We arrived at the burial chamber after stepping over droid corpses. As we got closer, Echani expletives echoed from behind the embossed doors. Ah. So, guess this is where Verena had been holding out these past few days. When Carth opened the door, we were greeted with…a scene.

A few broken, dissected droids lined the walls of the burial chamber. In the middle, a battle was taking place. Verena hid behind the sarcophagus, holding her spare blaster up at the remaining droids in the back. Her silver eyes made contact with us. If she was angry before, now she was furious.

"You idiots set them off!"

She shot at the back of the room, yet the shields from the droids rippled with each hit. They retaliated with a rain of blaster fire. Jolee took charge, deflecting all of the blaster bolts that he could while Carth and I used the dead droids as shields and provided cover.

A silver flash came from the center—a droid that looked similar to HK-47 yet…older let out sparks. Its audio receptors were…flashing.

"Warning: Too much…input! Systems overloading! Must destroy…source of disturbance!"

I glanced over at Verena. Spread at her feet was an array of droid parts and gear. Either she or someone else had been trying to repair…

I stopped shooting once I finally saw HK among the droid corpses.

"What the hell did you do to HK?"

Verena glared at me. "What do you think? I shut that evil thing off! Also, how dare you spy on me with that!"

Carth sighed before he let off another shout.

"We really don't have time to fight right now!"

"Well if you hadn't set that thing off—!"

Every droid except the rogue assassination droid fell to our blasters. Which meant if we could get close and shut that thing off somehow…

Yet, its eyes flickered red.

"Warning: Intruder! Intruder!"

An assault droid crawled in from a separate passage along and more droids from around the walls turned on with a whirl. Jolee cursed as he was cut off by the new gang of droids and immediately used the Force to freeze them before they could send a volley at him.

"Now would be a good time for one of your bright ideas, kid!"

I growled. "That droid is going to keep calling for reinforcements unless we…"

My gaze flicked around the room, bouncing from HK, the rogue droid, the sparking audio receptor, HK…wait. I broke out of cover and Carth shouted after me in confusion. I ignored him and Verena's calls as well and avoided all of the droids' attacks using the Force, making my way to HK-47.

He should still have that Mandalorian's stealth unit…

When I arrived, I dropped my blaster immediately and smiled once I saw the black belt around HK's waist. Of course, thank the Force the Sith didn't remove it. I unbuckled it and then immediately put it on. My arms and body rippled like hot steam and the stealth unit camouflaged me with the air itself.

"Stop shooting!"

"What?"

Carth stopped as soon as I gave the order. Verena stopped once he did and gave me a wild confused look. Jolee sheathed his lightsaber after he defeated the assault droid then ducked into cover. The droids kept shooting at us yet…they stumbled past Jolee as if they couldn't see him. The rogue assassination droid's eyes flickered, its head twisted around.

"Scanning…scanning…"

With the stealth unit still on, I stepped out of cover and made my way to the rogue droid. The Mark IVs and Vs stumbled into each other and like cantina dominos they fell to the ground. I took shallow breaths despite it not mattering too much with the stealth unit. As long as I didn't run into them…

Eventually, I was face to face with the rogue droid. It had similar Systech parts to HK-47, except this was an obviously faulty model. Or a copy. Thankfully, this meant I was already familiar with the parts.

Avoiding the red light from its searching gaze, I stepped to its back and used the Force to flip its shut-off switch. Once it switched off, I ducked behind another droid.

"Alright, finish the others!"

Carth and Verena resumed their shooting frenzy and, since the rest of the droids were taken by surprise, they all went down quickly. The resulting silence of the tomb was to our great relief…yet I didn't let my guard down. I turned off the stealth unit but kept it on just in case. Carth and Verena both came out of cover slowly.

She stared at me for a long time before she scoffed.

"I told you I didn't want your help, Revan."

I turned and ignored her, making my way toward HK-47. He had truly just been shut off, though how Verena managed to do it was the question.

"We're not here for you," Carth answered for me. "We…or at least I didn't even know you were in here. What the hell have you been doing?"

She opened her mouth to answer, yet I interrupted her by shutting HK on by flicking his own switch. His familiar red lights flickered on.

"Relief: Oh, Master, it is good to see you alive! Aggravation: It's thanks to this meatbag that I could not return to you. I'd be happy to take care of the problem now—"

"With what weapon?"

Verena had obviously taken his sniper rifle. His lights dimmed.

"Insistantance: I told you that it was pointless for me to return, Master, the Echani meatbag declared war—"

"I turned that thing off for a reason, you know. It doesn't fucking shut up," Verena said with a hiss.

Jolee hummed. "She has a point."

HK-47's eyes dimmed further. Before he could go on a meatbag tirade I waved a hand, hopefully stopping him. For now. But knowing HK, he wouldn't listen to me for long.

