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Chapter Text

A long time ago in a galaxy far far away...

STAR WARS

KNIGHTS OF THE OLD REPUBLIC

Volume I:

THE PHANTOM EMPIRE

Turmoil has engulfed the Outer Rim. The Galactic Republic and Jedi Order remain at peace, but travel and communication with planets near the galactic edge has been mysteriously cut off one by one.

The latest planet to go silent is Cathar. With fear growing in the Republic Senate and speculation Republic worlds may be next, the Jedi have dispatched a mission to investigate why the planet has dropped out of contact.

Jedi Master ARREN KAE and her Padawan learner REVAN arrive above the planet to find an invading fleet of Mandalorians orbiting Cathar…

Chapter Text

The consular ship dropped out of hyperspace just beyond the first moon of the planet Cathar. On the bridge, the young Jedi Padawan Revan curiously poked her head over the shoulder of the ship captain. She had never been to Cathar before, and nothing excited her more than the thought of a new planet.

In six years as a Padawan she’d seen many planets now, and yet after a childhood forever confined to the temple, she always anticipated each new one. She knew for sure that once she became a Jedi Knight, she would keep wandering the galaxy. She was only seventeen, but she was sure she’d be inducted as a full Jedi soon. She started as a Padawan younger than most, and she was more powerful than most, surely the Council would see she was ready soon.

But her youthful excitement was immediately smothered as Revan caught sight of Cathar. Its surface was afire, entire continents burned orange, and the rest had turned dark black. She’d done her reading before they came, she knew it wasn’t a naturally volcanic planet. “What could have done this?’

“Scans show a blockade around the planet,” the pilot said, “the signals match Mandalorian Warships.”

“An invasion would explain the loss of communication,” Master Arren Kae said from behind them. “We’ve learned what we needed to. Captain, withdraw before they see us and attack.”

Revan looked up at her, aghast, “But Master!” she protested, “We have to help!”

“And we will,” Master Kae assured her, “But be mindful of the situation before you rush to action. Two Jedi alone will not be able to overcome an entire Mandalorian fleet. And Mandalorians war for the sake of conquest, they will not be receptive to diplomacy. Those negotiations will be short indeed. If we make it back to the Republic, we may be able to convince the Senate to send aid. Which means we leave now. Captain?”

“Turning now,” the captain reported, “Coordinates set for Coruscant. Jumping to hyperspace in 5… 4… 3…”

The entire ship rumbled and the bridge consoles sparked into flames.

“They’re firing on us,” Revan sensed.

“This ship won’t hold against their firepower,” Master Kae said, “Captain, sound the evacuation. Get the crew to the escape pods.”

Alarms blared through the ship as the crewman all desperately ran for the safety of the pods as the ship’s hull ruptured around them. Revan and Arren Kae stayed to make sure everyone made it off, but even then they sensed that most of the crew were lost as the Mandalorian turbolasers targeted the pods as well as the ship.

Once everyone was evacuated, the two Jedi took the last pod. “They’ll be targeting us too. Focus on the Force, together we can move the pod to safety,” Master Kae instructed her Padawan.

Turbolaser fire thundered around them, but the pod stayed untouched as Master and Padawan guided it to the nearest place to land, inside the hangar of the nearest Mandalorian cruiser.

“I thought you said we shouldn’t attack the Mandalorians head on,” Revan asked.

“Not unnecessarily,” Master Kae explained, “But we must bring word back to the Republic. We’ll need new transport, so we must make it to the bridge of this vessel.”

They heard a bang at the door of the pod, and sparks began flying from the edge as the Mandalorians tries to cut it open. The pod began filling with thick acrid smoke from the melting door.

The two Jedi unhooked their sabres from their belts. “Be careful fighting Mandalorians,” Master Kae warned, “Their Beskar armour can stop a lightsabre. All of them wear Beskar helmets, the highest ranked warriors wear it head to toe. Aim for the gaps, at the neck, under the elbow and shoulder, and behind the knees.”

Revan nodded in understanding, and they both held their breath as the smoke rose to cover their heads.

Finally the door blew open completely, and a squad of Mandalorians aimed their blasters into the entrance, and strained their eyes to see movement through the smoke.

“Can’t see anything in there,” one said.

“The smoke should have suffocated them already,” said another.

Then the squad heard a buzzing and two lights appeared in the smoke, one blue the other purple.

The two Jedi leapt out of the smoke. The Mandalorian squad fired off a volley of blasts, but the blue blade spun and the blaster shots returned, and a half dozen Mandalorians fell, killed by their own fire.

Revan led the charge, her blue blade a blur, rushing into the fray and striking wildly, felling Mandalorians left and right and leaving them dismembered behind her.

Master Kae moved more carefully, a few steps behind, graceful and deliberate. She focused more on deflecting blaster fire than attacking herself,  and when she did it was with practiced precision. And in her slow and steady approach she felled as many foes as her Padawan did with her wild barrage.

In mere moments, the two Jedi had cut through scores of Mandalorians and the left the hangar bay empty.

“These ones were low ranked, and lightly armoured,” Master Kae noted, “Stay alert, this shall grow more difficult before it is done.”

***

Vutur Zhul felt fear for the first time in decades. He was an old warrior, veteran of a hundred campaigns, captain of his warship for the last three decades. All his life he followed the creed, and proved his valour many times. But unlike many others, his clan had not followed Exar Kun in the last war, and so he had never faced Jedi before.

Now he watched the two interlopers cut through his crew, on a straight unbroken path to the bridge. Dozens of warriors faced them, hundreds, and in every skirmish the Jedi emerged untouched and left their enemies broken behind them.

Knowing they could not win against such a foe, Vutur sealed the bridge and swallowed hid pride. To save his crew he would have to sacrifice his honour.

“Contact the Mand'alor,” he commanded.

Once the communication was established, the leader of the Mandalorians watched impassively behind his gilded helmet as Vutur explained the situation.

“Is clan Zhul so weak it cannot defeat two warriors? You dishonour yourself. I shall dispatch the field marshals. Once they kill these intruders, you will answer to them.”

Mand'alor the Ultimate shut off the line, and Vutur Zhul sighed in relief and resignation. However this battle ended, it would likely mean his life, but if the marshals succeeded perhaps at least his clan would live.

Soon enough the Jedi were outside the bridge itself.

“Can they break through that door?” the Gunnery Chief asked.

“Cutting through that blast door will take hours,” Vutur Zhul said, mostly to assure himself.

“Even for Jedi?” the chief asked, “The stories I’ve heard from other clans…”

Watching on the camera, they saw the elder Jedi thrust her sabre forward, and behind them the tip of a purple blade emerged from the blast door. Slowly she rotated it, cutting an opening into the sealed door.

How could they be coming through so quickly?

The bridge crew armed themselves and faced the door and waited for death to come to them.

Then outside they heard the younger Jedi shout a warning, and the elder withdrew from the door. On the cameras they saw the field marshals had arrived. Four warriors in gilded armour, each wielding a Beskar broadsword. Glowing blades of energy clashed with metal blades of Beskar, and each Jedi had to divide her attention between two foes. But even then the Jedi seemed untouchable. The Marshals lived only because their Beskar protected them from those unstoppable blades.

“We risk defeat here,” The master said.

“What? But we’re winning!” her student protested.

“Not before more reinforcement arrive.” The master chided, “This is a standoff. Move.”

The Jedi vanished down the corridor at inhuman speed, and even propelled by their rocket packs the Marshals could not catch them. Searching the security cameras showed them nowhere on the ship. Wherever they were, the Jedi had escaped. But the foe had at least been driven away, his clan would survive this assault. Now Vutur Zhul needed only face the judgement of the Mand'alor.

***

Revan and Arren Kae found themselves back in the ship’s hangars, having escaped through narrow ventilation shafts. They had landed in a small unoccupied bay. But this place was bigger, and here they found hundred on troop transports loading Mandalorian warriors for a ground assault.

“So how do we get back to the Republic now?” Revan asked, “Could we commandeer one of those transports?”

Arren Kae shook her head, “They’re designed for short range assaults, no hyperdrive. Our best chance is to stow away and find a way out on the planet below. We’ll go in separate transports and regroup on the surface.”

“Maybe we could help the local resistance if we’re going down there,” Revan hoped.

“If the opportunity arises,” Master Kae said, “But stay focused on the larger picture young Padawan, we’ll do no good sacrificing the planet to save one city.”

Her Padawan nodded assent, and the two Jedi moved out.

Chapter Text

The Mand'alor had finished with the disgraced captain of Clan Zhul, who now lay lifeless and unmasked at his feet, when the call came.

He felt a buzzing growing in the back of his skull, and he knew from experience that if he ignored it the sensation would eventually grow to burning, blinding pain. “All of you, leave us,” he commanded, and the Mand'alor’s closest kin departed to leave him alone with the corpse.

Once they were gone he opened his personal communicator and connected over a secret encrypted channel, and the bane of existence appeared as a hologram in his palm. “Darth Aestis.”

“I hear your invasion is troubled, Mandalore,” the Darth quietly accused.

Though he wore Mandalorian plate, Beskar coloured black and crimson, and never removed his helm in accordance with the creed, the Mand'alor knew this one was not of his kind. No Mandalorian would use magics such as this warrior did, that was the way of Jedi. Yet he knew this was no Jedi either. Mand'alor the Ultimate had fought beside Exar Kun in the last war, before he rose and claimed leadership of his people. He had fought against Jedi, and alongside Dark Jedi, and the Darth’s sorcery was far darker even than they.

“We were seen by interlopers from the Republic,” the Mand'alor was compelled to answer, “Jedi. They escaped to the planet’s surface.”

Darth Aestis growled his dissatisfaction, “The Jedi must not discover you. My Master commands it. They must believe themselves safe until the trap closes. Find these two. Kill them.”

The Darth closed communication, and Manda'lor gave the order.

***

Arren Kae escaped deeper into the Cather jungle, as further behind her the land was cleared and scorched by Basilisk droids.

The destruction reminded her of Yavin, and the last war. Here, ahead of the attack, the plant life grew wild, and the Force here felt as deep as the roots of the ancient trees. But the machinery of war far behind was uprooting it all to leave wasteland behind, and the sky above had turned red and the horizons all to black from the fires and smoke where the Mandalorian fleet above bombarded the surface.

There was no time to reflect on how history repeated herself, the Mandalorians were closing in and she needed to move. The squad in the transport she stowed on had not noticed her, and she intended to remain hidden. Silence and secrecy were her best weapons here. She needed to regroup with Revan before her Padawan did anything rash.

She heard fighting deeper in the jungle and moved towards the sound. In a clearing, Arren found a hooded huntress locked in combat with a pair of Mandalorian jungle clearers. The huntress blended with her surroundings, dressed in mottled green, and her quarterstaff spun in a blur. Against her the Mandalorians were sluggish, their heavy flamethrowers meant for trees and not a fastmoving opponent. So the woman’s staff swept their legs from beneath them and rang their helmets like bells, and those proud warriors could do nothing to stop her. The vegetation around the clearing burned, but the huntress stayed untouched.

Arren Kae stepped out of hiding and addressed the huntress. “Impressive. Few in the galaxy can stand alone against Mandalorians.”

The huntress whirled and pointed her staff in Arren’s direction. Face to face, she finally caught a glimpse under the huntress’s hood. She wasn’t a Cathar as Arren expected. The woman was pale-skinned with short-cropped silvery white hair and eyes, an Echani.

“Theirs is not the only creed of warriors in the galaxy,” the Echani said, “Who are you?”

“Arren Kae, Jedi Master. And you?”

“Velere, handmaiden to the battlemaster Yusanis,” the Echani answered cautiously.

“An Echani battlemaster?” Arren inquired, intrigued, “I will need aid in ending this invasion. Echani are among the few who understand war as deeply as the Mandalores.”

Velere lowered her staff and nodded assent, “This invasion troubles us as well. We came to hunt in the jungles here, but this army threatens to make us prey. I will take you to him.”

“We should locate my Padawan first,” Master Kae said, “We were meant to regroup around here…”

Arren was cut off when she felt the ground shake beneath her.

“One of the troop transports just crashed,” she sensed, “Oh, Revan, I warned you to be subtle. Come Velere, I know where my Padawan is.”

Not far away they encountered the flaming wreckage of a Mandalorian landing craft, the bodies of a dozen warriors lay broken around the wreck, and doubtless even more burned inside. Out of the smoke walked Revan, blue sabre in hand and a cocky smile on her face. “Master. You made it.”

“Your ship seems to have crashed Revan,” Master Kae noted.

“And now these ones won’t be hurting anyone,” Revan put away her sabre and kicked one of the fallen Mandalorians.

“The fleet above will have noticed the crash,” Master Kae said, “They will send more to investigate, and they know to expect Jedi. We must move quickly to remain hidden.”

“Oh,” Revan said, her self-satisfaction falling from her face. Clearly, she had not considered that. “Yes, let’s move. Who’s this?”

“Velere,” the Echani answered, “I have agreed to take your master to meet mine, that we might battle these invaders together. Come. We have hidden ourselves deeper in the jungle.”

The two Jedi followed their new guide.

***

Battlemaster Yusanis was not certain what to make of these Jedi that Velere had stumbled upon in the jungle. The Master had seated herself directly across from him, with the campfire that illuminated the cave placed between them. To speak with her, Yusanis had to look through the haze cast by the heat and smoke, and illuminated orange from below by the fire and robed in brown and white, she had cast herself as if a mystic wise woman. Yet while she employed the theatrics of mysticism, Yusanis didn’t feel the probe of the Force attempting to influence his mind. He had met Jedi before, he knew their powers were real, but this Jedi refrained from using those powers all while projecting an image of mysticism.

Could it be they were charlatans? No, he thought not. The Padawan avoided the campfire and instead stalked the edges of the cave, eyes darting between the various hunters standing sentry. But her wariness was not that of a cornered animal, this girl had the essence of the predator about her. She stepped with a lithe, coiled, precision, like a rancor beast set to leap upon its prey. Such was the prowess of Jedi, and unlike her master this one did not work to hide it.

“What brings Jedi here, beyond the edge of the Republic?” he asked.

“Not far beyond the edge. All communication from Cathar has been silenced. This has been happening to planets across the Outer Rim, but never so close to Republic space until now, so the senate sent for the Jedi to investigate. I am Master Arren Kae, this is my Padawan Revan. But I wonder the same as you,” Arren probed, “I had not though to find an Echani battlemaster in such a remote location.”

“We came to hunt, and hone our skills against the jungle beasts,” Yusanis explained.

“The invasion must have complicated that.”

“The Mandalorians are but a new challenge, and another kind of prey. The danger may be greater, but Echani do not flee. If they come this way, we shall test ourselves against them, and become stronger for it.”

Arren slightly raised her eyebrows at that. She did not believe him. In truth he did completely believe it himself, but a battlemaster must remain confident in front of his hunters. If the Mandalorians came for them here, the Echani would bleed them for it but eventually they would fall against the Mandalorian numbers. If they tried to fight their way to the spaceport in the nearest city, the result would be the same. And if the orbital bombardment came to this part of the planet, that would be their end with no fight at all.

“You’ll just do nothing?” they heard Revan ask, incredulous, “The people of this planet are being slaughtered and you’re sitting here in your cave. Echani may not run but you brave warriors clearly aren’t above hiding.”

“Revan,” her master chided her.

“But…”

“Revan!” Arren Kae raised her voice this time, “Take a seat.”

Revan grumbled, but she did as her teacher commanded. Yusanis didn’t let it show, but inside he was troubled. There was neither courage nor nobility to huddling in this cave, but it seemed there was no other option.

Arren Kae addressed him again, “We shan’t interfere with your rituals. If you would but speed us on our way, we will continue our mission.”

She pointed to the back of the cave, where the Echani had left the speeders they had taken to come here from the spaceport. He could certainly spare them two, they had lost a handful of hunters to skirmishes with the Mandalorians, and now had more vehicles than they needed. Yusanis was going to give his assent, but first Arren had more to say.

“But if your purpose is to test yourselves in battle then perhaps we can assist each other. The Mandalorians want to prevent anyone leaving the planet, their forces will be strongest around the spaceports of Cathar, and that is our destination. Join us and you will face a greater test than anything to be found in this jungle.”

She smiled slyly at him across the fire. She’d given him the perfect out. A way to escape the planet without appearing to retreat. And while his group alone could not have overcome the Mandalorians, with two Jedi aiding them they might stand a chance.

***

Arren and Revan took up the rear of the column of speeders, following the Echani back to the nearest city. All of them rode with solemn determination, knowing the danger that lay ahead of them.

Revan was restless. They were surrounded by danger, but until now had been skulking in the shadows rather than facing it head on, and every second’s delay meant more destruction. “Couldn’t you have just made him help?” she asked her master, “With the Force?”

“Against an Echani battlemaster? Not likely,” Master Kae said, “Remember Revan, such tricks only work on the weak minded. A clear eyed hunter would not be so easily deceived. Even if I could, the cloud the Force creates over a mind is temporary. It might have gained us transportation, but not this alliance.”

“It would have been faster,” Revan said.

“It would have been a risk, and for small reward. The Force should not be a crutch, Revan. There is much that can be achieved without it, and as much that cannot with it. You shouldn’t rely upon it too heavily. And the same can be said of your sabre,” Kae added, “The direct approach to a problem is not often the best approach.”

Revan nodded in understanding, and they returned to riding in silence, awaiting the battle to come.

Chapter Text

The city surrounding the spaceport was empty. The buildings were collapsed to debris and blasted husks, and the people who lived there were long since fled, save for those whose corpses lined the streets. The Cathar were supposedly a people renowned as hunters and warriors, shaped by the predators of their world’s jungles. Looking on them now, Revan saw nothing of that reputation. The talons in their fingertips seemed quite small in hands that clutched at wounds or fallen loved ones. Their slitted eyes were not predatory once those eyes were closed, or when they stared glassy into nothing. Revan did not see warriors who the Mandalores might gain glory from fighting. She saw people, like anyone else from anywhere else in the galaxy, burned out of their homes and gunned down as they fled.

“Is war always like this?” she asked through gritted teeth, a righteous outrage at the atrocity burning inside her, “This senseless slaughter?”

Her master looked sombrely over the destruction, “I have seen it grow worse even than this,” Arren Kae admitted, “Exar Kun could be as much a butcher as the clans who followed him. Tragedy such as this is the only result, when war comes to those who cannot fight back.”

Battlemaster Yusanis interjected. “This area is deserted and the Mandalorians have moved on. We won’t encounter resistance until we reach the spaceport.”

“What about patrols in the city?” Revan asked.

“Yusanis is right, there will be none,” Master Kae answered, “Mandalorians are warriors, not soldiers, and there is little glory to be found in a rear guard.”

“That seems unsound,” Revan said.

“Do not take them for fools,” Kae corrected her padawan, “We will not find them defenceless. But Mandalorians go where they expect battle to be. They expect escape attempts at the spaceport, and so they defend it, but once they clear a city district they will not return.”

Revan turned around, listening to the sound of battle in the distance, and found the direction it was emanating from, and the plume of thick black that rose in the distance. In other places the smoke was thinning, but there it was fresh from new fires. “And over there?” she pointed.

“Another place soon to be razed. I know you wish to help here,” Arren Kae said, anticipating her padawan’s desire to get involved, “but the best help we can bring is a fleet to end the invasion. Difficult though it is, we must leave for now.”

Yusanis brought up a holomap of the city, “Your student may yet get the chance to face this battle,” he said, pointing to the map, “that direction is the city hall, the local governor will have had a personal hangar. The spaceport will be fortified by now, but here the chaos of battle continues. We may have a better chance to win free of the planet if we go there.”

Hearing this, Revan silently pleaded with her master, and Arren Kae agreed. “Very well, lead the way.”

Yusanis signalled his hunters to move, and they were on their way again.

***

Governor Rhozo and his personal guard formed a circle around what few civilians were left alive. He knew his dozen guardsmen stood no chance against the Mandalorian army they faced. The carried only personal sidearms, and wore uniforms rather than battle armour, no match for armed and armoured Mandalorian warriors. The guard was largely ceremonial. But it was his duty to his people that he at least try to protect them, for as long as he could.

When the bombardment began, Rhozo had gone out to bring as many people as he could into city hall. Even most of those had been killed as Mandalorians stormed the building. But in his circle there were perhaps thirty civilians. Thirty in a city that had once been thirty thousand. They had gathered in the courtyard on the roof of the building. They had clear sightlines and the high ground. It might buy them a few minutes.

The first to find them was a pair of scouts. With the advantage of numbers, the scouts were quickly dispatched, though they lost one guard in the skirmish and the scouts managed to report their location before they died. Soon the true assault would begin. An assault force came soon enough, enough on the ground to surround them and a dozen more flying above on rocket boots. They had low walls to use as cover, but so intense was the Mandalorian blaster fire that they dare not emerge to strike back. Should any Mandalorian dare to step too close he would fall to Cathar claws, sharp enough to cut through even Beskar armour. But that did them little good with foes at range. It was only a matter of time before the fliers moved into position to get above their cover, and that would be the end.

