[fic] Star Wars: KotOR: Revelations Part One - The Echo of Revan

[The_Catto]

AN: I'm back, baby! And its been too long indeed! I just finished a run through of KotoR II (again!) and I have been inspired! So here is a start to a little something I plan to continue for a while. Updates may be sparingly (maybe once a week) but I will get them out as soon as I am able! Hope you enjoy and don't be afraid to comment!

 

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STAR WARS: THE ECHO OF REVAN

 

 

The Exile walked along the dark corridors of the Ebon Hawk and found himself standing in front of the person he least expected but was not entirely surprised to see.

 

“Traya,” he said, nodding at his former master.

 

“Exile,” her fragile voice responded. “It’s been some time.”

 

“Five years,” he replied; “if I remember correctly.”

 

“It is not something that will be likely forgotten, is it? You throwing my broken body into the very core of the place I loved and hated the most. Cliché and ironic, my failed apprentice.”

 

“Malachor was at the very centre of your heart,” said Jonas the Exile. “As it was the same with me; I guess that is how we connected as well as we did.”

 

Kreia looked at him, in the only way she could: through the Force. She could see the aura of his spirit, a dark greying tint with the slightest brush of red. A follower of the light, the Exile was not, but at his core, there was no pure evil either. There was no confusion in his thought, and for a moment, the Leader of the Sith Triumvirate was taken aback, but she did not show it.

 

“I always thought it would end the way it did,” she said. “The way it had to.”

 

“I don’t believe that,” said Jonas. “There was always that flicker of doubt. Don’t deny it because I saw it, every day. When you confessed to me you were the cast down Sith Lord, some doubt was revealed. You tried to hide it, my master. And you hid it well, from the others; not from me.”

 

“And still you argue,” she sighed.

 

Jonas smiled. “You taught me well, Master.”

 

“Not well enough, it seems,” she said.

 

Jonas’s smile turned into a frown. “What do you mean?” he asked.

 

“It has been five years, Exile, and what are you doing? You walk along the ghost trodden paths of companions long gone on this shell of a ship, traversing among forgotten hyperspace routes looking for signs of a long lost Hero of the Republic. She is gone, Exile; you know this.”

 

Jonas nodded, “but I will find her nonetheless. Her spirit is still here, Master. I can feel it, faint though it may be.”

 

“I fear your search may prove useless, my Apprentice,” said Kreia.

 

“May be you’re right,” he replied. “But my strength of will has yet to be broken. I will continue.”

 

“As you say,” said Kreia. “But know this: in the dark places of the Galaxy, where but only myths and legends tread, you may find yourself in some form of thought in which you cannot get out. Jonas, the Exile, that is your home for you; and as you were cast out of your family, you exacted your revenge, and instead of solace you found guilt, and remorse, and ever-deepening sorrow. I do not believe that this is the life you wanted, nor what you thought would ever happen to you. But alas, it is so. I love you, but I will never forgive you for what you have done, and what you plan to do. You are a gift to this galaxy, Jonas, just as you were a gift to me. But in throwing that away by searching for Revan, is a backhand to the face of the duties you owe this life. The people need you. Your allies need you; will you abandon them to pursue such useless naiveté?”

 

“’Useless naiveté’?” replied Jonas, raising an eyebrow. “If I recall, was it not a waste of time of letting everyone join me during my travels to find the Jedi Masters who exiled me?”

 

“I did not say it was a waste of time.”

 

“The intent was there though, my master.”

 

“There are no companions here, now, my apprentice.”

 

“Be that as it may, Darth Traya, I will still find Revan. I have to! She calls to me, I know she does, I have heard her!”

 

“You have heard her?” asked Kreia. “Or have you only heard the echoes of her in your mind? Something that you wish you heard? Some reason for you to get away and get back into your Exile once again? Something to get away from her maybe?”

 

“Don’t talk about her!” Jonas said heatedly. “I know who you mean, and I swear to you that she was not the reason for my leaving. I did hear Revan, and I loved Visas, but my heart will always belong to my Leader. She showed me what I had inside me, the power I wielded.”

