Bastila Shan slowly woke in their bed. As the fog of unconsciousness began to clear, she stretched out her arms, yawning. She had the anticipation of another great day ahead. It would mostly be looking after their crops, maintenance of the buildings, looking after the droids or just walking through the Myrkr forest with Revan or Sarathane, as he preferred to be called.
Not the galaxy saving chores, she been trained for but she didn't care. For the last year, she'd been happy. Not even on the day she's become a Padawan, compared to any of the days she'd spent here.
She turned over to look at him and was taken back a little surprised. He'd gone.
"That was not a problem," she reasoned. "He's probably had an early start on the fields."
Leisurely she got up and walked to the fresher. It still amazed her that it worked. It was one of the few luxuries she could not have done without. She could smell the fresh cut grass from outside the dwelling, which meant that at least some of the maintenance droids were working correctly.
She walked out and looked through the wardrobe for something to wear. As she pulled out on of her old robes, her eye caught the security locker in the corner of the room. It was open.
A knot of fear began to grow in her stomach. She quickly controlled it and urgently threw on her clothes. She walked over to the locker and curiously opened it. There was only her light-sabre and a couple of heavy blasters there. Both of his two light-sabres had gone.
"Sithspit!" she cursed, and grabbing her sabre, ran out of the door to the outside.
He was nowhere in sight. She walked around the compound calling out his name. There was no reply and no sign. She found the garage; sometimes he could be found working on the swoop bike he'd used on Taris. However, when she entered the garage, swoop bike had gone as well. By the burn marks, it was pretty obvious it had been gunning at full power.
"What's happened?" Bastila began to feel scared. Had she been abandoned?
She forced herself to be calm. She replayed the events of the previous couple of days to see if there was anything that had upset him or something odd which had happened. Nothing came to mind. Confusion replaced the fear; he wouldn't just up and leave unless there was a very good reason. Had the council recalled him? If so, why wasn't she called back as well? She walked back over to the garage, where her speeder bike was and mounted it. He might have been called just to Myrkr City; she'll start looking for him there.
Carth Onasi was sat in a small cafe in Myrkr city. He stared again at the call signal from Sarathane with some bemusement. He'd been popping by their encampment once every couple of months, bringing in supplies, old friends for a visit and news of the outside galaxy. What was strange was, this was the first time he'd been called here. What really alarmed him was the signal was marked as urgent.
He looked around the cafe. There was a bustling market just across the road. Small town traders looked at him with curiosity; it wasn't all that often that they got a ship landing at the pads here. He sat here, feeling more and more self-conscious.
"We don't like strangers round here!" came a voice from behind him in a mocking accent.
"Well, that's two of us then," replied Carth with a smile recognising the voice.
His friend came into view and sat down across from him. He tried not to start or show shock, but failed. Sarathane was dressed in Revan's old clothes. Head to toe in black with the long cape. The only difference is the fact he hadn't covered his head. There was no mask and the hood wasn't up but he looked very serious.
"Erm, are you just seeing if you can fit into your old clothes or should I be worried?"
"You should be worried," replied Sarathane. "But not about anything I'm going to do."
"Oh? Nice and cryptic as usual, but then you're the Jedi master not me." Carth shot back. "You Jedi ever think of releasing a cryptic to basic translation manual. It's only so we lesser mortals know what the hell you're talking about."
His friend smiled, "Sorry Carth, but there are something's we need to talk about and I haven't got much time."
"You and Bastila had a fight?"
Some emotion passed over Sarathane's face but was quickly repressed.
"Eh? Heck no, but we would have done if I hadn't of left. She's probably motoring over here on the spare speeder even as I talk."
The seriousness had turned into something else Carth observed, it seemed his friend was in a hurry.
"So what is the big emergency?" Carth was beginning to feel the same kind of anxiousness that Sarthane was displaying.
"Last night, I fell into our force pocket in our clearing," Sarathane explained. "It unlocked the last of Revan's memories and thanks to them, I've got to go."
"Go?" Carth was astonished. "Where? Just say the word and I'll get the old crowd together."
Sarathane's smile stopped.
"Not this time, Carth. You and the others have got to stay behind. Is the Hawk fuelled?"
"Yes, but …"
"And is HK-47 and T3 aboard?"
"T3 is, but I haven't managed to completely rebuild HK-47 yet. He's still missing bits."
Sarathane sighed, "It will have to do."
