Chapter 13: Betrayal.
Vrook and the Padawans couldn't believe what they're seeing. "Kreia!" Vrook said. "What are you doing here? I thought you were on Coruscant."
"You and the Council are fools for not sense the disturbances in the Force lately." Kreia said. "I'm not Kreia anymore, my name is Darth Traya."
"This whole time you have been a spy!" Vrook said. He took his lightsaber from his belt and ignited. The Padawans did the same but they were stopped when Kreia put them in a stasis field.
"It seems that it's only you and me Vrook." Traya said.
"Good for me." The old Master Jedi said and charged to Traya, the green and red blades clashed against other.
The trip to Telos was peaceful, despite the behavior of Meetra when she found out they needed to go to Malachor to look for the holocron. The crew didn't mention anything about Meetra's behavior. When Mission asked if someone could talk with her, Jolee answered that she needed to deal with her own demons before talking with someone; Atton, of course, was getting worried, although she left her room in the day, she avoided eye contact with him and barely spoke with him. Hours before arriving to Telos, Atton found Meetra in her room meditating; he took a deep breath and stepped inside.
"Hi babe." He said.
"Oh…hi." She said. Atton sat on a chair and look directly in Meetra's eyes.
"So, how you been feeling?" He asked.
"Better, thanks." She answered. "When we'll be landing on Citadel Station?" She asked.
"In five hours." He answered. A moment of silence fell in the room, minutes later, Atton broke it. "Sure you don't want to talk with someone?" He asked. Meetra shook her head. Atton sighed. "Hey, I'm going to tell you about myself, I've speak with Jolee about my past, but I want you know all about me."
"I was born in Alderaan, my parents were artisans. I joined to the Republic army when the Mandalorian Wars started, after they ended, all this situation of the Jedi happened, and after that, the Sith just took me away and I worked with them until the end of the Jedi Civil War."
Meetra looked at Atton with confusion, she was about to speak, but Atton continued telling her about himself. "Then, I met this hot girl in Peragus, she has beautiful blond and short hair, green eyes and I'm falling for her."
Meetra blushed and smiled. "Atton…" She said but was cut off by him. "Babe, don't be afraid of telling me what happened in Malachor years ago." He said.
Meetra sighed and said "I know. It's just…" She took a deep breath and started to tell Atton when Revan's forces chased the Mandalorians to Malachor, there she activated the Mass Generator causing Malachor's gravity to be unstable. When she told the part about how she felt thousands of lives dying through the Force, she broke into tears, fortunately, Atton took her in his arms.
"So, after that, you…decided to be judge by the Council?" He asked. Meetra nodded.
"Yeah, after that, I was exiled from the Order." She answered; her tears were running down her face.
"Meetra, I'm sorry." He said wiping away her tears with his thumb. "I shouldn't have you pushed you to those memories." He said brushing away a strand of her short blonde hair.
"Don't worry, I needed to talk with someone about this, just I hadn't figure with whom." She said looking Atton.
"Why you didn't talk with Revan?" He asked.
Meetra chuckled. "No." She said shaking her head. "He barely remembers about the Mandalorian Wars."
Atton smiled and took her hand in his. "C'mon babe, let's go to the Main Hold." He said and the two went out of Meetra's room.
Vrook was blocking the attack from Traya's lightsaber, although Vrook was old, he still had skills and great coordination to block three or more blades in a same move. But this time, Malachor's dark energy was reenergizing Traya with every move she made. Vrook walked backwards, but he tripped over a rock. Traya called his lightsaber, leaving him unarmed.
"It seems that I have won." Traya said pointing her lightsaber at Vrook's chest.
"Why you bring us here Traya?" Vrook asked.
"Why? It very simple Vrook, I can feel your anger within the Order." Traya said. "You are angry with them because they allowed Revan's relationship with Bastila, and you know if they have allow this, many other Padawans or Knights will come to tell the Council they have a relationship and the Council will allow it." She said.
"You think I'm a fool to betray the Council?" Vrook asked.
"No, I don't think you are a fool, but I know you want to have the control of the Order." Traya said. "You want to be the Great Master of the Council and lead the Jedis, following the old traditions of the Order, no emotional attachments, keep the emotions in control, been loyal to the Code."
"Maybe you're right." Vrook said standing up.
"Then, let me show you how to use all this power to build a new Order." Traya said.
Vrook nodded and Traya freed the Padawans from the stasis, Vrook explained to them that they were in the right place, fortunately, the Padawans were too inexperience to understand the risks of the Dark Side and they agreed to stay with Vrook.
Five hours later, the Hawk arrived at Citadel Station and landed in one of the hangars, Carth was waiting with a welcoming party. A few minutes later, the group descended.
"Hey guys." Carth said. "Wow…what did you do to Hawk?" He asked when he saw the engines of the Hawk with smoke.
"We ran into sith fighters near Dxun." Atton said.
"What were you doing there?" Carth asked.
"It's a long story." Mission said.
"Yeah, I can see that." Carth said. "Where's Revan?" He asked after not seeing him with the group.
"He…was captured by the Sith." Bastila said.
Carth was shocked. "Really? Oh man…you need to tell what's going on."He said. "C'mon, I'll show you where you can stay while the ship is being repair." He and the group left the hangars and went to his office.