 

“And what did that power grant you, may I ask?”

 

“It granted me the wisdom to slay my enemies and protect my friends.”

 

“And yet, once again, we travel back to the fact that neither, friend or foe, is here to occupy you at this time. Nor has there been any of the either for the past year. You travel from planet to planet, gathering supplies only when they are needed. But you are running out of credits, and most of all,

you are running out of time!”

 

“Why are you reminding me of all this?” cried Jonas.

 

“Why are you reminding yourself of it?” she corrected him. “We both know what is going on here; you are just too stubborn to realize it.”

 

“You have focused all on me since we’ve started this,” said Jonas. “Now it is time for you!”

 

Kreia tilted her head slightly to the side. “What do you mean, Exile?”

 

“This,” he said. “I don’t know much of your history, and I doubt you would tell me even if I asked. You were a teacher at the Academy, you trained Revan, along with his Others, and you recorded history in pages upon pages, this is all known. But how were you as a little girl, my master? What terrible fate pressed you in the darkness of your soul that made you end up pursuing the path of a dreaded Sith Lord? You know my path, let everybody know yours! They’re all here, whether you can see them or not! They want to know! They want to understand! They want to know why, how, where and when! It’s a difficult obstacle, isn’t it: the Truth. It can lay a blanket over you in the cold of night, or it can blast you into a million tiny pieces like a dreadnought turbolaser.

 

“You are what I never wanted to become! You blame the galaxy for your own shortcomings, and yet, you insist – no, you dare! – to place that blame, and that responsibility on my shoulders! I want to know why! I want to know how! How you can persist to live inside my mind after all these years and still terrify me in my sleep! You know the importance of my mission, the desperation, and you consider to show me how blind my sight truly has become! I had everything back on Dantooine! I know I did! The woman I loved, my own Enclave and a Jedi Council that worked together to bring peace not just to themselves, but to every individual in this bloated Universe! You do not need to prove it to me, Master, because I know the truth; I’ve known it since the day I said goodbye. I knew right there and then that I would never be coming back. I would never see my friends again; I would never see her, my love, again. But there was a chance that I could see Revan again and help her in what she wanted to do. You and I both know because we heard that same thing, all of those years ago. You taught me how to see with my sight and my Force. I heard the thrum of the Hyperdrive, I heard Atton play pazaak in his head, and I heard Brianna practicing.

 

“And I heard something else. Something faint, a flicker, like a single candle in the colossal chasm of darkness, and yet, I heard it! And you knew what it was right there, and yet you still didn’t tell me because you were so intent on using me for your own purposes! It was Revan! She was in trouble and she needed my help. It wasn’t until you lifted the cover over my eyes on Malachor, when I tossed your broken corpse into the Abyss, that I realized. And ever since then, I hated you. More than I ever thought possible. You said you loved me? It was a poor way to show it! And it wasn’t love. Not really; you loved me out of necessity, because you thought I was your only hope for Redemption. But after all, after everything that has happened, the irony is: you were right. I did save you. I saved you when I killed you! And I saved countless others because who knew when you would have stopped the tyranny?

 

“So this is it, Kreia, my Master, Darth Traya, Dark Lord of the Sith! You took my hope of ever finding peace when you made the decision to keep me from my true Destiny. I will continue on this wretched curse of a quest. I know she is dead, but like you and me, the Force never truly dies in a person and as strong a person as Revan in the Force, a trace gets left behind. Her Spirit lingers on, and if I can find that, maybe I can find the clues I need to discover what she was truly doing out here, in the Unknown Regions. I know that pains you, because it pains me as well, but if you have listened to anything I have said so far, you would know I do not care anymore. I don’t care!”

 

 

 

***

 

And with that, Jonas the Exile lunged at his dead masters spirit and seen it dissolve in his hands.

