Revan walked into the entryway of the Sandral estate, where she was greeted by Nurik Sandral asking her, "What brings you here when there is a storm coming? Shouldn't you be at your Enclave to the south?"
"I would be, but the Enclave is in a security lock-down."
"Why?"
"Recently several incredibly powerful creatures of the dark side showed up, and killed several Jedi Knights. So, the Council locked it down to protect the Padawans and Knights who managed to get there in time."
"I see. What are these creatures?"
"They first appeared during the Great Hyperspace War with the Sith. They are known as terentatek, and have been hunting Jedi for over a thousand years."
"Is there any way my people and droids can help eliminate these creatures?"
"I can handle them once the storm has passed."
"If they're capable of killing Jedi Knights, surely you'll need help." Nurik said.
"I have quite a bit of knowledge on how to fight terentatek. I'll be fine, Nurik. But, the offer is appreciated."
Nurik nodded, and said, "T3-M7, take our guest to our finest room."
The protocol droid said, "Of course, Master Sandral." then turned to Revan and said, "This way, Jedi Knight." before walking deeper into the structure.
-=0=-
Meetra walked out of the temple on Coruscant, and was greeted by a balding man, who asked, "Do you know how to get to the Senate Chambers?"
"There's a cab station around the corner. One of them can take you there." she said.
"I do not trust cab drivers. I would prefer to drive there myself."
"Well, I don't really know my way around the city. I usually just get a cab." she said.
"Well, that's unfortunate. I suppose you will not do. A shame, really. You're a very attractive young woman." the man said, before pulling out a small handle and pressing a button on it. It folded out into a vibroblade, and he stabbed at Meetra. She jumped back from him, and ignited her lightsaber.
"So, you're a Jedi. This will be fun." The man said, charging at her.
She blocked his strike and parried with a blow at his legs. He jumped over her blade, then swept her legs out from under her. He flipped his blade over in his hand and was about to bring it down on Meetra when she channeled the Force and sent him flying away from her.
He slammed into a nearby speeder, which he pushed off of, but felt searing pain and heat as his right hand was cut cleanly off by Meetra's sapphire blade.
"Who are you working for?" she demanded.
"I will not dishonor myself by betraying my master." He said as he pulled out a thermal detonator, "But I will take you with me into the Void, Jedi." he said, as he pressed the button on it.
Meetra swore, and turned running from the man. A second later, she felt her feet lifted from the ground as the blast sent her flying, barely managing to raise enough of a Force barrier to protect herself from the shrapnel. A moment later a dozen people were around her, and asking, "What happened here? What's going on!"
"Someone used a thermal detonator." Meetra replied, limping away, her wounds making it hard to move.
In the temple, she collapsed, and heard a Master say, "What happened to you, Knight!"
-=0=-
Alek shook his head, and started pacing around the room. A few minutes later, Bastila said, "You should quit pacing so much. If you keep it up, you'll ruin the carpet."
"We should be out there, hunting the terentatek." He said.
"Those things took out Knights easily. We wouldn't stand a chance."
"What about the Council's orders? We're supposed to be helping Revan kill those things so that Dantooine's safe again."
"You had to have sensed how Revan was feeling when the Council said that."
"She was furious. So what! We're Jedi. We follow the orders of the Council, not a single Knight."
"A single Knight who is doing what she can to keep us alive." Bastila replied, "While the Council wants us to be hunting things that are well beyond our level. Revan understood this, and you should too. We aren't capable of handling those creatures."
"You say that, but the Council was confident in our abilities. We're two of the strongest Jedi on Dantooine."
"We're strong, but we don't have the necessary skill at controlling our strength to take care of the threat."
"You say that, but you just have no confidence in your abilities! You don't see it, but Quatra's broken you."
"Master Quatra has done no such thing, Alek." Bastila said, "And, you should show her more respect!"
"Everyone knows that she's just one step from falling to the dark side." Alek continued, "And that she abuses her students psychologically. Revan's only been here a couple of days, and she sees it. You're the only one on Dantooine, probably in the entire Order, that doesn't see her for what she is."
Bastila was about to respond, when Urz started whimpering and something slammed against the durasteel shutters on the door. Bastila turned and drew her yellow blade, while Alek ignited his blue one.
