-1Chapter 8: According to Plan
Revan felt a nagging breeze ruffle the sleeve of his robe. It wafted over him like a caressing hand. Revan opened his eyes, hoping to see Bastila, but instead found that he was staring down into an illimitable canyon and barely inches from tumbling into it.
He quickly rolled over and sat up to see that it was near midday and still hot. His mouth was dry and his lips patched and leathery. It was obvious by now that he had perhaps a day or so before he died of thirst, which might be enough time to travel back to that tower.
Revan smiled to himself through his patched lips; he wasn't going to let the possibility of dehydration stop him.
Shielding his eyes from the desiccating wind, he began to stumble back towards the tomb entrance.
In the clearness of day, Revan could easily spot the signs of last night's attack. Hewn boulders and a mess of confused tracks led from the steps of the tomb to the cliff edge Revan had just left.
Revan tried not to think of the creature he had faced. Even if it had not died in the fall, it would take it several days to work out how to get back up the cliff.
Finally, he was steps away from entering the tomb…
With no small amount of apprehension, Revan passed the arch into the tomb.
Quickly a stone table, concealed high above, slid over the entrance, blocking the light. Revan paused a moment to see if anything else had been triggered.
Despite the arid setting, the inside of the tomb seemed to be humid and the walls showed signs of dampness and some sort of green plant matter leaching off the minerals. In the hallway directly ahead, there seemed to be a light flickering. Cautiously, Revan crept closer.
After descending a short slope, a torch lit room came into view only a few feet ahead. Dead in the middle of it stood a darkly robed figure.
Revan's blood froze and his muscles ground to a cramped paralysis. The thing stood perfectly still, with it's head lowered. It seemed unable to comprehend it's surroundings.
Gathering some stubborn courage, Revan move into the room, but still the figure did not respond. Closing in on the figure, Revan called out to it, but it did not move. Revan's hand touched the being's hood and pulled it back.
Revan felt the room spin. Under the hood were yellow eyes, and normally blonde hair turned an odd gray. Revan was staring into his own face of two years past. The wide yellow eyes quickly locked onto him. The lips formed a warm smile, then it spoke in a gravelly dark voice.
"This is all a precaution." It stated, matter-of-factly. "What you are seeing is a failsafe. This body is a clone imprinted with all the knowledge you will require regarding the imposters."
Revan's mind raced; had he actually planned for this contingency of all that had happened? Impossible! Slightly, stunned, Revan lips finally found a voice.
"What is this place?"
"This is an ancient massassi temple that I claimed as a base of operations during my time here in the southeastern hemisphere. It contains old training holocrons, some that I studied and some that I created."
"Why did you…I mean, why did we create all of this?"
The clone smiled.
"I calculated an eighty percent possibility of Malak's betrayal and foresaw the attempts of the Jedi."
Revan's eyes doubled in size.
"All of this from a vision and a number crunch? What is threatening the galaxy?"
The clone smiled.
AACCOORRDDIINNGGTTOOPPLLAANN
Ji-Anne stood at the crest of the tower. On the far out horizon, a silhouette could be seen traveling closer.
Bastila saw it as well. She knew in her heart, that it was Revan. It had been close to two days since she had seen him, but since then, even from miles away, she could tell there had been a drastic change. Through the ragged remains of their bond, she felt a sense of doom and despair. She noted the heavy gait with which the figure walked. "Exhaustion." she thought. Her teary eyes closed, as she felt the last drops of hope evaporate. Something had gone terribly wrong. It was not just exhaustion. How could things deteriorate to this? Bastila couldn't understand. They set out to do something, they didn't even know what, and now Revan was returning like the universe was dying. The sound of joy was obvious in the old woman's voice.
"Cut her bonds."
Two guards slithered to Bastila and sawed the dried plant matter that held her hands behind her back. It was in a flash of a second, that Bastila whipped her saberstaff free and ignited it.
It was to her surprise that her former captors merely ignored her and gathered back into the cave entrance. Ji-Anne did not move, though. She stood on the edge of the platform and watched in silence. Bastila powered down her saber.
