And now for Chapter 11 (and one of the longest yet)! Whew, this fic is already going to be longer than I thought. Coming up is a long-needed fight scene as well. I was kind of 'inspired' by the Neo/Trinity fight scenes from The Matrix for the Revan/Bastila one. Hope you like it.
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Chapter 11: The Scouring
The group of Jedi traversed on foot through Dantooine's rolling hills toward the academy. Revan couldn't believe that he was coming back here so soon. Quaid seemed to be getting along easily, despite the occasional glances he received from the other Jedi in the group.
The group hurried through the wilderness until the crumbling ruins of the old academy came into view. Dustil Onasi pointed at it and spoke to the rest.
"Right there is where we tracked one of their ships. We should move along covertly." Revan nodded in agreement, and had everyone move into a thicket of trees and thick grass. With a motion of his hand he summoned his group to him and addressed the rest.
"Everyone hide behind whatever you can. My group is going to proceed to the academy alone until we are sure the entrance is secured. If the Sith spot us, it will be a lot easier to take them down if they believe there are less of us than their really are. If we are attacked, do not assist us unless I signal for you to do so. If I do, then I want Bastila's group to come down first. If we still need help, then Yuthura's group will come down last. Is that understood?" The group nodded. "Any questions?" he asked. No answer.
"Okay," he huffed. "My group, follow me. The rest of you stay put and avoid being seen. If you see something, be sure to notify us through the communicator, but use it only when necessary." The squad moved out. Jolee stayed with Revan's group, Quaid stayed with Bastila, and Dustil with Yuthura.
"Be careful, Revan," Bastila whispered through their bond. She noticed him smirk slightly in response.
"Aren't I always?" he asked.
"Somehow, I knew you'd say that," she answered.
Revan led the group of six Jedi toward the enclave. The sprawling edifice glinted in the sunlight, and despite it's dilapidated state, it looked almost beautiful in a sad way. Revan reached out with his sense through the force. He couldn't detect any Sith presence…yet.
"This sure does bring back a lot of memories every time I see it," Jolee sighed. "Good and bad. You know, I can remember when Vrook was just an apprentice. He was uptight then, he's no different now. He'd consult the Jedi code before kissing his woman just to make sure he does it in proper Jedi fashion."
Revan laughed. "Well, Vrook doesn't even have a woman. Just give him the Jedi code and he's satisfied."
Jolee laughed heartily. "True, true." Revan noticed some of the other Jedi snicker as well. Those who did not find it funny either ignored the comment or shot them icy glares. The group continued to proceed toward the temple until they just reached one of the connecting bridges. Revan concentrated and sent the image of the enclave to Bastila through their bond.
With a quick motion of his hand Revan signaled for the rest to cross the bridge. They softly crossed the metallic path and neared the academy until they had reached its shadow. The group followed Revan to the upper-academy entrance, where they found a most peculiar site.
"The entrance has been disturbed," Revan remarked, stepping closer to the entrance. "The rubble has been cleared!" He concentrated once more and conveyed the image to Bastila. Some of the Jedi behind him gasped, Jolee merely regarded it with stony silence. Revan carefully examined the entrance. The rubble had indeed been cleared, and very recently by the looks of it. The door was still shut, and it didn't appear to have taken any blows or lightsaber cuts.
Revan could only wager that it had been force-pushed open. He felt a mixture of anger and eagerness to get inside. He felt angry that the Sith had defiled the place with their presence, and he was eager to get inside and get them out. Slowly he raised his hand to the door and focused; focused on moving it open. The door creaked and groaned as it parted inch by inch.
Suddenly, when it was just a few inches open, Revan felt another disturbance in the force. He could sense someone watching him from…from nearby! He focused more on his surroundings and felt more presences then there should have been. He concentrated even more and focused on where the disturbance had come from. He felt something…and braced himself. In a quick flash that was barely perceptible, Revan drew out both his lightsabers and leapt into the air toward a place near the entrance.
The spot he was aiming for appeared to be empty air, but within seconds of reaching it a red beam burst out of nowhere and blocked his strike. A form materialized out of thin air, revealing a black-clad Sith Revan knew to be an assassin. The group, realizing what had happened, all drew their lightsabers.
