3: Old Friends

Carth finally regained the majority of his strength after a few more days of rest, though the constant presence of Mara'ja made it difficult to explore unaccosted. She seemed intent to keep him confined to Temple grounds as much as possible. After spending six months essentially confined to the Enclave on Dantooine, being around a sizable number of Jedi was not daunting — but that certainly didn't mean he wanted a repeat of the experience.

The one exception was a several-day long trip off-world to Coruscant, to meet with Republic High Command. There had been a significant change in the planet, something Mara'ja attributed to damage from the Sacking, but it otherwise seemed much the same as he remembered. Command did, as well. They had initially been interested in meeting him but, after determining he had little to offer in the way of answers, Command said they would be in contact.

Carth recognized a dismissal when he heard one.

After returning to Tython, and misplacing his Togruta babysitter, he headed for a large collection of holos on Tython's second floor. There he found the Master that Thaymina had recommended to him, a large, broad Cathar, and got his attention.

"Master Katherion." He nodded. "Master Galon — er, Thaymina, told me to find you."

"Ah yes." Katherion didn't seem surprised to see him. "Follow me."

He was taken to another room off the holo library, occupied only by a large console with three depressions in the top, each holding what he thought looked like Jedi holocrons. Small flickers of light danced across the edges, moving quicker as Katherion held his hand over the console with a frown.

"Hm. Yes. This one." He carefully removed the holocron from its cradle, set it on the floor, and folded his hands to his chest. Carth crossed his arms, leaning back against the wall.

"There," Katherion finally said, as the holocron bloomed with light. "I will be right outside, should you need assistance."

As Katherion closed the door behind himself, three shimmering, white figures appeared in front of the holocron, in the middle of a heated discussion about something Force-related. Carth scanned them uninterestedly until he saw the third, when he straightened and lowered his arms. She was familiar, like an older …

"Bastila?"

The woman's head jerked over, studied him for a second, and blinked. The holoimage held out her hand to her companions.

"I believe this is a private call." The two men nodded and disappeared, though there was still the briefest, unintelligible muttering indicating that the argument was proceeding, and she lowered her hand. "Carth?" Bastila almost whispered, disbelieving. "But if you're here—"

"She isn't." Bastila sighed and shook her head. "She never came back? You—"

"No, not that I am aware. And I was to be told the moment she did."

"Yeah, they aren't big on listening to that sort of thing these days."

"I'm sorry, Carth. I am."

He shook his head. "What did you do, Bastila?" he asked, motioning to the hologram vaguely. He knew this couldn't be Bastila, that was impossible, but he wanted to believe it was. Badly. "What—"

"It is me, technically," she explained. "This is a Noetikon, and this one is the Noetikon of Secrets — for distinguished Masters who fell and returned. Why they asked me to join it, I've no idea. Perhaps because Revan was unavailable. But, no, this is like a holocron — a recording of my memory and knowledge, made near the end of my life. It is me, and it is not me."

Carth bit back the vague disappointment that welled up inside him. But when he awoke, he'd expected to have Revan there too — not just himself and a cold, unfeeling galaxy. He had known that this couldn't actually be Bastila … but it hadn't kept him from somehow hoping that she was, either.

"There's been no news?" Bastila asked. "Nothing at all? Sightings, rumors—"

He shook his head. "Plenty of rumors, all bogus. Nothing more solid than legends. Most people think she was a man, anyway."

Bastila replied with an undignified snort. "To be fair, so did most in our time. Even I did, until boarding her flagship."

"Fair enough. But — Bastila." If anyone would believe him, she would. "I know she's alive. I … feel her? You know? She's out there, somewhere."

Bastila nodded as she looked away, rubbing her jaw. "I have never believed otherwise," she said. "I only felt her presence diminish, never fail entirely. If you — the bond between you and Anna was not like the one between her and I. It was weaker, made more by choice than by circumstance. If you still feel her, she must be out there. I know you won't, but … do not let anyone tell you otherwise."

"I haven't."

"Good."

"Bastila…" She nodded. "They said a vision made them pull me out of carbonite. No one will tell me what it was, just that it was shared by two of our descendants, and they saw me 'standing, holding back the darkness.'" That he'd pried out of Satele, on the trip to Coruscant, though it'd taken almost the entire trip. "And something about Revan, maybe, if you ask Master Galon."

"I've met her. I was almost positive she was a Galon without her telling me."

"She's a Shan, too, apparently."

"What?" Bastila threw her hands up. "My children have no taste."

"Ouch! Right to the heart, Bastila."

She half-laughed. "Believe me, I have to get Anna's bad influence out somehow. These two?" She motioned back to the Noetikon, softly glowing on the floor behind her. "They returned completely to the light. Had the situation with Anna, and the Jedi Civil War, not encouraged me to see the hypocrisy inherent in conservative waves of the Order, I would sound exactly like them. I cannot believe I find that thought frightening now." She shook her head.