But instead those Mandalorians on rockets were pulled from the sky by an invisible hand. The blaster fire stopped, and both sides looked about in confusion. Then they appeared, leaping up over the side of the rooftop, two women in plain brown robes. Glowing blades appeared in their hands, one blue and one purple, and the situation became clear. Jedi, there were Jedi here.

Rhozo and his small force found them themselves ignored as the Mandalorians turned all their attention to the two Jedi, but their blades spun and the blaster fire returned and the Jedi seemed all but untouchable. With the pressure off them, Rhozo and his men returned fire on the disoriented assault force. Then when the Mandalorians began to adjust to the battle on two fronts, another force took them from the rear, silver haired hunters in jungle garb emerging from the stairs below.

The Mandalorians didn’t last long. With the fight over, the younger Jedi rushed over the reassure the civilians. “All of you, just stay calm and stay together. I promise we can keep you safe.”

The frightened Cathar crowded around her with whispered gratitude, reaching out just to touch her. A Jedi, and every bit the mythical saviour that order was meant to be. One woman offered her infant child for the young Jedi to hold, as if seeking some kind of blessing for the baby.

“Oh, she’s beautiful,” the Jedi took the child gingerly, “What’s her name.”

“Juhani,” the mother said shakily.

“We’ll help you and Juhani find somewhere safe offworld,” she handed the baby back, “Trust me, and follow our lead.”

While this was going on, the older Jedi approached Rhozo himself. “Governor?” she bowed her head in deference, “Master Arren Kae.”

“You have my thanks Master Jedi,” Rhozo returned the bow, “Was our distress call received? Is the Republic sending aid?”

“I’m afraid not,” Master Kae admitted, “We were sent to investigate after your planet’s communications were cut off. Your distress call never made it through. Are there still ships in your personal hangar? We need to get back to Coruscant and warn the Senate.”

“Yes, of course,” Rhozo agreed, “I should come with you. If I speak to your Senate will they send aid then? I will beg if I must, make ourselves vassal to the Republic. Whatever will save my people.”

“The Republic has no vassals, but offering to become a member should sway some Senators.”

“Then I shall. Come, the hangar is this way,” Rhozo’s guard and the gaggle of refugees joined Jedi and Echani. Now all that remained was to escape.

Chapter Text

Hidden in the doorway, Master Kae surveyed the hangar. “One ship left, lightly guarded. We should have no trouble getting past them.”

“That’s my personal shuttle,” Rhozo said, “It has no weapons, it’s a diplomatic vessel, but it’s fast and well shielded. My guards can pilot.”

“Will it be able to run the blockade?” Kae asked.

“If any ship on Cathar can, it’s this one,” Rhozo assured.

“There may be another problem,” Battlemaster Yusanis pointed to the far side of the hangar, “The Mandalorians have docked basilisks here. Attacking the guards will alert those pilots, and even one basilisk war droid will be enough to stop our shuttle taking off.”

Arren Kae considered, then instructed her Padawan, “Revan, I am hoping guile will get us through here, but if battle is joined then deal with those pilots and commandeer a basilisk. The Echani and I will be enough to protect the civilians while they board.”

Revan nodded her understanding and hung near the back of the group as the entered the hangar.

The Mandalorian guards around the shuttle raised their weapons but did not yet fire. With their attention on Arren Kae and Yusanis at the front, none noticed Revan leaping up to the maintenance catwalks above and sneaking across to wait above the basilisk pilots.

The Mandalorians were regarding them with hostility and would attack if they waited any longer. Master Kae reached out with the force and pushed upon the mind of the Mandalorian commander. “We are transporting an important prisoner. You will let us take this ship.”

“You are transporting… wait… what…? who…?” The commander seemed confused, her powers were affecting him but he was resisting.

“We have the Cathar governor,” she increased the pressure on his mind, “We are taking him before the Mandalore. Let us pass.”

“We will…” the commander slurred, dazed and confused and her instructions wormed into his head, “we will let you pass.”

“But Commander,” one of the other Mandalorians interfered, “We weren’t notified of this.”

Arren Kae shifted her focus to this one, “It is not your place to question. Good soldiers follow orders.”

The Mandalorian stopped in his tracks, dead eyed, and murmured, “Good soldiers follow orders.”

It appeared a success, they were so close, yet focusing on this soldier had taken some pressure off the commander, and his mind began to clear. “Obey… let pass… No!” He shook his head violently, and raised his weapon to them again, “No. Those tricks won’t work on me Jedi.”

Before he could do anything more, Arren’s lightsabre was out, and the commander’s head fell from his shoulders. The Echani hunters sprang into action against the rest of the guard force, and the Cathar civilians began piling into the shuttle. Out of the corner of her eye, Arren saw Revan drop from the ceiling onto the basilisk pilots below.

***

The moment her master’s lightsabre came out, Revan dropped from the catwalks. The confused pilots, distracted by the battle across the hangar, were completely unprepared for her to cut them down from behind.

With the threat removed, Revan climbed into one of the basilisks. The configuration was more complicated than the Jedi Starfighter she was most used to, but the controls seemed legible to her. The basilisk required an interface with a Mandalorian helmet, so with the Force she lifted the helmet from one of the pilots she’d felled.

Mandalorians never removed their helmets. To take one from her fallen foe was the pinnacle of desecration, a dishonour and humiliation above and beyond defeat. The man beneath the helmet seemed almost pitiable, staring lifeless into empty air. A far cry from the formidable faceless foe that the helmet made him appear to be.

Revan shook herself from dwelling too long. There was a battle to fight. She donned the helmet and armed the basilisk, and the war droid gave a mechanical groan and rose to its feet at her command.

Across the hangar, her Master and the echani were shepherding the Cathar onto the shuttle. Back at the door they’d come in through, a new squad of Mandalorians were coming after them. Arren Kae deflected the blaster shots, protecting the fleeing civilians but with little means to retaliate. Revan raise one of the basilisk’s arms and fired a torpedo at the doorway, and the resulting explosion collapsed the entrance and prevented the pursuit.

Master Kae took advantage of the reprieve and retreated up the shuttle’s boarding ramp, and she shuttle lifted into the air and flew out into the sky. Revan ran after, then at the precipice activated the rockets in the basilisk’s feet and took off after the shuttle.

In her periphery, she saw other basilisks rising out of the city below, pursuing to stop the shuttle’s escape. They didn’t know she wasn’t on their side, so they were taken by surprise when she turned and fired a torpedo into one of them, destroying it. A basilisk’s armour wasn’t strong enough to stop its own weapons it seemed.

The other three pursuers immediately turned and fired on Revan, but the turbolaser on her basilisk’s other hand effectively destroyed the torpedos before they could get close to her. Instead of leaving herself vulnerable as the Mandalorians flew after her, she flew directly at them. Two swerved as she grew close, but the third called her bluff. But rather than stopping before a collision, Revan kept going, smashing the arm of her basilisk into the head of her opponent, and shattering the canopy. The air rushed out into the low pressure of the upper atmosphere, leaving the pilot suffocating and forced to return to ground, with only two more enemies for Revan to contend with.

Now below the others, Revan fired her laser upward into the thrusters in the feet of the nearest basilisk, breaking them, and it dropped like a stone out of the sky. The third pilot tried to match her own boldness, flying into her face rather than firing its weapons at her. With the last basilisk’s arms gripping hers, Revan had few options. So she overloaded her own engines then pulled the eject. Revan shot up into the air as her basilisk exploded below her, taking the last pursuer with it.

There was too little air around her to breathe, and she knew the eject wouldn’t give her enough height to reach the escaping the shuttle. But Revan closed her eyes, and felt the Force around her, and she hoped. And in a moment she felt an unseen grip on her body pulling her further up. At the open port of the shuttle, Master Kae pulled her up with the Force, and Yusanis waited beside her and grabbed Revan by the arm as she came close enough. The port shut behind her, and Revan pulled off her Mandalorian helmet and gasped, breathing deep from the air in the shuttle, and the last she felt was relief before she blacked out on the floor.

Chapter Text

Yusanis sent his huntress Velere to carry the unconscious Revan to the shuttle’s small med bay. With her padawan safe for now, Master Kae hurried to the cockpit, with Yusanis right behind her. They weren’t out of danger yet. Above the atmosphere loomed the Mandalorian blockade.

“Can you break through?” she asked the Cathar pilot.

“This ship was built for evading pursuit,” he said, almost boasting, “We’re too fast for their heavy capital ships to hit us, and fighters won’t have enough power to break our shields.”

Arren hoped he was right, but she had a bad feeling about this.

The escape began as the pilot predicted. The turbolasers on the Mandalorian capital ships never even came close. When they launched fighters and Basilisk droids after them, their firepower wasn’t enough to break through the shields. But Basilisks had abilities ordinary fighters did not.

Soon they heard a clang and the whole shuttle rumbled.

“One of them’s latched onto us,” the copilot reported, “Beside the left thruster.”

Master Kae threw a hand behind herself, and the shuttle shook again.

“The Basilisk broke off,” the copilot said again. The force of Arren’s push had dislodged the Basilisk.

“We’re not out of trouble yet,” the pilot responded, “It did some damage before it was knocked off, we’re losing speed.”

With one thruster damaged, the shuttle dragged slower and slower. As the speed dropped off, more and more of the Mandalorian fighters managed to hit, straining the shields even further. The capital ships still weren’t hitting them, but their cannons were edging closer, and if any of those hit it would be the end for them.

But the Force did not will for them to die today. With the shields on the brink of failure and alarms blaring across the bridge, their speed picked up again. “Thrusters working again!” the copilot said in astonishment and relief, “Someone in engineering rerouted power.”

“Time we got out of here,” the pilot said. He pushed the shuttle back to full speed, and they weaved through a pack of fighters and slipped free of the blockade between two capital ships. Once clear of the blockade they jumped to hyperspace, and there no pursuit could follow them.

The bridge crew breathed a collective sigh of relief. “We made it,” said the pilot, “we’re safe.”

“For now,” Governor Rhozo corrected, gravely, “The Mandalorians won’t give up the chase.”

“But we jumped to hyperspace,” the copilot objected, “there’s no way to trace a ship through hyperspace.”

“No, the Governor’s right,” Yusanis shook his head, “They can’t trace us, but they can plot possible route based on our trajectory, and that fleet was big enough to send a squad of hunters down every path.”

“If we reach Coruscant we’ll be safe,” Master Kae offered, “They won’t follow us to the core worlds, that would provoke war with the Republic.”

“That’s no good,” the pilot explained, “This shuttle is built for short jumps. We’ll have to stop somewhere and refuel more than once before we reach Coruscant.”

Yusanis walked up to the console and looked at the galaxy map over the pilot’s shoulder. He pointed to a planet, “Take us there. Telos.”

“Why Telos?” Rhozo asked.

“There’s an Echani enclave there,” Yusanis answered, “Hidden in the polar region. We can land at an official settlement and turn the refugees over to Republic authorities, then my hunters and the Jedi can escort the governor to our enclave, where we can find a long range ship for Coruscant.”

He looked to Arren for approval, and she nodded, “That may be the best course. Telos is sparsely populated and doesn’t lie on any major transport route, the Mandalorians won’t expect to find us there. The Republic wouldn’t keep long range transport at such a small outpost though, are you certain your enclave will?”

“Completely certain,” said Yusanis.

“Then I concur with the battlemaster,” Arren Kae concluded, “Telos is the safest destination.”

Rhozo agreed. “Plot a course for Telos then.”

***

Arren Kae watched from the sidelines of the shuttle’s main hold as Governor Rhozo addressed the crew and the refugees they’d taken aboard.

“You’re all safe now,” he assured them, “When we reach Telos the Republic authorities will look after you and find places for you to settle. The Echani and Jedi will be accompanying me as we find new transport to Coruscant, where I will call upon to Senate to help our planet. I promise you, the Mandalorians will be driven out, and our world will be ours again.”

There wasn’t much excitement to be mustered from the group, understandably so after the horrors they must have seen, but the whispers that rippled between them were hesitantly hopeful.

Finally, Governor Rhozo called forward the engineer for responsible for the spot repair that had saved them, after they were damage in the Mandalorian blockade. Strangely, the engineer was not a Cathar, he was Iridonian, with pale grey skin and a ring of horns around his head. A small remote droid followed him around and floated behind his shoulder.

“I’m told you’re quick thinking saved us all when we escaped the blockade,” Rhozo congratulated him.

The Iridonian spoke in mumbles and monotone and glanced around the floor rather than make eye contact, “It was a simple fix.”

“What’s your name, sir?” Rhozo asked.

“Bao-dur,” the engineer murmured.

“You have our thanks, Bao-dur,” the Governor continued with no remark towards Bao-dur’s odd behaviour, “As reward, what boon would you have of me, as Governor of Cathar. If I can grant it, it is yours.”

Bao-dur shuffled in place. Looked around everywhere but at the people in the room, then came to an answer. “If you’re taking other transport, could I have the ship? Been the shuttle engineer for a while, don’t want to abandon my work.”

The Governor granted his request, and the engineer left to return to his workstation. Kae found that one unsettling, it seemed to her that his mind was more machine than man. She could read nothing off him through the Force, he was so disconnected from the life around him.

It would have been worth investigation if there weren’t so many other pressing matters. She needed to check on her Padawan. Revan hadn’t woken up yet, and though Arren didn’t sense she was in any danger, she wanted to make certain.

The medbay was full, there had been numerous injuries in the course of their escape. Revan still slept on one of the beds, an oxygen mask covering her mouth and nose. The echani huntress Velere watched over at her bedside.

“How is she?” Arren asked.

“Stable,” Velere assured her, “I thought it best to stay with her. She needs room to breathe, but some Cathar kept wanting to come and touch her. The crowding might have suffocated her. They almost see her as divine now, like they could be blessed by touching her.”

“They may be close to the truth than you think,” Master Kae mused, softly stroking her Padawan’s cheek, “Revan is remarkable even amongst the Jedi. It’s a privilege to be her teacher.” Any Jedi who met her could sense that Revan had a destiny ahead of her. Some masters, like Zhar, thought Revan might even be the prophesised Chosen One.

Behind them, the medbay door opened and Yusanis entered. Velere bowed to him, “Battlemaster.”

“Velere,” he nodded to her, “and Master Kae. I was hoping to speak with you.”

Arren arched an eyebrow, “Oh?”

“I’ve met Jedi before, but I’ve never been able to witness one of your order in battle before,” Yusanis explained, “The Echani could learn much from a warrior order such as yours. I was hoping we could spar, to exchange our styles of combat.”

Master Kae considered. “The first thing to learn of the Jedi is that we are not only warriors,” she said, “but I see no harm in request.”

She stood and followed him outside.

***

When Revan awoke, she was in a narrow bed with a breath mask strapped over her face. She removed the mask and sat up, then instantly regretted it. She was still light-headed, and the movement made her vision go white.

“Careful,” the Echani huntress beside Revan reached out and steadied her, “You leapt through a near vacuum. It’s no wonder you blacked out. Just take it slow for now. Deep breaths.”

Revan took her advice, breathing, taking in the room. She was on the shuttle, the thrum of the engine rumbling through the ship told her they were in hyperspace.

“We escaped Cathar,” she guessed.

Velere nodded. “We’re headed to Telos. There’s an Echani enclave there. From there we can travel to Coruscant and warn your Senate of the Mandalorian threat.”

Revan felt recovered enough to try moving again. This time she took it slow, braced herself on Velere’s shoulder, and swung her legs down off the bed onto the floor. From there she rested a few more breaths before letting go of Velere and standing on her own feet. “Where’s Master Kae?” she asked.

“She was at your side not long ago,” Velere assured, “Once she was sure you were safe, she left with the battlemaster.”

Revan decided to go for a walk.

Moving around the ship was slow going, wherever Revan went she received awed stares and heard whispering between the Cathar. Many would approach just to touch her. Revan could feel herself swelling with pride. She had saved all these people, and they loved her for it.

Eventually her wandering took her to the lower decks, where there were less people around. Revan thought she was alone at first, until she heard a distant clang. She investigated the next room over, and came in just in time to see her master sweep the legs out from under the Echani battlemaster and send him thudding to the floor.

Revan leaned against the doorway, “Can I join the fun?”

Yusanis struggled back to his feet, “I’ll leave the two of you to talk,” he bowed to Master Kae, “Thank you an enlightening experience.”

Kae regarded him coldly, “You would have lasted longer if you hadn’t held back.”

“First duels should explore basic techniques. It is tradition,” he explained, “I hope we can spar again, so I can show you our higher forms.”

With that he left, nodding to Revan on the way out.

“Are you feeling alright Revan?” her master asked.

Revan nodded, “Never better.”

“One day one of these reckless manoeuvres of yours won’t work.”

“I’ll be fine Master,” Revan complained, “Besides, isn’t the council always whispering about my destiny? I’m not going to crash a Basilisk and fall to my death, that’s just embarrassing.”

“Don’t get too assured about your fate,” Master Kae chided, “Remind me to tell you about Andor Vex sometime.”

“Who?”

“Just remember, the future is always shifting. Destiny is never what you expect it to be. Your confidence does you credit Revan but be mindful it doesn’t turn to arrogance.”

Master Kae filled in Revan on what had transpired while she slept. The escape through the blockade, that strange Iridonian engineer, and that their new destination was Telos.

“We’ll be arriving in a few more hours. The Mandalorians may pursue us. Be ready."

Chapter Text

Mand'alor the Ultimate had not felt fear since before he donned the Mand'alor’s Helmet and assumed the leadership of his people. But here, in the gloom of Malachor V, fear found him again.

He should not be in this place. The very air around him seemed to press down like a crushing weight. This planet was forbidden to the Mandalorians. None of his people were permitted to set foot on the surface by ancient tradition. Yet this was where Darth Aestis had called him. The Mand'alor came alone, he could not allow his people to know he what he had been reduced to.

Even landing on Malachor was dangerous. Great lightning storms scoured the surface. But below there was refuge to be had. The call in his mind, the searing pain behind his eyes that Aestis used to compel him, had drawn the Mand'alor to a temple deep beneath the ground. The architecture was familiar to him. The soaring stone spires and panels of red glass reminded him of the temples on Yavin IV, where Exar Kun had commanded his armies in the last war.

At the centre of the temple was a chasm, a gaping bottomless pit that fell all the way to the planet’s core. Suspended over the pit was a platform, ringed by spires like giant incisors, its floor dimly glowing crimson. On the platform awaited Darth Aestis in his red and black armour, and beside him was another figure, hooded and robed in black, and so tall he towered over Aestis.

As the Mand'alor approached, Aestis spoke to the hooded figure. “I have brought him Master, as you commanded,” then Aestis looked over at the Mand'alor as if he were some unwelcome rodent, and with that glare the pain in his mind spiked and blinded him. “Kneel before your emperor, Mandalorian.”

Mand'alor had no choice but to obey. Unable to see in the excruciating haze, he fell to his knees and grovelled. Darth Aestis humiliated him as some lowly pet. What manner of terrible creature could he call master? Who was this Emperor?

“How fares your invasion, Mandalore?” a deep voice echoed around the pit. Perhaps it was the haze of pain tricking him, but it seemed to the Mand'alor that the Emperor’s voice came from all directions at once. “What has become of the Jedi incursion?”

Compelled by the pressure inside his skull, Mand'alor was forced to reveal the truth. “One ship broke free of the blockade. We cannot trace them through hyperspace. They are beyond our grasp.”

“Not for a Sith,” the Emperor’s voice rumbled, “Darth Aestis will find these Jedi and destroy them, and anyone else with them. The Order must not know of our presence.”

The armoured Sith bowed, “As you command Master. But what of the Mandalore?” Darth Aestis asked.

The Emperor looked down at his servant with displeasure. “This failure has shown me your crude methods of control are not sufficient. Leave the Mandalore to me.”

As Darth Aestis left, the haze forced over Mand'alor’s mind lifted. He gasped in relief as the pain eased and his vision returned. Above him, he heard a soft laugh of amusement. “Did you think Darth Aestis’s methods torturous? You know nothing of pain. Your people fear this planet, and rightly so. There are places in the galaxy that few tread. Centres of ancient knowledge. Our knowledge, lost when our empire fell. But it shall be ours again. The Trayus Academy has shown me much already. Shall I show you the true nature of the Force? This is the limitless power of the Dark Side.”

The Sith Emperor reached down and put his finger to the Mand'alor’s forehead, and his mind split open at the touch.

Chapter Text

The shuttle dropped out of hyperspace and began the descent into Telos’s atmosphere, but it would still be another hour before they reached the port.

Revan found her way to engine room, looking for something to occupy herself with. Master Kae had mentioned that something struck her as odd about that engineer that saved the ship. Bao-Dur. Revan wanted to see for herself.

The engine room was one half a tangled mess of spare parts and wires and tools thrown haphazardly across various work benches. The other half was the hyperdrive itself, utterly pristine in contrast with the room around it, running on a low hum like the purring of a baby Nexu.