Revan saw four other black forms materialize, all accompanied by red sabers. The four other assassins descended upon the group. The Jedi immediately dispersed to combat the intruders. Revan felt a surge of emotion through their bond. Bastila knew what was happening, and Revan could tell she was struggling with all her might to not come and help him.
"Don't worry, Bastila. We can handle them," he communicated.
Revan focused on his opponent, who was striking very offensively with quick blows. The assassin's red saber clashed repeatedly with his blue and violet sabers. The loud cracks and hisses of combat filled the air. Revan felt confident in the fight. The Sith were outnumbered and out-skilled. Nevertheless, he kept a level head. Overconfidence could be the greatest enemy.
The assassin made a stab at Revan's side, which Revan dodged countered with an offensive slash of his own. The masked assassin brought his own lightsaber up just in time to block his blow. With lightning reflexes the two dueled. Revan took a quick glimpse to the rest of the group to see what was happening. Jolee was tackling an assassin of his own. Each of the other Jedi had an opponent of their own, though four of the Jedi were attempting to tackle two of the assassins, who seemed to be holding their own quite well.
Revan noticed a flaw in the assassin's technique. He was too offensive, and so he was leaving himself vulnerable to Revan's counter-attacks. Three times he was only just able to dodge Revan's strikes after he had made a slash at Revan. He suddenly slashed at Revan's midsection, which he dodged with a leap into the air and several feet back. The assassin dove at Revan, keeping up with his offensive style. Revan once again blocked his blow.
Realizing that he must end this dual, Revan parried another of the assassin's mad strikes. With the Sith vulnerable, Revan used the opportunity to slash at the Sith right across his chest. The attack was successful, and the assassin fell to the ground dead. Not hesitating for a moment, Revan leapt to the assistance to two Padawans who were keeping an assassin at bay. With relative ease, Revan cut him down.
Jolee had finally managed to down his opponent, and with three of the five assassins already down, the fight was a give from there. After the skirmish Revan took account of casualties. No one had died, thankfully, but a female Padawan had received a slash to her left arm, leaving a nasty cut.
Revan, sensing that no other sentries were around, spoke to Bastila through the bond. "Bring everyone down here." At once he felt a rise of emotion from Bastila, who was no doubt eager to see the results of the fight. The other two groups of Jedi emerged from hiding and soon joined up with Revan's group in front of the enclave.
"Revan!" cried Bastila as she noticed the bodies lying around. "What happened here?"
"Sith assassins," he answered. "And they seemed well-trained, too. They were hiding outside the entrance, no doubt looking out for intruders." He nudged one of the bodies with his foot. "Probably set up as an ambush, too."
"Too bad," Yuthura noted. "We could have used one of them for information."
"Well, we'll just have to hope we can find it from someone else," Quaid added.
"Well, there's bound to be more Sith in the temple, so I don't think that will be a problem." Revan remarked. He once again remembered how he couldn't detect them at first. They had to have been well trained to avoid being detected, something Revan didn't feel comfortable with.
He approached the wounded Jedi. "Are you alright?" he asked her, examining her arm.
"Yeah," she nodded. "I don't think I'll be able to use this arm, though. Thank the force I'm right-handed." She let out a forced chuckle. Revan gently placed a hand over the wound and concentrated. He called upon the lightside of the force, and slowly the burn marks on her arm faded and the wound closed itself. It was still there, but it wasn't nearly as bad once he'd finished.
"It's still there, but a little kolto will heal that up some more. Someone get me a medpack!" Revan yelled. Another Jedi approached him and presented a medpack, which Revan took. "Thank you."
He removed a vial of kolto and spread the healing substance on her wound, after which he wrapped a bandage around it. "There. That should be okay. Think you can fight now?" he asked her. The young Jedi eagerly nodded her head.
"Yes, I can! Thank you, Knight Revan!" she said.
"No problem. Just don't make a habit of it," he replied warmly, at which she nodded and blushed slightly. No doubt she found the idea of being healed by Revan an honor.
"Yuthura, you and Dustil have your group wait outside," Revan said after refocusing on the task. "Bastila's and my group will go inside and investigate."
