Chapter Twenty-Four

Disclaimer: I do not own KotOR.

"You know, I'm almost glad that they decided not to tell us what they'd been doing on their way to rescue us," Carth remarked, a little disturbed. "And I honestly never thought I'd been saying that." Neither had Revan, really, since Carth always obsessively needed to know everything.

Revan nodded his agreement. He didn't particularly want to know why some of the corpses looked like all of the blood had been drained from them, the walls had splotches of lime green everywhere, and there were gizka hopping around. His mind couldn't help but try to piece it together, against his wishes, but fortunately it didn't seem to be having a lot of luck. The more relevant question than how was who and he didn't really want to know that either. He should probably just chuck it up to Mission or someone. She was certainly devious enough.

"I can feel Admiral Karath inside this door," Bastila cautioned. "We won't be able to leave without confronting him, it seems."

"I wouldn't be leaving without doing that anyway," Carth declared. "So really, this works for me. I'm glad that the Force or whatever was so obliging by placing him here."

"Just…remember what I said, okay?" Bastila implored him. "Do not become a monster in order to destroy one."

"I'll be fine," Carth insisted, not really listening, before pressing the button to open the door.

"I don't really see what that saying even means," Revan complained.

Bastila sighed and looked a bit worried. "I was afraid of that…"

"No, I mean, seriously," Revan told her. "He's just going to kill the one guy who screwed over his entire planet and got his wife killed and turned his son into an idiot who thought joining the people who killed his world and mother while blaming his dad for being busy was a good idea." He paused. "Wait, actually that last one might not be his fault. But the other people on the bridge will inevitably be attacking so killing them, too, is strictly self-defense."

"What if he kills him in an especially brutal way?" Bastila queried. "Thus becoming what he hates?"

"I hardly think that Carth will then go around brutally murdering everyone or turn evil or anything," Revan replied. "He's not a Jedi so he doesn't get to turn evil at the drop of a hat, you know. The galaxy just won't stand for it. Even if he kills Karath in the most brutal way imaginable, that's still really not putting him in the same league as Karath."

"Well, morally-" Bastila started to say.

"You are so reaching," Revan accused.

Karath looked up when the three entered the room and groaned. "Great. Just great. Lord Malak will be here within twenty minutes and the prisoners choose now to break out and come to kill me."

"If that's true, we need to hurry," Bastila told Carth urgently.

"There's no point in hurrying," Revan opined. "After all, if the Force wants us to meet Malak then we'll meet Malak and if we're meant to avoid him then we'll avoid him."

"I'm still not comfortable taking such a fatalistic 'whatever happens happens' approach," Bastila retorted.

Revan peered inquisitively at her. "Are you sure you're a Jedi?"

"I've heard that one shouldn't take vengeance in haste but should go slowly to enjoy it," Carth declared. "But I've never bought that. As long as you die at my hands, Karath, it doesn't matter to me how I do it. And I think that enjoying bloody vengeance might be a bit worrisome anyway…"

"See?" Revan asked brightly. "He's just going to kill Karath, no extremely violent death is necessary."

"I still don't care about your petty planet," Karath told him frankly.

"Although, unlike Revan, he can actually remember it," Bastila muttered.

Revan tilted his head. "Did something happen to Carth's planet? Um…Taris, right?"

Carth twitched. "Telos."

Karath raised a hand. "Guards?"

With that, the battle was on. Bastila and Revan dealt with everyone on the bridge who didn't happen to be Karath as Carth did a wonderful job of completely and utterly avoiding doing anything except chasing the Admiral around the room. Eventually, he cornered him and pulled out a vibroblade – where had he gotten that? – and started to stab him to death.

Bastila watched uneasily for awhile before crying out, horrified. "Carth!"

Carth stopped. "What?" he asked, puzzled. He looked at Karath and, more specifically, at the eighteen stab wounds. "Oh. Well, I guess that's good enough."

"Oh, sure, because he doesn't need any especially bloody vengeance," Bastila said sarcastically.

Revan shrugged. "Well, he didn't need it," he insisted. "He just happened to ultimately choose that option out of all the various options that were available to him."

