+TR+
(Ebon Hawk)
Revan awoke to the shaking of his shoulder by Niks and he turned to regard his comrade who remained in the pilot seat, he wondered how long he had slept probably not too long as they were still not at the fleet.
"We've cleared Hutt space General and I am currently plotting the safest route back to fleet, I though now would be a good time to contact the temple like you wanted to do" Niks informed him. "Best to keep the Council believing you are on mission and our current position can be used to get to Manaan" he added. "You never know they may be tracking this ship" he offered at Revan's look for clarification.
"You forget we've already been to the fleet and that did not seem to give anything away but still better safe than sorry, send a signal to sickbay and have Rand bring Ana up to the cockpit as knowing Vima she'll want proof her daughter is alright" Revan responded stretching slightly as he prepared to use the comm.
A few minutes later Rand helped Ana into the cockpit still looking pale and sick from what he had done whilst Ana seemed to be quickly getting over her own near brush with death, Revan had to give it to his friend she was resilient not that he expected anything else from a Sunrider.
"What's up Revan?" Ana inquired as she leaned on Rand uncaring of the fact he had almost killed her a few hours ago, she knew he had not meant to do it and was just trying to drown out his pain. Once they were settled somewhere she would begin to help him overcome the trauma and rebuild himself, mind healing was one of her best abilities learned from her Mother.
"Though you might like to talk to Vima as I am about to call the temple to inform her I saved you as she asked me too" Revan responded as he waited for the comm signal to pick up the temple beacon and connect them.
"I still don't understand how Mother managed to get you to come after me after everything that has happened" Ana admitted as Rand helped into a seat before taking a place behind it.
"She reminded me that you are a friend who is innocent of anything she or the Council has done to me and as for her own actions well she explained them well enough for me to understand her motives" Revan explained. "Vima is basically waging a war for the soul of the Jedi against Atris and Vrook, she cannot be effective in such a war if she removed from her position as a Council member" he continued. "She had to take part in trying to wipe my mind or she would have been removed from power simple as that, I agree with her that letting Atris or Vrook take control from Zirrik is the worst thing that could happen to the Jedi as a whole" he stated boldly. "So I am pushing aside what she did, Zhar has apologised as well for taking part in it through Vima but still that he has regrets says a lot about him but Atris and the rest still have a lot to answer for" he finished.
"This is the Jedi Temple Ebon Hawk, we've been waiting for you to make contact for days" a voice sounded from the comm gaining their attention.
"Sorry been a little busy evading Sith blockades and trying to hunt down star maps as ordered, now put me through to Master Sunrider" Revan replied easily falling back into the supposed persona of Jaks Toulon.
"One second Ebon Hawk standby" the voice responded.
"Well you've finally decided to call in have we" a voice they all recognised said a few seconds later and making Revan close his hand into a fist. "We expected a progress report days ago, where is Bastila Shan" Atris demanded.
"She is unconscious from a brief dog fight over Tatoonie with Sith fighters" Revan lied not liking this one bit, something was very wrong he could feel it. "We are on our way to Manaan to locate the next star map as ordered now we've recovered Ana and her team from Nar Shaddaa as ordered by Master Sunrider" he informed them.
"You have turned into an excellent liar Revan and you clearly have a low opinion of us if you believe we would not see through your deceit" Atris shot back. "I know you still survive even after the entire Council tried to destroy your personality and implant a new one, we should have just killed you but we made a mistake and let you live" she spat over the comm. "And now your survival has led Vima, Zhar and Vash into turning traitor two by concealing your survival and the other for daring to stop me and Vrook from removing the weak rulership of Zirrik" she stated making Revan's eyes grow cold. "We told Vima she was not to try and rescue her daughter or her team, their fate was irrelevant to the greater good we fight to bring about but she defied us and contacted you and your team but by doing so she exposed your survival and her and Zhar's own treason" she told them bluntly.
"Let me talk to Vima or Zirrik now" Revan demanded doing his best to control his temper at the way Atris was talking.