"Why does that not surprise me?" Yuthura sarcastically. Revan shot her a glance, at which she only raised an eyebrow at him with amusement. Bastila giggled to herself.
"Alright," Revan said, trying to maintain his command presence. "Let's move in. Everyone be on your guard. There's no telling what we'll find in there." After getting the entrance doors open, Revan and Bastila's group entered the ruined academy.
As they slowly traversed its crumbling halls, Quaid took it all in and marveled at all that had changed.
"It has changed," Quaid said out loud, barely above a whisper. "It has been some time. This place contains so many memories." He traced his hand along the wall as he walked. "It was so long since I walked these halls…now it is gone." Revan and Bastila noticed a tone of awe, curiosity, and regret in his voice. Revan said nothing, but merely placed a hand on his friend's shoulder.
"I'm sorry. I know this must be hard to take in," he whispered. He was shocked to see Quaid smile.
"I only regret that the last time I walked these halls, it was when I had told the council that I was going to war. I had argued with them, and that day I was angry with them because they refused to follow me. I only wish I could have parted with a better memory." He removed his hand from the wall.
"We all wish we could rewrite the past," Bastila whispered. "But it is the past in which we can look upon our mistakes and learn from them."
"The same goes for all of us," Revan agreed.
"You're not the only one who left with bad memories, kid," Jolee Bindo added. "But you probably know about that already." Quaid almost laughed.
"And you've made yourself famous for that," the exile responded. "You started the Jedi phrase 'pulling a Bindo'." The group almost laughed aloud, but Revan hushed them.
"Shh. We must keep quiet," Revan cautioned. The rest remained silent as they neared the end of the hall. Before them lay a room with an open roof. Some of the Jedi recognized it instantly. It was where the great tree of the academy used to be. It's branches used to reach past the roof and into the open air. Now, all that remained of the tree was a rotting stump.
The very sight of the room dampened the spirits of Revan, Bastila, Quaid, Jolee, and the rest of the Jedi that once trained there. So many memories did this room contain. Revan knew where to look if there was a Sith ship docked here. To his left was a pathway that rose up and lead to the academy's docks. It was where he docked the Ebon Hawk during his quest for the Star Forge.
Bastila approached the stump and gingerly touched it. An air of sadness hung around the empty halls of the enclave, a sadness that penetrated her spirit. She could feel through the bond the same sadness affecting Revan. Nevertheless, she fought her gloom and remained focused on the mission.
"Bastila," Revan called to her, "you and your squad remain here while I go and check out the docks."
"Going off to do the fun part yourself again?" she asked half-jesting.
"Don't worry, princess. They'll be plenty of them for the both of us," he jested back.
"Have fun." And with that, Revan's squad left the room. They crawled up the ramp and finally reached the door that lead to the docks. Revan turned to the group.
"If a Sith ship landed here, it's beyond this door." He faced the door again. When he noticed the control panel, his heart leapt. It was lit! "Someone's reactivated the power to the academy!" he said to the squad.
He pressed a button to open it, but as he expected, it didn't open. "Hmm." He tried hacking into it, but it still wouldn't budge. He never was great at hacking. "Dang," he thought. "Now I do wish I had Mission here." There was rarely a door she couldn't open.
He then switched tactics and decided to try to force open the door. He reached out with the force to open it, but to his surprise, the door still resisted opening. Clearly, someone didn't want it opened.
"Stand back," he said to the group. He drew his lightsaber, ignited it, and thrust it at the door. He practically yelped when the beam bounced off. The door glowed green for an instant, then reverted to normal. It stood there unharmed. Revan cursed.
"Someone's placed an energy field around this door." Jolee mused. A disgruntled Revan turned to the group.
Well, we're not going to get in this way. Follow me. He led the group back downstairs into the large room.
"Revan! Did you find anything?" she asked him. He shook his head.
"The door is being protected. Someone has reactivated the power and has secured the door. Any suggestions, Bastila?"
She pondered for a moment then perked her eyes. "The main controls to the doors and the power are in the academy's sub-level. We should go down there if we want to get through that door."
"And do you think we can actually override the systems and shut it off?" Revan asked her.
"Well, I wouldn't be a Sentinel if I didn't have an ounce of brains in this head of mind. I'm sure one of us could do it."