 

He felt no peace with the Silence that followed. Instead, a growing darkness crept up on him through the halls of the Ebon Hawk. For days, weeks, months he struggled. He didn’t know how much time had passed, he lost track of that long ago. But still, the human spirit is an extremely hard thing to kill. One thing is for sure though…

 

As he speeds through Hyperspace, meditating the time away, there was something still out here. In fact there were two things. The Echo of Revan, and The Taint of Evil. Something was at large out here, and he was intent on finding it. Even if, like Revan, it claimed his life…

[machievelli]

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[The_Catto]

CHAPTER ONE

 

 

 

Atton Rand, Master Jedi of the Dantooine Jedi Enclave surveyed his surroundings. Five years, he reflected, five years it had been since The Exile left on his mission and left the responsibility of restoring the Jedi Order to his companions. At first, Atton didn’t think it could be done, the rebuilding of the Enclave alone felt a monstrous task by itself let alone trying to find the people the occupy it.

 

That was before Visas travelled back to Onderon however. Whilst Atton, Brianna and Hanharr were at the Tomb of Freedon Nadd on Dxun, Visas, Kreia and Jonas were on Onderon quelling the War by fighting alongside of General Vaklu. They succeeded in overthrowing Queen Talia and taking out the Master Jedi that was with her. Atton knew that it had been that Jedi that felt closest to Jonas, and it was the hardest thing The Exile had to do during their Quest. Jonas was quieter after that.

 

And when Visas returned she informed Atton that the first batch of Force Sensitive’s would arrive within the month. That took Atton aback, because he didn’t know the deal Jonas had made with Vaklu. He admitted to himself it was a good idea; Atton was just thankful that Jonas didn’t demand a statue to be built in his image or something else from the sufferings of the delusions of grandeur.

 

The group arrived, but they weren’t what Atton expected to see. They were afraid. Because of the War of Onderon and the power Jonas unleashed against Queen Talia’s soldiers, these people thought the Force User’s they were being sent to were of the ones who bought Vaklu’s allegiance before the End of the war. It took a considerable amount of time to prove their thoughts otherwise. Atton and the others taught them about the Light and Dark Sides of the Force. How there would always be the Shadow; ready to strike out at any possible moment and that they, the Jedi, needed to be ready. They told them how difficult a path of the Jedi could be, but unlike the Sith, if any of them chose to leave, it would be granted and met without hesitation without any thought for rebuke. Only a few of them decided to leave, which Atton was very thankful…

 

 

The first year was focused solely on the rebuilding of the Enclave. They worked day and night, split shifts, hours and hours of backbreaking work. By the end of the year, the work was almost completed. Much to the relief of students and teachers alike. The second year was more knowledge based. The Companions took a class of students to themselves and went on missions to various planets to retrieve artefacts, datapads, anything that told them about the Force and the Jedi of old. Ossus, Coruscant, they scoured everywhere they could get to; there were no shortage of rumours of Holocron’s either. When word got out that Jedi had once again occupied the ruins of Dantooine, messages flooded in from all over the galaxy. Some legit and some were just a plain waste of time. But they struggled on, and after a while everything started to fall into place.

 

The next few years, the teachers learnt more and the students progressed further in their own knowledge, and soon even Atton had to admit it started to look more and more like a proper enclave. It was an amazing achievement, and everything was going to plan… that was until a few months ago anyway. There had been no news of Jonas, no reports of his whereabouts, no sightings of the Ebon Hawk; nothing. And Visas was getting irritated. She missed him, Atton knew – Force, they all did, but there was nothing they could do except what he asked of them and they knew it. But Visas determinedly ignored Atton’s warnings and took a shuttle from Khoonda Spaceport. She said she would first go to Telos, to see Carth Onasi, of all people! Why that would help, Atton didn’t know and didn’t ask. If she wanted

to go chase ghosts, go for it, he had bigger problems to attend to.

 

“Master Rand?” piped up a voice, bringing Atton out of his reverie.

 

“Yes, Hasim?” he replied, looking down at the short, mousy haired human teenager in front of him.

 

“Master, a message has come through in the Comm Room and it is requested for your eyes alone.”