"Zirrik no longer has command of the Order I deposed him I am Grandmaster now" Atris instantly replied. "Vima, Zhar and Vash are in the cells awaiting judgement for their treason, you will surrender yourself to us Revan and bring us Bastila Shan unharmed and alive or all three of them will die for your choices" she threatened and instantly Revan felt his rage ignite at the implied threat.
"You can't do that" Ana broke in trying to ignore the lack of care Atris had in her voice when mentioning the fate of her and her team as if they did not matter, for now she was focused on the threat to her Mother. "You are Council members, you can't just remove the Grandmaster or arrest fellow Council members" she protested. "It goes against all the oaths you take when you became members of the Council, it betrays everything the Jedi are meant to be" she argued. "You are almost acting like Sith" she spat.
"How dare you accuse us of behaving like Revan, Malak and their ilk Ana Sunrider" Atris snarled incensed by the accusation as in her mind she was doing what had to be done to save the Jedi and the Republic. "We have done what is needed to save the Jedi, Zirrik was old and weak and can no longer lead us effectively and thus for the good of us all I removed him from power" she stated. "I have the support of the entire Council except for Vima, Zhar and Vash who tried to stop us for doing what needs to be done" she informed them coldly. "What happens to your Mother and the others is up to Revan now, surrender yourself to our judgement and bring back Bastila or be responsible for Vima and the others deaths" she said giving him the choice and making Ana glance at Revan in alarm.
"Be very careful right now Atris of the path you take or you may just bring ruin down upon you and all who follow you" Revan warned barely forcing his temper back. "You will release Vima and the others immediately and you will then restore Zirrik to his post as Grandmaster, at this time I am not your enemy but if you do not do as I as ask you will change that fact" he swore.
+TR+
(Jedi Temple)
Vandar exchanged unsure looks with Kavar as Revan finally responded having been listening and trying to ignore the accusations Ana Sunrider had made, accusations that held a lot of truth for they had broken their vows in allowing Atris to remove Zirrik and replace him as Grandmaster. That she had accused them of acting like Sith really made them uncomfortable, the way Atris and Vrook were acting also did not sit well them and Kavar was truly feeling shameful in not standing with Vash in defence of Zirrik. Vandar was becoming more and more convinced that something was wrong with Atris, the very tone of her voice and the anger and hatred in it was not at all like the Jedi he had known before Revan and his followers had joined the Mandalorian War. That had been when she had first started to change, the loss of the Exile to Revan's cause had angered her all the more as Atris had once thought the Exile would be one of the greatest Jedi in the future. It seems the years since had not been kind to her and it was only now he was seeing that fact, how could he have missed the growing darkness inside her he wondered? Vrook too was showing far more anger than ever before, his constant demands that they should have killed Revan should have shown something was wrong but he had ignored it they all had.
Vima was right to have been worried by their obsession with Revan whilst Malak and his people brought the Republic down all around them; it was like they had a blind spot and they only thought of and saw Revan as the problem. Now he saw what Vima and perhaps Zhar had seen, but he was already too late as he had failed to stop them seizing control of the Council through shock at Jedi turning against Jedi and worse Council members to boot. He could do nothing but watch as Atris tried to force Revan to surrender but he knew it would never happen, Revan's response somewhat confirmed what they had heard through the recorded conversation between him and Vima. Revan by his owns words was not their enemy right now no he was Malak's, but what Atris was doing was going to make him turn his attention onto them and he dreaded where that might lead. The Republic was weak and barely holding against Malak, even now they were reorganising their defences closer to the core worlds giving Malak a huge advantage. They might be able to stop Malak striking into the core but if Revan decided to come for them too at the same time, well they may not be able to keep both out.
"You cannot threaten us Revan, you have no followers as they all turned on you when Malak betrayed you as the Sith always betray one another" Vrook retorted coldly and dismissively of Revan's words. "You proved weak and thus they would not follow you even if they learned you were still alive" he added confidently.