The thing slammed into the door again and again, putting massive dents into it. Then, they felt an overwhelming darkness flow into the room as the door was pushed far enough that it wasn't properly sealing off the building. They froze as the darkness assaulted them with their failures. Then, the door was hit with enough force to send it flying into the room, and a terentatek walked followed it in.
The darkness and corruption of it became even stronger as it approached Bastila, and the Padawan didn't move. Visibly shaking, she stood there, glued to the spot. The darkness seemed to say, "How could you hope to become a Jedi Knight, when you cannot even master your hatred of your mother, Bastila? What makes you think that you are even good enough to be a Padawan? That your title was not just given to you out of pity? You can barely wield a lightsaber, and are even worse at controlling the Force. The way of the Jedi will never work for you. Your anger makes you week in the light. The only hope you have to be strong is to embrace the dark. To embrace my darkness. Let me make you strong. With me, you can destroy all who have dragged you down. All who have held you back. Who have denied what you deserve!"
Then, as the terentatek raised its claw, a blue lightsaber flew towards it. The creature hopped back to evade the attack, and that gave Bastila a moment to clear her head and realize what was going on. She turned and ran to the far side of the room. There, she started typing commands into the panel Revan had used to lower the durasteel shutters.
Meanwhile, Alek was staring straight at the terentatek as it walked towards him. It raised one clawed hand and as it swung at him, he leaped to the side, and struck at its left leg. The blade grazed against the scaly hide, and singed the flesh. It showed no sign of pain, and kicked him into the wall.
Bastila typed in a series of other commands, and when they failed to raise the shutters, she pulled out a security spike and a couple of seconds later had them up. She said, "Alek, we have to get out of here!"
"I can beat it!" he said.
"No you can't! You barely even scratched it with your lightsaber!"
"I just need to find its weak spot." he said, dodging a strike from the beast. "You can run if you want, but I'm going to stand and fight."
"If you fight, you'll die." Bastila growled, "And I'm pretty sure that if you die, I'll get into trouble for it."
"You're always worried about covering your own back. Why don't you help me kill this thing instead?" Alek growleed.
"It's too strong for us."
"You say that." Alek said, panting as he tried to block one of the terentatek's strikes, "But this thing is still just a dumb animal. We can win if we work together."
"I doubt it." Bastila said, watching him fly through a window from the beast's strike. Urz, seeing a way out, followed Alek through. At the same time, Bastila hit a command on the security spike and dove through the window, using the Force to create a shield to protect her from the shutter slamming down.
Alek said, gasping for breath, "Maybe you're right. We may need to find Revan if we're going to take that thing out."
"Glad to see that you aren't as stupid as I thought."
He ignored her, and said, "There's a storm coming this way."
"Revan probably went to find shelter." Bastila said.
Alek nodded, then said, "We need to get moving. That thing's coming at us again!"
Bastila nodded, and started running. Even as they ran over the plains, the charging terentatek came ever closer. When she looked back, Bastila saw it getting closer, and fear crept into her mind. 'Shit, it's getting closer!'
Alek said, "Where do we go? It's catching up!"
"With the storm coming, we'll need to go somewhere with a roof to keep dry." Bastila said, "Since the Enclave and Knight areas aren't available, the only place that's safe is the Sandral estate."
"Got it." Alek said, using the Force to speed himself up. Bastila followed suit, but they weren't managing to get away, the creature sped up to match their speed.
"We aren't going to make it. It's too fast." Bastila said.
"Aren't terentatek supposed to be slow?"
"Apparently this one isn't."
"We're almost at the Matale estate." Alek said, "Maybe the droids there will be able to help slow it down."
"I doubt it. You saw how little your lightsaber did against it." Bastila said, panicking as the terentatek drew closer.
Then, Alek said, "I'll try to hold it off once we get to the estate. You go ahead to find Revan. She'll know what to do."
Bastila said, "No way am I just going to leave you to fight it alone. I saw what it did to a Knight, and you aren't at that level."
"Just trust me, Shan!" Alek growled.
"Give me a good reason I should." she replied, "I can't afford to have your death on my record!"
"I. Will. Not. Die. Just get Revan so she can finish it off!"
"Fine." Bastila said, as Alek turned to face it.
