Chapter Sixteen
Disclaimer: I do not own KotOR.
Bastila and Revan made their way into the cockpit to find Carth slowly approaching a planet.
"Not for nothing, Carth, but weren't we supposed to be heading to Kashyyyk?" Revan wondered aloud. "This is Korriban."
"You've been to Korriban?" Carth asked suspiciously. "But that's a Sith planet!"
"It's always been a Sith planet," Revan said dismissively. "The Academy is relatively new, though. And of course I've been there. I've gone to plenty of planets in my time. As it happens, I've been to Tatooine, Kashyyyk, and Manaan, too."
"All of the Star Map planets?" Carth asked impressed. "Did you hear anything about the Star Maps?"
"The people living on the planets really don't know much about them," Revan replied. "It's hardly surprising. The Tatooine one was in a dragon-infested cave, the Manaan one is deep underwater, the Kashyyyk one is at the bottom of the forest floor and the Wookies tend to dwell in the trees and not below them, and the Korriban one is in Naga Sadow's tomb. Well, I heard he was actually buried on Yavin 4 but he had a tomb built on Korriban before he died."
Bastila choked.
Revan gave her a concerned look. "Are you okay? You know your health is very important to me."
"I-I'm fine," Bastila lied. "I just…that's oddly specific."
"Is it?" Revan asked absently. "So why are we on Korriban instead of Kashyyyk, Carth?"
"Mission came by and convinced me that Zaalbar didn't want to go home just yet and I wanted to go to Korriban to find Dustil anyway so I decided to ignore what you guys wanted and to come here instead," Carth announced.
"And when were you planning on telling us any of this?" Bastila demanded.
"Never, actually," Carth responded. " I figured you'd realize what I'd done sooner or later so why bother mentioning it?"
"You sound like Revan," Bastila accused.
Carth drew back, horrified. "I do not! Take that back!"
"You're right, that was uncalled for," Bastila apologized. "I'm sorry."
"You know, I'm standing right here," Revan said, annoyed.
Bastila and Carth exchanged glances. "We know," they chorused.
"Just checking," Revan replied.
"So we're going to be on Korriban soon," Bastila mused. "This is not good. There may have been a Sith present on other worlds we've been to – especially so in Taris' case with the occupation – but we haven't been to any other Sith strongholds and there's a good chance that I'll be recognized. I should probably stay here to make sure no one recognizes me and blows our cover. Plus, if I get captured then the Republic will lose the only reason we haven't lost yet and if, Force forbid, I fall then the Republic will be done for. We really can't afford to take this risk."
"Those are some very valid points, Bastila," Carth assured her. "On the other hand…do you really want to leave Revan alone with only me to try and counter Canderous, Mission, HK, and Zaalbar's influence?"
Bastila winced. "You know, on second thought I'm sure that it will be fine. I mean, the Sith probably won't be looking for me on Korriban anyway…"
"You know what I love about being a Sith?" a man was asking rhetorically as the entire crew of the Ebon Hawk approached. "I can do whatever I feel like to those with a lower position than me and that includes you three Academy hopefuls."
The three wannabe students trembled.
"Please, please let us be students!" one of them begged.
The Sith lazily threw out his arm and sent a jolt of lightning dancing her way. "Now, now," he said mockingly as she screamed. "Sith don't say 'please.'" He spotted Revan. "Hey, you. I want to torture these worms but I'm kind of coming up short on ideas."
"And so you're asking random passers-by?" Mission asked incredulously. "Lame."
"Maybe it's not such a good idea to antagonize Sith on a Stih planet," Zaalbar suggested.
"You worry too much," Mission said dismissively. "If nothing else, Carth and Bastila would defend me because it's the 'right thing to do', would do it because you love me, and Canderous and HK would do it so that they could kill someone."
"She's right," Canderous agreed. "I would protect her so I could get a chance to kill someone. I don't think he's all that insulted, though. Try insulting his mother."
"Please," the Sith laughed. "I'm a Sith. Say what you will. And I don't need your advice, I'm just trying to make a bigger production of this."
T3 beeped at him.
"Awed statement: Oh, that sounds positively nasty," HK remarked, gazing down at T3 with newfound respect.
"I recommend just letting them go," Revan answered.
Bastila looked hopefully at him. "You do?"
"Why should I do that?" the Sith demanded. "Don't tell me you're one of those bleeding hearts that came to Korriban to try and 'save' us. The kind that can be salvaged usually don't last too long here."
"Oh, no," Revan assured him with a shake of his head. "It's just that all of this sounds like far too much of a bother and so if I were you I'd just let them wander off somewhere to be somebody else's problem."
"You're right," the Sith realized. "These pathetic worms aren't even worth my time! I will not demean myself by destroying them. I really have better things to worry about. Thank you for helping me get my priorities in order." With that, he turned on his heel and walked off.
