Chapter 19

(Tatoonie)

Bastila was following Revan silently and was lost in her own thoughts first about her mother and her illness and then the fact that her father was dead and she would never see him again. She was also trying to prepare herself for when they found his body in the cave Revan believed him to be in, which turned out to be the one containing the Star Map. She suddenly stopped and let out a gasp as she felt a shift in the force and quickly placed a hand to her forehead, suddenly feeling ill as she thought for a second she heard the screams of countless deaths.

"Bastila, you okay?" Mission inquired before she took note Jolee and Zayne both looked the same as Bastila, only Revan and Niks looked unaffected by whatever it was.

"Yes, I just sensed a disturbance in the force," Bastila responded after a few seconds of trying to refocus herself. "Somewhere there has been a great deal of death, something terrible has happened," she explained when she noted the confused looks on the faces of those of their group who were not Jedi.

"I felt it too, I think we all did," Jolee grumbled knowing whatever had happened it couldn't be good for them or for the Republic as a whole.

"Jaks and Niks don't look like you guys," Mission argued and pointed to the two men who looked fine.

"We felt it Mission, you cannot be in tune with the force and note feel it, but the difference is we have felt such things before and have managed to find a way to accept and deal with the feelings such disturbances can cause," Revan responded calmly, but he kept a close eye on Bastila who still looked slightly uneasy. "Jolee is probably out of practice seen as he has been in exile for so long which is why he is feeling the disturbance so strongly and Zayne is still young and learning as is Bastila," he told the young Twi-Lek.

"Which begs the question how you can be so well controlled if you are newer at controlling the force than either of them?" Canderous inquired with interest. "Hell from what Carth has said while we've been drinking you only became a Jedi a few months ago, hardly enough time to be more in control than them," he added as he crossed his arms over his chest.

Revan let out a silent curse as Canderous looked at him with clear suspicion in his eyes. He noted Bastila now looked concerned as another of their companions began to doubt the truth of his cover due to something he had said or done.

"Isn't it possible he was in the Mandalorian war and without realizing it began to learn how to control how he reacted to so much death?" Zaalbar inquired looking between them.

"Possible hell maybe I have no clue how one goes about communing with the force," Canderous responded with a chuckle. "I just find it odd that a brand new Jedi has better control that a veteran or two more experienced Jedi," he stated with a shrug as he dropped his arms to his side.

"We all have our secrets Canderous," Revan finally spoke. "There will come a time when those secrets will have to come out, but for now all I will say is yes I was in the war and yes that is where I learnt how to control my reactions to such large scale death through the force," he explained. "You could not be a Jedi and be in that war and not learn how to control yourself, if you could not learn then you were better off dead," he added as he remembered a few of his followers who had succumbed to grief and madness due to been unable to block out the countless deaths they had felt during the war.

He turned and began walking again as they headed through the pass to the deeper desert where the cave with the Star Map was located. The fact it was in the deeper desert was one of the reasons he had insisted they escort the freed prisoners to within sight of the city before heading here. It would have been too much of an effort for them. Admitting he was in the previous war had been a mistake, but like he had said to Bastila the time for hiding was quickly coming to an end. He would need Canderous more than ever once they got off this damn planet, his aide once they made a deal would be critical to his missions success.

He just hoped he found a way of explaining the need for this alliance when he got back to his people, he knew there was still a lot of bad blood where the Mandalorians were concerned. Force knew if he was honest he still harbored ill feelings towards them as well. He hadn't forgotten the horrors he had witnessed of what savagery the Mandalorians were capable off. He would never be able to fully forget what he had seen on the devastated world of Cathar, not the aftermath or the massacre he and everyone on that world had witnessed through the force vision that had eclipsed them when he found what would become his helmet. No, he would not forget, but if they were to be successful in his mission and make the sacrifices already made mean something then they would have to put that bad blood aside and ally with the Mandalorians if they would agree to follow him that was.