That was enough for Revan. "Alright, we're going to the sub-level, everyone. But we're going to change groups for a bit." His eyes fell upon the exile. "Quaid, I want you to take control of Bastila's group. Wait here, and make sure no one gets in or out of that hangar. If you see any Sith, notify me immediately on the communicator." He then turned to Bastila. She noticed him wink at her with the eye that wasn't facing the rest of the Jedi. "Bastila, you're coming with me. I'll need you in the sub-level. Jolee, you'll stay with Quaid's group."
"What – tired of me already, kid?" the old Jedi smirked. "Oh, I see how it is."
Quaid almost laughed, and he noticed Bastila looking rather smug all of a sudden. She joined Revan's group. Revan spoke one last time to the exile. "Make sure no Sith try to escape into or out of the hangar. Give 'em hell if they do." The exile grinned and nodded at Revan. "Okay, let's go!" Revan commanded. He, Bastila, and the rest of their group headed for the enclave's exit.
Once outside, Revan filled Yuthura in on the plans, and then continued toward the sub-level's entrance. They neared the door. Moss was sprouting around the edges and near the bottom, and the doorway's color had faded from lack of upkeep. As with the upper-level entrance, the rubble had been cleared from this door.
"This must be where the Sith are hiding," Bastila suggested.
Revan agreed. "I don't doubt that." The Sith weren't being that discreet about masking their presence so far; they left their traces everywhere. Once again, Revan reached out with the force and attempted to push it open. To his surprise, the doorway slid open rather easily.
"Well, at least that part was easy," Bastila mused.
"Ladies first." Revan mock-bowed and motioned toward the door like a servant.
"Oh, you are a true gentlemen," she responded sarcastically. A silent chuckle emerged from the rest of the Jedi. The group walked down the dark halls of the sub-level. The atmosphere seemed darker and more foreboding than the upper-level. As they came to a dark room, Revan noticed something on the floor beside Bastila. He shined a flashlight on it, and a pair of red eyes stared back at him.
Bastila jumped, but managed to stifle a cry when she saw the thing. When she saw Revan trying not to laugh, she shot him a cold glare.
"That was not funny," she said to him through the bond.
"Oh, yes it was," he communicated back, smiling. He shined the flashlight back on the thing, and it revealed a large, insect-like creature with blank red eyes lying on the floor.
"Laigreks?" one of the Jedi asked. Indeed it was.
"They must have infested this place while it was abandoned," Bastila hypothesized.
Revan nodded. "But this one is dead. I wonder what…" but he didn't have to finish. A closer inspection of it revealed several slash and burn marks on its body. Someone had killed it with a lightsaber. Revan shined his flashlight around the room, and noticed more laigrek bodies strewn across the floor, all bearing the same kind of wounds.
"That's just beautiful," he said dryly. "At least the Sith were kind enough to take care of them for us."
Bastila placed her hands over her eyes as she thought. "If I remember correctly, the power supply is somewhere in that direction." She pointed at a dark hallway ahead of them.
"No use staying here. Let's go," Revan commanded. They paced through the dark halls, occasionally coming across a dead laigrek. They neared a corner and Revan motioned for them to stop. Tiptoeing up to the corner, he carefully peered around. Within a second he snapped his back and motioned for Bastila to come closer. As silently as she could, she approached him. Revan pointed around the corner, meaning for Bastila to take a look. Taking a breath, she looked around the corner and gasped.
At the very end of the hall she spotted two black-clad dark Jedi exiting a room on the far end. The shorter one – a female – motioned for the other to follow her. Without a word they disappeared around the corner at the other end of the hall.
"Sentries, perhaps," Bastila whispered. "They're heading for the power control, I think."
"Maybe. We should follow them." The two Jedi crept around the corner and, once realizing it was safe, motioned for the others to follow. They stealthily made their way down the hall up to the corner. Revan and Bastila peered around again, and saw the two dark Jedi entering a room at the far end.
"That should be it," Bastila communicated.
"Let's go," Revan whispered to the others. They slinked along the dark corridor toward the doorway. Once they were just in reach of them, Revan stopped the group and motioned for them to stand guard.