"You make it sound as if Malak beat me in one on one combat Vrook when we all know he stabbed me in back whilst I was dealing with your strike team and the only reason your ambush worked was Bastila" Revan shot back heatedly. "Without out Malak would have had to face me in combat and would have perished which he well knew, which is why he chose to act as he did because he was scared and you are so afraid of me that you have let madness corrupt you" he spat over the comm. "Instead of focusing on Malak who is the true threat, you and Atris are obsessed with seeing me dead because you fear me, hate me and see me as the reason for what has befallen the Jedi" he accused his tone cold. "When in fact it is on your heads any of this has happened, you refused to do your duty and protect the Republic when the Mandalorians invaded and thus it fell to me and my followers to do it and in doing so we learned terrible truths that been locked in the temples blinds us too" he continued knowing his accusations had to be hitting each of them hard. "The Jedi code is old and outdated, and we ignore far too much under the excuse it is outside our purview and that is one of the reasons I returned as I did as change needs to be applied both to the Republic and especially to the Jedi" he finished.
Atris snarled in outrage at Revan's audacity to dare blame them for his choices and those of his followers, for daring to put the blame for what he and Malak have done on their shoulders when no one but them were to blame for their actions. They turned to the darkside, they betrayed the Jedi and the Republic for their own personal wants and trying to make excuses for that was just more proof of how far he had fallen. Vrook frowned not believing or even really listening to Revan's view of events, the man to him was the greater danger than Malak who in his eyes was nothing but a beast now. A beast intent on destruction thus barely thinking things through, Revan though was always thinking thus making him a bigger threat. His words were obviously a ploy on sowing confusion and disagreement between the Council members; make them lower their guard as he proclaimed himself no longer their enemy only to strike at them if they foolishly believed him.
"Your lies and half-truths will not sway us Revan, surrender yourself and Bastila and save your friends from an undeserved death" he ordered.
"It will not just be Vima, Zhar and Vash who will suffer Revan if you refuse but also the Jedi who aide them and those on your ship who know the truth and help you anyway" Zez Kai-El threatened.
"I give you one last chance, return Zirrik to his rightful place and release Vima and the others or pay the price because I assure you I will come to Corusant but you will not enjoy my visit" Revan warned them all.
"You have two days Revan to surrender or on the third Vima and the others will be executed" Atris stated before cutting the connection leaving only silence behind.
"Foolish that threat was, come now Revan will" Vandar stated with a sad shake of his head. "Your anger the better of you it has" he warned.
"Not anger Vandar" Atris defended with a shake of her head. "What I feel for Revan is disappointment and regret at what he has become, what he has led others to become" she stated totally believing her own lie.
Vandar did not believe Atris's response for a minute for in this conversation with Revan he had seen her true self and it disturbed him greatly, he had been wrong to let surprise get the better of him and should have helped Vash stop the coup.
"Doesn't matter how you meant it to come out Atris I know how Revan will interpret it, you challenged him and threatened those he might still consider friends especially Vima and he will come for them" Kavar cut in before Vandar could respond. "We have to prepare, Revan is not someone we should underestimate whether he has help or not" he warned.
"We have the advantage here Kavar, you give the man too much credit" Vrook snorted in response. "Fine he was a good General back during the war but he didn't do it alone, he had Malak and the Exile and others helping him now he is by himself except those on the Ebon Hawk and Bastila will not aide him against us" he stated confidently easily able to fool himself into downplaying Revan's abilities.
"That is if Bastila has not fallen under Revan's influence" Zez Kai-El cautioned. "From what we heard on that recording she seems to view him not as an enemy but perhaps an ally due that deal they mentioned having made, can we trust that she would not aide him considering she seems to support Vima and the others views?" he added.
"We are fellow Jedi and Council members whilst Revan is a Sith the enemy of all she swore to defend and as long as she still holds to be a Jedi she will not aide him against us" Vrook replied confidently.
"Enough we have to prepare for Revan to come to us and prepare we will, ensure several guards are sent to keep an eye on Vima and the others in the cells as we can ill afford them escaping" Atris ordered before standing and leaving the room.
Silence followed her departure as the others considered what had just taken place and what preparations they had to make before Revan and his small crew arrived, none of them except Vrook expected it to be a simple affair.