"She worked so hard." Ji-Anne said. She shook her head sadly. "But I fear the end result, though beautiful, is not as intended."
Bastila wanted to know what she had meant, but refused to speak to the old hag, and as though it were understood, Ji-Anne began to explain in slow sad words.
"His mother, my sister, planned this all so carefully. This entire academy, hidden on the underbelly of a dead planet, it's purpose has always been to find the Sith'ari. Yelena thought she had found the potential Sith'ari, but he was a fool instead. So she thought that his child, by her, might have the necessary elements."
The conversation continued, but only through tension and marked glances as the figure drew closer.
AACCOORRDDIINNGGTTOOPPLLAANN
Revan watched, thoughtfully as the crowd gathered. No song this time, only morbid silence. Bastila stood beside Ji-Anne, both waiting expectedly. No dream Revan could've had would have been more surreal, no sight stranger than seeing the family of people all dressed in webbed robes of black lace and pale faces starring like hungry orphans waiting for scraps. Bastila stood in the middle of it, as though, it were all a mere hallucination, from which, she was waiting to be delivered.
Normally, Revan's forehead would've been glistening with sweat but he had found that his body could not produce any. The surreal scene was beginning to fade and turn slowly darker and dimmer. But before he passed out, he could see concern on Bastila's face and a grin from Ji-Anne. "Damn her." He thought.
Water trickled down on Revan's face. It felt so mercifully cool. He saw Bastila tipping a calabash canteen over his face so that it barely sprinkled him. His eyes felt strained and dry. Broadcasting despair through Bastila's grated link that they once shared, Revan realized exactly how numb he felt.
To his left he saw Ji-Anne, overseeing him. Her grin was gone and her face was now expressionless. What more could she possibly want from him. She knew damned well he had seen and heard what she wanted him to. Revan's eyes dropped. Coming to this place was a mistake. A big mistake.
"Your mother is on Manaan in Ahto City." She said, coolly.
Bastila shook her head.
"He can't return to Ahto City. He has been banned."
Her eyebrow rose.
"Your popularity is underwhelming. Well, if you cannot go to Manaan, then you may never see your mother again."
Revan made eye contact and his eyes burned with an unearthly glow.
"I will go, by force, if necessary."
She smiled curtly.
"Then let us hope the force is with you." With that she turned and walked away.
AACCOORRDDIINNGGTTOOPPLLAANN
Revan saw the minutes fly by. Bastila called his name a few times as they left for the Hawk. His ears heard, but his brain ignored it. His eyes were closed. He was picking his way through the canyon through the force. Over his back and under his cloak was a pouch holdings crystals and holocrons containing all that was ever Lord Revan.
The Hawk was in view; he could feel the familiar pulses and resonances of the freighter. Darswa was skulking around inside, moving from consol to consol. But these things were not on his mind. They were samples of the information feeding into Revan.
He was changing. Changing into something he had never been. Bastila was talking more persistently and annoyingly than before. Something about "not taking the current situation at it's face value."
As they approached the loading ramp, Revan sent a bare thought through the force around them. Bastila jerked as it happened. The loading ramp slammed down. Revan sensed Bastila frowning, worriedly, at the display.
"Stop being a child!" She chided.
Revan marched up the ramp.
"I was never a child." He breathed.
As they enter the ship, Bastila turned to Revan to say something, but he silenced her with a gesture. It occurred to her to wonder if he had used the force to silence her, or not. They walked stealthily into the astrogation chamber. Another bare thought forced open the storage doors to reveal a hidden Darswa.
Revan smiled inwardly. Darswa had felt them approaching and assumed position. The stories would flood now. Darswa looked up in fake terror which was quickly replaced with unconvincing relief.
"You wouldn't believe, what happened!" He started spinning stories of narrow escape, but Revan refused to believe that an average ambassador could escape the notice of force adepts.
"You are very good at concealing yourself." Revan conceded.
Darswa smiled and nodded.
Unimpressed with the predictable display, Revan walked toward the western dormitory. "Set a heading for Manaan." He called back.