"Follow me, Bastila." She nodded and crept up behind him. Revan peaked into the room. The room was a large one, and it was lined with computer consoles and control panels throughout. It had every look of a power control. The dark Jedi, however, were not there.
"They're using stealth, Revan whispered as he and she entered the room. "You can come out, now," he said in a louder voice. Just then the door behind them closed, cutting them off from the rest of the group.
"Oh, that's beautiful," Revan said sarcastically.
"Revan," Bastila called to him. He turned, and there were the two Sith they had followed. Suddenly, two more assassins appeared out of stealth, then two more. The six dark Jedi stared at Revan and Bastila hungrily.
"You Jedi fools. As if we were stupid enough to not know you were here," the female assassin said.
"Well, the thought had occurred to me," Revan replied almost lazily.
"Aha. And what do we have here?" the assassin asked with amusement. "The two most famous traitors of our age. The prodigal knights Revan and Bastila," she said mockingly. The other dark Jedi glared at them. From behind, they could here the sounds of the group trying to break through the door in vain. Like the hangar doors, this one was energy-sealed.
"You two could have been the most powerful Sith of your age, the leaders or our order," a masked, male assassin spoke. "A pity you gave it all up to follow the foolish ideals of the Jedi."
"No. The only thing we gave up was death and destruction," Bastila growled. "The darkside promises many things, but the only thing it leads to is darkness and death. That same path awaits you. But it is not too late! You can turn away from—"
The female assassin cut her off. "Spare us your preaching, Jedi! We are not so weak or foolish to hear your lies. What did you hope to achieve by coming here? Nothing can stop us, not even you. The Sith will rise to supremacy once more. The master shall have his relic!"
"What relic?" Revan asked them.
"None of your concern, Jedi. At least, you won't be alive long enough to worry. Lord Nihilus will surely reward us for bringing him your lightsabers. Unless you surrender now, and maybe you can join us once more."
"Bastila," Revan began, "Which one do you want?"
"I'll take the stupid one," Bastila replied with a smirk. "The one who decided to talk and make threats instead of attacking us when she had the chance."
Revan laughed. The female assassin roared with rage and pulled out a lightsaber. She and the other five assassins all ignited their lightsabers, filling the room with their red glare. The two Jedi responded by drawing their own lightsabers.
Revan ignited his blue and violet sabers and brought them up. Bastila activated her golden-yellow double-bladed saber, twirled it, and lowered herself into a combat stance. "I told you there would be plenty for both of us," Revan said to her.
"Enough talk!" the assassin roared. "Let us end this now! Die, Jedi!" The six assassins lunged at the two Jedi. Within a split second, Bastila and Revan reached out to each other through their bond. Over the years, they had learned to execute this bond to their benefit in all situations, even combat. Practice enabled them to exploit the bond to its full potential and bring strength to both of them. Individually, both were powerful, but together the bond multiplied their strength even more. And the Sith would find out the hard way.
Revan and Bastila leaped high into the air and landed on opposite sides of the room. As they predicted, the six assassins split into groups of three to attack them individually. The two Jedi stared at their attackers intently with fire in their eyes. Revan's attackers came at him with full force. In a blinding flash of crimson, they brought their sabers down on him. Revan brought up his own sabers and managed to block all three of them. One of the assassins brought back his saber and attempted to thrust it into Revan's gut.
Revan twirled around to avoid the lightsaber blow while still blocking the other two. He leapt up into the air, did a somersault, and brought his lightsabers crashing down onto one of the attackers. The assassin blocked his blow, but was caught off balance. Revan took advantage of this by planting his hand on the assassin's chest and sweeping his legs out from under him. This allowed him a second to focus on the other two.
Meanwhile, Bastila's attackers attempted the same method. They brought their lightsabers down on her with an overhead sweep. Bastila raised her lightsaber and blocked two of them with each end of her yellow staff and pushed back with all her might to send them off balance. The third attacker attempted a slash at her chest, which she blocked with blinding speed. Leaping up into the air, Bastila sent a hard kick into the face of the third attacker and sent him crashing onto the ground.
