Chapter 23

(Ebon Hawk)

Revan sat cross-legged as he meditated and quickly regained his control over his emotions, strangely he felt it easier than he had expected considering just how deeply he had dug into the dark side during the rescue. He wondered if it had anything to do with his growing connection to Bastila, especially after the passionate kiss she had used to help break the dark side's grip on him. Even now he felt the press of her lips as well as her body against his own like a phantom. The door to his quarters suddenly opening gained his attention and he watched unsurprised as Canderous stepped inside. The big Mandalorian looked contemplative, but didn't show any signs of aggression so he relaxed somewhat but decided to push himself into a standing position.

"I think it's time we had that long overdue talk Jaks. If that is in fact your name," Canderous stated calmly as he crossed his arms across his chest and stared at the other man watching closely for any signs of falsehood.

"I think it is indeed," Revan agreed with a nod of his head. "What is it you believe you know?" he suddenly asked wanting to know just what Canderous believed to be the truth.

"You are not Jaks Toulon if he even exists in the first place, you are Revan and if not him then you are one of his closest Generals considering the way Niks responded to your orders before we hit that cantina," Canderous stated, boldly matching Revan's stare. "He called you General more than once as if he had been doing it for years. He didn't even hesitate to kill when you ordered it and seems to share your hatred of slavers, a trait Revan was known to have as did his followers, also you command the loyalty of a droid I know was Revan's personal assassination droid so I'm betting you are Revan himself," he added.

Revan chuckled as it seemed the Mandalorian had missed nothing and it was clear he had been watching carefully. "Not bad, you are correct of course. I'm not some simple minded Jedi who has only just discovered his connection to the force," he finally responded. "I'm Revan no more no less, I survived the betrayal by Malak and the attempted murder of the Jedi of my mind and soul. I'm the Lord of Revenge and I will have vengeance on Malak and the Jedi who tried to kill me," he stated firmly. "But no one on this ship is my enemy, not Bastila or any of the other Jedi aboard or you an enemy I know I have faced before during the previous war," he added. "Is the truth going to cause trouble between us Canderous?" he inquired.

"You are Revan, the man who defeated Mandalore himself in single combat as well as his personal guards," Canderous stated with respect. "You led the Republic to victory against my people. Until you arrived we were winning every battle we fought. You changed everything and showed that your people did know what strength was, that you were willing to sacrifice everything for victory," he continued. "You burned my people's will to fight, drained them of their strength with every battle you fought. Time and again when we believed we had you trapped you broke out and destroyed our armies and survived, proving to be the better than even our best Generals," he added, but there was no bitterness in his tone just respect. "My people respect nothing but strength, our best warrior is granted the honor of being named Mandalore. You bested the last Mandalore and claimed the helmet that signifies the role of leader hence in my eyes and the eyes of any true Mandalorian you are the new Mandalore," he said, surprising Revan somewhat.

"I never considered that option," Revan admitted thoughtfully as he realized what Canderous had told him. However, while claiming the rank of Mandalore would save him some headaches he doubted it would be seen as a wise move amongst the other Mandalorians. He doubted they would see him as a true Mandalore as he was not one of their people. He believed it would be better to grant it to one of their own to be seen in a sense as giving them back their sense of self.

"You had beaten us. I doubt claiming what was left of our army was ever open to you, but had you done so we would have followed," Canderous assured him.

"So now you know the truth, what will you do now?" Revan asked moving the conversation onto a more serious topic.

"Nothing, I will continue to follow and aide you whether you claim the title of Mandalore or not," Canderous responded seriously. "You are Revan, a leader I can respect and one I know will go up against only the strongest of enemies," he stated uncrossing his arms and standing a bit straighter. "Great deeds of valor and glory will follow in your wake and I wish to continue to be a part of it," he requested.

"Good to hear, seen as we are being truthful I do have a proposition for you," Revan told him with a smile, relieved as he knew he would need the large Mandalorian in what was to come. "As you said I claimed the mask of Mandalore and I still have it hidden away somewhere. We are currently on the way to what is left of my fleet. Those who didn't betray me and joined Malak," he explained at Canderous's look of intrigue. "But we don't have the numbers to complete our true mission, and destroying Malak will cost us more ships and men hence we need allies," he continued and Canderous suddenly realized where he was going with this conversation. "I'm willing to grant you the mask of Mandalore, in return I need you to rally your people back into a fighting force and I need their help to first destroy Malak and the rest of the traitors and then finish our true mission," he offered.

