Jaina Solo reference in previous chapter: the Trickster. No one saw it… so no spoilers, guys! And I was going to give you a big one! Your loss…

And Carthoholics, the interaction continues… though not so pleasantly.

Brynn – you can always buy the gizka poison directly on Tatooine… I always appreciate praise, especially from someone who writes the way you do. Translation: I like your fic very much.

Dark Lord Daishi – tada! Next chapter! Who-hoo!

X X X

Chapter 15 – Sands of Time

X X X

"All right, time to go see some Sand People." Revan noted, sounding a bit bored, though she was in a far better mood now that she had been so unexpectedly reunited with HK-47. "You, of course, are coming, HK."

"Agreement: Affirmative, Master. I haven't killed anything for more than one month, three days and nine hours!" HK whined. The droid hadn't changed one bit. Fortunately. She had been saddened when it hadn't returned to her those years ago.

"The Dark Side courses through that droid." Bastila immediately noted. "It is unwise to leave you alone with it … Alexa." Her hesitation was unintentional, since she got used to the new name for Revan. Still, it felt… wrong. Somehow, she couldn't see how the others could believe that Revan was in fact Alexa Denali, a Republic scout turned Jedi. And when Revan told her about Carth´s reaction, she understood it even less.

Revan rolled her eyes at that. "Juhani, I think you'd better come with me." The Cathar smiled, which everyone took as approval. Bastila proceeded sulking in the corner.

"I´m coming too." Mission said.

"You're no hunter, Mission." This time, it was Carth who stopped her.

"But those… monsters… have got Griff!"

"And they'll get him back." He glared at Revan, which could be translated as "If you don't, I'll kill you before she does." At which the aforementioned woman glared, challenging him.

Mission seemed to accept defeat and in Revan´s opinion had to be complimented for the fact that she didn't proceed to challenge Bastila in sulking in the corner. Instead, she began fiddling with the Hawk's panels, starting a fighter simulation.

Once outside the docking bay, Revan sent Juhani to rent them a speeder – she had no intention of wandering aimlessly through the desert. T3-M4 followed her, and they disappeared out of sight. Revan stopped at the hunting lounge, since she promised HK a better blaster rifle than the ordinary lightweight weapon Yuka Laka allowed it to have. Before she had the chance to enter, a woman fell to her knees in front of her.

"Please, will you help me? I have nothing. Nothing left." She said in a begging tone. And she certainly wore old clothes, her appearance matching her tone – a beggar.

Revan hated begging. "I have no time for beggars."

"I´m no beggar." The woman snapped, slightly insulted. "I just need a little help. There is no one for me to turn to on this wretched planet. My husband was a hunter... killed out on the dunes. This wraid plate is all I have left. Please, will you buy it? I don't need a handout. I just can't sell it to Fazza without a license. Please, I'm worried about having it. They are so rare..."

"A wraid plate?" Revan repeated. That thing could get her enough credits to buy HK a new weapon. The woman misunderstood her interest. Hope flickered in her aura, and she gazed at Revan as if she were some savior.

"Will you buy it? I can't sell it myself. They are worth more than five hundred credits!" she asked hopefully.

"But why buy when I can take? My need is greater than yours." Revan noted.

"What?" The woman stuttered. "Please tell me you are kidding! I can´t go any lower than this, and you would take advantage?" She weakly asked.

"You want to give me the wraid plate." Revan commanded with the slightest Force persuasion. The woman repeated her words without hesitation, in a monotone, emotionless voice that signaled she was under mental domination. And she handed Revan the plate, without question.

"I… I will give you the plate now… here, take it." Then Revan snapped her fingers in front of the woman's face, like a hypnotist awakening her subject. It was likely unnecessary, though – the woman snapped out of the trance as soon as Revan snatched the hunting trophy from her. she blinked. "What… what did you make me do?"

"I used the Force to dominate your mind and make you do what I wanted you to do." Revan explained, waving the wraid plate in front of the woman's face.

