Disclaimer: KOTOR + Star Wars not mine.
Note: I'm sorry if the first two chapters seem rushed. I was pretty eager to get them posted. Also, looking back, the story's title seems kinda lame. Anyway, hope you're satisfied with this chapter. : )
Chapter 2: Visions and Messages
Revan looked around at his surroundings. They were blindingly white. He felt the air around him. It was bitterly cold. Snow swirled around him and obstructed his vision. Wind bit at his skin through his Jedi robes.
"Where am I?"
He struggled to make sense of all this. Slowly the falling snow cleared and, Revan beheld a huge mountain. He moved toward the mountain's base but he wasn't moving – he was being transported. As he reached the mountain's base he noticed something…an opening. A cave entrance: partially concealed by deep drifts of snow. Revan could feel himself moving toward the entrance. He was only a few feet from it now…. He looked inside and struggled to see what lay within, trying to see through the darkness. But suddenly everything changed.
He saw a huge cavern. It should have been pitch black but was brightly lit. Revan tried to make out the source of light but everything was blurry, and then it changed again.
For a split second Revan beheld a face – a face that was not human. In fact, it did not resemble anything he had ever seen. The face was blurry but he could clearly make out two huge, blue eyes shaped like ovals staring at him. As quickly as the face appeared it vanished, and Revan woke up with a jolt.
He looked around at the dormitory of the Ebon Hawk. It had all been a dream.
"No, not a dream – a vision," Revan thought. Bastila must have seen it. He had felt her presence in the vision. Revan pondered what to do next; whether he should tell Bastila now or wait until later. Revan's question was answered prematurely when he heard a light tapping at the dormitory door.
"Come in, Bastila." The door slid open revealing a concerned-looking Bastila. She was wearing a white robe which she had obviously slipped on in a hurry judging by its wrinkled appearance.
"You saw it. I know you did," she said while walking toward him. Revan motioned for her to sit down next to him on the bed. He took a second to look at the window. It was still dark out. She sat down beside him, looking nervously into his eyes. "Don't worry, Mission is still asleep. That girl sleeps rather soundly." Revan nodded at her.
"It was a vision. It had to be," Revan said, aware of the fact he was stating the obvious. "Where do you think it was?"
"I am unsure. I know of few places with a frozen landscape such as that one. Do you think it could be Hoth?"
"Possibly. The only other places I can think of are the polar regions of Dantooine and Coruscant. Seriously, though, Bastila, I know no more than you do." Revan, left dumbfounded by the vision, had no idea what to make of it. "Well," he sighed, "Whatever it means, it's clear the force wants us to go to a place that has a lot of snow. Maybe it means its time to take that ski trip we've talked about."
Bastila laughed softly. "I've always found snowfall rather soothing, but that placed seemed a little to frozen for my liking."
"Oh, think about it, Bas. It could be a great chance for you to go skiing for the first time in your life!"
A faint smile appeared on her face. "Honestly, Revan, we don't even know if that was a real place or not. The force works in mysterious ways. It's possible those places were just symbols or something else." She paused and her gaze fell downward. "What I really want to know is what the cavern was, and what that…thing was." She spoke this last part with mixture of fear and curiosity. She had obviously referred to the inhuman face.
"Well, it seemed pretty real to me, although I still have no idea what to make of it." He looked around nervously as if to make sure no one was watching. "I got the distinct impression, though, Bastila, that we should not tell anyone about this. Not Mission or Carth, not even the council. Not until we can make sense of it." She nodded at him with agreement and understanding. Revan looked once more at the pitch-black window. "Look, it's still dark out. Why don't we finish our sleep and discuss it in the morning?"
"Sounds like a plan to me. Goodnight, love." She kissed him lightly on the cheek and got up.
"Good night, princess. Sure you don't want to sleep in here for…er, protection?" he asked.
She turned around at him, smiling. "Maybe tomorrow night." She winked at him and proceeded for her dormitory. Although the question had been a joke, Revan felt strangely disappointed. Before she could close the door, however, a mechanical voice spoke to Revan from the hallway.
"Query: Has this female meatbag interrupted your recharging period (HK's term for sleeping) master? If so I would be more than happy to dispose of her for you."
"NO, HK! Just shut up and get back to guarding the ship."
Bastila laughed slightly and closed the door. As Revan lay there alone he tried to fall asleep but could not stop turning over the vision in his head. What was that place? And those eyes…. Strangely enough, they did not so much scare him as intrigue him. Revan tossed and turned the rest of the night, struggling to make sense of it. When he finally found sleep again, it was almost sunrise.