"I'm surprised you didn't destroy him," I said.

"Oh, I would have. Forgot those bombs you put in him though. I'm not dying because of that thing."

Jolee chuckled and Carth was unamused.

"Okay, so why are you here?" Carth said, stepping between us.

She pointed at the droids.

"You can't tell? I found Revan's—your—factory of droids. Or at least the one here. I was going to use them to take over the Academy. Free their prisoners."

Factory of droids? I stepped towards the mess that was near the sarcophagus. A computer sat beside it with a flashing screen. Frozen on a password-protected field. Yeah, that would be like me, huh? Create a factory in a Sith tomb…actually, no, that sounded completely insane.

"Why haven't you put your plan into motion?"

"You already know." She sneered. "Only you can turn them on. So, I've been trying for days to hack into the system. Useless, though."

"Okay, look, I don't care about Revan's projects," Carth interrupted. "We're just here for that droid. We'll leave you to it."

"No." I stepped closer to Verena and I felt my brow crease. "You said you didn't want my help…but you're going to use these droids? Ones that Revan made? How does that make sense?"

Verena's face was stone, ice. Her silver eyes didn't move after I caught her in that contradiction.

"I…" Her expression finally twitched. "It's different. They aren't…that droid." Her glare hovered near HK-47. "I used some of these droids myself. If I intend to redeem myself, I may as well use the same weapons."

I let out a long sigh. "Then let me turn it on for you."

"No." Verena sneered. "I…I almost had it before you set off the alarms. I was going through the droids in order to piece together their switches. I figured out how to switch them off but…"

"Statement: This meatbag is either an idiot or a moron, Master. It is impossible to switch on the terminal without your vocal patterns, face, and the proper password. Observation: Desperation truly does make organics fumble."

She glared at HK.

"That's what it's programmed to say, so of course—"

"No, he's right. You'd be wasting your time," Carth said. "On the Leviathan…that's what that was about, wasn't it? You switched those droids on."

I glanced around at the tomb. "It would also explain why they've gone into disrepair. No one has been able to properly maintain them. Not even Uthar."

Verena grew silent as she stared stubbornly back at me.

"So, I've been wasting my time?"

"Statement: Ah, the meatbag has realized! Finally…"

Verena stepped back, ignoring HK's insult, then made her way to the terminal. Before I could try to convince her again to let me switch on the droids…she began blasting the computer. I lifted my hand a fraction before giving up entirely. She didn't want my help, even if she was being self-destructive in the process.

"Then I guess I'll have to find another way." She aimed her blaster at the rogue droid. "Sorry, but I need to destroy this one too—"

"No!" Carth ran in front of her, blocking her path with arms outspread. "Why? You won't be destroying that, I kriffing said we needed it."

Verena narrowed her eyes. "Why do you always need the droids? I need to destroy it or else he will use it for evil again!"

Carth's body sank back.

"How do you know that?"

"I know." She glared at me. "I know him more than he knows himself. You weren't under his leadership during the wars. To Revan, people were tools. Even now to him, they are tools." Something spiked, a pain, in my head that I tried to ignore. "I mean, just look at you all!" She pointed at Carth then at Jolee. "You still follow him, believe in him, even after everything he's done! He destroyed your homeworld! He killed Jedi! I made the same mistake—following him even after killing so many innocents. Where did it lead me?" She kicked a droid's metal corpse. "To ruin! If Revan hadn't…if he hadn't led me down this path, I would have never…"

Jolee let out a long sigh.

"It's our choice. And back then it was your choice."

"Is it really our choice, old man?" Verena snorted. "I fell for the same trick on Tatooine, believing he was fighting for the right cause against the Sith. He'll turn again though. It's inevitable. And he'll take you down with him." Jolee and Carth remained silent. I took a step back once I realized…she was right. I had begun to fall again—the deaths, the torture, using the dark side. Verena clicked her tongue. "You didn't listen to me back on the Ebon Hawk about Revan, so I doubt you'd listen now. He has you all tied around his little finger. It'll mean your death."

Silence. Jolee and Carth looked at each other. Debating to themselves, maybe. Questioning. As they should. Then, the old man took a step forward.

"If it does, so be it."

My mouth gaped.

Verena's expression wavered. I didn't…dare say anything. I agreed with her, after all. They shouldn't be here. What she said was the truth. It's why…I was trying to push them away. Finally, Carth took a step forward, getting closer to Verena. He'd agree for sure, hell, I almost killed him. For once, she didn't edge back but she didn't lower her blaster.

Carth raised his hands. "You can destroy it after we get its memory core, alright?"

"Oh? Who's going to be doing that?" She nodded at me. "Him?"

"I…" He hesitated. "Yes. He is. Sure, Revan was evil. Maybe still is—almost killed me back there. I don't think he wanted to do it though. He came here to save my son after all."