"You… you have no conscience." she breathed.

Revan nodded. "True enough."

"That plate is all I had… we're trapped here now… all because of you."

"The role of the weak is to serve the will of the strong." Canderous´ voice said from behind Revan. "I´m glad you understand that."

"Darkness take you… monster!" The woman desperately cursed.

HK stepped into the 'negotiation', blaster rifle raised, so that the begging woman could clearly see it. "Warning: Back off, female! No one lays hands on the personage of the Master!" it proudly crowed, obviously pleased with the outcome of the situation. The woman, though terrified of HK, seemed even more scared of Revan, now that she noticed the lightsaber on her belt. She cringed and ran away.

Canderous noticed HK-47 for the first time. "Amusing droid."

"I know. My best droid creation. HK-47, this is Canderous Ordo – he should be on the list of people you´re not allowed to kill I gave you."

HK´s eyes flashed. "Extrapolation: Ordo. Mandalorian battle clan. Highly skilled warrior race. Defeated approximately five standard galactic years ago by Jedi Knight Revan and the Republic forces, which lead to splitting of the clans. Current status: scattered, near extinction."

The Mandalorian nodded curtly. "You programmed it well. Let´s go sell that wraid plate."

The hunting lounge stank of Gammoreans. It was small, so the stench was even worse, if that was even possible. Fortunately, being accompanied by an evil-looking droid and an armed-to-the-teeth Mandalorian scared off almost anyone. Almost.

"Hello there, pretty lady." One of the human – or at least seemingly human – hunters brightly addressed Revan. "My name's Tanis Venn. Always glad to see a human female come to small Tatooine. What brings you here, darling?"

"Revenge." She laconically answered, not at all wanting to encourage him to a long conversation.

"Now there, let´s not be upset." He said, clearly not taking the hint. Revan didn't even have to examine his aura to sense the leer he generated. Not that the prospect of examining his aura was appealing in any sense. "Old Tanis might be just what you need to brighten up. How ´bout I buy you a drink, what do you say, darling?"

"One more ´darling´ and I will use more painful methods to castrate you than you could ever imagine." she noted coolly, examining her own opened palm. Sparks of Force Lightning, just itching to be released, jumped from her fingers. Tanis finally had the sense to cringe.

"Hey, hey, hey, let´s just calm down, shall we? No offense was meant. You could have just said you´re not interested, lady." he said defensively, backing away from her.

"I just did." The cold death-glare she gave him made him want to be elsewhere and retreat. Canderous sold the wraid plate for 500 credits, which Revan considered a fair price for a bone. HK got a new blaster rifle when they sold the old one.

"Statement: Thank you, Master. I appreciate your concern that my weaponry is only of the finest kind." The droid said when they left Fazza´s and went to locate Juhani. "Query: Will we encounter meatbags I could test this new toy on?" HK hopefully asked.

"The Sand People, most probably." Revan said, not at all troubled that they would have to do a homicidal sweep of the Tusken Enclave. "I know Juhani won't approve, but hey – who cares? They'll probably attack us first."

"You got a hunting license?" Canderous asked, clearly surprised. "The Czerka rep told me they don't sell them anymore. Hunting sounds like a fun pastime." He said with a shrug when Revan raised an eyebrow.

"It's no challenge. But I don't cheat on deals, so I have to go ´persuade´ the Sand People to go away." Revan explained. "Besides, I may hate Czerka, but I could make a lot of credits on this."

"Mind if I tag along?" Canderous asked, "I've nothing better to do."

"Then I've got an alternative." A cold, harsh voice said from not far behind them. Revan turned sharply, her hand on her lightsaber, to see a man who seemed to be a Mandalorian glaring viciously at Canderous, "So we meet again, Canderous. It has been quite a long time." he said.

"Jagi?" Canderous asked, stunned.

"You know him, Canderous?" Revan asked, though her gaze didn't move from the intruder.

"He... he was a warrior under my command up to the battle of Althir." Canderous told her, "But I thought..."