Canderous could barely believe what he was been offered, never in his life had he imagined he would ever gain a chance to become Mandalore. It was an offer he could not and would not refuse.

"I also offer you the chance to stop the slow death of your people, it has been noted since the wars end that your people have splintered and most are now wandering mercenaries with little interest in the fate of your people," Revan spoke up again, regaining his attention. "They will soon become a dying people unless you can unite them as a people once more. If we win this war you will have that chance as I will grant your back the right to your homeworld as well as grant you those planets around it so you can grow and expand once more," he offered.

This was an even bigger offer than he had ever imagined, not only the chance to reclaim the one thing that could reunite his people, but control of their homeworld returned to them and a chance to expand to neighboring planets as they grew. It was a once in a life time offer and he knew it, he could not refuse not that he was ever thinking of doing so. This was the moment he could do something to help save his people and their history instead of having to watch it fade away into nothingness as he had been doing. If he was honest with himself, he had become somewhat bitter towards some of his fellow Mandalorians for their attitudes and lack of care about what would happen to their people. He may have become a mercenary, but he had never forgotten what he was or where he came from. The one thing he wanted to see was the restoration of his people, so they could once again be the proud warriors they have once had been.

"I accept your offer General. I will bring my people back from the brink of destruction and restore them to the glory we once commanded," Canderous finally said. "We will follow you into battle and reclaim the honor we lost during the end of the war. We will banish the stigma still assigned to us by your people for the actions of Fett and those like him and we will survive," he stated boldly as he reached out and shook Revan's now outstretched hand.

"Excellent, then once we reach my fleet we will journey to the planet I hid the mask on and give it to you, from there the future of your people is in your hands," Revan said with a nod of his head before he watched as Canderous nodded back before he turned and left.

Revan smiled in relief now he knew he had Canderous's full loyalty even knowing who he truly was. Once he revealed to the Mandalorians he had the mask they would come and they would unite behind him and through him would aide their mission to its completion. Laying down on his bunk he wondered just what would happen when he finally returned to his fleet. How would they react to his making an alliance with their former enemies? Would they see the need like he did or would they continue to hold onto their hatred and anger? Unfortunately holding onto grudges for past actions in the previous war was no longer open to him. For the fate of the Republic and possibly the galaxy as a whole lay in him succeeding in his mission and to do that he needed the added strength of the Mandalorians to win.

+TR+

Bastila looked up from the holocube to find Juhani had entered her room. She noted her fellow Jedi looked slightly uneasy. She let out a sigh and turned the copy of her father's holocube off knowing this talk was unavoidable after she had kissed Revan in such a passionate way. There was no mistaking what her actions had signified. Getting up she moved to her door and locked it before placing a silence bubble around it. She didn't need this getting out to the others especially Revan as she still didn't know what to say to him to convey what she now knew she felt.

"I've been expecting you Juhani," she said before Juhani could say anything. "After what I did, it was obvious that you would come to see me," she stated as she leaned against the wall and closed her eyes fighting her unease about the way this conversation would go. "Zayne and Jolee wouldn't care about what I did. One due to having fallen in love himself and the other for basically leaving the Order, and clearly having some issues with it so it had to be you," she added as she opened her eyes again and locked them onto her fellow Jedi.

"So you do not deny you have feelings for Jaks? Clearly strong feelings considering the way you stated what it was what Zayne himself had done," Juhani finally spoke up. "I'm not judging you Bastila as I have no right, especially as I know I'm lucky to be here at all. Jaks by all rights should have killed me when I attacked him so wildly," she quickly added in what she hoped was a calming manner. "He did not, I'm alive only because of his act of mercy and compassion, however I have noted disturbing traits he shares with another Jedi I once knew as a child although if not for those traits I would not even be here," she continued with her voice wavering slightly at the end and Bastila knew what she was referring too.