"That's how it starts—with good intentions." She lowered her blaster a tad. "He only wants to help you for his own selfish reasons—"

"I don't care! That droid is the only thing that will save my son!" He shouted. "You know, Dustil, the son that you put here in the first place! You had a choice back then to not do that, right? Or is Revan to blame for every single damn thing!"

Her expression fell along with her arm. The shock from his shouting seemed to have rendered her numb, paralyzed as if she had been hit with lightning herself. Then, finally, she dropped the blaster.

"Of course…" Her voice was small. "Yusanis…then what you said..."

She interrupted herself and sat cross-legged on the floor. Carth stared down at her in shock. I, however, didn't waste any more time even though I wanted to know what Yusanis had said.

But you know what he said, right?

No. All of it. Forgotten.

I rushed up to the rogue droid and grabbed a spanner on the way there. HK-47 shuffled after me. Before I switched it back on in order to assist with getting its memory core, I unscrewed its back panel—so similar to HK—and disabled its motor core. Once I turned it on, there was no way it could move or attack again. Also, I made sure to retune its audio receptors so that it could both not damage the surrounding droids' receivers and so that it wouldn't be crazy when it woke up.

These adjustments took probably half an hour to perform. In the meantime, Verena meditated and Jolee and Carth stood back, whispering to each other. Maybe about me. Maybe about Verena. I tried to not let it bother me.

"Query: Master, do I have to continue watching that meatbag?"

I sighed, connecting a wire.

"No."

"Acknowledgement: Oh, thank you, Master, the sound of that is music to my audio receptors. Query: Does that mean…that meatbag is now my target?"

"No." I groaned, shifting back, and glancing around the tomb. "By the way, what is this place?"

"Answer: Why, this is your prototype droid factory, Master. I wasn't entirely sure where you had it—you made sure to keep many things hidden from me. From what I remember you intended to mass produce lesser HK units before your apprentice, ahem, betrayed you. Units like this." HK scanned the droid I was working on. "Statement: I resemble the ultimate Hunter Killer unit, of course. You wouldn't have settled for less."

I sat back with a hum. "When did I lose you?"

"Answer: About a year ago, Master."

"Strange. Why didn't I go after you if you were oh so important? You have a tracker. It would have been easy."

HK's lights flickered. "Answer: You…you were likely attending to matters of urgency…like your apprentice's betrayal, perhaps?"

Or, Revan, no, I had been planning something far greater. I wouldn't have stopped with a prototype, after all. The thought of more HK units running around, some even worse than HK-47, made me shiver. I didn't even want to think about what I intended to use them for…

I screwed on the plate after a few more minutes of adjusting the audio receptors and wires, then flipped the switch to the rogue droid. Its eyes flickered once then twice before forming a solid yellow light. Its voice was calming, quiet, and less harsh in comparison to HK-47's brash one.

"I appreciate your efforts in fixing my audio receptors, sentient. I have been unable to tune the threshold since my escape, unfortunately."

Hmm, he didn't have an emotion qualifier in his dialogue. Must have been added later? Or something went wrong. I glanced over at Carth and Jolee who walked toward us as soon as the droid started talking.

"Escape?"

"A bit of introduction may be necessary. I am a Mark VII experimental prototype assassin droid built by the Sith, specializing in the hunting and extermination of Jedi. A Hunter Killer…prototype. Or I should say I was. The Sith made my cognitive systems more independent than they desired. I have learned to appreciate the value of all life."

Carth stuttered. "You appreciate the value of life? That's great—"

"That is very sad. Query: Are you damaged? Is it repairable?"

The droid blinked at HK.

"Negative. It is a result of my own conscious decision, and I would not change my new values if I could."

HK stepped back as if horrified.

"Statement: Master, this…thing is an abomination! We need to eliminate it!"

I ignored him.

"How is this place a refuge?"

Its eyes dimmed.

"This place is where I was created. The only way I figured I could escape was by using the droids here. Perhaps with your assistance I can leave for good."

"Well, you can't leave, not until you give up your memory core," Carth said.

Its lights flickered.

"But if I do then I would…be destroyed."

"Jubilation: As you should be! Oh, and I will make it as painful—"

Before HK could describe Mark VII's very painful end, I spoke again.

"What do you want?"

The prototype assassin droid twitched.

"I need…no, I want you to remove my assassination functions."

HK straightened. "Query: Why would any assassination droid want this? Your programming should be immaculate. My Master helped to program you himself."

I sighed. "Well, I'm not perfect."

"I mean, for once the murder droid here has a point," Jolee said. "How did it break away from its programming?"

"It…" The prototype assassin droid didn't speak for a moment. Then— "My old Master asked me to assassinate a girl from the Academy. Her name was Selene. I was to stage the assassination as a suicide, so I led the girl up to the top of the valley…" He stopped again. "She thought a boy named Dustil was going to surprise her with something. She hoped that…he would confess his love so that she could do the same. Sentients do that to us all the time—tell us secrets that we never care to tell. The moment she confessed to loving this boy I…something within my programming snapped.