"You thought I was dead, didn't you!" Jagi shouted, "You thought all of us that you had sent on that attack had perished! You sent us to die in a foolish attack while you directed your forces elsewhere! You broke from the battle plan and let us die for it, so that you could have the 'honor' of being the first to the enemy commander!"

"I... I did what was prudent at the time." Canderous protested. "If I had not done it, the battle would have..."

"The battle would have been won anyway!" Jagi interrupted, "I am tired of your excuses, Canderous. I have spent years tracking you down since the clans were banished, and I will not rest until I have had my vengeance!"

Revan glared at him, "What are you planning?"

"I challenge you Canderous. I challenge you to fight the fight you fled that day above Althir."

Jagi declared, "In the dune seas, I will be waiting for you. I have spread the news of the challenge since I learned you had landed on this world. All the surviving Mandalorian clans know of what I do here, and that we shall meet on the Dune Sea to settle this debt of vengeance once and for all. If you fail to meet me there, you shall be stripped of all honor and forever cast out of our society. It will be you and me alone in the dune seas of Tatooine: a final battle that can only end in death. I shall be waiting for you there, Canderous." Jagi said, arrogantly. He turned and left.

"Change of plans." Canderous growled, still glaring daggers at the direction where Jagi disappeared.

"Exactly. I´m coming with you." Canderous´ eyes darted into hers with a gleam that would make about anyone else cringe. He was obviously asking her if she had the slightest idea what was at stake here. "This is your battle, a matter of honor. But comrades in arms don't desert each other. I won't interfere." Revan explained. "But allow me to come as a passive observer. I sensed deception when he said ´alone´."

"What about your ´negotiations´?"

"HK can handle that just fine. Death before dishonor. That is more important. I won't have you walking into a trap, Mandalorian. End of argument." She declared, turning to the droid, "HK, go tell Juhani I won't be joining her – go without me. We'll be back by midday."

X X X

Jagi wasn't difficult to locate. The presence of two other people made it even easier. From what Revan knew of Sand People history from her last visit, they tried to blend with the desert, not separate themselves from their world and walk it with ignorant feet, as the Storyteller told her years ago. Canderous took the lead when the Mandalorian and the two Rodian thugs came into view. All were armed with vibroblades.

"Ah so you managed to come after all. I see you brought a friend." Jagi commented as they stopped.

"You brought some of your own as well." Canderous noted coldly.

"Ha! Indeed I did." Jagi said, "I foresaw that you might need help so I arranged a distraction."

"I am just an observer, here to keep your little cronies in check." Revan noted.

"I do not need to hear your excuses, Jedi! I know why he brought you!" Jagi yelled.

Revan´s eyes narrowed in a most threatening manner. "Insults do not do anything to better your honor, scum. I would keep your tongue in check."

Canderous held up his hand to tell her to keep out of this, "Enough of this talk, Jagi! Let us do what we came here to do."

"Why do you challenge him, Jagi?" Revan asked. It was a formality, though. This kind of match usually had an observer… though mostly because someone had to report if the duelists killed each other.

"In the battle above the world of Althir, he ordered us to attack the enemy flank, promising us support." Jagi snapped, "But when he saw better prospects for his own glory, he abandoned us and left us to die surrounded by enemies!"

"If I had not attacked when I did, the battle would not have been won so easily!" Canderous retorted.

"It would still have been won!" Jagi yelled, "You sent your own men to die there, Canderous. I cannot forgive you for what you did to us! You will pay!"

"I remember your story of the battle." Revan noted – they went into each other's battle history to some degree. Some meaning Revan left out most of her famous missions, "Did you abandon them for nothing, Canderous?"

"That's not the way it happened..." he said quietly, "The Althiri were fighting hard. I saw a break in their defenses that left their center exposed. I had to take the chance. If I had not done what I did, many more warriors would have died and the battle would have taken much longer. I stand by my decision."

"You coward! You glory hunter!" Jagi yelled, "You were given direct orders and were part of a plan! You had a responsibility to us!"

