A/N: in which revan is pissed, ~revan~ is unmasked, and nobody knows how to emotion

ft. a cameo by the sith emperor, as himself

If there was one thing that both Imperial and Republic soldiers had in common, Rei learned, it was that they celebrated by drinking obscene amounts of alcohol.

It was a premature celebration, in some ways, but no one was willing to put an end to it and as a result, the cheering and shouting and laughter bled over from the main camp to the back conference area, where things were much quieter and somber.

Their plan had been flawlessly executed, and they'd captured Revan while he was still preparing his ritual. He now stood in Force cuffs, while both Jedi and Sith discussed his fate. Rei stood watch alongside the Wrath, wondering when — or even if — Layla would decide to make an appearance.

After a few moments, Zaara approached the conference table, pulling up some information on the holodisplay. "Say hello to Lord Aradin Karris," she announced, displaying what seemed to be bits of census data. "An Intelligence operation in early 11 ATC flagged him as a possible Revanite member, back when we were investigating their activity on Dromund Kaas. Certain… complications within Intelligence the following year kept any of those leads from being followed."

Marr gave a slow nod. "Then he is an Imperial citizen and therefore subject to Imperial law."

Rei could already imagine the uproar this would cause within the Council. Execution was, of course, standard in a situation like this, but Revan — or, Aradin Karris — was a rather valuable target. But before Rei could ask whether they'd be detaining him for interrogation instead, Satele spoke up. "He threatened the entire galaxy. His fate should not be left entirely to the Empire."

Once again, Rei's response was cut off — this time, by the now-familiar presence of Layla. Her form shimmered into view beside Rei, arms crossed and mouth twisted into an unimpressed frown. "Well, actually…"

"Layla," Rei greeted flatly. "Your sense of dramatic timing is excellent, as always."

A quiet murmur rippled through the rest of those gathered at Layla's appearance, and she shrugged. "I mean, I've had a few hundred years to perfect it." Glibness suddenly disappearing, she stared down at the self-proclaimed Revan, the man they'd chased halfway across the galaxy, the impostor who'd tried to steal her legacy. "Mask," Layla insisted sharply. "Now."

He complied without argument; beneath the mask, he had an uncanny resemblance to Layla — the same coppery skin, the same tawny eyes, the same mop of dark curls. "The Empire tries to hide your legacy," he offered in weak defense, staring up at Layla with a mix of awe and shame, all pride and bluster gone. "They call you a heretic and a traitor — I just wanted to remind them of all you accomplished."

"Silence."

Rei could sense Marr's anger, though whether it was directed at Aradin or at her own familiarity with Layla, she couldn't say. She took the mask from Aradin and handed it back to Lana. "We call lots of people heretics and traitors," she pointed out, "so you'll have to do better than that."

Satele, hands clasped behind her back and surprise at Layla's appearance now stifled, frowned and glanced from Layla back to Aradin. "The Empire has long denied Revan's accomplishments as a Jedi," she said in what almost sounded like agreement. "But if that was truly your reasoning, why strike out against the Republic as well?"

"You're no better," Aradin explained, sneering. "You denied her when she was alive, and still deny her when she's dead. Darth Revan was Sith, and the Republic—"

"I was a mother and a wife when I died," Layla snapped, her composure slipping for a moment before she once again became a picture of nonchalance. "I wanted to be forgotten. I tried for years to get the galaxy to forget me, and you people just couldn't leave me alone. You can't even give me some peace and quiet now that I'm dead," she scoffed. Layla turned to Rei, hand on her hip and expression almost bored. "He goes with the Sith."

There was a brief moment of silence; Rei held back from saying anything, waiting expectantly for Satele's inevitable outrage.

Or… whatever Jedi did when they were upset.

There was certainly an edge to Satele's voice when she spoke, but she managed to sound more disappointed and annoyed than mad. "I would've expected a different response from someone so celebrated for her compassion and mercy. Perhaps things have changed somewhat in the last three hundred years, but the Sith—"

"Will torture and kill him, probably." Layla waved a hand dismissively. "It's not about compassion, it's about justice. And I'm sure things have changed in the last three hundred years, but the Jedi once ripped my mind apart and called it mercy so no, this isn't the merciful solution."