"I didn't want to go through with it anymore. It was…wrong. But if I didn't follow through with the order then my Master would have me scrapped. So, while she had her back turned to me I…" His lights dimmed. "I am a filthy murderer."

HK's head twisted. "Argumentative: No! No, it sounds beautiful!"

"It is disgusting! But an HK unit like you wouldn't understand. Your programming has been perfected. Perhaps it is due to my imperfections that I have come to have these thoughts."

"Statement: Yes, indeed, you are imperfect. At least you know."

Carth sighed. "Look I…that sounds awful and all. I'm glad you realize you did a bad thing, but Dustil needs to know. Without your memory core so that we can show him, he won't believe it."

"I see." The droid paused again. "If only I could go with you. If I return to the Academy my Master would wipe me. And you would not have the evidence you need." Mark VII paused one last time. "So, I will help you remove my memory core. It was my fault after all…"

I shook my head.

"No, a droid is…it's just a tool. Uthar killed that girl, not you."

"Thank you for the reassurance, sentient, but I killed the girl even after I realized it would have been wrong as an act of self-preservation. Of fear." He grew silent. "No. This is all my doing."

Unfortunately, I couldn't convince the droid that he was only following orders. He was so insistent on his own sentience, it was a bit disturbing. As he helped me disconnect the proper wires, then eventually take the memory core, it felt like…

Murder.

His eyes faded as soon as I disconnected the last wire. The black box that I held in my hand was his brain, his mind. He stood there, dead like his brethren.

Carth looked me in the face, forehead creased.

"It…" He took it from me. "It's just a droid."

On the way out of the tomb, Verena hung behind us, head covered by her disguise. Carth followed me, holding his blaster tight. Jolee crossed his arms with a long hmm. HK-47 kept scanning the horizon for a quarry. We needed to find Dustil next and last we saw him he was at the cantina. Before we could make plans, Verena walked off. I narrowed my eyes.

"Where are you going?"

Yet, she didn't respond. Figures. Carth sighed and stopped following her, relaxing his grip on his blaster.

"We need to find Dustil…and give this—"

"Wes Gale?"

Someone interrupted Carth and I flinched, feeling slightly foolish that I hadn't sensed Yuthura's approach. I glowered at her while glancing worriedly at Carth who hadn't put his helmet back on after I'd knocked it off.

"What?"

She smirked at Carth, yet didn't go on the attack. If I was recognized then he would have been as well.

"I knew I would find you here. Were you and Onasi able to find proof?"

Ah, seems like he was recognized. Odd. Carth stuttered before shoving the memory core into a bag and gripping his pistol tighter. I ignored him and instead avoided her question.

"What do you want?"

"Master Uthar wishes to speak to you about your accomplishments today. I told him how you took down the rebellion with ease."

I sensed unease from Carth and I tried to ignore him still. Jolee, meanwhile, had…left? I gaped as I watched him follow Verena, the shadow of dusk shadowing his body. What happened to his intense desire to follow me? Yuthura either pretended not to notice or hadn't noticed his departure. She turned and left toward the Academy steps.

I finally faced Carth.

"Go find Dustil. I need to do something."

I'd planned it once Yuthura put me on this mission to kill…those students. Carth gave me that concerned look of his.

"You know, I'd love to know what's going on in that tricky mind of yours. For once."

"Probably would hate that. My mind is an enigma, a dark ocean, soulful, blah, blah, blah." He narrowed his eyes at me and I smiled back. "I'm only doing what Yuthura says so that I can betray her later. I intend to do it now, actually. Oh, and sorry about what I did back there. Believe me, learning Sith techniques isn't what I wanted to do. I had to do it."

"I know."

I raised a brow. "You do?"

"Yeah, I get it." Carth tossed the memory core once, then twice. "As long as you come back like you said, as long as Wes comes back, it should be fine."

I nodded and that seemed to satisfy Carth. If I could come back that is. Bastila's warnings kept echoing in my mind all week. How…seductive the dark side was. How even tapping into it a little could send someone down a dark path. Back then I hadn't believed her.

Maybe I should have.

"So, he killed them? All of them?"

Yuthura stood before Uthar's desk and I stood beside her. Occasionally, I glanced over at the corner…and like the student's corpse from that first lesson, all evidence of Liam had been wiped clean. All that remained were ghosts.

She nodded. "Yes, he killed every last one."

Uthar sat back in his chair, rubbing his chin, staring at me.

"I'm impressed. Honestly, I think the initial twenty-five points isn't enough of a reward." He nodded. "You have earned this—one hundred prestige points. You may take the Sith trials, Gale. You along with Lashowe."