 

“Thank you, Hasim,” said Atton. He watched the lad go and frowned. A few years back, he would never have had thought of himself as a Jedi Master. He still didn’t if he was to be honest with himself. But the responsibility and pressure of having the hopes of hundreds of young Padawan’s and Apprentices on his shoulders seemed so heavy sometimes. But the joy of seeing their eyes light up when they manage to first levitate their first rock, or Force Push their first stone block into the correct space on the board out in the Training Courtyard pushed those doubts out of his mind. This wasn’t the Atton he remembered; the wise-cracking, blaster whipping, ready for the quick score Atton Rand that managed to land himself in nearly every single Force Cage in the blasted galaxy, but even though most of that side of his persona was gone, he liked to think it evolved into what he was today.

 

 

He made his way to the Communication Room and stood in front of the holoprojector. The room emptied and he activated the message.

 

“Master Jedi,” said the holo of a man in a military uniform. “My name is General Hakaz Iramund; I am in charge of the Section 1A Security Force on Telos IV. Carth Onasi requested I contact you immediately in regards to another Jedi who visited our Orbital Station not too long ago. However, he also requested that instead of discussing this information over holo, could your make your way to Telos and we will confer in person?”

 

“Good day to you,” said Atton, raising his eyebrow. “I’m well, General; how is the weather there?” He shook his head slightly. “I’m sorry, General. I’m just a little on edge at the moment. The Jedi you mentioned, she has not been heard from for some time and I’m worried about her. But please, tell me what the information Carth Onasi wants me to hear. This is a secure channel, I assure you.”

 

“I am sorry, Master,” replied General Iramund. “But Carth said you must travel here in person; no channel is secure enough for this information.”

Onasi is a persistent one, Atton thought. “Very well, General,” he sighed. “Tell Carth I will be on the next available shuttle and I will see him as soon as I can.”

 

The Generals shoulders seemed to slump a little as he smiled and saluted Atton. “Good news, sir! We look forward to your arrival!” The holo shuttered and dimmed, then switched off completely.

 

Considering the last time I was on Telos and you had me locked in a Force Cage, I daresay you will be looking forward to my visit. He sighed and turned around. “I have a bad feeling about this,” he said.

 

 

 

*

 

 

 

“Atton, are you sure about this?” asked Brianna.

 

“I am,” he replied. “I will go to Telos and see what this information Carth Onasi has about Visas. And of The Exile. Visas must have known something we didn’t if she went straight to Carth, and now that he has requested to see me…. It’s just a riddle that I need solved.”

 

They were in the Council Chambers and seated there were Atton Rand, Brianna the Handmaiden, Mira, Bao-Dur, and a Duros called Shamiz Ferlande.

Shamiz was on Dxun in hiding when the Sith struck there looking for the Tomb of Freedon Nadd. After Atton and the others journeyed there, Shamiz heard the echo of battle and felt the cleansing of the Temple. He went in search of the people who did this, but by the time he reached Onderon, Jonas and his companions had left. It wasn’t until three years ago the he heard about the Rebuilding of Dantooine and he applied for a position there. Before the Fall, he was a Jedi Knight and was on a mission for Master Zhar when news of Malak’s treachery reached Shamiz. He felt the Death of the Force and stumbled into Exile. He learnt when he made it back to his Home on Dantooine, that he was not the only one. But Shamiz felt that he was not able to reconnect himself to the Force as well as Jonas had. He pledged himself to the Teachings of the New Order and became the first one to reach the rank of Master after helping resolve a Government Coup on Gyndine. He wanted to meet this Jonas if he was ever able to and try and learn from him the secrets of the Force. Why he had managed to pull himself back so easily. It was a promise Shamiz only kept to himself, but he hoped that one day, he would be able to fulfil that promise.

 

“I agree with Atton,” he said. “Visas knew something, but did not tell anyone else her fears. As always, she took them on herself and went without help. It was a silly thing to do, granted, but she is a Jedi Master of this Enclave and her whereabouts are top priority.”

