The Ebon Hawk Part 3
"Did you just say you are Revan, as in the Dark Lord of the Sith, Revan?" Canderous asked, his face a mask that Revan couldn't see through.
"The one and only" Revan told him, keeping his expression as unreadable as the Mandalorian was keeping his own.
"Well, I can't say I saw this coming, but you have certainly done some things that I thought only Revan himself could do" Canderous told him casually, allowing himself to smile slightly before his expression turned sour again. Revan noticed the slight slip in the muscular Mandalorian's Pazaak face so he moved in for the kill.
"You aren't going to try to kill me, are you?" Revan asked, staring right into the Mandalorian's stormy face.
"Oh, no way, Revan. Even if I could do that, I would not do that. You were the best that the Republic could offer, Revan. That is what we wanted from going to war against the Republic. We wanted to face the best that they had to offer, and you were it. I am not upset that you won the war. We faced the best, and you won. To this day, I still say that the Republic didn't defeat us during the wars. Revan defeated the Mandalorians in the war" Canderous told him, though his expression was still unreadable.
"Look, Canderous, I'm going to cut right to the chase. After Dantooine, I am going to lead everybody on a journey to find my secret weapon" Revan explained.
"So why are you telling me everything now?" Canderous asked, confusion peering out of his emotionless mask.
"I need to know if you will follow me, because I am going to need backup. I can't contact any of my long time allies until I find the Star Forge, and I know Malak is going to spend as much of his resources that he can to hunt me down as soon as he realizes that I survived his attempt at killing me. I need allies who wont betray me when the final battle comes" Revan told him.
"And you decided to choose a Mandalorian? Why?" Canderous asked, still deeply confused at the logic that Revan was showing him.
"I know all about your honor system. You can't betray somebody who you have sworn your loyalty to" Revan replied. At that, Canderous finally realized why Revan was going to him for help.
"You defeated the Mandalorian clans in the war, Revan. You were the only one in the galaxy who could best us. We had never met one like you before, and never since. How could you even ask if I will follow you? Whatever you are fighting, it will be worthy of my skill" the armored man said proudly.
Standing up and walking around the table, Canderous stared at Revan until the former Sith Lord stood up to meet his gaze.
The two men sized each other up for a few seconds before somebody had to make a move.
Suddenly, Canderous held out his gloved right hand, allowing Revan to meet it in a firm grip.
"I'm your man until the end, Revan. No matter how this plays out" Canderous promised him.
The two exchanged a solemn nod of respect, from one warrior to another, then the former Jedi released the Mandalorian's hand, and turned away to move toward the cockpit, where he knew the last member of the crew who didn't know his identity yet, but he would know it all soon enough.
Revan groaned before walking into the cockpit, taking a seat in the co-pilot's seat, looking at none other than Carth Onasi.
"Hey, Avner, what's on your mind?" Carth asked him, shocked that the young man was so distracted instead of so carefree like he was throughout all of Taris.
"I got to talk to you about something, Carth" Revan said. Carth was so shocked that Revan wasn't being sarcastic like usual that he didn't have any response to Revan's calm statement.
"Carth, what are your feelings on Revan?" Revan asked, calmly gazing at the Republic Captain.
"Revan was possibly the greatest commander and the best leader I have ever served under and he held my respect for a long time. When he told the whole army that he was going out in search for the threat that the Jedi Council was too afraid to go after, I felt even more respect for the man. I didn't follow him, but I remembered the sacrifice that he made for the Republic when it was said that Revan had died beyond the outer rim. Then, when he returned from the outer rim as the leader of the Sith, I couldn't believe it. After giving up so much for the Republic, I have no idea why he would attack the Republic just like that. In the war, he always had a reason for everything, but I just couldn't see a reason for this" Carth said. It was obvious that Carth had a lot of respect for Revan, but it was lost when Revan attacked the Republic, the respect that Carth had held for the young man was blown away in the dust faster than any could react.
"What if I told you that Revan did have his reasons for attacking the Republic?" Revan asked.
"How would you know that?" Carth demanded, his curiosity taking over his many trust issues.
"Because I am Revan, Carth. You have been following the orders of Revan since we got off of the Endar Spire" Revan explained.
"What? How could you come back after all the worlds you conquered? All the innocent soldiers that you killed!" Carth exclaimed.
"Carth, first off, I didn't start this war. The Republic dealt the first blow and attacked me first. I wanted to have a diplomatic conversation, but the Jedi would have none of it. They told the senate that I had turned to the Dark Side and before I could even defend myself, the Republic Military was attacking me. Secondly, you know I never do anything without a reason. You said it yourself, so why did I come back with an army if there wasn't a reason for it?" Revan asked casually, expecting objections from Carth.
"But you fought the Republic for so long after their initial attack!" Carth argued.
"They brought the fight to me and I brought it right back to them, only the difference was that I was winning" Revan argued.
"So what are you going to do now? Go back and continue conquering the Republic?" Carth asked.
"Truthfully, yes, I am going to try to get back to conquering the Republic, but not for the reasons you think. I am going to conquer the Republic so it will be ready what is going to happen next" Revan told him.
"And what is going to come next?" Carth demanded, his trust for Revan seemingly starting to return.
"I can't tell you that, yet, Carth. I have to wait until I know you are on my side and I need to make sure you won't take this information back to the Republic. But I have revealed the rest of my hand to you. It is your move now" Revan told him, waiting calmly for Carth to make his final move.
"Alright, Revan, I will follow you for now, but I need to know what you are planning" Carth told him.
"All in good time, Carth; I plan to tell everybody after Dantooine, as long as they remain loyal to me. That is where I will reveal my plan to everybody" Revan told him.
"Alright, I can wait until then, Revan. But know this, I am going to be watching you, and know that if I think you are just on a hunt for power, I will go right to the Republic and tell them your plan" Carth threatened, but Revan just chuckled.
"I have no doubts about that, Carth, I have no doubt about that" Revan agreed, getting up and going to the bunks where Bastila was sleeping.
He looked down at her sleeping form and sighed, turning away and laying down on a different bunk before he had time to do something he would regret.
"Since when did Bastila become such a beautiful young woman?" Revan asked himself before he allowed his body to fall asleep.
Author's Note: well that is the end of chapter 12 and chapter 13 starts Dantooine. Dantooine is going to be a bit different than the canon storyline and it will not be as long as Taris before I get us out and onto Tatooine! That is what I am waiting for, honestly. A lot of this story is going to be between Tatooine and Manaan, with the Ebon Hawk stops along the way. I still don't know what I am going to do about the Leviathan, but I will decide long before then, I hope! Either way, there is going to be a lot of time between now and the leviathan! So, please review again and happy reading!