Once she was gone, Alek said, "Bring it on, you motherfucker. I don't have any reason to hold back now." before charging at it, electricity crackling at his fingertips.
-=0=-
Quatra sat in the Council chambers quietly, and when Vandar, Vrook, and Dorak entered, she asked, "Why did you leave Padawans out where those animals could slay them?"
"They are with Knight Revan. They will be fine." Vandar said.
"What is so special about Revan that she will make the Padawans safe?"
"You don't know, Quatra?" Dorak asked.
"Of course not. She is just an arrogant Knight."
"Knight Revan is more than she appears." Vandar said.
"Why?"
Vrook said, "Her lineage."
"What do you mean, Master Vrook?"
"Revan's parents were..."
-=0=-
Meetra groaned, and asked, "What's going on?"
"We were hoping you could tell us that." Nomi said.
"Grand Master, what are you doing here?"
"A thermal detonator is set off on Coruscant and you were caught in the blast. I want to know what happened."
"I was just walking a bit, thinking. Then, this oldish-looking man asks me for directions to the Senate. I tell him to just take a cab, but he, strangely, says he won't. Then, when I tell him I can't help him, he pulls out some kind of weird, folding vibroblade. He attacks me, and after a short fight, I have him pinned. I ask him who hired him, and he just pulled out the detonator, saying that he would not dishonor himself by selling out his master."
"He must have been a mandalorian. But, was his master another of his people, or was he merely one who had been turned away for not being enough of a warrior?" Nomi asked.
"I don't know, Master. Is there anything else that you need?"
"That is all for now, Knight. Be sure to get plenty of rest while you are recovering."
"I will, Master."
-=0=-
Revan sat quietly on the bed. Whatever was going on, the darkness was growing stronger. The sound of the rain peppering against the roof creating a soothing melody to her ears.
Then, a droid hit the communications line outside the room, and said, "Knight Revan, Master Sandral has requested that I inquire if you would like to join him and his children for dinner."
She opened the door, and said, "Sure, I'll join 'em. Which way?"
"This way, Revan." it said, walking down one of the halls. After it took a left and a right, they were in an elevator going down. Once the elevator doors opened, they were in a large hall with several crystal chandeliers filled with electric candles.
They walked through the hall, and the door on the far end opened to a simple dining room where Nurik, Rahasia, and a young boy were sitting at an oak table. The man said, "Ah, Revan. I apologize if my protocol droid woke you."
"It didn't."
"Excellent. I thought you might be hungry." he said, "But first, introductions are in order. You've already met my daughter Rahasia, and this is my son Casus."
Revan nodded, thinking, 'What is that?' as she felt something out in the distance. She shook it from her mind, and said, "It's nice to meet you, Casus."
The young boy nervously said, "It's nice to meet you too, Master Jedi."
Revan shook her head, smiling slightly, and sat down at the empty chair. A few minutes later, a waiter-droid brought her a tray of steak and potatoes. The group ate in silence, but then, Revan placed her fork down on the plate. In the back of her head she felt an overwhelming sense of fear drawing closer.
"Is something wrong?" Nurik inquired.
"I need to get back to the surface. Something is coming this way." Revan said, rising from her seat.
"One of those creatures you mentioned earlier?"
"Actually, a Padawan who doesn't seem to know how to follow orders." Revan said, smiling, before walking out towards the elevator. The sensation of fear growing ever stronger. When she got in the painfully slow elevator, the fear had become akin to a physical itch that was just beyond her reach.
'So, she grows a spine at the absolute worst possible moment. This is just great.' Revan thought, waiting for the elevator to finally finish getting up to the surface. Once she was there, she sprinted to the door, and opened it. And was immediately hit by the roaring winds and bitterly cold rain, almost instantly soaking her to her core.
She stepped out into the storm, and turned towards the intense fear. She calmly walked towards it, the fear growing stronger with every passing moment. Then, Bastila crashed into her with a surprised yelp.
Revan gently pushed her off, and said, "Stand back, I've got it."
Bastila nodded, blushing, and said, "Okay."
"You might want to get inside the Sandral Estate. Where's Baldy?" she asked, while ducking beneath one of the nearby terentatek's strikes.