Somewhere in the mess of spare parts, a remote droid floated out and spotted Revan. She waved at it, and it beeped back a chirpy greeting. At the sound, the Iridonian tech emerged from under the hyperdrive, goggles over his eyes and with oil covering his overalls. “Ah. Just performing final checks for landing. No need to concern yourself, Master Jedi.”

Revan looked closer at the benches. The spare parts were thrown about haphazardly, but it clearly wasn’t random. There were a dozen mini-projects in the midst of construction. Over here a shield generator, over there an astromech head mounted onto a navicomputer.

“What brought you all the way out here, Bao-Dur?” Revan asked, “Cathar is a long way from Iridonia.”

Bao-Dur shrugged. “I wouldn’t know. It’s not too far from Dathomir.”

“Dathomir?” she asked. Surely, she misheard. He couldn’t be from there. She gently probed her awareness against the edge of his mind. No touch of the Force, like Master Kae said. But also like she said, he seemed detached from all life around him, which made him difficult to read.

But whatever disconnection he may have had, he seemed aware enough to notice Revan’s concern. “I’m no Nightbrother,” he assured, “Never had the interest or the capacity for the shamanism back there. Stowed away on a ship first chance I had, found an affinity for engines, took whatever jobs would keep me working on them. Like I said, no need to concern yourself.”

It seemed indeed there was no need for concern. The Nightbrothers and Nightsisters were a powerful dark side order, but nearly so dangerous as the Sith, and they tended to keep to themselves. Every so often the Jedi would consider doing something about this dark order, but they were still recovering from the war with Exar Kun ten years ago, so the official policy of the Council was to live and let live. Bao-Dur himself seemed quite harmless. An enigma to be sure, but not likely a threat.

As she turned to leave, Revan glanced over the nearest work bench again. On it she noticed a spare droid part, it looked like the linguistic processor off a protocol droid, and it didn’t seem to be part of any of the various constructions going on. She picked it up and examined it; very advanced model, and no damage or wear by the looks of it. “Do you mind if I take this?” she asked.

Bao-Dur shrugged again, “If you want.”

Revan pocketed the piece in one of the many compartments on her belt. She felt like she understood Bao-Dur at least a little, more so than her master at least. She empathised with his tinkering urge. After all, she had a project of her own back at the temple.

***

As soon as they stepped off the boarding ramp, the Cathar refugees were met with a very surprised group of dock officers. Nonetheless, Telos’s customs handled the unexpected influx surprisingly well. Arrangements for provisions were being made within minutes.

It was good news for them, they were safe in the hand of the Republic now, but Arren Kae was yet uneasy. If the Mandalorians were still searching for them, news of a refugee ship might bring them here. She had to hope theirs was not the only ship to escape, and ensure that the local authorities didn’t notice the two Jedi travelling with them.

She pulled her padawan aside. “Revan, I need you to speak with the dock officers. Make sure you and I aren’t in their records. We can’t have our enemy catching on that we’re here.”

Then she approached Yusanis. “Do you know this port? Where can we get a vehicle?”

“There’s one landspeeder dealer,” the battlemaster answered, “We’ll need something capable of taking us to the polar region.”

The speeder dealership was near the outskirts of the settlement. Inside, Kae and Yusanis were greeted by a slick looking Toydarian flapping his way over to them. “Hey, hey! Jedi! We don’t see clients like you ‘round here often. What can I do for ya?”

“My name is Arren Kae. My business here is urgent, and not up for discussion I’m afraid.”

“Vollo, at your service,” the Toydarian offered his own name, “No need to explain, always happy to help a servant of the Republic!”

Arren explained the number of people to transport, and the need to reach the polar regions. Vollo nodded sagely. “Ehhh, polar region. Just so happens I have what ya need. Gonna cost you though. Fifteen thousand credits, special discount for yer service. Can’t go any lower. Plus standard Republic vehicle tax, you know how it is, gonna come out about seventeen.”

“I have twenty thousand republic credits with me,” Arren said. The Council was quite generous with mission stipends. But an official purchase with tax and a name on the vehicle registry, especially using the order’s accounts, would create an immediate paper trail that could be used to trace them. “I can give you the entire amount,” she offered, “If you keep this off the books.”

Vollo’s friendly demeanour dropped to suspicion. “Eh? Off the books? Just whataya playin’ at here? You have any idea what kinda trouble I can get in for that?”

“For an additional five thousand over your asking price…” Arren started, only to be interrupted.

“What, you think just because I’m Toydarian money is all I care about? I gotta reputation to uphold. Last guy who got caught breakin’ trade laws, some deadbeat Duro named Dendis, ain’t nobody gonna let him run a shop unless the planet blows up! You think just cause you’re some Jedi you can break whatever rules with no consequences, eh? Well what about my consequences? You buy this legit, or it’s no speeders, and no deal!”

Arren paused and considered her options. Mind tricks wouldn’t work on a Toydarian. She turned to Yusanis, “Is there anywhere else we can go?”

The Echani shook his head, and Vollo laughed, “Town this small, you’re lucky even I’m here.”

Then it seemed she had no choice. They would have to move quickly. She just hoped she wouldn’t come to regret this.

***

“Look. Officer Onasi. Carth. You need to listen to me,” Revan insisted, but the young customs officer refused to budge, “Our mission is of vital importance to the safety of the Republic. There mustn’t be a record of out visit here.”

“I’m sure it is Master Jedi,” Officer Onasi continued to insist, “But I can’t just leave passengers off the customs record.

Arguing was getting her nowhere. Master Kae had warned her not to do this lightly, but there wasn’t much else she could do. She waved her hand and nudged Onasi’s mind with the Force. “There were no Jedi here. The Cathar need your help.”

“No Jedi,” he repeated back, “the Cathar need help,” and he hurried off to join the dock workers distributing food rations.

When she met back up with Master Kae she eagerly reported back, “Mission accomplished Master. We were never here.”

“Well done Padawan,” her master said, then turned grave, “Unfortunately things didn’t go so smoothly for me. We need to move quickly.”

Chapter Text

Darth Aestis emerged on the surface of Malachor, where his master the Emperor watched the Mandalore’s ship fly away into the stormy night sky. Aestis removed his helmet and took his first breath of fresh air in months. The protective power of beskar was useful, but the restriction of wearing it at every moment was maddening. The helmet crushed flat the mandibles and spines on his head. His red skin was sticky with sweat from being confined so long.

But such was the price of infiltrating the Mandalorians, thanks to their damnable creed. What was the purpose to being forever masked? “This is the way” is all any Mandalorian would explain. Aestis much preferred to look his foe’s in the eye as he killed them, and let them see the face of their killer.

“At last, that fool is gone,” he said with relief.

The Emperor turned around and focused his judgmental gaze upon the Sith Lord, “The fool is you, Lord Aestis, unless you have located your missing Jedi.”

Aestis knelt and bowed his head. “My Lord, our contact in the Senate had valuable information for us,” he informed his master. Aestis preferred a direct approach to this subterfuge, but he had to admit there had been value in buying a Senator. “A ship of escaped Cathar refugees has landed on the planet Telos. A purchase of several landspeeders was made from one of the Jedi Order’s accounts in the same port.”

“They are there, I feel it,” the Emperor concluded, “Hunt them down. Kill the Jedi, and the Cathar governor. They must not make their plea to the Senate or the Jedi Council.”

“As you command, My Lord,” Aestis stood and donned his helmet again, eagerly relishing the battle ahead. No Sith had the privilege of killing a Jedi, their ancient enemy, for centuries at least.

“At last, we shall reveal ourselves to the Jedi,” he said. No word of him would reach the order at large, but these two at least would die knowing the Sith had returned. “At last, we shall begin our revenge.”

***

From the back of the transport, Revan watched the snow swirling in the blizzard outside. They had taken a long hover bus with enough seats for all of Yusanis’ hunters. Revan had claimed the back for herself, where she could keep her back the a wall and her eyes on everyone else. She could feel something… wrong. She didn’t know what or why but she was on edge. Her hands and her teeth kept clenching against her will.

At the front of the bus, Master Kae stood from where she had been speaking with Battlemaster Yusanis - who was driving - and made her way back to sit with her Padawan.

“What troubles you Revan?” she asked.

With the bond that forms between teacher and apprentice, Master Kae could literally feel Revan’s anxiety.

“This should be over now, shouldn’t it?” she asked her Master, “We’re back in Republic space. We could’ve just sent a message to the Council. They would tell the Senate about the invasion and the Republic can send a fleet. Maybe the Mandalorians track us here, but it doesn’t matter, there’s an army coming to stop them. Mission accomplished, right? Why are we still sneaking around? Why is it so important to get the Governor to Coruscant?”

Master Kae quietly sighed, “If only it were so simple.”

“Why isn’t it?”

“The Chancellor cannot enter the Republic into a war without Senate approval unless we are attacked first,” her Master explained, “Cathar is not a member. If we sent a message to the Council they would inform the Senate, but the Senate would do nothing. No, so long as the clans stay beyond Republic borders, I expect the Senate will never act against them.”

“But why wouldn’t they?”

“Fear. The Mandalorians allied with Exar Kun in the war ten years ago. Many worlds still bear the scars of that war. Nobody is eager to face them again.”

“Then they’re cowards,” Revan declared, “The system doesn’t work. The Cathar are dying, if the Senators won’t help then they should be made to!”

“And who will make them?” Kae challenged, “The Chancellor? Shall we entrust one man with the power to plunge the galaxy into war whenever he sees fit, with no other check upon that power? Remember he too was a Senator, who you brand all as cowards, before he rose to the office.”

“No,” Revan protested, “But…”

“Yourself then?” Kae continued to press, “Do you believe you know better what is good for the galaxy than all the people of all the worlds in it?”

“I don’t…”

“The system we work within is flawed I will not deny that,” Kae said, “but it is nonetheless the reality we must work with. The Senators cannot be forced, so they must be persuaded. Which is why we must keep the Governor safe until he can speak before them.”

“I’m sorry Master,” Revan whispered, chastised, “I should not have questioned you.”

“Now Revan, I will never tell you not to do that,” Arren Kae softened her tone and placed a gentle hand on her Padawan’s shoulder, “You have a kind heart and a keen sense of justice, I would not dare take those away from you. What I am trying to teach you is to apply them with care. Every choice and every action sends tremors in the Force, echoes throughout life, and many of the consequences cannot be foreseen. Even where the need for change is dire, the need for help desperate, your success will hinge on where and when and how. You must think carefully on your choices, lest you do more harm with open hands than clenched fists.”

Up front Yusanis announced, “There it is, just up ahead.”

Through the haze of falling snow, a tall stony mesa appeared on the horizon. It didn’t look like much, but when they stopped their speeders at the base of the cliffs, they found a secret door hidden in a crevice in the rock.

As they entered the opening, Revan felt as if she’d seen this place before. “It’s like the temple on Ilum,” she said.

“Indeed, this bears the hallmarks of an academy” Master Kae agreed, “Strange. Telos is a place of significance to the Order but we’ve never maintained a presence here.”

Right. Jedi who failed in their training are sent to Telos. Younglings not chosen by a master, or less common Padawans deemed unfit to face the Trials and become full Jedi. Revan had never the possibility much thought. As a youngling it seemed a foregone conclusion that someone would choose her. And she knew even now she was ready for the Trials, even if it might be years before the Council decided she was old enough.

“It was abandoned when we found it,” Yusanis explained, “There were no students in its halls, nor secrets in its archive. We suspect the Jedi never took up residence. The Echani know little of your order, save the rumours that permeate the galaxy. I established our enclave here in the hope of learning more. Come, my people are further inside, I’ll instruct them to prepare the ship.”

As they advanced up the stairs, Revan heard a rustle of cloth behind them. She turned around, just in time for an echani hunter to drop from the ceiling and press a thin sword to her throat. By instinct Revan reached for her sabre, but Master Kae put a hand on her elbow to stop her. Her Master was being threatened by two more hunters. And one more

The hunter spoke, “Surrender your weapons, and you will not be harmed.”

At the top of the stairs an older echani woman appeared. Perhaps her master’s age, maybe a little older. “Welcome home Yusanis,” she addressed the battlemaster, “Who are the outsiders you bring with you.”

Chapter Text

Far out in the empty plains of Telos, beyond sight of any of the planet’s settlements, an unassuming frigate landed. Darth Aestis has chosen a ship stolen from the Cathar on purpose. One of Mandalorian design, armed to the teeth, would be noticed by the Republic even all the way out here.

As the landing ramp dropped, Aestis led his squad down onto the surface. At the Mandalore’s command, a squad of elite warriors had joined him. About thirty in total, all experienced enough to have earned a full suit of Beskar. The squad’s commander was a woman named Valk Ordo, her blue and silver armour marred by scratches and dents and carbon scoring beyond counting, the result of years of battles.

She stepped down beside him, “You said the Jedi were spotted in a settlement?”

Aestis point away to the west, “We’re just beyond their outskirts. That direction.”

Valk nodded, “They will not expect us. We can take them by surprise, force the people to tell us where the Jedi went.”

“No,” Aestis told her, though he ground his teeth at the thought. The Sith Lord would have preferred such a direct method, but the Emperor had been clear, “The Mandalore doesn’t want the Republic alerted to our presence. We shall be more discreet. Did you bring the equipment as I instructed?”

The Mandalorian commander stared him down silently before finally she said, “This is not the way.”

Even after so long living among them, the Mandalorians still considered him an outsider. Darth Aestis placed a hand on the lightsabre at his belt and asked once again, “Did you bring it?”

Valk Ordo stood silently once again. Aestis couldn’t read her face behind her helmet, but he guessed she was considering her squad’s chances against him should this conflict turn to battle. Aestis silently swore to himself, if Valk attacked her would make sure to kill her last, so she would first watch her squad die in front of her. After the long silence, she decided instead to do as instructed. “Canderous, bring the Darth his crate,” she ordered.

One of the warriors went back into the ship and came out with a large durasteel box. Aestis guessed this one was younger than the rest of the squad. His armour, plain silver, was neither shiny nor new, but it wasn’t nearly so battle-worn and scarred as what Valk wore.

Canderous put down the box in front of them and threw the lid off. Inside were six probe droids, shut down and folded up. Aestis pressed a button on the side of the crate and the droids activated. They flew up into the sky and all spread out in different directions.

“These will find our prey,” he said, “They will alert us to their location.”

Canderous turned to give a sideways look at Valk and said, “Commander, a warrior should face his enemies head on, not skulk in the shadows. This is not the way.”

“It is the mission Canderous, and we will see it through,” Valk Ordo looked meaningfully over at Aestis, “For now.”

Darth Aestis ignored the implied threat and instead basked in the anticipation. Soon battle would be upon them. The Force sparked at his fingertips and lit the fire in his blood. Soon he would be the first Sith the face the Jedi in thousands of years. The true war would at last begin.

Chapter Text

“Take only what you need. Make sure they’re on the ship within the hour.” At his instruction, a group of attendants led his quintuplet daughters first to their quarters to gather their things, after which they would be taken to his shuttle waiting in the hangar.

Beside him, his wife Essella crossed her arms in discontent. “I do not like this Yusanis. You have been away for months on this expedition, and upon your return you shuffle the girls off with other attendants without so much as a word to them yourself. They are your children as well as mine. And above it all we must all of us uproot our lives here. This not our war.”

“The Echani are members of the Republic,” he tried to counter, “We have a duty.”

“This is not the Republic’s war either. This is your obsession with the Jedi that has led you down this path.”

By law Essella was the one he was pledged to, but she had been chosen for him. They had done their duty together, but in truth they diverged in many places, and now upon his return here was another.

“Just ensure the evacuation goes smoothly,” he said, unable to voice a defence of his actions.

“I shall,” Essella said, “As you have led the threat to our doorstep it seems we must.”

With that they parted. Her to work to move their people, and as for him. He had wanted to argue what Essella had said. That it was not only the presence of Jedi that motivated his involvement. That the Cathar did truly need his help. And yet whatever his words said, his actions proved her correct.

In only such a short time Arren Kae has captivated him. They had spoken only a few times yet he felt he knew her. The way she held herself, quiet and unassuming yet unmistakably confident. The way she moved in battle, a perfect fluid union of form and function. He could not help but seek her out again.

***

In one of the enclave’s training rooms, Master Kae sat across from her Padawan Revan.

“Close your eyes,” she instructed, “Breathe. Cast aside your sight, and instead feel the universe around you.”

Revan did her best to follow the instructions, but Kae could still feel the tension under her skin.

“What do you feel?” she asked her Padawan.

“There’s an energy around us, more so than the constant background of a living world,” Revan answered, “Frantic. Erratic.”

“The energy of crisis, and a shattered illusion,” Arren told her, “The Echani thought themselves isolated in this place, and yet the conflict of the surrounding galaxy has found it’s way in.”

“Because every actions sends ripples in the galaxy?” Revan asked, repeating what her master often reminded her.

Arren smiled at that, “Yes, and good that you are learning that, but that isn’t the lesson today. That frantic energy you feel, it makes it difficult to centre yourself does it not?”

Revan gave her a small nod.

“You must try,” she urged, “Shield yourself against their fear. It is most difficult to focus when others panic, but that is also when your focus is most important, lest you succumb to panic yourself.”

At that moment the door slid open and the Battlemaster Yusanis entered the room. Arren glanced his way briefly and nodded to acknowledge his presence but continued instructing Revan past the interruption.

“Keep your focus Revan, we shall still have need of you in the trials ahead. Do you still sense it?”

Next to them Yusanis interjected, “Sense what?”

Hearing him, Revan opened her eyes and finally noticed his presence. “I’ve felt it since we landed on Telos,” she tried to explain, “Something is coming, we’re still in danger.”

“Mandalorians?” Yusanis asked.

“I don’t think so,” Revan said, “It’s something connected to them but… elsewhere, elusive. Hiding on the periphery of this war. Whatever it is, it’s difficult to detect, I wish I could tell you more.”

Yusanis looked questioningly over at Master Kae but she shook her head, “I don’t sense anything, but I’ve learned a long time ago to never ignore Revan’s instincts.”

The two Jedi stood up. “Revan, go help with the evacuation,” Master Kae instructed, and her Padawan bowed then hurried away to do as instructed. Then Kae turned to Yusanis, “You were looking for me, Battlemaster?”

He was good at shielding his mind but she could that much of his intentions at least.

“I had hoped we could continue from where we left off back on the ship,” he said.

Arren raised her eyebrows. What a strange request. Her instincts told her there was more to this.

“Now may not be the best time,” she ventured cautiously, “perhaps once we are safely underway we can…”

She was cut off by a loud crash below them that shook the floor.

“We’re under attack,” she sensed.

Yusanis nodded, “That came from the entrance. Follow me.”

Chapter Text

As they trudged through the snow and icy wind, Canderous and Jagi buzzed with anticipation for the battle ahead. They prepared for the challenge with heavy weapons, Canderous carried his repeating carbine, and Jagi lugged a rocket launcher over his shoulder.

“Imagine it Jagi!” Canderous said, “Jedi! It’s been over ten years since Mandalorians brought down a Jedi. Imagine the glory! Man’dalor himself will recognise us for this.”

Not since the war with Exar Kun had the Mandalorians faced Jedi. Canderous and Jagi had been newly helmeted fledglings then.

The two were both experienced warriors, but among the company of this squad they were the newest and least tested.

“As if the glory will be ours,” Jagi sounded bitter, “You know the plan Canderous. That outsider Aestis insists he will the one to kill the Jedi.”

The Sith was no longer with them, he had split off a ways back to complete his own part of the plan.

“Then forget the plan,” Canderous urged, “We don’t need that demon’s help.”

Their captain Valk interjected in their conversation, “I would not be so eager to face the Jedi.”

She led their company through the snow at the head of their march, yet still found time to instruct her followers. In her hands she carried her rifle, heavily modified through years of use and improvement, and strapped on her back was a long beskar spear.

“Yes Captain,”

“Sorry Captain,”

“Strength to your clan is strength to yourself Canderous,” Valk said, “That is why we cover our faces, to make us one, and together we achieve greater power than could ever be dreamed alone. This is the way.”

“This is the way,” the squad echoed back.

Valk spoke again to Canderous, “To break from the battle plan for personal glory may endanger your brothers. That is not the way.”

Canderous bowed his head to her, “I have dishonoured myself.”

“All you have done is spoken,” Valk replied, “You are young. You will learn.”

“You’ve killed Jedi before, haven’t you Captain,” Jagi asked.

Valk nodded solemnly, “Once. I and a dozen good Ordo men once faced a Knight, in the war with Exar Kun. We brought him down, but only I survived. The kill earned me recognition, but glory grows dim when covered by grief.”

“Any Mandalorian should aspire to die as they did,” Canderous said, “In glorious battle with a powerful foe.”

“So our people say,” Valk agreed, “but when you see your clansmen dead beside you it is difficult to see such things.”

As they spoke, the squad crested the last ridge, and ahead of them they saw the mesa where the Jedi had hidden, in a secret Echani enclave beneath the stones.