Voices clamored and were nearly instantly silenced. A presence, powerful and ancient and sickening, suddenly occupied Rei's mind. It was suffocatingly heavy, even compared to the darkness of the Yavin moon; Rei found herself wavering, reaching a hand out instinctively and steadying herself by grasping the Wrath's arm.

And then it was gone.

For the first time, Aradin looked truly defeated, on his knees before them with his shoulders slumped forward, pride and arrogance no longer emanating from him. Rei could feel the others begin to reach out in the Force, searching for something, for any trace of this entity or where it could've gone. As she looked up, she shared a glance with Satele, and there was a rare moment of mutual understanding between them.

Revan may have been taken care of, but the Emperor had returned — Yavin Four was simply the beginning.

"Again."

Ashara leapt forward, her blue lightsabers clashing with Evris' red ones. She pressed forward, nearly overtaking Evris and fighting with a clarity and finesse that Rei wasn't sure she'd ever seen from her apprentice. She frowned as she continued watching, wondering what exactly Darth Evris had done to get Ashara to respond so well to her training.

"Something wrong?"

Rei glanced up to where Theron sat beside her and shook her head. "Look at how well she's doing — that's the problem. It doesn't make sense." She tapped her fingers along the edge of her caf cup, ignoring the condensation that had formed from the warm morning weather. "Maybe it's just this moon."

"This really bothers you, doesn't it?" Theron guessed, amused.

"No." They were already sitting far more closely than was strictly necessary, and Rei hardly had to move to nudge Theron with her shoulder. "Watch—" She pointed towards Ashara as she neatly dodged Evris' attack, "—she never does that. If I were the one out there, she would've just…" Rei trailed off, still leaning into Theron but entirely captivated by her apprentice; there was no denying that Ashara was a talented combatant, but Rei hadn't ever seen her quite so focused and graceful.

She would've intervened if not for the fact that that they'd only be on the moon for a few more hours. With Revan taken care of — both Revans — the truce with the Republic was coming to an end. Most of the Republic forces had left the day before; T'sereen and her fleet had been the first to leave, and Satele's forces had followed. There were only a few troops and a handful of Jedi left, and Satele and Marr had agreed that the Republic would be entirely gone by that evening.

Rei, as much as she wanted to stay, needed to get back to Dromund Kaas for a few weeks, but she knew she'd be back soon to continue her research. Zaara had left earlier that morning, with the bulk of the Imperial fleet, and the Wrath would be departing with Marr. Soon, Yavin 4 would be nearly as desolate as it had been before they'd arrived.

The thought had been nagging at her all morning. She'd hardly left Theron's side in the few days since they'd stopped Revan, but in a few hours they would be parting ways for good.

Their impending separation was rather upsetting, and Rei hadn't decided how to feel about that revelation just yet.

Not wanting to dwell on it, Rei turned her attention back to Ashara and Evris. They were no longer sparring, but were deep in conversation. She could've continued staring, but her holocomm chimed; she ignored it, already knowing it would be about the upcoming council meeting — she was dreading having to explain the mess that had been the past few months, even if Marr would be there to report in as well. At Theron's questioning glance, Rei shook her head and explained, "Council business. It's not important."

"I bet that'll be fun to take care of."

She groaned in response. They fell back into silence, and Rei began to wonder how exactly to go about leaving. She wasn't very proficient at saying goodbye; really, she hadn't ever had to, not like this. Andronikos, Talos, and Zash were all — mostly — still with her, and anyone she'd genuinely cared about that she'd lost had been killed, not chosen to leave.

An idea was beginning to form. It wasn't the best, but perhaps the simplest.

