Welcome back! Writing the full chapter in one go? Huh, interesting XD. Update a little sooner, because I'm ill and I spend all days at the computer so I decided to make a good use of this time because I can't just play League of Legends all the time XD. Enjoy hehehe.
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Chapter 40
"I can't believe you actually kept it," Revan said, chuckling. He was digging through Bastila's personal things in order to find his beloved mask but on the way, he stumbled upon numerous various things. His amusement was caused by the rather unusual item he found in her bag that he was holding in his hands. Bastila raised slightly, leaning on her elbows for support to see what he was talking about.
Her cheeks turned red a little after seeing what he was holding. In his hands was resting a stuffed teddy bear. Revan pressed its tummy and, just as he expected, there was a gentle tune coming from the toy. The former Dark Lord grinned.
"How can this thing still work?" he queried, his grin not fading away. "I gave it to you like… fifteen years ago."
"Fourteen" Bastila corrected him, raising up from the bed. "And why shouldn't it be working anymore?" she asked, crossing her arms over her chest.
"I don't know. It's just… it's been a long time since I've purchased it and I didn't expect you to keep it for so long. I mean, I gave it to you so you could have something against the bad dreams."
"And why do you think they disappeared?" she asked, looking him directly in the eye. It was one of these rare moments Revan was dumbfounded. "For two years you've been at the front line of the Mandalorian Wars" she continued, seeing he had nothing to say. "Each day could be your last and I'm aware just how close you were to die during all of the campaigns. You think I wasn't watching holovids? I was always the one to keep up with the reports, knowing exactly what was happening to you. And when Alek brought news to Coruscant of your captivity after the Althir III… You think it didn't affect me in any way? You have no idea how many sleepless nights I've spent thinking whether you were alive or if you laid already dead with a hole in your head on some forgotten planet. So yes, it helped me to keep the nightmares away" she finished, pulling out the bear from his hands.
"I'm sorry." It was all he could muster.
"Don't be" Bastila replied, shaking her head. "I shouldn't have taken it out on you. After all, you couldn't have known, and now it's just past" she said, stroking the teddy bear behind its ear as if she was petting a real animal. She pressed its tummy to let the gentle tune play again. The silence fell between them, broken only by the music coming from the stuffed toy. She tossed it on the bed when the music stopped.
"Hey, hey, hey there it is" Revan exclaimed, walking to Bastila's bag. He reached inside, pulling out his mask. "Hey there, I missed you," he said with a huge smile plastered on his lips. He ran his hand over its surface as if checking if nothing was wrong. Bastila watched the entire scene with amusement, even though the object in Revan's hand was for billions the sign of suffering and misery. And yet seeing the man who was responsible for bringing Mandalorian to their knees and later doing almost the same with the Republic, acting like a child who got his favorite toy back was amusing.
Revan, for the first time since his capture by the Jedi, truly felt whole. If there was anything in the Galaxy he was completely and utterly attached to, except for Bastila, it was his mask.
The moment was broken by a cough that erupted in his lungs once again. He bent over, bringing his clenched hand to his face as if in an attempt to stop the annoying symptom. Bastila quickly found herself at his side, not knowing how to help. Her expression turned to a worried one as Revan's face turned red from the exertion and his eyes glazed.
It lasted for a solid minute but eventually, it faded away. Revan cleared his throat few more times in order to fully get rid of the mucus that settled on his throat.
"Will you finally do something with it?" Bastila asked, looking at him worryingly. "It's terrible hearing you coughing like this all the time."
"If only I knew what can be done, I…" he replied, but he stopped due to something unusual he felt. A warning from the Force. He looked around as if wanting to locate it with his eyes, though he knew that the source wasn't there. He looked at Bastila and noticed that she felt it too.
Oh fuck, he thought as the realization hit him and he ran out from the living quarters to the center of the Ebon Hawk; Bastila following him closely.
"Admiral Karath" one of the soldiers addressed the Commander of the Sith fleet.
"What is it, Lieutenant?"
"Our sensors have picked up a message coming from the area not far from Manaan that was sent to Coruscant."
"What's odd in this?" the aged Admiral asked, not paying much attention. "Many messages are sent throughout the Galaxy in every direction."
"Admiral, I wouldn't be bothering you if I didn't think it is important. We deciphered the message as well as the signature of the ship from which this message was sent."
"And?" Saul asked, slowly beginning to lose patience.
"The signature 34-P7JK matches the one sent to us by the Czerka Corporation. They confirmed that the ship with similar registry was spotted on Kashyyyk, then on Tatooine where we've lost contact with our spies. I'm not sure if this ship was on Manaan as well, but we couldn't contact our men in the embassy. But we believe that this ship was there, what would explain why the message was sent from there."