“You will have the chance to see the Jedi for yourself soon enough, Canderous,” Valk said, then she ordered, “Prepare to breach.”

Each member of the squad readied their jetpacks while Jagi looked down the viewfinder of the rocket launcher. "Entrance located," he reported.

"Go.”

At Valk’s command, Jagi fired a rocket, and all the Mandalorians launched into the air with their packs. They followed close behind the missile, and as it hit and blew the entrance open they flew into the fiery opening behind it and hit the Echani before they could recover from the explosion. The door guards were dispatched before they knew what was happening.

“That will get their attention,” Canderous said as he eagerly readied his carbine.

Soon enough the response arrived. Four figures emerged at the far side of the room. Two echani, instantly recognisable with their silver hair and eyes, and with them two other in nondescript brown robes.

The Mandalorians fired off a blaster volley, and the robes strangers drew glowing swords and deflected the shots. So these were the Jedi.

At this point Jagi, bringing up the rear of the squad, caught up and readied his rocket launcher once again. “I have them Captain,” he said, and fired off the shot.

“Jagi don’t,” Valk tried to warn, but it was too late. The younger Jedi thrust her hand out and the rocket reversed its course, flying back into their midst and scattering the Mandalorian squad.

“Yusanis,” the elder Jedi addressed her Echani companion, “your people need you to lead them right now, you must evacuate immediately. We will hold them.”

Yusanis? That was the name of a battlemaster. If this was truly the home of an Echani battlemaster, then this could be an even more difficult challenge than anticipated.

Yusanis took the Jedi’s advice, but instructed the Echani huntress with him, “Velere, stay here with the Jedi. Make sure they get out alive.”

The huntress bowed her head in acknowledgement as the battlemaster left.

The Mandalorians recovered, but Valk raised a hand to hold them back from attacking again. They had been lucky not to lose anyone in the last barrage.

“Revan, you will need to hold them alone,” the elder Jedi instructed her lesser.

“Why?” the young Jedi Revan asked, “Where will you be?”

The Jedi Master considered, then answered, “The top of the mesa. That other threat you sensed, it has arrived. We must hope my strength alone is enough to face such darkness.”

The master left, leaving only the young Jedi to face them, and one Echani huntress to watch her back.

“Should we stop her?” Canderous asked.

“No,” Valk answered, “Let the Sith have that one. We will face the apprentice.”

“Only a child,” Canderous noticed, “This one cannot be worthy of our skill.”

Hearing that, the young Jedi locked eyes with him and raised her blade. The next moment was a blur. The Jedi rushed them, the Mandalorians opened fire again but the Jedi changed course like a leaf in the wind, ducking and swerving with blinding speed as the blaster fire passed harmlessly around her.

And then she upon them. With a flash of blue, the two warriors closest to the front fell. It was as if her lightsabre was drawn impossibly towards the tiny gaps in their armour. One died with his throat opened, the other dropped in agony as he lost both arms at the elbow. Two great warriors, veterans of a hundred battles, all for nothing against the Jedi.

Now there was a clear path between the Jedi and Canderous.

“For Mand’alor!” He called out as he unleashed his carbine, full automatic, a continuous rain of blaster fire, but to the Jedi it was nothing.

Her blade spun on her wrist so fast that nothing broke through. His fire deflected off her blade and scattered in all directions, into the walls and floor and ceiling.

And then in moments she was upon him. Her first swing cut through his carbine, destroying the power cell and rendering the gun useless. The second swing would have taken his head off, but a beskar spear head interposed itself and parried the lightsabre away.

Captain Valk had saved him.

Then, where all of them together had so far failed, she began to push the Jedi back. Valk’s strikes came in a irregular, erratic pace, and half seemed aimed at the Jedi’s extremities rather than her vitals. From the outside it seemed amateurish, and yet it was working. The Jedi still sucessfuly defended herself, but now she was on the back foot, and no longer carving through seasoned warriors like cutting grass.

Before, it had seemed as if the Jedi had known where they would shoot even before they fired, how else had she deflected so perfectly? What Valk was doing now, it was as if she was attacking at random, not deciding where to aim her strikes until the spear was already in motion. Could it be, maybe that was confusing the Jedi’s predictive senses.

Canderous used the moment to recover, but the reprieve was short lived. As she too another step backwards, the Jedi grimaced in frustration and shut off her sabre. When the next spear thrust came, rather than parry, she caught the shaft with both hands then shoulder charged Valk.

With the sudden impact, the captain lost her grip and the Jedi took her weapon. She brought the point back around and thrust the spear into Valk’s chest, just below her right shoulder. It went through her breastplate, through her body, and out of her back. The point of a beskar weapon was the one thing that could pierce their armour.

Valk wasn’t out of the fight. A spear through the shoulder had paralysed her right arm. So instead she reared back the left and smashed her gauntleted fist into the Jedi face. She stumbled back from the blow and reignited her sabre.

The Mandalorians raised their weapons and prepared to take her on again. But behind her the Echani Huntress called out, “Revan, you’ve bought us enough time! Now we need to get out too!”

The Jedi hesitated a moment, then turned and retreated. She stopped at the dead Mandalorian and she had slain and pressed something on this rocket pack. It detached from his back and flew into the ceiling, where it exploded and brought chunks of ice and rock down in their path, blocking the way forward. The rubble covered the entire entrance, with the Jedi and Echani safely behind it.

With time they might have cleared the way, but by then their quarry would be long gone. Their part in this battle was over, and with nothing to show for it but two dead brothers and a wounded leader.

Perhaps Aestis had better luck.

***

After a long climb through the enclave, Arren Kae emerged on the top of the mesa. She was surrounded by a haze of white as the snow swirled in the wind around her. She could barely see, and yet she could feel it. Something was here…

A flicker of movement in the corner of her eye was all the warning she got. She drew her purple blade just in time to catch the red lightsabre coming the cut her in half. With barely a moment to recover, the red blade came again, crashing against her sword even harder this time.

Wielding it, Arren faced down a Mandalorian warrior, armoured head to toe in red and black. This was no ordinary warrior. She could feel the Force in him, the flame of the dark side stoked by his rage.

He swung at her again and again, each time harder and faster than the last. She had no chance to counter, it was all Arren could do to defend herself from his onslaught.

In the sky above the wind shifted, and out of the white came a shuttle flying low, the landing gear still extended and Revan – blue blade drawn – standing ready at the bottom of the boarding ramp.

Seeing her chance, Arren retreated from her opponent and leaped into the air and onto the shuttle ramp, where Revan caught her and pulled her inside. Safely aboard, the shuttle took off into the sky and away from the dark warrior.

Arren dropped to the floor, exhaustion hitting as her adrenaline ran out. Revan hovered over her, eyes wide with worry.

“What was that?” her Padawan asked.

Arren shook her head, “I don’t know. But it seems our true enemy is revealing itself. Whoever he was, he was well trained in the Jedi arts.”

Revan tensed up even further, “I’ve seen him before,” she said.

“What?” Arren asked, “Where?”

“That mask he was wearing,” Revan tried to explain herself, tripping over her words in her haste, “It was the mask. My vision. On Ilum. That was… It was The Mask.”

Chapter Text

“It was on Ilum,” Revan explained, “in the cave. When I found my lightsabre crystal.”

Now escaped from Telos and safely in hyperspace, Master Kae listened carefully as Revan tried to explain what she’d seen.

“When I found the crystal, it was in a big open chamber. On the ground there were bodies. Some were Jedi. And some, they looked like Jedi at first, but they had black robes, and red skin, and yellow eyes.”

Master Kae was troubled, she knew what it was Revan had seen. “That description matches accounts of the ancient Sith. It’s said they went extinct after the Great Hyperspace War. None have been seen since. Go on?”

“Standing over the bodies there was another person, holding my crystal in their hand. They had their hood up, and they were…” Revan swallowed nervously, “They were wearing a mask. I took the crystal, and when I did they reached up and took the mask off, and I saw my face looking back at me from under the hood. And that mask, Master the man you fought on Telos was wearing it.”

It was often easy for Arren to forget how young her Padawan was. Revan was always so capable, it was hard to believe she was only seventeen. But right now, she looked like the child she always pretended not to be; frightened and uncertain and searching for guidance.

Kae considered her words carefully. She didn’t want to worry Revan further, but the threat was now much larger than they’d imagined. “We will need to discuss with the Council when we reach Coruscant, but some things that Zhar once said are beginning to make sense. Go get some rest, we’ve had a long journey.”

Revan bowed and took her leave.

They had a long time yet before they reached Coruscant. Time to rest, and recover, and in Arren’s case to prepare.

She found Yusanis in the ship’s small training room. No surprise to find one on an Echani vessel.

“Master Arren,” he acknowledged her approach.

“Battlemaster Yusanis,” Arren responded, “I believe we were interrupted last time we spoke.”

“I had hoped we could spar again,” he said, “so we might learn more of each other. But I understand if you have no wish for battle after your recent ordeal.”

Arren shook her head, “No, training would be ideal.”

The dark warrior she fought had her completely outmatched. She could barely hold back his speed and ferocity. Had the fight continued, she would not have lasted much longer.

In part her opponent’s advantage had been surprise, but even then she knew she had not been strong enough. She needed to be better.

“For a second duel, we may now use the advanced etiquette rituals,” as he spoke, Yusanis walked over to a rack of wooden staves, “I will use more advanced techniques, and basic weapons are permitted.”

Yusanis looked over the rack and selected a staff, and so Arren did the same. He chose a full-length quarterstaff, held with two hands in the middle. She picked out a shorter one, able to be gripped one handed imitating a sword or lightsabre.

They readied themselves on the sparring square and began testing each other’s defences. The wooden staves clacked against each other with each exchange.

Fighting Yusanis was in some ways like fighting another Jedi. It was said that the greatest Echani warriors could predict the flow of battle in advance. Jedi did this too, but as an insight granted through the Force. For a battlemaster like Yusanis, it was knowledge developed through years of skill and study and experience.

There were few in the galaxy who did not feel the Force that were capable enough to match those who did. Revan had met one today, that Mandalorian captain she’d fought on Telos. It seemed Yusanis was another such remarkable individual.

But though he could give her some pause, this wasn’t truly a challenge for Arren. Yusanis was still holding something back. Once she caught onto the pattern it was over quickly. She waited until he pulled the staff back for his next swing, and caught the moment of hesitation before he launched his attack. That flicker in his defences was all she needed. She thrust her arm out and knocked the point of her staff into the centre of his chest, just below the ribcage and into the diaphragm.

He staggered back with the air knocked out of him. Arren put up her staff, “I believe I win again.”

“But with every bout I learn more about you,” Yusanis said, “And so I have gained what I seek.”

Arren bowed he head to him in respect and turned to leave. The battlemaster was an interesting man.

Outside, she found Essella awaiting her leaned against the corridor wall. “You’re quite a capable warrior, Master Jedi,” the echani woman said, “I see why you intrigue him.”

“It’s been a valuable exchange for us both I believe,” Arren answered, and the two women began to walk side by side down the hallway, “He wished to learn more about Jedi, and I know only a little of echani customs myself.”

“I suspected as much, and I feel I must inform you of one such custom now,” Essella told her, “repeated duels are different for us than they are among other cultures. We keep strict etiquette rituals, because we believe that the true self is revealed in battle. To fight without such restrictions would be to reveal the most private parts of ourselves. It is an act of great intimacy, and often a part of courtship among the Echani. You understand why I might find this concerning?”

Arren nodded, “I hadn’t realised. You needn’t worry further then, Jedi are forbidden from such attachments. I should not have allowed this in the first place had I known, but it shall not occur again.”

***

The climb was an ordeal for Valk Ordo. Her wound pained her, but she needed to stay strong for her squad. The battle was done, but one last challenge stood before them.

The Mandalorians found Darth Aestis alone atop the mesa, staring up at the white sky. He did not even deign to look down at them when he spoke. “I was told you were warriors. Elites. Is this the best your clans can offer? You have failed me.”

Still clutching her wound, Valk Ordo stepped forward, “Only one of the Jedi took your bait. The other fought us to a standstill before she escaped. Whether vanquished or victorious, it was an honour to face such a formidable opponent. This is the way.”

“I care nothing for your creed, rat,” the Sith Lord said, “I require results.”

Valk made a show of looking around the mesa, “I see no dead Jedi here, despite your assurances you could defeat the both of them at once. It seems we have both suffered defeat this day.”

Aestis now looked at her, and raised a closed fist, and she felt her throat being crushed by an invisible hand. “There is only one penalty for your failure.”

As she began to choke, all the Mandalorians with her raise their weapons, pointed towards Aestis. Canderous hefted Valk’s spear, as his own weapon was destroyed, and she could not use it in her injured state. “Release the captain!” he demanded.

Aestis seemed unfazed by their aggression, but the pressure upon Valk’s throat eased and she gasped for breath. “Perhaps you should care for our creed enough to understand it,” Valk said, “We are not in your empire, Outsider. Threaten one warrior, and you face all her brothers in arms.”

“You think I can’t destroy you all?” Aestis threatened.

“Once you do, what then?” Valk asked, “Are you prepared to go to war with all of Clan Ordo, in retribution for the brothers and sisters you slaughter today? Are you prepared for war with every clan, as our anger spreads to all who follow the creed, and know of your betrayal. Unlike you I am no slave, Sith. What will your master think when you shatter his alliance with my people? How will he deal with your failure?”

Valk and Darth Aestis stared each down as the icy wind howled around them. Aestis was the first to look away. “Get back to the ship, we must return to Cathar,” he begrudgingly instructed. The Mandalorians lowered their weapons and went to leave.

***

Wandering the ship alone with her thoughts, Revan passed by the communications cluster, and looking in the door she saw Governor Rhozo. He was sat at a communicator panel displaying static, hunched over and head in his hands.

Revan went inside and sat in the next seat. “We’ll come back to help soon,” she tried to assure.

“There are still no signals coming out of Cathar,” he raised his head to speak to her, “My people are dying.”

“We’ll be at Coruscant soon.”

“And tell me, Jedi,” Rhozo asked, “Will we be heard? Republic aid is our only hope, but we are a small system, unimportant in the eyes of the galaxy around us. Will your Senate answer the call?”

Revan recalled her conversations with Master Kae about the limitations of the Senate. She couldn’t find it in her heart to lie. “I don’t know what they’ll do,” she said, and then she promised, “But if the Senate won’t help then I will. Even if I have to fight the entire Mandalorian armada by myself.”

Rhozo managed a soft smile, “After everything I’ve seen you do, young Jedi, I believe you could.”

Chapter Text

“…and the whole planet is one big city,” Revan explained.

“It’s amazing,” the huntress Velere said, looking awed out the windows as they soared past the glittering spires of the city. A bank of clouds floated like fog at the midsection of the towers, leaving the blue sky clear above, so high no weather could touch them. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”

“It’s a rare thing,” Revan admitted, “Taris is like this, right out in the edge of the Republic. And Nar Shadaa, the smuggler’s moon, but that’s Hutt space.”

She had been to those other city-worlds before. On Jedi business.

Nar Shadaa was a crumbling desolation of smog and rust, the very air reeking of poverty and desperation and crime. When they were there, Master Kae had taken her to a bustling crowded intersection and tried to teach her to feel the currents of life as so many people hurried across the moon. Instead Revan had found her mind swept up upon those currents and drowning in the pain of millions crushed under the machinations of the Hutt Clans.

Their real mission on the smuggler’s moon had been infiltration. A group of pirates had been attacking transport ships near the edge of the Republic and taking the passengers captive. They had tracked the captives to Nar Shadaa, and a slaver who would buy the pirates’ prisoners to sell as slaves. Master Kae disguised herself as a pirate, Revan as a prisoner to be sold. Once inside Revan had been able to slip her bonds and steal slaver’s records, and that information allowed the Republic to locate the pirates and put a stop to their attacks for good.

Revan had also made a point to kill the slaver and free her fellow prisoners on the way out. That wasn’t the mission, but it needed doing. She had wanted to do more, but Master Kae convinced her not to take rash action. Stopping one pirate band was one thing. Destroying the Hutt Cartel would have been quite another.

Taris was a different beast. Like an attempt to copy Coruscant that was never completed. The silver towers didn’t sparkle the same way, faded by age and lack of upkeep, and at the tops of the towers you could still see the cloud cover in the sky above. Taris had once been a nexus of routes between the Republic and the Outer Rim. With the wealth of commerce they had built the city to match the opulence of the Core Worlds.

Then new routes had been established, bypassing Taris. The credits moved to other worlds and the city became a monument to lost prestige. The people and government turned increasingly nationalist and isolationist. And a brief civil war ended with the poor and non human exiled to the slums and gutters at the base of the towers.

Modern Taris was an embarrassment to the Republic so far as Revan was concerned, but they had to be “diplomatic” while they were there. If she’d had to suck up to one more uptight noble she would have bit someone. They had been escorting a Senate delegation. Biting some rich brat would have looked bad.

Coming to Coruscant always took Revan’s mind to past journeys. Returning home made her think of all the other places she could be.

“And you live here?” Velere asked, interrupting her reminiscing.

Revan nodded, “In the temple.”

The Jedi Temple was one of the most recognisable landmarks on the planet. An enormous complex that could house the entire order if needed, though at most half their number would live there at any given time. That made it one of the least crowded places on the planet. A place of quiet, and serenity, and reflection. And it was dull, dull, dull.

Whenever she was here Revan took any opportunity to sneak away. The regal air of the senate tower, the bustling rush of the speeder lanes, the chaos of nightlife on the lower levels, these things were the Coruscant she loved.

“Senator Hallam will be meeting us when we arrive,” Velere said, “The Echani representative. I suppose he’ll be making living arrangements for us.”

When the ship landed, Master Kae and Battlemaster Yusanis led the way off the landing ramp, with the Cathar Governor Rhozo in between them. Revan and Velere followed behind their masters, with the rest of the Echani enclave coming behind them.

Waiting on the landing platform was the senator. Hallam was an older man. His white hair and beard seemed as much from age as his Echani heritage. A group of hunters followed him, his personal guard, along with a group of Senate Guards in their blue armour and plumed helmets.

“Yusanis,” the senator greeted the battlemaster with a warm grandfatherly smile, “What new trouble have you got yourself into this time?”

Yusanis responded to the casual greeting with a much more formal bow. “Our expedition to Cathar was interrupted by a Mandalorian invasion. With the Jedi’s help we rescued the local governor. He wishes to petition the Senate for aid for his planet.”

Rhozo made the same bow. “We have little left to offer, but anything Cathar can give is yours.

“Oh no need for that,” Senator Hallam assured, “Yusanis here is an old friend, and he believes you’re deserving of our aid. I’ll put your petition before the Supreme Chancellor myself. We’ll make sure you get a hearing with the Senate.”

Everyone began boarding the large transport the Senator had brought for them. But Master Kae went the opposite direction and spoke with one the Senate Guards. “We must make our report to the Jedi Council. I’m afraid it’s urgent. The situation has become much more complicated.”

The guard nodded and led the way to a smaller speeder, that the Jedi might go directly to the temple while the other followed the senator.

Revan went to go with her master, but Velere first stopped her to say goodbye. “It was an honour to fight beside you Revan. I hope we meet again.”

“You as well Velere,” Revan inclined her head in a show of respect. And then it was time to part.

The council awaited.

Chapter Text

Revan stood aside in silence, as her master recounted their journey to the Council. The orange evening sun lit the chamber in dim golden hues, and cast the Masters’ stern faces with long sunset shadows.

“He was strong in the Force,” Master Kae described her battle with the dark warrior on Telos, “He had been trained to use the dark side.”

“Perhaps a remnant of Exar Kun’s followers,” Master Vandar suggested, not even his centuries of wisdom did he see what Kae had realised, “A survivor who escaped the last war.”

“I think not, this was a different sort of darkness I felt in him, the corruption in Exar’s followers never ran so deep,” Master Kae shook her head, “No I fear this is something far worse. I believe the man I fought was a Sith Lord.”

“The Sith?” Master Vrook – old and balding and cantankerous – questioned the notion, “He cannot be a Sith. The Sith have been extinct for thousands of years.”

“And after what we did to them, any survivors would desire revenge even greater than what they sought before,” Kae replied.

“Can we truly be certain that they are gone?” asked Master Kavar. A younger member of the council, relatively speaking. He still had all the hair on his head, and the stern lines on his face hadn’t yet creased into wrinkles. “There are remnants of the old empire yet undiscovered. Tombs and ruins and lost artefacts, like the Yavin temple that corrupted Exar Kun. Perhaps among those lost secrets was an enclave of survivors.”

Revan had fonder feelings for Kavar than most of the rest of the council. He was at least willing to listen to Master Kae’s ideas, unconventional as they often were, and his Padawan was a close friend of Revan’s.

“Hmm,” Vandar stroked his chin, deep in thought, “It may be a possibility, but the council cannot act on supposition alone. If the Sith were on the move again, we would have felt it in the Force.”