'That was an error Revan,' Bastila's mental voice almost surprised him as she spoke over their bond as he realized they had not done so since Carth had told them off for doing it in front of them. 'You are slipping,' she warned.

'Perhaps, or maybe I just tire of lies,' Revan thought back at her. 'The truth will have to be told and soon, time is not on our side Bastila,' he reminded her.

Bastila almost nodded in agreement with that statement before she managed to stop herself, the others didn't always need to know when they were using the bond to talk.

Canderous brought up the rear, but kept a good eye on Jak's in the front. Something just didn't add up especially with what he had just said and the presence of what he was certain was Revan's personal assassin droid, nor the fact he had admitted he had been in the previous war and possible had been a Jedi. Thus the story about him been a newly found Jedi was bull shit. That really interested him. No his instincts told him he was in the presence of a very dangerous man, perhaps even Revan himself or if not him someone connected to him. The idea may seem insane to some people. Malak was supposed to have killed him through a cowardly act of betrayal instead of one on one combat some time ago. But Canderous had fought against forces led by Revan twice during the war, each time they had superior numbers and a tactical advantage on their side and thus logic stated they should have wiped Revan and his people out. Instead they were the ones who were wiped out, their numbers and advantage easily destroyed by his superior planning and strength. He had also bested Mandalore and his elite bodyguard singlehandedly, thus in his mind Revan could easily have survived Malak's betrayal especially if he expected it.

"So what do you think happened, you know to make you feel all those deaths?" Mission finally asked cutting through the silence that had fallen between them.

"I don't know Mission, but clearly the Sith have struck again," Bastila responded softly with a shake of her head knowing the teen would be highly sensitive to the deaths of more people after seeing her home world destroyed.

"It was Dantoonie, the Jedi Enclave has been wiped out and the planet conquered," Revan stated boldly without a sliver of doubt in his voice.

"How could you possible know that?" Jarael inquired sharing a concerned look with Zayne, who looked terribly sad at the news as he had spent time at the academy when he was first taken to the Jedi and trained under Master Vandar, before his life fell apart when he was moved to Taris.

"Because we warned an attack on the Enclave was coming before we left Kashyyk, we were ambushed by a Sith assault team on our trip into the Shadow Land. We kept one alive and questioned him, he told us Malak was preparing to assault the planet and thus we sent a warning to them," Revan answered without looking back. "More than likely most if not all of the council will have evacuated back to Coruscant taking as many Jedi as they believed necessary especially the younglings," he explained. "Those left behind will have perished or we can hope that was their fate, as bad as that makes me sound you don't want to end up as Malak's prisoner," he added at the horrified looks Mission and Jarael shot him.

Bastila however shivered in horror as she knew Malak especially wanted her to be his prisoner, he wanted to break her through the most despicable methods available to him and she had no illusions that such methods wouldn't be even worse because she was a woman.

"You really think they would have just run?" Zayne asked with a frown. "I mean that Enclave has been there for years, it is one of the Jedi's longest run training enclaves," he pointed out.

"They would say they had to because their strength was needed for the war, that dying for one planet would be a waste," Revan shot back. "Oh I am certain someone from the council stayed to lead, I do not know who, but I doubt they all left and they would have tried to defend the planet as best they could, but Malak would have brought overwhelming force against them," he continued.

"Malak wants to make a statement to the galaxy that the Jedi can't protect the Republic and thus far he has been right, there are none within the current Council or Jedi who can lead effectively against men and women who have already burned in the fires of war," he stated.

"But Malak is not as effective as Revan was during the last war, we've all seen that Malak seems more concerned in causing death and destruction than actually winning the war," Canderous snorted contemptuously. "Hell he wouldn't even face Revan in one on one combat for leadership from what I've heard. He decided to shoot Revan in the back when he was distracted in an act of true cowardice," he said with a look of disgust marring his features. "If that is the way he leads by showing he fears his enemies he won't last long. The Republic will turn the tide, all they need to do is find a real leader to organize them and outwit the fool," he mused. "Hell they could get creative and try and find some allies, they are other forces out there who could help," he added with a shrug.