 

“Indeed they are, Master Ferlande,” replied Brianna. “But I am only taking a stand on this because I feel that Atton should not be going alone. No matter how safe Carth Onasi believes Telos is. I lived there for a time, and it is anything but safe.”

 

“You lived in the Polar Region,” Atton reminded her. “I know the Station isn’t all that safe, but I am a Jedi and I have the Force at my side.”

 

“At least take your Apprentice with you,” said Mira. “She is dying for a mission and you promised to take her on a trip when the opportunity arose.”

 

“A trip and a mission are two completely different things,” said Atton. “But I feel you may be right on this; Sheliah needs to be tested, and I suppose a simple Recon Mission should be a stepping stone in helping her achieve her Trials. I will bring her with me. If that is everything…” he glanced around at the Council and all nodded their heads. “Council adjourned. I will leave within the hour and I hope an answer to these riddles will be found. May the Force be with us all.”

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

‘Help me…’

 

She was in a dark cell. Dark, cold, damp…. Her skin tingled and prickled with Fear, but her eyes; the Force, shown her no proof that any living thing was close at hand. She sat in the corner and pulled her knees up to her chin and started to meditate. Hoping beyond all possible hope that someone would hear her call, someone would come and help her, someone… Anyone…

If only she had Him with her…

 

“My life, for yours,” she whispered into the Darkness.

[The_Catto]

CHAPTER TWO

 

“Telos IV,” said Atton, more to himself than anyone else. They were on the Passenger Shuttle that debarked from Khoonda a few days ago and were finally on the descent into the Station.

 

“I remember you have said you have been here before, Master,” replied Sheliah.

 

Atton looked at her. She was turning twenty-one standard years of age in a few months, but already she had come so far in her knowledge of the Force that Atton saw in her the Potential, just how Jonas must have saw in him. He took her under his guard and proceeded to teach her everything he knew. She was a bright student, and quite the courageous and hot-tempered woman he was usually attracted to. But Atton was not attracted to her in a physical sense; it was her mind that lured him to her side. There was no bond except that of a Teacher and Student. It was something Atton enjoyed. She had long dark hair that fell down past the middle of her back, tied into a long single braid. She wore the standard brown robes of a Jedi Knight, and the fire in her bright green eyes reminded Atton of himself when he was younger. She was more of a student to him, she was a friend. And that made him certain that he would teach her everything she had to know to survive in this dangerous galaxy.

 

“Yeah,” he said, “although it seems like a lifetime ago.”

 

“In a sense it was,” she replied.

 

Atton smiled. “I guess it was,” he said; “a life that’s too far away to reach back to now, even if I wanted it; I like this life, and what we’re doing now. There are some things that you need to know before we land however.”

 

Sheliah looked at him attentively and nodded. Atton continued, “as we land, we will be greeted by the TSF, and if we’re lucky we won’t be sent to a Force Cage,” he smirked at her confused expression. “We will be taken to a meeting room, I expect. I will do the talking, you’ll observe. We’ll meet with Carth, find out what he knows about Visas and we will decide what to do from there. If all goes to plan, we’ll be gone from this place before the setting of the Sun.”

 

Sheliah nodded, and Atton looked out of the small viewport. He didn’t tell his Apprentice about the darkening pit in his stomach that twisted itself into more of a knot with each passing moment. His bad feelings have always served him well in the past; he just hoped that this one was wrong…

 

 

*

 

 

Carth Onasi, Admiral of the Republic Fleet and Companion of Revan put down the datapad he was holding and looked at the security officer that had just entered his office.

 

“Sir!” the security officer saluted. “Jensen Ghorn, TSF. The shuttle holding Master Jedi Atton Rand and his Apprentice has docked in Bay 0014.”

 

Carth nodded. “At ease, Ghorn. Thank you for the message. See to it that they are brought to me here immediately. I wish to speak to Rand at once.”

 

“As you say, Sir,” replied Ghorn. He saluted once again, turned and left the room.

