Slayers of the Old Republic

Book VII: Leviathan

By Michael Weyer

The soldiers at the hanger bay area were on high alert as soon as word had come down about the prisoners escaping. They knew there were Jedi among the numbers and as such they could not take any chances. A dozen Dark Jedi were spread out, lightsabers on and ready to attack as soon as the main bay doors opened.

"All weapons hot!" a corporal called out to his troops. "As soon as you see anyone not in a Sith uniform, you will open fire!"

"Leave the Jedi to us," the leader of the Dark Jedi stated in a cool tone.

The corporal glared at him from behind his helmet. To him, these Dark Jedi were unbelievably arrogant, so assured in their own power and that no one could defeat him. A former Republic soldier, the man knew underestimating an enemy was a deadly mistake. "My orders are to contain them by any means necessary. I'm not going to wait for you to have some fun."

The Dark Jedi fixed him with a cold gaze. "Mind your tongue, soldier. We are soldiers of the Dark Side. In this situation, we have the power to------"

The rest of his statement was lost in a flash of light as he head seemed to explode. The solider leaped back, startled as the headless body fell. There were a series of flashes and suddenly the other Dark Jedi began falling. The soldier looked up to see a metallic body at one of the catwalks overlooking the hanger, a long rifle head in his hands. "Sniper! Open fire!" he called out.

HK was scoping around to focus on another Dark Jedi. He agreed with Canderous' idea that taking them out first would be best for the battle. Of course, that was really secondary. The more important reason was that it was far more satisfying watching these heads pop without those bothersome helmets keeping in the spray.

His defense sensors kicked in and he backed up quickly as a barrage of blaster fire erupted around his position. He dropped the sniper rifle and switched over to a regular blaster he had found. He leapt off the catwalk and landed hard on the metal floor. He instantly rushed to avoid the rain of blaster bolts fired his way. His speed was more than the soldiers expected as he raced to a corner of the hanger, firing as he went.

The colonel cursed as he saw a half dozen of his men cut down. "Fall back!" he called out as he started to back up. He reached to his belt, his fingers closing around a grenade. He was just about to pull the pin when a rumble went through the area. Frowning, he looked up to see the double doors of the hanger slowly opening. The blue force field shimmered against the blackness of space.

"Run…" the colonel croaked as he backed up. His eyes were wide in terror as he realized what was about to happen. "Everyone, get out of here------"

That was as far as he got before the force field switched off. Instantly, the vacuum of space erupted into the hanger, sucking every body out. HK clung to pipes, his legs fixed hard into the floor as he held on tight, watching the soldiers and Dark Jedi blown out into space. The force field switched back on and the atmosphere returned.

In the control room overlooking the hanger, Faith nodded to T3. "Good job, dish-head." As the droid disconnected from the control console, Faith nodded to the others. "Let's get it fired up. When Buffy and the rest come in, they're not going to be wanting to waste any time."

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Buffy stared at Malak, her jaw slightly open as she tried to process what he had just said. "Um…huh?" she finally got out.

Malak kept studying her, rubbing his iron jaw. "Interesting…always wondered what you'd look like as a blonde. Hmm….the red suited you better." His eyes tracked over her. "And you appear to have lost a few inches in height. A bad mistake, I think but I'm sure they had their reasons."

Buffy shook her head. "What….what the hell are you on about?"

Malak raised his eyebrows. "You mean…you really don't know? You really haven't figured it out by now, Revan? Surely you must have seen the signs…"

"They say the Force can do terrible things," Carth said. "They say it can wipe out your mind and replace it with a new identity."

Buffy frowned. "Signs?"

"We usually do not take in one so old for training as a Padawan," Master Zhar said in that first meeting with her so long ago. "But in a case as unique as this, we must make an exception."

"I…I don't know what you're playing at," Buffy stammered. "But Revan…is dead…"

"The Jedi do not believe in executing their prisoners, no matter what their crimes."

"So I believed," Malak stated. "Until I was told of you. But you truly don't remember, Revan? You don't remember the quest we took for the Star Forge?"

