Disclaimer: I don't own the rights to this world or these characters.
Chapter Forty-Five
Bastila gripped Aithne's arm, and Aithne noticed her standing beside Carth for the first time. "That's wonderful news!" the younger Jedi cried. Aithne winced, and her knees shook. Bastila's face lengthened. "Are you…are you alright?"
Aithne smiled shakily. "He got me pretty good in the side, actually. I'll live."
Bastila looked down at the burn in Aithne's robes and pursed her lips. "We'll look at it on the Hawk," she decided. "There's no time. I was able to use my Battle Meditation to allow the Republic to break through the Sith Fleet. The capital ships are firing on the Star Forge!" Just then the space station shuddered particularly violently. Carth looked up at the ceiling in apprehension.
"We all have to get out of here now, before this entire complex comes down around our ears. Everyone else is already on the ship! Let's move!" He draped an arm around Aithne's good side to assist her. His voice was calm, despite his urgent words. He moved smoothly, if hastily towards the Ebon Hawk, half-supporting Aithne's weight.
"Carth," she wanted to know. "Are they safe? Is everyone safe?"
He didn't meet her eyes. "Everyone's alive," he managed. "But…"
"We didn't get off without a scratch," Aithne said calmly. "That's alright. I didn't expect that much. Who's been hurt?"
Carth took off as the Star Forge began to fall from orbit. Aithne watched from the cockpit as the outside of the great space station turned red as it burned in the atmosphere of the Rakatan homeworld. It was returning to its home planet. Its evil would be buried with its makers.
The Ebon Hawk shook like the paper starships children made in classrooms across the galaxy. But she held. And as the Hawk dove into the empty whiteness of hyperspace, Canderous showed Aithne to the med bay, where Jolee stood over the wounded.
Canderous himself had added a few new scars to his collection, but he hadn't suffered anything serious, and his implant was already repairing the damage he had undergone. Mission and the droids were unscathed, though the teenager was exhausted and still somewhat frightened from the battle.
"She and Teethree were really going at it with the Sith," Canderous said in an undertone. "Flamethrowers, grenades, rapid fire. It was beautiful. In fact, they were causing so much confusion that the Sith, even some of the Dark Jedi, couldn't focus on Zaalbar, Juhani, and I." He snorted. "To top it off, the kid kept yelling abuse at them. Taunts, insults way better than any of the rubbish you come up with…"
"And?" Aithne said.
Canderous shrugged. "The Sith got annoyed. This sniper decided he'd take out the annoying kid in the back. He had a high powered rifle, very nice, and he shot. He would've got her, too, but Zaalbar…" he nodded at the Wookiee on the first table in the med bay.
"He jumped in front?"
Canderous nodded heavily. "Took the bolt just below the shoulder. He lost a lot of blood, but I think he'll be fine in a few weeks."
Aithne nodded. She was relieved it hadn't been worse for the big Wookiee. She walked forward to his table. "Big Z?" she said quietly. His black eyes opened, regarding her. Aithne's lip trembled. /Thank you. You have acted with great honor and courage./ She bowed, and he gripped her hand tightly with a leathery paw, before drifting back off to sleep.
Aithne moved past the Wookiee prince to the next table. A sheet covered the occupant, hiding the full extent of her injuries, but as blood had leaked through in several places, it was no great consolation.
Juhani's chest could barely be seen to be moving. Jolee stood over her. His face was drawn, and his eyes were shadowed.
"How is she?" Aithne asked in an undertone.
"Juhani's holding on," he said wearily. "But only just. A Sith cut her leg off sometime in the battle, and she has multiple wounds pretty much everywhere."
"She saved our collective behinds," Canderous growled. "When the Republic started firing on the space station, all the Sith started trying to get to the docking bay at once. It had been manageable before. Suddenly there were too many of them, though. That's when Zaalbar got shot. Then, around an hour ago, Juhani just…lost it. She started attacking every Sith she saw, even some she didn't. It was mindless, instinctive. The times I've seen something like that I can count on one hand."
Juhani's jaw clenched in her unconsciousness, and a small murmur came from her split furry lip.
"Ah, she'll be okay," Jolee said suddenly. "She's a fighter, this one is."
Aithne frowned. Around an hour ago would have been when Malak wounded her. She slid down against the wall, and Jolee frowned. "Lass?"
Bastila appeared in the doorway of the already crowded med bay. "She's hurt, Jolee. Right side, just above the hip. A lightsaber burn." She scowled down at Aithne. "She slew the Dark Lord of the Sith on it." She nodded once, turned, and went to rejoin Carth in the cockpit, just as if she'd never been gone.
Aithne grinned. "She's a telltale, but I'm glad she's back."
Jolee knelt beside her. "I felt you when you were wounded," he said matter-of-factly. "You'd better let me look at that."
Aithne shook her head. "Lightsaber wound, Jolee. It's already clean and cauterized. I'm not bleeding, and I'm not in any immediate danger. And you are already exhausted, my friend."
Jolee stared at her, unimpressed. "Are you in pain, lass?"
"No," Aithne lied.
Jolee rolled his eyes. "You're a liar, dammit. And I'm a healer. Now let me look at that." With gentle, but strong hands, he rolled up the bottom of Aithne's gray shirt over her vest.
