I have to apologize for not getting this out sooner. (that happens a lot, doesn't it?) I was so close to finishing my other fic I decided to just get it done. That ended up in this being put off for a quite some time. Anyway, I wasn't able to get this finished by the end of summer as I had hoped. I've come to realize that I suck at getting things updated frequently. Damn you, laziness! On the other hand, with my other fic finished I'll be able to devote more time to this one. There are only a few chapters left, so it won't be that long before it's over. I must say this fic has turned out longer than I thought it'd be. But I've enjoyed writing it all the same. And finally, things will be revealed in this one.

For some reason, the separation line feature won't work for me, so I have to use dashes. Anyone else have this problem?

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Same as every other chapter. Yup.

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Chapter 24: Revelations

Master Vrook was sound asleep alone in his chambers. So sound asleep, that he didn't hear or feel the evil presence slinking into his room.

The shadowy hooded figure, with expert stealth, crept up to his bed. The hooded figure bent forward over the Master's sleeping form. It's face passed through a beam of light, revealing the face of an old woman with dark, blind eyes.

Darth Traya knelt over so she was close to the unsuspecting Master. Cautiously she put a hand to Vrook's ear and whispered into it, using both her voice and her mind to channel the message into him. Using an ancient assassin tactic, she used the force to deepen his sleep while keeping his mind aware so she could manipulate him without him knowing. With a voice barely up to a whisper, she spoke.

"They have betrayed you," she said silently. "The exile has betrayed the order. He and Revan have allied with the Sith. They have betrayed you."

The master stirred uneasily.

"They must be stopped. You alone know this. You must stop them before it is too late."

With a sly grin, Darth Traya disappeared and drifted out of the room. The task was complete. Vrook already had the inclination in him. All she had to do was give him a little motivation.

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Sion stood in the dark room, the only light coming from the large screen he stood in front of. Flanking him on both sides were two masked Sith furiously working at the computer consoles. Though his face didn't show it, the slightest trace of fear surfaced underneath his scarred exterior. He secretly feared the Dark Lord he was about to talk to, and the fact that he had to give him bad news only made things worse.

The inevitable happened, and Darth Nihilus' dark form appeared on the screen. The unseen eyes beneath his skull-like mask seemed to bore holes into his skull.

"Yes, Sion?" he asked coldly. "I trust this is important, unless you would be foolish enough waste my time?"

"My Lord, we have ill news."

"What ill news? I trust this does not have to do with my artifact?"

Sion paused uneasily before he spoke again. "Yes, my Lord. It does."

The Dark Lord paused and drew in a long breath. Even though he wasn't with him, Sion could feel the anger emanating off him.

"What happened to it?" he asked flatly.

"My Lord, it was…taken. The Jedi found us here and stole it."

The Sith that were sitting next to him were both flung from their seats into the wall. Nihilus continued to stare at Sion hatefully.

"Where are they going? For your sake, you had better know."

"Dantooine, my Lord. We are currently following them there now."

Another moment of uneasy silence passed.

"I promise you Sion, you will be punished for this. However, I'm going to give you one chance to make it less severe. Find it and bring it back to me."

"I will, master."

"Let me make one thing very clear to you Sion, if I do not have that back, you will wish you had died long ago."

Sion bowed his head. "Master, if you do not mind me asking, how did our attack go?"

A sound that might have been laughter came out of Nihilus. "As well as I had hoped. The Republic fleet had a very rude awakening. Coruscant should be getting the news of their tragic defeat very soon."

"Excellent, my Lord."

"And Sion,"

"Yes?"

"Change of plans. The fleet and I are going to take a detour to Dantooine. I am going to make sure this creature does not escape. And you had better hope I do not find it before you do."

"Yes, my Lord."

The screen went blank. Sion angrily stormed out of the room, not even noticing the two Sith who still lay knocked out on the floor.

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The Ebon Hawk hurtled through space toward its destination – Dantooine. However, they still had a while before they got there. All the crew had gathered into the main hold except Atton, who was piloting the ship. In the center of it all stood the gray, blue-eyed figure. Now that they were safe for the moment, it could finally explain everything to them. A thick air of tension hung over the room as it spoke slowly.

"There is a place on Dantooine. A place forgotten by the people who inhabit it. A mountain - one in which no man has gone before, save one. Inside this mountain there are many caves and tunnels. Caverns that lead to hidden places… But one cave is special. One cave leads to the device."

"What device?" Quaid asked.

"Hold on," Revan interrupted. "Back up. Where is this mountain? Where on Dantooine?"