"Primary neural recognition complete," the hologram said in a dry voice after scanning over Buffy and Vance. "Preliminary neural match found. Greetings!"

Buffy shook her head…trying to throw away the images suddenly coming into her brain. "Wait…I…this can't…"

"Are you so certain of that?" Vrook snapped. "What if we undertake to train this one and the Dark Lord returns?"

"This…can't…" She whispered.

"What better way to deal with an enemy that to turn him to your side? To use his knowledge against his former allies?"

"No," she whispered as something snapped in her mind and the memories rushed in…

That battle…the blast of lightning she took…a blast she shouldn't have survived…The sight of Revan falling before her, the mask flying away…

"Well, they say everyone has a double somewhere in the world. Why shouldn't it be certain that they have one in the universe?"

"No….no….no…."

Revan standing atop some sort of temple…The gloved hands reaching up to remove the mask and show the face…

The face she had seen when he fell…

"Oh, please, God, no…"

HER face.

"NOOOO!" she howled. She slowly turned on her heel and stared at Bastila as if she had never seen her before. "It…it's true…isn't it?" she hoarsely asked.

"It's true," Bastila admitted in a choked voice. "I was part of the strike team sent to capture Revan...to capture you. When Malak fired on that ship, a plasma conduit exploded and you were badly injured. We thought you were dead. Your mind was destroyed, but I used the Force to preserve the flicker of life in your body. I brought you to the Jedi Council. They were the ones who healed your damaged mind."

"Me...or Revan?" Buffy couldn't bear to hear this.

Bastila took in a deep breath. "I...Revan's body…the mind was almost completely destroyed but there was still a flicker of memory…memory we needed."

"What. About. Me?" Buffy hissed.

Bastila closed her eyes. "Your body…the burst of lightning you took from Revan was fatal, you were dying but…" She opened her eyes and bit her lip. "Your mind was almost intact…your memories, your personality…And you bore such a striking resemblance to Revan…"

"You….put…my mind…in….her body…" Buffy could not believe what she was hearing.

Bastila stammered. "The Jedi hold all life sacred, even that of a Sith Lord. I could not just let you die, Revan. Not if it were possible to save you."

"And if we'd known," Carth hissed. "We would have put her to death, then arrested your entire Order for treason."

"We needed her alive!" Bastila said. "We needed the information she carried in her memories on the Star Forge so we could find it!"

"You used her!" Vance snapped as he rose up. "You were no better than the Sith!"

"You lied to me," Buffy said, her face twisting in rage. "For the last two years, you've done nothing but lie to me!"

"I had no choice!" Bastila cried out. "We needed the information you had on the Star Forge. We hoped we could lead you back into the Light as well!"

Malak snorted. "Please. You simply wanted to control her, as you always want to do with those most powerful. As you tried to do with me. And him." He nodded toward Vance. He waved a hand and Bastila, Vance and Carth found themselves frozen in place, unable to move.

Malak focused on Buffy, his lightsaber strong in his hands. "You know, Revan…I regretted what I did. Oh, not turning on you, that was inevitable. But doing it from afar. This is how it should have been. Master against apprentice, one on one." He lunged forward, his red blade cutting forward.

Despite the numbness inside her, Buffy instinctively moved to block his first strikes, stumbling backward as Malak pressed the attack. They backed further in the hallways, away from the others as they dueled, Malak's eyes alight with pleasure as he moved in, his red blade flashing. Buffy was running on automatic pilot, trying to avoid the more lethal strikes while blocking the others.

As they fought, the chill around Buffy's heart grew colder. She knew the attacks Malak was going to make. She knew his style, she knew how he fought. She knew…because she had helped teach him.

The distraction was just enough for Malak's blade to strike out and slice a cut along her side. As she cried out, Malak thrust out his arm and Buffy found herself lifted off her feet. If he had a mouth, Malak would be grinning as hard as he could as he lifted up his lightsaber for a quick strike. As it came down, a yellow whirlwind cut between them, blocking his blow. Buffy landed on the ground, hissing in pain as she felt a burn along her ribcage.