Revan smiled because he had the same thoughts himself and he intended to carry through with making new alliances to help him once he got back to his fleet. He wouldn't sit idle while Malak descended into madness and turned the galaxy into a burning husk to feed his madness. As for Malak showing fear in front of his troops, he supposed by shooting him in the back he had indeed showed he feared facing him one on one. Why else would he ignore the supposed tradition of the Sith, of the apprentice facing and killing the Master in actual combat, not through assassination?

"Malak might not be as an effective a leader as Revan was, but he makes up for that in his raw brutality," Jarael spat. "The fear he spreads wherever he goes, the utter devastation he has wrought on Telos and Taris has made him seem utterly without mercy and more evil than Revan ever was," she went on with a slight shiver. "Revan was known for taking planets mostly intact with as few civilian casualties as possible, but Malak enjoys destroying everything he can, especially the innocent lives of the people on the planets he attacks," she finished with a dark look, causing Zayne to put his hand around her shoulders to try and comfort her.

"Revan was controlled and always had a plan to move things forward; it was how he beat my people. We could never outthink him, no matter how much we tried we couldn't plan an attack he couldn't counter and while we managed to win a few battles led by his various commanders, including Malak, we were just up against someone willing to do everything needed to win," Canderous noted, but kept an eye on Jaks just to see how he reacted to what he was saying. "Malak is none of that, his plans from what I have seen are quickly put together and he has no patience to see his plans pan out, especially if they do not go as he has foreseen. He will quickly order something to be done like when he bombed Taris when he got tired of trying to capture Bastila," he continued. "He's impulsive, quick to anger and makes mistakes," he added.

"He wasn't always like that," Zayne argued. "Back when we first met him he was calm, he thought things out and planned things well in advance," he pointed out. "Now he's like a completely different person," he said somewhat dejectedly making Revan wince as he felt a slight twinge of regret at what Alec had become.

"Wait, there is the cave," Revan suddenly called out as he came to a dead stop, making Bastila feel a sudden drop in the pit of her stomach as she realized that in the next few minutes she would see her father's dead body.

"Looks like there are some hunters outside the cave," Niks noted aloud as he looked around.

"Probably here to kill the Krayt Dragon for their pearls," he added.

"Which is exactly what my father and his party were here for and that did not end well for them," Bastila quickly pointed out with a dark frown.

Niks nodded knowing that this wasn't an easy matter for the female Jedi, that she was facing emotions she had not faced since she joined the temple. Death of a loved one could have a profound effect on people, but especially Jedi especially as they repress their emotions for so long. The death of a loved one can be the cause of the release of a lifetime of repression. A release, than can either break the Jedi experiencing it, or strengthen them as they learn to control the emotions and finally embrace them.

+TR+

(Leviathan Class Battleship Revenge)

Meetra stood on the bridge as she listened to the reports coming in from the various ship commanders on the status of their ships. Since they had finally located Revan she had decided to get a full status report on each ship and finally get a real number for how many ships they had, including fighters. She had also ordered a full head count so they knew just how many of them there were, the numbers she had been told by Rikka just didn't add up. They couldn't be real, they had to be a mistake. She was guessing during the aftermath of Malak's betrayal and the deaths of all their friends and supposedly of Revan himself, someone had taken a guess at how many of them had survived and given it as fact and the same with the numbers of ships. Already the numbers were beginning to show that whoever had given the previous figures to Rikka were dead wrong. The question she had was why had no one noticed or why had no one done a recount once things had settled somewhat once they reached the fall back point?

"General, we are getting reports from our scouts that the Malak's forces have attacked and conquered Dantoonie," Rikka reported suddenly from behind her, causing her to spin round. "We heard rumors that an attack might be coming, but we had heard nothing since then until now," she explained.