The creature focused its large, crystal eyes on him. "At the top of the planet, in the icy regions where no one treads."

"The polar regions," Yuthura clarified.

Revan's mind suddenly flashed back to the vision he had seen on Dantooine before all this had happened. Snow, all around. A mountain. And an entrance to a cavern he had never scene before. Now he had to know what was in there.

"What does this cavern contain?" he asked.

The creature continued to stare at him with eyes that never blinked. "Inside this cave there is a device. One thousand years ago, my father built it in there, where no one would find it. To keep it safe. He tricked the Jedi into believing he had destroyed it, but it was only a fake. The real one still lives. And it is still operational."

"What machine? What is it?" Quaid asked with a hint of impatience.

"Is it not obvious? The device that created me. The device that allows me to live and talk to you now. The device that is now placing all of you in grave danger."

Revan heard Mission gulp.

Revan cleared his throat. "What is it exactly? How does it work?"

"The device utilizes the power of crystals. Ones very similar to what you use for your own lightsabers. And the same ones that make up my own body." With its hand it motioned at the glowing blue crystals that lined its body. It paused to give them a moment to take this in before proceeding.

"The machine works as a huge, superconductive antennae. It is built for the sole purpose of pulling in, holding, and focusing the life energy you call 'the force'. A long time ago, my creator discovered that he could manipulate the force and bent it to his own purpose. It is much like you Jedi do now; only he took it much further. He discovered it could be used to give life. Once enough energy is obtained, it can be directed and forced into whatever he chooses. It took him years to develop his device, and even longer for it to work properly. He was met with many failures. So many that he was tempted to simply give up. But he persisted. Finally, his countless string of failures was finally met with one success: me."

Revan took all of this in, making sure he could take in every detail.

"At long last, my creator had given something life. But it still wasn't quite enough. I was alive, but my mind was not complete. So my father put a piece of himself in me, to make my soul complete. In doing so, I received part of his mind, and with it his memories. Because of this, I know what he did with his machine, and how he created me."

"So, how did you get in that cave?" Revan asked it.

"I was discovered. I will not burden you with details, but in short, the Jedi found out about my father's experiments and immediately put a stop to them. They had him – and me – taken before their council. It was there that they decided I was too much of a threat to live. My life, apparently, was too dangerous to be alive."

Revan could hear the sadness in the creature's voice as it spoke, and he couldn't help feeling sorry for it.

"So they took my life away. Or so they had thought. For the most part, I was dead. But a small part of my soul remained. After that, my father knew the rules, knew what he was supposed to do, but he didn't. He couldn't. He was a fool. A genius, but a fool. My father made them believe he had destroyed his machine, but he had fooled them. He only destroyed one of his earlier prototypes. The real one still stands, and it is still operational." It let out a sigh, or at least as something that could pass off as a sigh. "Afterward, I was kept in a safe place until finally my father died. When he died, he was buried in a remote tomb, and I was buried there with him. With nothing else to do, I slept, slept until something freed me from my undying prison. It was the destruction of Dantooine's surface that finally woke me up again. And not soon after, I sensed you, Revan, and your love. The rest, as you say, is history."

Everyone in the room seemed to be at a loss for words, even Revan.

"Wow," Mission blurted unexpectedly.

"Amazing. I did not think this was possible," Visas remarked.

"You would be surprised what becomes possible with a little persistence," the creature corrected her.

"So I don't understand? Where do we fit into all this?" Mission asked.

"It's obvious, isn't it?" Revan said. All eyes in the room focused on him. To emphasize his point, he motioned with his arms at the gray creature. "We've seen what he's capable of. And there is one of him now. What happens if the Sith find him? What if they learn to make more like him?"

"They could make thousands, all of them completely loyal," Quaid spoke what was on Revan's mind.

Revan nodded. He decided to put it into context so everyone could understand just what was going on.

"We've all seen what this creature is capable of," he said to them. "He can wield the force – strongly – and he's had no training in it whatsoever. Imagine if there were a thousand, or maybe a million more of them. Now imagine if they served the Sith. Think about it – an entire army of Dark Jedi, all powerful, easy to produce, no training required, and 100 percent loyal. Don't you think the Sith would at least be slightly interested in acquiring this? I don't think I even need to say that with an army like that…"

"They would be unstoppable," Yuthura finished.

"So what do we do now?" Mission asked with arms folded.

"There's only one thing we can do. We must find the machine and destroy it," Revan answered. He once again turned to the creature. "Can you take us there?"

It nodded. "I know where it is. When we get there, I will take you to it. But we must hurry. We do not have much time. I am sorry, but I am afraid we must do this before…we save your Bastila."

