It only took about three days for the first crisis to hit.

Carth stayed back at the apartment, hunting for their own on the Holonet, as Revan made her way to the Senate tower with T3 in tow. As always, she felt underdressed among the senators and aides in her plain, clearly Jedi-inspired tunic, but ignored it. At least her clothes let her fight comfortably.

Strategic Command was housed near where she last recalled it, in a darkened cluster of rooms at the rear of Command's office block. Rans was waiting for her outside the door.

"Glad you could make it," he said, opening the door. Revan nodded and headed inside without a word. "Should be simple enough. The 7th Expeditionary requested help breaking an Imperial line."

"Why do you need me, then?"

"Consider it a test. The Foundry was not a true test of your remaining abilities."

"My remaining abilities?"

"According to Shan, the Emperor held you for nearly three hundred years. Should we not suspect some difficulty after that?"

Revan twisted her hands in her robe, ignoring as a datapad quivered on a table they passed.

"So what, I'm a charity case? I can leave."

"No. I have seen the readout from the Foundry battle — or, at least, the one around the station. That our ships escaped such a large force is nearly a miracle, and I've little doubt it was due to you and Onasi's generated strategies. But I want to ensure that."

She turned toward Rans, walking backward a few steps. "I don't appreciate being told to my face you think I've lost my touch."

"Don't look at it that way. It's vetting. Breaking an Imperial line should be easy for you."

Revan sighed and turned back as they reached the right strategy table. "This day will be a complete waste of makeup," she grumbled.

"Admirals," Rans said, and the two figures at the table saluted. "This is General Revanna Galon, she'll be joining us. General, Admirals Katiara Kasra and Sallo Terix."

"Just 'Anna,' is fine," Revan said as she shook their hands, her eyes already on the scene ahead of her. She couldn't believe what she was seeing. "Did this idiot get himself encircled?"

"We, uh, have him on the microphone," Terix said.

::Uh, I did, ma'am. They ambushed us. Who is this?::

"I'm the person who will get you out of this." She leaned on the table, skimming over the interface. "All right. You'll want to pull back at your center and let that swing around to become the flank. It's splitting your fleet but it'll give you mobility. Is your goal to get out of this engagement or are you planning to fight?"

::No, ma'am. We're planning on continuing. No idea why there's even an Imp fleet out here.:: On the other end, he passed on her orders. ::What else, ma'am?::

"Wait and see if they split. If they do, you're good. If they go after one half of the fleet, bring the other half around their rear and turn the tables. They'll either try to retreat — and you can let them — or they'll fight, and you'll have the ability to leave at your leisure."

::Yes, ma'am.::

Revan watched with some satisfaction as the fleet carried out the ordered maneuver, wheeling around the Imperial fleet with the grace of ships in vacuum, and she resisted the urge to watch Rans' face as they did. Stupid challenge. She'd figured out a way to solve a half-encirclement when she was ten, and the Master she played Shah-tezh with tried it on her. Literally child's play. Something flickered at the edge of the board, and she glanced up as a single Imperial destroyer glide to a stop far out of range of their ships.

"What's that?" she asked, straightening. The admirals looked over.

"Looks like, uh… yeah. Moff Pyron."

"Why's he stopping?" Kasra asked.

Terix shrugged. "Pyron's not been much for naval action. Maybe he's just watching."

"Or they interrupted his tea time." Terix snickered.

::Should I be concerned about the new ship?::

"We'll let you know if they make a move," Rans interrupted. "Keep going."

::Yes, sir.::

Revan chewed on her lip for a moment, unsettled by the lack of ease gnawing at her stomach. Something under her hand chirped, and she found an alert beeping under it. An energy reading? From the single Imperial—

She closed her eyes and reached for the Force.

A flash of red light. A blinding explosion, red against the black of space. A piece of metal drifting in the invisible currents of space—

Revan lunged forward, across the strategy table, and pulled the microphone toward her.

"Disengage and fall back to lightspeed!" she snapped. "Immediately, captain!"

"Disregard that." Rans moved to pull the mouthpiece away from her, and she jerked away.

"That ship is about to fire!"

"One ship will not destroy an entire fleet."

On the reading, the Imperial ships pulled away, breaking off the pursuit as the Republic fleet drew back.

"Then why are the Imperials retreating? Captain, get to lightspeed immediately!"

"Disregard that," Rans repeated pointedly. "Enter lightspeed once you have a clear vector."

::I—:: The captain hesitated. ::Stay in formation and prepare for hyperspace once we're clear.::

"Rans, you dense usen'ye! We have seconds before—"

"A single ship will not destroy an entire fleet," Rans repeated. "We follow procedure."

"Procedure is about to get everyone killed."

The alarm chimed again and cut off Ran's retort. A blinding beam of light burst from the single Imperial ship, streaking across space towards the fleet. She had one last second to bark "hyperspace, now" before it impacted the fleet, and the strategy board went dark.

The four stood for a moment, Revan's hand clenching the commlink — so tight that her knuckles whitened around it.

"Holy fuck," Kasra breathed, still standing and staring at the darkened board. "What the hell was that?"

Terix had a different question. "Where the hell was intel? Why didn't we know about that? What the hell is that?"

Rans was silent, staring at the table with a shocked, if pensive look. Revan jolted herself out of her stupor and threw the comm onto the table with a frustrated huff.

"Re-established connection with the 78th Expeditionary," Rans ordered.

"You aren't going to," Revan growled. He glanced at her.

"Terix?"

"Trying, sir." He tapped frantically into the table's comm system, snatching up the link where Revan had thrown it. "No answer, sir. Captain Bain's nonresponsive."