"This order of planets…" Admiral trailed off.
"This is the order in which the Star Maps must be found" Lieutenant finished for him.
"Revan" Saul murmured to himself. "What did the message say?"
"Korriban" he replied.
"Is this ship far from here?"
"It's less than two hundred light years away from Manaan. We calculated their presumable route and their speed. They seem to be heading towards Korriban indeed. They will reach the planet in less than thirteen hours, or so."
"Which route are they heading?"
"They will cross the Parlemian Trade Route and later the Gordian Reach. If we set out now, we can cross their path in the Zeltros System."
Admiral dove into his mind, thinking it through and through. The similar signature of the ship meant almost nothing. Through the viewport, he could see the remnants of the Republic fleet, crumbled by his inevitable Navy. With this victory, the way into the Core Worlds was nearly opened; one final push remained. On the other hand, he could risk to trust the uncertain information and capture the deadliest man in the Galaxy.
"Admiral? We might lose our only chance" Lieutenant said, keeping his posture straight with arms entwined behind his back.
"Admiral Karath!" another Officer addressed him. "The Republic fleet is on the run. If we push now, they won't be able to gather enough reinforcements and the Core Worlds will be ours to take. What's your command, Admiral? We're waiting for orders."
It took him a full minute to make a decision.
"Very well. We shall rendezvous with them. Lieutenant" he addressed the first man who delivered him the news. The man straightened his posture even more if that was possible. "Set the course to Zeltros System." He received a nod and the Lieutenant walked away.
"We're giving up on them?" the Officer asked, clearly not believing his ears.
"The Core Worlds can wait" Saul replied, walking closer to the viewport. He watched as the stars blurred into the all too familiar blueness of the hyperspace. "There is much more important prey to catch right now."
"What are you doing?!" Revan yelled as he reached the center of the Ebon Hawk. His worst nightmare just came to life. A message was sent from the Ebon Hawk. And, just as he worried, it was Juhani who did it. She was standing at the holoprojector, pressing on numerous buttons.
"I'm doing what I should have done earlier" she replied with her broken common language. "You are a threat and you must be stopped" she hissed at him.
A temptation to kill her where she stood was almost too overwhelming and Revan nearly gave himself to that, but he knew he had no time to waste. The events were set in motion and he couldn't stop them now. All he could do was to avoid them somehow.
"Wolf!" he yelled, heading towards the cockpit. He would deal with Juhani later. " Wolf! Bring us out from the hyperspace, now!" he yelled. Unluckily for him, the two pilots were too surprised with his command to act.
And that's when hell began.
The Ebon Hawk shook, bringing everyone who was standing down on the floor. The normal blueness of the hyperspace turned back to the black abyss of empty space. Though the ship wasn't peacefully floating as it should have been.
It was being dragged by something.
"What happened?! What's going on?!" Bastila asked worryingly after entering the cockpit right after Revan did.
"Sith interdictor ship" Carth replied as he checked out the scanners. "They must have been waiting for us on the hyperspace route. We're caught in their tractor beam."
Revan turned around to see Juhani making her way to the cockpit, as well as the rest of their crew. If the looks could kill, the Cathar woman should have been long dead.
"Do you recognize the ship?" Bastila queried.
"It was above Taris when we were running away, as well as one year ago above Telos IV. I would recognize this ship anywhere, anytime. It's the Leviathan" Carth replied as he gave up on the consoles that refused to listen to him. "Saul Karath's vessel. My old mentor" he trailed off, leaning back in his seat, crossing arms over his chest.
"I think I've told you to lock the ship's communicators, Wolfie," Revan said, his voice emanating with anger. A cough was what came out from his mouth next.
"And I did" the pilot replied. "Only recently they were unlocked."
"And you were supposed to keep an eye on our little rat" Revan spat, looking at Juhani. His eyes have long since turned gold.
The pilot had no response to that.
"Block the communicators? Rat? What's going on here?!" Carth demanded an answer with unusually powerful tone.
"It means that we're in our current position because of her" Revan replied, pointing at the Cathar woman. "Tell me, why shouldn't I kill you right now?"
"Kill her? Are you mad? You're a Jedi, as well as she is. Why would she be a reason for us to be caught by the Sith?!" Carth asked, clearly not understanding what was going on.
"Because she's a Jedi" Revan replied hatefully. "A puppet in the Masters' hands, doing their every wish without thinking, just as most of their pathetic Order. And people tend to say that it's me who's following the Dark Side blindly."
"The Dark Side?" This time it was Mission who joined the conversation. "What are you talking about?! From what I know, you were a soldier in the Republic's Navy. Only recently you became a Jedi so how could you have ever followed the Dark Side?"