Revan could feel the burn in his body; he could even feel the blood running down his back. He tried to stand up, but the slightest move made his sore muscles to succumb under his own weight, he could feel a hell of burning down his spine but thankfully, he was again in his cell.
"Let me help you." Kraig said and help Revan to get on his feet again.
"Thanks Kraig, how long I've been out?" Revan asked.
"Two hours, since they threw you here." Kraig answered. "Let me see how bad the damage is."
Revan turned around so Kraig could see better the lashes on his back. Kraig could see how the lashes joined in some points of Revan's back and the blood was still running down his back. "You're lucky they didn't rend your flesh out from your bones." He said.
Revan chuckled. "I know." He took a deep breath and said: "Kraig, can I ask you for a favor?"
"Sure, what is it?"
"I've been here for many days or weeks, I don't know, and my friends haven't found me. I need you to look for them." Revan said.
"How do I do it?" Kraig asked.
"I need you to listen carefully." Revan said.
"So, that's it, holocrons." Carth said after hearing about the journey of his friends. "I've always knew that Revan recorded his military tactics during the Wars, and now, this tactics are in danger of falling in the wrong hands." He said sitting on his chair.
"Yes, that's why the Sith took him, but he only remembers three places where he hid the holocrons. I'm afraid he is being torture by the Siths to extract him any information about the holocrons." Bastila said sadly.
Carth stayed silent, a knock in the door broke the silence, he opened the door and a zabrak engineer went inside. Meetra couldn't believe who was this engineer.
"Bao?" Meetra asked.
"General, is that you?" Bao asked.
"Yes." Meetra said.
"I think you have been known for some time." Carth said.
"Yes, Bao was a lieutenant under my command back at the Mandalorian Wars." Meetra answered. "What are you doing here?" She asked.
"Well, after the Jedi Civil War ended, I decided to help people, I've been travelling from one planet to another until I arrived to Telos a few months ago." Bao answered.
"Bao-Dur is the one in charge of the reparations of the Hawk." Carth answered.
"Yes, as the Admiral said, I'm going to repair your ship." Bao said.
"How long it will take to repair the ship?" Atton asked.
"I have checked the engine, and it's very damage, so it's going to take at least two weeks." Bao answered.
"Two weeks?" Meetra asked.
"I'm afraid so General, I'm sorry." Bao answered.
The group felt disappointed, that shot from the sith fighter did more damage that anyone of them could imagine. "I'm sorry guys." Carth said. "C'mon, I'll show you where you are going to stay for the next two weeks." He said and led the group to their barracks.
"Okay, I understand your plan." Kraig said. "But how I'm going to find your friends in this big galaxy?" He asked.
"You need to go to Telos, there you must ask to speak with Admiral Carth Onasi." Revan said. "Tell him you know me, and then tell him you need to speak with him and with Bastila Shan."
"Okay, but even if I told them that I know you, they won't believe me, so how do you suppose they'll believe me?" Kraig asked.
Revan took his robe and handed to Kraig. "Here take this, maybe Carth won't believe you at first, but I know Bastila is going to believe you." He said.
Kraig nodded. "Okay, so, when do I leave?" He asked.
"In three days, we need a plan to get you out of here." Revan said.
Two days after Vrook and the Padawans arrived at Malachor V, there; Traya manipulated Vrook telling him that he could use the power of the Dark Side to build a new Jedi Order, at first; Vrook didn't believe in Traya's words, but after she told him about how the Order was allowing emotional attachments and welcoming exiles, Vrook believed in her words and made him fell to the Dark Side.
"So, are you ready?" Traya asked.
"Yes." Vrook answered. "But, what I'm going to do for the Council doesn't feel that there's something dark within me?" He asked.
"Don't worry, I'm going to teach you how to infiltrate in the Order, so they can't feel you dark energy." Traya answered.
"That's what you did when you arrived at Coruscant?" Vrook asked.
Traya nodded and taught Vrook how to hide his dark energy so the Council couldn't feel the Dark Side within him. After a few hours, Vrook was ready and Traya told him to return to Coruscant and wait for the decision of the Council, if the Council said yes, they would be condemning themselves. Vrook agreed with Traya and prepared his ship.
"Those fools will never know what is waiting for them." Vrook said darkly.
"Relax, Vrook. Don't let your dark energy dominate you." Traya said.
Vrook sighed; he knew that if he wanted to lead the Council to Malachor, nothing of his dark energy could be sensed.
"Vrook." Traya said before he could aboard his ship. "If anyone comes in your way, kill him." Vrook nodded, but then, a thought cross his mind.
"Traya, what are going to do if Revan's companions come in our way?" He asked.
"We will kill them. They are not match for us." Traya answered. Vrook smiled and he boarded his ship and took off.
Kryat walked down the hallways of the Academy, he was summoned by Sion. "Master." He said bowing in front of Sion. "You wanted to see me?" He asked.
"Yes Kryat, you may rise." Sion answered. "Did you have any success extracting information from Revan?" He asked.
"I'm afraid not my Lord." Kryat answered. "I apologize if I have failed you, master."
"You haven't failed me Kryat. Revan is stubborn, but his time of silence is over." Sion said darkly.
"What do you have in mind master?" Kryat asked.
"Our special surprise for Revan has arrived." Sion answered. Kryat smirked, finally, the truth of the holocrons was about to be revealed.