He glared at her. "A good chunk of your flesh is missing here, kid. I'm surprised you're still conscious. Those nerve endings must be screaming at you."
Aithne stared at the ground beneath her feet and refused to answer. Jolee muttered something under his breath about how young people in his day were always polite to their healers. Then he put his right hand over Aithne's wound and closed his eyes.
Aithne bit back a shriek. It felt like the lightsaber was being dug into her side again. Heat radiated from her side, and she knew she was bleeding. Stars danced in front of her vision. Just as suddenly, the blood stopped, and her wound started to itch and sting. She felt a sharp, different pain as raw flesh grew in under Jolee's hand and reacted to his touch. Then all pain ceased, leaving only the itching.
Jolee removed his hand, and opened eyes even more deeply shadowed. Aithne looked down quickly at her wound. A healthy brown scab sat in a perfect circle just above her hipbone.
"Be…be careful how you exercise the next few days," Jolee said, a little breathless. "I can take care of the scar, too, later, if one develops…but not now."
Aithne slung an arm around Jolee's shoulders and dragged him to his feet. She glared at him. "I didn't want you to take care of it at all, Bindo, let alone put nearly a month's worth of healing into twenty seconds! You'll kill yourself! Juhani and Zaalbar still need you. You don't have time to sleep for a week! I'm not near as good of a healer as you are, nor is Bastila!" She made a noise of disgust in her throat and half-carried the old man to the men's dormitory. She set him down on a bunk. "Sleep," she ordered him curtly. "Thanks to you, I probably have enough energy to stay up with Juhani and Zaalbar. Force knows you don't."
Jolee frowned. "Don't you mother me, Aithne Morrigan," he began irritably. His words slurred with his weariness, though, and his eyelids drooped.
Aithne rolled her eyes. "I just saved the galaxy," she informed him. She bent and kissed the old Jedi on the cheek. "I can do whatever I want."
Two weeks later, though, Aithne was beginning to worry that she couldn't. They were two days out from Coruscant, and uncertainties seemed to be springing out from every direction.
It wasn't like things were bad. Zaalbar was almost completely recovered. He was lumbering around the Ebon Hawk, eating insane amounts of food. He said he was still healing. Mission said he just liked to eat. When he wasn't eating he was in the garage with Canderous, upgrading and polishing Bacca's Blade.
Juhani had woken up for a few hours the day before. Jolee said she was out of danger, though she would have to be taken to a Coruscant hospital when they arrived to be fitted with a prosthetic. In time, she would move around just as well as she had before.
No, the crew would recover and move on from the war. The question, Aithne thought, as she sat in a corner of the cargo hold, was to what. Particularly for herself.
The closer the ship got to Coruscant, the more and more Aithne worried about just how far knowledge of her true identity extended in the Republic. The Jedi Council knew. But she was fairly certain that the average everyday Jedi was completely unaware that Darth Revan lived on as a changed amnesiac. The question upon which her future hinged was whether or not the Republic higher-ups were just as clueless.
If they knew, things would be easier. If they knew, they still hadn't made it public knowledge. When they found out that she knew who she was, some of them might get a little uncomfortable. But they would have to acknowledge that the event had always been a risk. Quite possibly she might be allowed to continue to live anonymously under Aithne Morrigan. The Republic might even be willing to come up with some story to downplay her part in the salvation of the galaxy, so attention wouldn't fall on the strange Jedi woman that had come from nowhere.
If the Republic hadn't known about the schemes the Jedi had been hatching throughout the war, Aithne was in considerable trouble. The entire thing would have to be explained, and the only sensible explanation was the truth. Aithne wasn't sure she wanted to tell the Republic the truth, though, if they didn't already know.
Revan had saved the galaxy back in the Mandalorian Wars. Aithne herself had just ended a war that had been threatening the very existence of the Republic. But that didn't cancel out her crimes. Aithne knew the Republic wouldn't forget that she had started the war she'd just ended. She was, for better or worse, the most brilliant tactical mind in the galaxy, an extraordinarily powerful Jedi that claimed no Order, and a traitor twice over. She was simultaneously the Republic's best hope and their biggest threat. And politicians and military types would have to see the threat before hope. If the Republic hadn't known previously that she'd been mixed up in all this, Aithne had no idea how she was going to escape imprisonment or worse once it was explained to them.
And that wasn't all, either. Bastila might be in trouble, too. Canderous had work to do that only she could help him with. Zaalbar needed to get back to Kashyyyk. And Mission…
Someone knocked on the open doorway. Aithne looked up to see Mission and Bastila.
"We were looking for you," Bastila said. "Why have you hidden away back here?"
Mission frowned. "She came here a lot- right after you were…you know." She walked over to Aithne and sat beside her. "Hey. What's wrong? It's over, right? Carth was saying there's going to be a big party when we land. We'll be interplanetary news. We'll probably all get medals."
Bastila sat across from her. "I'm sure that you and Carth will," she said to Mission. She looked up at Aithne in understanding. "Aithne's position- and my own- is a bit more tenuous."
Aithne laughed mirthlessly. "You got that right. I'm actually thinking about hijacking a fighter and hightailing it out of here to live on the Rim when we land," she told Mission and Bastila.
