Bastila sat alone in her quarters. Staring around at the room, fear filling her entire being. Revan's words echoing in her mind. "If I have to, I will turn my back on the Republic." She sighed, the older Jedi was such a pain. "Why does she always have to make it so difficult?"
Selene walked by, and said, "You need to get moving, Shan."
"What?"
"We've landed on Coruscant. You need to get off the ship so the Republic strike team that's using it next can. We've got a lot of units out there that are in need of a good stealth vessel."
"Why did your boss commandeer a stealth vessel?"
"If I knew why that bitch did anything I'd probably be a lot higher ranked than I am right now."
"So no one understands her? Why are they trusting her for running Republic forces?"
"Because she's strong in the Force is what I've been told. They needed someone with that kind of power, and so they took what they could get."
"Your bosses think they need to use the power of the Force as a weapon to win this war, don't they?"
"The mando's have been kicking our asses on the ground. We need something."
Bastila shook her head. "That is irrelevant."
-=0=-
Revan walked around the veteran's center. Ancient memories of her time there. Though for the people there it wasn't that much time. She looked around, as an old man walked up, and said, "If it isn't the survivor of Deralia!"
She looked at him, and said, "How are you, Captain?"
He laughed, and said, "These damn guards still won't let anyone out of the building. If I had to hazard a guess, I'd say they're Jedi Hunters. Be careful now, young lady. They could kill you..."
"They can try..."
-=0=-
Bastila looked around the outskirts of Coruscant. The Temple Guard had said that she was considered a Dark Jedi by the Council. They didn't buy into it, so they were letting her get away from the temple. The Padawan had run. Shock and fear coursing through her veins. If she didn't warn Revan, she could fall into a trap.
-=0=-
Revan looked around the room, and could sense four Jedi outside the building. They were approaching. Judging from their strength, she assumed they were Masters. She walked into the room, and sitting there was a single man in a straight jacket. He looked up, and said, "You have finally appeared before me. It is an honor, My Dark Lord."
"I'm no Sith. Not now, not ever."
"Perhaps not yet, but we have seen your future. You will be our Dark Lord. If you do not rise up to the challenge, all things will die. This Republic will doom us all."
"That isn't your concern."
"It is our concern. There is a great change coming, and all must be ready for it."
-=0=-
Nomi stood in the Council Chambers, and said, "We cannot maintain the charges on Revan much longer. The laws of the Order demand that we provide greater proof of corruption than defying the Jedi Council. You all should know this."
"What of her strike on the mandalorian base on Cathar? What of the fate the rogue Jedi Johnson suffered on Taris? Her acts against Davik?" Master Aedis asked.
"Actions she believed to be the best solution at the time. Actions that this Council has previously deigned necessary acts to protect the innocent. And as I recall the law of the Jedi does not allow us to use actions someone was previously pardoned for as a reason to arrest them."
Master Oraka asked, "You do seem very determined to protect Revan, Master Sunrider. Why is that? Surely you acknowledge that she is a traitor to the Jedi way."
"I believe that she is doing what she sees as best. That she is opposed to the Dark Side, and seeks to preserve the Jedi. I do not believe that doing what one believes is right and necessary to protect what they care about is wrong."
"A Jedi must always do what is best for the Republic. Not what they think is for the best." Aedis said.
"One can only think from their own perspective."
-=0=-
Revan walked into the room with the old man curled into a ball. He said, "You have finally arrived, Lord Revan."
"I am no Lord." she replied, sitting across from him. "I have been told that you have information that I have been looking for. The location of a mandalorian named Marthan Ordo. The one who led the raid on my homeworld years ago."
"Whoever told you that was lying. We know nothing of this Marthan."
"We?"
"We are legion. We have held this form for so long. Waiting for you to arrive. So that we may warn you of the weakness which will doom us all. The weakness which will destroy your empire. You are our Dark Lord, and you must not let weakness corrupt you."
"What weakness are you talking about?"