"I was once a slave Bastila, treated with such venom I always believed I would die young and then he came. A warrior unlike any I had seen before, he cut down Mandalorians like they were puppets and then turned on the scum who owned me and made me suffer so much cruelty while others had ignored my pain," Juhani continued and Bastila decided to let her talk as she seemed to need to talk and she had no clue how to explain she knew about Juhani's past without revealing Revan and Jak's were one and the same person. "He saved me and brought me to the Jedi, yet he was not like normal Jedi for he despised all slavers with hatred beyond normal measures and Jaks reminds me of him every time that side of him is expressed," she told her. "He also shares a disregard for the code and normal Jedi rules or views of operational limits. I also remember what Jaks called himself before he slew that Hutt piece of slime that tried to enslave us," she all but snarled this last bit before taking a deep breath and calming herself. "There is only one Lord of Revenge and that was Revan, but he died during your ambush on his command ship when Malak betrayed him and no one could ever replace him," she said with complete belief.

"Juhani," Bastila began to reply but the Cathar cut her off.

"But then before Jaks appeared to save us and claimed that title you too referred to him as the Lord of Revenge when you tried to frighten the Hutt so he would release us," Juhani stated with clear confusion in her tone while Bastila held her breath as the Cathar hovered on the brink of realizing the truth. She also realized they had left behind the beginning topic of this conversation concerning her feelings for Revan, for which she was grateful, but she knew it was only a temporary postponement. "Bastila is there something about Jaks we do not know? Or was it a ploy to make the Hutt fear and then release us?" she asked.

Bastila didn't know what to say in response and in her confusion stammered slightly. It was only when she felt the bond widen that she realized Revan knew what was happening and wanted to say something so she focused on the bond. 'Tell her the truth. Juhani owes her life to me twice and thus we can count on her silence until we get to my fleet,' Revan advised her. She nodded in understanding even as he also let her know that Canderous also now knew the truth, but agreed to keep quiet until they reached his fleet. She suddenly realized everyone bar Jarael, Carth, Mission and Zaalbar now knew the truth about Jak's true identity.

"Bastila?" Juhani questioned when she noted the almost distant look on her fellow Jedi's face and knew instantly she was speaking to Jak's over the force bond she shared. She waited, wondering just what Bastila would say, she suddenly realized she didn't know just what she wanted the truth to be.

She owed her life to Revan, everything she had become was thanks to him and the choice he had made back on Taris to save her when she was a child. But he had become an enemy after the Mandalorian War and turned on the Republic he had sworn to defend and that she still defended in his memory. So she was undecided on whether she would welcome news that Revan was somehow still alive.

"Jaks is Revan and always had been," Bastila finally said with a sigh. "I captured him after saving his life when Malak tried to kill him. I took him back to the council and they" here she paused as the sick feeling what the council had tried to do came back as well as the anger it invoked. "The council tried to destroy his very soul and create a new personality within him. One I could use to try and draw out the truth of the Sith's new power through our force bond," she explained as she sat down. "They failed, but they caused him a great deal of pain trying. I found out of the truth on Kashyyk and we made a deal," she added before being cut off by Juhani who looked shocked at what she had been told.

"What deal, what made you think a Sith Lord would ever honor any deal you made?" Juhani demanded to know.

"I know one thing Juhani and that is Revan has never been or will ever be a true Sith Lord. Something he has said in our discussions and things he has alluded to suggest he was pretending to be Sith although I still do not have the whole story, but he has kept to our deal," Bastila cut back in with a slight glare. "He has protected me and kept me from falling into Malak's hands and he has helped the rest of us if you had not noticed," she pointed out. "He saved the entire group when Taris was bombed. He didn't have to risk his life to go back for Mission and the ones we were forced to leave behind when we infiltrated Davik's base, but he did so and he has stayed with us and fought against his former allies when again he didn't need to," she stated still somewhat angry at Juhani's slight.

"How can you pretend to be a Sith Lord? Or are you saying all of his people were faking it?" Juhani inquired feeling stunned to learn that Revan did indeed still live. "And if they were then why attack the Republic?" she demanded just seconds later.

"As I said I don't know the whole story Juhani, but he has eluded to another enemy somewhere out there. I have seen blurry images in his mind, but he is keeping the full truth from me until he believes me ready to learn it," Bastila answered. "As for his people, most of them were like him faking being Sith and as we've met three of them I can safely say the proof is in their actions. They saved us from the Sith trying to capture us on Tatoonie when they knocked most of us out with those grenades," she explained, hoping Juhani would prove Revan's belief correct and keep quiet once this was done. "According to them half his fleet is still active and loyal to Revan awaiting his return, but those who have followed Malak have turned fully to the dark side and become Sith," she went on. "Something happened to Malak and those who followed him that twisted them. That is why Malak turned on Revan and tried to kill him and that is partly why we are being hunted because thanks to Calo Nord, Malak knows he survived," she finished.

