CHAPTER 12
Good Intentions
Bastila stood in the academy courtyard, surrounded by many jedi, many friends. The war was tearing a rift in the Order, and many feared the hallowed grounds of the Jedi temples would soon erupt in violent insurrection, even as the Mandalorian fleets consumed the galaxy. Revan was here, along with many of his followers.
"The Cathar no longer exist, their homeworld has been turned to scorched glass, billions are dead and the Republic is reeling."
He was speaking to the assembled group, many staring in disbelief, others talking quickly and quietly amongst themselves. Friends attempting to reach a unified conclusion. Bastila's master was with her, as was her best friend.
"We are the Republic's greatest defenders, we are warriors and champions, we exist to protect the galaxy from enemies they do not possess the strength to fight. In their most dire hour, the Republic has turned to us, desperate for aid. Their worlds burn, their armies die, billions of innocent lives have already been lost because the Republic alone was unable to protect them. They turn to us, then, and what is the council's answer? What is their solution to the Mandalorian scourge? They condone it."
There was a passion stirring within the crowd, and many, it seemed, were being swayed to Revan's side. Her master was quiet, although she could swear she saw him frown. Her friend was not so reserved, openly shouting in agreement with the rogue Jedi and in defiance of the council.
"The galaxy outside the Jedi Order means nothing to them! They care of nobody except themselves and their long dead Sith. The galaxy is put to the sword by an unstoppable horde of savage invaders and they do not bat an eye. Their friends, their allies plead to them for help and they say nothing, do nothing, as the Republic is torn apart, the worlds it protects burned and butchered. The Mandalorian fleet would drive into the heart of the galaxy, bring fire to the skies of Coruscant itself and the Jedi Council would still do nothing. Their own creed means as little to them as the lives of the people they were sworn to protect. But if Mandalore the Ultimate had so much as flashed a red saber as his fleet stood on the edge of Republic space, they would have thrown themselves upon him. They would have called for all the galaxy to unite against such a grand menace. They would have led the Republic against him. Instead we see where their hearts truly lie, in prideful and ignorant self-absorption. They tarnish the honor of all the Jedi past, and they would tell the galaxy that we are no better than the Sith they so fear or the Mandalorians they care so little about. Our hands are covered in the blood of untold billions just as surely as the Mandalorians who held the guns and I will not stand for this."
He was met with cheers. Shouts of righteous anger, indignant fury. These Jedi that were supposed to be the very model of control and serenity were now little more than a howling mob. She remembered this, back when it was not a dream. Her best friend would leave late that night, to fight with Revan in the war. Her master would advise her not to, instruct her in the wisdom of the council, but that the choice, ultimately, was hers.
"Bastila Shan."
The Jedi became suddenly aware that the cheering had stopped, and the crowd was starring directly at her. As was the future Sith Lord. He spoke again, as a master lecturing an apprentice.
"Why do you falter? Why do you hesitate, debate with yourself as worlds burn? You know you have a gift, Bastila. With you, our counter attack would not be a war, it would be a swift, unstoppable blow to the Mandalorians. Millions would be saved, and you will be a hero. None can end this war as swiftly, as painlessly as you, Bastila. Not even I."
Bastila blinked, glancing back and forth from Revan, to the crowd, to the spaces that held her now absent master and friend. She had not seen them leave. She looked slowly back towards the front of the crowd, at the charismatic, handsome Jedi who was destined to kill so many.
"Revan... you must stop this. It doesn't end how you believe..."
"And how does it end, Bastila? The Mandalorians scattered, driven forever from Republic space? Galactic order restored and trillions of lives saved from annihilation? Even greater things, Bastila, if you join us here, today."
"No, Revan..." She began to walk forward, the crowd shuffling and parting away from her. "You will not end the war. You'll prolong it, twist it, attack the Republic with an army far more terrible than the Mandalorians ever were."
"I will prolong it? Do you truly believe you have nothing to do with how this turns out?" Revan stepped down from his platform, walking towards her through the parting crowd. "That in failing to act, you absolve yourself of consequence?"
They came together, almost touching, the crowd circling around them. Revan laid a hand on her shoulder, his voice... almost sad.
"Did you never wonder, Bastila, what would have happened if you had joined us? Did you never think that, perhaps, with your powers we would have won so quickly, so easily, that it would not have truly been a war at all? That we would have never known true conflict, true horror... that we would return from the campaign unchanged. Did you never think, Bastila, that by refusing to stand with us you damned the galaxy?" He withdrew his hand, stepping slowly backwards, away from her.
"You can still save us, Bastila. You can save the Republic, the galaxy, all the jedi who follow us to the war. The very fact that you have that power means your choice, whatever it is, will affect the galaxy." He stopped walking, standing alone on the edge of the circled crowd as Bastila stared, speechless.