"I don't know," Bastila disagreed. "I saw him with that vibroblade and he looked like a man possessed."

"It seems to me, Bastila, that if a man is possessed then it doesn't make much sense to blame him for whatever actions he happens to undertake," Revan replied.

Bastila rolled her eyes. "Oh, you know what I mean!"

"Do I?" Revan asked her. "Do I really?"

"Carth…before you die there's something I need to tell you," Karath managed to say in between his coughs.

Revan shot him a look. "Before Carth dies? You're the one with eighteen stab wounds."

"True," Karath admitted. "I guess I'm just more used to having other people die instead of me. And that is, generally, my preferred outcome."

"Well, whatever it is hurry up and tell me," Carth ordered. "I really don't care one way or another but I'm worried that if I don't hear you out then I'll get all paranoid about it in the future."

"Don't get too close," Revan warned. "He might try to kill you."

"I," Carth sniffed, looking almost offended, "never get too close."

"Revan…is actually…Revan," Karath revealed dramatically.

Carth's eyes widened. "What? Are you saying…what? That's not true! That can't be true!"

"It's difficult to believe, I know, but it's entirely true!" Karath laughed. "Remember this as you look upon those that you once saw as your friends…" His laughter trailed off shortly after and then so did his breathing.

"You knew all along, didn't you!" Carth accused Bastila. He seemed to be under the impression that she and Revan hadn't heard what Karath had said but also that Bastila should know what he was talking about.

"Well…yes," Bastila admitted.

"And you're still getting involved with him?" Carth demanded, having some difficult wrapping his mind around this himself.

"Believe me, I've been wondering whether this was the best move myself for quite some time," Bastila told him. "But this is far more complicated than you think and we need him, both to find the Star Forge and because of his incredible power. You know that."

"If it's more complicated than I think then I'm going to have to insist on hearing all about it," Carth said flatly. "It's not like I don't trust you and the Jedi, Bastila but…oh, who am I kidding? I don't trust you and the Jedi."

"I'll tell you everything, I promise," Bastila vowed. "Just not here, not now."

"Why, you're afraid Revan would hear?" Carth asked.

"Well, that and the fact that Malak's going to be here any minute," Revan spoke up, reminding them that he was standing right there.

"Alright, I suppose that I'll trust your word for now, Bastila," Carth said reluctantly. "But I'm going to need some answers and soon."

"Hey, what do you think the odds are that Carth is secretly thrilled that this happens because now he actually gets to demand answers for once?" Revan wondered.

"There is a good chance I'm going to kill you," Carth informed Revan bluntly.

Revan shrugged. "People try that all the time. They rarely do me the courtesy of warning me first, however. Thanks. I appreciate it."

Revan, Carth, and Bastila stopped their mad dash towards the Ebon Hawk when Malak stepped through a door and into their path.

"I hope you weren't thinking of leaving so soon, Bastila," Malak said mockingly.

"Sorry to break it to you, Malak, but your hospitality is terrible," Revan spoke up.

"Karath never did have any finesse," Malak agreed easily. "I assume you killed him for it?"

"Or rather, Carth did," Revan said gesturing towards the only non-Force user present. "I think that he also said something about the death and destruction of his entire planet."

"It is so very tiring when people take those kinds of things personally," Malak opined.

Carth responded by attempting to shoot Malak, who casually deflected the blast and then summoned Carth's weapons to him.

"See, now that was rude," Malak lectured. "And also rather futile. You completely missed me and even if you didn't, two blaster bolts is barely enough to kill one of my minions. I'm made of rather sturdier stuff than that."

"I'm going to kill you," Carth growled.

"No," Malak assured him. "You're not. Now, kindly accept the fact that you're irrelevant here and let me focus on Revan and Bastila."

"That was kind of rude, too," Revan pointed out.

"Sometimes one must be cruel to be kind," Malak said nobly.

"And sometimes one is simply being rude," Revan argued.

"Darth Malak," Bastila finally deigned to speak.

"Yes, yes, we all know who I am," Malak responded. "I'm more curious, however, about Revan. I had heard some sort of a rumor that, despite the fact that he had the exact same name, the Jedi seemed to think that he had amnesia and didn't realize that he was Revan. I didn't believe that anyone could be so stupid at first but then I remembered that I wasn't just talking about anyone but rather Jedi and suddenly that scenario became a lot more plausible."