Rei sighed, and the words came out all at once. "I need to leave. We're not leaving leaving for another few hours, but I need to meet with a few Reclamation Service officers to discuss the situation while I'm gone, and I was actually supposed to do that an hour ago." She stopped herself, frowned, and began again. "I just need to take an hour or so to go check up on Talos and whoever's in charge of the site closer towards the temple. It won't take long."

"Yeah. Okay. And anyway we knew this was… ending, right?" Theron didn't quite meet her gaze, glancing back towards the Republic side of camp.

"Exactly." Rei hesitated; her leave as quickly as possible plan was beginning to draw out, and she knew she couldn't solely blame Theron for that. "The Empire would fall apart without me to keep the Council in check. Speaking of— I am friends with the head of Sith Intelligence, if you'd like to tag along later."

Theron laughed, lightly enough that Rei knew he was aware she was joking. Well, mostly; she wouldn't hesitate to speak to Zhorrid if Theron did take her up on her offer. "As tempting as that definitely sounds, rumor is I'm actually getting my job with the SIS back."

"Shame."

"Right? You'd think stopping a galaxy-wide threat would at least earn me a promotion."

"Mm, me too— Wait." As Rei stood to leave, she offered a look of mock confusion. "I don't think you can promote a member of the Dark Council." She gave a little what can you do shrug. A part of her mind reminded her that everything she was doing was the exact opposite of leaving quickly.

If Theron was still bothered by mentions of Rei's position, he hid it well, instead rolling his eyes. "Don't rub it in."

"Yes, I have… I should go speak with Talos." Pivoting stiffly on her heel, Rei made her way back towards her ship, pausing briefly to interrupt Evris and Ashara. "You can return to Dromund Kaas with me now, or stay and continue with Evris and return with her. Your choice, but make it quick."

Ashara glanced between the two Sith, but Evris spoke up first. "I have no arguments if you'd wish to stay. I believe sparring with my own apprentice could be beneficial for you."

"I'll stay," Ashara decided, though her words were somewhat hesitant.

"Good." Rei left before her apprentice had even finished speaking, marching towards her ship. Inside, she found Vette and Andronikos in the lounge, drinking and playing cards. "You may stay or leave," she told Vette, "but do either quickly. We're headed to Kaas City."

Vette stood, taking a long drink from her glass before setting it down. "No offense, but I'll leave."

As soon as she was gone, Rei slumped down onto the couch. "Ashara will meet us when the Wrath returns. Remind me to contact Talos once we land. We should… leave." There wasn't much that Rei had truly felt guilty about in her life, but this — leaving the Yavin moon when Theron would be expecting her to return — was beginning to bother her. Perhaps it wasn't right, but it would be simpler and easier for both of them. Rei expected that Theron — or at least some small part of him — would recognize and understand that.

It was only a moment before Andronikos offered a look of understanding. "Is this a drink a lot problem or a kill a lot problem?"

"I don't know. Neither, I think."

"Well, when you come up with a solution, let me know. We'll take care of it," he promised, standing and making his way to the cockpit.

With the rest of the couch now empty, Rei tugged one of the pillows towards her and sprawled out on her side. "We've already got plenty of power in the Empire," she reasoned, voice raised enough for Andronikos to hear, "how about infiltrating the Republic senate?"

She could barely make out his response as the engines hummed to life. "Nah. Senate moves too slow. You'd get bored. Gotta go straight for Supreme Chancellor."

"Ambitious. I like it." Rei smiled to herself, now feeling much more at ease with her decision. She had Andronikos, she had Talos, and when she returned to Kaas City, she'd have Zash; she'd be fine.

"So," she began, voice light, "how would one infiltrate Coruscant?"

There were innumerable things that Cori wanted to say and do, but she didn't have the time or the words. Instead, she kissed Lana until they were both breathless, like they were the only ones in the galaxy that had ever mattered and ever would.

She didn't want to say goodbye.

She held her close, burying her face in Lana's hair rather than pulling away. When she left… that would be it. Lana had said it herself — once they left Yavin 4, they likely wouldn't see each other again. At least, not under the same circumstances.

"I'm going to miss you." Lana pulled away, just enough to cup Cori's cheek, her thumb tracing over the pale markings that lined her face.

