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Chapter 1: The Not So Great Journey

Stuck in an packing crate on the flagship of the Sith Empire's loading bay in the freezing weather of Rhen Var was not exactly where Bastila Shan thought she would see herself at twenty one years. A Jedi Knight, maybe but not half frozen and worrying about her own breath as it came out in short little gasps. It amazed her how loud her own breathing sounded in the confines of that packing crate and the small amount of fog that rose from each pull of breath made her worries even more tangible. Afraid of triggering an alarm, Bastila remained encased in the crate for some time until her companions, consisting of two much older Jedi Knights and a single Master pulled her from it.

"Padawan Shan we need you to use your Battle Meditation as soon as the attack begins and we confront either Revan or Malak. Malak would be the easier target but we need to make certain they are separated or we will never defeat them. Revan and Malak together are undefeatable. Whoever presents to most open target we will take but we need to move quickly, and we need to-"

The Twi'lek Jedi Master paused, her lekku twitching as she sensed something through the Force. Turning quickly back to the much less experienced Jedi, the Twi'lek Master made a cutting gesture with her hand and lowered it to tell her companions to shield themselves within the Force and take cover. Within seconds all four Jedi were hidden and the sound of bootsteps echoed through the corridor.
"Have these supplies checked and cleared within the hour. Lord Revan has ordered that we have enough supplies for an extended journey, eight months worth at least. We are going into unexplored territory and we have no means of sending for aid. Only two other ships have been outfitted and we can't spare anymore from the line."

One of the Sith mechanics listening to the silver-armored Sith Sergeant sighed loudly.

"In other words we're going to need enough parts to build a new ship and enough food to feed a million people."

The armored Sith's mechanically filtered voiced laughed through his comm, odd if not unsettling.

"Very good. Lord Malak will arrive shortly from the base and the rest of the fleet will be stationed to defend the excavation facility. We need to be ready for departure at a moment's notice. If something goes wrong and we're missing a power coupling you know who's going to end up dead, right?"

All mirth and weariness left the Sith mechanic's face as he stood as straight as a durasteel bar and saluted mechanically.

"It will be done, Sergeant."

The Sith Sergeant nodded, turning to the corridor to inspect the next supply shipment and coming to an abrupt halt. Shoulders rose and his spine straightened as the armored Sith snapped off a flawless salute.

"Lord Revan."

Revan acknowledged the Sith sergeant with a single nod, his masked features turning to inspect the cargo bay. It was one of the traits that made Revan so well-loved amongst his men. He did the same work they did, he led by example.

"Sergeant Fenlan, I see everything is in order. We will be leaving shortly after Malak arrives and the last of our supplies will be delivered by droid transports. A security issue has come up and I sense the Jedi are planning to move against us. We cannot risk having any outsiders discover our plans... information could be leaked and given to our enemies. Am I clear... Lieutenant?"

The Sith shifted slightly at the promotion but bowed deeply to Darth Revan.

"Of course, my Lord. We shall inspect all of the cargo containers for tampering and inform you of our progress."

Darth Revan nodded slowly, his hood obscuring his faceless mask as he turned and walked away. Revan's footsteps were silent as were those of the rust-colored droid that stood at his side. From where the Jedi watched the scene, shielded deeply within the Force and behind stealth field generators, they could feel a sentient presence within the mechanical droid that looked like a protocol droid, but at the same time, like a droid built for war. As soon as Revan was out of sight and the doors to the cargo hold sealed, the newly appointed Sith Lieutenant turned to his loading crew and barked off an order to search the containers.
Acting quickly, the Jedi moved like shadows through the cargo hold, finding their modes of entry to the Sith's flagship and concealing all evidence of their existence before moving away from the Sith soldiers. Being discovered before the Republic fleet's arrival would put an abrupt and bloody end to their mission.

"The hold is clear, move on to the next and keep me updated. Soran, stay here and check back with me in fifteen minutes. Can't bloody well take any chances if Revan is being paranoid. Something big is coming and I have no doubt its an attack. We've been sitting here on Rhen Var for too long and the Republic can't be that blind."

