All that Revan ever was, all of his memories, were now prisoners within his own mind- no, it was barely even his own mind anymore. Now it was the mind of Arias Jantos, who was not even a shadow of Revan's former self. No, Arias Jantos was more like what Revan was before the Mandalorian Wars, but not nearly as ambitious. Then again, how could he be? Arias Jantos wasn't even a Jedi anymore; he was still strong with the Force, but he was unaware of it. All the powers he once had now lied dormant, along with his memories and former personage. Arias was a soldier of the Republic, and the part of him that was Revan, who was buried deep within his own subconscious, was completely aware of it. Everyday, Revan fought against the reprograming the Jedi Masters had done to him.
The Jedi Masters reprogrammed Revan with a new identity, one loyal to the Republic. Revan was fully aware of why they did this, too. He would use their plan to his advantage, though it would take time. He had no influence over Arias, but he would be able to slowly force critical memories back into his mind, so that Arias could more easily do the Jedi Council's building-- as well as his own. Revan would use the Jedi's plan for his own means; all Arian had to do was either follow his free will, or follow the Jedi Order's bidding. Either way, Revan won in the end-- and therefore, so did the galaxy.
----------
Arias was rushed off the Endar Spire when the Sith attacked. He couldn't find Bastila, and his partner, Trask Ulgo, was probably killed by the Sith that they ran into on the way to the escape pods. The next thing he knew, he met a Mandalorian War veteran named Carth Onasi, who was in the escape pod with him. The pod spun furiously as it rocketed towards the planet of Taris. Arias was tossed about as the pod rocketed toward the planet, and so was Carth. Even though Arias was trained for these situations, a simulation was nothing when compared to the real thing. Arias was getting thrown about, and he was sure he had picked up at least six bruises in the past few minutes.
"First time in an escape pod, rookie?" Carth cried out in an attempt to lighten the mood.
"Is it that obvi-" Before Arias could finish his sentence, he knocked the back of his head against the escape pod. The first thing that came was the shock that followed getting knocked so hard like that. The second thing that came was the sound of metal tearing through metal. The third, was Arias finally losing consciousness.
When he came to, it felt like he had been out for just a few minutes. But when he finally realized where he was, he realized there was no way he was out for just a few minutes. He touched his hand to the back of his head, and felt a rather large bump at the back of his head. "Damn, that hurt. I hope I never have to get into an escape pod again..."
"Well, welcome back to the world of the living, buddy." Said Carth from the other side of the room. Arias looked up, and for a minute he didn't realize who it was. Then, he started to remember the brown hair and beard, and tanned skin: It was definitely Carth Onasi. That orange jacket was a bit of a dead give away.
"You're...Carth Onasi, right? The war veteran?"
"Yeah, I guess you could say that." Carth said, getting up from his chair and walking over to the bed. "You doing all right?"
"Yeah, I think so. You dragged me out of the wreckage, didn't you?" Arias asked. He laughed a little bit, then sat on the edge of the bed. "Guess I owe you my life. Thanks."
"Heh, you don't owe me anything. We're soldiers; you'd do the same for me if you had to. Though a round of drinks on you wouldn't be a bad idea." He said sarcastically.
"Heh...yeah, I could go for a few myself." He looked around, and realized they were in a small apartment room. When he looked out the window, he thought for a minute that they were at Coruscant. However, when he remembered what their original mission, the realized that they were on Taris. According to the reports, it was like Coruscant, but with a lot more discrimination and poverty. "How long have I been out?"
"A couple of days. I think you went comatose. How are you feeling?" Carth asked.
"Again, I'm fine. Though I did have a very strange dream...something about Jedi and Sith, or something like that."
"Well, I'm not surprised. You did hit your head pretty hard, after all."
"Yeah, you're right..." His eyes widened when he remembered what he was supposed to do before leaving the Endar Spire. He turned to Carth, and said, "What about Bastila? Do we know where she is?"
"No, I honestly have no clue. Actually, I was just about to talk to you about that." Carth said as he sat down at a nearby table. "As far as you and I know, we're the only surviving crew members of the Endar Spire. Bastila, on the other hand, is missing in action, which means that there's still a chance that she's alive. Bastila's survival was given prime importance when we were first given this mission. In my opinion, her survival is still of prime importance. What do you think?"
"I completely agree." Said Arias with a nod. "From what I've heard, her ability to use Battle Meditation is extremely important to the Republic. I don't know much about it since I'm just a private, but I know enough to understand that it's the main reason the Republic hasn't lost the war yet. Anyways...so, we're lookin' for Bastila, huh?"
