A/N: in which rei is sith, revan makes her debut, and kira enjoys it all a bit too much

this is going to be the last chapter for a while, at least for a week or two bc I'm moving this weekend so I'm super short on time atm. the good news is I have ch 14 marked as edited so once I get internet at my new place I should be able to go ahead and post it.

Rei was off the ship before Andronikos had even stepped out of the cockpit. Her meeting with Praetis — rather, the meeting with her apprentice and the subsequent rushed holocall from Praetis herself — had left her uneasy, and arriving on Yavin 4 had only made things worse.

Darkness suffocated the moon but, as Praetis had predicted, there was something else. There were the Jedi, obviously — Satele's presence was unmistakable — but there was something new within the Force that lingered just at the edge of her consciousness.

At this point, she'd be more surprised if it wasn't Revan, despite how vehemently she'd earlier denied the possibility.

That could make things much more complicated. She was going to have to investigate.

Marching through the tall grass of the clearing, Rei followed the worn path that led away from the ships and towards the main camp. She headed straight for the conference table in the first clearing, where Zaara and Theron were pouring over what seemed to be a map of the surrounding areas.

"So the terrain is to be our first enemy, then?"

Theron glanced up, but Zaara simply crossed her arms and continued to frown at the holodisplay. "You're late, Nox." She pointed to a spot near the top of the map. "Here. And one directly east, by the creek."

"Remember that meeting I told you about?" Rei asked, standing between the two agents and inspecting the map for herself. Either she was looking at it wrong, or the terrain didn't exactly seem traversable. "Turns out it was a bit more… urgent than I realized."

Eyes leaving the display only briefly, Zaara reached to the far side of the table and grabbed a datapad, handing it to Rei. "How urgent, exactly? I did some research on your new best friend and she's…"

"A few ships short of a fleet?"

She almost grinned. "I was going to say she seems to be involved in a lot without doing anything herself."

"That's also true." Placing a hand on her hip, Rei sighed. "She claimed she could sense Revan."

"Revan?" Theron echoed. "As in, the real Revan, or the one we're stuck with?"

"The real, genuine, just-a-presence-in-the-Force Revan." Rei pursed her lips as she stared back up at the map display, trying to discern exactly where the camp was supposed to be. "I can… feel her, I think. There's something here, anyway." Still unable to understand the map, she glanced down at the datapad Zaara had handed her. From the look of it, there were dozens of reports she wasn't entirely interested in reading.

Setting his own datapad down, Theron turned from the map display to lean back against the conference table. "Satele and Cori said the same thing. Marr hasn't agreed, but he hasn't disagreed, either."

"He and Evris both feel it." Without further explanation, Zaara took the datapad back from Rei, scrolling through it before handing it back. When Rei didn't take it, she tossed it onto the table. "It's just not a concern, at the moment."

"Well, I'm concerned about it," Rei shot back. She was more curious than anything, especially now that she was on the moon and could actually sense the presence that Praetis had warned her about. "Someone is going to have to track her down. Give me and Andronikos the rest of the afternoon, and we'll have Revan herself here in the camp."

"That may not be a good thing," Zaara pointed out. "Besides, we need to get these sensors out first. We should call another meeting, since you're here finally, then Cori and I can head out to take care of the sensors."

"Fine," Rei conceded, "call a meeting, do your sensors, then Andronikos and I can go find Revan."

"Once we get the sensors set, we won't have time for distractions like that."

She frowned; it would be easier to argue if Zaara would just outright admit that, for whatever reason, she didn't want Rei trying to find Revan. "Then I suppose I'll just have to tell Darth Marr, and we'll do that Sith thing where we don't tell anyone what we're planning, and just go off and take care of it ourselves. But, of course, let's have that meeting of yours first."

Zaara closed her eyes for a moment, lips pressed into a thin line of frustration; she didn't look up until Theron spoke. "Why don't you go prep the sensors? I need to talk with Nox, anyway."

She looked ready to argue, but said nothing as she marched towards the rest of the camp. Rei watched as Zaara left, raising an eyebrow in curiosity as she turned to face Theron. "Talk away." Any nerves she had at the impending conversation were dampened by a combination of curiosity and aggravation. Rather than deal with this mess — which could easily get rather complicated — she wanted to go looking for Revan.

"Look," Theron sighed, "cut Zaara some slack. Things have been… tense doesn't even begin to cover it. And I'm not sure she's even slept since landing."

"Don't let her fool you. She's loving every minute of this." Rei crossed her arms. "You didn't send Zaara off just so we could talk about her."