"You know what happens if you don't join us. You know how many will die. How many will fall. This is a second chance, Bastila. For you. For Malak. For me." He held out his arm, brown robes falling away to reveal a strong, open hand. "...You can still save all of us. You can still save me." Bastila stood in silence, staring forward. She blinked once, then twice, and opened her mouth to speak. What came out was a scream. A monstrous, mechanical roar. Her head snapped upwards towards the sound, and to her horror, she watched as the Basilisks began to rain from the sky. Blaster fire erupted across the academy courtyard as Mandalorians poured from side entrances and storage holds. Sabers flashed as the assembled Jedi drove at their attackers, screaming, falling, dying in a hail of blaster bolts. Revan stood motionless, a silent pillar in a storm of violence. Explosions. Weapons fire. Screams. A human Jedi fell between them, body torn almost in half by Mandalorian weapons. A twi'lek fell to the ground and writhed, half her skin burned away by an incendiary rocket. For a moment, in the chaos, Bastila recognized her master, double saber tearing through the Mandalorians before a large chunk of his head was removed by a precision sniper shot. Bastila did not watch long enough for the body to hit the ground. She ran, blaster fire scorching the air around her, towards Revan. She reached outwards as she ran, grabbing his hand shortly before wrapping her other arm around him and colliding with the Sith Lord in a running embrace.
---
Carth jerked backwards as Bastila's eyes sprung open, darting back and forth across the medbay in panic.
"Woah, easy." He said, setting down the datapad he'd been reading. "You were tossing around something awful, you must have been having one hell of a nightmare."
Bastila closed her eyes again, visibly trying to calm her self.
"Yes, I... I suppose that would be one way to describe it." She glanced at Carth in concern. "Where is-"
"He's talking with the Jedi Council, he's got to have some pull around here because he just walked up and they let him in. Didn't think that usually happened."
Carth didn't realize until after he finished that he could have let her finished and finally gotten a name.
"The Jedi... where are we? How long have I been out?"
"A day, maybe two. We're on Dantooine for now, we've mostly been waiting for-"
"Oh no." Bastila grabbed the side of the medical bed and began to life herself. "I've got to see the council, they'll-"
"Woah, nuh-uh sister." Carth put his hand on her shoulder, gently forcing her back down. "The doctors have done a pretty good job patching you up, but it'll be a couple of days before you're walking anywhere again. You cold use a rest after Taris, anyway."
"Taris..." Bastila muttered, memory suddenly jogging.
"How bad was it?" She asked, looking up at Carth. "Are there casualty reports yet?"
"They're in the billions." He said quietly. Bastila closed her eyes as he continued. "Mission's taking it pretty hard, Trask and the wookie are doing what they can for her, but... there's only so much you can say after something like that."
"How long..." Bastila began, eyes still closed. "...has he been with the Council?"
"Not long." Carth replied. "He wouldn't leave until the doctor's said you were going to be okay. I know he's a Jedi and it's sort of par for the course for you people, but with that and the last minute rescue off an exploding planet, he seems pretty impressive."
Bastila did not verbally respond, although Carth could not understand why she quite obviously frowned.
---
"Have you come seeking vengeance?"
The council chambers echoed Vrook's words to an empty audience, the entire grounds deserted save for five. Four tiny members of the Jedi Council on Dantooine, and one tiny Sith Lord. Revan furrowed his brow, gesturing as he spoke.
"For what? Billions are dead because you decided they weren't worth saving. It's heinous for anyone, let alone a Jedi Master, but it was always your choice to make, Vrook. I couldn't take vengeance for that. Even if I wanted to, the shame and the pain you feel every day must be far worse than anything I could do to you. Although unless you've changed since Coruscant, you've likely buried all that beneath self righteous denial." His expression shifted, suddenly worried. "Ooh, Vrook, that's usually the first step towards the fall. You ought to watch that."
"You ignorant-"
"Peace, Vrook." Vandar raised his small, brown hand. He watched Vrook for a moment, an unspoken conversation issuing back and forth between the two. When it was finished, he lowered his hand and turned to the Sith Lord.
"We must know what happened on Taris, and the Endar Spire."
"The Endar Spire was ambushed by a Sith battle fleet, Bastila did what may be the only smart thing she has ever done and let me out of my force cage, the Endar Spire exploded, we were separated when our escape pods crashed, I saved everyone and Taris was destroyed."
"Why did you return here?" Master Dorak asked, adjusting his seat.
"Because Bastila would obviously want to relay all this to her masters and Coruscant was a long walk. I also missed Master Vrook, lovable miser that he is."
"What did you hope to accomplish by this insult?" Vrook asked, leaning forward in his chair.
"Gosh, I don't know." Revan turned, putting his hand to his chin. "Hmm. Maybe I wanted to stop Malak and thought since you're the people he's out specifically to kill, you might have some interest in helping me do that."