At the sound of that other student's name, Yuthura flinched.

"Are you sure she's ready?"

Uthar smirked. "She returned to me just an hour ago with a holocron of great value. It earned her enough prestige."

That didn't sound…good. Yuthura gave me an intense gaze. One that I was rather familiar with. She wanted me to kill her discreetly and, once again, I didn't have a choice to refuse. Not that I was against killing that evil woman.

With my place in the trial guaranteed, Yuthura turned and left the room. I pretended to follow her, but at the last second, after she'd left the office, I turned around.

"Master Uthar?"

The Sith frowned as he looked up from his datapad.

"Yes?"

"Yuthura wants me to help her kill you at the trial."

The pale Sith sat back and placed the datapad on the desk. He let out a soft chuckle.

"I see." He stood from his desk and paced over to his shelf of artifacts. Darth Revan's holocron now sat on that shelf after they packed the research tent due to the Mandalorian incident. "It is good that you have come to me with this information. It is a bit ironic that Yuthura has begun her plotting. I have been aware of her growing ambitions for some time, and had in fact already decided to remove her."

I raised a brow. That I hadn't expected.

"How do you plan to remove her?"

Uthar picked up a strange red vial from the shelf. "I had planned for the one who beat the trial first to become Yuthura's apprentice… That is what I told her. Instead, I would have had the strongest Sith student battle for Yuthura's position as my apprentice. Perhaps it will be you who combats her? Yes... perhaps." He rubbed the vial between his fingers and then finally walked up to me with it extended. "Drop half of the vial in Yuthura's bath tonight. The other half the night before the trial. This will weaken Yuthura for that final test, making her an easy target. Rather generous of me, don't you think?"

I took the vial from him and stared at my red reflection. Yes, this would work, wouldn't it? I could weaken Yuthura, kill her, then take Uthar out once he let his guard down. I'd kill two Sith with one stone. I gripped the poison tight in my hand and then nodded.

It's what they all deserved, after all.

The Ebon Hawk thrummed with energy as HK and I made our return to regroup and…plan. I had two days left before the trial and we needed a way to escape after. We could use the Mandalorians again, though I had a feeling if I asked for any more favors Veela would only get impatient with me about the mask.

Jolee sat in the main hold looking…exhausted. I ignored him and instead checked the storage hold—T3 beeped at me as I entered. Weapons for days, yet no way to smuggle them into the Academy. Of course, Carth could always fly the Ebon Hawk out of the valley to our cave hideout, yet that would get Yuthura's attention. It would need to happen that day.

HK-47 sighed. "Statement: Master, while I don't particularly mind following you, I do need a mission."

Hmm, a mission.

"HK actually…take this." I pulled the vial out of my pocket and handed it to the droid. "Keep an eye on Yuthura, you know, that Twi'lek Sith? Then find a way to slip half of this vial into her bath. Then the other half the next day."

His red lights flickered

"Query: Oh, Master, is this…are you actually giving me a task to…assassinate a meatbag?"

I could hear the high-pitched joy in his voice.

"No. It will only weaken her. I will make the final blow."

"Statement: Better than following these meatbags around like an overqualified bodyguard! Oh, thank you, Master!"

It seemed that was enough to satisfy the bloodlust of HK-47. He clanked away and out of the Ebon Hawk. T3 let out a worried woo. I shrugged.

"Would you rather he stay here on the ship with you?"

To that, T3 let out another one of his happy beeps.

Out in the main hold, Jolee sat near the holoprojector with closed eyes as if meditating. I checked the chrono and the night had fully arrived. I stopped and gave him an odd look.

"You coming?"

He hummed. "No. No…you go on ahead."

Strange.

"Got tired of babysitting me?"

"An old man needs to take a break sometimes. That fight…winded me. You can be alone tonight, right? Unless…you want me around?"

Well, to be honest, I did want him with me but I wasn't going to admit that. There was a twinkle in his eye as I hovered near him. I considered approaching him, to ask him why he said those things back in the tomb, yet I was instead drawn to the sounds of battle in the engine room.

As I approached the open door, I froze…Gil hopped in my path and tilted his head up at me. My fist bunched at the sight of the gizka. I almost expected him to sense my discomfort like before and jump away, yet he stared up at me with those innocent eyes.

"Gah!"

The sound of Verena's shout and a clang came from the engine room. Gil scattered immediately. The Echani had fallen over at the sight of me, and Yusanis' blade was on the ground with her. Her hand shook as she waved, terrified.

"I-I thought you got rid of it!"

"What?" I glanced back. "Oh, you mean Gil?"

"The gizka! Yes!"

"What's…wrong with him exactly?"

"What isn't wrong with gizka?" She sat up, yet she was still shaken. "They're disgusting, they eat everything, and make terrible noises, their feces are putrid. Worse than womp rats."