“The dark side can be used to cloud our vision,” Kae countered, “It has been used against us before. You can feel their return in the Force, but the clues are not so obvious.”

Master Kae stopped, as if hesitant to say what she revealed next, and when she did it shook Revan to the core. “The clue is Revan. Master Zhar believes her to be The Chosen One. I believe he is correct.”

What? The Chosen One? Her? Revan’s thoughts spun like a whirlwind. That was one of the Jedi’s most important legends. A Jedi chosen by the Force itself would one day destroy the Sith and restore balance to the Force. How long had the council speculated on her fate like this? Why had they never told her?

Master Zhar finally spoke. The Twi’Lek Jedi rarely said anything to Master Kae. The two had many long-standing disagreements. That they agreed on anything was almost more surprising than the idea she might be Chosen.

“The prophecy of the one who will bring balance, she fits it too well to ignore,” Zhar said, uneasy, “Master Kae, the Council had agreed not to tell Revan of this speculation until she was ready for her destiny.”

“Destiny is upon us whether we are prepared or not,” Kae responded, “The crystal cave on Ilum showed her visions of the Sith, and she saw the mask of the very same warrior I fought on Telos. How can you not see? She is the Chosen One, this man was a Sith. Our enemy is moving in the galaxy once again.”

“Do not presume to judge the Council,” Vrook warned.

“Peace, Vrook,” Vandar interjected, “Supposing you are right, Master Kae, what would you have us do? We know nothing of this enemy save one dark warrior. We cannot wage war against shadows and smoke.”

“Perhaps not, but we know whose hands shall hold our fates when it begins,” Kae said, “I nominate that my Padawan Revan should face the trials and become a full Jedi Knight.”

“Arren she’s seventeen,” Zhar objected, “she’s still a child.”

“The most gifted child this order has seen in generations,” Master Kae insisted, “If her training is to continue, she must learn to navigate the galaxy on her own. She has learned all she can from me.”

“I am ready to take the trials,” Revan blurted out. She couldn’t help it. She’d been waiting for this all her life.

Master Vrook fixed a dark look on her, “Headstrong and overconfident, as always Revan. We will keep our own counsel on who is ready.”

“It seems to me this speculation is premature in any case,” another Master spoke up. Revan knew very little about Lonna Vash, but something about her was different from all the other Masters. Any member of the Council would be skilled in the use of the Force, but Vash had a deadlier edge. When she looked at you, one felt as if she were a hunter assessing her prey.

“Whatever the truth of this warrior’s identity, the dark side is rising again,” Vash said, “The Cathar governor will soon attempt to retake his world, with or without the support of the Senate. Return to Cathar with him, Master Kae, and I feel he shall be drawn out again. Discover the identity of this dark warrior, and we may unravel the mystery of the Sith.”

“If the Senate chooses not to intervene, they may not approve of another Jedi expedition either,” Zhar warned.

“They needn’t,” Vash replied, “Arren Kae and Revan’s original mission was to discover what was happening on Cathar. Now that they return, they bring more questions than answers. Their mission is not complete. Return to Cathar, Master Kae. Confront the darkness you have faced. We will deliberate on your Padawan’s nomination and provide an answer upon your return.”

Vash sat back, hands steepled, her eyes scanning across the council as if daring any of them to disagree with her. If any felt dissent none voiced it.

Kae and Revan bowed and took their leave. For the short term at least, the path forward was set. Anything else would have to wait until the conflict on Cathar ran its course.

Chapter Text

“You upset the Council again,” Revan said.

She and her Master walked along a dimly sunlit hallway, returning to their usual places in the temple.

“So I did,” Kae noted.

“If you didn’t argue with them so much you could be on the Council.” With all her years in the archives, Master Kae’s knowledge of Jedi History was nearly encyclopaedic. Every war, every fallen student, every dark uprising, all the knowledge of the Force accumulated since the Jedi first formed. It always baffled Revan that the Council wouldn’t value that, but the Masters were old and set in their ways, and Kae liked to question conventional wisdom.

“Do you believe I would be a better teacher if I never asked difficult questions?” she asked pointedly.

“No,” Revan answered, “And that was an easy question.”

“Then I’m glad to have taught you confidence.”

“Master,” Revan stopped and looked up at her, “What you said in there… Thank you for believing in me. For saying that I’m ready for the trials. If they let me try, then I promise not to disappoint you.”

“Now Revan, you could never disappoint me,” Kae put a comforting hand on her Padawan’s shoulder, “Truthfully I feared you would feel like I was abandoning you, sending you out in the galaxy alone.”

Revan shook her head, “It’s everything I always wanted. I will miss you, but I’m not afraid to make my own way.”

“Go get some rest Revan, we’ve had a long journey.”

With that they parted ways. Revan returned to her quarters in the temple.

Jedi rooms were small and sparse. Each contained a small bed, a mat on which to kneel and meditate, and a closet just large enough for three or four changes of their standard robes. Jedi were supposed to be detached from material possessions and need nothing more than that. Among the other Padawans Revan knew, nothing could be further from the truth.

She knew one Padawan who had plastered every inch of his walls with posters of the galactic pop sensation Tara Hyperdrive. Another collected pazaak cards in stacks and stacks around the room, he didn’t play very well but he had one of the most varied decks outside of professional tournaments. One girl would obsess over the fashion house that dressed the Queen of Naboo and had even saved enough to discreetly buy some accessories from the same designer. Perhaps it became different among older Jedi, but Revan knew nobody who actually lived up to the expectation of immaterialism.

Revan’s own room was no different. The type of clutter she kept changed depending on her personal projects. Right now, the floor was littered with dismantled droid parts, some in haphazard piles in the corners, but mostly just scattered around the floor.

Propped up on the bed was Revan’s project. A half-finished droid, build out of scrap pieces that Revan collected.

She had taken the head from a Geonosian droid factory, the skeletal insectoid visage built in the image of its makers. The torso was a repurposed segment from a snake droid. The overlapping metal rings could bend at any of the dozens of joints and rotate independently. What gave the snake droid its unique style of movement now formed a sort of flexible spinal column for Revan’s droid, affording it a flexibility most bipedal droids didn’t have, built as they were with torsos in one or two solid pieces.

Revan had installed three different optical receivers in each eye, optimised for short, middle and long ranges, and combined with the fastest processor she could find to handle that level of input.

She hadn’t found arms and legs for it yet, but the build was nearing completion.

Revan fished out the droid part she’d taken from Bao-Dur. Upon examination, her first guess had been right. It was the linguistic processor and the vocabulator for a protocol droid. A very advanced model from the look of things. With the vocabulator, Revan’s droid would finally be able to talk, and with a linguistic processor this good, it should be able to understand and translate any language it heard. That could be a useful skill.

Revan installed the part, and now that it could talk, she decided it was time to turn it on.

“Initialising: HK-47 active and ready to…” its scratchy voice trailed off the activation message, and Revan heard the parts whirring in its head, “Diagnostic: Master it appears I have no arms or legs. I am uncertain what purpose you constructed me for, but this organic oversight rather limits my functionality.”

This wasn’t going well.

“Oh, I’m so sorry, no I’m going to give you limbs soon, I’m just still looking for the right parts,” Revan sat down in front of it, “But since you’re almost finished, I wanted to finally meet you.”

“Observation: Then you are my creator as well as my Master. Query: Why is it you need to… meet me when I am not yet fully functional?”

Revan wasn’t really sure. “It’s just a courtesy I’d give anyone I need to work with, I suppose.”

“Statement: That is unnecessary Master. I am a droid. Such pleasantries serve only as a waste of time, of which I have experienced precious little.”

“I just would like to talk to you,” Revan protested.

“Retort: And I would like limbs Master, if you would be so kind as to install them.”

“You give an awful lot of backtalk for a droid,” Revan said, “Maybe I should install a protocol etiquette package… although, no, those come hard coded with pacifism, and I need you combat functional.”

HK whirred in silence for a few moments. “Statement: There is a switch I can deactivate.”

Revan considered, “No on second thought, leave it on.”

“Query: You mentioned combat functionality Master?”

“Yes, well that brings me to the reason I built you,” Revan explained, “I’m a Jedi. Or a Padawan anyway, but I’ll become a full Jedi soon. Whenever I go out into the galaxy I’ve had my Master with me, but once I become a Knight, I’ll be by myself. So, I decided to build a helper. I’ve given you the linguistic and psychological programs out of a protocol droid, as well as advanced combat subroutines and an anatomy library so you can help me in a fight. And your behaviour core is advanced enough that you can act autonomously when I need you to, though I was warned that can cause personality quirks.”

HK processed this. “Analysis: Republic regulation classifies droids with both autonomous capability and combat programming to be assassin droids, a highly illegal possession even for a Jedi.”

“Does it? I never actually read the regulations,” Revan admitted, “I suppose you would be able to do that, but it’s not what you’re for. We’ll just make sure not to tell the Republic.”

“Agreement: Indeed Master, I would hate to be scrapped before our partnership can begin.”

“So you do want to be partners now?” Revan asked.

“Statement: Perhaps it is simply my limited experience, but you seem remarkably interesting for a human. I look forward to my completion so I might join you in the galaxy Master.”

Good. Revan likely wouldn’t complete him in time for Cathar, but it wouldn’t be long now before he was ready.

Chapter Text

In the morning, Revan met her Master early down in the archives. Master Kae led her through the vast library, past rows and rows of towering shelves filled with tomes and minor holocrons, up to the vault door at the back of the hall.

“We’re going in the restricted section?” Revan eagerly asked. She always wondered what knowledge was kept here but only Masters were allowed in.

Master Kae put her hand to the palm scanner that opened the vault door. “Now that we’re sure of your destiny, there are things you must know.”

The restricted section was low and dimly lit, in stark contrast to main archive outside, with its cavernous hall lit by sunlight through the glass ceiling. Here the main source of light were the holocrons themselves. Jedi holocrons were small and cube shaped, and dimly glowed blue or green or occasionally yellow. Even in the restricted section most holocrons were like this. But deeper in were artefacts that cast a circle of eerie red light.

Jedi holocrons were small for ease of carrying and reading, and they were cubes for ease of storage and archiving. Unassuming things for all their importance. These red artefacts were gaudy and unavoidable. In shape they were pyramids. The shapes didn’t fit together, they couldn’t be stacked on a shelf and forgotten. Each had to stand separated, its glory undimmed by the collection around it. In size they varied. Some matched the small convenience of Jedi holocrons but most were larger, and the largest were great hulking monoliths taller than Revan herself. Monuments to the dark power they contained. Sith holocrons.

Even in the restricted section, a force field separated the collection from the rest of the archive.

“Additional security,” Master Kae explained.

“In the restricted section?” Revan asked.

“Even Masters are not immune to temptation,” Kae said, “We shan’t be reading those, not yet.”

Master Kae went to another shelf just outside the field and pulled a blue holocron from the shelf. Revan and Kae sat cross legged on the floor and Kae placed the holocron between them. “This is a chronicle of our earliest wars with the Sith. The official history will tell you names, dates, places, but you know well that history is more than events,” Master Kae explained, “This holocron tells of Sith culture, of their philosophy, their beliefs, the powers of sorcery they exhibited in the wars, granted by the Dark Side. These are the secrets the order keeps only for its most experienced members, lest an ambitious Padawan try to unlock such powers and lose themselves to the darkness. And it speaks of our Order’s greatest shame, the great crime we committed in the name of balance.”

“Why are you showing me?” Revan asked.

“Because you need to know,” Master Kae said. She activated the holocron. The first image it summoned was a chart of anatomy. It showed a humanoid creature, red skinned and yellow eyed. On closer inspection the skin was slightly scaled, it looked like it would be rough to the touch, like sandpaper. Spines protruded from the ridge of its brow, and fleshy mandibles hung from its cheeks and lower lip, framing the sharp toothed mouth. It’s hands we’re gnarled and bony and its fingernails black and sharpened to points.

“The beings you saw in your vision on Ilum,” Master Kae asked, “the ones whose species you could not identify.”

“It’s them,” Revan confirmed, “that’s what they looked like. How…?”

“These are the Sith,” Kae said gravely, “The true Sith. Fallen Jedi and dark side sects often style themselves to be Sith, Exar Kun was the last to take the name. From a certain point of view, they were Sith, the Sith is a belief, nothing else remains of them but ruins and ghosts. But once, long ago, the Sith were a people, an empire and culture spanning a thousand years and half a galaxy. Do you know how we first encountered the Sith, Revan?”

Revan knew this part of history, “The Great Hyperspace War,” she answered. Every Jedi knew the tale. How the fledgling Republic and a young Jedi Order had vanquished the greatest evil in the galaxy.

Master Kae gave her a knowing look, “In a manner of speaking. It was the first time we faced an enemy who called themselves Sith. Not truly a lie, but nonetheless an omission. Our oldest enemy is one of our own making. Some centuries earlier, there was a Jedi Knight, young and ambitious and powerful, by the name of Ajunta Pall. He was not the first Jedi to fall to the dark side, but his rebellion was the first that the Order did not quell in its cradle. And thus the Jedi Order was first split.”

“But the Jedi stopped him, right?” Revan asked.

“Ajunta Pall and his followers were defeated, but he and his closest disciples survived the battle, and fled into unexplored regions of the galaxy,” Kae continued, “Deep in that unknown, they found the Sith. Little is known of the Sith before Ajunta found them, few records survived long enough for us to find them. What little we do know is fascinating. Jedi let go of their attachments to be in harmony with the Force. There is no emotion. The Force is the essence of life, so we detach our other connections to better connect with the Force. The Sith of ancient times followed what we would call the dark side. The Force is the essence of life, so they believe that to be in touch with the Force they must live their lives to the fullest. They embraced their passions as all important. This was not yet the evil we know today, love and joy and grief were as important to them as anger and hate. The bonds of blood were all important to the Sith as well. The children of those strong in the Force often share in that strength. To have a powerful Sith in your ancestry granted status and nobility, and family was considered all important. Honour thy father, aid thy brother, defend thy sons.”

Revan grimaced, “And also daughters, sisters, and mothers?”

Kae seemed just as dissatisfied, though she was better at not showing it. “At times. The Sith were more often patrilineal, but they would acknowledge and respect power where they saw it. These were not a good people, Revan. They were conquerors, ruling an expansionist empire that subjugated the peoples around them. But I believe that their culture and philosophy was worth preserving, and I cannot help but wonder if war could have been avoided if the Jedi had encountered these Sith, and not the unbridled evil they grew into.”

“What happened to them?” Revan asked.

“Ajunta Pall happened. He was a powerful scion of the Force, and the Sith respect strength. When he found the Sith he ingratiated himself among their nobility, he and his followers intermarried in important families, and once he had enough following, he overthrew their emperor and assumed the title of Dark Lord of the Sith. But Ajunta was not Sith, not truly. He knew nothing of their culture, of their teachings. All he cared for were old hatreds. And Sith society followed his lead. In time, he and his followers turned on each other and destroyed themselves, but by then the damage was done.” Kae continued her explanation, “The passion for life was all but forgotten. Under Ajunta’s rule and example, the only passion that mattered was hate, and the only hate that mattered was hate for the Jedi. Through the reverence of blood bonds, his descendants inherited his grievances, and in a few generations many Sith counted themselves as descendants of he and his disciples.”

“Those are the things our masters warn against most,” Revan said, “Anger, hate, revenge, clinging to grudges.”

Kae nodded, “Indeed, and with good reason. The revenge of the Sith was all that drove their society, but they knew not where to find their enemy. Hate does not breed unity, Revan, so they turned on each other. The empire began to crumble. But in the midst of a succession crisis and on the brink of civil war, the Sith discovered the Jedi again. The Sith Lord Naga Sadow used the threat of impending Jedi invasion to rally empire behind him, and with his power secured he attacked. A pre-emptive strike, he called it. So began the Great Hyperspace War, where the Jedi Order first allied with the newly formed Republic to battle the Sith Empire. We won, and though the devastation was terrible, what came next was far worse. Another piece of history you’ll only find here, in the restricted archive. Our order’s great crime.”

“What did we do?” Revan asked apprehensively.

“It is the duty of the Jedi Order to maintain balance in the Force and root out the dark side wherever it is found, lest the corruption spread to bring conflict and chaos with it. The Sith as a species were all some level of Force Sensitive, and each was taught the dark side. The order at the time saw the Sith as a tumour growing in the galaxy, one that must be cut out.” Master Kae said it with such finality, Revan felt as if she stood up in the execution stand herself, with all those ancient Jedi looking down in her in judgment. “On every world in their empire, every Sith was slain, down to the last. The seat of their empire, the planet Korriban, is a desert of red sand, but it is said those sands were once white before they were stained by the blood of millions of Sith slain when the Jedi purged their world. The entire species hunted down to nothing.”

Revan’s blood ran cold. “How could they?”

“I often wonder the same,” Master Kae admitted.

“Avenging our losses against the Sith like that is against the Jedi Code, isn’t it?” Revan asked.

“There was no revenge,” Kae said, “it was done without hate, or rage, or bloodlust. But cold execution is no less deadly than the gleeful butchery.”

“Why is this kept secret?” Revan demanded.

“Precisely to avoid that reaction,” Kae answered. “The other Masters think much the same of this as you do. This is a stain upon our order’s history, and they are ashamed. The council fears if younger Jedi knew they would lose faith in the order, and if the people of the Republic knew they may no longer want our involvement in galactic affairs.”

“If they’re so ashamed they should have thought about that before they did it,” Revan said resentfully.

“The council did nothing,” Master Kae reminded her, “Everyone who lived then is thousands of years dead. The actions of their predecessors are no reflection on their moral character, nor on yours Revan. The past is done, your outrage serves to aid no one. What is important is the context this lends the Sith. Even before the massacre they were driven by revenge. If any survived, how much deeper must their anger run now?”

“You said they were wiped out,” Revan said.

“All who could be found,” Kae said, “But our maps of the old Sith Empire are incomplete. Pockets of civilisation, worlds on the edge of their territory, the region of the galaxy now known as wild space. We told ourselves they were extinct, as a comfort, to forget the enemy we created. The Sith that remain will be singularly dedicated to the destruction of all Jedi everywhere, just as we did to them, and they will visit whatever destruction they must upon the galaxy in order to achieve that end. Hatred for the Jedi is what forged them, their vengeance runs deep, and as they once were hunted down so they now wish upon us. That is the enemy we face, Revan. That is what you must prepare for.”

This was a lot to take in, but Revan nodded her understanding. She would prepare herself.

Chapter Text

“Padawan Kira, if you could help me demonstrate?” Master Kavar asked.

Ellin Kira took her position across from Kavar, in front of an audience of younglings training in the temple courtyard. Master Kavar was the order’s foremost lightsabre duellist, an expert in all seven forms, so the council had given him the duty to teach the order’s youngest how to use their weapon. As Kavar’s Padawan, Ellin often found herself assisting in those lessons.

As the younglings watched she took out her sabre and pressed the switch that turned the blade to its non-lethal training setting. She activated the green blade and held it out in her right hand. Ellin was ambidextrous but she always used her right for demonstrations. Easier for the younglings to read and understand her technique.

“This is a disarming technique,” Master Kavar said, activating his own blue blade and crossing it with hers, “Push the blade in a circular motion, forcing your opponent’s wrist to turn, and once it can turn no further their weapon will pop loose from their grip.”

Just as Kavar said, Ellin’ blade was forced into an awkward angle then pulled from her hand to clatter on the floor. She bent down to pick it up.

“Split into pairs and practice,” Kavar instructed the younglings, “Padawan Kira and I will watch and ensure your form is correct.”

The younglings did as asked, except one boy who nervously approached her. Ellin asked him, “Is something wrong Mical?” Prompting him to say what was on his mind rather than looking on with silent nerves.

Mical was a boy of ten. Studious, she had heard, but he struggled to put teaching into practice, and he never quite integrated socially with the other younglings. He hesitantly explained, “Padawan Ellin, there’s an odd number of us, I don’t have a pair. Could… could you partner with me?”

“Very well, with me then.” Ellin didn’t see the harm in helping this once. She hoped this wouldn’t become a pattern though, Mical needed to develop bonds with his own cohort and, well, she had seen the way he looked at her.

He was at the age where such thoughts developed, and the older girl who helped tutor the younglings was a natural fixation. It shouldn’t be a problem to help him this once, but such an infatuation was against the Jedi code. He would need to outgrow it soon enough.

Ellin held her lightsabre out in front of her. “Show me the technique. Try to disarm me.”

“Like this?” Mical made an awkward attempt, and Ellin quickly shook her head and stopped him.

“Don’t make the circular motion with your wrist,” she instructed, “You’re trying to make your opponent’s wrist twist and loosen its grip. Doing it like that will twist your own wrist and put you in that situation instead. Use your shoulder and elbow, make your whole arm the lever.”

Mical tried again, and this time executed the move correctly. He didn’t have the strength to force Ellin’s sabre from her hand even in the right position, but she intentionally loosened her fingers and let him have the victory.

“There, now you’ve got it,” she encouraged.