"You catch on pretty quickly, rookie." Carth replied with a grim smile. "I did some scouting around. From general news reports circulating around the planet, there were two other pods that crashed on the planet. Both pods crash landed in the Undercity; apparently, the Undercity is a dangerous place. It's crawling with criminals and diseased mutants. But, if there's any chance of us finding Bastila, it will be in the Undercity."
"Yeah, you're right." Arias said. "Let's start by asking around the cantina- plus, I could do with something to drink and eat."
"Yeah, that's probably a good idea." Carth said with a laugh. "Oh, wait. You're still wearing your Republic uniform."
"Huh?" Arias looked down, and saw that Carth was right. He was still wearing his red, yellow, and black Republic uniform. "Oh yeah...I guess you're right. Not exactly good for keeping a low profile."
"Heh, yeah. But don't worry," Carth said. He walked over to a footlocker, and pulled out some spare clothes. "Here. You can wear these from now on. They're probably much more comfortable than our typical uniform."
"No kidding. I can't remember the last time I wore regular clothing." He took the clothes, and thanked Carth. "I'm gonna use the refresher to change. Be right back."
Arias opened the door to the refresher, and closed it behind him. He quickly changed out of the Republic uniform, and into the regular clothing. He wore skin tight black pants and brown boots, a plain white long sleeved shirt, and a brown flight vest. He also wore fingerless leather gloves. Once he was finished changing, he looked in the mirror. His normally tan skin had actually lost some of the color-- probably because he had been comatose, and hadn't had anything to eat or drink for the past couple of days. He had a few rings under his hazel eyes, but nothing too noticeable. His hair hadn't changed; still brown, and it still gradually spiked in the front. He supposed his appearance wouldn't matter much. He was on a foreign planet where no one would recognize him. Besides, he was just a worthless soldier; the Sith troops wouldn't know who he was anyways.
As soon as he walked out of the refresher, Carth threw a utility belt at him. Arias easily caught it, and looked at it for a moment. There was a blaster and a vibroblade strapped to the belt. He looked up at Carth and arched an eyebrow. "Expecting armed resistance, are we?"
"Hey, when you've served in the army as long as I have, you're ready for anything." Carth said. Arias just realized that he spoke pretty quickly. He found it odd, but kind of interesting. The guy must have had pretty good lung capacity. "Nice reflexes, by the way. I would have thought for sure that you would have been hit by the belt, or at least startled. Nice to see you're alert."
"Thanks," Arias said as he put on the belt. "Now come on, let's get out of here. Sooner my stomach is full, the sooner we can get to work. Oh, and the food's on you; I'll pay for the drinks."
Carth smiled and laughed. "There's all ways a catch, isn't there? All right, let's get out of here."
The two of them laughed as they walked out of the apartment, but they fell dead silent when they saw what was happening in the hallway. There was a dark skinned Sith Imperial Officer with two combat droids, and in front of them were two aliens known as Duros-- they were identical, obviously. Both had oblong heads with green skin and orange eyes, with long thin fingers. It would appear that they were being apprehended by the Sith.
"All right, everybody up against the wall. This is a raid!" From behind, Arias could tell very little about him. He was dark skinned with brown hair, and about medium height. If he had to guess, he probably had brown eyes.
"What?" Demanded one of the Duros. No, you idiot. Arias thought. Don't say anything to provoke him. "This is ridiculous. The Sith were here last week, and they found nothing. Why do you keep bothering us; we have nothing to hide!"
Those were the last words to pass from his lips before the officer ended his life with the pull of a trigger.
"That's how we Sith deal with smart ass aliens." He spat angrily. "Now the rest of you up against the wall before I lose my temper again!"
"Hey, I know we're keeping a low profile," Carth whispered. "But don't you think we should help that poor guy out?"
The Duros that was still alive was hunched over his friend's body. The Duros looked like he was on the verge of tears-- chances are he just lost a very close friend or family member.
"You're speaking my language, Carth," He whispered back as he pulled out his vibroblade.
"What?" The Sith barked. He turned around to see both Carth and Arias pulling out their weapons. He glared at them for a moment, then his eyes lit up with understanding. "What the- Humans hiding out with aliens? These aliens are smuggling Republic citizens! Attack!"
The two droids turned on both Arias and Carth. For a minute, Arias thought they were doomed. The Sith battle droids were extremely accurate. If they couldn't take out the droids first, they were dead. Luckily, Arias didn't have to do anything-- Carth had all ready taken them out within five seconds. He turned around, and saw that Carth was holding not one, but two blasters. Arias smiled, then turned his attention to the Sith Officer. He was going to fire at the Duros from point blank range, and the alien was unarmed.