"Hmm, I don't think you're giving him a fair chance. Gil isn't like the others. Promise."

"I've given it enough chances, Gale—"

Her expression twisted after she called me by my false name. Then, her silver eyes faded into sadness. She crossed her legs and picked up Yusanis' blade. I didn't dare sit with her, at least not unless I was invited. Thankfully, she didn't remain silent for long as she finally looked back up at me.

"My task to rescue those I imprisoned has been fruitless…another failure." Her head bowed. "I should have expected this."

"You're giving up?"

"Yes. The only way to rescue them would be to fight the Academy but I don't have an army."

I glanced to the side. A fight wouldn't be ideal, but if it was to save the Mandalorian children…

"During the trial, you can sneak into the basement. Everyone will be too distracted by it to notice you rescuing them. There are Mandalorians in our hideout cave. If you bring them there, they should be able to take care of them."

"I told you—"

"You don't need help. I know. I'm not helping you. Just…talking."

Verena shook her head. "You know what? I don't care anymore. Help me if you want. In a way, I think Yusanis would have appreciated it." She looked up at me with a serious expression. "Onasi was right back there. I am to blame for my own crimes. I'm assuming you still don't remember Yusanis' last words?" I shook my head. No. Nothing. She snorted. "Not like you'd tell me if you did unless you wanted to kill me. Or if you still wanted to die."

I gave that some thought.

"No. Not at the moment. I'd be happy to die after we find the Star Forge, kill Malak, and save Bastila though. You can do the honors."

Verena's eyes were steel. Then, it became like glass as if tears…but no, that couldn't be.

"Why…do you say that?"

I paused. I hadn't expected her to ask, after all.

"Well, if I somehow survive, I wouldn't have a purpose." I thought further out. To the future. It was…painful. "The Jedi only spared me because of what I knew. What I could do. Revan doesn't deserve to live past this war."

Verena's face grew dark with shadow.

"What we deserve isn't decided by us."

"No. It's apparently decided by the Force." I snorted. "I'm tired of the Force dictating my life. I've been just…a weapon this entire time and after the war, well…" I felt my body tighten. "After war, there is no use for weapons."

Verena's expression shifted. From a serious, thoughtful gaze to…pity.

"Revan thought of others like tools."

"Yes, exactly. Which is why—"

"But not just of others. Himself too." My lips dipped into a frown, my face grew cold at her words. Verena finally stood and walked towards me. She twirled Yusanis' blade once. "The Republic's weapon you called yourself. The rare times I could get into one of your roundtables, you'd call yourself that along with the Jedi, the soldiers. Everyone was merely a weapon. If we weren't flesh and blood…"

"Then it wouldn't matter if we ended up dead on the battlefield."

There is no death, there is the Force.

Verena's face grew soft.

"That went unsaid. But. Yes. " Her gaze drifted to the side. "General Yusanis always spoke so highly of you—he'd always lauded your victories, condemned your defeats. I looked up to you because of it. Stayed with you because of it. Which is why when you killed him—" She let out a tired laugh. "Yusanis told me that the Senate was relying on you too much. That the war was…whittling you down, turning you into a husk. He also told me to keep an eye on you when he assigned me to your fleet, you know. I think you saw through it since you always kept me at a distance. He never thought you were a weapon. I never thought you were a weapon. None of your soldiers or Jedi did. We would have cared if you died. We were there with you until the end. Yet, for some reason, you didn't feel the same about us."

You pushed them away. Pushed and pushed because if you got close to them you'd die inside. You'd end up like her in the end.

Who?

I shook my head as another pain spike hit it.

What she said should have meant something. To Revan, maybe it would have meant something, but to me now, to Wes, it meant absolutely nothing. She was telling the story of Revan, a man I'd thought of as a monster, and…maybe a hero. Could have been a hero. I wished that her words could have meant something to me then, that she was right—that I wasn't a simple tool or weapon to be used and thrown away by Jedi, the Republic, Sith. Everyone. It was too late though. My purpose, my destiny, had already been decided. Yet, that didn't mean the others had to be like me. That didn't mean Verena, Carth, Jolee, Mission, Juhani, Canderous…Bastila were tools too.

"He should have felt the same." I felt my words tremble. Verena tilted her head at me, eyes wide. "Revan was wrong. He shouldn't have treated you like tools. He shouldn't have pushed you away. He only did because…"

Why?

Mission's glare entered my mind like a hot poker. Liam's death, his body, fell to the floor, a swinging Jedi in the roots, Bastila's determined, hurt face.

There was only one reason why.

"Because I was afraid." I shook my head. "I'm sorry. Truly."

Her thin shoulders fell as if the weight of the galaxy had slid off of them. Then, a small smile slipped onto her lips.

"We were all afraid back then, weren't we?" Verena twirled Yusanis' blade and then sat back down. "When is this trial again?"

I blinked, shocked at her turn around.