Mission gazed from Aithne's face to Bastila's, incredulous. "I don't get it," she said.
Aithne sighed. "Malak's dead, the Star Forge is destroyed, and the Sith have disbanded. They've all either surrendered or fled to planets outside Republic jurisdiction. Yeah. That's down to us. But you have to remember who started this war. I can guarantee the Republic haven't forgotten. Bastila? Will they know?"
Bastila frowned. "I don't know," she admitted. "Your position is scarcely better than mine. Carth told the Republic that I fell to the Dark Side, and it is on record that I caused the loss of several ships in the battle before you found me."
"But…they'll forgive you. Both of you," Mission said. "They have to, right?"
Aithne smiled bitterly. "They're the Republic. They don't have to do anything. They're weak now, and Malak's dead. They'll be needing someone to pin this on to hold them together, and on top of that, from their point of view I really am a threat to the future of the Republic."
"But you're not," Mission said. "You said yourself that you don't want to rule the galaxy."
"For all they know she could just be saying that," Bastila said quietly.
Mission's face had turned very pale. She looked from Bastila to Aithne, gray eyes wide with fear. "Should we run, then? Me, 'n' you, Bastila, Zaalbar, and Teethree?"
"We'd have to take Aytchkay," Aithne said. Mission made a face.
"If we had to," she said.
Aithne thought about it for a moment. She stared at the floor, then said finally, "No. I've cast my lot with the Republic. I'll see this through, one way or another, and hope for the best. Force knows I've no energy to fight anymore."
"Well, I'll stick with you," Mission declared fiercely. "And if they try to lock you up, I'll bust you out and we'll blow this planet!"
Aithne grinned at her and pulled the teenager in for a hug. Mission turned to Bastila. "You, too, Bas. You need anything, I'll be there."
Bastila smiled, but shook her head. "I shall face the consequences of my actions, whatever they may be. Besides, my mother is on Coruscant."
Aithne nodded. She gripped Bastila's shoulder. "You're amazing, Bas. Always."
Bastila stood, "Thank you, Aithne," she said. "Pardon, I need to think." Aithne waved, and she got up to go. Mission almost followed her, but Aithne grabbed her wrist.
"Hold it a minute, will you? We need to talk."
Mission shrugged. "Sure, Aithne. What about?"
"Have you talked to Zaalbar about his plans lately?"
Mission shifted. "No, not really." She looked away.
"You know I'm releasing him from his life debt, right? He's going to go back to Kashyyyk to help his father." Aithne said gently. "After the big party on Coruscant, anyway."
Mission was quiet a moment. "I'm sure they'll let me stay," she said. "I mean, I understand Shyriiwook. I had to learn, knocking around with Big Z all those years on Taris."
"Mission, I don't think that's the best idea," Aithne said. "It's just, I think it might be better for you…I think you might be happier if…if you stayed with me. I promised myself that I'd take care of you way back on Taris, and I made that promise to you on Tatooine. I haven't forgotten."
Mission frowned. "Look," she said, "That's real nice of you and all, but you don't have to drag me around anywhere if you don't want." She smiled, a little sadly. "I ain't no kid, remember? And you ain't my mother. I figure, Republic hero. There's bound to be a job and a planet for me someplace, right?"
Aithne looked at her. "You could probably go any number of places," she said. "And I know you can take care of yourself. You saved my butt a couple times on this journey. You saved everyone's butt on the Leviathan. I'm not asking you to stay with me because I think you need a babysitter. I'm asking to adopt you, because I love you. I think you deserve a home and a family and a future, Mission, and I'd like it to be with me."
Mission was dead silent for a moment. "You want to adopt me? Like, legally and everything?"
Aithne nodded. Mission raised an eyebrow. "But you just said you might end up in jail."
Aithne raised one of her eyebrows in turn. "You just said you'd bust me out."
Mission laughed, but she didn't take her eyes off Aithne. "So, what? Would it mean that you actually would be my mother or something?"
Aithne shook her head. "The legal term is 'guardian'. Adopting you would mean that we would be considered family in the eyes of the law, whether that's Republic law or some planetary law on the Outer Rim. You'd still call me Aithne, and you could think of me however you like, but yeah, I'd be responsible for you to some extent."
Mission's face was carefully blank. "Would there be rules?"
Aithne nodded. "Yes. You'd have a curfew, Mission. I'd try to make sure you ate healthily, and there wouldn't be any cheating at Pazaak or picking the pockets of strangers. And I'd probably try to get you some type of formal education."
Mission's lekku twitched and a purple tinge appeared in her cheeks. "What for? I have all those books from Master Dorak, and I've learned enough on this ship to do just about anything I want to for the rest of my life!"
Aithne nodded. "It'd have to be a very specialized type of education," she said. "I'm still thinking about it. But it doesn't stop there. You'd have to have an allowance, too."
Mission opened her mouth to protest, then she looked at Aithne. "An allowance?"
"Yes. Definitely." Aithne took a breath. "And whenever you need someone to be there, I will be. I won't stop at being your guardian. I want to be your friend, too, Mission. We'll have a home. As surely as you'll be my family, I'll be yours, too. I'll teach you more of what I know, and I've no doubt that I'll learn from you, too."
