interrupted. The purple thing made a loud purring noise and spat out its other prisoner.
It wasConnan, still under the impression she was battling two Hssiss with broken ribs. She flipped over her head and landed on her feet, with her knees bent almost to the ground. Her sabers swung from her fingers threateningly.
"Connan!" Carth called. Connan blinked, letting her arms go limp.
"I… what?" She squinted.
Carth's first impression was that both the dog and Connan had amnesia. The dog didn't try and hurt him and Connan was lost for words for one of the rare times in her life.
Connan sheathed her lightsabers back and felt her stomach. Nothing was wrong. Puzzled, she spun around on her legs. No pain. She felt her nose. The bones weren't trying to mend back together. She felt the stab wound where she felt Quai Gon die.
The pain tinged as the small impression of a bruise still hung from the three-week old battle.
"Connan?" Carth jumped to his feet. Connan stared at him. She paled, her eyes widening.
"Carth? Is that you?" Connan sputtered. Her legs gave up and she dropped. Carth scooped her up and touched his knees to the ground. Jolee felt Connan's forehead.
"Goodness, lass. You feel like you've been in this heat for hours!" He said. Connan coughed.
"Four days."
"Yes, well, you're probably dehydrated then." Jolee blinked. "Wait..."
"Connan, how could you have been out here for four days when we just got here two hours ago?" Carth asked, holding her head up. "What happened with that…. That…."
"Byssual." Connan closed her eyes. "It's called a Byssual." Æliesha sidled up to Connan, licking her hand affectionately. Connan, overjoyed, rubbed Æliesha's ears with her left hand. "You're alive!"
"You both should be lucky to be alive." Jolee answered. "Now let's get her back into the Hawk."
"Carth," Connan tightened her fist around Carth jacket. She was home. This was Carth's jacket. This was Carth's scent. This was Carth. "Carth!"
She blacked out.
-----
Yes! I finished it all in one day! I know it's pretty late but I had company for like four hours so really if you think I could have finished it when it was two o'clock.
And I'm trying to get back into routine now that school's back in session. Hope all had a nice summer, and I'm back for good now! Please review and catch me next Sunday for the finale! (I promise I'll have it out on time!)