"So please is out but thank you is in?" Carth asked, unimpressed. "Sith…"
"Thank you so much!" the woman who had spoken up earlier said earnestly. "If this is what being a Sith is like…well, frankly I'm just not interested."
"But how else are we supposed to train our Force powers?" another one asked despondently. "I want to be able to do more than just party tricks."
"You could try seeking out the Jedi," Bastila suggested. "Normally they don't accept adults that don't happen to be named Revan for training but if you tell them that you're a redeemed Sith they'll let you right in, no questions asked."
"How did we lose to you people?" Canderous wondered as the would-be Sith nodded their thanks and ran off.
"Pointed answer: My Master Revan is the single most amazing being to ever grace the galaxy," HK replied.
"Did somebody say 'Revan'?" a passing Twi'lek asked interestedly.
"I'm Revan," Revan introduced. "Why do you ask?"
The Twi'lek's eyes widened dramatically. "My word…it really is you! I thought you were dead!"
Revan shrugged. "Yeah, I get that a lot."
"But where are my manners? Just because I'm a Sith is no reason not to be polite. I am Yuthura Ban and I'm in the second-in-command of the Sith Academy," Yuthura introduced. "How may I help you?"
"I'm looking for a way into the tomb of Naga Sadow," Revan revealed. "Any idea how I can do that?"
"I apologize but that tomb is off-limits except during the graduation exam our students go through," Yuthura said, looking very sorry and slightly terrified.
"Can we become students then?" Carth asked her.
Yuthura shot him a disdainful look. "You certainly can't. Your Force powers are, frankly, negligible."
Carth looked pointedly at Revan, who sighed.
"Can I become a student?" he asked reluctantly.
Yuthura's eyebrows shot up. "You, becoming a student? It would be so very irregular…then again, I'm not nearly suicidal to refuse you twice…why not?" She reached up to remove the medallion she was wearing on her neck and handed it to him. "Just go up to the school and show the guards your medallion and you'll be let in."
Revan had just handed the guard his medallion and was about to go in when he realized that Bastila and Carth had stopped to talk to a couple of people waiting outside the entrance.
"I can't…leave," one was saying. "Mekel said that if we stood here long enough then we'd get to be Sith."
"And how long is 'long enough'?" Carth demanded. "Until you die? Your friend died and no one's admitted him."
"Well…he really wasn't very specific on that," the other said. "But I'm sure I can do this."
"Guys, what are you doing?" Revan demanded. "Let's just go in."
"We can't just leave these poor people here," Bastila said indignantly.
"Sometimes you have to thin the herd," Canderous claimed. "People this gullible really shouldn't be allowed to reproduce and if they stand here until they die then we can rest assured that they never will."
"Uncertain statement: Death is always a good thing but this seems like such a…weak way to go about it. We should just shoot theme," HK declared.
T3 beeped at him.
"Agreement: That is a very good point. There's no way a quick bullet to the head would generate this much suffering," HK said approvingly.
"Revan, don't take this the wrong way but now both of your droids are creeping me out," Carth said with a slight shudder.
Revan frowned at him. "That's not very nice, Carth. T3 is just trying to cheer HK up. If you guys really aren't leaving until these idiots do or at least die then I suppose you leave me with no choice." He walked over to the two surviving hopefuls and stared them both in the eye. "Mekel is lying to you and he thinks it's funny to see if you'll stand here until you die. Go home and reflect on whether your life is truly so pointless that you'd be willing to throw it away for Mekel's amusement."
"I've been such a fool!" one of them cried out.
"Let's go get some rest and something to eat before we collapse," the other agreed. Together, they made their way back to the Korriban colony of Dreshdae.
"Can we go in now?" Mission asked. "Standing here chatting over a dead body no one cares about is kind of morbid."
"You could move it yourself," Zaalbar pointed out.
"And so could you," Mission countered. "But, again, no one cares and we are a part of no one."
Revan entered the Academy and found a tall human lecturing a small group with Yuthura standing beside him. That seemed like a pretty good indication that he was initiating the newcomers.
"Remember, though the Jedi may call us 'evil' it is only to cover the fact that they cling to weakness while we drive it out," the man lectured. "Embrace the dark side fully and you'll do fine here." He spotted Revan approaching. "And who is this? I sense a lot of darkness in your heart as well as even more apathy. You could do well here if you had the proper motivation…"
"Story of my life," Revan yawned. "Who are you, anyway?"
"I am the Master of the Academy, Uthar Wynn," he introduced. "I recognize you, of course, Revan. I was under the impression that you were dead but since you and Malak went your separate ways I guess you just couldn't be bothered to make your presence known. Well, we all have our quirks. I am curious, however, just why you have Bastila Shan standing beside you."
