AN: Hey everyone! It's time for yet another INSTALLMENT of The Legend Reborn! I hope everyone was able to have an enjoyable holiday season, snow is quite the adversary this season. But, aside from that, enjoy the chapter!
Lola Sayu
Barriss sat in her cell, cross legged on the floor as she tried to reach out with the Force, yet nothing answered her. The drugs they had been administering have kept her in a constant stupor, unable to focus her unique talents. The sooner she let on to her captors that she may have been cut off from the Force, the sooner they would execute her. This, she was certain of.
Yet even now she could feel the drugs being purged from her system. For some reason the droids had missed their scheduled dose. She CLOSED her eyes again, focusing inwards, hoping this mistake would become a frequent one. She felt a gust of air briefly, then saw an unfamiliar face. That of a muun, weathered and worn both by battle and age.
"Rescue," she muttered under her breath.
HK-47 dropped the shuttle out of lightspeed, BEGINNING a descent toward the cracked planet, its sulfuric rivers glowing on the surface below. His photoreceptors examined the planet with curiosity. There were no ships, no blockades. Not even a patrol team. The orbit was just... empty.
"How long until we reach the prison?" Plagueis asked.
"Declaration: We shall reach the planet surface in approximately 14.021 minutes, from there I shall guide you from the landing zone to the facility. Self Criticism: Oh it shames me to see how far I've fallen, I was once an elite hunter, now I'm a simple 'bodyguard'... oh how it pains me to hear my vocabulator synthesize such a statement."
"I have no need for a bodyguard. I assure you I can look after myself."
"Response: Be that as it may, my Master views you with importance to his plans. Addition: How strange... there are no orbiting vessels."
Plagueis gazed out the narrow viewport, "Order 66 has been executed. The planet was designed as a prison for Jedi. Yet, it is in Separatist controlled territory. Right now the Grand Army of the Republic is more focused on slaughtering their commanders than attacking the Separatists so it's likely that some regional Separatist general requested the local fleet as a reinforcement for a campaign," The Muun explained. "Get us as CLOSE to the prison as you can without alerting them."
"Agreement: Copy that." HK replied.
As the vessel approached the atmosphere Plagueis couldn't help but wonder if he was taking the chaos generated by Order 66 far too seriously. During his exile, he kept up to speed with the latest news regarding campaigns taking place during THE CLONE WARS and he knew from that fact that the Republic never managed to conquer the Citadel. However, based on what his contacts informed him he could guess why Separatist security seemed so lax on the usually well defended world.
Just a week before he felt the disturbance in the Force that turned out to be Revan's arrival, it came to his attention that a Jedi traitor named Barriss Offee managed to escape Republic authorities and stole a shuttle to escape Courscant. What wasn't common knowledge was the fact her shuttle was later locked in a tractor beam and subsequently captured after being spotted by the Separatist Admiral Trench. After learning who the Mirialan was, the Admiral with a reputation for efficiency decided she may be worth keeping alive and thus sent her to the Jedi holding facility Plagueis was now approaching. Apparently Trench believed even if she could not be turned to their cause, her spite against the Jedi Order and the Republic might be enough to make her sing state secrets.
Plagueis wasn't entirely sure if Dooku learned of this before joining Revan. He may have been the leader of the Separatists but no one could keep track extremely fast with every single part in the agenda of his fleet officers, especially when such fleet spanned the Outer Rim with the Deep Core. At any rate, with the current galactic chaos provoked by Order 66 it's possible some other Separatist leader demanded to use the fleet guarding the Citadel for much needed reinforcements. Besides, if the Jedi traitor was the only Force-sensitive currently being held captive in the prison, then they probably wouldn't expect a rescue attempt anytime soon.
Still, this holding facility was not to be taken lightly.
"Does this shuttle have a cloaking generator?" The Munn asked the assassin droid.
"Statement: This vessel does possess a cloaking mechanism but according to my CALCULATION the energy output designed to keep it active would not be able to sustain it for more than a standard hour, or else the fuel wouldn't be enough to head back to Tython," HK replied. "Addition: Why is that information relevant?"