Revan's face remained emotionless, but he gave an understanding nod. "So be it." He raised his voice so everyone would hear him. "We're going to look for this thing as soon as we land on Dantooine. The sooner this device is destroyed, the better. Any objections?"

The room was silent.

"Didn't think so." Having said that, Revan turned and exited the main hold, signaling that this was the end of their little meeting. Nobody minded, they all had a lot to think about. Within moments, everyone left the room, all except one.

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It was Revan who came back to the main hold first after everyone had left. That is, aside from T3, who had to pass through the room several times in his maintenance of the ship. When he arrived he was greeted by a peculiar sight – the creature was standing there perfectly still in the same place it had been when Revan had left hours earlier. At first look one would think it was a statue. It had the unique ability to stand perfectly still whenever it wanted, making it seem lifeless except for the faint blue glow of the crystals that lined its body.

It did not acknowledge his presence immediately. Only until Revan approached it did it turn its head slightly in his direction. He had the distinct impression that it was buried very deep in its thoughts. Whatever they were, he also knew they weren't happy thoughts.

"Is there something wrong?" Revan asked it, not in any mood to beat around the bush.

Revan could see the faint trace of a smirk appear on its face.

"A simple question, yet complex," it answered him. "Simple in its nature, yet complex in that it has more than one answer, all of which are complicated."

"Do you like to talk in riddles?" Revan asked with a faint smirk of his own.

"It helps liven the conversation, does it not?"

"Are you going to answer my question, then?"

It let out one of its 'sighs' and lowered its head. "Yes, I am afraid. Many things are wrong."

"Is it something you can tell me?"

"I would not wish too burden you."

"You're not burdening me. I want to help you, if I can. I'd do the same thing with any of my friends."

It seemed rather shocked at this statement. Its eyes actually seemed to widen.

"You…would treat me as one of your friends?"

"Yes. Of course."

"I…thank you. Nobody has ever treated me like an equal before, except my father."

"Well, think of me as your friend. Now, what's wrong?"

"I would not know where to begin, Revan. One cannot be very happy when one knows he is helping others with his own death."

Revan paused. In so many words, this was true. Once they got back to Dantooine, they would destroy the machine, and this thing would give Bastila her life force back. No matter what, it would end in this creature's death. It couldn't have been a very pleasant thought for it.

"I, I'm sorry. I know this must be very hard for you," Revan said apologetically.

"You have no idea. No, it's not very pleasant. But it is to be expected, I suppose."

"Why is that?"

Its head snapped back up at Revan, locking on him with its huge eyes.

"What has my existence been since I was created? My very existence is a mistake. I am a product of a desperate Jedi's experiments. From the very start I could never have a normal existence! I could never feel what others felt, share what others shared! My own life was kept a secret because of what I was! And when I was finally revealed, the Jedi decided that my existence was nothing more than a threat to them!"

Revan noticed the creature's eyes flash from blue to red and back again as it spoke. He could feel anger starting to build up within it.

"I had nobody! My own creator even kept me at arm's length!" it continued. "My only wish when I was created was just to be treated like I was a person, not a mistake. And nothing could ever give me that! All I wanted was to love and be loved in return, as any human would! But I cannot. Those who do not see me as less than human simply see me as a weapon! My very purpose is just to be a tool for everyone around me!"

It was now going into a rant. Its eyes glowed red and sparks of lightning were now crackling around its body. In it's enraged state it actually looked rather frightening. Fearing what might happen, Revan decided to step in before things got out of hand. He took a step forward.

"You're not a tool-"

"Yes I AM!" it roared. "I am not even real! I am made from STONE! I can't even bleed! I feel sadness, yet I cannot cry. Why is that, Revan? Why must I feel emotions like a human if I can't even live as one? It would be better if I had never existed at all!"

"Calm down!" Revan shouted. "Look, I know you're not normal. But that doesn't mean you're worth any less than a human! You're a thinking, feeling being! You deserve to be treated just as well as anyone in this galaxy!"

"That is very easy for you to say. You who have had the blessing of having those who love you. I don't have such a luxury. Admit it, you did not even care about my existence at first, did you? The main reason you wanted to get me back was to save Bastila and your Jedi order!"

That caught Revan off guard slightly. Yes, he had to admit that had been his main motivation in getting this thing away from the Sith. Yes, maybe it was a little selfish. He felt a strange wave of guilt for viewing this creature as just a way to save the galaxy instead of as a real being.