"Exactly. How could you, Alen?" Juhani asked, crossing her arms over her chest. Revan's glare hardened even more.
"How dare you even address me with pretensions?!" he yelled at her. "It's your fault we're in here right now. If only you have used that brain of yours, just a little, then we wouldn't be in our current situation. You brought the damnation upon us, you fool."
"Just as you have done to countless worlds" she replied, surprisingly standing her ground.
"What are you two talking about, for fuck's sake?!" Carth yelled again.
Don't do anything stupid, please, Bastila begged Revan through their Bond. He turned to her, only to see a worried expression on her face. These words and Bastila's expression seemed to work magic on Revan.
"HK!" Revan yelled, heading back towards the center of the Ebon Hawk. Some sort of plan began to make its way towards his mind.
"Statement: HK-47 is ready to serve, master. Query: Is there someone that you need killed, master?" the rusty droid asked with something that sounded like a hint of hope in his voice.
"We were pulled out from the hyperspace not without reason" Revan began as he saw others making their way towards the center of the ship. "They are aware who is on board. They know that I, Bastila, Rex, Fox, and Wolfie are here. Juhani stated in her mind that it sounds like a good idea to send a message from the Ebon Hawk, making us detectable by the sensors just as if we had flown right in front of the viewport of their capital ship. They know the purpose of our mission, and they know that we have only one last Star Map to find. No matter how much we'd like to…" he was interrupted by a loud cough that came out from his lungs. He covered his mouth with his hand and when he pulled it away, his eyes widened as he noticed the blood. He wiped it against his clothes. "As I was saying, no matter how much we'd like to, we cannot fight the entire ship. My current condition wouldn't allow me to do that. Our only hope is to somehow escape from Leviathan. And that's where you come in, HK" he said addressing the droid.
"Statement: My electrical conduit is sparkling with anticipation, master. Query: Who must I kill?"
"Your primary task, HK, will be to release us" Revan replied. The droid let out something that resembled a disappointed huff. "But that doesn't mean you can't kill on your way towards us" he added. On this, the droid's eyes glimmered with anticipation. "Use whatever means necessary to reach the prison block."
"Statement: It will be my pleasure, master."
"Saul's no fool and he won't underestimate us either. You can count on plenty guards watching every move we make."
"Clarification: Plenty of meatbags who are existing only to become my preys."
"Ever optimistic, aren't you, HK?" Revan asked with a chuckle. "As I said, they know who is on the ship, but at the same time, they are not aware of how many of us there are on board exactly. Mission" he addressed the blue Twi'lek. "They most likely don't know you're on board. Hide below the deck and wait for us to return."
"What?!" she exclaimed, fully enraged. "There's no way you'll be leaving me behind like a little girl!"
"It's for your safety, Mission!" Revan snapped back at her. "Don't you understand it?! I don't want you to hide because I think you would be of no use for us. I want you to hide because you'll be in danger. And no one will be able to rescue you, not even Zaalbar." The Wookiee let out a roar of disagreement to Revan's statement. "We're going to be captured by soldiers who haven't seen a woman for I don't know how long. And seeing you, a young Twi'lek girl, defenseless and…"
"I'm not defenseless!" she snapped at him, stamping.
"Will you shut up and listen to me?!" Revan yelled at her, clearly surprising her. "Once we're off this ship, every one of us is defenseless, including you. And trust me, they'll have no second thoughts before using you. And this will mark your whole life, giving you a wound that won't heal." His voice softened now. "I want you to hide because I don't want anything bad happens to you, Mission. You've proven yourself skillful and worthy on Manaan but now is not the case. So please, listen to me."
"Okay, fine" she snapped, a little angrily.
"HK," he said addressing the droid once again. "Our lives are in your hands now. And their lives must end today."
"Statement: I will not let you down, master."
"You never did."
"Hold on!" Carth yelled. "They're dragging us into the docking bridge!"
We'll get out of here alive, I promise you, Revan said to Bastila through their Bond to calm her and partially to calm himself.
I hope you're right, Bastila replied, trying to calm her shaking breathing.
What neither of them knew was that this promise was pretty much like the one Revan gave her before setting off to fight back the Mandalorians. This promise would be impossible for him to keep.
"Admiral Karath" the Lieutenant approached the elder man. "Our prisoners are safely locked down in the prison block. What are your orders?"
"Let them get used to the cells they're in. They won't be getting outside soon, after all."
"Begin the procedure," the Lieutenant said to the communicator that was located on his wrist. "Shouldn't we inform Lord Malak?"