"Because while they are not ships orbiting the planet, I know for a fact this holding facility may be underhanded but it's definitely not empty and its turrets should have enough fire power to blast this shuttle apart," Plagueis replied. "If we don't want to lose our way back to Tython we can't let that HAPPEN. So, activate the clocking mechanism and set the timer to stop generating it in 50 standard minutes. That should be enough time for us to destroy their bigger threats if nothing else."
"Agreement: Very well, Muun." HK replied before starting to press on some bottoms.
As the shuttle turned invisible to the naked eye and most sensors, Plagueis closed his eyes as he psyched himself for battle. HK-47 locked in the autopilot and picked up a fusion cutter, tinkering with the small mechanical digits of his offhand. The tool sparked slightly as it made contact, after a brief moment the droid set it down and flexed his fingers, triple checking their dexterity. He slung a high powered systech blaster rifle over his back and RETURNED TO THE command console.
"Confused Declaration: The facility defenses have been... shutdown. I detect no output of energy coming from inside. No droids or power systems at all. Query: Why would the facility be shut down? Have the Separatists pulled out of THE SYSTEM?"
Plagueis shook his head, "I can sense her. She's down there. This has to be a trap. Although I sense no hints of deceit... this is strange." He took a seat beside HK. There was no strategic value in pulling out of THE SYSTEM, though it would explain the removal of an orbital blockade. Still, why would they leave Barriss behind? Such a high value prisoner is too vital of a resource at a time like this to let slip through their fingers. Unless she was the reason they left.
But if she had then why didn't she take a ship for herself and leave the planet? Was it to keep herself isolated, hidden? No, there were countless other Outer Rim worlds she could hide in peace, there's no reason she would remain her voluntarily. Plagueis was sure of it.
The shuttle descended to the surface, landing on its molten shores. Plagueis descended the ramp, his SINUSES gagging at the scent of the sulfuric rivers. HK stood next to him, reaching over his back for his blaster rifle as the pair scanned their immediate surroundings. Plagueis drew his lightsaber, the long red blade coming to life as he took HK's hint. This place was dangerous, too many unknowns. HK motioned toward a break in the rock wall, Plagueus taking the lead through their chosen path.
Ebon Hawk - Lightspeed
Revan sat in the medbay with Serra, tending to her many wounds as best he can, using both medical practices and healing techniques.
She sat up slowly after a few minutes, giving Revan another look-over.
"It's not particularly easy to use Force-healing constantly for as long as you have," Serra noted. "And yet…I feel like that was hardly the best you could do." She said in a pondering tone.
Revan move a metal chair so he could sit in front of the female Jedi. Once he did, he shrugged.
"I actually used to be better at Force healing quite a few years ago, back when I still lived in the Jedi Temple," He shared. "I am still pretty competent on it but I usually have to get seriously motivated to get back on that level."
"What changed?" Serra asked, curious to know more about her mysterious savior.
"I grew up," He responded flatly.
At her raised eyebrow, the man elaborated further. "I learn some tough truths many people don't want to face during the war I fought. Had to make hard choices most Jedi and most decent people by that matter, would never wish to choose from. But I did it anyway," Revan said with a far-away tone, thinking back to the Battle of Malachor V. He paused for a moment, "I told myself I was doing everything for the greater good. I told myself that in war sticking to morals your elders taught you is a luxury you can't afford most of the time. And I still believe it that."
"But…?" Serra asked, her eyes locked on the man's reminiscing gaze.
"But now I understand the path I walked on wasn't the best option, even with the circumstances I faced." Revan replied. "It took me to the depths of the Dark side of the Force. And, among other things, one particular consequence was a serious set-back as far as my skills in Force Healing are concerned. Those healing skills are far more efficient with wielders of pure light side."
Serra bit her bottom lip and frowned a bit but her body wasn't tense at all and didn't do anything else. Revan honestly wasn't sure who was more surprised after that confession, him or her but either way that was not the reaction he was expecting.
"There it is again," Serra said as she crossed her arms, confusion heavy on her features. "That feeling of the Force rushing through me and telling me to trust you even after what you told me; ushering calm." She muttered as she closed her eyes to focus more heavily on the Force.