Bastila turned to look at Revan, horrified. "Are you saying…does Revan realize that he's Revan?"

"What's with all the emphasis on my name?" Revan wondered. "Does saying it with a different inflection automatically make it the name of a former Sith Lord?"

"…Is that a yes?" Bastila wanted to know.

Revan smacked his forehead. "Yes, that's a yes."

"How long have you known?" Bastila asked fearfully. Despite the fact that he'd known before now, she clearly expected knowing to transform him into an evil and more motivated person who would immediately side with Malak and capture her while killing Carth.

Revan shrugged, looking a bit sheepish. "I'm honestly not sure. It's been awhile."

"How can you not be sure?" Carth cried out, looking very much betrayed.

Revan rolled his eyes. "Well it's not like I made a note in my journal that I had just realized this."

"I didn't know you had a journal," Carth said suspiciously. "And given how many times I've gone through your things, that really seems like the kind of thing that I would know. What else are you hiding from me?"

"Relax, Carth, I don't have a journal," Revan assured him. "Which might explain why I never wrote that information down in it."

"So what now, Revan?" Malak challenged. "You know the truth, you've known it for awhile. Bastila and the Jedi have been lying to you and this Republic soldier clearly doesn't understand boundaries."

"What do you mean?" Revan asked carefully.

"Join me," Malak proposed. "We can go back to conquering the galaxy. We're so very close to victory, you know. You can tell just how desperate the Jedi are if they're trying to use you against me."

"We tried that once, Malak," Revan reminded him. "That didn't end so well."

"This time, I'll be the one considered to be in charge," Malak explained. "That way you won't have to worry about me getting jealous again and trying to kill you. You never wanted to be the figurehead in the first place and it'll really be a lot easier than trying to bring me down would be."

"That's a good point…" Revan acknowledged, considering the possibility.

"NO!" Bastila cried out. "Revan, that's a horrible point! He's evil, remember? And he may try to kill you again! And he tortures and kills those that don't submit blindly to him."

"And you tried to completely destroy Revan which is far worse than any death I inflict would be," Malak shot back.

"…We didn't succeed?" Bastila said a little lamely.

"Yeah, the Jedi don't really have the moral high ground here, Bastila," Revan pointed out.

"Well neither do you," Bastila snapped. "You started a war and are a mass-murderer!"

"To be fair, I was only worried that the Republic wouldn't be able to stand up to the true Sith out beyond the Outer Rim," Revan defended himself. "And don't even get me started about how badly the Yuuzhan Vong would destroy us. I mean, those people exist outside of the Force so it's not like the Jedi or the Sith would be much help against them. Well, not without getting very creative…"

"What are you even talking about?" Bastila asked, looking confused.

"Is now really the time to go about explaining about the interesting species we met while we were off chasing after Mandalorians?" Malak asked pointedly.

Revan shrugged. "I guess not."

"Revan, this is getting ridiculous," Carth complained. "Just hurry up and side with us or else everything you've done since the Leviathan attacked the Endar Spire will have been a complete and total waste of effort."

Unable to face the thought of having to exert himself on more than one occasion for what was, essentially, a waste of time, Revan quickly pulled out and activated his lightsaber as Malak waved a hand and froze Carth and Bastila in stasis. Malak activated his lightsaber as well and the battle was on.

"You know I can beat you one-on-one," Revan said matter-of-factly as Malak began weakening under his attack.

"That is true," Malak concurred. "And it's why I tried to kill you with a ship and then by utterly destroying the planet you were on. Killing you is difficult. Killing, say, the Republic's Only Hope as she's frozen in stasis, however…" Malak waved his hand and his ignited lightsaber flew in Bastila's direction.

Quickly, Revan responded by using the Force to pull Bastila out of the way. Just as he did that, he felt something heavy hit the back of his head and the world went dark.

Revan's eyes opened slowly. There was far too much light there.

