"Carth–"
"It was her, dammit!"
Bastila's expression grew pained, which surprised him because at this point the Admiral wasn't sure she felt anything at all. Certainly not enough to care. She was a Knight, now, and apparently that meant abandoning people in need for a "greater good." Some things never changed.
"I sensed it too" Bastila insisted, "I know what's at stake– "
"DO YOU?" He snapped, cutting through the air with an angry hand. "She needs us, Bastila!"
"So does the Republic." Bastila shot back. "Revan asked us to stay behind. I do not doubt that she knew the risks. And besides, –"
His cheeks grew hot with anger.
Bastila's gaze dropped. "–You must feel the emptiness left in wake of the vision. She may be dead already. If not, it is likely the Dark Side consumed Revan."
"I don't believe that! How can you even think of just leaving her to the mercy of, of–" He didn't know. Something dark. Something evil.
"I will present the issue to the Council. I can promise no more."
"That's it? After everything she's done for us? For you!"
"Don't do anything foolish in the meantime, Carth."
Click.
Silence filled the command room as Bastila's transmission ended, leaving Carth alone with his anger.
"Fine." The pilot growled. "If I have to save Revan myself, fine."
Bastila's words replayed over and over in his mind as he readied himself. Carth had rejected them on principle. Still, they gave footing to his own secret fears. It would be easy to discredit Bastila as arrogant and cold, but logic nagged at the pilot. He was planning to travel into uncharted space, to find a woman who he'd long since believed invincible, and rescue her from an even greater foe. Based on a dream.
He resisted the doubt. What did the odds matter? She needed him. And if Revan had taught him anything, it was the power pure, blind faith truly wielded. For better or worse. If she was broken, he would mend her. If she was… if she was turned… he would find a way to call Revan back to the Light.
How? He didn't know. But the idea that she might be lost to him, her outcry but a requiem for the dead, Carth dared not believe. Revan was easily the most pigheaded and incessant woman he'd ever met, a flame that wouldn't – couldn't – be extinguished. It angered him how easily the idea had taken root in Bastila's mind.
Even so, for there to be any chance of saving the Jedi, he could not abandon all rationality. Revan was willful and even rash at times, but not stupid. To even find her, he would need to think things through just as carefully. He couldn't do it alone. Bastila was no help, but there were others… Others who, unlike Bastila, had never broken faith and surely would not abandon Revan now, when she needed all the help she could get.
He hoped, anyway. It was time to call in a few favours.
"A vision? Are you certain?" Juhani's blue hologram looked deeply troubled. Her cat eyes were slits.
"Bastila felt it too." Carth insisted, "She claims it's a matter for the Jedi Council. I don't have the time for them to finish arguing. Revan needs help now."
"So you want us to drop everything, all our responsibilities, and come rushing after you on this fool's errand? You think I'm an idiot as well as senile?" Carth could not be certain whether Jolee was being sarcastic or not, his dark wrinkled face remained in a perpetual scowl.
"Yes." The Admiral implored. "Because you did once before. And because she would do the same for any of us."
"Well, we're coming along that's for sure. Aren't we Big Z?" Mission replied lightly, the young Twi'lek's projected figure clapping the Wookiee beside her on the elbow.
Zaalbar gave a fierce affirming roar, nodding vigorously.
Carth gave a shaky smile, "Thank you. I'll feel a lot better knowing I'm with people I can trust." He turned again to the two Jedi.
"Look." Jolee began, holding his hands up mollifyingly, "It's not as simple as just–" The old man hesitated, grumbled, shook his head. "I'm well past my prime! My adventuring days were long behind me before Revan and I ever met and now…"
"What if she's hurt, Jolee?" Carth prompted with something like hostility. "Even if you can't fight," (Carth doubted this was the case), "What if we fail because you weren't there to help her?"
"You know the Force better than that, boy." He admonished gruffly, "If Revan's destiny is to survive, and yours is to save her, you'll both be plenty able to without my help."
"Is that what happened in the Rakatan Temple? You went with Revan then, why not now?"
"That was different. Revan was retracing her steps. Being tempted by powerful forces that she failed to resist before. This time she's…" He drifted off, lips pursed.
Lip quirking, Juhani finally turned her face up from the ground. "Perhaps in this… it is wrong to delay. When the Darkness tempted me, they sent Revan to bring me back to the Light. All of us, together – we defeated the Sith once before. Whatever has ensnared her, we will undoubtedly need each other to prevail against it."
"Well I'm glad at least one of the Jedi is able to see reason." Carth quipped.
"Jolee?" Mission prompted. "You're part of the team, aren't you?
Jolee seemed indignant when faced with the stares of the rest gathered. After a tense silence, the old hermit waved a hand harshly. "Paah! If you're all going to insist on testing fate, then I might as well come along for the ride. Could prove interesting."
"Looks like the band's back together again!" Mission crowed, brushing back her head-tails. "When do we set out, Admiral?"
"As soon as possible." Carth breathed. This was it. They would save her. "I- Thank you. All of you. I know I'm asking for a lot." If the Council forbade it, it was grounds to have Juhani expelled from the Order. Mission and Zaalbar's livelihood would be jeopardized. And it was entirely possible the group might not return, not all of them.
"You're right though, Revan would do no less for us." Juhani aired, as if only now recognizing the weight of her decision. "I only hope we prove true until the end - I sense greater tests lie ahead than any of us fully realize."
The hour was late when Carth finally returned to his apartment, the final stop in his preparations. It looked more or less exactly as it had when Revan lived there. Her nightstand – untouched. Her clothes folded neatly as though she would return the next day. Ghostly reminders that now steeled Carth's resolve.
He shed his Admiral's coat. There would be no need for it where he was going. Instead he donned a well-worn yellow jacket, his old pistols, and boots that fit just right. His gaze drifted over the room in one final sweep, trying to picture the last time she had set foot in it. The echoes of his wife's agony still throbbed in Carth's memory.
I'll bring you home, Beautiful. Don't worry.
With that, he turned and stepped out onto the platform, where a transport waited to take Carth to his ship. The supplies and the rest of the crew were already aboard the Kestrel. She was not the Hawk, but she was sturdy. She would get them to Revan.
Getting out as soon as possible was imperative. They were acting on borrowed time already, there wasn't any left to waste.