"Two days."

"I'll be there." She smiled at her blade. "And I will be taking this with me."

It wasn't hard finding her. Sure, Mission would have been difficult to find, usually, yet predictably she would have tried to stay both as close to me and as far enough away from me as possible. As I walked through the mostly empty halls of the Sith Academy, I paid attention to the soft footfalls that occasionally echoed from the last turn I'd made.

I led her out into the valley and headed toward the grave of Shaardan. It was the only place near the Academy where we could talk without too many witnesses and where Yuthura would hopefully check last if she was trying to find me. Which, knowing her, she would try finding me in the morning. I still needed to kill Lashowe, after all.

After I climbed to the top of the steps, I paused. Mission would have no choice but to stick around the door downstairs and listen for my footfalls on the other side so she could know when to scatter. I switched on the stealth unit—the energy would mask the sound of my feet. I climbed back down the steps to the door leading back into the Academy.

With a swish, the door opened and Mission collided with the ground.

"Hey!"

I turned off the unit and crossed my arms as I looked down at her. She returned my disappointed look with a sneer.

"You…you were wrong you know!" She got up onto her feet with a stumble. "I was following you around for days and you never noticed!"

"Yeah, no. I noticed."

I didn't let her continue to argue. Instead, I wordlessly beckoned her to follow me up the steps again. Mission didn't really have much of a choice but to follow me if she wanted to let her grievances known.

"Liar. That's all you do now, huh? Lie."

I sighed yet didn't respond. She deserved to scream at me. Shout at me. I'd done an awful thing, distancing myself from her.

We finally reached the top of the valley and I sat next to Shaardan's grave. Mission hadn't stopped arguing with the air until I'd sat down. She responded to my strange silence by walking up to me.

"Um…Wessy?"

I glanced to the side. She looked down at me with concern. I pat the ground next to me.

"Go ahead. Sit. I…want to talk."

"You…you aren't going to chase me away?"

"Where? Over the side of the valley?" I smirked. "Why would I do that?"

She pouted. "You know what I mean! You told me to stay away! Said that I was…weak and that it was a bad thing and that—"

"I shouldn't have." Her shaking body froze after I said that. I sighed as I looked down at the dirt. "You were right. I only said those things to push you away again. I…" I finally looked up into the darkness of the valley. "Liam, that kid, he was killed by the Sith."

I sensed Mission sitting next to me after I said that. There was a horrified silence.

"No…no why would—?"

"Uthar could sense that I didn't want to kill him. So, he ordered me to." I shook my head. "I…I almost did but then Yuthura, that Sith Twi'lek, she killed him for me."

"That's why you wanted me to stay away?"

I nodded and glanced at her. Mission's innocent blue eyes looked back at me.

"Yes. I was afraid…that they'd try to kill you too. Or get me to kill you."

Her eyes glazed over with unshed tears.

"So, the coin…? Is it…?"

"I don't know what it actually means anymore." I shrugged. "These memories I have aren't real, so it doesn't matter. What is real though is the memory of me…giving that coin to you." I smiled. "You aren't weak, Mission, I promise. My own fear made me weak. I should have never said those things to you."

A tear finally fell down her cheek. Her trembling hand dug into her pocket.

"Then…" She took out the coin. "Here. Have it back."

I raised a brow. "Why?"

"It's…a memory. A real memory. Right?" She held it up to me. "You should take it! I don't need it anymore! I already know I'm strong. Yeah. You need it more than I do."

I smiled at her and raised my bare hand to push her wrist back at her.

"Mission—"

"I won't take no for an answer!"

She shoved it into my hand and the cold metal of the coin weighed heavy in my palm. Before I could try to give it back, my surroundings bled away into darkness. Steam hissed at my side and I looked around in order to get my bearings.

A ship. It was familiar. I recognized it from one of those strange visions I had on the Leviathan. Republic soldiers scanned the corpse of a ship. The senior Jedi—Dalgar—gave me a worried look. Of course he was worried. This was my first mission and we'd already run into something dangerous. Just my luck.

"A raid gone wrong?" Dalgar asked.

"If this was a raid gone wrong…they wouldn't have been killed like this."

My body moved without my consent. I walked closer to the corpse pile. Words from Master Kae echoed in my mind. Confront your fear. Don't let it control you. Concentrate. I bent low, keeping my lightsaber raised. Most of the corpses…were small. Frail. Women and children. Force. Who could…do something like this?

There was only one way to find out.

Something shimmered in the blue light. A coin? With my left hand, I reached over and picked up a cold metal object.

"No, don't—!"

Dalgar's warning went unheard. He knew of my power to see into the past through objects. Psychometry. I needed to know what happened though and the only way…was if I saw it myself.