Revan slowly opened his eyes. As his vision cleared he could see light pouring in through the window. It was late morning, by the looks of things. He sluggishly lifted himself from under the sheets. He looked over at the clock and saw it was about 10:00 a.m. Dantooine time. After staring blankly at the ground for some time, Revan finally decided to get dressed. He slipped into his Jedi robes and was in the process of putting on his boots when he heard commotion coming from outside. After strapping on his lightsabers he quickly stepped out to investigate what the noise was about.
As he hurried through the Ebon Hawk's garage he stubbed his foot and practically tripped over a heavy object in his path.
"Deed deet dit beep boop!"
"Oh, sorry T3, I didn't see you there. I guess I wasn't paying attention. You okay?"
"Beep breep boop dit dit," T3 replied cheerfully.
"Alright, good to know we're still friends. Whatcha doing there?"
"Wroop beep beep bloop bip doot bleep."
"Oh, the Ebon Hawk's heating valve was leaking? Thanks for fixing it, T3."
"Droop bleep breep."
"You don't happen to know what's going on in the main room, do you?"
"Drooooo…tweet boop breep."
"Oh really? I'll go see what's going on then. Keep up the good work!"
"Tweet deet!"
Revan walked in just in time to see HK-47 thrown across the room into the wall.
"Request: Master, please try to restrain your meatbag friend! She seems to be overly sensitive about comments regarding her anatomical features!"
"Revan, tell that infernal droid to keep his feet and his comments to himself! It's bad enough he goes about asking to blast everything he sees!" A red-faced Bastila crossed her arms and glared at the droid who had just recovered from being force-pushed into the console. Meanwhile Mission was sitting down against the wall, her face turning purple with laughter.
"What in the force is going on here!" asked a confused Revan.
"Statement: I was merely walking into the main room, trying to get to the cargo hold. I could not get by however, because the space between the wall and the holo-projector is rather slim, and your meatbag mistress was taking up what little space was left. Her rear segment was blocking my path."
"I was bending over trying to get something out of a storage crate! Then your bloody droid takes it upon himself to…urgh!"
"What did he do?" asked Revan.
"Statement: I asked her once to please remove herself from my path. When she did not respond I feared she may have temporarily blanked out. I decided to the best course of action would be to make sure she was still active. I administered a swift kick to her posterior to see if she would respond. She did, and she seemed most infuriated."
"I didn't hear you the first time! You should have the sense to ask again, and you most certainly should not kick someone when they're in your way!"
"Statement: When she started to chastise me I reminded her of my request for her to move. When she continued to yell at me I had to remind her that I was hardly to be blamed for her failure of hearing, let alone her oversized posterior. That was when she threw me into the wall with her freakish abilities!"
"I do not have a large rear end!" Bastila protested.
"Oh, come on Bastila," went Mission. "Some people would take HK-47's remark as a compliment."
"WELL, I DON'T!" Bastila yelled.
"Defense: Come now, master, even you have to admit that there is a noticeable swelling in her rear segment! Perhaps if that was not so it would not pose such an obstacle to one's path!"
Meanwhile Revan was desperately struggling to keep himself from bursting into uncontrollable laughter. He could tell from Bastila's angry glare, however, that he was not succeeding.
"Um, HK," he stammered after finally collecting himself, "Please avoid kicking Bastila or anyone else in the rear end in the future. If someone is in your way, ask them to move. If they don't respond, ask them again, only louder. I'm sure they will notice you."
"Oh, very well, master. Request: However, I must ask your meatbag female to not be so sensitive regarding comments concerning her anatomy and to avoid having any other body parts swell to disproportionate size. I can already tell that those things on her chest could pose a nuisance to others if they grow much larger."
At this Revan could no longer contain himself, and he and Mission both burst out into insane fits of laughter. Bastila was now thoroughly furious and her face turned an even deeper shade of red.
"Well, I'm glad we're all having such a wonderful time at my expense! When you're all done, I'll be in the dormitory deciding who to test out my lightsaber on first!" At this she stormed off into the dormitory with steam trailing behind her and shut the door. Mission and Revan were still rolling around, laughing wildly.
When the two finally gathered themselves, tears of laughter streaming down their faces, they sat down against the wall. They looked at each other with smiles; trying to catch their breath.
"Oh man, that HK really knows how to get under her skin," remarked Mission.
"I wouldn't go in there for a while. She's more dangerous than a kath hound with rabies when she's like this."
"Yeah, and she's twice as likely to bite," joked Mission. Revan laughed again at her comment.
