Father & Son

Chapter III

"Ison," Arra muttered disapprovingly as starting punching in the docking codes. "I hate water."

Revan chuckled as he took his seat beside her. "You can stay in the ship," he told her.

"And miss the chance of a little action. No way!"

"Then quit complaining about water! It's an ocean based planet!"

"So's Manaan," she pointed out. "At least it isn't always raining there."

"No," he agreed. "But it is under the jurisdiction of the Sith."

"We've been there before. There's no reason we shouldn't use our false codes for a little bit of vacation time."

He shook his head as The Rebel began to pull into the docking bay. The ship made all landing procedures without a hitch and everything seemed to be fine. Arra punched the intercom and opened the channel between the ship and the docking crew. "This is the Sith Lord, Venoniam's ship," she spat into the speaker. "We demand immediate attention!"

There was no response for a moment, but when it came, it was surprising. The chelin people who lived on Ison were an aquatic based species with a melodious tone to their voices. They were generally a gentle society that could lull you to sleep with their voices. The response that came through the intercom was a harsh, guttural tone that consisted of several hisses and growls. Revan and Arra looked at one another.

Suddenly, the ship shook violently and the two of them heard a very loud explosion from the back of the ship. The two jumped up and ran to see what the problem was. They instantly saw it when they got their. The blast doors that separated the ship's exit and open space had been completely blown away by what looked like a barrage of frag grenades. Revan rushed outside to look about. He was instantly met by a myriad of strange creatures that he had never seen before. Each one was holding either a grenade launcher or a blaster of some sort.

Revan and Arra quickly raised their hands to show that they were unarmed. The creatures were hissing and spitting at one another in their own tongue, debating about what to do. Revan examined each of them carefully.

The strange beastly creatures all had deep red skin with an almost purple cast to it. They were grotesque in shape, heads with beastly almost dragonish shape. Forked tongues were spitting out orders to one another, while their yellow eyes shifted quickly, sizing up their new captives. One of them stepped up to Revan and Arra and pointed a clawed finger at the male.

"Leader?" He asked roughly.

Revan nodded in response. "My name is Jolee Bindo," he spoke. "I'm looking for the RRM main headquarters. Please direct me there."

The creature that had spoken to him turned to the others, his face blank, clearly not understanding what had been said. One of the others spat at him. He quickly turned back to face Revan. He pointed at Revan, digging his sharp nail into the man's robes, scratching his chest. Then he said the only word he knew in galactic Basic that could define Revan. "Jedi."

Revan shook his head to deny the accusation. "I am no Jedi. They are all dead, slain by the Sith."

This caused a commotion throughout the docking bay. Most of the beastly creatures roared angrily at Revan, while some pointed their weapons threateningly. Revan thought he understood what had been said. Darth Revan did a lot of work in the unknown regions. That's probably why these people had come into known space. They were probably looking for Jedi to help fight the Sith. News of their extinction would be difficult to give.

"I am no Jedi," he repeated. "But I am with the Republic's resistance and reconstruction movement. My goal is to see the Sith slain!"

The strange beasts roared at the word 'Sith' again, but did not seem to understand the rest of what he was saying. Another of the strange creatures walked up to Revan, but this one was different. While the others were all hunched and seemed to have little control over their tongues, this one stood erect and kept it between his teeth.

"You are lucky that a chelin I interrogated speaks Basic," he told Revan as he walked up to him. "Otherwise my men would have assumed you to be Revan's man and killed you instantly."

"What?" Revan asked, uncertain by what the creature meant.

"I apologize," he replied. "I am a master Force-user, like you. I used the magic in order to draw the chelin language into my mind. One of them happened to know your language. It was lucky that my men picked up the word 'Jedi' from me or you would have been slain."

"I guess the Force was on our side then," Revan said with a smile.

"You say your name is Jolee Bindo?" The creature asked.

Revan nodded, thinking it best to keep to an alias. These people didn't seem to like the Sith, which his name often led people to get the wrong impression. "And this is my apprentice and good friend, Arra Knatea."

Arra waved, but was still unsure and did not respond. The creature that spoke Basic turned back to his men and began to hiss at them in their language. A moment later they all lowered their weapons and the man in charge turned back to Revan and Arra. "I apologize, Mr. Bindo, but I'm afraid I cannot make a confident assumption as to your loyalties, based on your aura." Revan looked at him, but did not respond, unsure of what that had meant. The creature figured this out quickly. "What I mean to say is, are you one of the Jedi or the Sith?"

"Neither," he replied quickly. "Both," he restated. "It's hard to explain."