Mission swallowed. "So when we talk adoption, we're talking rules. And education. But we'll also have a place, and we'll be together?"
Aithne nodded one last time, feeling a bit nervous. Mission was quiet a moment. "What about Carth?" she asked.
Aithne was taken aback. She felt herself turning red. Truth be told, she didn't know about Carth. He was the Republic's man, through and through. If she wasn't on good terms with the Republic, she couldn't see them having much of a future. And anyway, he had Dustil. It hurt to be so uncertain, but she couldn't lie to Mission. "What Carth does is up to him," she said finally. "Don't you dare ask him."
"You ask him, then," Mission challenged. Aithne looked away. "Look, Aithne," Mission said. "I think I'd like it, you being my guardian and all," she grinned. "At least, I could manage. But you and I would like it a whole lot better if Carth stuck around. You've loved him for like, ever. He loves you. He kissed you in front of the entire crew! Just ask him to stay and be done with it!" She looked down. "I mean, the geezer parents me already. You name it and he's lectured me on it. Might as well make it official."
Aithne's heart ached. "We'll see," she said. "I don't want to corner him into anything."
Mission snorted. "The man needs cornering, if you ask me."
"But you're in? I can adopt you?"
Mission smiled. "Sure, we can make it official. Aithne?"
"Yeah?"
"I love you, too, alright? Thanks."
Aithne smiled at Mission and gave her a quick hug. Then she stood up. "Right. That's settled. You want to go play some Pazaak?"
"You want to lose?" Mission quipped, and the two walked together out of the cargo hold.
FORN DADONNA POV
Admiral Dadonna wasn't sure if she was more apprehensive or curious when she set out to meet the crew of the Ebon Hawk with the honor guard. Vandar had been uneasy all morning, and there was certainly no denying that there was a great deal of mystery as to how the end of this whole war had come about. Forn and Master Vandar had been given the job of sorting everything out before it was time for medals and speeches. It was going to be a long day.
Nevertheless, she was very glad when Carth emerged from the freighter leading the way. He was a good man. He'd served under her for a time during the Mandalorian Wars. He'd even saved her life once. He smiled at her. He looked better than he had in years, she thought. Healthier. Happier. She surveyed the crew behind him.
They were a ragtag bunch. Of the group, Forn only recognized Carth and Bastila. She spied a Mandalorian, a teenage Twi'lek, and a sinister looking rust red droid among the company, along with a Wookiee, of all things. These, then, were the heroes of the Republic. There was also one more, she noticed belatedly. There was a woman standing just behind Bastila, in the shadows. She was dressed in civilian clothes: a simple green shirt and brown pants, and boots. The woman kept her eyes on her shoes, and Admiral Dadonna decided to ignore her for the time being.
Carth bowed, straightened, and saluted. "Admiral Dadonna," he said formally. "By your leave, one of our companions, Juhani, is gravely injured. We ask for transport and medical care for her."
Vandar nodded to two of the Jedi Knights with him. They entered the ship.
"Carth," Admiral Dadonna greeted the pilot warmly. "At ease, soldier. You and the crew of the Ebon Hawk are all heroes, and we'll get to all that entails later." She looked down at Master Vandar. "But Master Vandar has said that there is much to tell me, and I confess that I am very confused as to how all of this came about."
"'All of this' meaning the end of the war?" Carth said, smiling a bit.
Forn frowned. "Exactly. It was our Fleet that destroyed the Star Forge, yet somehow I feel that we had very little to do with it." She looked at Bastila. "Last I was informed, that one there had gone to the Dark Side. Yet here she stands." She looked down at Vandar. "There seems to be a great deal of explaining to do, if we are to present the public with exactly what happened in that battle. We've arranged for quarters for your crew until we've sorted all this out."
"Sorted all this out." The voice was musical and clear. Forn looked up and saw that the woman in green had stood forth. She bowed. Beside Admiral Dadonna, Master Vandar tensed. Forn frowned. "Admiral Dadonna, what do you know?" the woman asked. Her eyes were strangely intense.
"For one, I've no idea who most of you are, or what your role in this was," the Admiral said, smiling wryly.
The woman in green, who the Admiral judged to be around twenty-nine years old, frowned. "That's going to make things difficult," she said quietly. Her eyes flicked to Master Vandar in sudden misgiving. "Where are we going now? We'd best begin at once."
"There's a pod waiting to take us to a conference room," Admiral Dadonna replied. She was a bit surprised by how this civilian seemed to be taking charge, and more than a little uncomfortable with Master Vandar's tension and uneasy silence. "For now, the ten…"
"Nine, Admiral," Carth said. He nodded at a short, old looking man following Master Vandar's Jedi out supervising a Jedi woman in a stretcher. They took the wounded woman away, and the short man joined the rest of the crew. He was dressed as a Jedi. Forn supposed he had been watching over the wounded Guardian. "Juhani should be able to rejoin us in a few days."
"Thank you Carth," the Admiral said with a nod. "The nine of you should come with me and Master Vandar. There will be an assistant there, of course, to take this down for the record, but I feel that a report just to the two of us would be best for now. The Senate has decided that as the commander for the Battle of the Star Forge, I am equipped to handle this task."