Revan blocked and dodged the blows sent by his attackers while the third got up to his feet. The blinding flashes of blue against crimson lighted up the air around them. The cracks and hums of the lightsabers cut out all other noise in the room. When the third assassin finally got to his feet, he threw his lightsaber at Revan, who ducked just in time as the blade of energy whirled over his head. He then rolled on the floor in between two of the Sith as they attempted to strike him while he was on the ground. Stopping behind them, he snapped to his feet and sent out a force wave that sent all three of them into the wall.
With one attacker down momentarily, Bastila had an easier time parrying the blows brought by the other two assassins. Her yellow blade clashed again and again with the crimson blades of the Sith. In a move she had practiced before, Bastila ducked low as she twirled the lightsaber over her head. The lightsaber missed one of the Sith by inches, but managed to slash the other on the arm. Bastila wasted no time in switching to offensive mode. She brought her lightsaber down onto the uninjured attacker who was now defending himself against her blows. She brought up the other end of her lightsaber to block the strike of the one she had just injured. Finally, the third had gotten to her feet.
Revan used the temporary advantage to regain his footing. He force-leapt onto one of the Sith who managed to raise his lightsaber just in time to block him. The other two attackers slashed at him, but their lightsabers were once again blocked by Revan's blue lightsaber. With the violet one, he parried another blow from the third enemy. In a flash, Revan pushed against the opponent, brought his lightsaber back, and slashed at the assassin's midsection, this time hitting home. The assassin fell to the floor. Revan wasn't sure if he was dead, but he couldn't afford to go and see. With only two to deal with now, his attacks became more precise and deadly.
Bastila parried the blows from the two dark Jedi. The one attacker slashed at her, but she dodged it and hit the ground. In a unique maneuver, Bastila pinned the opponent's lightsaber down with one end of her staff, and used it as a balance as she brought her feet up in the air, landing a hard kick on the chin of the other assassin. She came back to her feet, and now the other end of her saber to slash the chest of the assassin in front of her. The dark Jedi dropped to the floor just in time for the third to come lunging at Bastila with fury. This one, ironically, was the female Sith Bastila had mocked earlier. The assassin came at her with full fury, striking with every opportunity she had. Bastila realized that she had to end this duel quickly, or else risk jeopardizing the mission.
Revan's attacks were a mix of offense and defense as he fought the two assassins. For what seemed like ages, the three of them fought. Finally he saw an opening, and in a blind flash struck one of the assassins with his blue lightsaber right across the chest. The assassin fell to the ground, and it was now just one-on-one.
Bastila noticed out of the corner of her eye the other assassin whom she had kicked in the chin rising off the ground. Bastila raised her lightsaber to block another blow, used it to push her opponent off-balance, and then force-pushed her into a nearby console. She ducked low as the other attacker slashed at her head. With the opening, Bastila brought her saber up and cut off the lightsaber arm of her opponent. Bastila didn't like cutting off limbs, but did so when necessary. With a final kick to the head, the assassin crashed to the floor, dead.
Revan now was able to come at his opponent full-force. Now, he was purely offensive. Realizing his advantage, Revan blocked the opponent's lightsaber with one of his own and used the other to slash across his midsection. Finally, the assassin fell down to the ground. He turned and saw Bastila dueling with what looked like the last assassin standing.
Bastila was now down to the last opponent. Her blows were quick, precise, and graceful as the two females clashed. The assassin came at her as fiercely as ever, but Bastila kept her footing. Now the assassin was in a blind rage, and her attacks became mad, imprecise strikes. The attacker lunged at Bastila, attempting to stab her through the chest. Bastila dodged it easily and slashed the Sith's arm with her own lightsaber. The assassin roared in pain. She attempted to bring her lightsaber up again to attack Bastila, but the Jedi twirled her lightsaber and landed a blow on her opponent's chest. The last of the assassins fell to the floor.
When she was done, Bastila deactivated her lightsaber and turned to Revan, who was standing there with a look of amusement in his eyes. "How long were you standing there?" she asked him angrily, placing her hands on her hips.
"Only a few seconds. I figured I'd let you handle the last one by yourself, that's all. I must say your technique's improved. You could use that the next time we go dancing."