"Ah. I see," the creature replied.

"It's complicated," Arra agreed to the creature's unspoken words.

"How long have you been away from the known regions of space?" Revan asked.

"Since before the Republic fell the first time," he replied. "We've only recently come into contact with the new Sith empire, forcing us to return."

"How many of your people have they taken?" Arra asked nervously.

"Only one planet was lost in the conflict, but there was a price. Our princess was captured by the Mandalorian leader, Mandalore. Rumor has it he sent her to Darth Revan himself."

"If Revan has her, she's dead." The young man said flatly, a new level of sympathy for these people coming to him.

"She is alive. She made contact with us secretly. She is on board of vessel that can consume stars for energy!"

"The Star Forge," Revan explained. "It was created more than twenty thousand years ago by something called the Infinite Empire. They were almost as powerful as the original Sith when it came to the dark side."

"Yes, she explained this to me."

"I don't understand," Arra interrupted. "Why would Revan let her live?"

"Because she a very talented woman," the leader replied. "Come, I will explain everything to you in a more comfortable setting.

Revan nodded at Arra and the two of them followed the beast out of the hangar. He turned back to his ship and asked, "Will you make the necessary repairs to my ship?"

"That depends," the leader replied.

"On what?" Arra asked tensely.

"On how well your interrogation goes," he explained.

"Interrogation?" Arra stopped dead.

"Standard procedure, I assure you," the creature assured her as he continued. Revan motioned for her to move forward.

The three made their way through the tube-like city of Ison. Revan noted the rain pounding down on the walls about them. With a sigh, he turned to the strange creature who was leading him through the city.

"What happened to the chelin here?" He inquired.

"The chelin," the creature spoke thoughtfully. "They are in the detainment chambers beneath the city."

"Detainment chambers? Why?" Revan demanded, though he kept his calm.

"They did not take well to our arrival, despite the fact that we had little choice," he replied. "Once we have spoken with the chelin chieftain and explained the situation, they will be released."

"They should not be held against their will," Arra said disapprovingly.

"They will be released, I assure you."

Arra and Revan exchanged glances. Neither of them really found the story all that convincing, but they silently agreed that they wouldn't do anything until they had proof. They continued to follow the man who was leading them.

"So why are you the only one who can speak Basic?" Revan inquired.

"As I have already said, I picked it up from a chelin I spoke with," the creature replied.

He's lying! The voice in Revan's head thundered.

"I'm aware of that," Revan thought moodily.

Indeed, Revan had already noticed a few holes in this alien's story. He had said that he had picked up the language from a chelin he had interrogated, and now it was simply a chelin he had spoken with. In either case, it meant that they had been on the planet long enough to interrogate a chelin, which means they had had more than enough time to explain themselves to the chieftain.

"Where are you taking us?" Revan asked, realizing that they were in a more serious situation than he had thought.

"My Master would be more than interested in speaking with a Jedi, considering there are so few of you left."

"I told you," Revan replied. "I am not a Jedi."

The creature turned back and nodded. "But you are a Force-wielder and enemy of Darth Revan?"

"Yes," Revan confirmed.

"Then he will be interested in speaking with you."

Revan was about to respond, but the creature stopped abruptly and pointed towards a door. "This is my master's chamber. You may enter, but I warn you, my master is stressed. Please do not try his patience."

Revan noted the advice and opened the door. He entered the room and walked in. The room was grim, like the rest of the storm planet of Ison. The back wall was made completely of glass, so the gray light of the rainy day could be easily seen. The office of the Chelin chieftain was a large, well furnished and adorned room, with several objects that Revan could only assume the new occupant had added. "Please, sit," the creature urged as he walked towards the desk. "Master, this is Jedi Knight, Jolee Bindo and his apprentice, Arra. They have come to see you."

"Thank you," the master replied. Revan had not sensed or seen anyone else inside of the room. Now it was clear that the voice had come from the chair in front of the desk. Whoever was sitting in it was looking out the window and could not be seen. "Leave us," he ordered.

"Yes my lord," the beast replied.

The creature that had seemed to possess such a level of control and stature now looked like a grunt before his master's orders. He quickly left the room, leaving Revan and Arra alone with the leader of this invasion. The chair began to rotate and Revan saw the beast sitting in it. He was different from the rest of the beasts that had invaded Ison. He looked less primal, less vicious. His skin was a deeper shade of red that his servants and his acid colored eyes held far less than the lesser creatures' had. He stood up, revealing that he too could stand fully erect. He wore black heavy armor that was constructed of a metal that Revan had never seen before, though it resembled that of the mandalorian heavy armor. A black cloak also hung from his shoulders, hiding almost everything beneath his first layer of clothing.