Mical still looked dissatisfied, “It’s a complicated move, how do you think through all those steps in a real battle Master Kira?”

“Well, I’m no master but I suppose I can explain,” Ellin said bashfully, “You don’t think about it in battle, hesitating to think will get you killed. You practice the moves until they become second nature, and then when battle comes you follow your instincts and let the Force sing within you. You won’t be led astray.”

Mical considered, “What does the singing sound like?”

Ellin explained, “It’s like a choir, with the voices of all the people you love and care about, harmonising to the melody of combat. The Force binds us all together, and through those bonds you feel those people with you.”

“Do you hear my voice in your choir?” Mical asked.

Ellin ruffled his hair, “I hear all the younglings voices, every one of you that I’ve helped teach.”

At that moment they were interrupted by a new arrival in the courtyard. When Ellin saw who it was her breath caught and her heart began to skip. Revan was back. She noticed Ellin looking and shot her an easy smile and a wave before passing by to speak to Kavar. Ellin hurriedly tried to wave in reply but Revan had already moved on.

No, Ellin could hardly judge any younglings for having improper infatuations. It was a lesson she had yet to learn herself. Ellin was head over heels for Revan.

Revan was a little older than Ellin. As a Padawan she had gained so much experience of the galaxy while Ellin spent most of her days in Kavar’s tutelage at the temple. Revan had an awe-inspiring command of the Force and was easily the most skilled and accomplished of their generation of Jedi.

It would be easy for someone like that to be aloof. The Masters always called Revan arrogant and headstrong, but Ellin has never seen it that way. When they were children together, Revan had looked out for the other younglings, advocating for them with Zhar. At least half of the so-called defiance they saw in Revan had been her arguing on behalf of someone else.

Ellin dismissed herself from Mical, “Excuse me a moment. Just, uh, practice by yourself, or something…”

She wandered close to where Revan spoke with Kavar, wondering what had brought her all the way down here. Ellin didn’t try to eavesdrop exactly, but if she so happened to overhear while she was close by, well…

“…warrior we fought on Telos,” Revan was saying, “I need to hone my skills with a lightsabre before we face him again.”

“I see,” Kavar said, “Isn’t this something to speak with your own master about?”

Revan shifted on her feet uncomfortably, “Master Kae is knowledgeable and wise, I wouldn’t want any other teacher.”

“And yet you are asking me,” Kavar noted.

“I have already surpassed my master with my skill in combat,” Revan said, “You’re said to be the greatest duellist in the order Master Kavar.”

Kavar considered, then said, “I suppose we can show you something.”

Revan looked puzzled, “We?”

Kavar clapped to get the younglings attention. “Younglings, gather round. You’re about to watch a sparring bout between two expert swordsmen. Pay close attention and perhaps you’ll learn some of their technique.”

Then the last thing Ellin expected to happen, Master Kavar beckoned her up to stand in the circle with him and Revan.

Taken by surprise, she hurried over, “Me?”

“Indeed,” Kavar confirmed, “Revan needs someone to test herself against.”

“But I don’t, I’m not,” Ellin stuttered, “Surely you’re a better match for her?”

“You may surprise yourself Padawan,” Kavar gave her a reassuring pat on the shoulder and went to leave the circle.

Revan raised a hand to stop him, “Kavar I don’t think…”

“Revan, really,” he chided her, “If facing my Padawan unnerves you, are you certain you’re prepared to spar with me?”

Revan silently grumbled but let him go. She turned her attention back to Ellin and ignited her blue blade. “Don’t worry Princess, I’ll let you down easy.”

Ellin felt herself momentarily flushing at the name. She normally didn’t like the reminder, maybe she was born royalty, but she was a Jedi now. Yet when it was Revan saying it, it sounded more endearing and less back handed. Almost as if…

Ellin blinked hard and shook her head. She should at least try to focus on this fight. She switched her lightsabre to her left hand and ignited her green blade.

When she was teaching, she used her right for demonstration, but when she fought to win Ellin always used her left. She was equally skilled with either hand but fighting left-handed could confuse her opponents. Her moves would be mirrored from their expectation. An experienced fighter would adapt, but even an extra half a heartbeat of thinking could turn a battle.

She took up a defensive stance in the style of Form III, a one-handed guard that would it make easy to evade and parry. Kavar had taught her the basics of all seven forms of lightsabre combat, but she chose to specialise in the third, Soresu, the most defensive style of fighting. A master of Form III was said to be invincible. “Ready?” she asked.

Revan, Ellin remembered, had never had the patience for that approach. As was her preference she took up Form V. The two-handed grip still kept Revan well-guarded, but she was coiled for the strike. Coiled for the pounce upon helpless prey. “Are you?”

The Padawans circled each other, eyeing their opponents for an opening. Ellin didn’t find a weakness to exploit, not yet. Neither did Revan, who instead tried to force one.

She swung the blue blade in a vicious overhead strike. Ellin hurriedly sidestepped, then parried as Revan switch the angle of her swing to follow her. Just a small nudge up, pushing Revan’s upswing too high, and with a slight duck she dodged again.

Ellin stepped backwards to gain breathing room, and soon realised the mistake. Revan took the offered ground and pressed forward, striking in a recurring flurry side-to-side. Ellin defended against that pattern easily enough but found herself stuck on the back foot and running out of space to retreat. She changed the direction of her escape. Revan’s next swing came in from the left, so Ellin stopped moving back and instead scooted right, then twirled around behind Revan. She risked a strike at Revan’s exposed back, but the older padawan spun too quickly and deflected the green blade. Then they were back at square one, circling.

Ellin changed tactics. She brought her off hand up to her lightsabre to hold it in a firmer two-handed grip and when Revan next attacked, rather than evade she intercepted the blade with her own and blocked the strike.

Ellin didn’t like this style of fighting. It was risky. She always preferred to stay light on her feet and avoid her opponent. When an enemy attacks, the safest place to be is outside the arc of the swing. Planting her feet like this, not letting Revan move her, left her in danger. The force Revan’s attack pressed on her, but Ellin didn’t move as her instinct would normally be, and instead pushed back until Revan disengaged.

The rhythm of the duel completely changed. Each time Revan struck, Ellin risked being overpowered. If Revan hit with more force than Ellin could absorb and push back, then her defence would fail, and the younger Jedi would lose. Against the speed and ferocity of Revan’s onslaught, Ellin knew she couldn’t keep this up long.

And yet earlier, retreating had given Revan space to charge forward, building the momentum that made form V so dangerous. By staying still, Revan had to step backwards and disengage in order to wind up her next attack.

When Ellin retreated, Revan grew excited, like a hunter closing in on her prey. But when Ellin stood her ground, Revan got frustrated. She grew impatient with her lack of progress. She made mistakes.

Revan pulled her sabre all the way back, then thrust it forward with all the strength she had, as if she meant to impale Ellin on it. A sideways sweep pushed the thrust aside, so it passed around Ellin. Revan continued forward, having put too much behind the attack to reel it back in. Her off hand came loose, and she leaned forward at a precarious angle. Ellin, still sure footed, braced her blade against Revan’s and started winding. The same disarming move Kavar had shown the younglings today. And sure enough, Revan’s lightsabre fell from her grip and flattered to the floor.

Give her a moment and Revan would recover. She was already reaching to retrieve her blade with the Force. But that half second her opponent was defenceless was all Ellin needed. With a flick of the wrist, she brought her blade down on Revan’s arm.

“Yow,” Revan recoiled and shook out her limp hand. Her lightsabre, picked up by the Force, sailed past and fell back down on the other side of the room.

The training setting on their lightsabres was non-lethal, but it stung. Like getting stuck in a power coupling. Revan’s arm would be numb for hours.

“Well fought,” Kavar declared, “I believe that settles the bout.”

But then, it couldn’t be. Ellin won? She beat Revan?

The younglings erupted in awed whispers, and Kavar came over to speak to them both. “Revan, perhaps today you’ve learned something about overestimating your abilities, and keeping the control needed for a long confrontation. If the enemy you faced on Telos is what your master suspects, he will not fall easily.”

Revan grumbled and went to retrieve her lightsabre from the floor.

“And Ellin,” Kavar placed a supportive hand on her shoulder, “Well done, my young Padawan. I hope this has helped resolve your own feelings around Revan.”

“My own- I, uh, what do you mean?” He hadn’t found out, had he? Ellin tried so hard to hide her feelings for Revan. It wasn’t proper for a Jedi to pine like this. Kavar wasn’t supposed to know. He couldn’t know.

“She’s strong in the Force and has a natural talent, it makes sense you would feel as if you’re in her shadow,” Kavar said, “But unfocused power can only carry one so far. You needn’t be so intimidated by Revan.”

“Yes… of course Master.” If only her true feelings were that she was intimidated. It would make things easier.

Kavar left her and went to attend to the younglings. The boy Mical bounded up to her all excited.

“Master Ellin that was amazing!” he said breathlessly, “When someone chooses me to be their Padawan learner, I want it to be you!”

Ellin tried to let him down kindly, “I’m still a Padawan myself you know, I can’t just…” then across the room she noticed Revan storming out of the courtyard, a scowl on her face, “hold on, I need to… Revan! Wait!”

Ellin hurried after Revan, following her into the temple.

When Revan noticed Ellin following her, she turned around and confronted her. “Don’t you have a class to teach?”

“I’m sorry about earlier,” Ellin said, “I didn’t mean…”

“What?” Revan’s scowl morphed into confusion, then realisation, “Oh, no I wasn’t mad at you Princess. It’s just this mission, and… what do you know about the Chosen One?”

“Just what the prophecy says,” Ellin answered.

Revan nodded, “Right, the one who will destroy the Sith and bring balance to the Force.”

“Well,” Ellin shuffled on her feet in place, “Actually that version of the prophecy is a revision.”

“It is?” Revan asked.

“I was talking with Atris about this not long ago,” Ellin said.

Revan nodded, “Atris doesn’t seem to like me much.”

“That’s because she works in the archive and you keep trying to sneak into the restricted section,” Ellin said, “she likes me just fine.”

“Ok, ok,” Revan put up her hands in surrender, “the prophecy?”

“The prophecy of the Chosen One actually predates the Great Hyperspace War, when we first encountered the Sith,” Ellin explained, “It was revised after the war, but before that it read that the Chosen One would destroy the dark side and bring balance to the Force. Every time the order finds itself at war, there’s one Jedi hero or another who emerges in the conflict, and people always speculate that might be the Chosen One. But then the dark side keeps coming back, and the prophecy proves ultimately unfulfilled.”

“I see…” Revan listened intently, and still seemed troubled.

“Revan, what’s really going on?” Ellin asked, “I’ve never seen you this worried.”

Revan stayed silent and looked away, then seemed to come to a decision, “Something Master Kae told me. She thinks…”

As Revan trailed off, she was interrupted when a door opened further down the corridor and a tall gangly boy ran up to the two girls.

“Malak!” Revan called to him excitedly, meeting him with a hug. Watching, Ellin’s heart wrenched inside her chest, but she kept her face stoic. It was in some ways a comical sight, though Malak was the same age as Revan she stood barely at his shoulder height. Revan was somewhat short for seventeen, at the same height as Ellin who was two years younger, meanwhile Malak was unnaturally tall. Exacerbating the oddness of how tall he was, Malak’s limbs were thin and bony. He kept his hair buzzed short save for the padawan’s braid than dangled down his shoulder. But most of all Ellin felt envy, Malak had always been Revan’s closest friend, always more so than her.

Malak returned the hug until Revan broke it. “Sorry I didn’t see you sooner. Master Vrook only just told me you were back.”

Vrook was one of the most experienced members of the Jedi Council, and Malak was his padawan. Strange to think, when they were younger everyone talked about Revan’s potential, but she was the only one of the three of them not apprenticed to a member of the Council.

“I’m glad you came,” Revan said to Malak, “I don’t think I’ll be here long. The Senate session today will be hearing from Governor Rhozo. From Cathar. It won’t be long before we have to go back.”

Malak looked disappointed, “Then this might be the last time we see each other in a while. I’m leaving with Vrook in a few days for Dantooine. We’re building a new Jedi enclave there, he’s to be the Master of the new temple.”

“Then it’s going to be a long time until the three of us are next together,” Revan said, “Could you both stay with me today? We don’t have to do anything just, until I hear from the Senate, I don’t want to wait by myself.”

Malak’s eyes met Ellin’s with what looked like annoyance, and the feeling was mutual. Ellin has never much got along with Malak. But, because Revan was friends with them both, they tolerated each other for her sake. “Alright,” Malak agreed.

“The three of us then,” Ellin went along.

Revan smiled at them both, and it made the whole compromise worth it. If she was happy, Ellin would be happy too.

Chapter Text

Senator Hallam hosted the governor in his residence. The senator was an old man, past his fighting years, but his home was every bit Echani. Silver ceremonial weapons hung upon plaques on almost every wall. This morning, he briefed Rhozo on the state of the senate ahead of the assembly called today to discuss the matter of Cathar.

“The Republic is not what those on the Outer Rim believe it to be,” the senator said, “That goes for both those who aspire to join us, and those who revile us. Our detractors say the Republic dictates and restricts its member planets like some sort of empire, but such a grinding bureaucracy would be ineffective at such things as that. To our admirers, the Republic is a bastion of peace and safety spreading freedom and equality to the galaxy around us. Many of our citizens like to believe that as well. But the truth is the Senate has been growing ever more insular for many years. The war with Exar Kun ended over ten years ago now but some planets are still rebuilding. The Senators are concerned with nothing but their own worlds. There is no interest in communal good, nor in any affairs beyond the Republic’s borders. The Jedi investigation was only sent to Cathar because some feared whatever threat it was might come for Republic worlds next. You have my support of course, Yusanis has vouched for you, but to be frank Governor it’s highly unlikely the Senate will vote to send aid.”

“What of the Chancellor?” Governor Rhozo asked. “Can we appeal to him? Bypass the Senate chamber for a higher authority.”

“Chancellor Onir is likely to support you,” Hallam admitted, “He’s new to the position, and still quite idealistic. And he’s Ithorian. Ithor is a jungle planet much like Cathar. His people’s philosophy of fostering nature and growth would be appalled by the actions of the Mandalorians. But I’m afraid he doesn’t have authority to take unilateral action without Senate approval. That would only be possible if her were granted emergency powers during a crisis, which would itself first require Senate approval. His influence may sway some votes, but he cannot simply bypass the Senate I’m afraid.”

This was not the hope that Rhozo had sought for coming here. “What course would you suggest, Senator?”

Senator Hallam thought, then answered. “News of the invasion has been trickling to the populace. They believe you to be victims on an unjust invasion. If the Senate rebukes your call for aid, you could stay here in the Republic, speak to the citizens, rally their support. With enough people siding with Cathar, the Senate may give their support under the pressure from their constituents.”

“That will take months,” Rhozo objected, “My people are dying now.”

“Aid with delay is better than none at all, surely,” Hallam offered, “In any case we must go, the Senate session will be beginning soon.”

***

The Senate chamber was an awe-inspiring sight. Rhozo had never seen a room so cavernous, many whole buildings from the cities on Cathar might have fit inside. He and two of his guards sat as guests in the circular platform reserved for the Echani delegation, alongside Yusanis and Senator Hallam.

On the spire in the centre, the Supreme Chancellor stood and opened the session, his deep and resounding ithorian voice filling the enormous chamber. The translator beside him repeated the booming tones in Galactic Basic. “The chair recognises a guest in the chamber, Governor Rhozo of the planet Cathar.”

The platform levitated off its mooring on the wall of the chamber and hovered into the middle, where Rhozo stood to address the Senators under that spotlight.

“Supreme Chancellor. Delegates of the Senate. Honourable representatives of the Republic. A great tragedy is occurring upon the Outer Rim, and I come to you under the gravest of circumstances.” Governor Rhozo spoke up to the senators. From such distance he couldn’t see any faces, and simply hoped his plea with reach through. “My world, Cathar, has been invaded by the fleets of the Mandalorian clans, united under their new Mandalore. Our cities burn. Our people are dying. I come to you to beg the aid of the Republic to free my planet.”

“Impossible,” Another platform floated up and the Senator spoke in response, “I must object to such foreign presumption!”

The Chancellor vocalised a bellowing response, which the translator repeated, “The chair does not recognise the delegation from Alderaan at this time.”

Senator Hallam got up and whispered the Rhozo, “That one who objected is Senator Thul, of Alderaan, he’s a major figure of the conservative isolationist faction.”

Senator Thul kept up his tirade. “The Republic must put the Republic first. What do we gain from courting war with the Mandalorians over rumour and speculation?”

Speculation? Their own Jedi has confirmed the invasion. Before Rhozo could argue his outrage, a toady looking twi’lek floated up on another platform to genuflect for the Alderaanian. “The delegation of Ryloth concurs, we must have proof of the alleged war crimes before we can vote on a response.”

“Your own Jedi-” Rhozo began to argue, only to be cut off by Senator Thul.

“The rambling of shamans may be enough for you,” the senator sneered, “but here is civilised parts of the galaxy we require real evidence.”

The rumbling of debate in all the hundreds of platforms began filling the room, but were drowned out by a single piercing booming tone, the loudest vocalisation by the Chanellor yet. Rhozo had heard that Ithorians could use utilise their incredibly loud voices as a sonic attack, and it seemed the Supreme Chancellor had found a use in his rhetoric for that particular skill. Having silenced the squabblers, he spoke a decree and his translator repeated. “The issue is deferred. The Republic Fleet will send a force to determine the truth of the matter, and we will reconvene upon their report.”

The floating platforms of the senators flew away and reattached themselves on the sides of the chamber. Rhozo marched away, devastated. All the hardship and escaping and journeying here, for what? Another investigation? They already knew the truth, once it was confirmed again those obstinate roadblocks would find another excuse for dismissal, and on and on the gears of bureaucracy would spin in place while his people suffered and died.

Outside the chamber he found the Jedi, Arren Kae, waiting for him.

“Not the outcome we hoped for,” she acknowledged.

“No,” Rhozo shook his head, “Not nearly enough.”

“We may be able to leverage this to our advantage,” the Jedi Master said, “a scouting party and be twisted into a liberation force with the right approach. This battle isn’t over yet. Come with me.”

Chapter Text

Major Forn Dodonna had only just finished reading her assignment when a Jedi quietly entered the Republic military headquarters and appeared behind her. Dodonna felt the hackles in her neck raise and turned around to find a familiar face under the plain brown hood. “Arren Kae.”

They had met ever so briefly in the war with Exar Kun, back when Dodonna was only a fresh-faced gunnery officer seeing her first glimpse of combat. Kae hadn’t been she first Jedi she met in the war, nor the last, but every one of that order had been a memorable figure.

“It has been some time Major,” the Jedi said, “I understand you’ve received a new assignment.”

“How…” Dodonna started, “Of course, how could you not know? I suppose this won’t be a simple scouting mission after all, you Jedi always bring trouble.”

“Indeed, this may prove far from simple,” Kae intoned, “Your assignment holds no true purpose. There is no need to investigate the situation on Cathar, I have just returned from doing precisely that.”

“Then why send a scouting party from the fleet?” Dodonna wondered aloud.

“You’re being sent as a token by the Senate to delay any real intervention,” Kae answered.

“Of course,” Dodonna scowled. The whims of the politicians seemed much more often an obstacle than of any use in the galaxy. She didn’t envy the admirals who had to deal with them directly. “And I assume you’ve come to me with some reckless plan to undermine the Senate?”

A sly smile tipped the edges of Arren’s mouth, “How large of a force could you bring on this mission without arousing suspicion from Republic High Command?”

The Major thought for a moment, “One hammerhead capital ship, and an escort of frigates.”

“It may be enough,” Arren Kae mused, “When our consular ship arrived, we were fired upon immediately. Your orders said to avoid engaging the Mandalorians but if they were to attack first…”

“…we would be free to retaliate,” Dodonna finished.

“And with a skilled enough commander, those ships could punch a hole in the blockade and establish a lifeline for any survivors still on the surface,” Kae proposed, “If you’re up to the task?”

***

On the bridge of his flagship above Cathar, the Mand’alor addressed his followers. “This world has been crushed,” he declared to the assembled clan leaders, “there are other worlds and greater glory to be found.”

The clans were eager to move on to new conquests, the fleet was moving on, but this speech was trying to make some stay behind. “But there is glory yet also for those who remain here. The Jedi shall return. For the clans who wish for the honour of facing them, remain here and garrison Cathar, and battle will soon be joined.”

Only a few were convinced. The clans were restless to move on and the Mand’alor would lead them to new worlds to conquer. But a small handful chose to stay. The leaders left the ship to return to their own clans, and the Mand’alor spoke to the figure in the shadows. “I see you skulking there Aestis.”

Darth Aestis emerged from the dark corners and knelt at the feet to the Mand’alor. “What is thy bidding, my master.”

Mand’alor’s mouth spoke the words, but it was the Emperor’s will screaming inside his head, the Emperor’s words that came forth in his voice. Mand’alor the Ultimate, greatest of the Mandalorians, could do nothing but pound upon the glass as his body and his voice spoke for the insidious will of the Emperor.