"Don't be silly," Revan told him easily. "Do you really think the Republic's Only Hope would be so stupid as to follow me to a Sith Academy?"
"Point…" Uthar admitted. "So she's just a look-alike then? I've heard those have been getting very popular lately…"
Bastila looked horrified but managed to stop herself from saying anything in reply to that.
"It's a little strange that you decided to be a student here but since this wouldn't have been possible if it weren't for you then why not?" Uthar asked rhetorically. "If you really want the normal student experience then you'll need to gain prestige just like everyone else. Whoever gains what I deem to be sufficient prestige the fastest will get in. The rest of you I don't care if you live or die. You'll have to come up with ways to earn prestige on your own but I'll get you started. Find out and recite to me the Sith Code and you'll win some prestige."
"Peace is a lie. There is only Passion. Through passion, I gain Strength. Through strength, I gain Power. Through power, I gain Victory. Through victory, my chains are broken. The Force shall free me," Revan recited promptly.
"Very good," Uthar said, pleased. "I suppose I shouldn't be surprised, all things considered…for all of you who aren't Revan, I hope you realize just what you're up against. You may go now."
The other students muttered angrily under their breath and glared at Revan as they left.
"I'll take you to your room," Yuthura volunteered. "You can keep your collection of slaves, of course, and we're not about to tell you how to manage them but keep in mind that if they cause any problems then that's on you."
"That's thoughtful," Revan said brightly as he started to follow her.
"Slave?" Zaalbar hissed.
"It's the only way we can be here," Mission whispered to him. "I understand why you'd have a problem with this but you'll need to wait back in Dreshdae if you can't go along with this."
"I will, for now," Zaalbar decided reluctantly. "But I will look forward to crushing her bigoted slaving head at some point."
"Remember, she's evil," Mission told him. "And that means she's going to go assuming things like that. We need to keep our cover, though."
"You sure know some interesting people," Carth remarked, shaking his head. "And many of them are evil. This Uthar guy even said that he wouldn't be running this Academy if it weren't for you…Is there something you're not telling me, Revan?"
"There are a great many things I haven't told you, Carth," Revan replied solemnly. "For instance, did you know that I'm allergic to gizka?"
"Really? Is that why you had Czerka remove the ones that they put on our ship?" Carth asked interestedly.
"No, that was just because they were sure to be annoying," Revan replied. "Although I suppose that it also had the added benefit of removing something that was sure to give me an allergic reaction. Also, I think masks and hoods are extremely tacky but I was forced to wear one for a while because revealing my identity would have been a pain."
"Thank you for trusting me with this," Carth said, touched. "I see now that I was wrong to be suspicious of you."
Canderous snorted. "We'll just see how long that lasts."
"Okay, here's your room," Yuthura said, stopping in front of a door. "You can feel free to settle in in a minute but first I'd like to speak to you privately, Revan."
Revan shrugged and followed Yuthura over to a few feet away while everyone else headed into Revan's room.
"As you're surely aware, the way of the Sith is for the apprentice to kill the Master," Yuthura began.
"I did hear a rumor about that," Revan replied dryly.
"I'm really feeling good about my chances of killing Master Uthar and I can tell that my time is drawing near," Yuthura continued. "But then, well, you showed up."
"I honestly don't care if you kill Uthar or not," Revan told her bluntly.
"I know but we all thought you were dead and now you're not…and Malak did hit you with the Leviathan…You may be Revan but at some point you'd expect something to actually kill you. I know that Master Uthar isn't anywhere near as incredible as you are but I don't want to think I killed him and take his place only to have him show up in a few months pissed that I usurped his position without even having the decency to kill him first," Yuthura explained.
"What are you asking?" Revan asked carefully.
"When we go into Naga Sadow's tomb for your final exam I want you to help me kill Master Uthar," Yuthura declared dramatically.
"Why should I?" Revan asked, frowning.
"Because if you don't then Uthar will just have you kill me and at least I have the decency to ask?" Yuthura asked hopefully.
Revan shrugged. "I don't even care. Tell you what, if it does come down to a situation where I have to kill one of you I'll pick your side. Although, seriously, having to kill either the man in charge or the second in command seems like a really bizarre graduation test."
"Oh, this would only be after you passed the test," Yuthura corrected.
"That makes it even weirder. If I can kill one of you why do I need to do the test?" Revan demanded.
"I don't know, it's Master Uthar's rules," Yuthura told him. "If I were in charge I might change things so that they made more sense…"
"I get the picture," Revan told her. "Still, having the recent graduate killing one of the top two people…is that really a reasonable expectation?"
"For most people, no," Yuthura conceded. "On the other hand…Revan!"
"Sometimes I wonder why I bothered with that cloak and mask…" Revan muttered, heading back to find his companions.
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