"I'm right here." He said, jumping at the terentatek. It slapped him to the side, and turned its attention back to Revan. A hollow scream escaped its mouth, and the two Padawans covered their ears in pain. Revan, on the other hand, merely stood there, her face showing no sign of even having heard the terentatek's cry. Before it could move, she had ignited both of her lightsabers and slammed into it with all of her might. The beast stumbled back a step, and tried to grab her with both of its hands.
Revan rolled away, the beast only managing to grasp a few strands of her hair as she dodged it. The terentatek then kicked at her, but missed, and ended up falling on its back. Revan grinned, and jumped into the air, her twin blades rapidly approaching its exposed torso.
Then, it landed a single blow on her chest, sending her flying towards a nearby wall. When she collided, she fell forwards off of it, coughing up blood and gasping for breath. 'This one is smart. Too smart to be natural. That spirit must be influencing it somehow. But how? The archives have no evidence of such a thing being possible.' she thought, as she got back on her feet, stumbling forward.
The terentatek saw that she still lived, and charged at her. Before it could reach her, however, the water upon the terentatek froze into a solid shell- trapping it- and Revan stood there, her eyes gleaming with triumph. She said, "I didn't think that would work."
"What did you do?" Bastila asked.
"I manipulated the Force so that it dropped the temperature of the water on the terentatek to just below the freezing point."
"How?" Alek asked.
"I'm not sure of the details." Revan admitted, walking up to creature but before she could stab it, a gust of wind pushed her away from it. While she stumbled back, tiny shards of ice from the shell around the terentatek broke off and flew into her, cutting her cheeks and arms.
At the same time, the terentatek managed to escape its prison, and charged right at Revan. She let out a soft growl, and just as it was about to collide with her, dove out of the way and threw both of her lightsabers at it. The shorter sapphire blade pierced the terentatek's back, causing it to stumble, just before the violet blade severed its head from the rest of its body.
"That was impressive." Alek said.
"Thanks, Baldy, but you two need to get into the Sandral estate. You'll be safer there, and with the weather how it is, who knows what diseases you could catch outside."
"Shouldn't you be coming too?" Bastila asked.
"I can't. With how that last one was, I'll have to find and kill them all asap just in case. I don't want them to get any stronger than they already are."
"If you stay out the weather could beat you too, Revan. You're not invulnerable."
"I know I'm not. But, I'm the only one who can kill the terentatek alone with them at their current level. And, they're getting stronger as time passes. So, I can't wait for the storm to pass."
"If you're going out after them, we're going too. We tried hiding once, and one of them still got to us." Bastila said, Alek nodding behind her.
Revan shook her head and said, "Fine, but be careful. If anything happens to you, it's on my head."
"We'll stay out of the way. We'd have stayed at your place but that terentatek found us and broke the door down."
"Well, that will be hard to explain to the Masters." Revan said, walking away.
"Where are we going?"
"The crystal cavern. There we should be able to get a few crystals to amplify our Force abilities. And, we can use it to draw the terentatek to us and finish them off in one quick move if we're lucky."
"Won't they be able to tell it's a trap?" Alek asked.
"Probably, but it's worth a try. I'd rather not risk running into a large group of them when they have a clear advantage. And in this weather, we'll be lucky to last the night without freezing to death."
"But, what if there are more kinrath in there?" Bastila asked.
"They'll have needed more time to repopulate." Revan said, then she asked, "Where's Urz?"
"He's probably back at your place hiding from the storm." Bastila said.
Revan nodded, and then said, "I just got an idea." before stopping dead in her tracks and closing her eyes. A few minutes later, the rain quit hitting them, and Bastila asked, "What did you do?"
"I created a barrier around us so that the water can't get through. I've always wondered why the Jedi do so little with the Force. It's the main thing that sets them apart from regular people, but they have no imagination in how to use it. Just push, pull, jump, speed up, mind control, EMPs, stun fields, healing, a defensive mesh, occasionally psychic support, and basically chains."
"That's a pretty varied arsenal." Alek said.