"Your attachment. You must let it go, lest the current Dark Lord destroy all that is. He has forgotten the importance of balance."
"If you are creatures of the Dark Side, why do you oppose the will of your Dark Lord?"
"Sometimes a legion must stand against their master for their own good. Some orders must never be followed."
"What is this weakness that I must not succumb to?"
He looked at her, and said, "You must let go of your irrational attachment to that other Jedi. The one who you have slain many for. It is a weakness."
"I don't see it as a weakness. And whatever you are, you can stay out of my life. I am not now, and never will be, a Sith."
"You will one day embrace the power of the Dark Side. You msut be ready to kill her when that time comes. You are our Dark Lord. You are our savior. Lest he destroys us all."
"I am not your Dark Lord. I never have been and never will be. So you can take that mindset that I am some kind of Sith Lord and shove it up your ass."
The man sighed, and began to convulse. His body shuddered as he bent over, and began to vomit. His torso twisted, and a moment later his lungs poured out of his mouth.
Revan watched with horror, before stepping through the door out of the room. She turned, and saw Ava standing calmly there. Four corpses on the ground in the lobby. Two of them dressed as Jedi Knights. Revan turned to her and asked, "What happened to the Jedi and Hunters?"
"They were on Orders from the Jedi Council to capture you. I dispatched them before they could interrupt your conversation."
"You told me that he was a survivor of Deralia."
"We shouldn't talk here. There's someone approaching. I'll go greet them."
-=0=-
Bastila ran towards the veteran's center, fear coursing through her as she moved towards there. As she approached, she felt a strange presence behind her. She turned around, to see Ava standing there. The woman said, "You shouldn't be running through the streets, Padawan Shan. You'll start a panic among the civilians."
"How do you know so many Force techniques that the Jedi have forgotten?"
"Your Order is not the only way to learn the ways of the Force."
"Where did you learn?"
"From the Dark Lord of the Sith." Revan said, walking up.
Bastila jumped, and said, "Rev, do you know that the Jedi Council is after you?"
"Of course. Nomi warned me about it when we came in for a landing. Did you try to go to the Temple?"
"Yes."
"Did they do anything?"
"The guard warned me, and let me go."
"Good." Revan replied. "The Council sent a pair of Knights to the veteran's center. As well as a pair of old Jedi Hunters who were on their payroll."
"What about the person you were going there to meet?"
Revan sighed, and said, "That was not pleasant."
"What happened?"
"He said I would be Dark Lord, that my attachment to you was an irrational weakness, and then vomitted out both of his lungs."
Bastila looked disgusted, then said, "You were awfully casual about the people who were there to bring you in."
"Ava here thought it was a good idea to murder them."
"They're dead? That's not going to help your case with the Jedi Council, Rev."
"I was not involved. All footage will just show Ava doing the deed. And I think she did it knowing that."
Ava laughed, and said, "That's a pretty big assumption, Revan."
"I know you too well to think that you would be so willing to help me if you didn't see a potential benefit. You want out, just as you always have. But my refusal to join the war was getting in the way of you doing that. So now that I'm in, you feel no need to remain.
"You want to truly become one with the Force, don't you? Where your mind is no more. So that the pain can come to an end."
Ava sighed, and said, "You're right. You did know who I am all along, didn't you?"
Bastila looked confused, as Revan replied, "You spent a hundred years guarding my cell, Wanderer. The Dark may have been able to change your face, but I would recognize your essence anywhere."
Bastila said, "But wasn't the Wanderer a man?"
"I was. The Dark thought it would be a twisted joke to make me a woman. Just longing for the demise that he denied me." Ava said, her voice bitter. "And it's because I let you out of your cell, before you embraced the Dark as your master. His fury knew no limits that day. He's gonna torture me to the brink of death then deny me that mercy. Unless your Republic finishes me first."
"You know they won't execute you. The Jedi don't believe in executing their prisoners. They teach that no one deserves death, regardless of their crimes."
