Chapter Twenty: Crash

Carth woke up and immediately noticed Revan wasn't lying next to him. He started to panic, but then saw the light above Bastila's bed turned on, a set of brown robes laid out on Bastila's bed, and heard the sound of running water in the refresher. Carth sighed and lay back on the bed. Revan was just taking a shower.

Carth rubbed his eyes. That's when he noticed his head was pounding. After three Tarisian ales, Carth gave up on The First Annual Ordo/Gizka Stand-Off and went to bed. He hadn't intended on drinking as much as he did, but had forgotten how good Tarisian ale tasted. He had also forgotten what a kick it had, and how it took a couple hours for the kick to hit. Carth groaned and regretted not having the milk like he originally had planned.

Was Canderous still staring at the gizka? Carth hoped the Force not. There wasn't enough Tarisian ale left for the contest to go on that long…

The water eventually turned off. A few minutes later the door to Revan's quarters opened. She entered the room wrapped in a towel, then closed the door behind her. She didn't even look in his direction. Revan towel-dried her hair, then placed the towel on Bastila's bed, her back turned to Carth.

"Morning, Beautiful," Carth whispered. Revan turned her head and looked at him, gave a faint smile, then turned her back again. Carth was about to say something else when Revan dropped her towel on the floor. She stood there, naked, her back turned, then started to get dressed. Carth stared at her from head to toe. She was beautiful. He studied her moves, admiring her muscular body. In the faint light he could see the scars that before he only felt during their lovemaking. He frowned as he wondered what the source of those scars could be. Carth suddenly had an urge to get up and hold her close, but he resisted. Instead he sat up and sat on the edge of the bed and watched her dress. When she was wearing everything but her robe, Carth got up and wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her into a backward embrace. He kissed her neck and held her.

"You ready?" Carth asked.

Revan rested her arms on his. "I don't know," she whispered.

"I'll be with you," he said. "Every step of the way."

"I know."

Carth turned her around and kissed her firmly, holding her tight. He felt Revan tense up, then relax, wrap her arms around his neck and kiss back. He could smell the shampoo she used and the smell of the scented soap fresh on her skin. Carth's hands were all over her back as his tongue explored her mouth. He wanted to make love to her.

Revan must have sensed his feelings and thoughts through the Force. Carth felt her push him backwards until the back of his legs hit her bed. She pushed down his sleep pants, then pushed him back on the bed.

Carth and Revan were sitting in the common room eating lunch when Jolee called from the cockpit. The Ebon Hawk was entering the Star Forge system; Carth could feel the engines slowing down to exit hyperspace. He looked at Revan, then the two of them stood up and headed for the cockpit.

They entered the cockpit just as the Ebon Hawk exited hyperspace. Jolee stood up from the pilot's chair and Carth sat down. The three looked out the main window just as a huge, silver space station appeared.

"The Star Forge," Carth gasped, looking out the main window. "It's huge! I've never seen anything like it before!"

Revan placed a hand on Carth's shoulder and gave it a squeeze.

"I can feel the power of the Dark Side emanating from that space station," Jolee said. "It almost feels like… like it's alive. That must be where Malak has taken Bastila."

Carth turned towards the communication computer. "I'm transmitting these coordinates to Admiral Dodonna. Maybe a quick strike from the Republic can cripple the Sith fleet." He finished typing the message, then turned to Revan. "Message is away. We should probably wait for the Republic fleet before we try and rescue Bastila. We'll need cover if we want to fly in and dock on the Star Forge."

Revan simply nodded. Carth frowned. Revan's face was pale, her body language stoic. He watched as she looked out the window at the Star Forge. It was obvious that she had decided and made peace with the fact that she'd die saving the galaxy from Malak. And nothing he could say would change her mind. Carth wanted to violently shake her and get her to snap out of it. He wanted—

The Ebon Hawk's radar began beeping loudly and rapidly. Carth turned back around. "We've got company!" he cried. "A small vanguard of Sith fighters coming in hard!" He turned to Revan. "Get on those gun turrets! Take those fighters out before they report our position to the main fleet!"

Revan was already gone. She ran down the hall and headed for the guns. Carth tried to out-maneuver the Sith fighters, buying them time. When he saw two Sith ships explode, he checked his instruments and saw Revan had the gun turrets firing at will. He steadied the ship to give Revan clear shots, all the while trying not to be a sitting duck. Jolee watched out the main window seeing two more Sith fighters explode.

"Two more," he said. "C'mon, Revan—One more."

Carth winced at the bright lights of the exploding Sith fighter. "C'mon, Beautiful," Carth whispered.

The last Sith fighter blew up close to the ship, and Carth let out a sigh of relief. The relief didn't last long as the Ebon Hawk began violently rocking, every instrument in the cockpit blinking and beeping. Carth let out a curse and began rapidly punching buttons.