Forn looked to Carth to answer, but to her surprise the woman in green replied. "Very well, Admiral Dadonna. Lead on."
Forn and Master Vandar led the way to a shuttle. The crew of the Ebon Hawk, minus the Jedi Juhani, filed in behind them. Forn was interested to see that instead of walking ahead with her and Master Vandar, Carth fell back to walk beside the woman in green. Briefly, Admiral Dadonna toyed with the idea that perhaps Carth had not taken charge after Bastila's fall. Perhaps this woman, whoever she was, had taken charge instead. She heard a soft murmur of voices from their seats in the shuttle behind her.
"What's the problem?" she heard Carth ask the woman in a low voice. She heard the woman reply in a low voice, but couldn't make out what she said.
Carth seemed to be bothered by it, however. "Do you really think…" he began.
"Yes," the Admiral heard the woman reply, in an irritated tone, "but it's too late now. I chose my side, and now I have to live with it."
Forn didn't like the sound of this. She considered what she knew about the crew of the Ebon Hawk. How did this woman fit into the ragtag bunch? And why was she worried about being here? She was a hero, wasn't she?
The Admiral knew that Malak was dead. She knew that the Sith were scattered, mostly dead, but definitely leaderless and foundering. The Republic, at this point, would have little trouble either arresting, pardoning, or otherwise dealing with those that remained. She knew that Bastila had gone over to the Dark Side, but apparently had turned back in the middle of the battle of the Star Forge. She knew that someone, not Carth, and seemingly not Bastila either, had led this crew through the trouble of finding and reporting the Star Forge's hidden location to the Fleet. Forn knew a feat like that would have required considerable knowledge of the galaxy and of the Sith. At a casual glance she would have suspected the big Mandalorian, or maybe the old Jedi. But perhaps not. If it was this unknown woman instead, what did it mean?
As the Admiral thought, the shuttle wove through the heavy Coruscant traffic, and docked on the balcony of one of the capital's many business skyscrapers. Admiral Dadonna and Master Vandar disembarked and led the way to a long, well-lit conference table. A short, nervous man in glasses with a datapad took his place at the table between Forn and Master Vandar.
Admiral Dadonna pulled out her own pair of glasses, and placed them on her hawk-like nose. "Alright, then," she said, "Let's start with introductions. Who is everyone?"
Carth, seated at the Admiral's left, spoke up. "Canderous, of the Mandalorian clan Ordo, is the man next to Master Vandar," he began, indicating the big Mandalorian. The old Jedi, it turned out, was known as Jolee Bindo, and he had spent much of the last two decades locked up in a hut in the Kashyyyk Shadowlands. The Wookiee Zaalbar, on the other hand, had been exiled on Taris. The sinister looking protocol droid was designated HK-47, and the cute little astromech was T3-M4. He beeped cheerily at his introduction. The teenage Twi'lek was a refugee from Taris named Mission Vao. Carth mentioned that she had been exceedingly helpful in stealth and slicing operations along the journey. Admiral Dadonna needed no introduction for Bastila, of course. But when Carth came to the last member of the party, the tall woman about whom Forn was so curious, he paused, looking uncomfortable.
"This…this is Aithne Morrigan," he said awkwardly, stumbling over her name and giving no background information like he had for the rest.
Forn zeroed in on his hesitation. The woman in question- Aithne, she supposed- made a face. She looked very surprised, somewhat touched, but also a little disapproving of her introduction.
She noticed the Admiral looking at her, and she, too, shifted uncomfortably. Forn wondered what other names 'Aithne Morrigan' had gone by in her time.
When neither Carth nor Aithne moved to say anything, though, she nodded. She repeated the names verbatim. "Alright," she said. "What went on then?"
Bastila moved to speak. "I think the story begins with me, Admiral," she said. But she bit her lip and looked sideways at Aithne. Master Vandar nodded, urging Bastila on. "You see, the Endar Spire was escorting me across the stars to…"
"Wait." Beside Forn, Master Vandar went stock still. Aithne Morrigan was holding up a hand. She closed her eyes, and the Admiral got the sense that she fought a brief, fierce battle with herself. But finally, she nodded. "Pardon me, Bastila, Admiral Dadonna, Master Vandar, but the story doesn't begin there."
Admiral Dadonna refocused on her with laser intensity. "Oh?"
Aithne shook her head. She took in a long, rattling breath. "No," she said with finality. "The long, complicated version of the story that makes no sense begins with Bastila." She squeezed Bastila's shoulder, beside her, and nodded at Carth. "I appreciate your efforts to protect me, but if the Admiral is going to be satisfied, she'll have to know everything." She nodded at Master Vandar, and Forn saw her face go hard. "He does."
Forn was a little uneasy to see Master Vandar gripping the table so hard with his stubby claws that it creaked. He looked…he looked guilty, she decided. And afraid, too. What could make a Jedi Master look like that?