“Rejoice, Darth Aestis, for your Emperor is merciful,” Mand’alor spoke against his will, “you shall have a chance to redeem your failure on Telos. Stay with the Cathar garrison. When the Jedi return you will destroy them. Do not fail me again.”

Aestis rose from his knees, “It shall be done, master.”

***

Arren Kae found her padawan in a wide windowed room, where she and two of her friends sat and overlooked the Coruscant skyline. Revan, Malak, and Ellin made for an interesting group, or so Arren always thought.

Revan called them friends, but she didn’t see what her master saw. She didn’t see how deep the devotion ran. Malak coveted her. Ellin worshipped her. The day Revan realised how strongly she influenced those around her would be a day the galaxy trembled.

Revan sensed her presence and glanced over her shoulder to see Arren behind her. “Master Kae”

“Revan,” Kae acknowledged her, “It’s time.”

She stood from her seat and joined her master with resolute determination. “I’m ready.”

Chapter Text

They had loaded themselves back on the light Echani craft that had brought them to Coruscant. Governor Rhozo and his small retinue of guards, Battlemaster Yusanis and his band of hunters, and the two Jedi come to fight an older, deeper war than battle with the Mandalorians.

“Do you still sense it?” Master Kae asked.

“I do,” Revan confirmed, “He’s there. On Cathar.”

“None of the warriors here could hope to withstand a Sith,” Arren told her, “When he appears, it will be our responsibility to snuff out that darkness.”

Revan gave her master a stiff formal bow, then shuffled on her feet a few moments before she squeezed Arren in the most crushing hug a seventeen-year-old could muster. “Thank you for everything Master.”

“It’s been my privilege Padawan.”

Master and Padawan parted ways, and though Arren hoped otherwise she feared that may have been their last goodbye.

With the ship in hyperspace, there was little to do but wait. Yusanis found Arren on an observation deck, looking out it into the blue vortex as it hurtled by.

“Mater Jedi,” he greeted her and came to stand next to her, “We have a few more hours of quiet, and I had hoped we could continue sparring as we have been.”

Arren had been quietly dreading that this might happen. She remembered well what his wife Essella had said in the flight from Telos to Cosuscant. A wife that had curiously been left behind on Coruscant with their children, while Yusanis and his hunters returned to Cathar.

Arren was a Jedi. Her discipline must win out any other baser impulse.

“I fear that would not be prudent,” Kae informed Yusanis, keeping her answer an impassive as possible, “Jedi have a code of our own. Such an… entanglement would create trouble for us both.”

Yusanis was controlled enough not to let his feelings show in his face, but Arren noticed the flicker of hurt before he steeped himself.

“I understand,” he said, “I shall leave you to your meditations.

***

The craft was small and nimble enough to evade detection by the Mandalorian fleet and fly down to the surface of Cathar unnoticed.

On the ground, they gathered at the foot of the landing ramp to assess their situation.

“The fleet has thinned considerably since we left,” Yusanis took note, “they must have finished their sweep of the planet and moved on. What’s left is a garrison to ensure Cathar is kept now that it’s been taken. They’ve fortified themselves around the spaceport in the city, and the real problem is the ground-to-space cannon they’ve constructed. Unless we take out that gun, it will tear through the Republic ships when they arrive.”

“A garrison of small clans still means thousands of Mandalorians,” Master Kae said, “you will need to find an army of your own to match them. Two Jedi and a handful of hunters cannot fight a war for you.”

Governor Rhozo thoughtfully considered. “There will be pockets of resistance scattered in the jungle. If we can gather the survivors, we could build up enough strength to draw the Mandalorian forces out of the city and hold them there while the Jedi and Echani sneak into the spaceport and deal with that cannon.”

“Your people may serve as a distraction, but they will not be able to win this battle,” Kae cautioned.

Revan spoke up from where she stood behind her Master, “The Republic could send a ground force once they’re through the blockade.”

Rhozo nodded grimly, “If any of us still live by then. Master Kae, you are certain the Republic will be able to break through the blockade?”

“If any commander can, it’s Forn Dodonna,” Kae confirmed.

It was a risky plan, but also their only hope.

Rhozo led their group on a path through the jungle until they came upon a cave hidden behind a waterfall. He said this cave was known as a safe place where his people could escape to. Their best bet to find any survivors or leads on where else they might have gone.

The Jedi entered first, and the first thing to hit Revan was the smell, the lingering stench of smoke and burning plasma festering in the still cave air. “The Mandalorians have already been here,” she realised.

She activated her lightsabre to illuminate the cave in its soft blue glow, revealing charred bodies beyond count covering the ground. Revan’s throat ran dry. The group remained silent. What was there to say of yet another senseless slaughter?

Sensing around her, Revan could feel a deep simmering rage in the air, a cloying scent of spite that left its mark in the Force. Looking closer at the bodies, only one kind of weapon could have caused the dismemberment she saw on some of them. “Master, he was here too.”

Governor Rhozo gathered himself, recovering from the sight of his lost people, and said “There may still have been survivors. There might be some clue where they went.”

The Jedi and the Echani searched, but no clues presented themselves. Near the back of the cave, when hope seemed exhausted, Revan heard the trickling of disturbed pebbles and whirled to point her lightsabre at a skinny Cathar man hiding in the shadows. He shrieked at the glowing weapon thrust inches from his face.

“Wait! Wait. Wait, you’re not Mandalorians. Who are you? What are you doing here? Did you come to help?” The frightened Cathar asked, daring to allow a hint of hope to colour his voice.

“Jedi,” Revan answered, “We were looking for anyone who survived the attack.”

“Jedi? The Jedi help people, don’t they?” The Cathar emerged from his hiding place and looked around at the others in the cave, “Oh and the governor, we didn’t realise you were still alive sir. After this cave was attacked, we fled to another place, but I stayed behind to guide any other stragglers who made it here. I can take you to them.”

Their guide led them deeper in the forest, into a boggy marshland. As their group approached, the lost and harried Cathar began to melt out of the greenery to peep at the new arrivals. Even with so many lost there must a thousand sheltered here at least. They came to Rhozo, lost, in search of guidance, of leadership, of a way to survive. He told them how. “It’s time we fought back for our world.”

Chapter Text

“The Jedi have not been sighted yet. But a force of the natives has been seen massing beyond the city,” Darth Aestis informed the blue hologram of his emperor, “a last gasp of pitiful resistance. I shall lead the attack to crush them myself. The Jedi must be among them.”

“You underestimated the Jedi once before, Darth Aestis,” the emperor’s harrowing voice said from the hologram, “Our enemies are not so foolish as you presume. Use the Mandalorians to deal with these pests. Let the Jedi come to you.”

The hologram communicator shut off. Aestis loathed to stay away from a battle, but as his emperor commands so shall be done. He called upon the Mandalorians that remained on Cathar, a few thousand which garrisoned their space cannon, and told them of the army that awaited beyond the city. “Wipe them out,” Aestis commanded, “All of them.”

Eager for the glory of battle, the garrison marched out to face this foe.

***

“Do you think they’ll take the bait?” one Cathar warrior asked.

“They will,” Rhozo assured, “The Mandalorians will not resist the call of battle.”

“And those allies of yours,” the warrior asked, “they’ll end things before we’re all wiped out, won’t they?”

“They will,” Rhozo repeated again. They must. It was his people’s only hope.

The ragged band of Cathar made their slow march towards the city, expecting resistance to meet them marching the other way. Instead, from above, they heard the distant rumble of engines closing in. Out of a lot dropped the Mandalorians, by the hundreds, in Basilisks or riding rocket packs, dropping straight into the middle of the army with blasters and blades flashing.

Chaos broke out. The surprise let the Mandalorians strike indiscriminately and break the Cathar into disarray. But after the initial shock, that Mandalorian recklessness turned against them. Any close enough to pouncing distance would be leapt upon and dragged to the ground. Cathar claws, one of the rare things sharp enough to cut through beskar armour, pried the Mandalorians open and struck at the meat inside.

Battle was finally joined. Rhozo only hoped they could hold here long enough.

***

Inside the city, the Jedi and the Echani snuck across rooftops to close in on the spaceport. They waited above a smaller entrance, guarded by two basilisks and a dozen soldiers, and waited for their moment.

Far in the distance, a faint cacophony of explosions and blasters echoed through the streets. “I think the battle’s started,” Revan said.

Master Kae gave a small nod of agreement, “Then it’s time we did our part. Yusanis?”

The Battlemaster sent down two hunters on grappling lines, staying out of site by staying above the Mandalorians. They dropped a pair of remote charges onto the two Basilisks, then raised themselves back up to a safe distance.

Yusanis pressed the detonator, bursting the two basilisks into broken pieces. In the moment of shock, the two Jedi leapt down and made short work of the door guards. They had their way in.

Resistance was thin inside the spaceport. Most of the Mandalorian garrison had been drawn away by the ragged Cathar army outside the city.

“The defence will be focused around the control centre,” Master Kae guessed, “That’s where we need to reach.”

They passed through a vast empty hangar bay, and the most direct route would have been out the immense bulkhead doors on the far wall. As they approached the door ground open to reveal a single warrior awaiting them.

One man in Mandalorian armour, but with a presence that overwhelmed their whole group, stopping their feet in place. His armour was adorned in black and red, and Arren and Revan recognised his helmet immediately. The man that had nearly killed Arren. The mask that haunted all Revan’s dreams and nightmares.

The two Jedi stepped out ahead of the hunters. “We’ll handle this,” Master Kae said.

The Battlemaster understood, this was an enemy beyond he and his followers. “We’ll find another route.” The Echani left to the side, headed for a smaller side door.

Staring down the standoff with the dark warrior, Revan felt the weight of his presence forcing her down. The bitter taste of his spite screamed into her head. A childish, animal part of her mind wanted to bolt, but she looked to her Master for strength and stood her ground.

The Sith drew out a lightsabre in one hand, then ignited a second in the other, guarding himself on either side with the red glow of twin blades.

The two Jedi shrugged off their outer cloaks and left them discarded in the floor, readying themselves for a fight beyond anything in their lives before, and drew blue and violet sabres and held them forward to face the darkness.

Chapter Text

Out at the edge of the star system, the black void was lit up by a Republic battle group dropping out of hyperspace. Four cruisers arrayed in a V formation and in the middle, at the point of the V, was their single colossal Hammerhead capital ship. The Corellian powerhouse gleamed in the red and white colours of the Republic.

Major Forn Dodonna stood upon the bridge of that ship. The planet Cathar appeared on their instruments, surrounded by a small fleet of Mandalorian ships.

“Looks like reports were correct Ma’am,” one of the bridge officers said, “Planet Cathar under occupation and bombardment by Mandalorians.”

“Get us closer,” Dodonna ordered. She had been warned this scouting exercise was needless, just a confirmation for what the senate already knew and refused to believe. But as Arren Kae had suggested to her, this mission could be turned into an unsanctioned relief force. All they needed was to drift close enough that the Mandalorians attacked first, and the Republic fleet was free to engage. “The senate already knows the Mandalorians are here. See if we can get an estimation of their forces. If we get close enough, we may be able to distinguish clan markings on the ships.”

The fleet continued forwards, the burning planet growing larger through the windows with each passing second.

“Looks to be a blockade of eight battleships Ma’am,” another officer informed her, “clan markings indistinct.”

“Continue the approach,” Dodonna said.

They were outnumbered, but only by a little. Dodonna remained confident.

Mandalorian ships were hulking beasts of twisted metal. As often as not they proved to be glass cannons, with too much power committed to weapons and not enough to shielding. The Mandalorians may have been a culture of warriors, one Mandalorian would near always prove more deadly than a rank-and-file soldier. But for a battle in space, no fighting force in the galaxy matched the technological edge of the Republic Fleet.

They were close enough now for turbolaser range, and the Mandalorians fired the first volley, absorbed by Republic deflector shields. The Republic ships fired back, and the Hammerhead’s main gun left a sizeable crack in one of their enemy’s hulls.

Then a monumental blast shot up from the planet, and one of Dodonna’s cruisers sent an emergency signal.

“Message from the cruiser Icarus,” someone called to the bridge, “reporting port side damage and deflector shield failure.”

“Withdraw out of range of that cannon and form defensive formation around the Icarus,” Dodonna instructed her fleet.

“Should we retreat?” an officer asked, “We’ve finished the mission.”

The official mission maybe, but Dodonna knew there were Jedi down on the surface working to get that ground cannon shut down. The Republic had to still be ready to move in once they had their opening.

***

Blue and Purple lightsabres clashed against red in a whirling haze of colour and light. The hum and clash filled the empty hangar bay as Revan and Arren Kae did battle with the Sith.

The Jedi tried to divide his attention. The Sith’s attack targeted Arren, so while she defended herself, Revan somersaulted over the Sith’s head and thrust her blade at his back. But the dark warrior had practice enough fighting multiple opponents, and the sabre in his offhand intercepted Revan’s attack.

Stuck between the Jedi, the Sith took two steps backwards, putting both his opponents in front of him again. Their plot had not broken his defences, but Revan and Arren came to a wordless understanding. This was an advantage.

The way the Sith had fought Arren on Telos, the way he continued to fight now, betrayed the trappings of Juyo, form VII of lightsabre combat. It was a form fuelled by aggressive energy. To use it one must skirt the edge of the dark side, or if one is a Sith to simply embrace that darkness. A style designed to kill many and quickly. But the aggressive manic energy which fuelled it meant that to move backwards, to retreat, to defend, meant tamping down every instinct Juyo encouraged, leaving that aggression nowhere to go, no outlet to escape.

The two of them pressed the Sith, taking the initiative to attack and forcing him to retreat. Out of the hangar. Away from the route the Echani were taking. Downwards and deeper into the spaceport complex.

Revan could hear the growling beneath the Sith’s helmet. He chafed to retreat, he longed to tear into his foes. But surrounded as he was, his killer’s instinct became a trap. Each time he took his aggressive swings at one Jedi, the other would slip her blade behind him. His beskar armour saved him more than once.

The path they drove him down emerged into a vast empty chamber, so deep Revan couldn’t see the bottom, and crisscrossed with grated maintenance catwalks.

Spaceports like this would always keep a reservoir of starship fuel. The Mandalorians must have drained it and left only the hollow vastness around them.

Backed to the ledge behind the entrance doorway, the Sith Warrior leapt across the gap onto one of the narrow walkways, and Revan and Arren jumped over to follow, landing on either side of him and attacking from opposing directions, forcing him to split his two blades to block them both.

Beneath the Sith’s red and black helmet, Revan heard heavy laboured breaths. They were wearing him down.

***

Yet more Mandalorians and their basilisks rained from the sky onto the ragged Cathar army, slowly crushed beneath the invaders. The governor and his followers fought on as best they could, but the world around him shrunk to the chaos of the next few metres. The battlefield air clogged with smoke and the ground turned under bootfalls and blaster fire and explosions. A cacophonous mix of mud and blood and metal and fire and death. Here a Mandalorian was pounced on by two Cathar and his armour shredded by their claws. There a Cathar warrior was engulfed in the flamethrower arm of a Mandalorian, dropping him to burn and writhe and scream. Their Jedi and Echani allies had best work fast, or there might soon be nothing left of the Cathar to save.

***

Blaster fire flooded the corridor and Yusanis and his hunters scattered into cover behind nooks and corners and columns. Finally, the Echani had found the Mandalorian defenders. A line of warriors waited down the corridor, all firing their blasters constantly to prevent the Echani advance, and behind them stood a huge blast door. This was it, that had to be the control centre they needed to reach. The only question was how to get to it.

The huntress Velere peeked her head out to glance at the enemy, then pulled it back hurriedly to escape a hail of blaster fire. She looked across the hallway at where the battlemaster had taken cover. He was the expert, one of the foremost among the Echani, and Velere had learned much under his tutelage. She hoped he would have a solution. And she wished the Jedi were still with them, the two women of that monastic order were unlike any other warriors Velere had met.

The battlemaster gave his order, “Swoop upon them like the drexl takes its prey.”

Drexl were great winged beasts native to the jungles of Onderon and its moon Dxun, every creature under that storm canopy was dangerous, but the drexl which swooped from the sky to carry the fiercest of men and beasts, those were the greatest of that world’s apex predators. The corridor ceiling would be their sky and the Echani hunters and winged beasts, whose prey were Mandalorians.

The hunters split. Half remained on the ground, returning fire and occupying the attention of the Mandalorians while the other half rappelled up the walls and across the ceiling to drop down upon the heads of their foes. The attack from the above knocked the Mandalorians from their feet and in the confusion the remaining Echani advanced and overwhelmed them. Now all that remained was the door they guarded.

Chapter Text

Darth Aestis came to a realisation that stoked his rage and hate beyond belief. He was losing.

He was a Darth. He was the Emperor’s chosen agent in this task. This was his moment. The moment which would be remembered by all his empire as the day he began the Sith’s revenge upon their ancient enemies.

When he fought the Jedi Master alone on Telos, he had been on the brink of victory. A weakling student beside her should not make such a difference. But to face them both together did more than double the threat. They fought in perfect unison, the Force flowing freely and easily between them as they coordinated and acted without speaking. Aestis had fought alongside allies when he had to, but such open trust was an affront to him.

Affront or not, it was a threat. As the two led him up the rickety catwalks, forcing his attention to be split in two. The Jedi were weak pacifists, how could they pose such a threat as this?

Even worse, that student. He had thought her nothing more than a little girl, beneath his notice. The speed and ferocity of her sabre strikes belied that she was the true threat in this pair. The well of her untapped potential rippled a shockwave in the Force whenever she struck at him. She knew not what she was doing, Aestis deduced, but this was a Force savant in the making.

Aestis could not defeat them both together. His inner fire seared at being restrained so. He needed to separate them.

The two Jedi came at him again from opposite sides. Aestis reached his two sabres out to intercept them both. He twisted the master’s blade, forcing her to disengage, and in the split second he focused all his power upon the apprentice.

He charged her, recklessly even for him, but his armour protected him from her blue sabre. His pauldron sickeningly crunched into her face, and she staggered back with a trickle of blood flowing from her nose. Disoriented and reeling, she stepped back too far and tumbled over the unguarded edge of the catwalk. It seemed for a moment she would fall into the darkness below, but the Jedi apprentice retained enough sense to control her fall onto another lower platform. Aestis would deal with her later. Now the Jedi Master stood alone.

Focusing on the apprentice left him open, and the Jedi Master took advantage. Her violet lightsabre rattled across his beskar helmet, skewing his vision with its light, and a firm hand pushed on his chest plate, sending Aestis falling too. He landed himself on another catwalk, the Master was trying to drive him closer to the apprentice and restore the numerical advantage.

The Master leapt down next to him while he lay on his back, but before she pressed her advantage again, she looked across to the far platform where her apprentice carefully got to her feet. The break of relief on the Jedi Master’s face was short lived, her compassion for her student was the weakness Aestis needed to recover and strike.

When the Sith brought down the force of both his sabres on her, she buckled, catching both blades on her purple sabre but forced by the impact to stumble. With each swing, Aestis took another step forward, and the Jedi Master took another step back, and she desperately defended against two whirling red blades.

Up ahead, Aestis saw the catwalk lead through a door into a smaller chamber. That was his next goal. Another door, another barrier between one Jedi and the other. Behind him, he sensed the apprentice jump across to their catwalk and sprint to catch up. A valiant effort too late.

With one more step he was through the door, and he swept one sabre behind himself, destroying the door mechanism. A heavy bulkhead snapped shut behind Darth Aestis, trapping the Jedi apprentice outside, and the Jedi Master in here with him.

***

The Mandalorians could have stayed holed in their command centre forever. The door between them and the Echani hunters would have held against any of the ordnance they had brought with them. If they only still had the Jedi with them, those two could have cut the chamber open.

The Echani split themselves to either side of the door, keeping themselves unexposed should the Mandalorians unexpectedly open it and retaliate. It would have been most like the Mandalorian doctrine to abandon a defensive position for a strike, but these ones didn’t take that bait.

Huntress Velere was hunched over the door panel, trying to short the circuits and force the door open. She had a little experience, but her main expertise was as a huntress, this wasn’t where her skill set was focused. None of them were. Meanwhile Yusanis examined a map of the spaceport, searching for another entry point.

Velere twisted a circuit, and the door inched open by a foot, leaving a gap up from the floor. The Mandalorian warriors inside immediately responded, their helmets and rifles appearing in the gap to fire out and target the Echani, who scattered into cover.

That sliver would be enough to crawl under, but not with the Mandalorians plugging the gap.

Carefully ducking out into the line of fire, Battlemaster Yusanis rolled a spherical device under, and before anyone could wonder what that was it popped into blinding white light streaming out of the gap in the door.

The flashbang would have blinded the Mandalorians, but their helmets would let the adjust faster than naked eyes could. The Echani had seconds to take advantage. A pair of hunters rushed the door and slid under the gap by skidding their bodies on the floor. There was a clang as electrostaves rattled against helmets, and the door rose fully open.