Jagi and his two cronies drew their weapons without any further debate.

"Honor in battle." Revan said to no one in particular and hit the two cronies with a wave of horror, effectively bringing them to their knees. But she kept her word and didn't join in the battle of the two men. The duel was fierce and long, the breeze indicating that a sandstorm may very well be on the way. Revan pulled on the hood of her maroon cloak, borrowed from the Jedi Enclave and watched as Jagi finally dropped to his knees, after a long fight.

"You truly shed your honor." Revan said calmly, towering over the injured warrior. "What Canderous did was a smart tactical move."

"How is he right?! He left us to die when his responsibility was to us! Instead he went hunting more glory for himself!" Jagi demanded.

"He may have saved other lives by doing what he did." Revan noted, just as calm as before.

"He cost us ours!" Jagi objected, but hesitated. "But… I do see your point… But… why did you have to leave us there to die while you chased glory somewhere else?"

"I saw a chance and had to take it. It ended the battle quicker than we would have otherwise and many of our warriors may have died. Mandalore taught us that opportunism and flexibility in battle were to be admired." Canderous said, "You may contradict me, but do you contradict him as well?"

"No! I... I... I see that I have been wrong." Jagi said quietly, "I have not been true to the teachings of Mandalore. You were right. I was wrong to question your honor. But I must now cleanse mine with my life."

"And so it shall be." Canderous said, taking a step back. Jagi raised his own blade, and ran it through his chest.

Revan nodded slightly – the argument ended as it should. Both men cleansed their honors, only one had to die – the challenger, who admitted his mistake and was honorable enough to realize it and make amends. But something changed in Canderous as she briefly scanned his emotions afterwards. "Is something wrong, Canderous?"

"I... I think this has affected me in ways that I didn't anticipate... I think I'll need time to sort things out." he said quietly, "Thanks for what you did, whatever your intentions might have been. I just need... time."

Revan nodded. "That is understandable." She glanced to the south, searching whether Juhani, HK and T3 were returning. But nothing was visible in that direction, except the hollow emptiness of the Dune Sea. "Come. You'll fell better when we get some food." Revan suggested with a faint smile, which he was glad to return, leading the way to the Anchorhead cantina.

X X X

Juhani and the droids returned only several minutes after they came back to the Hawk. Apparently, some miners told them that the Sand People enclave is now guarded by turrets and Czerka weapons.

"The only way we could get past the defenses is to look like the Sand People." Juhani added. "We must get their clothing from the corpses of their warriors. I know it is not the best way, but I think we do not have a choice. We should go before first sunrise tomorrow – the Enclave is far from here, and we will have to walk there, so that we will not be suspicious to the Sand People."

"You're right. In that case, you and I should come. HK-47 is the only one who understands Sand People. And the bucket of bolts, T3-M4, should come in case we need to disable those Czerka turrets on our way out." Revan suggested. Juhani nodded and departed to go prepare their supplies for the morning.

They still had half the day to kill, which Revan decided to spend becoming the Tatooine swoop champion. Surprisingly, Carth decided to come with her, reasoning it that he was too bored by the planet and her races were quite fun to watch. The organizer of the races was yet another Hutt.

"Who are you?" the slug asked in its native language when Revan approached him. "Ah, nobody. What do you want, huh? Handouts? Go dig a mine, fool."

Revan´s eyes narrowed. "I´m no fool, worm. I have my own swoop bike and I want to race. Understand?"

"You got a bike, then you can race. I don't care about experience, so long as you can get out on the track. And if you crash and burn, that's your problem. I just need warm bodies to pad the roster between the pros. Err… there is the matter of a small maintenance fee… 100 credits."

"I don't need to pay the fee." Revan said with a strong Force persuasion. It took some effort to overcome the Hutt´s legendary natural immunity to mind affecting, but she managed it quite well. Her skills were too well honed.

"You don't need to pay the fee. Just ask me when you want to start and… there's some business I need help with… if you´re serious about promoting racing."