"Because he's dead, di'kut." She turned to Rans. "That enough of a 'test' for you?"

"Revan—" Rans sounded exasperated, and she raised her hand.

"Don't even start with me, Rans. You said this was a test and then you overruled me?" She pointed to the strategy board. "You'd still have your 78th Expeditionary if you'd let them retreat."

"And how did you know—"

"Are you going to accuse me of, what, working with the Sith? You've got to be fucking kidding me. You want to know how to anticipate their moves? You just learned your first real lesson — never, ever underestimate them."

"Do you think this is the first time—"

"I bet it's the first time one ship took a whole fleet!" Rans fell quiet. "The Mandalorians, the Empire, the godsdamned Foundry — how many times do I have to be right before you believe me?" She turned to the door, and the Supreme Commander stuck his arm out to block her. Revan's voice lowered to a growl. "Do I need to wait for dismissal, or am I allowed to leave?"

After a moment of hesitation, Rans withdrew his arm. Revan headed back for the door.

"I'll contact you the next time we need you."

"I'm sure you will," she grumbled as she left the room.

#

"Didn't hear you come in."

Revan paused in her routine before sweeping her lightsabers above her head and continuing. "I needed to be alone."

Carth hesitated in the doorway. "Do you want me to leave?"

"It's fine."

He was quiet for a while as she continued. She let a little satisfaction settle in her chest — he liked to watch her work. She'd long moved out of the more active, more flashy part and into a slower-paced, more looping and graceful one, the part that wasn't typical in combat, and the one he didn't associate with imminent danger.

"Bad day?"

"Yeah."

"Is Rans still alive?"

She chuckled. "He is. Can't say the same for his fleet, though."

He didn't answer. "You lost the fleet?"

"Yeah."

"I'm sorry."

"It wasn't my fault." Her next swing was a little harder, the noise of the 'sabers ringing loud in her ears, and she drew a deep breath and regained control. "Someday, someone in this damn universe is going to listen to me."

"What happened?"

She filled him in on everything — that Rans had intended it as a "test" in case she was too damaged to be useful, the 78th's plight, the lone Imperial ship that had joined the battle, that no one had any idea what the ship was when it pulled up. Carth listened, even as she continued to move through her routine, and not for the first time she wished she could get inside that man's damn head sometimes.

"I'm confused that Rans thought you needed tested."

Revan sighed, clipped her lightsabers to her belt, and padded back over to the chair. Carth motioned, and she curled up on his lap.

"I understand it but… protocol." She spat the word out with the venom that probably made Vrook roll in his grave somewhere.

"They gave you the Foundry. You'd think they'd trust you a little."

"They only gave me the Foundry because I wouldn't tell them where it was, and they're too polite to shove me in stasis and go through my brain for it."

Carth sighed and pulled her into his arms, and she rested her head on his shoulder. "Do you know casualties?"

"No." Revan shook her head. "I didn't ask. I didn't want to know."

"How much warning did you have?"

"Maybe a minute." She sighed again. "Even if they'd pulled off then, Carth, the fleet wouldn't have made it. Not against that. I was expecting something basic, like a set of strafing turbolaser cannons or something similar. Not…" Not one gun, one cannon capable of annihilating an entire fleet.

"Any idea how it works?" Revan shook her head, and Carth pursed his lips. "I have thoughts, but I'd have to see the readouts to be sure."

"Talk to Rans." She fell quiet, the unease that had been eating at her since Rans had first shut her down on the Foundry resuming with a vengeance. "Can I ask you something?"

"Anything, gorgeous."

"Am — Am I—" She buried her head in his neck. "I'm Revan, Carth."

"I'm well aware."

"Is — Should I just stop? Maybe it's time. They're not taking me seriously. I—"

"Am I hearing this right?" He tilted her head toward him. "Are you giving up?"

"No," She replied, though it was very defensive. "No! It's just… I feel redundant. Pointless. If they won't listen, then why bother? It's like Rans took me on just to get me out of Satele's hair, while keeping me in sight of the Jedi, so they can babysit me." That word she spat. "They want everything I know, and then they throw it away and treat me like an idiot — and that just killed a lot of people who didn't have to die, Carth."

"What Moff?"

"Pyron."

He nodded. "Didn't think he did much, combat-wise."

"Maybe because he's afraid to unless he's got overwhelming firepower."

Carth rubbed her side. "It's all right, Anna. Sometimes you — sometimes you lose some."

Revan dug her nails into her palm. "Not when you're me."

"You lost fights."

She held up her hands. "I think I lost one to Cassus Fett in the Mandalorian Wars. Emperor, round one. Malak shooting me in the face. Korriban. Malak on the Leviathan. Emperor, round two. This. That's seven."

"That's still seven."

"But it's me, Carth."

"You said the fleet wouldn't have made it—"

"I told them to free-for-all into hyperspace. A few ships might have made it out, but none of them did."

"And that's Rans' fault, not yours. He could have agreed with you, but he didn't. You're not the Supreme Commander anymore, gorgeous. They won't blame you." He frowned. "They'll turn it into propaganda and use it against the Empire, and call it an 'unavoidable tragedy' like they always do."

"It's awful weird that you're telling me to stop blaming myself."

"Because you already blame yourself for everything, so I don't want you to blame yourself for something you didn't do."

Revan rested her head on his shoulder with a sigh. "You make a compelling point."

They sat for a moment before he cleared his throat.

"Feel any better?"

"I'm not going to hang up on Rans when he calls me next, no."

Carth kissed her temple, and she responded with a wan smile despite herself. "Good enough, I guess."

- 9 -