"Later, Lieutenant" Karath replied, cleaning the invisible dust from his uniform. "We wouldn't want to deliver him the fake news, would we?" Lieutenant shook his head. "I'll speak with the prisoners first and if they indeed are those who we've been looking for, then we shall contact Lord Malak." Karath turned around to start making his way towards the prison block. "Oh, one more thing," he said, stopping in his trucks. The Lieutenant straightened himself again. "If this all goes really well, you can be sure of your preferment, Lieutenant Ulgo." The said Lieutenant bowed deeply after hearing this.
"Commander!" a Sith soldier shouted, calling the person who was standing at the far end of the corridor. "Commander," he repeated, this time quieter, because the distance between them was closed. "What shall I do with that piece of junk?" he asked, mentioning to the turned off HK-47 that few other soldiers have been carrying here all the way from the hangar.
"And what is it?" the Sith Commander asked.
"Apparently some sort of prototype war droid. Amateur work if I did say so myself. But it stacks up when it comes to fighting. This unit has killed almost twenty of our best men before we were able to turn it off."
"Then it's not that amateur work, is it?"
"What shall I do with it?"
"Carry it where the rest of the droid garbage is. We'll think on this one later. We have far more important guests on our deck right now."
"Can it be? I've heard the rumors but I was skeptical as to believe them. Is the one we captured really him?"
"That's something we're not sure yet, soldier" the Commander replied, signaling that it wasn't the topic of the talk. "Have you searched the ship thoroughly?" he asked, changing the topic. "Admiral Karath warned me to be on alert for any kind of treachery."
"We scanned the ship thrice and we found nothing suspicious, Commander."
"Are you sure?"
"As of this that I'm seeing you right now, Commander. There's nothing, nor no one on board."
"It's for nothing, Carth" Fox said as he was watching the Republic pilot struggling with the securities of his cell. "You can't overcome it."
"At least I'm trying to do something, not like Alen," he said, pushing against the electrical wall again, only to be pushed back by the strength of the voltage. Everyone was there in the cell. Everyone, excluding Mission, HK-47, and T3-M4.
"I'm trying to release us" Revan replied. He was sitting in his cell with his legs crossed and eyes closed. His hands were resting carefully on his knees. The only moves that were coming from him were the contractions of the muscles on his face.
"How? By sitting there?" Carth asked, infuriated to no end. "Your plan failed, HK is caught. And now we'll have to wait here for Malak to come for us!"
"HK has never failed me" Revan replied calmly without changing his pose.
"It's hardly surprising, considering that you have this droid for how long? Two days?" Carth snapped at him. Revan said nothing to that.
Revan opened his eyes in unison with Bastila who was remaining motionless until this moment. Only one word escaped her mouth.
"Dantooine" she whispered delicately. Her eyes were filled with tears as the full meaning of what she felt dawned on her.
"I felt it too," Revan said, not changing his pose.
"What have you felt?" Carth snapped at them, all the while infuriated.
"Dantooine… It's… no more" Bastila replied. Tears ran down her cheeks freely.
"What?"
"Malak stroke at Dantooine" Revan replied with his calm tone. "The Enclave, the Council, the local inhabitants are now dead."
"Isn't there anything sacred for that monster?!" Carth exclaimed, punching his cell wall only to be stroke by the electricity charge again.
"There is a way to stop him," Revan said, opening his eyes. "We must get off this ship and find the last Star Map. Then, it will be only a matter of time before we face Malak."
"And what brilliant idea do you have on how to get out of here?"
"As for now, I'd rather focus on Admiral" Revan replied, looking carefully at the door to the prison block.
As if on cue, the doors opened with the hiss, revealing Saul Karath with his personal escort of soldiers.
"Hello, Carth," he said after noticing the Republic pilot. The man sent daggers at him with his glare. His eyes then drifted to the Jedi who was sitting on the floor of his cell. "So the rumors have been true," he noticed, addressing the words more to himself than to anyone specific.
"Hello, Saul" Revan replied, not bothering to stand up.
Okay, guys that were it for today. I know that this chapter was faaaaaar too farfetched and cliché, but, unfortunately, I didn't come up with an idea for something better, ehhh. I'm disappointed with this chapter just as you are, so at least we suffered through it together XD. So I ask you for forgiveness because I'm just a beginner in writing and I hope for your merciful hearts :D. And in one of the earliest chapters, I made a suggestion that Trask was the one who pulled out the Endar Spire from the hyperspace above Taris, so I just had to make a good use of that idea. The idea was good, but the performance… well, it sucked XD Just like the most of this chapter XD. So, once again, I apologize, and I'm counting on your forbearance. See you most probably in this week ;).