Ava nodded, and said, "That's why your Republic is taking me away. I've set it up so that officially I have no special military protections.
"It was an honor knowing you. You may be the one to bring the Dark back in line. You're the first one in generations to reach the lands of the Gray and what lies beyond. Good luck, Revan."
"Farewell, Wanderer. May you find peace in the Force." Revan replied, as a pair of Republic officers marched up and read the man his rights.
Bastila turned to Revan and said, "You knew all along, and you didn't tell me."
"I did it to protect you. The less you know of the Dark the better. He's a sadist. I've never seen his face. All I know is his power is almost absolute. And I don't want to make you a target. You know how much you mean to me."
Bastila sighed, and said, "I know. And it's terrifying."
"You needn't be afraid, Bas." Revan said, placing a hand on her shoulder.
"How can I not be? I know what you would do to protect me. And that is terrifying!"
Revan sighed, starting to get exasperated. "Bastila, do you really think that with how far I would go to protect you that the situation would ever arise that I would be forced to betray the Jedi and the Republic?
"Do you really think that with all this power that I wield, that I would ever be forced to join forces with those who seek to destroy our way of life? I know that the Dark is greater than I am. But in the end, I will not let anything happen. I will find a way to stop him."
"But still…"
Revan pulled Bastila closer, and said, "I won't let anything happen. To you, or the Republic. So stop worrying about it."
"How can you expect me to not worry about it?"
" Because you should know by now that my first reaction to anything that would demand I betray the Republic to protect you is to attack."
Bastila wrapped her arms around Revan, and replied, "How long will it take to end this war?"
"I don't know." Revan replied, "If I did, the future would be much less uncertain."
"You'll not do anything crazy while you're out there, will you?"
"I'll be safe out there. Assuming the Jedi Council doesn't force me to go into hiding until the war is lost."
"Surely they wouldn't be so determined to maintain their control."
"I would have said that they would not be so cowardly to try and avoid the war at all. Right now, I don't know what the Council will and will not do."
-=0=-
Nomi looked at the rest of the Council, and asked, "What are you insinuating, Master Aedis?"
He looked at her, and said, "Grand Master Sunrider, I am not insinuating anything. I am saying I do not believe you are fit to serve the Jedi Order as the head of this Council."
Nomi sighed, and asked, "Why do you say that? Because I do not share your rigid stance against any act of war?"
"You have sensed the dark presence behind the mandalorian invasion. We cannot risk the corruption of any Jedi. Especially not ones so powerful as Revan."
"Which is why since she has shown that she will not honor the decision of this Council that we must ensure she has the support needed to steer her away from corruption. Were Revan to turn against the Jedi, it would be the end of our Order."
"It seems clear to me," Oraka said, "that you too have been indoctrinated into the cult of Revan. You believe her might beyond what the Jedi could contain."
"I will not sacrifice Jedi to stop someone if we can maintain peace with them."
Kreia stepped into the room, and said, "At this time, were Revan to go to war with the Jedi Order, even if every last Master, Knight, Padawan, and Apprentice attacked her, it would matter not."
Aedis looked at the old woman and said, "And here is the Far-Seer. The one who first began propegating the myth of Revan's unconquerable might."
The old Master sighed, and said, "Aedis, should Revan desire she could destroy the entire Jedi Temple and everyone within easily. She has mastered..."
"Enough nonsense, Kreia." Oraka interrupted, "There is no technique that would enable any one Jedi or Sith to destroy the temple."
"That is where you are wrong, Oraka." Kreia said, "Surely you have not forgotten the legends of..."
"We do not take stock in legends of powers used before the dawn of hyperspace travel." Aedis replied.
Kreia sighed, and said, "Even in legend there is a fragment of truth."
"And what would be so in the legends?"
"Surely you've heard of it, or are you saying your knowledge of the times before the discovery of hyperspace travel is so little that you cannot even remember the most dangerous Force technique ever developed."