"Do for what?"
"Carth, Bad things are coming, and it will be worse if I don't go."
"Are you talking about more Sith?"
"Yes, there are more Sith out there," Sarathane looked up at the sky to emphasise his point. "They've grown in power, even worse than Malek. But these Sith are different. They're subtle, cunning and patient."
"That doesn't sound like the Sith," observed Carth.
"No, these will use a delicate poison to assassinate someone, not hit them with a hammer, like my old apprentice."
Carth looked at his friend with concern.
"And that's what you're going to do? Sort them out by yourself?"
"No," Sarathane shook his head. "That's for someone else to deal with and I need you to find her."
"Who?" Carth got out his data pad to take some notes.
"Look through the Jedi Archives; you should get some special dispensation from Vandar. If he gives you any trouble, then say the request comes from me but don't let them who you're looking for. Find the records concerning the General of the Republic at Malachor V."
"Her?" Carth looked shocked, "You must be joking!"
Sarathane looked at his friend with surprise.
"That was the biggest war crime of the entire Mandalorian war and it shames me that it was performed by our side. She should left to rot wherever she is."
"You blame her for what happened?"
"Of course I do. How many on both sides died there?"
"That was the idea; the entire Mandalore Army fell on the small amounts of troops waiting for them."
"I remember, we jumped in and engaged the fleet as their troops were on the surface." reminisced Carth. "But then the entire planet broke up. That wiped out most of their fleet and gave us the advantage. Revan, you, led the boarding action from the Revager to their Flag ship and took down their leader."
Sarathane nodded. "But I also remember that that was the plan. The General was following the orders, Revan had issued. It was the only way to bring an end to the War quickly."
"She could have refused those orders."
"She knew what was needed."
"Did everybody on the planet knew what would happen"
"They were mostly Jedi, Revan had selected those who he felt he couldn't turn to the dark side at a later point. He didn't tell the General that."
"Do you feel any responsibility for what happened?" Carth couldn't believe that his friend was so matter of fact and remote about the whole incident.
"That's the big question," explained Sarathane. "Although I know that I have Revan's body and all Revan's memories, it still feels as if it happened to someone else, I'm a spectator to these memories."
"That mostly thanks to you, Bastila and the others," he continued. "Having seen what Revan did after his fall, it makes me sick to the stomach, even though I can understand the logic behind it. Maybe, I am what Revan would have been if he hadn't of fallen."
"Well, your not Revan to me, and I know Bastila doesn't see you as Revan. It just seeing you in that outfit, well..."
"So will you give the General the benefit of the doubt?"
"I guess," Carth looked uncomfortable. "Why do we need her?"
"She's important," Sarathane replied. "She'll help rebuild the order and teach some of those Masters some reality they've been missing."
"How can we trust her to help?"
"I know her very well. She'll do the right thing."
"How well? You two weren't ermm…" Carth couldn't find the right words, "close?"
"Well, yeah." said Sarathane looking slightly confused.
"Does Basilla know?"
"About what?"
"Your ex-girlfriend being the general?"
"Girlfriend?" It was Sarathane's turn to look shocked and then realisation dawned. He started laughing.
"What?" said Carth, looking even more puzzled?
"She wasn't my girlfriend," Sarathane sighed, letting the laughter subside. "What kind of Jedi would I be, if I didn't recognise my own sister?"
"Ah! You're Sister." Carth looked embarrassed, "Hang on, I thought Jedi weren't supposed to know who they're family were?"
"We worked it out during the war," explained Sarathane. "That was a shock and a half I can tell you!"
Carth brought the subject to the present again.
"So if the General is going to sort out these new Sith, where are you going?"
"There's something else, in the unexplored regions. It's such a threat to us all that I've got to and stop it."
"Can you be more specific?"
"No! The last time others were involved, we all fell to the dark side. I can't risk anybody being exposed again."
"Surely Bastila," countered Carth. "She one of the few that's come back from the Dark Side and she's stronger for it."
"I would have," Sarathane looked very pained at this. "But I discovered something else."
"Oh?"
"Our children will be born in eight months. I doubt that Bastila knows herself yet, but there is no way to do what I need to. I'd might as well paint a big target on the little ones, and Bastila, and start offering the enemy to have a free shot!"
"Then stay, bring your kids up and then fight when you need to." urged Carth.
"Do you trust me Carth?" asked Sarathane.