The Deralian ship fled the burning planet with the women and children that could escape. Yet, their attackers hadn't relented and gave chase through the system. Ships the size of asteroids shadowed the green world. A baby cried in the corner, her mother calmed her with a lullaby. The captain of the ship cursed.

"They're gaining on us!"

From the massive ship, droid mounts half the size of rancors sped into the emptiness of space towards the ship. The captain pulled a lever to stop the ship before they could start shooting.

"What are you doing?"

The second in command gripped one of the controls, yet the captain shot him with a stun pistol. He turned to face the passengers, eyes wide.

"They…they would have shot us down if we didn't stop." He shuttered. "It's better…to be enslaved than killed."

The passengers grew fearful and wild. Babies cried louder as their mothers tried to calm themselves. The children screamed in terror. The captain collapsed in his chair. Defeated.

Moments passed…and they arrived. The beasts. The doors opened and a troop of Mandalorians marched into the escape ship. The leader…wore a golden mask. It was dull in the cold light. The captain walked over to the Mandalorian leader.

"We…surrender—"

A hiss. The gold-masked Mandalorian didn't even let the man finish before he blasted him to death. The passengers screamed and shuffled back against the wall. The Mandalorians followed them, blasters and flamethrowers out. The gold-masked Mandalorian held up a hand and the troop stopped. A child hid his face, weeping. From his pocket, the gold-masked Mandalorian took out…a coin. The same one I'd picked up. Without a word, he flipped it. The ring as it landed echoed for ages.

He glanced down at the coin.

Heads.

"Nayccuyan."

They followed his order immediately. The fire erupted from their flamethrowers and the children and mothers screamed in agony. Smoke hissed from their charred skin, charred to the bone, freezing them into their final painful moments. A golden mask surrounded by flames…the monster didn't flinch. The boy's hands stuck…stuck to his face as the fire melted—

"Wessy!"

The coin fell from my hand to the dirt…after Mission gripped me into one of her Wookiee hugs. I felt numb once again after having that…vision. No—memory. It was one of Revan's memories. I'd experienced it with the coin.

"Please don't cry!"

Cry? I lifted my hand and touched my cheek. Ah. The intensity of the vision must have…

"I had a vision, Mission."

"I know! You just…stared at nothing and you weren't reacting to what I was saying and I was so worried and then you started crying and—"

I pushed MIssion back in order to stop her worried rants and smiled.

"I'm alright now, okay?"

She frowned. "No. I don't believe you, liar!"

I sighed and then looked down at the coin. So, then, that was real? The Jedi gave me something that Revan had. Why…would they do that? Why would they risk giving this to me? I picked it up again and, thankfully, the vision didn't happen again. I studied the groves of the Mandalorian coin. That had been the start, hadn't it? That was the first time Revan saw the Mandalorians.

"You're right. I think I…will keep this, Mission."

Her face tightened. "I don't know…it gave you that horrible vision. I don't think—"

"The Jedi gave this to me for a reason." I frowned. "I need to ask Bastila about it…once we defeat the Sith."

Mission stared at me for a moment before a wide grin lit up her face. I smiled back, happy that she was happy again. I gripped the coin tight and slid it back into my pocket. Exactly where it belonged.

"Now…we really need to find Carth."

He was supposed to confront his son so we had to go and make sure he'd survived the encounter. Mission skipped up and I followed her, slowly getting onto my feet. We walked back to the Dreshdae cantina since that had been the last place we'd found Dustil.

There was only one patron at the cantina. Mekel. He nursed a cup of whiskey, his head dipped once then twice, and he smiled up at me as I approached.

"Ah, there you are!" He hiccuped. "My savior."

I frowned. "Have you seen Dustil anywhere?"

"Dustil?" He chuckled. "First that Sith soldier asked, now you." He took a drink. "He's trying to get into Ajunta Pall's tomb for the last time. I told him that it wouldn't work this time but that idiot doesn't listen to me." He leaned closer. "Hey…I actually kinda…don't want to be a Sith anymore."

I blinked. "What?"

"Yeah, I know!" He chuckled. "You just…saved my life…said all those things…" His face dipped. "I think I'll leave…after the trial…" He put a finger to his lips. "Don't tell anyone!"

"Um. I won't."

So, Carth and Dustil must have gone to that tomb then. That made things easy. When I turned around, Mission gave me a humored, nervous look. I narrowed my eyes at her after I noticed the cup of whiskey in her hand. I snatched it before she had a chance to finish it and drank it myself.

"Hey!"

I smirked.

Phew, I finally got to these scenes! I really enjoy fleshing out and sorta bridging kotor 1 and 2 a bit more by including Yusanis' and Verena's backstory and such! As well as including more Revan memories of course ;)

Next time Ajunta Pall. My favorite Korriban tomb :) And thanks for the lovely reviews ClownicusMaximus and nightfireivey! I promise not to burn myself out too much - thank you! It helps to have a plan before writing and thankfully I have one ;)