"Yes, I did," Revan admitted. "But that was my mistake, and I see things differently now. I am only human. But that doesn't mean I think you're existence is worthless. That doesn't mean I don't care about you, or that you're nothing more than a tool. I know this must be terrible for you. Believe me, I wish there was some way to get you out of this alive, but I can't see any other way! I wish things could be different, but they aren't! And I truly regret that you had to be put in this position simply because of what you are!"

The creature seemed to have calmed down, and its eyes had now faded back to blue. Its head lowered again.

"Do you have any idea what it's like to feel like you have no identity? To not feel like you have any purpose?"

"No, I don't," Revan said truthfully. "But that does not mean you are alone in this. And even if things seem like you don't have a purpose, that does not mean you can't make one for yourself. You can help us defeat the Sith. You can help us to end this war, I know it. And I am your friend in this, no matter what you are. We all are your friends in this."

It looked back up at him with sad eyes. "If your emotions were not so true, I would say you were simply lying." It paused. "Thank you. But I still cannot help this feeling. It's hard to get rid of these thoughts when you have been treated differently your entire life. I have never been treated as an equal before by anyone except my creator. I do not even have a name."

After a moment of silence, Revan grinned faintly. "Well, that's one thing we can change."

"What?"

"Your name. I can't just call you 'creature' all the time. So why don't we think of a name for you now?"

The creature looked positively dumbfounded. "I…"

"Let's think of a good one. Hmm…" he pondered for a moment. "I know. How about if I call you Saimos?"

"S-Saimos?" it asked shyly. "A name…I have never had a name. My father did not even name me…"

"Yeah. It's a name I remember from my childhood, though I'm not sure where I heard it. But I think it suits you nicely. What do you think of it?"

"Saimos." The creature tested it out its new name. After a moment it smiled and gave a satisfied nod.

"Well, that settles it," Revan said. He extended a hand toward the creature. "Welcome aboard, Saimos."

Saimos took Revan's hand and shook gratefully.

"Thank you, Revan."

Revan and Saimos finally left the main hold, and an hour later Revan found himself in the cockpit.

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"So what the heck was going on back there earlier?" Atton asked him. "Geez, if I wasn't flying this thing I would've come back there. I actually would have if that shouting kept up."

"Saimos was just venting some steam," Revan said dryly.

"Saimos?"

"Uh, the creature. That's its new name now. And I'd better hear you calling it by its name from now on."

"Okay, geez!" Atton said defensively. "Never said I wouldn't."

"Good."

A loud beeping interrupted their conversation.

"Incoming transmission," Atton informed Revan.

"Patch it in," Revan told him.

A moment later, the blue holo image of Carth appeared on one of the screens. To Revan's shock, he seemed genuinely worried.

"Revan, thank god I got to you," he said anxiously. "It was bad. I don't even know what happened. They must have been planning this all along-"

"Woah! Slow down, Carth! What happened?" Revan asked forcefully.

"The Sith. We attacked their fleet. We thought we'd win. We even had them outnumbered. But we lost. Our entire fleet was just demolished. It wasn't even a battle. It was more like a massacre."

Revan's mouth hung open upon hearing the news. Had he just heard him correctly?

"How did this happen?"

"I don't know. But I need to know, are you heading home now?"

"Yes."

"Good, cause we really need you. The fleet has moved on now, and we've just received confirmation that they're heading for Dantooine."

Revan' eyes widened. No, this couldn't be true.

"They'll be arriving within days."

"Carth, we can't go to Coruscant. We have to go to Dantooine."

"What are you doing?"

"It's kind of hard to explain. I'll have to tell you later. But just trust me, the entire galaxy depends on us getting to Dantooine before the Sith do."

Carth leaned back and sighed. "Alright, Revan. I trust you. Heck, I trust you more than I trust myself. Just take care of yourself."

"We will, Carth. Look, get a fleet ready to be dispatched for Dantooine just in case. But do not have them attack the Sith yet."

"Alright, Revan. Will do."

"Thank you Carth."

"Take care, Revan. Admiral Onasi out."

The screen went blank, and Revan and a dumbfounded Atton stood there in silence.

"Atton," the Jedi finally spoke. "I need to talk to the rest of the crew. No matter what happens, keep this ship headed for Dantooine."

He nodded grimly. "Got it."

With that, Revan dashed out of the cockpit to round up the rest of the crew.

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Yeah, I know. I suck at updating. But I hope this chapter was at least half-decent. I also hope Saimos' character was a little more flushed out in this one. One of my regrets about this story is not developing this character more, but I hope this at least helped a bit. As always, please read and review. There's not many chapters left, and I'll try to get these posted as soon as I can, provided school doesn't get too overwhelming.