Revan waited for her to do her own analysis patiently, taking the time to notice yet again, how much this Jedi reminded him of his wife, Bastila Shan. He thought back to the time before the Foundry, to when he learned of his descendant that was born during the three centuries the Emperor spent trying to bring him back into his service and rose through the Jedi's ranks until achieving the coveted position of Grand Master, Satele Shan. At first he wondered if Serra was another descendant of his, which is why he took a blood sample from her during the time he spent healing her to check for a DNA match between them. Although, he couldn't shake the feeling that it wasn't as simple as that.
When Serra opened her eyes again there was a spark of curiosity in them. "The Force wouldn't make me feel like I can trust you if you weren't someone very important for the future, considering the systematic slaughter of Jedi going on right now," She stated with a bit of a grimace as she thought of fallen comrades. "Still, you claim you have been embraced by the Dark side and yet when I look at you, all I can feel is hope. Who are you?" She finally asked.
Revan smiled softly, pondering how best to explain his identity, he looked down at the floor shaking his head slightly.
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you."
Serra gave him a blank stare, "Just tell me damn it."
Revan stood up from the chair, leaning against the cold durasteel wall.
"I have many names," Revan said cryptically. "I'm sure you've heard just about all of them, the Prodigal Knight, the Butcher." He paused, "Revan."
Serra sat silently, holding the blank stare with her savior as she tried to make sense of what he had told her. Revan had been dead for millennia, yet Serra could sense that he was telling the truth. This man standing before was Revan, whether she believed it or not didn't matter. The Force told her the truth, he was not lying, Revan is alive and standing before her in the flesh but she couldn't believe it.
Revan remained quiet, shuffling his feet along the floor as he stood in the doorway. He could sense that she didn't believe him; her doubt was obvious, even without his Force senses. He looked Serra in the eyes.
"You are shocked; I can see it in your eyes. No matter what the Force is telling you, if anything, you still can't believe who I say I am. But, if you won't believe, then at least trust me." Revan grinned.
Serra nodded weakly; the wounds Anakin had inflicted still taking their toll on her. She slowly reclined on the bed, lying down carefully as Revan moved to give her another kolto jolt before adjusting her IV. She closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.
Revan left her be and went to check her blood sample and see if a match was found. When he read the result, he stared blankly at the screen.
"Huh," Revan said in obvious surprise as he looked back at the sleeping Jedi with re-evaluated interest. "Did not see that one coming."
Lola Sayu
Plagueis pulled himself over the edge, looking down upon the Citadel as HK stood next to him. Below they could see the vast complex of the Citadel, the entire facility was dark. The only source of light being the sulfur rivers that surrounded it.
Plagueis crouched down as he tried to get a better view of the complex. His mechanized counterpart began scanning for weakpoints in the station's structure. The durasteel wall was well constructed, but everything had a weakpoint. If there was one thing HK had learned over the years, it was just that. Everything had a weakspot, whether it was a ship, facility, or individual. You just need to know how to find it, and what pressure to apply.
Plagueis turned his gaze upward at the distant sound above. HK followed suit, the pair found themselves staring up at a fleet of Republic warships. HK charged his rifle before addressing Plagueis.
"Declaration: We need to get moving."
Plagueis offered a nod of acknowledgement before leaping into the compound. HK began scaling down the cliff-edge, making his way carefully down to the bottom. He had survived a fall from orbit into the Mandalorian capital. But there was no need to show Plagueis what he was fully capable of.
The master assassin was certain he would be tasked to eliminate Plagueis one day. The Force wielding muun may be quite valuable to Master Revan at the moment but if their past with Malak taught the droid anything, it was that Dark side devotees despise being anyone's second in command. As per his calculations, one day he will be task with the termination of the "semi-immortal" meatbag. HK almost vocalized an annoyed scoff. The droid was unsure as to what sort of sorcery enable the muun to reboot his body after biological termination but the Maker forsake him if HK believes for a second that Plagueis is absolutely un-killable. He may have dodged the embrace of final termination once but only HK's memory core shall last forever.
