I will probably refer to the old Jedi temple as the 'Enclave' or something.
All credit to respective owners!
P.S. Constructive Criticism and Reviews are welcome!
P.P.S. And to the guest that mentioned that me losing my dog or making a chapter to him was 'Pointless'? If that was your intent, you're welcome to your opinion but frankly it wasn't kind or helpful, so please refrain from commenting on it if you can. I mean no insult or that you're opinion is something that is worthless, but you didn't have to talk about it as it still hurts and to see you treat his impact on my life so thoughtlessly is hurtful. I would never belittle the life of a friend and especially not one who loved as unconditionally as my dog did. I show respect, hopefully you reciprocate.
-Y.A.R.N.
Cal can't help the smile that spreads over his face at the sight of Dantooine growing ever larger in the view. He had missed this planet even though his small trip to Felucia had only taken a few days at most (it was harder for Cal to judge time when he didn't particularly pay attention or you were planet hopping from place to place). Honestly he had wished he could've brought Master Shaak Ti to the planet to see what they have accomplished, but she simply would've scoffed at it. She was probably hoping for some sort of budding temple with groups of younglings and seasoned masters, and those places and enclaves never stood a chance of happening while The Empire existed. The whole point of Dantooine was to use the shadow of death in the old jedi temple to mask their presence in the force; that could only cover a small number of force sensitives, if they were to try restart the order and gather more, it would be discovered far too soon from the presence of light overwhelming the shadows. Cal could already tell that the light that his band of jedi emitted was already making the darkness waver. As a small farming planet, the Empire had very little interest in it and they had already 'cleared' it years before with the death of Falon Grey and the militia he had gathered.
X-2 or Xavier Grey — as he preferred — non-withstanding.
But if there was even a chance of a Jedi temple existing, they would raze this planet into a dead world.
Xavier stretched in his seat as he began to guide the ship down towards where the Mantis' location frequency was tuned in. As they descended through the atmosphere and angled their ship down, BD-1 trilled excitedly and hopped in place.
"Yeah buddy." Cal agreed, "We're home."
Merrin watched impatiently as The Mercenary Star slowly drifted down and landed, ignoring the amused look Cere was giving her. Merrin wasn't oblivious to the fact that everyone knew the feelings for Cal weren't some sort of simple friendship. She knew Cal felt the same way but they both agreed that right now, those issues needed to be put aside until they were much much stronger. Until the time that when they were sure that they wouldn't lose each other even when separated, they would simply grow stronger. Even so, Merrin wouldn't ignore the fact that Cal being away made her uneasy as she felt that it was better that they stayed together at all times.
When they landed and the ramp lowered, Cal and Xavier began walking down the ramp, both of them lighting up when they saw Cere, Greeze, and Merrin. Merrin gave Cal a hug which he warmly reciprocated and smiled at her when they separated. Xavier nodded at Cere and Greeze in greeting.
"Where is Master Shaak Ti?" Cere asked, "Did she offer any help?"
All of them could feel the sudden tension that radiated from Cal and Xavier.
"Maybe we should talk at the Enclave." Cal suggested.
Greeze took the Mantis on another run for supplies and the rest of their group used Xavier and Jek's speeders to go to the Enclave. When they were finally alone — and used some of the rubble placed in a small half-circle with The Force as chairs — Cal launched into his telling of the story and how he and Xavier landed on Felucia only to be attacked by Maris Brood until Cal disarmed her and pinned her. Merrin and Cere frowned at the fact that Shaak Ti hadn't been able to reign in her padawan until Cal had beaten her. After, he recounted sending Xavier to spar with Maris while he conversed with Shaak Ti. Cal was visibly troubled while talking about it and sighed, resting his elbows on his knees.
"Cal." Cere said comfortingly, "You don't have to listen to her. She's still thinks it's the time of The Republic and the Jedi are never going to fall as long as we hold onto the past."
Cal exhaled and leaned back, "I know she's wrong. But still... I think that in a way she is right about me trying to build the order from ash. The Jedi were not ready or capable of stopping any of this damage Cere. By the time Order 66 happened, the Jedi Order was already far weaker with all the Jedi spread all over the galaxy. The temple wasn't spared and The Emperor wiped out a millennium of history almost overnight. I think that maybe we shouldn't be the ones to rebuild it. At least, not in the way it was before. The system of Jedi... it has to end Cere. If the Jedi Order is to come back, I can't... I won't let it be what it was before."
Cere looked flabbergasted, "Cal! We are the only ones who can bring back the Jedi! You want to forget everything that happened?"
Cal gave her a hard look, "I want to face reality Cere. The Force — even the galaxy — is almost swamped in darkness because the Jedi are all but gone! I want the light back, but it cannot be because we remade THE Jedi Order Cere!"