"Yes, but there's a lot more that can be done with the Force. Even if you limit yourself just to what can be viewed as light side or neutral powers. There are countless ways to affect the world around us with the Force, but we're told to never experiment with the Force. That it's dangerous. Yet, the Council ignores the fact that every Force power that we take for granted today was created through experimentation. So, most people are stuck with what is an incredibly limited arsenal compared to what they could have. For example, just lowering the temperature near your opponent suddenly could give you a huge advantage, but is neutral. Or raising it. Sorry." Revan said, "I tend to go off on rants like this when I get nervous."
"You're nervous?" Bastila asked, surprise clear in her voice.
"There are terentatek that defy the normal rules for their kind. So of course I'm nervous. Hell, I'm scared out of my mind. Heh, I wonder what they'd say if they heard me say that."
"What who would say?"
"It isn't important." Revan quickly replied.
"Who are you talking about?" Alek asked.
"It doesn't matter."
"Who are they?" Alek demanded.
"It isn't any of your business, Baldy." Revan growled, looking him right in the eye. Though he physically towered over the woman, he quickly backed off, as every second that passed she seemed to get larger and larger. "Good. Now we need to prepare for the terentatek."
"What do you need us to do?" Bastila asked.
Revan shuffled around in her pack for a few moments, then tossed Alek some mines. "Put these near the entrance. They should be weak enough to not mess up the cave, but powerful enough to injure or kill a terentatek or two. To be safe, keep them at least a foot from the walls."
Alek nodded, and got to work.
Revan then turned to Bastila, while they entered the heart of the cave, and asked, "Bastila, do you know how to create Force bombs?"
"What are you talking about?"
"A Force bomb. It's a technique that was created by the Jedi Master Kel'Thuun about a thousand years after the split in the Order that had those who followed the dark side exiled. Basically, it's a small, but dense, container of Force energy that detonates when thrown. It's really simple. Just do this." Revan said, and a small ball appeared just above her hand, the strands of Force energy far enough apart for Bastila to easily read how they were wound together. "Then you just compress the energy so that it's pretty dense, and you've got a potent explosion for any poor bastard who gives you trouble. Now try it yourself."
Bastila nodded, and sat down in a corner of the cave where there weren't any crystals. Revan, on the other hand, shouted down the tunnel, "Baldy, you finished planting the mines?"
"Just about done." He replied.
"Good, get in here when you're done."
A moment later he walked in, and asked, "What do you need?"
"Just you to be in here so I can set up the next trap." she said, spinning the Force into a razor-sharp web over the entrance. "No terentatek will get through that unfazed."
"What is it?"
"Force energy that's been... made dense enough to have a more physical effect on the area around it. Then, I sharpened it so that any terentatek that tries to get in will have to go through a sharp web to get to us. If we're lucky, it won't survive. If we're not, I'll have to take it apart."
"Why didn't you do this before?" Alek asked.
"Because, I thought they were normal. I thought that I wouldn't need to go to these measures."
He nodded, then asked, "What's Bastila doing in the corner?"
"Just having her do some prep work." Revan replied.
"What exactly?"
"It doesn't have an effect on what you need to do."
"Alright." he said, "What do you want me to do to prepare for them getting here?"
"Get some crystals. We'll need them for a boost to draw their attention."
He nodded and went around the room. Meanwhile, Revan sat in the center of the room, breathing in and out. When Alek returned to her, he said, "Here's some crystals. It enough?"
"It'll be fine." she said, "Bastila, you have that technique down?"
"Yeah." She said, walking to the center.
"Good. Everyone, just sit down and draw on the Force as heavily as you can. Seizing or embracing is fine. Just get as much of it in you as you can."
They nodded, and when they heard a blast from the entrance, Revan said, "That's good. We've got their attention. Prepare to engage the enemy."
They nodded, and ignited their lightsabers. The four blades of glowing energy emerged simultaneously, and then, they heard something stomping their way. Time seemed to crawl as the sound grew louder and louder. The air began to shimmer and the room began to heat up, the crystals began to glow even brighter. Then, the web on the front went flew inward, shattered into a thousand pieces, and in walked two terentatek surrounded in shrouds of darkest black. They turned to the three Jedi, and charged.
-=0=-
A/N: Sorry for the long wait guys! I've just been really busy in real life lately, so I haven't had much time to write this. I'll try to be more prompt on the next one. Anyways, please follow, favorite, and review. Reviewers will get cake in some form or other.