-=0=-
Revan looked up at the temple, and said, "I believe it is time to make my entrance. Seems like Master Kreia is confronting the Council."
Bastila nodded, and said, "Be careful, Rev. The Council isn't exactly very happy with you right now."
"I know. That's why I'm gonna make quite the entrance. You'll want to stand back a bit." the Knight replied, walking towards the door, taking in Force energy. As she did so, a guard said,
"Knight Revan, I must recommend that you do not enter. The Council has ordered your capture."
"I know." Revan replied. "I have come to speak my piece. To hopefully bring an end to this conflict without any bloodshed."
The guards looked at her, and said, "While that is commendable, the Council is demanding you brought in without speaking. To be thrown in the deepest cell. The one near the surface."
Revan took a deep breath, and said, "I see. A show of force, to remind the people that it is they who are in control of the Jedi Order. Very well. I recommend you step aside, gentlemen. Otherwise I cannot guarantee your safety."
"What are you planning, Knight Revan?"
"An entrance that should send a very clear message." Revan said, raising her hand and pointing it at the door. As she extended her palm towards the door, the guards ran to either side. The air began to feel heavy with Force Energy as a sphere of power forged in her palm.
And an instant later, a massive beam of energy shot out from the sphere, tearing the reinforced door to shreds, as Revan cloaked herself in armor made of the Force. Flowing white robes, with darkened plates.
She walked in, as a hundred Jedi drew their blades. She examined them, and said, "You may all go." before vanishing.
-=0=-
The entire temple shook, as a heavy wave of Force energy washed through it. And then Revan stood in the center of the Council Chamber. The Council immediately drew their weapons, but the Knight said, "I come in peace." the entire building shaking again from the might behind her voice.
Kreia said, "I believe Revan speaks the truth. I would advise maintaining the peace as well."
"You have attacked the temple, Knight Revan." Aedis said.
Revan laughed, before appearing behind him, his lightsaber in her hand. "If I had truly attacked you, not a single one of you would still be standing right now." returning the weapon to him. "I have come to deal with your false accusations of my corruption." as Bastila was thrown into the room, disarmed by the guards.
Anger swept through the Jedi Knight, as she appeared beside Bastila. "Are you alright?" she asked, her voice soft.
Bastila looked up, and said, "I'm fine. They were just a bit rough in brining me up here."
Revan looked to the two guards who were responsible, and said, "Go. Now. And never return to the Jedi Temple again."
"Who are you to command us, traitor?" they asked.
"Jedi do not act with hate against one of their own who has been accused of a crime." Revan said, glaring at them. "They attempt to redeem. We do not enact punishment."
"Who are you to speak of the way of the Jedi, Sith?"
Then Revan appeared behind them and said, "You will leave now. Never to return. Or you will suffer a fate far worse than death."
They turned around to face her, and said, "Who are you to enact judgement?"
She looked them in the eye, and said, "I am the one who has travelled to the land beyond the light and the dark. The one who has lived a thousand of your lifetimes. So you will leave now, lest you face my wrath for harming an innocent."
The Council looked at Revan with shock, as the two guards simply laughed. But it was then that Revan placed a hand on each of their heads. She said, "You are no more the men you thought you were. You are now farmers from the Outer Rim. You came to Coruscant to seek the aid of the Republic and the Jedi Council in liberating your home. However; you were denied both's aid, because of the remoteness of your home.
"You are on your way home now, after you stole the garments of guards in order to even get into an audience with the Council. Begone."
As the words left her mouth, the guards slumped over for a moment, before leaving, tears in their eyes. The Council looked horrified, as Revan turned to them, and said, "Now that those two are out of the way, I believe we have a discussion to hold."
"You just erased two men's minds for lightly harming your student, Revan. Your corruption is clear."
She took a deep breath, and said, "The one on the left has sold seventy-three younglings into slavery during his time as a guard. He was only able to keep it a secret because his companion on the right has killed anyone who discovered the truth.