Cere was ready to open her mouth when suddenly Xavier placed a hand on her shoulder and squeezed, "I think he has a point. There has to be a change if we want the new era of force in the galaxy to truly last with peace."
Cere whirled to her feet, ready to argue, "The jedi are the only hope left to stop The Sith! If we give up now, then all we've done is for nothing! If the Jedi change and give into everything they were against, then why are we even trying to stop The Empire?!"
"Because the The Empire was born of the Sith!" Cal shouted, "I am not saying we grab red crystals and parade around as inquisitors Cere! I am not saying we cut down people who look at us funny! The Sith are the root cause of this, and if we really want to prevent this, we need to make sure the Sith never come back and the only way to do that is to create something new!"
"Like Malicos?" Cere riposted.
Merrin, who looked concerned at the argument, stiffened.
"Nothing like what he was trying to do!" Cal roared, "It isn't just black or white in this situation Cere! If even touching The Dark Side means that I can't reside in the light than I'll be whatever is between and serve the galaxy as best as I can from there! There has to be more than just two dogmas Cere! If me choosing something new means I am never a formally recognized Jedi, then I don't need the title!"
The silence after that declaration was deafening; it wasn't something that was said lightly for Cal. All his life he had wanted to be a Jedi — eventually a Jedi Master — but to be willing and able to give that up to be something else was literally sacrificing all of his previous obligations and promises to The Fallen Jedi Order. However, it didn't feel like a betrayal to Cal at all, but paving the path he was going to walk. The path that had walked by so many people and Jedi in the past wasn't viable for Cal anymore, maybe he it hadn't been suitable since the death of Jaro Tapal and Cal refusal to use the force on Bracca. With his future still uncertain and in front of him he wanted to go to his own path that was all his own, wherever that would lead. He would wield his lightsaber, use the force, and create something that he intended to make last no matter what it took.
"Malicos was a Sith." Cal ground out, "Whatever he claimed to be, he was a Sith after Dathomir corrupted him. I never want to go that far, I refuse to go that far. But I need to understand the Sith to beat them; in any fight or war, you need to know your enemy in order to counter them."
Cere looked taken aback but Cal was not ducking his head in shame or regret, he stood straight and his eyes blazed with determination. Cere hesitated, Cal had every opportunity to turn to the dark and he resisted at every turn, rejecting it and keeping control over himself. But what he intended to do was dangerous, oh so dangerous. Cere closed her eyes and took a deep breath as she mulled over Cal's words.
Was it even possible?
Could there be anyone who interacted the darkness and come out without succumbing fully to the seduction?
She would never regret finding Cal and working with him, but after all she had cautioned in regards to the Sith and the allure of the dark, he was willing to try something that might drag him into the dark. She hadn't been ready when what her choices and weakness did to her padawan and her anger overwhelmed her. After, in her desperation to keep herself from falling she had to cut herself off to make sure she didn't give in to the darkness. Then once she once again tapped into her abilities Cere herself almost lost herself to the hate when she tried to crush Vader with the force.
She knew of Sith in the Old Republic that came to the light and were redeemed, but there was always the opposite of Jedi who fell to the dark and were corrupted. But Cal had lost himself for so long to find himself again, and all throughout his journey for the holocron he proved that he was worthy of the title of Jedi Knight. Braving the darkness that Dathomir — while nowhere near as had been difficult and corrupting as a place like Korriban — was no easy feat. Turning away being taught the fallen jedi Malicos had been even harder as he had years of experience in wielding the power there and Cal simply couldn't have beaten him alone.
Every jedi walked a different path to grow, maybe it was time to let Cal walk his own path. She rejected the darkness because she had nearly fallen twice. Cal never had and maybe he had the strength and restraint to keep from giving in. Maybe it because she doubted herself that she was doubting Cal when he had been to one to pull her back from the brink. She wasn't sure about whether the order itself needed to change and Cal wasn't suitable, but he needed to be sure before he did anything.
Cere closed her eyes and let out a sigh.
After his argument with Cere, they all decide that the stress of Felucia may have made have worn them all a bit thin. They spent a day just relaxing or unwinding the best ways they could, Cere and Merrin meditated while Cal and Xavier sparred, Xavier battled the working magnaguard, or Cal worked on fixing up the other broken magna-guards for proper sparring partners. BD-1 was helping by hacking into their code and making them stop before things got too hard or actually hurt someone. Cal frowned as some of the damage to the other magna-guards was damn near impossible to fix, but if Cal just had the right parts he might be able to use these part to a another droid. The parts weren't all that different from the Empire's KX Security Droids that had cause him no small amount of grief over his travels. If he could find them, he could definitely use these pieces to make better sparing partners.