When they finally stopped laughing a loud beeping sound rang over the com-speakers.
"That's probably Carth," said Mission. Revan ran over to the cockpit and pressed the button to receive the message. The holo-screen flickered to life revealing a sleepy-eyed Carth Onasi.
"Oh, great Revan, you're awake," said Carth. "I was afraid I would have to call later. Why are you smiling like that? Are you really that happy to see me?"
"Oh, we just had a little 'incident' here." Revan was glad Carth still had a sense of humor. "What's up? Why are you calling?"
"I need to see you and Bastila soon. I'm supposed to give you a message from the Jedi Council. They said they need you two for a 'mission'. That's why I came to Dantooine in the first place. I also need to talk to you two myself. I would prefer to speak in person, however. Any chance we could meet up?"
"Sure! Meet us in the cantina about noon. We can talk there."
"Oh, and feel free to bring Mission along. I doubt she'd appreciate being cooped up on the ship."
"Will do, Carth."
"Alright! See you at noon. Carth Onasi out." The transmission abruptly ended. Revan pondered what the council planned for him next. Revan then recalled the vision he and Bastila shared. He still felt they should keep it a secret, although he had no idea why. Revan waited for about half an hour before going to see Bastila. Upon reaching the dormitory he knocked lightly on the door.
"What do you want?" responded a frustrated Bastila.
"Look, Bastila, I need to speak to you. It's important. Carth just called." The door opened and a curious Bastila stepped out to meet him.
"What did he say?" she asked.
"He would like to speak with us. He says he has a message from the Jedi council concerning some new mission. He also needs to talk with us himself. I told him we would meet in the cantina around noon. That sound okay to you?"
"Sounds fine. Did he say anything else?"
"Nope, just that we could bring Mission along if we want." He looked at Bastila and tried to gather his next sentence. "Look, Bastila, I'm sorry about earlier."
"I know. And that droid is right about one thing: I really should learn to control my emotions. I promised myself I would do that. I – I'm sorry I couldn't control myself back there."
"It's alright, Bastila. Besides, you know I love you and would never laugh at you to make you feel bad."
"I know. In retrospect, it was kind of funny. That droid just infuriates me so much sometimes."
"Hey, he gets on everyone's nerves, but that's his nature." Revan smiled at her and gently placed his hand on her cheek. "So, are you okay, now?"
"Oh, I feel much better," she said smiling at him. Her expression then turned serious. "Revan,…"
"Yes, Bastila?" he asked brushing his hands through her hair.
"I don't have a large rear end, do I?"
Revan somehow managed to avoid bursting into laughter again. He gathered himself and looked at her, smiling. "Bastila, I'll only say this. You're beautiful to me and no large posterior will ever change that. Besides, you really do have a fine er, cargo hold." He thought she would be angry at this comment but blushed instead.
"Um, thank you. Would you like to come in?"
"Sure," he responded. "It's kinda boring in the cockpit." When Bastila turned around, Revan was overcome by the urge to reach down and give her rear a slight pinch, earning a surprised "Oh!" from her.
When they arrived at the cantina they stepped inside and were greeted by Carth, who already had a table.
"Where's Mission?" he asked.
"She decided to do some exploring instead. You didn't need her for anything, did you?"
"No, that's fine. Actually, its kind of better this way. Come and sit down." The three sat at a table in the corner.
"Now, what did you want to tell us?" asked Bastila.
"Well do you remember the incident at Peragus I told you about? It turns out we found someone on Telos that may be involved in the incident. He arrived on Telos very shortly after the explosion. When I learned of who they were holding, I thought you would want to see him yourself. I had him and his companions transferred to Coruscant. That was why I came here – to tell you. Meanwhile, when the council learned of him, they immediately requested your presence. I just received the transmission last night. They too, felt you needed to see who it was."
"Who was it?" Revan and Bastila asked in unison.
"Well," Carth paused. "He's pretty well-known. The council did not seem too happy to see him, especially Vrook and Atris. The prisoner also knew you, and seemed pretty eager to see you."
Revan did not like where this was going. "Who was it?" he asked again.
"He served under you during the Mandalorian wars. I don't know if you remember him or not. Tell me, Revan, do you know of someone named Quaid Darin?"
Revan's jaw dropped. Bastila was stunned.
"The general," stammered Revan.
"The exile," muttered Bastila.
Aarrgh! I still think this chapter's rushed. Oh well. Anyway, feeback is appreciated as always. Don't worry, the plot will soon pick up. By the way, I know Dantooine and Coruscant may not even have polar regions, but it's all for effect : ) . Adios.