Plagueis stood patiently on the ground, unaware of the paranoid internal musing of his traveling companion. Walking along the thick wall of the Citadel he drew his lightsaber, slowly plunging its crimson red blade into the thick, semi-resistant metal. He slowly carved through the durasteel, forming a rectangular pattern in the wall. Plagueis extinguished his blade and pulled the block of metal from its shape, stepping inside as the superheated metal cooled. HK stepped in behind him, the pair stood with weapons at the ready.
The corridors of the Citadel remained silent. There were no patrols, distant footsteps, or anything of the sort. HK-47 raised his rifle at an angle, prepared to terminate anything that should round a corner.
The strange emptiness of the facility disturbed Plagueis. It was cold, desolate. The hallway was narrow; the pair was forced to walk single file. Plagueis often found himself looking behind them, expecting something to creep up behind them although his senses told him there was nothing there.
The Assassin Droid raised his fist; stopping in his tracks as he put his back against the wall, Plagueis followed his lead, trusting the mechanized fighter's judgement. HK primed his rifle before ducking around the corner, checking his corners as he scanned the next corridor.
"Clear." HK lowered his rifle, kneeling down to examine the battle droid at his feet. His photoreceptors analyzed the droid for points of damage, yet there were no signs of carbon scoring or physical trauma.
"Assessment: These droids have been shut down, no damage has been done."
"Hmmm," Plagueis mused. "That explains a lot."
"Inquiry: Do you know why the droids have been shut down, muun?"
"Sidious likely had the main leaders of the Separatists assassinated and forced what remained to send a single to shut down the separatist-aligned battle droids Galaxy-wide," Plagueis replied. "At least, that was our original plan once Order 66 was executed by the Clone Army. We are lucky, though. The Galaxy is so huge it would take at least a couple weeks for the signal to deactivate all the millions of battle droids spread across the different rims. Lola Sayu must have been among the first that got hit by the signal, hence the lack of defenses in the Citadel."
The assassin droid quietly calculated the ramifications of the new piece of valuable information as Plagueis clipped his lightsaber to his belt and began opening each of the doors along the corridor, opening up four of the cell blocks, each hall consisting of four cells. He focused his senses; looking for Barriss before moving down the furthest cell block, HK backed up into the doorway, his back to the Muun as he covered their exit.
Plagueis opened the final cell and watched the door open with a hiss; the small mirialan opened her eyes and looked to him, remaining completely still.
"We don't have much time." Plagueis paused as he stepped to the side, motioning to their exit, "let's go."
Lola Sayu - Orbit
A reddish colored Republic light assault cruiser suddenly dropped out of hyperspace, a clone officer with blue markings on his helmet looking at the broken planet from the duraglass window. Turning around to look at his battle-tested troopers he raised his voice.
"Attention!"
Three dozen ARC troopers sprung to attention at once; their controlled fingers on the trigger with and firm positions highlighting their status as veterans. Their leader walked through the path they made for him as he examined each and every soldier that had fought besides him countless times.
"Now you all know why we are here," The Clone Lieutenant said sternly. "Order 66 has been issued and the Jedi dogs that used us as pawns have been exposed as traitors. But our mission on this shattered planet isn't to bring one of the recently exposed Jedi to justice but to put a blaster bolt in the brain of a spineless snake that eluded her death sentence for far too long."
The members of his platoon tensed, each of them remembering their friends lost in the bombing of the Jedi temple a couple months ago.
"And so, we are going to land on this planet, we are going to track down Barriss Offee and we are going to put no less than 13 holes in her vindictive body; one for each of our friends," The Lieutenant barked. "AM I CLEAR!?
"SIR, YES SIR!" The veteran soldiers chanted with a passion.
The clone leader looked back to the window as they approached the planet, leering at it as they got closer.
"Don't bother praying to the Force for mercy, terrorist, for you shall find none."
AN: And onto Chapter 15 we go! I'm sorry for taking so long with this one guys but real life took precedence. Expect the next chapter sometime in May!
-CaptainCakeless117