The three of them simply stood still, sizing one another up, wondering who would speak first. At last, the strange man behind the desk spoke. "You two come before me, heavily armed?" He spoke not with anger, but amusement. "Why?"

Arra suddenly became very aware of the vibrosword that was hanging from her hip, the string of grenades hanging from her belt, and the heavily modified heavy pistol that was holstered at her thigh. Revan however, did not appear in the least bit embarrassed that they were standing before the leader of a species that had fled war, armed for battle.

"I am a soldier in a losing war," Revan spoke calmly. "We believed that you were Sith and were prepared to defend ourselves."

The leader of the strange beasts chuckled and sat back down. "I am considered a holy man amongst my people, Revan," he said conversationally. Revan's muscles tensed. Very few Force wielders had ever been able to penetrate the mental barriers around Revan's mind. This man had done it without a problem and Revan hadn't even been aware of an attempt on his mind.

The grenades around Arra's waste, as well as her vibrosword and heavy blaster pulled away from her. The grenades landed on the desk, as did her blaster. The vibrosword hovered before the red colored creature's face, spinning slightly. "Improved mesh grip, highly illegal energy cell, and a double cortosis weave. Impressive. You built this?"

"I did," Arra said, trying to keep herself composed, though it was very difficult without a weapon.

"I've seen very few Jedi who prefer vibroblades to a lightsaber."

"I am not prepared to wield a lightsaber," she replied curtly.

"And you are the apprentice of the Dark Lord's son? Very interesting." He turned to face Revan. "I assume you know how to use a Jedi weapon?"

"I do," he replied.

"Are a practitioner of any of the ancient forms?"

"VII," Revan replied. "Juyo."

"Not surprising, considering who you are."

"Are you?"

"I am a practitioner of one of the earlier forms. I doubt you've heard of it."

"Try me," Revan replied.

"It is a form called Thoris, an ancient form of the great Sith Lords."

Revan shrugged for a moment. "You were right. I haven't heard of it. Which Sith Lord knew of it?"

"It was developed by the same Sith Lord who built the academy your father trained in," he replied.

Arra's face wrinkled in confusion, while Revan remained calm and collected. "Very little is known about my father's fall to the dark side," Revan replied. "All that I have ever known was that my father trained to be a Jedi Knight on Coruscant. He left them during the Mandalorian Wars to aid the Republic. Once the war was won, he disappeared for a short time. He returned shortly after, a Sith."

The alien before them smiled slightly and let out a slight laugh. "You've been at war with the Sith for twenty years now and you've done nothing to uncover their secrets?"

"The Republic was unable to trace Revan's location before the Jedi Civil War," Arra replied.

"Then the Republic fell and the resistance movement didn't have the resources to continue searching."

"Yet they attacked us less than a year ago and we have already made a full investigation. Interesting," the master alien replied with a chuckle. Revan and Arra said nothing in response, but merely continued to examine the alien that sat before them. He merely smiled at their lack of a response. He had expected as much. Humans rarely knew what to say when someone had performed better than they had.

"The enemy of my enemy is my friend," the alien said softly. "Therefore, I am more than willing to share our information with you. It is a relatively simple story."

"Thank you," Revan replied.

"Not now though," he replied. "You have traveled far and must be weary. I will arrange for you two to have your own quarters. We will discuss this when we eat this night."

"Very well," Revan said as he bowed to the man before him. "Thank you, sir."

The alien nodded at him and two guards entered the room. "Escort Lord Revan and Lady Arra to their chambers. Have a feast prepared for tonight. We celebrate the coming of our saviors!"

"Yes, Lord Kirak," the guards said in unison.

The two guards gestured for Revan and Arra to follow them. The two bowed before the alien lord, Kirak, one last time before turning to leave. Arra gently used to Force to call her weapons back to her before following Revan.

Arra turned to Revan once they were in the hallway. The commander from before was speaking with him in what sounded like an older Chelin dialect. Arra didn't recognize the language, but Revan seemed to be slightly disturbed.

"What's wrong?" She inquired in Mando'a.

"Nothing," he replied angrily. "Let's go."

Revan turned and followed his escort towards his room, while Arra followed her own. The commander looked after them as they went. Why was Lord Kirak so interested in these Jedi anyway?

Sorry for the long time no update. I'm kind of hoping for more of a reaction from people with this story, otherwise I really won't see any reason to continue. If you want more, ask for it.