Deckhand Soran saluted the newly promoted Lieutenant Fenlan and stood beside the door, his scanners within his helmet and his own senses not seeing the hidden Jedi as they passed around him and through the door as silent as a breeze of wind. Further down the hallway, Darth Revan paused, his shoulders straightening beneath his armor and battle robes in a barely perceptible motion. Behind him, Revan could sense the deckhands and the Lieutenant but also pockets of nothingness between them. That was strange. Turning and walking at a brisk pace, the Dark Lord of the Sith lowered his right hand to his belt, clasping his hand around his lightsaber hilt and reaching deeply within the Force, bombarding the area with his power as he searched. The Hunter-killer droid that stood at his side quickly mimicked its Master's caution, hefting its heavy blaster rifle and following the Dark Lord of the Sith in a quick yet crouched sprint. The hidden Jedi made their way quickly from the scene, realizing they had been sensed, or likely a trace of their presence had been sensed.

Lieutenant Fenlan paused in his march to the next loading bay when he saw Revan approaching, his masked features moving with his head as he did a quick visual check of the area. Raising his left wrist to his mask, Revan spoke into his wrist communicator to his bridge.

"Take off immediately, seal off the loading deck and prepare to vent the entire section once we reach orbit. Have Malak report to the Interceptor instead of here. Alert all hands and ships to prepare for an attack."

Turning his masked features to Lieutenant Fenlan, Revan made a gesture for the man to activate his armored suit's emergency respirator. Fenlan nodded and did as his Lord commanded, returning to the loading bay and making the same gesture to his men who quickly obeyed and moved along the deck to warn their comrades. Reaching up slowly and activating his air reserves within his mask, Revan waited, concentrating wholly on the Force as the minutes passed. The air around him thinned as the Revenge rose into Rhen Var's lower atmosphere and Revan's yellow eyes opened beneath his mask. The ship's inertial dampeners performed flawlessly and the only warning any interlopers to the Sith fleet's massive flagship's ascent was the sudden lack of air. Almost immediately, Revan activated his lightsaber and moved at a Force-enhanced sprint, springing on one of the intruders that panicked and dropped their mental shields.
To an outside observer it merely looked like a black and red blur streaked past a pocket of air and that pocket of air materialized first into a severed head and then a decapitated body. The head rolled a few yards, coming to a stop abruptly and Revan's crimson saber followed the same path, intercepting the gleaming azure blade of the second Jedi Knight to invade his domain. With a flick of the wrist, Revan's saber slid along the blade of his enemy's, hissing in the vacuum as it sliced through the lightsaber's vulnerable hilt. In the same motion, Revan decapitated his second Jedi Knight. Further down the hall, Bastila Shan panicked as she was denied air and quickly scrambled for the breather strapped to her belt pouch. The sound of a lightsaber resonating along the deck of the ship was her only warning to having been discovered as she attached her breather and calmed her rushing heart. Bastila turned to see the Dark Lord of the Sith effortlessly kill two of her fellow Jedi in what could only be described as mechanical efficiency.
When Revan's mask turned to her, Bastila Shan felt all of the blood rush from her face as her heart beat faster and faster, her breathing, only audible to her within the vacuum sounded almost deafening and knew she would have died if Master Tai'Shal, the Twi'lek Jedi within the strike team had not stripped her stealth field generator from her belt and charged Revan, her violet lightsaber burning within her hands. Unable to hear the first clash of the lightsabers, Bastila Shan did the only thing her instincts told her to and ran, as fast as she could without leaving a huge gap within the Force to the nearest air duct and climbed in, not looking back as the Jedi Master and Sith Lord fought.
Feeling that she had given Bastila enough time to escape Revan's notice, Tai'Shal focused all of her energies on the battle as she quickly discovered her considerable skill with a lightsaber was no match one on one to Revan, let alone the group of Sith soldiers she could sense approaching from behind him. Revan of course was not going to allow her to escape and Tai'Shal was hard pressed to avoid the deadly red tip of his blade as it seared a path along her trailing cloak. The brown material fell to the ground, the Jedi Master throwing what remained of her cloak at Revan, who simply sliced it apart again, continuing his attack in the same, graceful motion.

As she felt the Sith soldiers taking positions behind Revan and awaiting his order, Tai'Shal called on the Force and took hold of one of the Sith mechanics, pulling him towards Darth Revan. The Sith Lord, sensing the attack rolled out of the way of the man as he flew past, colliding into a bulkhead and falling to the floor, motionless as his helmet cracked and began leaking precious air. Two of the Sith soldiers moved to help their comrade, while Revan stayed crouched where he had rolled to avoid the man. Slowly, Revan's mask rose from the deck to look up at the Jedi and Tai'Shal barely felt the warning within the Force before she found her violet blade locked against a red blur. To say Darth Revan was impressed would have been overkill. Revan was merely marginally surprised at his Jedi opponent's skilled Soresu stance.