"Hey, he's awake!" Mission called out. There was a thunder of footsteps and Revan sat up in time to see Carth, T3, HK, Zaalbar, Canderous, and Jolee hurry into the room.

"What happened?" Revan asked.

"While you were distracted saving Bastila, Malak used the Force to throw a large crate at your head," Carth explained crisply. "You were knocked out."

"Where's Bastila?" Revan demanded.

Carth hesitated.

"Tell me, now," Revan snapped.

"You were unconscious and you already saw how ineffectual my efforts against Malak were," Carth replied. "Malak didn't want me, either. He was willing to let himself get distracted by Bastila so that he could take try and turn her and her Battle Meditation to her side. She told me to take you and run. Bastila's still back there with Malak."

"Damn it," Revan swore. "He'll never let her out of his sight until he's well and truly convinced that she's turned and I don't even want to think about what he'll do to her to get her to turn. And then there's no guarantee that I'll even see her again to try and save her. Bastila's a powerful Jedi but her biggest value is through her Battle Meditation and he'll know that she won't be able to defeat me, much less kill me. Unless he's counting on me being too sentimental to face her…"

"As much as I hate to say this, there isn't a lot we can do for Bastila now," Carth said reluctantly. "We barely escaped the Leviathan and we can't afford to go back. We'll have to just keep going for now."

"You can't mean going to Manaan," Revan said disbelieving. "There is every chance that Malak will realize we're there and go after us."

"Manaan is neutral," Canderous pointed out. "And no one wants to risk their supply of Kolto. He won't go after us personally there although he may instruct his Sith on the planet to attack us discretely. Either way, it's probably the safest choice on the 'where can we go that Malak will find us but won't kill us' front."

"We really can't just go to the Star Forge," Revan asked pleadingly.

"I really don't think we have enough information to be able to accurately find it," Carth replied, shaking his head. "Although I'm not looking forward to this either. Before we do anything else, though, I think we need to deal with the Bantha in the room."

"We already know that Bastila and Revan are involved," Zaalbar pointed out.

Carth looked blank.

"He says that we already know that Bastila and Revan are involved," Mission dutifully translated accurately for once. "Oh, and he's also reminding you that you're a racist."

"Duly noted," Carth said dryly. "Revan, would you like to tell them or should I?"

"You can feel free to announce it," Revan said indifferently. "It's not really much of a secret as far as I can tell."

"Alright, I will," Carth said determinedly. "Everyone…Revan is, in fact, Revan."

"You only just figured this out now?" Jolee asked incredulously.

"W-what?" Needless to say, this was not the reaction Carth had been expecting.

"Annoyed assertion: I told you that Revan built me and mentioned the meatbag Malak on several occasions," HK noted.

T3 beeped something to confirm that he had also known this great secret.

"I did not know this but it doesn't change the fact that I swore a life debt to him and he saved my people," Zaalbar declared.

"So aside from him calling me a racist, what did he say?" Carth asked.

"He doesn't really care," Mission answered. "And for that matter, neither do I."

"But…he killed thousands if not millions of people!" Carth protested.

Mission shrugged. "Life happens."

"I agree," Canderous said approvingly. "I was not previously aware of this though I feel that I probably should have been. After all, who else but Revan could get so much accomplished while caring so very little and having to be prompted literally every step of the way?"

"Thanks for the vote of confidence, you guys," Revan said dryly.

"Well I'm still having problems with this," Carth said angrily. "Revan ordered Saul to destroy my home!"

"Please," Canderous countered. "Everyone knows that it was Malak who ordered the attack on Telos."

"Telos was attacked? When did this happen?" Revan helpfully asked.

"I…you know what, fine," Carth said resignedly. "With Bastila gone, we can't very well do this without him and my loyalty to the Republic is marginally more important to me than my hatred of all things Sith. I can deal with Revan for now but if he so much as thinks about betraying us again…"

Revan decided not to point out that his attempt at killing him would probably go down about as well as his attempt to kill Malak had. If he actually ever did try it then he'd find out for himself. Or Revan would be really embarrassed once he became one with the Force or whatever. After dying, Jedi were supposed to be free of such petty emotions but Revan didn't want to sell himself short; he was pretty sure that he could manage it.

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