"How bad is the damage?" Meetra inquired wanting to sigh.

"The planet was hit badly, but it hasn't been raised like Taris and Telos were. They took the planet into their supposed empire," Rikka replied. "The Enclave itself was bombed and has sustained heavy damage from what one very lucky spy reported," at Meetra's look she decided to elaborate. "He was almost exposed while sending the report, but he managed to deal with the problem before that happened. He killed the guard who almost stumbled on him and made sure the body wouldn't be missing for a while," she explained. "Some Jedi were captured including Master Dorak who was the only council member to stay behind, the rest fled back to the Coruscant. There were also heavy casualties among the civilian population especially in the local defense forces. A Sith fleet now orbits the planet," she finished her report and waited for Meetra to respond.

"So they've gained more ground and pushed the Jedi back, no worse they've made the Jedi look even weaker than they were by the fact that nearly the entire council ran instead of standing and fighting," Meetra said, followed by a curse.

"Considering the size of the force Malak brought down on them I doubt it would have made a difference General. The Republic fleet gave up the battle soon after the destruction of their flag ship and fled," Rikka shot back grimily. "We had one of our spies nestled in the attack fleet, he reported the Republic fleet put up a rather lackluster fight and once the flag ship was destroyed they lost any cohesion they had and fled," she reported with a dark look. "Without proper air support Dorak and his forces were doomed," she concluded.

"I agree, the Republic must be in worse shape that we suspected if they can't even fight back properly," Meetra spat, wondering what Republic Command was doing considering the threat they faced. "How can they have allowed themselves to become so easily overcome. When we fought the Mandalorians every fleet was capable of fighting to the death, no matter if they were led by us or not," she pointed out as she began to pace a little. "They had strong capable commanders, leaders worthy of been followed into hell if needs be," she added.

"I think part of the problem is most of those commanders are either dead or like Saul Karath turned and joined Malak either out of fear or because they have similar beliefs," Rikka replied. "The Republic Fleet hadn't even fully recovered from the last war before we came back pretending to be Sith. Had things stayed as they were and Malak had remained loyal things wouldn't be so bad, but no one not even Revan saw Malak's betrayal coming," she continued darkly.

"Revan at least thought it was possible Rikka or you and the fleet wouldn't even be here. You'd either be dead or dispersed around the galaxy lost and without purpose," Meetra shot back as she stopped pacing and looked back at her. "He at least put this fall back plan into motion, so he wasn't caught fully off guard, but perhaps due to their past friendship he was hesitant to believe it would come down to betrayal," she reluctantly admitted.

"Perhaps," Rikka said with a growl not wanting to discuss Malak in any favorable light. He was and would always now be nothing but a traitor. He deserved no respect not even for his past deeds when he was still one of them. "Still the loss of Dantoonie will have hurt the Republic and the Jedi; they were already in the process of pulling back. This makes the situation for them worse than ever if things do not turn in their favor," she pointed out.

"Or something gets in Malak's way and distracts him," Meetra mused aloud. "But until Revan gets back we can't do anything. He was specific on that in the message he gave to Melkor," she said with a sigh and a shake of her head. "Thus for now the Republic and the Jedi will have to find the strength to fight back and quickly, or at least hold on until we are ready to announce our resurrection through fire and death," she stated to which Rikka could only nod in agreement. "Continue the review of the fleet, once the real numbers are in meet me in my quarters so we can discuss them," she ordered before she turned and headed to her room to lay down for a hour.

Rikka watched her go knowing the General was feeling the pressure already of holding the fleet together until Revan returned. She knew exactly how it felt having done it herself before they had rediscovered General Surik. She turned to look out of the nearby windows of the command bridge and prayed Revan would return soon. They needed to act and soon before the Republic and Jedi folded under the pressure from Malak and his followers. She also prayed the General's realization that the numbers they had for the fleet were wrong, that at least would go a long way to increasing morale until Revan finally returned.