"And do you know why he did so? Because the other one is his nephew, who he raised as his own, after the mother died in childbirth. Well that's the official story. In truth he was so angry that his sister had a child with a Senator that he tortured her for six straight days, until her body gave out and she died.
"He tortured her, because he had arranged for her to marry a high ranking member of the Exchange for an immense amount of credits. But part of the arrangement was that she maintain her virginity until the wedding night.
"Do not be so presumptious to think that for merely being too rough with Bastila I would destroy the minds of two men. No one deserves that for an offence so relatively minor."
The Council looked shocked at Revan's words, and the way they sensed only honesty in the Knight. "How did you know?"
"I have searched the minds of all but three of you present. To find anything that would indicate the corruption of the Dark."
"Why not search the minds of three?"
"Because three have not positioned themselves as my foes." Revan replied. "I have not found any darkness within you. And I know that you come here truly from a desire for what is best for the galaxy. But I fear that this is not a time to be slow and cautious.
"That time is past. The mandalorians will continue to push through anything the Republic sends to counter them. They are a far more powerful militaray force than we thought.
"Only through Jedi interference can we hope to maintain the peace, long enough to prepare to face the greater darkness that lies behind it. So, Councilors, I do not ask for your assistance. I merely request that you do not place yourselves in the way."
They looked at her, shock clear in their eyes. Then, Aedis said, "Knight Revan, surely you understand why we must place ourselves in opposition of your stated goals."
Revan sighed, and asked, "Do you truly think that your opposition will do any good? All it will accomplish is unnecessary discord among the Jedi. If you truly want what is best for this order, as you claim, then you should wish that we come to a peace. Right now, the Jedi Order needs unity."
"And you think that by dragging thousands of Jedi off to war that you can achieve it?"
Revan sighed, and said, "I know that the only hope for the Republic to defeat Mandalore the Ultimate is if we join this war. No other actions can bring down this man. The darkness behind his attack has granted him a great power. Something regular men and women cannot fight. Only warriors trained in the ways of the Force can hope to stop them."
"And what do you know of the darkness beyond the threat?"
"The Dark controls Mandalore. I have seen a fragment of what he is promised. Great might in the Dark Side of the Force, and an infinite fleet, with which he would crush the Republic. We must not allow the Dark to continue to command Mandalore against the Republic without Jedi to stand behind the Republic and defend the Light. Defending the Balance in the Force. If we continue to allow Mandalore's brutal conquest of the Republic, in a hundred years this entire galaxy will cease to be.
"And perhaps you may be able to tolerate such a thought, but I for one cannot. I will not allow this Republic which has always stood beside the Jedi Order to fall. Not without using every last ounce of power I possess to try and save it.
"For I see beyond your fear of corruption of good Jedi. I have seen the void that would come if we let Mandalore win. If we let the Dark rise above the Light and what lies in between. So, you may either help me, or step out of the way."
"Who are you to threaten us?" Oraka asked.
"I am Revan Tremaine, Knight of the Jedi Order."
"Of the Jedi or Sith, for you speak with the words of a Dark Jedi." Aedis said.
She looked at him, smirked, and said, "You would be all too familiar with that attitude, wouldn't you?"
"You will not gather the response you seek, Knight Revan." he replied, stepping towards her. "As a member of this Jedi Council, I take it upon myself to bring you in as a prisoner."
She sighed, and said, "I will be no one's prisoner."
"You have performed crimes against the Jedi Order. You must answer for them."
"The only crime I have committed against the Order is not bending knee to your cowardice."
Aedis sighed as he pulled the cuffs out, and said, "Please come peacefully, Knight Revan. We can have this unpleasantness resolved quickly enough, if you would just cooperate."
Revan shook her head, and asked, "Do you truly believe that I am foolish enough to buy into that lie? You want to throw me in a hole and have me forgotten. Do not think I am not aware of the Sith you left in those cells, forgotten by all, even the ones meant to ensure their survival until the trial was arranged."