Turning, Malak saw Bastila standing in the doorway, calling her lightsaber back and charging. "You will not take her!" she yelled as she threw out her hand. Malak was flown back into another hallway as Bastila charged toward him. She slowed just enough to lock her eyes with Buffy, apology in her gaze. "Find the Map. Find the Star Forge and stop him!" With that, she raced into the hallway where Malak had recovered. The door behind her slammed and sealed shut.

"Bastila!" Buffy yelled out, reaching toward the door. Despite all she had just learned, seeing the woman she had called a teacher and friend sacrifice herself was almost too much to bear.

"Buffy!" She turned to see Vance coming toward her. He grabbed her arm and pulled her away. "Come on! She's giving us a chance, we can't waste it!"

Reluctantly, Buffy felt herself dragged away as the pain of her wound hit her. She was barely aware of Vance pulling her to the ship just as she was unaware of the disgusted glare Carth was giving them both. All she could think of was what she had just learned.

That Buffy Summers had been dead for two years. That she…was the greatest evil the galaxy had known in over a generation. That she had been behind the death of millions upon millions of innocent beings.

Given all that, it was a downright relief when the pain overwhelmed her and blackness took her away.

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"Is she okay?" Faith asked as soon as she saw the two men race up the ramp, Vance holding Buffy. "Where's Bastila?"

"Holding off Malak," Vance said. "She doesn't want us to wait. Tell Canderous to get us out of here now!"

"You should have left her behind too," Carth hissed, pointing at Buffy.

Faith was taken aback. "Carth, what are you-----"

"Carth, just help us get out of here, we'll argue later!" Vance stated as he lifted the limp body toward the medbay. Carth brushed past Faith and headed to the flight deck. Faith immediately ran toward the gun turrets and was strapping in as the Ebon Hawk raised from the hanger and blasted into space.

"Anyone else in the other turret?" she called out through the headset.

"I am," Mission's voice crackled. "What do you say? Winner gets first dibs on dinner tonight?"

"Depends who's cooking," Faith cracked back as she prepared to open fire. She saw a half dozen Sith fighters sweep out of the huge ship and toward them. She was surprised to see that the Leviathan was already starting to pull away and preparing for warp. She brushed that aside as she lined up the targets and began to open fire.

It wasn't easy keeping the firing going while Carth and Canderous twisted the ship in evasive maneuvers. The Sith fighter pilots appeared to be well-trained and evaded the shots better than the two women had expected. However, Faith managed to catch one with a glancing shot across his wing. The fighter spun about, out of control and smashed into another. That appeared to shake up the rest of the squadron and within minutes, the fighters were spaces of debris floating through space.

As she felt the lurch of the ship going into hyperspace, Faith let out a long sigh of relief. That ended as soon as she stepped into the main hanger and saw Carth wielding a blaster and Vance standing before him, lightsaber in hand but not ignited.

"Let me through!" Carth yelled, his face tight with absolute hate and anger.

"You're not killing her!" Vance snapped back. "You understand that? You want her, you have to go through me!"

"Don't tempt me," Carth said as he hefted his gun.

"Whoa, whoa, Carth, what the hell---" Faith put a hand on his shoulder and was shocked as he knocked it away and whirled on her.

"Did you know?" He hissed, his eyes wild. "You're her friend, did you know what she is? Did you!"

Faith was shocked speechless by the look in his eyes, so wild and uncontrolled. "Get a grip, man!" Canderous yelled out as he came in from the cockpit. "What has gotten into you?"

"You want to tell them or should I?" Not waiting for Vance to answer, Carth faced the others, who had gathered around him. "All this time…while we've been searching for pieces of the map and trying to stop Malak…we've had Malak's old Master with us all this time!"

Mission frowned. "What? What are you saying?"

"Revan!" Carth erupted. "Revan is in there!"

"You've lost it, Republic," Canderous snorted. "Revan is dead!"

"No, she's not!"

"He's right."

Everyone turned to Jolee, who stood calmly leaning against the wall. Carth's eyes narrowed as he stepped forward. "You…you knew."