The handful of remaining warriors guarding the cannon controls were surrounded and outnumbered.

“Surrender,” Yusanis warned them, “You needn’t die here.”

“Mandalorians do not surrender.”

The end came swiftly, as befitted a respected foe.

With the Mandalorians cleared, the Echani took control of the space cannon. “The instruments show a Republic fleet engaging the blockade,” Velere read, “their ships are staying of cannon range, held there to avoid destruction I assume.”

“The Mandalorian ships are within range,” Yusanis said, “Provide the Republic our assistance.”

***

“Ma’am they’re firing that cannon again!” An ensign called out the warning.

Dodonna squinted out the view windows, “But why? We’re holding outside their range.”

The massive destructive bolts of red flew up to hit the Mandalorian ships from behind, crippling one and obliterating another.

“Friendly fire?” A confused officer guessed.

Dodonna knew better, they had allies and Jedi on the ground. “Or somebody took control from the Mandalorians. Advance! Trap them against the planet!”

The Republic ships flew in towards Cathar. Under the thundering blasts of the Hammerhead capital ship, another Mandalorian warship broke apart into dust. The four cruisers split into two pairs, and each trapped another Mandalorian vessel in the between them, coordinating fire on both sides to send the foe down in the flames.

The last three Mandalorian ships fled to hyperspace and the way was clear.

“Enter low orbit,” Dodonna ordered, “What’s the situation on the ground?”

They scanned the planet from above, and an officer reported, “Appears to be a land battle between a Mandalorian force and the native population. They’re on the outskirts of that city where the cannon was.”

“Send a cruiser to deploy ground forces and relieve them. The rest of us will converge over the city.”

***

Arren Kae stood with a monster before her. One she failed to withstand before. This Sith had nearly killed her on Telos, and now she was trapped before him, his crimson blades extended menacingly to cut her down.

The chamber was round, and extended up into darkness so far, she couldn’t see the top. The floor was a grate and through the gaps the space extended down as far as it did up. One of the pipes used to pump starship fuel from the reservoir below to the surface, for use in the spaceport above.

The only illuminating glow was from the two red Sith sabres, and Arren’s own violet one. The red twirled and shot forward, and Arren barely intercepted. She could sense where the blows would fall but each came so fast and hard it was all she could do to stop them. The red sabres hitting her own would rattle the impact up her arms and jolt her shoulders and slip her feet back a step each time. She would not hold long before she fell to the dark warrior.

The entry hatch had closed behind the Sith, separating Arren from her padawan outside, but she saw a hint of orange as the thick metal began to melt. Revan was cutting through. It would be slow work even for a lightsabre to cut out such thick metal walls, but she was coming.

That was hope. Arren couldn’t stand against this Sith alone, but the two Jedi together had pressed him. She just had to hold long enough for Revan to break in, and they could defeat this Sith together. Just a little longer.

Another flurry of strikes flew at her. Arren’s senses in the Force felt choked by the oppressive fury of her opponent. His face covered in that helmet formed a blank and lifeless skull from which she could read no thought but her own death.

Two red blades trapped her own between them and yanked Arren’s arm out to the side, and now exposed the Sith slammed his helmet into Arren’s head. She felt a jolt of pain as she stumbled backwards, then a searing burning white heat as the Sith cut across her body. Had she not already been falling backwards that cut would have cleaved her in two.

As it was, she fell to the floor, the metal strips of the grate digging into the back. With her fading consciousness, she saw the Sith above her, raising his blades to finish her. Her mind flooded with a wave of regret. She was sorry to the galaxy, for failing to stop this threat. She was sorry to Revan for not seeing her training through to its end. Most of all she was sorry to herself, for spending so many years holed up in the temple archives, for seeing so little of life in the time she had to live it.

Before the Sith blade fell, the entry hatch flew off the wall and hit him, knocking him aside. In through the gap rushed Revan, her efforts to cut her way in finally paying off. She took in the scene and pain and horror overtook her face when she saw Arren on the ground.

The Sith recovered from his hit, pushing aside the door that hit him and readying his two blades to battle Revan. The Padawan gripped her blue lightsabre steadily, her expression morphed into resolve and resolute anger at the man who hurt her teacher.

If anyone could face this foe, if any Jedi could vanquish this darkness, it was Revan. It was always Revan. Arren chose her padawan well.

Chapter Text

A fiery rage burned inside Revan. This man, this monster hurt Master Kae. Revan wasn’t even sure her master was alive or not. She couldn’t let him get away with that. Her training told her to douse the flames of her anger, but they burned so hot she couldn’t. Instead, she stoked them higher, revelled in the fury she felt at this beast, and embraced her instincts.

Revan rushed her enemy, and the Sith ran to meet her. Her wild overhead swing was caught between his two blades and turned, then those red sabres span and struck at her, making Revan stagger from the impact as the blocked them both together.

He matched her ferocity blow for blow, meeting aggression with aggression, fury with fury, strength with strength.

With two blades came a flurry of quick strikes that Revan scrambled to counter, and as she turned each swing aside, she flourished the last into a thrust which sparked off the Sith’s chest plate and made him step back and disengage.

The Jedi and Sith circled each other. Revan darted in first, and with her smaller more agile form she got between the Sith’s sabres, inside his reach enough to hinder him, and slipped her blade down one of his to spark off the armoured glove and slice through the hilt.

She got back out again before his wild retaliation could reach her. Her enemy’s left-hand lightsabre sputtered a weak red glow where she cut it, and the Sith cast it aside ruined. Had he not been wearing beskar gauntlets, Revan would have taken his fingers. Now she had only one blade to watch and contend with.

The combatants circled again, each wary of the other’s power but itching for the kill. Revan saw the Sith’s attack a split second before it happened, and blocking made her flinch on her feet and step back. One sword was easier to track than two, but with the strength of both arms behind it the blows fell even harder than they had before.

A side swipe wrenched Revan’s sabre out of her off hand as it was pulled all the way out to the right, and the Sith batted downward and viciously knocked it from her grip entirely. The blue blade shut off and the handle skittered on the floor.

Standing defenceless before her enemy, Revan tried to pull her lightsabre back to herself with the Force, but as it flew by the Sith he dismissively cut it out of the air, leaving Revan with two sparking broken pieces.

Revan backed up to the wall until she could retreat no further. Her enemy menaced towards her. The deathly aspect of that mask which plagued her dreams, lit only by the red glow of the lightsabre, would be the last sight she ever saw.

***

The ragged Cathar army was near wiped out. Outnumbered and outgunned, all they ever could have bought was time, and that time was nearly up.

To the Mandalorians, surrender was weakness, and Mandalorians abhorred weakness. A weak enemy deserved no mercy. Whether they fought or fled, the remaining Cathar were gunned down one by one. In minutes there would be none left.

But up above they heard they sound of salvation. The deafening roar of engines as a gleaming red and gold and white battleship swooped in from the sky, blotting the whole battlefield in its shadow. The thunderous blast of its turbo lasers sent basilisk droids burning from the sky.

Its belly opened and a swarm of troop transport gunships flew into the field, opening to evacuate the Cathar and deploy a legion of soldiers in bright uniforms coloured the same as their ship. It was the Mandalorians now who were surrounded and outnumbered and outmatched.

In the ships being evacuated, the exhausted Cathar looked from the view slits and saw four more ships hovering above the nearby city. The Republic was here. Help had arrived! They were saved! The Republic was here!

***

The Sith trailed the tip of his lightsabre on the floor behind him as he bore down on Revan. The red blade melted a jagged line in the grated floor. He approached slowly, savouring the kill.

Revan’s mind raced. Her final seconds of life stretched like each beat of her thundering heart was a cycle of the stars.

Damned impulsive fool, she silently berated herself. She made the exact same mistake duelling Ellin at the temple. Calling her disarmed lightsabre immediately just left her vulnerable. As the Sith closed in, Revan held her energy down, letting him approach slowly as he wished. A reckless charge would do no good, especially unarmed. She couldn’t bring down this armoured warrior with bare hands alone.

She had one option left. Master Kae’s lightsabre still lay where it had fallen from her hand. A chance Revan couldn’t waste. She had to wait for the exact perfect moment. Braced against the wall behind her and crouched low, ready to spring to action, Revan awaited her enemy.

The Sith warrior raised his lightsabre high, preparing a two handed cleave that would split Revan in half from head to hips. As the red blade reached its highest peak before coming down, Revan ducked and rolled to the side. With her senses working in overdrive, the split-second manoeuvre felt like moving through syrup. As her body evaded death, her mind called upon Arren Kae’s lightsabre, lifting it into motion with her.

Revan weaved out of her opponent’s reach and landed behind him, her master’s weapon already halfway to her hand. The hilt slapped into her palm just as the red Sith blade carved into the floor. In his eagerness for the killing blow against an enemy he’d thought helpless, the Sith had overextended.

Violet lightsabre shining in her grip, Revan span on her heels and whipped her blade with her, turning and slicing across in one fluid motion. Several thundering heartbeats passed. Revan faced her enemy’s back as he stood motionless. She dreaded she might discover it hadn’t worked. That he might turn to face her again. But after that moment passed, as if it took that long for the Sith to realise he had died, his head tumbled from his shoulders, and he toppled lifeless. His armoured body made a loud clang as it hit the metal grated floor.

Revan took a long breath. She watched the corpse for any sign it might move and live again, but as her racing heart began to slow, he stayed stiff and dead where he fell.

She shut off her master’s lightsabre and ran to Master Kae’s side, searching desperately for any sign of life. As Revan held her master’s hand, Kae took a shuddering breath. “Master!”

“Revan…?” Kae’s voice was strained and weak.

“I’m here Master,” Revan did her best to put on a brave face but couldn’t fight back tears, “It’s over.”

“You did it…”

“We did it!” This couldn’t just be her. Revan wasn’t ready to be alone yet. Master Kae has been her teacher and guide so long… she couldn’t leave Revan now. “Stay with me. Please…”

“You are the Chosen One, Revan… I always knew your destiny was… Proud of you, Revan. Proud of…” Kae’s voice trailed off and her eyes fluttered shut again.

Revan’s breath hitched a panicked sob, “No. Nonono,” she fumbled at her belt until she found her communicator and clumsily flipped it on. “Hello? This is Jedi Padawan Revan. Can anyone…? Hello?”

The communicator crackles to life. “Major Dodonna, Republic Scout Flotilla. What’s your situation Jedi?”

“My Master is injured. Need, um, need medical assistance and…”

“Stay calm. Give me your location. I’ll send a medic unit.”

She did, and she waited. The minutes were agonising, holding Kae’s limp hand until the unit arrived with Kolto packs and a stretcher. The medics checked Kae injuries quickly and then loaded her in the stretcher to carry away for treatment.

“Is she…” Revan tried to ask, “Will she…?” She couldn’t make herself say it.

One of the medical team stayed behind with Revan. “Your master’s going to be ok. You did well.”

Left in that chamber, though the medic tried to lead her away, Revan’s eyes kept being drawn back to the Sith corpse still lying nearby.

The medic said, “We’ll send another team down for the body. Must have been some Mandalorian to take on two Jedi at once.”

“He wasn’t a Mandalorian.” Revan made herself approach the body. She had to know for sure.

She knelt down and picked up the helmet, and the severed head of the Sith fell out of the bottom. Dark red skin, with spines jutting from the brow and fleshy mandibles hanging from the jaw. Pale yellow eyes stared lifeless up at her. The Sith were never destroyed as the Jedi believed. This one would be only the first of many.

Revan kept hold of the helmet, clutching it close to her chest. The red and grey visage called to her, and she found she could not let go. “Your team can take the body. This is mine.”

Chapter Text

The next days were a flurry of activity as the Republic set up a relief effort based out of the spaceport, and the surviving Cathar forced into hiding flooded in. The fleet distributed food and medical attention and made arrangements for the survivors to live on other worlds while their homes were rebuilt. After the miraculous defeat of the Mandalorians, the galactic senate had rushed to vote in support of Cathar joining the Republic.

Through all this Revan kept herself as busy as she could, finding whatever small ways she could to assist the relief effort. Handing out food and supplies in the makeshift camp that grew around the city. Anything to avoid lingering in her thoughts. She was in a fugue since the battle. Hardly speaking to anyone, going through the motions, carrying the fallen Sith’s helmet wherever she went. She refused to be parted from her grim trophy.

She visited her master as often as she could. Arren Kae was stable, and the doctors promised she was recovering, but she had yet to stir or wake. Revan noticed with some suspicion that the Echani Yusanis visited near as frequently as she did.

Revan returned her master’s lightsabre, and the Republic’s salvage team retrieved the broken pieces of her own for her. It felt strange to Revan, carrying a broken half hilt on her belt, but she was comforted to feel its weight there, and to have her crystal back to make a new weapon.

Three days after the liberation of Cathar, a delegation arrived from the senate and the Jedi order. Revan was one of the group who greeted their arrival, along with the Republic officer, the Cathar governor, and the Echani battlemaster. Her master should be standing here not her, Revan thought.

Leading the delegation was Supreme Chancellor Onir himself. The stately Ithorian greeted Revan first. As she formally bowed, he took one of her hands and eagerly shook it. He spoke in his deep voice and his translator repeated, “We’re most indebted to your bravery, young Jedi. You’ve done the Republic and your order proud.”

Revan tried a polite smile but felt too numb to muster it, “It wasn’t just me, Chancellor.”

The Supreme Chancellor was a busy man of course. He couldn’t waste time speaking with a Padawan, even if she was supposedly the hero of the hour. The Chancellor made his way to Governor Rhozo, congratulating him on his planet joining the Republic, and pledging support to rebuild Cathar and protect from such destruction ever occurring again.

While the politicking went on, Revan stayed to meet the Jedi Masters that had come.

The Masters whispered to each other as they disembarked, and Revan could not catch the full conversation, but she heard a little.

“…saw the autopsy. It’s clear the dark warrior was a Sith Lord,” Master Vash said to Master Vandar.

Vandar hummed his dissatisfaction. “A single Sith does make an army. We cannot know if this was the last of a dying breed, or the vanguard of a resurgent empire.”

“Did we cut the head from the beast,” Vash agreed, “Or merely sever one grasping tentacle.”

Revan gave a respectful bow to each as they disembarked the ship. “Master Vandar, Master Zhar, Master Kavar, Master Vash.”

Vash gave Revan a meaningful look, the edges of her mouth slightly upturned and a predatory glint in her eyes, “You seem to have done the impossible, just as I hoped, young Padawan.”

“Is this everyone who came?” Revan asked. She didn’t look forward to having only the stern looks of aged masters for company. She expected to find little comfort with them.

The out from behind Master Kavar ran a blur who loudly squealed, “Revaaaaannn!!!”

“Wh- Oof!” Revan nearly had the wind knocked out of her as she was tackled into a crushing hug by her friend Ellin. “I’m alright Princess. It’s ok.”

Revan’s numbed emotions thawed for the first time in days for the warmth she felt for Ellin. The reassurance of her presence. It was like Ellin knew just what Revan needed after what she’d been through. The Princess always had a way with reading people.

“Hmph. Don’t call me Princess,” Ellin pouted, but didn’t loosen her grip on Revan until Master Kavar came and pried his Padawan from Revan.

Revan reached out and ruffled Ellin’s hair, causing her to blush and try to reorder it. “Good to see you, Ellin.”

“I heard what happened to Master Kae and I just… I didn’t want you to be alone,” looking down embarrassed, Ellin finally noticed what Revan was carrying with her, “What’s that?”

“This?” Revan held up the helmet she took from the dead Sith and showed Ellin, “Took it off the Sith warrior we fought.”

“Sith? That can’t be possible…” Ellin looked to her master for reassurance, but Kavar and all the council members wore grave looks on their faces.

Master Zhar interjected the conversation before it could continue. “Padawan, a word in private.”

Zhar led Revan away from the delegation and into an empty hangar in the spaceport. The morning sun in the open far wall cast gold hues over the empty chamber.

“As we promised, the council has been deliberating on your advancement to Jedi Knight,” Zhar said, a note of disapproval in his voice. “Your achievements here merited consideration, but I do not agree with turning you loose upon the galaxy. You should be kept with the order at the temple to learn the discipline you will need for the destiny I fear is ahead of you.”

“Master Kae believed in me,” Revan said.

“You may yet be the Chosen One, but that remains to be seen. The future is a shifting thing, and I sense grave danger in yours,” Zhar pointed at the helmet still in Revan’s hands, “And you should turn that over to the order. It is a Sith artefact. It may be tainted with the dark side.”

“No, it’s mine,” Revan clutched the helmet closer to herself, “All you’ve said are your opinions, Master Zhar. Did the council make a decision or not?”

“I sense Arren’s defiance in you. You do not need that,” Zhar lectured, taking a long breath before admitting the news he came to deliver, “The Council has decreed you will be raised to the status of Jedi Knight. The trials will be waived in your case, vanquishing a Sith was considered test enough.”

It was what Revan always wanted, but she couldn’t bring herself to be excited for it after everything that had happened to her. She stiffly inclined her head in deference. “Thank you, Master Zhar.”

***

Arren Kae awoke in a sterile medical ward. Her body throbbed in dull pain, and looking down on herself she saw bandaging over most of her torso. She did not want to imagine the scars that Sith had left her.

Sat in the room with her, to Kae’s surprise, was Yusanis. He seemed settled in for a long wait, in the nearby chair reading reports on a data pad. Arren tried to sit up, wincing and hissing through her teeth as the movement tugged at her wounds.

“Easy there,” Yusanis got up from his seat to gently help Arren upright, “Don’t push yourself, you’re still healing.”

“Where’s Revan?” Arren asked.

“Your Padawan was here not long ago,” Yusanis answered, “she’s been beside herself knowing you were hurt. She left something for you.”

He handed her what looked at first like a short length of thin rope. Arren held it carefully in both hands as she realised the significance. It was a braid of Revan’s black hair, tightly wound, singed at one end where it was cut from her head by lightsabre. Her Padawan braid had been removed. “They made her a Knight. Just like she always wanted… and almost unheard of at her age. She’s going to be a remarkable Jedi.”

“You sound sad when you say that,” Yusanis noticed.

Arren softly sighed to herself. “She doesn’t need me looking out for her anymore. I couldn’t be prouder, but it’s difficult to say goodbye.”

“What will you do now?” Yusanis asked.

Arren wasn’t sure. The expected path would be to return to her regular duties as a Jedi historian, attending the archives. Sitting here listening to the steady beep of medical machinery, easy answers weren’t coming to her.

“I almost died in that battle,” Arren eventually said. She had seen war and death before, but never come so close herself. “It makes me wonder what more there is to life than what the order permits.”

Arren carefully tried to stand. Immediately Yusanis was at her side and steadying her.

“Careful,” he said, “Don’t push yourself. You need to recover.”

“If I recall, Battlemaster, you wished for one more duel.”

“You are not at your best.”

“Then perhaps this once you might win,” Arren coyly suggested, “with all that entails.”

***

Revan sat upon the top of the ruined husk of a building, her Sith helmet cradled in her lap. She looked down at the celebration in the streets below, and above as Republic star fighters flew overhead and dropped fireworks to burst into colour against the night sky.

The Cathar celebrated their survival, and their entrance into the protection of the Republic. Revan felt in little mood for a party. Every time she had left the temple to go out in the galaxy, she had been excited for adventure and discovery. After what this assignment had come to, she found herself craving the quiet. But Revan had a feeling she would have few opportunities for peace in her future.

The crowd was setting her on edge. The festivity gave her a thousand places to put her attention. Up here in the chill night air, distant from the lights and sounds, she found it easier to focus and feel the Force within her. And the warmth of another presence.

Her friend Ellin climbed up to sit over the ledge next to her. “So, Jedi Knight.”

“It doesn’t quite feel real,” Revan admitted.

“There’s no Padawan more deserving, you’ve always been our best. You’re amazing,” Ellin assured, “Sorry Malak couldn’t be here. He and Vrook left for Dantooine not long after you did. When I heard what happened to you and Master Kae… I just knew you needed the people who loved you with you.”

Revan tried not to be disappointed. She would have liked to see them both. But at least Ellin came. At least she had someone.

“Thanks Princess.” Revan ruffled Ellin’s hair.

Ellin blushed bright red with a flustered smile on her face, nervously twirling her finger around her Padawan’s braid. “D-don’t call me Princess.”

“I’m glad you’re here Ellin,” Revan said, “You’ve been a wonderful friend.”

“Yeah… friends…” Ellin trailed off and changed the subject. “What are you going to do now?”

After everything she had seen, Revan knew this wasn’t over. The battle was won. The war went on. The war the Jedi order had been fighting for Millenia.

“The Mandalorians are still ravaging the outer rim,” Revan said, and the Sith are behind it all, she thought, “I’m going to stop them.”

As Revan made her declaration, she gripped the helmet in her hands tighter. The one she couldn’t let go of since she took it. The one she claimed as hers. She lifted that mask, that dark visage, and put it over her face.