"What sort of business?" Revan warily asked. Hutt business wasn't usually safe, even though she knew how to deal with these slugs.

"I make my money off of signing good racers." The Hutt explained. "Good ones, not great ones. I want them young and stupid. I've got one. Nico Senvi. Great potential. Only started racing a year ago and loves it. he lives for it now. What I want is simple. I want Nico to sign a contract with me, and I want you to convince him. I'll pay well."

"How much?"

"How does 20 race bonds sound?"

"Like a deal. But why would he listen to me?"

"He doesn't trust me. Actually, none of them do. I´m the promoter. I do it for the money. They all just want the glory. You´re a swoop-jock like him. You´re new, but if you win enough he'll respect you. I´m counting on it. and if he doesn't, make him choose correctly. You look like you could scare some sense into him."

"I certainly can. I'll look onto it."

"You do that. It's for the best." The Hutt nodded.

"I think you should give him a better deal." Carth butted in. Revan glared it him, which translated, "I won't get paid if I do that!" He returned the glare.

"You're not going to pull that typical swoop-jockey attitude, are you?" the Hutt asked. "This is business and I know what's best."

Although she tended to agree, Revan beat those thoughts down. She couldn't do anything to increase Carth´s already overly large suspicion. Certainly no Dark Jedi-like attitude.

"You want to give Nico a better deal." she ordered the Hutt with yet another dose of Force persuasion. It worked, surprisingly, considering that such extreme commands could be resisted even by some of the weak minded.

"Of course I could just give him a better deal." Then, the Hutt snapped out of it. "Did I say that? Wait, I guess it does make sense. His times have suffered since I made the offer. I mean, swoop-jocks are moody. They feel bad, they don't win. All right, I'll give him a better deal and make it back on the long run. You, of course, are not getting paid!" he snapped at Revan. She gritted her teeth, but decided to let it go this time. Posing as a goody-goody Jedi most of the time was really annoying.

"I trust this is the last time I will have to hear about this matter? Was there anything else?"


"Just set me up with a race."

She beat the three tiers immediately, without problems. In the process, she managed to find out that the Hutt´s name was Motta and that the Tatooine track was pretty much easy. And she effectively charmed more racing bonds from the Hutt than he originally though he'd give her. Cheering welcomed her into the office when she returned as the new champion.

"That's the last I'll be giving you, I hope." Motta said, after handing her 80 race bonds – a big payout, as he was quick to point out. "You´re too fast for most of my racers."

"We have to go." Carth told Revan when she was considering using another Force persuasion on the Hutt. Reluctantly, she nodded.

"Go then, but don't hog the track with rec-runs. I need my pros to keep their skills up. You depress them." Motta noted, slightly depressed himself.

Before they made their leave, Carth almost dragged her to a Twi´lek racer, who Motta identified as Nico.

"Hello." Revan casually said to the green Twi´lek. He turned to look at her, smiling slightly.

"Oh, hi. You another racer then?" Surprisingly, he spoke Basic instead of his own language. "I heard someone new was talking to Motta. Always room for more, I guess. Nice job beating my times, too. I guess my heart isn't in the racing contracts are distracting stuff."

"We talked to Motta about you."

"I suppose you've got a right to know track business, with the times you've been posting."

"We convinced Motta to give you a better contract." Revan said, trying to be friendly. Nico blinked.

"You did? I don't believe it. I mean, I do, but I sure wasn't expecting it. I appreciate it. I really do. Now I can take my bike to the big races. There's not much of a circuit right now, but I'll be ready when it recovers." He said with a smile.

"Goodbye then. Good luck." Revan curtly said.

"Thanks again. I mean it."

X X X

"You! You´re the one! You beat Zoriis Bafka´s time? Alexa Denali? I have to get your autoprint!" Another green Twi´lek called at Revan when they left the swoop office. "If you start winning the real tour, I want to be able to say I saw you when you were just starting out. How about it?"