Cori leaned into her touch, reaching up to cover Lana's hand with her own. "I'm… I'll miss you, too." It wasn't enough — she had more to say, if she could only figure out how to say it. "Lana, I—" She stopped, swallowed thickly, and started again. "I just wanted to be sure you know how much… what this has meant to me."

"You've become quite important to me." The edges of Lana's lips tugged up into a little smile, and she gave a slight, slow shake of her head. "My ridiculous Jedi."

Despite the aching in her chest, Cori found herself smiling as well. But she had things to do — they both did — and she needed to speak with Satele and gather her crew and leave for Coruscant; she didn't want to, but if they didn't leave soon someone would come looking for her, and that was the absolute last thing Cori needed. So instead, she gathered her thoughts, placed one last, fleeting kiss to Lana's lips, and pulled away so they were only holding hands. "Satele's waiting on me."

Lana nodded. "Then go. We both have more important things to attend to, and…" She paused, then added, "And the Jedi will always be in need of someone like you."

After forcing out one final goodbye, Cori forced herself to leave, heading back for the main clearing. She found Satele waiting for her in what remained of the Republic side of camp. "Master Satele." She still felt like she was stumbling over her words; she cleared her throat, hoping to avoid any suspicion.

"Master Cori." She nodded in greeting. "I trust you're prepared to leave? The Sith have only given us a few more hours to be out of the Yavin system." When Cori nodded, Satele continued, "The Supreme Chancellor is… upset by our actions, but I wanted you to know how proud the Jedi council is. You've done a commendable job, not just here but ever since the original attack on Korriban. In fact, the Council and I have been discussing your success."

Cori gave a respectful bow of her head. "I did as any Jedi would do."

"You've done far more than we ever could've expected. The Council wishes to offer the position to you formally when we return to Coruscant, but we've agreed that with your achievements and your experience in tracking down the Sith Emperor, we'd like you to take over as Battlemaster of the order."

"Battlemaster…?" Cori felt her eyes go wide. Ever since joining the Jedi, all she'd wanted was to serve the Order as best she could, and she'd thought that her mission to defeat the Emperor — despite its failure — had been that chance. But to be the Battlemaster was a new opportunity entirely, one she didn't dare pass up. "Master Satele, I would be honored."

Satele offered a warm smile. "I'm sure the rest of the Council will be pleased to hear it. There are few other Jedi who uphold the tenants of the Jedi code like you do."

Cori bit at her lip; she'd hoped to confide in Satele about Lana — perhaps, not about Lana, but a very vague approximation of her situation — but now wondered whether that was a good idea. Instead of saying anything, she gave another bow of her head and excused herself, mumbling something about preparing her crew.

She was halfway to her ship when she nearly ran into both Vette and Theron; Vette excused herself, but Theron took one look at Cori and offered a somewhat encouraging smile. "Lana left?" he guessed.

"Yeah." She tugged nervously at the edge of her robes. "So, it's back to Coruscant to check in with the Jedi Council. I hear you're back with the SIS?"

"Well, not officially, yet." Theron glanced off in the direction of the main camp.

"Is Nox…?"

"Gone? Yeah." He nodded, answering before Cori had even finished the question. "It's pretty much just Marr and Evris at this point."

Still fidgeting, Cori glanced off towards the direction of her ship. "I should probably head out, I guess. Call me if you find the Emperor?" she added in a half-hearted attempt at a joke.

Theron offered a similarly half-hearted smile. "You'll be the first one I contact."

A/N: sooooooo

first off apologies for 1) the super late update and 2) the shitty chapter. I feel like out of all the chapters to just give up and post, this one deserves it least. but ch 18 and 19 have been giving me issues for literal months now, so I just sorta... squashed them together and this happened

I've got basically no free time these days between work and school, but the interlude/ziost chapters were written a looong time ago and just need some rewriting/very very heavy editing. four are done and just need normal editing, and three others are in the process of rewriting. so hopefully it won't be too long between chapters now