"What was that!" Jolee cried. "What's wrong? Did one of the Sith fighters hit us?"

"No, it's something else," Carth quickly answered. "We've flown into some kind of disrupter field. All my instruments are jammed. We've got massive overloads on all systems!"

"Blast it," Jolee softly cursed, watching Carth press buttons and flip switches like a mad-man.

"I'm picking up a single planet in this system," Carth said. "I'm gonna try and put us down there. Hold on! This might be a rough landing!"

"Whew! Talk about your rough landings, Carth," Mission said as Carth and Jolee entered the common room, joining the rest of the Ebon Hawk crew. "What's the matter? You're flying like you've been on an all-night Tarisian ale drinking binge."

Carth turned to Canderous, who shrugged. Carth shook his head. "That disrupter field fried our stabilizers. We're lucky we made it down in one piece. I mean, if we can't find the salvage to make repairs, I won't even be able to get the Ebon Hawk airborne again."

Juhani spoke up. "During our rather rapid decent, I noticed the hulls of many crashed ships scattered across the landscape. Perhaps the parts you need can be found among their wreckage?"

"The Cathar's right," Canderous said. "This planet's a technological graveyard. I saw dozens of downed ships out there. That disrupter field must have wiped them all out. But where could it be coming from?"

Carth shook his head and placed his hands on his hips. "Even if we get the stabilizers fixed, we're gonna have to find and disable the source of that disrupter field before we can take off. Otherwise we'll just end up crashing again."

"It didn't bother the Sith ships," Revan pointed out.

"They must have some kind of protection against it," Carth said. "But the Republic fleet won't. And we're gonna have to find a way to disable that disrupter field or the Sith will slaughter them!"

T3-M4 beeped and chimed. Mission walked over to the droid's side, then started pressing buttons on a near-by computer counsel. "T3's picking up massive power fluctuations on the ship's sensors. They seem to be coming from some type of large stone structure to the east. It looks like some kind of ancient temple."

"That's odd," Revan whispered. "Maybe we just found our source?"

Carth nodded. "Good idea. If that temple's generating power, it probably has something to do with that disrupter field."

"Hey, don't forget about Bastila, guys," Mission said.

"We haven't forgotten about her," Carth said. "But we can't do her much good stuck down here. We have to help ourselves before we can help her."

Juhani frowned. "I only hope we're not too late. Bastila has been Malak's prisoner for a long time. If he can turn her to the dark side, she will join him and the Sith will be invincible."

Jolee sadly nodded. "I fear Bastila will find the lure of the dark side difficult to resist. She is strong in the Force, but she is also impulsive, willful and proud." He looked at Revan. "As you once were, Revan."

Revan closed her eyes. "I'm… I'm not her, anymore," she said. "I've accepted the name, but… No, I'm not her."

Jolee smiled. "I am glad to hear you say that. Now that you know your true identity, I was afraid you might slip back over to the dark side. If Bastila feels as you do, there may yet be hope for her."

"Well, if Bastila is on the Star Forge like you think, Jolee," Carth said, "then we can't rescue her until we disable that disrupter field. The sooner we investigate that temple to the east, the better. We can probably find the wreckage of a downed ship along the way. If we're lucky, we can salvage some stabilizers from it to get off this planet."

"I hope everything works out as smooth as you make it sound, Carth," Mission said.

"So do I, Mission. So do I."

"You ready?"

Revan turned and saw Carth standing at the door to her quarters. She slowly nodded. "Find temple, turn off energy field, rebuild hyperdrive, save Bastila, kill Malak, save galaxy. Got it," she listed, counting on her fingers.

"That's not what I meant," Carth said.

Revan looked at Carth, then nodded. "Yeah, I'll be fine."

"That's good," Carth said. "But I asked if you were ready."

Revan clipped her double-bladed lightsaber to her belt. "Ready."

Carth shook his head. "Well, c'mon, let's go. Canderous said he'd come with."

"Canderous?" Revan asked.

"Yeah, you know, the big, tall, rough-lookin' Mandalorian who's been followin' us around since Taris?"

She shook her head. "I thought Jolee—"

"He's gonna stay behind with the droids and see what he can do to help repair what he can while we look for parts," Carth said. "Besides—" He quickly looked over his shoulder, then back at Revan and whispered, "—I think Canderous has 'Cabin Fever'."

"Cabin Fever?"

"Been cooped up on the ship for too long," Carth said.

"What makes you—"

"He had a stare-off with a gizka last night."

Revan's eyes grew wide. "A stare-off with a gizka?"

Carth nodded. "It was frightening."

"Who won?"

"I don't know," Carth answered. "And I'm terrified to ask."

Revan gulped. "Um, okay. Let's, uh… Let's go."

Carth smiled. "After you, Beautiful."