"The council has requested your assistance once before-" Master Zhandar began.
"No." Revan said coldly, pointing an accusing finger and stepping towards the council. "You threatened, you goaded, you bribed but you never once asked for my help. You threw me in a force cage and made Bastila stand around me all day hoping she could catch something through our bond about why the Sith resources are infinite and yours are most assuredly not."
He lowered his hand, gaze shifting from council member to council member.
"I came to offer you my help in defeating Malak, but you're going to have to ask for it."
"Peace, Vrook." Vandar said preemptively. There was a silence in the council as Vandar bowed his head for a moment, in thought, before raising it again, eyes locking with the Sith Lord.
"Revan, once of the Jedi, once of the Sith, perhaps again for either, we, the Jedi Council of Dantooine, ask for your help in defeating a foe that we cannot stand against alone. Please, Revan, will you help us?"
"Why, of course." Revan said, merrily bowing. "I'd be happy to. To start with, I'm going to need-"
"Not so fast, Revan." Vrook said, watching the other councilors. "Surely you can't believe these lies? He obviously attempted to flee the Endar Spire and returned to rescue Bastila only when he learned of the bond between them, likely when she was injured. This rescue was no act of altruism, it was selfish self preservation and he's twisted it into-"
"Oh come on, Vrook." Revan said, rubbing his temple. "Is there anything you won't turn around on me? Should I have let her die?"
There was silence for a moment in the temple before Vrook spoke again, looking at Master Vandar.
"A test, is in order, I think."
Vandar thought for a moment before nodding his approval.
"A test." Revan repeated, unenthused.
"There has been a disturbance near the grove. You have visited it before during your time here, you know where it lies. Cleanse the grove of this disturbance, and you shall have our aid."
"Are you serious? Cleanse the disturbance?" He held his sinuses, letting out a long, disgruntled sigh and mutterings that sounded like 'bullshit' and 'years ago'.
---
"You served in the war, Carth. What battles were you in? We may have faced each other in combat." Canderous asked, standing in the main hold, idly adjusting the battery packs on his heavy blaster. Carth was leaning against the corridor wall, just outside the medbay. He watched the Mandalorian a moment before responding.
"I'd rather not talk about it, I don't think there's anything to be gained by drudging up the horrors of war."
Canderous stopped working, staring in disbelief at his blaster before looking up, confused and somewhat disgusted.
"The 'horrors of war'? There is no horror in the glory and honor of the battlefield, Carth. I'm disappointed in you, I thought with your reputation that a warrior like you would-"
"Yeah well, I'm not a warrior." Carth interrupted. "I'm a soldier. There's a difference. Warriors attack and conquer. Their murderers on a mass scale. Soldiers fight to protect the innocent, anyone who can't defend themselves. Usually from warriors."
"Lovely speech, Carth." Canderous stood, leaning over the work bench. "I bet you tell yourself that every night so you can sleep. There is no difference between a warrior and a soldier. I accept what I am, and I don't have to justify it with lies. Victory in battle is my justification."
Carth stepped away from the walk, walking towards the Mandalorian.
"Justification through victory? So what happens when you lose? You know, like you did against us."
Canderous stepped to the front of the workbench, leaning against it and now very interested in this conversation.
"You had us outnumbered five to one, you had more ships, more troops, more supplies and the Jedi on your side. And we still made the Republic tremble before we fell."
"Nice speech, I bet you tell yourself that every night so you can sleep." Carth said as footsteps clanked into the hold. Trask sat down on one of the spare shairs, drink in his hand. He was only there a moment before a shadow rose up against the wall, and the Stranger walked in from the loading ramp.
"Alright." He addressed the assembled crew. "I've got some unneeded business to take care of for the council and I'm bringing some of you along with me. Speeder only seats three, which is an extremely odd number for a speeder to seat but that's what we've got, so I'll need two volunteers." He pointed to the Mandalorian. "Canderous, you're my go to guy, get in the speeder."
"I thought you said you were looking for volunteers." He replied as moved towards the ramp.
"I lied. Let's see... Bastila has too much of her spine broken, the Twi'lek has too much PTSD, the wookie is too wookie, Carth I'd like to keep by the ship and you..." He looked at Trask. "...I don't even know who you are."
"Trask Ulgo, I'm with the Repub-"
"And now that I know you I hate you. Looks like it's just going to be Canderous and me, you all have fun though. Tell Bastila the council wants to talk to her as soon as they can and that's not going to be trouble, noooo."
"Uh... yeah, sure thing." Carth responded as Bastila's companion disappeared down the ramp. He turned to trask, frowning.
"He seem a little agitated to you?"
Trask shrugged, taking another drink from his cup of Tarisian ale.