"No, you're right. I wanted to talk about Rishi," Theron admitted. "Just — make sure we're still on the same page."

She didn't quite manage to hold back a grin. "As I recall, there was a fair amount of kissing and no shortage of denying that this all comes crashing down once we find Revan."

"Right." He frowned, stopping himself from saying a half dozen things before settling with, "And until then?"

"Until then," Rei repeated, drawing the words out slowly. She supposed things couldn't just continue on from Rishi, not with the newly-added urgency of the mission or the considerably larger amount of Republic and Imperial forces. Of course, that didn't matter for her — no one was going to deny a Sith — but Theron, she was fairly certain, was trying to get back into the good graces of the Republic. "An elaborate, cross-faction romance," she mumbled absentmindedly, her mind flashing back to her discussion on Dromund Kaas with Ashara.

Theron cocked an eyebrow upwards, expression somewhere between amused and concerned. "What?"

She shook her head. "Something my apprentice said. Nevermind." Rei sighed as she turned her full attention back to Theron. "Out of the two of us, it's you who has the reputation to worry about."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

She rolled her eyes. "I'm a member of the Dark Council. The only Imperial here with the authority to challenge anything I do is Marr — and I never listen to him outside of council business, anyway. You, however, don't have the same luxury, and I'd hate to get you kicked out of the Republic a second time."

"It's not like I was planning to announce this to the entire camp."

"Fair enough."

"So," Theron began, giving a casual shrug, "we just have to track down both Revans, stop the Emperor, and hope the SIS gives me my job back."

Rei pressed up onto her toes to steal a light kiss. "The last part's up to you. But yes, that's the general idea." Before she could turn to leave, Theron pulled her in close for another kiss.

There was a loud clack of a datapad clattering onto the table; they pulled away from each other, startled, only to be greeted by Kira's snickering. "Carry on," she grinned. "I'm just here to let you know that Zaara, Marr, and Satele are on their way over."

Smoothing down her shirt, Rei cleared her throat. "Good. Thank you. I'm — I should go alert my crew. You should…" She glanced from Kira to Theron, mentally cursing herself for ending up so flustered at the interruption. "Nevermind. I'll be back in a moment." She spun on her heel and left, headed straight for her ship.

She would have to update Ashara.

If the camp had seemed tense, it was nothing compared to the current state of the conference table.

Lana, Marr, and Rei stood at one end, with Satele, Cori, and T'sereen at the other. Zaara stood beside Theron off to one side, pacing occasionally when the negotiations heated up.

Which, had been almost constantly.

Things had been easier when they'd first met on Manaan and Davri and Evris were threatening each other. As it was, they couldn't get a dozen words out before someone derailed the conversation again. Most of the distractions, really, came from Rei and T'sereen's comments towards each other.

Rei's accusations towards Satele weren't exactly helping, either.

Theron had to wonder how anything got done in the Empire.

The negotiations did eventually prove successful, after Zaara finally emphasized the proposed sensor locations that she and Theron had already decided on the day before; she'd added in some nonsense about percentages and efficiency and priority zones that Theron was fairly certain she'd just made up, but either way, the locations seemed to be acceptable.

Marr stared at the display and the highlighted locations for several moments before nodding in agreement. "We shouldn't continue wasting time. You'll see to this yourself, Agent?"

"Agreed. Master Neiri can accompany you," Satele suggested.

T'sereen's lekku twitched in a subtle display of annoyance. "Of course, Master Satele."

"Hang on. There's something slightly more important to discuss first," Rei pointed out. "Revan. The real Revan, not—" She waved a hand dismissively.

"Not a priority," Zaara insisted, already walking away from the table and T'sereen following her.

Placing her hands on her hips, Rei watched through narrowed eyes as they left. "Priority," she corrected. "My priority. If there's one thing we've learned from this little trip, it's that nobody really knows anything about Revan, and everything we do know differs between Imperial and Republic histories. We're here — why not finally set the record straight?"

There was a moment of mutual hesitation, as if everyone gathered was searching for a reason to object. Theron — despite having been tired of hearing about Revan since first learning of the Revanites — could only think of one potential issue. "Can we even spare people to look into it?"

"Me."

A frustratingly Rei response.

"Your presence will be required here, Nox," Marr spoke up. "The possibility is one we should consider. However, Agent Ven is correct in that stopping the false Revan remains our top priority."

With little left to discuss until the perimeter sensors were all online, the meeting eventually dissolved; Lana slipped back into the main camp, Marr and Rei discussed how to approach the issue of the real Revan, and Kira joined Cori and Satele in quiet conversation. Theron checked in with Zaara and T'sereen over comm, waiting somewhat impatiently for them to begin setting up the sensors.