The elder Jedi gave a "humph" sound. "Course I knew. Can't have one of the most powerful Sith of all time show up on your doorstep and not know, now can you?"

"And you never said anything!" Carth erupted. "I oughta shoot you after I kill her!"

"Wasn't my place," Jolee stated. "'Sides, as you can tell, she's not exactly the same person she was."

"Okay, I'm several zip codes away from lost here," Faith piped up. "What the hell are you two talking about!"

At Carth's slow nod, Jolee took a deep breath. "First of all, let's clear up a common misconception. Revan was a woman."

Canderous' jaw actually dropped open at that while Juhani's expression was a slow nod, as if she had long suspected as much. "Yep," Jolee confirmed. "She kept it a good secret. She knew going in it would be tough getting so many Jedi and Republic soldiers to follow her as it was. So disguising herself in that mask and the robes was a good way to motivate the men, to keep them fighting. You all know that there's still the idea that women can't be as capable at war than men. She used that to keep everything in line."

"A woman…" Canderous shook his head. "Incredible."

"What's that got to do with Buffy?" Faith impatiently snapped.

"I got Bastila to tell me the full story," Jolee went on. "What happened was that the Council sent Bastila to bring Revan in alive. They never figured she'd do it of course but then Bastila was always one for the letter of the law. So she managed to catch up to Revan, laid out the trap and was fighting her when your friend Buffy dropped in from who knows where."

"And Revan zapped her before he…she got wasted," Faith said with an impatient wave of her hand. "She already told me that."

"No," Jolee flatly said. "You know what she thinks happened. But she didn't know the full story. The blast of lightning was fatal to her. Her body was dying, no way to save it. Revan was hit by a plasma conduit, a pretty nasty shock but her body was okay. However, I don't think I have to tell you how plasma shocks can affect memory. Revan's mind was almost totally wiped out. There was a small flicker of knowledge in there, knowledge the Jedi wanted but the rest was a blank slate.

"So…and I'm still trying to figure out exactly how wrong this was and how many rules and Jedi tenants it shattered…the Council decided to do something a bit unorthodox."

"What?" Faith asked…although a tiny part of her mind was telling her she already knew the horrifying truth.

"I'm sure to them it made sense." Jolee held up one palm. "On the one hand, you've got a Sith Lord who's mind is almost damaged but somewhere deep inside has information you desperately need and whose body is pretty much okay."

He held up the other palm. "On the other hand, you've got some mysterious woman literally dropping in out of nowhere whose own body is dying but her mind is pretty much intact and who, by an amazing twist of fate, is an almost exact double for said Sith Lord."

He shrugged. "So, to the Council, the solution was obvious." He brought his hands together and laced the fingers. It took a moment for it to sink in and every person felt their mouths go dry and hearts sink as the realized what he was saying.

"They…they…" Mission swallowed. "You're saying…they…downloaded Buffy's mind…into Revan's body!"

Jolee nodded. "Oh, it's a bit more complicated than that. It takes a lot of power and skill. Of course, the Jedi aren't supposed to even consider such an idea but I guess desperate times overwhelm thousands of years of tradition," he bitterly noted.

Faith slumped into a chair as her knees went weak. "Oh my God," she whispered. "That's why…that's why she didn't have the Slayer stuff anymore…it wasn't her body…"

"I don't believe this," Carth muttered. "I can't believe…"

"Believe it," Jolee snapped. "Bastila told me herself. Told me how they surgically altered Revan's body, dyed the hair, new eye color, even shaved off a few inches so Buffy wouldn't notice when she woke up. They figured eventually Revan's memories would come to her and they'd get what they wanted." He rubbed his head. "Of course, they underestimated how strong Buffy's mind would take to the process so it took a lot longer than they figured before any memories would come back."

"And even then," Vance dully said. "It took being confronted with the truth right in her face for her to break."

Jolee turned his gaze toward him. "Speaking of truths, is there something you'd like to share with us…Vance?"

His head sharply raised to look at the elder Jedi. "She told you that too?"

Jolee nodded. "Yep. Might as well get it all out in the open now, don't you think?"