"Do you even have to ask that?"
"Because trust me when I say; if I do that, it will be too late and we'll all be lost."
Carth began to understand.
"That bad?" he said.
Sarathane nodded solemnly, "You know, for the last year, I've been at peace. It feels like I've now got to pay for it."
"How many times have I got to tell you? Stop trying to atone for what Revan's done in the past."
"This isn't atonement. This is doing what is right. Revan sought to unite the galaxy under one flag to face what he perceived was a greater threat. He came to the conclusion, maybe by himself or under the influence of the star forge, that the best way, was the Sith way."
"But the war weakened the Republic and the Sith to almost breaking point, Neither of us could withstand a full scale invasion at the moment."
"Exactly," Sarathane smiled sadly. "Now do you understand?"
Carth sat back in his seat. Sarathane had won the argument. He knew both of friends well enough to know that Bastila would never understand what Sarathane was about to do. It was going to be difficult for her.
"You said three things?"
"The Hawk."
Carth nodded. "I'll dial up a transport to pick me and Bastila up."
"Find the General."
Carth grimaced but nodded.
"Finally, keep everybody safe. Hide them, cover for them and make them disappear. The new Sith will try to kill them. Don't let it happen to them or you"
"I'll do my best." He said.
Sarathane stood up to go and, looking sadly at Carth, placed a small data crystal on the table. Carth knew instinctively it was for Bastila. Sarathane turned from his friend and walked towards the landing pads.
"What happens if you fail?" Carth shouted after him.
Sarathane didn't look back but called into Carth's mind.
"Then make the Republic as strong as you can. Trust me, I want to come back but there's no guarantee."
Carth watched as his friend disappeared into the crowd of the market place. He looked down at the table and picked up the crystal on the table.
"Nope, there never is."
Carth stood up and started to walk over to the landing bays himself. The least he could do was watch the ship leave.
Bastila rode into Myrkr City. The name city was used in a loose sense of the word, on most worlds this settlement would be about the size of a small town. She decided to start by the market. It would be the logical place to start. They'd shopped for supplies there before.
It only took five minutes to get to through the crowds. It wasn't as crowded as she was used to. There was the roar of a ship taking off. It got the crowd's attention. Bastila knew that ships arriving or leaving was kind of a rare event so there was no surprise about the crowd's reaction. She looked up herself and her heart almost stopped.
It was the Ebon Hawk. The ship was in a power climb, heading almost vertically into the sky.
"Oh no," she breathed.
She gunned the engine and headed over the landing pads. She stopped and ran inside. The bay was very much like the one at Anchorhead on Tatooine. It was an enclosed area, with a huge hole at the top. There was a solitary person stood in the centre, looking up into the sky. Carth Onasi. She walked towards him slowly. He kept on looking up at the sky and then back down at his hand. She couldn't make out his expression but his body language said it all.
"Carth?" She couldn't help it but her voice was trembling, "What's happening?"
Carth looked at her blankly, just staring straight through her.
"Carth?" she repeated, the tears were beginning to well up in her eyes.
He blinked, looked at her and then shook his head.
"Bastila, I'm so sorry."
He handed over a crystal. Bastila grasped it like drowning person grabs a lifeline.
"I'll be over there," he said. "Talk to me when you've seen it."
Bastila could not understand why she couldn't focus on the crystal properly until she tasted the salt of the tears running down her face.
He watched her from a distance. It was bad enough for him that his long time friend had gone but for Bastila, this was on a whole other level. She pulled out a data reader and popped the crystal into the reader. The message was about five minutes long, when it had finished she just stood there unmoving. Carth thought about walking over but rejected the impulse.
"Give her space," he thought. "She needs it."
A couple of minutes later, she wiped her face, looked up at the sky, turned and walked back to him.
She looked at Carth and smiled sadly, "I'll do as he asks but I don't understand why."
"I know," It was all he could think of saying.
"There was one thing he asked me to do." said Bastila, trying to force a smile. "You've got to be a godfather. He wants the boy to be called Dunsil and the girl to be called Jade."
It was then Bastila's mask cracked. She couldn't take it all in. Yesterday, she'd been the so happy. She buried herself into Carth's shoulder, sobbing uncontrollably. He reached round, trying to comfort her.
"What ever your doing Sarathane, Reven, or whatever you call yourself now," Carth thought. "It had better be worth it."