"Repressurize the deck."

Revan's mechanically filtered voice ordered over his helm's comm line, civil and cultured like all Core accents but slightly rougher from an early childhood beyond the Republic. With slow precision, Tai'Shal moved her lightsaber in slow but measured patterns to intercept Revan's single crimson blade. The Jedi Master shook her head, mentally fighting down her fear as she recalled the lecture the Council had given her on Revan and Malak. If Malak were the more skilled with the blade and Revan could subdue him with his strength in the Force as was believed she knew her chances would quickly lower from bad to worse. Revan had not yet used his considerable power to attack, choosing instead to confront the Jedi traditionally with a lightsaber. She knew as soon as Revan grew bored with their battle that he would bring an abrupt end to the violence, likely with more violence.

In the back of Darth Revan's mind a small voice made a joke of sparing the Jedi for a sparring partner for Malak. The voice was analyzed and quickly cast aside in favor of the other that told to be cautious. Few Jedi would be able to intercept as many of his attacks as this one had, and he concluded that the Jedi before him was a Master, but what Master travels with two Jedi Knights and no apprentice. A strike team, a precursor to an all out attack and Revan suddenly felt the urge to end the battle as quickly as possible. Fighting down the urge, Revan relaxed into a more calm attack which while still deadly, presented the Jedi with more options that mere defense.

"A distraction, is it? Have more Jedi hiding about?"

Revan could see no tell in the Twi'lek Jedi's face, as he expected and he saw no slip in her defense. The Jedi did not, however exploit the opening he presented her and the Dark Lord of the Sith smiled in triumph under his mask. She was delaying him. Without pause from his strike, Revan's left hand came free from his lightsaber and opened into a flat palm facing the Jedi. Before she had time to throw up a barrier, Tai'Shal was thrown across the open space of the corridor behind her to land in a heap, pain lacing through her as she was suddenly struck by the invisible force of Revan's blow.

A lifetime of training took over and Tai'Shal shook away the pain and disorientation, her violet eyes snapping open as her pale yellow skin flushed with a rush of blood and energy as she called the Force to aid her. Too little and too late, however as Revan's crimson saber clipped the back of her left thigh and swung in a blurred arc to sever her weapon in two. Dropping to her knees in pain, the Jedi Master clenched her hand tightly around her destroyed lightsaber, her mind searching for the weapons of her fallen comrades. Two lightsabers flew from the belts of their dead owners and towards the Twi'lek's hands. A sound very much like a sigh came from Revan as he moved his active crimson blade up and decapitated his third Jedi, careful to leave the Twi'lek's lekku intact. The fight came to an abrupt end and the lightsabers fell from their paths to the floor, their clatters seemingly far away in the thin, yet returning air. Darth Revan stared down at the Jedi Master's corpse a moment before his lightsaber blade retracted and he returned his weapon to his belt, where a twin of it's intricate construction rested.

"Prepare the fleet and base for an attack."

Revan's voice sounded through his mechanical filter, indifferent as always. Doing a quick check visually and through the Force around him, the Dark Lord turned, leaving the bodies to be collected and stored for later burial to his soldiers as he made his way quickly to the bridge to oversee the coming battle. The rust-colored Hunter Killer droid seemed to look down at the corpses of the Jedi longingly before turning after its Master and following, looking almost like a petulant child, denied candy. From her hiding spot, Bastila Shan fought down the urge to tremble as she peered at her companions who had, just moments before been alive and well. The dismissive way Revan had killed them had chased from her mind all thoughts of her mission's success. She could not expose herself within the Sith Flagship by using her Battle Meditation without protection and she could hardly face Revan alone. After what felt like a lifetime the stale nothingness around Bastila cooled and she began shivering not from fear but from the chill of the recycled air around her. Shakily reaching to her breather, Bastila quickly removed the device, taking care not to gasp for breath as she took in a deep, steadying breath and placed the breather back within her belt pouch. Quickly removing her lightsaber from her belt, Bastila Shan slowly began crawling through the air ducts of the Revenge as the space around Rhen Var opened up in a cataclysm of Republic and Sith starships. Her first and foremost thought was to find a means of escape and then move to where she could use her Battle Meditation without leaving herself an open target for a Sith.

"Well this is just marvelous, Revan."