Cal sighed and placed the piece of metal back down on the table, "It's no use BD. Cere smashed these up too well for me to repair them. I would need a bunch of parts that we just don't have. I don't think that we should try to run off to find them either. Old magna guard part are probably discontinued since the jedi are all but gone and KX Security Droids are only placed in areas that need them. I don't think we need to go to Zeffo or Kashyyyk to goad the Empire. I'm nowhere near where I need to be to keep everyone safe if we do that."
BD-1 booped indignantly.
Cal smiled, "Thanks for the vote of confidence bud. But I am not self-depreciating or being afraid. I'm just being realistic."
Cal decide he wanted Cere to have more time to adjust to Cal deciding that the paths that were previously made for jedi may not be the one he wants to walk. The air in still tense with the conversation and he vaguely envies Xavier for being able to escape from that by leaving for his farm. Cal couldn't sleep, he wanted to but he couldn't seem to settle no matter how he tossed and turned. With a sigh of resignation he left the ship when everyone had managed to go to sleep and took one of the speeders to the Enclave.
He needed some advice, and while he knew he was about to talk with Jedi of the past but he felt that while they had lost, the pain was something they had come to terms with and would be able to give better advice for. If they refused to help Cal anymore then he would understand any simply hope that they could be at peace with what was happening. Cal walked over to where he had talked with Cere, Xavier, and Merrin and sat back in his seat. He gently ran his fingertips over the stone slabs and his psychometry sent small tingles of the emotions that everyone had felt.
The worry.
The offense.
The anger.
The awkward air that replaced the companionable air that had been there.
Cal had seen so much, and he knew that his past dreams had no place in his future
Cal closed his eyes and dove in The Force only to find him back in the chambers of the Old Jedi Enclave, but something was different. Instead of the Jedi Masters that usually awaited him was a man in completely black robes and a mask that had a 'T' on it. He was standing in the middle of the room and stood with a easy confidence that came with a long life coming to terms with who he was. He had two lightsabers clipped to his belt and his robes had armor that covered his front and a red sash that hung from his waist. Cal cautiously rose up and his hand carefully laid on his lightsaber, the force didn't indicate any danger but his instincts warned him to be careful.
"Who are you?" Cal asked, "Where are the masters?"
The figure cocked his head and replied, "The masters wanted me to talk to you before you continue."
Cal didn't miss the fact that whoever this was didn't answer his first question, "About...?"
"About what you said to Cere Junda about being a grey Jedi." He replied with a strange inflection to his tone.
"A grey jedi?" Cal parroted confused.
"You do know what that is right?" The figure inquired, "Please tell me you know what that is!"
"Um..." Cal floundered for something to say that wasn't no.
He felt that this guy wouldn't be happy to hear that.
The figure slumped before standing straight and letting out a frustrated shout, "Oh my god! Die for just a couple of centuries and the Jedi have let everything go to hell! What the hell did the council do since I died? Do I need to hunt for each recent council member in the last century and kick their ass? What were they teaching in whatever they taught in their so-called classes at the temple?"
Cal watched in complete astonishment as the man stalked around the chamber, ranting about the jedi being idiots.
Who was this guy?
He raged about the Jedi being unable to see how they needed to learn from every source, not just lock it away and pretend it didn't exist. Where the truest strength of the force was never promised to one side or the other. The man lets out crackles of both green and blue lightning that flare in the empty chamber and Cal flinched at the display of power. Cal closes his eyes and his force sight opens only for him to almost flinch back, if he was looking at a light that bright a power that strong, it would have permanently blinded him. This guy was stronger than Zhar and Vandar, possibly put together, he was a star gone nova, a planet lit flare that felt strong enough to rip a system in two. Cal suddenly felt very small in the face of how many people who had been this strong and lived and died.
That people this strong who were capable of death.
The man lets out a deep sigh and finally turns to Cal and with no hesitation he gently pulls off his mask to drop it from his hands. Cal watches it slowly fall before it dissipates into mist before it hits the floor and is gone. As his hands rise to push back the hood, dark hair spills out from his heavily scarred face as he slowly opens his forest green eyes and looks at Cal. Cal feels the force spilling out of this man into a storm that sends currents of power swirling around the chamber, igniting small flickers of lightning lighting the room and sending jitters over Cal's skin. Cal suddenly realizes that even as strong as this man was, he had not come out of his life without scars that were physical and mental. The pain that this man felt ran deep and left marks, like how Cal's loss had left him feeling gutted and broken.
They had let go and that had sent them careening on journeys they never could have anticipated.
"Who are you?" Cal asked, "What are you?
The man eyes flashed yellow and then back to green and his demeanor became serious and heavy.
"My name is Revan. I was both a Sith Lord and a Jedi Master. I submerged into the darkness and swam up to bask in the light and survived many trials with both sides of the force as my ally. And I am not just a Sith Lord or a Jedi Master but one of the truest Grey Jedi who ever lived."