"Sure, why not. Scan away." she said with a shrug. There was nothing wrong with that.

The Twi´lek beamed. "Really? That is great of you. You will be a fan favorite. Some of the racers sell their prints, but that is just rude." Revan put her hand on the pad he handed her, scanning it. "Thank you again, Alexa Denali. I´m sure I'll be seeing more of you."

"I´m impressed, Alexa – helping a kid like Nico start up, that's a good thing. Unusual for you. Guess turning into a Jedi helped resurrect your conscience or something. " Carth noted when they were returning to the Ebon Hawk. The first sun was setting, but the streets were still rather crowded. Still, Revan was looking forward to a good night's sleep, since they had to get up so early in the morning. Hopefully, she wouldn't have to face any nightmares or memories during the night. If yes, a certain Jedi brat would pay for that.

"You now owe me 20 race bonds, which is about 800 credits, Onasi." Revan flatly said.

"Uh huh."

"You've been very quiet lately, you know that?" Revan noted as they kept walking.

"Have I been quiet?" he asked, a little surprised, "I suppose I have. I guess I just don't like being left out of the loop."

"You were born out of the loop." Revan noted, smiling faintly.

Carth rolled his eyes. "Very cute. If you got any cuter you'd pass for a Gammorean´s sister."

"Better than a Gammorean´s mother." Revan commented, her smile widening.

"Look, I´m serious. No one seems to want to tell me anything, and it's starting to irritate me. For one thing, I want to know what the Jedi Council said to you. They pulled you in there and refused to tell me a thing about it. I'm rather curious to know what went on... and why they didn't keep you on Dantooine for training. Isn't that strange?"

"Um, didn't you see me fight with a lightsaber and use Force powers? I thought that speaks for everything – I've learned that, so it's time to move on."

"I may not know much about Jedi, but they're not famous for taking old Padawans and promoting them to Knights in mere weeks, not to mention sending them on dangerous missions. Come to think of it, I don't even know if you´re actually a Jedi or not." Carth said, obviously dead serious. "You've been a great help on Taris, but why keep you with us? Don't they have to train you? I've been watching you... you´re effective, true, but seem to care about little but yourself. A Force user without self-control or training, and yet the Council sends you on your way? Why?"

"Bastila and I have a Force bond."

"A bond?" he repeated. "You mean you´re ´tied´ to Bastila in some way? Heh. I find that hard to believe."

"Believe what you want. I didn't ask for that bond, but such a connection is not easily broken. I guess that's why the Council sent me with Bastila – so that we could draw strength from each other. They thought it was more important that I find these Star Maps than stay." Revan flatly said.

"And what does that mean? Is that more of that destiny garbage the Jedi keep talking about? Well that can´t be it! Finding these Star Maps is a task for a Jedi Master, not someone who isn't in the Order anyway. And yet they send you." Carth mused, "Why? That's not normal! I am not trying to provoke you or imply that you´re somehow responsible for the Jedi Council, but give me a hand here – there has to be a reason!"

"You will never find the Star Forge without me. Not before Malak destroys the Republic, anyway. That's all I'm going to say."

He shook his head, exasperated, "I'll tell you this much... I am NOT going to wait around until I'm betrayed again!"

Revan stopped sharply, her eyes narrowed. "Onasi, this is the only explanation you will be getting, as I have had enough of listening to your paranoid rambling! Believe me, if I had another choice, I would gladly leave the Jedi to their fate! But unfortunately, helping them makes the most strategic sense right now! This is my mission, whether you like it or not. And if you can´t accept the fact that I´m not telling you everything for your own safety, you can return to the front lines! So shut up, or leave!"

"Fine, you got it – conversation over." He snapped back. "Look… I didn't mean it that way, I want to get to Saul, not…"

"I don't need to listen to your apologies, Onasi." she interrupted him, "If you have nothing better to say, I´m leaving." And she stalked into the Hawk, to find HK-47. She could practically hear Carth thinking two words – Infuriating woman.

If he only knew.