 

Carth sighed and leaned back into his chair. He wasn’t exactly sure how this was going to go; Rand was an unknown to him. He’d seen him once or twice during the Fight For Telos when the Sith Lord, Darth Nihilus attacked, but he hadn’t had the chance to speak with him. But he had spoken with Visas and The Exile, and he had liked Visas, even though she was a little different that most people. That made him make sure that Rand knew what he knew. It wasn’t much, to be honest, but hopefully it would help in the coming days…

 

 

 

Half an hour passed and Carth heard the incoming alert that he had visitors. He sat down at his desk and admitted the new arrivals.

 

Jensen Ghorn, Atton Rand and his Apprentice entered. Carth smiled and rose from his chair and shook the Jedi’s hand. Ghorn left the room.

 

“A pleasure to meet you, Master Rand,” said Carth. “And this is…?” he gestured towards the woman standing in front of him.

 

“Sheliah Myrzene,” answered Atton. “My Apprentice.”

 

“Pleasure,” said Carth as shook Sheliah’s hand.

 

“Likewise,” she replied. “I’ve heard a lot about you, Admiral. I did not think I would ever meet you.”

 

“Trust me,” said Carth, smiling. “Whatever the HoloNet has reported about me, most of it probably is exaggerated, I assure you. Now,” he looked back to Atton. “I am sure you are wondering as to why I asked you to come here in person?”

 

“Just a little bit,” answered Atton. “It must be important.”

 

Carth nodded and gestured for the two Jedi to have a seat. “It is,” he said. “About two months ago, a shuttle docked here in Docking Bay 0014. You may remember it.... In any case, it was reported that a Jedi Master had landed and would like an audience with me. I accepted, if only to see which Jedi Master it was and it turned out to be Visas Marr. We had a meeting in this very office and she disclosed to me that she was on a mission of great importance. She was on the path to finding Revan and the Jedi Exile. I was curious and asked her why she had come to me, of all people.

 

“She replied in saying: ‘of all people, Admiral Onasi, you were one of the very few who knew Revan best. She and the Exile share a bond, one that I myself could never hope to comprehend, but I travel through these stars in search of clues nonetheless. It is my understanding that Telos IV once housed a Jedi Master in secret, whether the government on this planet knew it or not.’”

 

Carth looked at Atton. “This was where I started to pay more attention. I had reports of a hidden enclave somewhere in the Polar Region, and I even heard the Exile mention it when the Sith were attacking, but I took less notice than what I should have it seems. In any case, Visas continued to say: ‘Jedi Master Atris was here, but I was on the station when Jonas ventured back to her and I do not know the full account of what occurred, but I do know she housed some artefacts that I wish to acquire and examine. I ask for your leave to search the Polar Region for Atris’s hidden base. This is your planet, Admiral. I am a Jedi, not a smuggler, I do not wish to trespass…’ – This was refreshing, I assure you Master Rand, for not many people who come here are that courteous. I allowed Visas full access to our systems and docking bays, I only asked that she made regular scheduled reports on her progress and well-being. I received numerous reports for many days, until suddenly, there was silence. I began to worry and sent some officers to investigate. They never returned. I sent a squadron of fighters to the Polar Region in search of our missing companions and they reported back saying that there was smoke and debris where a shuttle had once clearly been. No sign of a base could be found.”

 

Carth looked at Atton and his apprentice. “This is where I decided to make the call. I am no Jedi, but I am an officer of the Republic. I serve what I think is right for my people and I believe that something very strange is afoot here and I beg you to investigate. I can not spare the resources at the moment no matter how much I would like to. Will you help us in uncovering this mystery?”

 

Atton glanced at Carth and then to Sheliah. It only took him a second to decide.

 

“Yes, Admiral,” he said. “We will help. Even now, I sense something is not right here. We will do our best to discover the answer to the riddles. We will leave immediately.”

 

They all stood and Carth reached out and shook Atton’s hand. “Good luck, Master Jedi. I fear the worst, but hopefully this time I will be proved wrong.”

 

“Likewise,” replied Atton. “May the Force be with you.”

 

“And you too,” said Carth, as he watched the Jedi leave his office.