The trip down to the forward outposts had grown considerably easier than it had been when they'd first established the camps, but it still wasn't exactly an easy trip; as Theron waited for the team to arrive, he found himself pacing and rechecking the coordinates and, every so often, stealing glances over at Rei.

On Rishi, it had been easier to… not forget, but overlook, that she was Sith.

Here, that was impossible. Maybe it was just the general atmosphere of the moon, or that everyone was so insistent that the dark side was so prominent. Maybe it was the fact that they were now surrounded by both Sith and Jedi.

Whatever the reasons, things were different. Where Rei stood at the conference table beside Marr, arms crossed as they conversed, it was simple to see her as part of the Dark Council. She'd been more commanding since arriving, more sincere and more insistent.

More like he expected a Sith to be, Theron supposed.

Rei glanced over, catching him staring; there was little indication she'd seen, save for the brief break in her glowering as she turned back to Marr. Of course, it was then that Theron became very aware of Satele watching him.

That was an explanation he wasn't looking forward to.

Luckily, Zaara spoke over the comm line before Theron was forced to dodge any questions. "We made it to the lower wilds. Headed to the first set of coordinates. We checked in with Evris and Sohms and they gave us what they know about the area so far."

"Good. Anything useful?"

"No." It was T'sereen who answered. "Not yet. They had an area chosen for an outpost further in, but that may change once we get these sensors up."

"Alright. Let me know as soon as you've got something."

"I'm beginning to think that maybe Zaara was right."

Andronikos let out a low whistle. "Admitting you were wrong? What's the occasion?"

Rolling her eyes, Rei waved her hand, motioning for him to help her up from where she sat on the temple floor. "I said maybe," she pointed out as Andronikos pulled her to her feet. "But maybe I should've just had Talos come along, too."

She inspected the door a third time, searching for markings or a mechanism or something to hint at how to open it. It had taken far longer than she'd expected, but Rei and Andronikos had finally made their way through the twisting jungle to the faint presence of Revan that Rei had sensed. It was even more faint now than when she had arrived, but she was certain its source was within the temple they'd stumbled across.

The temple they couldn't currently get into.

"Unless…" Muttering quietly to herself, Rei surveyed the room again, debating searching the entire outside of the temple when Revan's presence was suddenly considerably stronger.

"Does shooting lightning usually open doors for you?"

Lightsaber already in hand, Rei spun to confront their visitor; she found not Revan, but her ghost. "You'd be surprised."

"I guess I would. By the way—" She crossed the room to the door, kneeling down to inspect it as Rei had. As she stood she tucked her hair behind her ear, the thick curls springing loose as she shook her head. "This one doesn't open. You'll have to go around back, or there's a collapsed wall on the left side of the temple you can get through."

Rei shook her head, no longer interested in the rest of the temple. At least, not for the moment. "Revan."

She looked up, offering a humorless smile. "An outdated title. Layla, if you must."

"Layla, then," she corrected. "You should know — one of your descendants is preparing to make an incredibly stupid decision that will endanger the entire galaxy."

"The kid with my mask," Layla confirmed, crossing her arms. "You should stop him."

"And that's it? You won't help?"

"And do what?" she challenged. "It's not my problem and not my concern. I just wanted to retire and let the galaxy forget my name, but no — you people keep dragging it back into the spotlight." Her lips pressed into a thin, humorless smile. "You become an intergalactic terror one time and no one's content to leave you to a quiet life with your family."

Rei frowned. "You have family, you know. Here," she clarified.

Layla's eyes widened, and it was several moments before she spoke. "Family," she repeated. "Besides…?"

"Yes, besides the… other Revan."

She gave a shaky laugh, looking entirely overwhelmed. "That's… Thank you, for telling me." Without an explanation, Layla's form disappeared; Rei wondered if they'd find her back at the camp when they returned.

"One day we'll go somewhere, and none of this weird shit will happen."

Rei turned back to where Andronikos was waiting at the entrance of the temple, grinning. "That would be boring and unsatisfying, and you would hate it."

"I don't know, some days I'd take that over the stuff we get into," he shrugged, falling into step beside Rei as they began the long trek back to where they'd left their speeder. "Although," Andronikos added, in a tone that said he was about to pry, "speaking of boring and unsatisfying."

"What?"

"Your agent. Are you going to tell me, or do I have to get the story from Ashara?"

"My agent," Rei echoed, rolling her eyes but unable to hold back a small smile. "When there is a story, I'll tell you. Until then, ask Ashara — if only because I'm interested in what she'll say."