Aithne stared at the diminutive Jedi Master. She let out a short, mirthless bark of a laugh. "Believe me, Master, I have thought up half a dozen lies, all of them better than yours were." She raised her gaze at last to Admiral Dadonna, who was now all but shaking with interest. "When you contacted the Ebon Hawk during the battle you asked Carth if he'd taken over from Bastila when she fell. Admiral, Bastila was never in charge of our mission. Bastila was only in charge of handling me, while I led the quest for the Star Forge. This was the state of affairs when we left Dantooine seven months ago, and it was that way until Bastila was captured a month and a half ago, at which time things went very wrong, and I took complete control."
She paused, allowing the Admiral some time to process this. Forn maintained eye contact with Aithne Morrigan- if that was actually her name. She didn't think it was, but she had a feeling that Aithne Morrigan's story was about to come rushing out. She waited.
Master Vandar, beside the Admiral, closed his eyes. Aithne smiled at him. It wasn't a nice smile. It was mocking, with a very angry edge. "You sense it, don't you?" Aithne asked him quietly. "You took this gamble when you allowed me to live and reconstructed me a false identity. The whole thing could have blown up in your face a hundred different times. It almost did. I'm not exactly happy with you and the Council." Morrigan was keeping her voice calm, but Forn heard a deep anger beneath the surface. "But you've gotten off pretty well, I think. I know who I am. I found out a month and a half ago, when Bastila was captured."
Forn had become an admiral so she wouldn't be left out of the loop. "Pardon me, I'm sure," she said acidly. "But I haven't been privileged to know the risk the Jedi took, or how, you, Morrigan, are supposed to be the key to this entire thing. If you'd explain?"
Aithne turned to face Forn Dadonna. Her face was hard and challenging. "I was Revan," she said. "That explain it, Admiral?" The scribe let out a little gasp and dropped his datapad. Aithne ignored him. Now that she'd finally spoken, her words came out in a rush. They raced to get out of her mouth. "When Bastila was trying to capture me, about two years ago, Malak fired upon my ship. I was dying, but Bastila saved me and brought me to the Jedi Council. They made a plan. I had all the knowledge your forces needed to end the war. The only problem was that my mind had been nearly destroyed. They healed it. Wrongly. They gave me a false identity, dummy memories, the works. Until last month, I really believed I was Aithne Morrigan, an orphaned scout from Deralia that had been press-ganged into service on the Endar Spire. The truth was they had assigned me there when I had healed enough to be useful to them. Bastila was in command of the Endar Spire. Due to the Force link she had built with me when she saved my life, I was supposed to remember, over time, how to get to and destroy the Star Forge. Now, it didn't work like the Jedi planned. The Spire crashed. But other than that, their plan pretty much worked like a charm. The only thing they didn't count on was me finding out." She bowed from her seat. "That, Admiral Dadonna, is the short version."
The silence was as thick as butter. Forn Dadonna's brain whirled at a million miles a second. Revan was supposed to be dead. She should be dead. But…if this woman spoke the truth, there was no mystery of the battle of the Star Forge. Of course Revan would know how to find the space station. It had been her base of operations. She didn't take her eyes off Aithne, but Forn finally mustered command of her voice. "Is it true?" she asked Master Vandar.
"It is," he said. She looked at him. His voice was level, but his face was a study.
Forn shook her head, trying to assimilate the information. No wonder 'Aithne Morrigan' possessed such command. She was probably the most dangerous, brilliant woman in the galaxy. This young, pretty woman in her twenties, unarmed and dressed like a civilian, was a mass murderer and a traitor twice over. She had also saved the galaxy. Again.
Her fear, too, made perfect sense now. Had Admiral Dadonna been in Revan's place now, she would have been a few light-years past the Unknown Regions before she had to face the Republic. She stared. "Why…why are you here?" she asked, completely flabbergasted. It was the only question she could think of at the moment.
"Sitting in the heart of the Republic confessing my sins?" Revan said ironically. "I admit, I could be at the head of an army of Sith, trying to wreak vengeance on the Jedi for what they did to me. It also occurred to me that I could be halfway across the galaxy by now, trying to escape the inevitable retribution of the Republic for my crimes beyond number."
The Admiral laughed weakly and rubbed her temples. "So, you do understand what's at stake here? What- what possessed you to come here?" And what the hell am I going to do with you? she thought. She had to admire the courage of the woman, sitting here making jokes in the face of such peril. Forn Dadonna was a strong-willed, brilliant commander herself. She was an Admiral in the Republic Fleet. But she had to admit that such a feat would have been beyond her. Revan had a bit of an overwhelming personality.
Revan shrugged. "Look. Admiral. For the most part, all I know about Revan is what I've been told. I certainly have no desire to take over the galaxy. You know three weeks ago you won the final battle of the war. You know Bastila, despite turning to the Dark Side briefly, is here now. You know that Malak is dead. Now you know how."
The Admiral looked at Bastila. The Jedi that had won the Republic's battle for them swallowed. "Everything that has been done is her doing," she said quietly.
Revan inclined her head. "I have carried out my task from the Council," she told Master Vandar. "I don't think the Republic will have any trouble from now on handling the Sith." She looked at Forn again. "But the people are another matter. Without any information, whether it is true or false, the rumors and distrust will wreak nearly as much havoc as that Sith Fleet. You have to tell the public something. Otherwise the holes the Sith ate out of you will just fester and grow until you topple anyways, Malak or no Malak.