"This vision … it isn't odd that they have not told you more, but given your ties to Revan, it seems negligent at best — as does ignoring that she is likely at their heart, as always. But, of course, this is the Council. It would be remiss to think anything had changed." Bastila rubbed her jaw again. "I wish I could tell you more, but without the actual vision... But if— if people are having visions of you, she must be concerned. I suspect …"

Bastila was quiet for a while. Carth finally cleared his throat. "You suspect?"

"I suspect many things, Carth Onasi," she retorted. "But certainly that, after her brief time in the Republic after the end of the Jedi Civil War, she valued your opinion highly. Perhaps your role in this vision is simply that — if she is still out there, and if anyone could keep Revan from threatening the Republic again, in this time, I believe it is you. If she is given any leeway in a war against the Sith Empire she expected to find in the Unknown Regions, I fear she would once again follow a familiar path. Eventually, the galaxy might thank you for your foresight."

Carth laughed. "I doubt that. No one even thinks she's alive — well, Thaymina does, but she's it. The Grand Master might kick me out if I mention it again."

"Don't worry, Carth. Anna will prove them wrong, as she always does."

Carth sighed, thrusting his hands into his pockets. He sincerely wished he shared Bastila's optimism, but it was difficult to imagine him keeping Revan from doing anything she didn't want to do.

"Bastila," he said finally. "I almost hate to ask, but Nova-"

"When I made this imprint," Bastila said with a sigh. "I was 110. Nova was 90, and one of our best Masters. She and I had been on the Council for over fifty years by then. She was …" She smiled wanly. "She was so much like both of you. When she was a girl I took her as a Padawan, because how could I not? I told her everything I knew about the both of you. I knew it would be important, and I didn't want all Revan did to be erased or lost. Anna would have been proud of her, I think. I hope. She was so much more patient than both of you — I would like to think it was my influence." Carth chuckled. "But no, Carth, she did so well. I never told her what you did, though. That I kept to myself. I do not know if she eventually found out, but I thought it more respectful of you to keep it private."

Carth frowned, but didn't voice his thought — perhaps it would have been better to have told her. Even though he knew, deep in his core, that Revan was still out there, he couldn't help feeling that logically, going into carbonite had been a mistake.

"She did so well for herself," Bastila said. "I wish you both had been here."

He nodded, looking away. "And you? After what happened with the Triumvirate—"

"It was … difficult, but we rebuilt. By the time I made this recording, we had nearly reached the same strength we had at the end of the Jedi Civil War, and we were projected to regain the numbers lost during both that and the Mandalorian Wars within two hundred years. We had lost so many on Katarr, but many came out of hiding within a year after we retook the Temple."

"Did you ever find Jolee? Juhani?"

She shook her head. "Juhani was not at Katarr, but we never found her, either. Jolee … he took a few Knights, Initiates, and Padawans with him when we disappeared. Once we had the resources, I had the idea to check the Shadowlands. They weren't able to hear our communications. He … joined with the Force a month before we were able to reach Kashyyyk. Zaalbar's village had sheltered them, just before Katarr.

"Before you ask — we lost contact with Canderous not long after the business with the Triumvirate ended. Trista went to check Dxun but the Mandalorians had moved, with no indication to where they went. Mission kept up with her business. I'm somewhat certain she was running a large smuggling ring behind it, to be frank. But she became comfortably wealthy, and an ardent supporter of the Order during the few times the Republic took offense to us after the Triumvirate."

"Good." That pang of doubt struck him again. He had abandoned literally everything, and everyone left that he cared about, because he'd had some vague notion that Revan wouldn't be back within his lifetime and he refused to let that happen. But maybe he should have.

"Carth," Bastila said, almost as if she could tell the deepening conflict he was experiencing. "For what it is worth, I believe you did what you should have done."

"Seriously?"

"Yes. Like I said, I do not doubt that Revan is alive. And if there is a war, and if it is with the Empire she sought in the Unknown Regions … then I worry she might repeat her own history to defeat them. With you there, perhaps she will be able to resist."

"I think you overestimate my abilities. We know Anna, but this is Revan we're talking about, Bastila. If she gets it into her head to do something, I won't be able to stop her."

"And I think you underestimate your abilities, Carth Onasi," she replied, frowning at him. "If there is anyone she would hear, it would be me, you, or Jolee. And given that the latter two are not present, the task falls to you. She loves you, Carth — certainly more deeply than she loved Alek. If she is smart, she recognizes the danger she is in, and she will defer to your opinions if she starts to cross the line. If she is not …" Bastila sighed. "If she is not, then whatever kept her from coming home will have damaged her beyond repair, and I fear the Republic will not survive her quest for vengeance."

"Maybe you're right." Carth sighed. "I hope you are."