Arias rushed the Sith officer behind. He cut his back from behind to first grab his attention. The officer cried out in both pain and shock, but he quickly turned around and dropped his weapon to face Arias. But by the time he turned around, Arias had all ready made his next move. As soon as the officer was facing him, he made a controlled and precise swing for his throat. The officer stood still as stone, then the cut opened and blood began to spill out. The limp body fell to the ground in a matter of minutes.
He quickly disregarded the fresh corpse, then he turned to the Duros. "Are you all right?"
"Yes, I'm fine," The Duros replied. "I just feel sorry for poor Ixgil. He never should have talked back to that Sith Officer-- I should have warned him."
"There's nothing you could have done about it." Carth said, approaching the two of them. "You would have been killed then, and possibly Ixgil as well."
Arias nodded in agreement. He looked at the bodies for a moment, then he looked at the Duros. "What about this patrol? Won't the Sith come looking for them?"
"I doubt it." The Duros replied, looking at the bodies for a moment. "But just in case, I think I'll hide the bodies somewhere until they can be properly disposed of. Oh, and human, thank you very much for your help. Is there any way I can repay you?"
"There's no need," Arias said, smiling kindly at the Duros. "It was my pleasure. Let me know if you need any more help."
Arias and Carth said their farewells to the alien, then they proceeded to the cantina. Taris was very much like Coruscant: it was a thriving metropolis; the entire planet was one big city. However, when they stepped outside into the Upper City, they noticed a sharp difference between the apartment they just came out of, and the city itself. Unlike in the apartment, the city was full of humans- only humans. From what Arias had heard from soldiers on the Endar Spire, Taris was a planet where segregation and prejudice thrive. And he was sure that was only encouraged by the Sith.
The Sith had declared marshal law on Taris, and blockaded the planet. It was impossible to leave the planet without Sith permission. In addition, nobody could enter the planet. This effectively cut off all trade, making the planet extremely dependent upon the Sith Empire. With their tight grip on both the Tarisian government and trade, the planet had officially become a puppet to the Sith Empire with which they could do whatever they pleased.
The cantina wasn't too far away from the apartment. It took barely two minutes to get there on foot. The entrance to the cantina was guarded by a Sith trooper. Sith armor was very distinctive. The armor plating was a metallic silver that reflected the surroundings. It was probably meant to confuse opponents and give the Sith soldiers a certain amount of camouflage. Their helmets had a black blast shield to protect their faces, as well as hide them-- the blast shields were tinted, so their faces were well hidden. As they walked into the cantina, the soldier noted them with a curt nod, but mentioned nothing about their weapons.
The cantina was like any other- loud music, and a lot of voices. Rumors were easily passed around in cantinas, so chances are that he and Carth would easily learn something from the many conversations carrying on around them. As they sat down to eat their meals, he noticed something odd about Carth. He was being very quiet. He didn't ask Arias anything, and he didn't try to start light conversation. He'd have to fix that.
"Hey Carth, would you mind telling me a little bit about yourself?"
"Huh, what?" Carth seemed a little bit startled by the question. He frowned at Arias, then said, "Why?"
"Well, since we'll be working together, I don't see why I can't get to know you. That isn't a problem, is it?"
"Well, no, I suppose there isn't." Carth replied reluctantly. He took in a deep breath, then continued. "I was born on Telos IV. I've served in the Republic fleet for about fifteen years or so, and I'm a veteran of the Mandalorian Wars.
"After the Mandalorian Wars were over, I went back to Telos IV to be with my wife and son," He paused for a minute, took in a deep breath, then continued. "Telos was one of the first planets the Sith attacked in the beginning of the war. Malak ordered his fleet to bombard the planet. My wife died in the attack."
You're very to the point... Arias thought to himself. He also noted the tiny tone of guilt in his voice. "They way you say it makes it sound as if it's your fault. You make it sound as if you failed them somehow."
"No, no I shouldn't have failed them, and I know it's not my fault," Carth snapped. "I'm just a soldier; I follow the orders my superiors give me. It just..." He sighed, then continued. "It just seems like no matter what I do, I fail. And I shouldn't, I know that."
"I'm sorry Carth, I know this must be painful for you." Arias replied. He genuinely did feel sorry for Carth; this clearly still affected him deeply.
"Look, you don't have to feel sorry for me, all right?" He snapped again. A few seconds of silence followed, then he sighed and shook his head. "I'm sorry for snapping at you. I'm just not used to talking about my past much. At all, now that I think about it. Anyways..." He looked off into space, then sighed a little bit. He obviously wanted a change of subject. After a minute or so, he turned back to Arias, and said, "Look...let's get out of here. I don't think these people have much information for us."
"I agree." Arias left a few credits on the table, then stood up. "Where do you suggest looking, then?"
"Well, while you were still comatose, I found some other apartments up north. There seem to be more humans there who would be more likely to respond to our questions than aliens would, I suspect. Let's go."