"Well, thank you very much," Bastila replied dryly. Noticing her hair came loose in several places, she attempted to fix it as Revan went up to a console. Finally finding the right one, he pressed a few buttons and the door slid open. The group of Jedi instantly poured in and were all dumbstruck when they noticed the bodies of the assassins lying on the ground.
"It's okay," Bastila told them before they could ask questions. "They attempted to ambush us, but luckily they were not successful."
"Bastila, look at this," Revan called to her. Within a second, she was by his side. Revan pointed at the screen. "This room is feeding power to the hangar, but it's also feeding power to the archives."
"Quick! See if you can bring the cameras online!" she suggested.
Revan tapped a few buttons and an image flickered on the screen. As they suspected, a group of four assassins were in the archives. They were busy fiddling with a console. Revan didn't know what they were doing, but he sure didn't like it.
"Quick! We must get over there. They might be stealing information!" Bastila cried.
"Alright, let's go," Revan said. Before going, he accessed the power control and finally cut off power to the hangar doors. "That should take care of our problem. Let's go, everyone!" They all sped off toward the academy's archives. On the way, Revan spoke into his communicator.
"Quaid, we've just deactivated the doors. Contact Yuthura and tell her to get to the hangar. You must try to get inside,"
"Alright, Revan!" the exile responded.
Revan, Bastila, and the rest of their squad moved swiftly through the dark interior toward the academy's archives.
"I thought you said they had cleared the academy before they left, Bastila."
"They did, but they couldn't get everything. I fear they may not have cleared the information from the archives. There it is!" She pointed at a doorway near the middle of the hall. As they neared it, they heard Sith voices coming from inside. They looked inside and saw the four assassins grouped around a console. Noticing the Jedi, they spun around to face them.
"You're too late!" a masked Sith shouted. "And who should the Jedi send but their precious prodigal knights?" he asked mockingly. "We have found what we're looking for and have already sent it to our ships! Too bad your little attempt has failed," the assassin cackled.
"Not yet, it hasn't! Tell us what you stole," Revan growled.
"Die, Jedi!" the assassin screamed. All four of them drew their lightsabers and lunged at the group of Jedi. Already outnumbered and out-skilled, it didn't take long for the group to finish off the four assassins. After the skirmish, the group wasted no time in heading out of the academy's sub-level.
In moments, the group arrived back at the upper level and at the hangar's entrance. Inside the hangar, as Revan had predicted, were two Sith ships. The ships' lasers were firing volleys at Quaid's and Yuthura's bands of Jedi. Bands of assassins fired red blasts at them as well. The Jedi were blocking the blasts with relative ease, but for some reason were not moving closer.
"Revan!" the exile shouted. "The Sith placed mines around their ships! We can't get any closer!" Revan looked and saw the body of an unfortunate Jedi lying on the floor. Undoubtedly, he was the one to fall to the mines.
Revan watched in desperation as the Sith boarded their ships. "No!" Bastila shouted. "We can't let them get away!" But it was too late. The last of the assassins boarded the ships and they hastily took off as they fired at the Jedi. Wasting no time, Revan took out his communicator.
"I'm going to call Atton and tell him to get the Ebon Hawk ready for take off." He spoke into the communicator. "Atton, this is Revan. Do you read me?" No answer. "Atton, this is Revan. Are you there? ATTON? Damn it!" The communicator was silent.
"What's going on?" Bastila asked with worry.
"I don't know, but we can't waste any time. Quaid! Get over to Khoonda with your group and see what's going on with the Ebon Hawk. Bastila and I are going down to the academy's archives to see what they stole. If we're lucky, we might be able to track where there ships are going!"
"No need," said Yuthura holding up a device, smirking. "I've tracked their signal. They're heading for another part of Dantooine. I'm not sure exactly where, though."
"Thanks a lot, Yuthura. Bastila and I are going to the archives. Quaid, you better get to the Ebon Hawk."
The exile nodded firmly and he and his group sped off. With a quick motion of his head, Revan signaled for Bastila and the others to follow him. "Let's go. We have to catch up to them before its too late!"
Sorry for the cliffhanger, but this chapter was getting a little too long. Hopefully, I'll be able to get the next chapter posted soon so you're all not left hanging in the dark for a long time! As always, let me know what you think.