"The Republic is in sore need of reform, true. But at heart," she looked at Carth with a smile, "At heart it has better principles and structure than the Sith. I don't know. Maybe nearly being taken over will make the Senate consider the faulty policies that gave strength the Sith movement and drew the people away from the Republic. I think you deserve a chance, anyways."
"Well, thank you very much," Forn said, a bit sarcastically. It rather felt that Revan was handing the Republic their authority like a gift. She sighed. It was irking, but given that it was Revan speaking, she was more inclined to be grateful than not.
Revan smiled. "Pardon me, I only mean to state my reasons for submitting to your judgment."
Vandar looked slightly surprised. Revan laughed at the expression on his face. "What? You're going to have to do something with me."
"What do you see my options as being?" Admiral Dadonna asked stiffly. She tried not to show exactly how eager she was to have this answered. Honestly, what did you do with a person like Revan?
Revan sighed and steepled her fingers. "You could tell the public the truth," she said. "They love a good redemption story. We could go ahead with the victory parties and the awards, count all my past offenses under my forgotten identity, and let me off scot-free. I'd be a Jedi among Jedi, held in honor for the rest of my life, and at the Order's beck and call the rest of my days." She paused. "That is a stupid idea."
"Oh?"
Revan nodded, looking down at her hands. "You know who I am, both of you. I don't remember being much about Revan, sure, and I certainly don't have her goals in mind, but she's still a big part of me. Her personality. Her motivations. When you look at me Master Vandar, you still see that kid who defied the Order and went up against the Mandalorians, don't you?"
Vandar nodded bleakly. "I do."
"And you, Admiral Dadonna," Revan said, turning those piercing eyes onto Forn. "Now that you've put this face with that name, you see the woman that started this whole war and nearly conquered the Republic, don't you?"
The teenage Twi'lek, Mission Vao, halfway stood up. "Aithne!" she hissed. "Do you want to go to jail or something?"
"Hush, Mission," Bastila said.
The Admiral looked at Revan. She didn't know what to think, honestly. She'd always imagined Revan to be a man, for one thing, and nowhere near as young as she actually was. It gave her no trouble, after hearing Revan talk, to imagine her as a formidable opponent. But a tyrant and a monster? She couldn't quite comprehend that. "I know some people will see that," she answered carefully at last.
Revan nodded. "Many in the Senate will look at me and see a threat, though I no longer consider myself one. To widely name me as Revan and pardon me completely would only make them angry and nervous. Besides," she said, looking sadly at Master Vandar. "I can't do it. I can't be a Jedi. I can't follow your Code and follow your rules and orders, especially after what you did to me. My entire life is a lie, now. I don't know who I tortured, what planets I torched, what wrongs I committed. And because you took that from me, I cannot begin to make them right."
"Revan…" Master Vandar began.
Revan cut him off. "Call me Aithne," she said. "I may forgive you, in time, but I can never forget. And I cannot be a part of your Order. Do you understand?"
Master Vandar nodded. "It is a grievous loss to our Order, all the same," he said simply. Revan inclined her head.
Forn considered for a moment, even more baffled than ever. "So I am not to recommend to the Senate that you go free," she said. "What? Do you, like Ms. Vao asks, wish to be incarcerated? It seems to me that you have also done much good since you became Aithne Morrigan."
"She has, Admiral Dadonna," Carth said, with feeling. Murmurs of agreement sounded around the table.
Revan took a deep breath. "If you really wanted to you could put me in jail, or even kill me for my crimes against the Republic. It would be well within your rights, or the Senate's, should you surrender the matter to them. But I would really rather you didn't."
"Surrender the matter to the Senate? Or put you in jail or kill you?"
"Any and all of the above," Revan said.
"It would be just as stupid as letting her go after letting the world know who she is," Carth put in.
"Oh?" the Admiral asked. "And why is that?" Privately, she agreed, but she wished to hear the pilot's reasoning.
"It's common knowledge," Carth began, "in the Fleet at least, that the Ebon Hawk and her crew saved the galaxy. You know how soldiers talk; you've been in the military your entire life. The entire galaxy is watching Coruscant at the moment. If you suddenly go around throwing galactic heroes in jail, whether or not you make it common knowledge, there's bound to be a riot."
"And you wouldn't just be able to lock Morrigan up," the Mandalorian grunted. Forn looked at him in surprise. It was the first time he had spoken. "It'd be all of us. Or do you really think the rest of us will just let you take her away?"
"Canderous," Revan said. But Forn saw the HK model's red eyes gleaming, and Mission and the Wookiee were nodding.
"Would you fight us then, if we determined that Revan ought to be punished for her crimes?" Admiral Dadonna demanded.
"Excuse me, Admiral," said the teenager, "But we would. All of us. We just fought to get rid of bullies that killed and threw people in jail for no good reason. And don't you sometimes offer community service for crimes, or whatever? To my way of thinking, Aithne's done more than enough community service, saving the galaxy and all, whatever she did when she was Revan, you know?"
The beginnings of an idea occurred to the Admiral, but she looked around at the rest of the table. "Would all of you fight?" she asked the crew of the Ebon Hawk gently. "As far as I know, you have committed no crime."