Darth Malak's voice called with a hint of static over the direct comm line to Revan's communicator. Darth Revan, resisting the urge to sigh kept his eyes locked on the battle. The Injustice, one of only three ships, including his own and Malak's that was equipped with the Rakatan's advanced Hyperdrive had met its end to three Republic light cruisers that managed to isolate the ship from the main fleet.

"They're trying to draw out our smaller ships, bring them back and cover them with the heavy cruisers and Interdictors."

Revan ordered, his eyes narrowing beneath his mask as they followed dozens of new information updates being relayed to his visor.

"Malak bring the Interceptor starboard to the Revenge and have Exar's Bane support the Talos Sphere and Spice Forager."

Malak and Revan's crews relayed and carried out Revan's commands, bringing some organization to the still-forming Sith line. The Republic had jumped into the system and began the attack almost the exact moment Revan entered his bridge. Malak's smaller but much faster ship moved into a defensive position around the Sith flagship, its shields deflecting most of the energy given off by the Republic ship's turrets while its armor absorbed the damage that leaked through its shielding.

"Charge the pulse lasers for a volley and fire."

Revan ordered. The order was quickly carried out and several armored plates slid away from the Revenge's hull, revealing a dish-like weapon relay, charged with ruby-red energy spheres. The sound of a compressor firing resonated along the Revenge's structure as five pulse lasers emptied their reserves into two Republic heavy cruisers, tearing through the shields and armor of the smaller vessels and causing their hulls to break apart. One of the Republic ship's reactors overloaded and the ship exploded, vaporizing its bulk as well as part of the other, dismembered ship. The second Republic cruiser merely spun uncontrollably as air and bodies and debris vented into space.

"Lord Revan, a Republic Interdictor-class cruiser is trying to flank us starboard and destroy the Interceptor."

One hand unconsciously curling into a fist, Revan checked his information before responding to his bridge officer.

"Open up out turboblasters along its side. Let them know who exactly they are trying to flank."

Words from a previous war that would have brought a smile to the officer's face were taken in without emotion and no hint of a smile.

"Underway."

The officer responded as a steady stream of red emerged from the Revenge's starboard side to strike the Republic's heaviest class capital ship. The shields of the Republic ship flared to a light blue as it absorbed the relentless assault of nearly a hundred ship-to-ship blasterbolts. Small black marks began appearing on the hull of the Interdictor as its shields were overwhelmed.

"Pulse lasers ready, Milord."

Revan raised a hand slowly, signaling the weapons officer to bear on the Republic ship flanking them.

"They've launched fighters and its turning abreast to charge us."

In the engineering section of the Sith Flagship a single Jedi Padawan did the only thing she could in the battle and severed a large power coupling. The lights flickered and went dark as sparks shot from the destroyed line and Bastila moved on quickly, trying to avoid the dozens of Dark Jedi on board the vessel. What good was one Jedi student against twenty highly trained and battle hardened Sith warriors.

"Sir, out engines are not responding."

Revan's jaw clenched as he raised his right hand to a small console built into his left vambrace. A small display appeared on the Dark Lord of the Sith's helm and he correctly deduced that they had been sabotaged. Reaching into the Force, Revan pinpointed the cause and sneered. He had missed one of the Jedi and this one was crafty.

"Divert power from-"

The bridge was dark for a moment before emergency lightning returned, offering a soft red glow to the crew to see by.

"Communications array has been damaged by the enemy ship."
On board the Interceptor, Darth Malak stood at the bridge with a slight furrow to his brow as he saw his friend and Master's ship's ion engines cool.

"Get me a line to the Revenge."

Malak ordered, his eyes studying with some worry the Republic Interdictor that was slowly approaching his Master's ship.

"Open up with our Pulse laser on the Republic Interdictor's stabilizers."

The order was carried out and a red beam of superheated energy bypassed the Interdictor's failing shields and cut directly into its stabilizers. The Republic ship quickly lost its approach and began dropping into Rhen Var's atmosphere. Malak smiled slowly, his eyes not holding the gleam they would have during the Mandalorian wars, instead looking empty.

"Scratch the Leviathan from the list of Republic ships."

The order, while an attempt at humor was still carried out and Malak tried first to raise Revan's crippled ship on his comms to determine why exactly the practically untouched ship was so heavily damaged. When that gave no response, Malak calmed himself and concentrated on Revan's presence, feeling his Master was calm, but focused on something within his ship.

"So you missed one."