Juhani rubbed her forehead as she digested this. This revelation was huge and she had no idea how she was supposed to feel about it. Revan lived and was on this very ship. The man who she owed at least two life debts to still lived and now she could finally repay him. 'But could she honestly trust his intentions where the Republic was concerned?' she wondered. Bastila spoke of some shadow enemy she had seen in his memories and heard spoken of during their talks, but if there was another enemy out there then why did he attack the Republic and pretend to be a Sith Lord? She questioned herself.

"You have to stay quiet about this until he is ready to tell the ones who don't know, especially Carth," Bastila stated. "He is looking for anyone to take his anger out on and if he finds out that Jaks is Revan he will kill him without hesitation and we will never stop Malak," she argued. "You owe him your life Juhani. You must stay quiet," she warned.

"But what about the threat he poses to the Republic and the Jedi?" Juhani shot back with a slight glare. "You can't say he doesn't pose one, he wouldn't have attacked them if he didn't," she pointed out.

"He is loyal to the ideals of the Republic and the Jedi but believes them to be drowning in corruption and stagnation in the Jedi's case," Bastila admitted. "He and his people want to save both from themselves, but know neither will just simply listen to them, conquering the Republic and then rebuilding it was their only option if what I have briefly seen in his mind was any indication," she continued. "Whatever this shadow enemy is, he believes it will eventually attack and that were we to fight it as we are now we will be destroyed and sadly I must agree. We have lost so much talent and resources and that is why we are having so much trouble fighting Malak and his forces," she pressed, hoping to make Juhani see what she had finally seen even if she didn't have the full story, yet she knew enough to trust Revan meant to save the Republic, not destroy it. "Time, he believes, is against us, hence his aggression towards that which he is trying to save as he believes rebuilding the Republic from the ground up to face this threat is the only way and the quickest way. To start doing that he was trying to take control of it himself and seen as the senate and the Jedi will never allow that a confrontation was always coming," she finished slightly repeating herself near the end by saying the same thing just using different words.

Juhani stared at Bastila not knowing what to say or even how to feel about what Bastila told her about what were Revan's true motives for attacking the Republic. Some part of her was overjoyed to know he was still loyal to the Republic, but she couldn't but question whether Revan had been telling the truth to Bastila about anything. 'Wasn't it possible he was deceiving her and using the bond to send her false images and lies to make his version of events seem more plausible?' she wondered. Still even ignoring that concern she knew one thing Bastila had said was true. She owed her life to Revan twice over and thus she had to honor that and stay quiet.

"I will stay silent Bastila as you are right I owe him my life, but be warned should he pose a true threat to the Jedi or the Republic for a reason I believe is only to benefit himself I will take a stand against him," Juhani said after releasing a tired sigh.

"I would expect nothing else from you Juhani, but I assure you he is not the enemy," Bastila responded with a smile. "As for the Jedi, he wants them to start evolving and embrace change so they can once more be strong and no longer blind themselves to things they believe outside their charter," she explained. "The only Jedi I know he bares ill will towards are those on the council who tried to murder him, and I think you can understand his stance there," she added, her disgust at the council clear in her voice.

"Yes I can, but we must be careful he does not go too far or he will become just like Malak," Juhani warned before she turned and headed back to her bunk.

"No he won't because I will not allow him to become like Malak," Bastila whispered to the empty space where Juhani had been.

Turning away she stripped off her clothes and climbed into the nearby shower and turned the hot water on, she was thankful the small cabins on the ship had their own showers and toilets. Even though she tried not to think about it as she soaped up her body she could not help but think of Revan and what he would do with her body were he here with her now. She shivered in expectation and arousal that she did her best not to allow to travel over the bond, ever since she had kissed Revan and finally admitted her feelings her mind had begun to fantasize about him. Closing her eyes, she tried to not feel such arousal as she ran her soapy hands over her breasts and sensitive nipples. She tried not to imagine it was Revan's hands touching her so intimately. Finally snapping out of the light daze she had fallen into just as her hand had begun to dip down past her waist, she shook her head and washed the soap off before turning the water of and quickly drying off and pulling on a long nightshirt before climbing into bed. She had to get better control of herself before she gave herself away and let Revan know just how badly he was beginning to affect her, letting out a yawn she closed her eyes and quickly fell asleep.