Vance saw how everyone else was looking at him in puzzlement and suspicion. Taking a deep breath, he raised himself to his full height. "My name...my real name…is Janar Navca."

The name meant nothing to anyone with the exception of Juhani. The Cathar's yellow eyes widened in shock. "You…" she hissed. "You…are the Exile!"

"The who?" Faith weakly asked.

"He…he was a top general for Revan during the Mandalorian War," Juhani explained, her eyes fixed on Vance. "He was in command at Malachor V. Afterward, when Revan and Malak left…he was the only one of their generals to turn himself into the Jedi and face trial for his actions."

"They found him guilty of breaking the code," Vance said, his voice still bitter. "They made me give up my lightsaber and cast me out of the order, forcing me to live on my own."

"Wait a minute!" Carth snapped. "You mean you've been a Jedi all this time?"

"Not…exactly," Vance…or rather Janar…said. "Right after my exile began, I found my connection to the Force cut off. I figured that was part of the punishment." He looked to Jolee and Juhani. "And let me tell you, as bad as you think losing the Force can be? It's a lot worse."

He looked back to the others. "So I was pretty surprised when it came back to me on Taris. And I was surprised again when Bastila brought me before the Council and found out they knew nothing of this." He shrugged. "Maybe it was some kind of mental block or something."

"Buffy…" Carth stopped. "Revan…on Taris, you were injured, she used her abilities to try and heal you."

"Somehow, she must have made a connection," Jolee theorized. "Gave your Force powers a jump start as it were. Which also explains how come you shared the visions she and Bastila received on the Star Map."

"So…what now?" Mission piped up. "I mean…Bastila's captured, we're on the run, Buffy is Revan…"

"I laid in a course for a place we can hide out for a bit," Canderous intoned. "A space station by Yavin Davik used to use. We can get repairs and figure out our next move."

"Our next move should be dumping that Sith in space!" Carth bellowed.

Faith was on her feet instantly. "You do…you've got to dump me out too!"

Carth pointed at the medbay. "She's…you have any idea what that monster has done? To me! To this galaxy!"

"She's…my friend!"

"Haven't you been listening, Faith? Your friend has been dead for two years! That…thing is just a memory in the body of pure evil!"

"Statement: I am…feeling something…unusual." They turned to see HK cocking his head to the side and shuddering.

"Oh, great, he's finally snapped!" Faith yelled, grabbing her gun.

The droid stopped shaking and held up a hand. "Objection: There is no need. I am quite stable. This stimulus is activating….yes! Statement: I believe I have a homing beacon. Sith protocols require all droid knowledge to be deleted upon assassination missions and restored upon return. My core memory has been set to activate upon return to my original master!"

"Original….you mean Revan?" Carth blurted.

"Confirmation: Correct! I was personally designed and programmed by Darth Revan! With her return confirmed, I may once again take my place at her side!"

"We bought Revan's droid?" Mission said in disbelief. "That's kind of a stretch."

"We're talking about the Force here," Canderous reminded her. "Malak himself could drop in out of the sky and I wouldn't bat an eye at this point."

"True."

"Statement: In the event my Master cannot be with me in person, I am to follow secondary programming and present myself in the service of her closest aide!" He turned to Faith. "Clarification: Given her recent actions, that would be you, dark meatbag."

"Great," Faith said, her voice faint. "My own personal Terminator. Just what I always wanted."

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Her eyes opened but all she saw was white. For a brief moment, she hoped she was dead and back in Heaven. But she realized it wasn't that. The room was white except for a large opaque surface before her. She stepped forward and saw her reflection staring back at her.

Before her eyes, it shifted, the figure growing taller, the blonde hair replaced by dark red, the eyes taking on an evil glow. There were some slight differences in the shape of the nose and cheeks but otherwise, it was almost exactly like her own face. Save for the smirk pulled on the dark-colored lips and the way the voice carried a mocking tone.

"Buffy Summers," Revan stated. "I think it's past time we finally had a talk."

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So this should answer a few questions. As you can imagine, things are going to be a little different from here on in so keep the comments coming.