Malak smirked, unconcerned that Revan could handle the situation and more concerned about the lack of leadership amongst the Sith line. Malak was not half the tactician Revan was but he was no fool either. Opening a fleet-wide order, Malak took control of the fleet and ordered the heavier ships to cover Revan while the smaller ships would move, under the protection of the larger ones to intercept incoming Republic ships. They could afford to wait, the Republic couldn't. Well, unless they had reinforcements coming with was something Malak seriously doubted.

On the Leviathan, Lieutenant Carth Onasi struggled to keep the ship in one piece while his friend and mentor, Captain Saul Karath stood behind him calmly, watching the rapid approach of icy terrain.

"Ninety percent of the crew is away in the escape pods."

A computerized voice informed the crew. Saul Karath nodded to the droid and turned to Carth.

"Come on, Carth. Your wife would never forgive me if you died on this bridge."

Carth's jaw clenched as he stubbornly tried to hold the Leviathan together.

"There will be another time, old friend."

Saul Karath began, resting a hand on his friend's shoulder.

"Quickly, to the attack craft. We need to reinforce the Jedi on the Revenge while we still have a fleet."

Knowing how much of a difference Bastila Shan's Battle Meditation could make in a battle, Carth grudgingly removed himself from his station and sprinted towards the attack craft that would lead he and most of the Leviathan's crew onto Revan's flagship.
"Have Admiral Dodonna give us a nice distraction."

Saul ordered to the droid before following his protégée. The Republic landing craft broke away from the Leviathan as it burned up slowly within Rhen Var's atmosphere. Turning its nose skyward the repulsors fired, stabilizing the craft as its engines burned white-hot, taking it at blinding speed back into space. The craft could sustain the high speed burst from its engine for only seconds before its engines would overload and it would only be able to move with its directional thrusters at a much slower speed.
"May the Force be with you."

Admiral Dodonna said more to herself than the Leviathan's boarding craft. The fighters launched when the ship began to go down covered the uncontrolled craft and paid dearly for it. On board the Interceptor Darth Malak's eyes narrowed as he saw the path of the ship, only one thought entering his mind. It had to be a suicide run, they were going to plant a bomb on Revan's ship and try to get away, or go down with it. Reaching into the Force, Malak found the bond he shared with Revan and passed along one simple thought.

"Run"

Darth Revan started a moment as Malak's voice echoed in his mind. Doing a quick check of the situation, Revan ordered his ship to do the only thing it could and activate the Rakatan hyperdrive. Before the Leviathan's assault craft could crash into the Revenge and unload her crew onto the Sith flagship the Revenge burst away from the battle in a stretched blur, the only ship following the planetary jump being the only one that could follow her. Darth Malak's ship broke from the line, passing along a general retreat order and jumped, following the Revenge into a galaxy far from their own.

For close to two years the Republic would not know what became of the Jedi strike team sent to infiltrate the Sith flagship, or of Darth Revan and Darth Malak. All the Republic would know would be two years of victories as the Sith Order of the Star Forge crumbled and fell away to infighting and their own fleet. The fate on those onboard the Revenge and the Interceptor would be in the hands of their crew.

A galaxy away from the Civil war that was burning within the Republic and the Jedi Order, the world of Reach, the last remaining human stronghold that stood between the xenophobic Covenant and Earth was overrun by a massive Covenant fleet and subsequently bombarded from space with plasma based weapons. Along with the Fall of Reach came the fall of Earth's last true line of defense against the Covenant, a conglomeration of alien races that had been steadily committing genocide on all humans they encountered for nearly thirty years. The elite fighting force of the humans, the Spartan II's, of which only twenty-eight of the original seventy-five had been active during the Fall of Reach, twenty-five are present on Reach when the Covenant attacks and only two Spartans, John-117 and Linda- 058 escape on board the UNSC Destroyer Pillar of Autumn. John-117 being alive and well in his MJOLNIR armor, a fully encased advanced exoskeleton that gave its wearer speed and strength and protection. The Spartans were the only humans able to wear the advanced armor though, given the genetic alterations and training since the age of six. To anyone else the armor was a death sentence, crushing the user with the inertia of their own movements, enhanced by the suit.

The Spartans were Earth and humanity's last line of defense against the Covenant and by the time the Pillar of Autumn made a blind jump away from Reach to throw off the Covenant from their trail, only John-117 the Master Chief was still accounted for. Linda- 058 was pronounced clinically dead and placed in a cryotube where the UNSC would later try to revive her while the others were left behind on Reach, as the Covenant fleet slowly began bombarding the world with deadly superheated plasma and a dozen other ships pursued the Pillar of Autumn.