+TR+
(Ebon Hawk)
Revan wanted to let out a cry of rage as Atris gave her final ultimatum but he managed to swallow it, he focused on the fact clearly those who had joined her in her coup did not believe he still had supporters and that was fine with him. Glancing at Ana he noted she looked truly fearful and he guessed it was about the threat to her Mother's life, he reached and touched her hand gaining her attention.
"Nothing is going to happen to Vima and the others Ana I promise you" he told her. "Atris cannot carry out her threat without causing an uproar in the Order as never before has a Jedi been executed in such a fashion before and added on is the fact Vima, Zhar and Vash are Council members well it would rip the Jedi in two and she cannot afford such a split right now" he informed her knowing what he was saying was true. "She is bluffing right now, and that gives us the advantage as does the fact that clearly she does not believe I have any support left, there she is dead wrong" he stated as he stood up and hit the internal comm. "Everyone assemble in the main cabin now, we have a situation" he ordered before switching it off. "Niks get us back to the fleet at maximum speed, we have a rescue to put into action" he told the pilot.
"Understood General" Niks responded as he increased the speed and pushed the speed to its limits as he knew the discussion that had just taken place had truly angered the General and Corusant and more importantly the Jedi Order was about to feel the brunt of his anger.
Revan helped Ana up and then aided her into the main cabin where the others on the ship had assembled; Rand came up behind them and took up a position behind Ana.
"What's going on Revan?" Zayne inquired not liking the look in Revan's eyes or the tremor he could feel in the force indicating something big was about to happen.
"Atris and Vrook have staged a coup within the Council and removed Zirrik as Grandmaster, they had also had Vima, Zhar and Vash arrested and charged with treason and is even now threatening to have them executed unless I surrender myself and turn over Bastila to them" he answered. "This is a threat we cannot allow to become entrenched, Atris and Vrook will corrupt the Jedi Order beyond something capable of been saved and thus we must go to Corusant and remove them from power" he stated.
"Corusant is the Republic capital General; we can't just go there and attack the temple" Kelly argued.
"No we can't not without causing a huge distraction and that is what I plan to do" Revan countered. "I will lead a small portion of the fleet to Corusant to distract and confuse the Republic, Canderous, Mira I want you to head there in advance with a team and hire as many mercenaries as you can to do the same on the ground cause chaos and if you can empty the temple of as many Jedi and temple guard as you can" he told them. "Have them chasing you all over the place, wound them if you have too but do not kill them unless you have no choice as that is not the aim of this mission" he added focusing his gaze on the two who nodded in understanding. "Once the distractions have hit I and my team will hit the temple and rescue Vima and the others and in the same instant remove Atris and her supporters before we leave" he finished.
Zayne was right in thinking something big was going to go down but this went beyond what he had been expecting, but he had to agree with Revan that neither Vrook nor Atris could be allowed to control the Council as both were angry and arrogant people. He well remembered how Vrook had acted towards him even when proof of his innocence had been given; no this had to be done to save the Jedi Order from two people who should never rise to the rank of Grandmaster. That they had staged a coup was shocking enough, clearly they were going down a dark path if they could do such a thing. Jolee was unsurprised to hear such things were going on back at the temple, he had seen just how far Jedi could sink and thus that some would stage a coup did not shock him.
"Revan, if we are to pull this off we will need Bastila's battle meditation to give us the edge" Zayne pointed out.
"I know and I will talk to her once we get back to the fleet once I've done putting together the team Canderous will lead to Corusant" Revan replied with a nod of head in agreement as they would indeed need Bastila and her battle meditation.
+TR+
(Leviathan)
Malak looked out of the main window of his ship to see the dark shadow of the Star Forge eclipse the entire vessel, he had to admit every time he saw the huge space station it gave him a chill to think of what the ancient Rakata species were capable off, this station beat anything the Sith, Mandalorians or even the Republic could build. It was powered by the energy of a nearby star and combined with the power of the force it could build an endless supply of war material, this was what had made him and Revan so powerful when compared to the weak Republic and now it was his alone now that he had replaced Revan.