Jolee Bindo nodded. "I've gone up against the Order and the Republic more than once in my time," he said. "What's one more time?"
Forn looked at Bastila questioningly. The Jedi-girl hesitated, looked at Revan, then spoke. "I would not support the Republic, should they choose to imprison Aithne now," she confessed.
Admiral Dadonna looked at Carth, one of the most loyal men in the Fleet. To her surprise, his eyes were blazing.
"Admiral," he said. "I love the Republic. I've served and supported them my entire life. But to punish Aithne Morrigan, hell, even to punish Revan, after all she's been through, after all she's done? It would be wrong. I'm with Canderous and Mission on this one."
"Such is your loyalty to Revan?" Master Vandar ventured.
Forn frowned. There was more than loyalty to the woman in Carth's face, at least.
"Guys…" Revan began.
"Shut up," Mission advised. "If we want to go down with you, you'll let us!"
The entire crew was tense. Forn Dadonna shook her head, making her decision. "I don't think you understand," she told the Twi'lek. "No one needs to go down. I don't think we had finished covering all of our options here. Canderous Ordo, I believe, was just offering another consequence for us to consider should we choose to prosecute your friend. Right?"
Carth began to smile. Canderous glared, "No, not ex…"
Forn Dadonna cut him off before she had to arrest him for treason. "Right. And your input is appreciated. Now. Ms. Morrigan. Other than punishment or complete pardon, had you any alternative solutions to offer?"
Revan seemed a bit taken aback by Admiral Dadonna's change in demeanor. "Um…I've sort of been making it up as I go along," she admitted. "I wasn't sure coming in if you'd know I was Revan or not."
Forn grimaced. She certainly hadn't, at that. "I can think of two more possible solutions," she said. "First, a lie. I have a few contacts in the secret service. You get to know people when you become an Admiral. I could tell a few discreet people, and together with the Jedi Council we could fabricate a story that covers all the bases, satisfies the people, and gets you off the hook with the Senate and the general public."
Revan's face twisted in distaste.
"I don't like it much either," Admiral Dadonna admitted.
"It feels too much like what the Jedi did to me," Revan explained. "What's the other option?"
"Tell the truth," the Admiral said. "I've been given authority to deal with you. We can let the public know who you are. We can let the Senate know. I can tell the whole story. Do you have proof of her memory loss, Master Vandar?"
"We have records, yes," he said, stunned. "We copied them to the Great Library. Records of her brainwave patterns before and after the firing upon Revan's flagship; before and after the…operation."
"We'll need those to prove she is indeed a changed person," Admiral Dadonna went on, warming up to her plan. "Now I agree we cannot just let Revan, the dangerous Sith Lord, off the hook entirely merely because she lost her memory and saved the galaxy. Force, no."
Carth had started to grin. "What do you suggest, Admiral?" he asked.
"For her offenses there must be consequences, Carth. But we must remember that she is a Jedi, and not technically under Republic jurisdiction."
"That is true," said Master Vandar, beginning to brighten up. Revan, on the other hand, opened her mouth to protest. Forn cut her off.
"Master Vandar, I'm going to have to suggest you deal harshly with this one," she said gravely. "You'll have to drum her out of the Order, at least."
Revan looked nonplussed, but Bastila began to smile, too. "Oh, at least. And the Republic will not be able to hire her for service in the military, either, will they, Admiral?"
"I should think not," the Admiral said severely. "Revan, at the head of our armies? The Senate would never stand for it. No. I think she ought to be forbidden from service. And even that won't be enough, will it, Ms. Vao? She should do community service to atone for her crimes. Maybe rebuild the worlds the Sith destroyed. Taris…Telos," she shot a knowing glance at Carth, who looked away, but managed not to blush. "Revan? Is this agreeable to you?"
She was speechless for a moment. "Admiral…" she began. Abruptly, she stood and walked around the table. She seized both of Forn's hands in her slender, strong ones. "Can you do it? Really?"
Forn Dadonna looked at her, serious. "You've done the Republic a great service, Aithne Morrigan," she said quietly. "You've killed Darth Malak and destroyed the Star Forge so it is never a problem again. For that, and also because of your actions during the Mandalorian Wars, I think you ought to have a chance at what you seem to want so badly: making things right. Away from the Jedi, and away from war. But you realize that this means no medal, no honor. This is a judgment, for all I think it is the one you would like most of all."
Revan nodded. "I understand. Thank you, Admiral." She squeezed Forn's hands, and Forn squeezed back, and as she looked into the eyes of the former Dark Lord of the Sith, she found that she had made a new friend.
Revan released Forn's hands and walked back around to her seat. "Revan," the Admiral said. "For your crimes against the Republic I hereby discharge you from the Republic Fleet and sentence you to a life of rebuilding the things you have destroyed. What have you to say?"
Revan bowed her head. "I shall accept the consequences of my actions, and I thank you for your mercy." She shot Admiral Dadonna a smile.
Forn nodded brusquely. "Right. I have to present this exactly the right way to the Senate and to the people. For that to work I'm going to need to know the entire story."
"Right, Admiral," Carth said. "Remember, though, you asked for it."
"It was like this…" Revan began.