Master Nemura asked, "What makes you so distrustful of Masters Aedis and Oraka? We merely seek to bring the unpleasant matter of your corruption to an end."
Revan looked at her with contempt, and said, "For the same reason that I do not trust you, Nemura. You all claim to be my allies, but when I look into your minds I know that you seek nothing more than to silence me."
There was silence in the room, and Revan continued, "But I will not be silenced. Attempt to cage me and I shall break out. Attempt to sever my connection to the Force and you shall find yourselves lacking its power.
"Attempt to declare me an enemy of the Jedi Order, and you shall find the Order turning against you. Should you seek to silence my voice by the blade you shall find your weapons broken by mine. Seek to crush me with the Force and you shall find yourselves unable to stand.
"Attempt to break my will through using my friends against me, even as hostages, and I shall free them. Attempt to kill me to silence my voice, and you shall find yourselves lifeless on the ground as well.
"I cannot be silenced, the will of the Force is with me. The Will of the Light and the Gray are behind me as I seek to fight Mandalore. So long as he continues to menace the galaxy, there can be no balance in the Force. And if there is no balance, we are all in grave danger."
The Jedi Council sat in silence, until Aedis asked, "And what if you do fall? What if our fears turn out to have been well founded?"
Revan was silent, and said, "You will have to strike me down. Fallen to the Dark I will be far weaker than I am now."
"And if we are unable?" Oraka asked.
"Is it not better to have fought and lost, rather than have just surrendered?"
The Council looked at each other nervously, and asked, "What do you fight for, Revan?"
She sighed, and leaned against a nearby pillar. She looked around the room, out the window, carefully choosing her words. Then she said, "I fight for those who are unable. I fight for the ones who have been slain, so that their deaths was not for nothing.
"I fight to protect those still living in fear of the mandalorians invading their homes. I fight to protect those I care about. I fight because I believe that with the strength I have been given it would be wrong to not use it to protect those weaker than myself.
"I fight because a good man saw in me a potential that no one else did, and made great sacrifices to give me a chance to see that potential fulfilled. I fight because when in my hour of need, a Jedi fought to save me.
"I fight for the Republic, I fight for the Jedi. I fight for the galaxy, and I fight to maintain the balance in the Force." Revan said, looking at the Council.
They were silent, until Oraka nodded at Nomi, who said, "You are free to spend time in the Temple for now, Revan. You will not be chained for your ideals, but the Council requests that while we further deliberate the matter of the war that you do not extoll your stance to other Jedi."
Revan smiled, and said, "Thank you, Grand Master. May the Force be with you, Masters." as she left, followed by Bastila.
-=0=-
Meetra stepped out of her transport, to see Revan standing on the pedestal of a statue. As Meetra approached, she asked, "What's going on, Rev?"
The Knight looked up and said, "I am honoring the memory of a friend." She replied, staring down at the far off surface of Coruscant.
"That's not what I meant, how did you get here so fast?"
"A friend used the Force to make our ship go faster than it normally could."
"It killed them?"
"No. He chose to die when his work was done. To escape the control of the Dark."
"What was his work?"
"To see that I spoke to a craazy old man possessed by at least one spirit under the command of the Dark. A task he was forced to fulfill because when the Dark had imprisoned me on the other side, he let me go. Enabled me to travel to the lands of the Gray, and reach a true understanding of the Force." Revan said, continuing to star at the ground.
"Where's Bastila?"
"Up in the temple, working on her Battle Meditation. With the Council watching me so closely, and her by extension, we cannot spend too much time together. Were they to grow suspicious..."
Meetra nodded, and asked, "How long until we go to war?"
"As soon as we have enough Jedi that the Council has no choice but to accept the stance of the rest of the Order. Tomorrow I will begin recruiting in earnest. I will have to contact the Revanchists, they'll be a valuable asset."
"The Masters despise them though, it'll automatically make you their enemy."
"I have a plan in motion for the Masters. If my asset has not already died of old age." Revan replied, smirking slightly.