"Begin docking procedures Admiral, I want to be fully resupplied within five hours" he ordered without turning to face Karath. "I want the guards to bring Dorak and the other Jedi we captured to the docking bay, have something special planned out for them on the station" he added before going silent as he felt a tremor rip through the force and he frowned wondering at its source.
"Understood my Lord, beginning docking procedures and the guards are bringing the prisoners to the docking bay as ordered" Karath informed him a few minutes later.
"Good, do not disturb me for the next two hours once I board the station" Malak warned him as he turned and headed for the exit. "If there is a problem handle it" he ordered before leaving the bridge to head to the docking bay so he could take Dorak and his other Jedi Prisoners to the room he had found in the Star Forge that would give him the power over anyone including Revan and it was their very lives and perhaps their souls that would enable him to access that power.
+TR+
(Leviathan Class Battleship Revenge)
Meetra ran to the bridge as the alarm blared quickly entered at a run with Bastila close behind her, Rikka was already there waiting for her.
"The Ebon Hawk has just jumped into the sector and is on approach General and General Revan wishes to talk to you" Rikka reported.
"Put him on speaker Rikka" Meetra ordered. "Revan did you manage to rescue Ana and her team?" she inquired once the comm was connected.
"I managed to rescue Ana and three of her team but two others were already dead before we got there, we found the team who had captured them were loyal to us and are also with me" Revan replied sounding angry and she wondered what had happened to make him so. "Meetra I want you to get at least two hundred and fifty ships from the rest of the fleet a combination of battleships, carriers, cruisers and destroyers and get me the best infiltration and assault team we have assembled to meet us in the hangar bay" he ordered surprising Meetra and especially Bastila.
"Revan what is going on?" Bastila could not help but ask.
"Atris and Vrook have staged a coup and taken over the Jedi Order, they also arrested Vima, Zhar and Vash and jailed them for treason and now threaten their lives if I do not surrender and hand you over to them" Revan answered now making the entire bridge go silent. "We are going to rescue them and remove Atris, Vrook and anyone who supports them and return Zirrik to his rightful place as Grandmaster before Atris and Vrook destroy the very soul of the Jedi and make it unable to be saved" he explained. "Bastila we will need your battle meditation if we are to make this work" he added. "The aim is to distract the defences and allow us to get into the temple to do our work, Canderous will lead the assault and infiltration team and whatever mercenaries they can hire to lure out the Jedi and temple guard, death is not the aim just distraction and confusion" he told them repeating his statement at the end for Bastila's benefit.
Bastila could not believe what Revan had just said, Atris and Vrook had betrayed their oaths and staged a coup, had she never met Revan and seen the truth of how the galaxy truly worked she would never believe such a thing possible but she had seen and did not doubt they could do this. She would do what she could to help put things right and if that meant using her battle meditation then so be it, anyway she had already declared her loyalty was to Revan and this would prove it to Rikka and the rest of the fleet.
"Understood Revan, I'll meet you in the hangar as well" Bastila finally said.
"Have Carth with you, I have some important information for him" Revan requested before Meetra cut in.
"I'm coming too Revan, if you intend to confront Atris then you can bet I am coming" she insisted. "I owe her and quite a few of the others a swift kick in the teeth, and I intend to reclaim what they took from me" she added.
"Good assemble in the hangar as well once you get things moving, Rikka you'll be in charge of the fleet whilst we are away understood?" Revan replied.
"Yes General" Rikka said with a nod of her head feeling a spark of anticipation as this would be the first step of their renewed crusade since Revan and General Surik had been returned to the fleet.
"You heard him start finding the best ships for the job" Meetra ordered as Revan cut the comm and the Ebon Hawk headed for the hangar. "Make sure the battleships and carriers are the best we have, overwhelming surprise and better ships will give us the edge in this" she told them. "The Revanchists are going back to war" she stated as she turned and headed for the hangar after giving the order for the main assault and infiltration team to assemble on the hangar, Bastila quickly followed as Rikka and the bridge continued to work to carry out their orders.