Betrayal and Renewal part one

Betrayal

Danika

We retraced our steps, and this time the mammoth door opened with a smooth hiss. I ran up the ramp, and as I did, I felt a chill. Something awaited me at the top of the temple, and it resonated in my heart.

The upper door opened, and I felt the worry increase. There was an opening leading onto the landing of the pinnacle, and I felt the dread build until I could not stand it. The others felt it too. Juhani was, to pardon the expression, as jumpy as a cat.

I stepped out into the sun, and there ahead of me, I could see the fighter that had come down the night before. A woman stood beside it, and I didn't need to see her to know who it was.

Bastila. She wore the robes of a Dark Jedi, and as she saw us coming she lit her lightsaber. The fiery red of the blade just verified that she had gone over to the dark side.

'Bastila!' Juhani cried.

'Don't move Juhani.' I said softly.

Bastila approached. She had never looked more beautiful, and I dreaded that beauty. She smiled one of the first smiles I had seen that wasn't shadowed by her own worries.

'Revan. I knew you'd come for me. Malak was sure you would be afraid to enter the temple, but I know you so much better than he does since you have changed.'

'Bastila, hurry, we must escape before Malak arrives.' Juhani said. She hadn't noticed the change.

Bastila looked at her with pity. 'Escape? You don't understand. I have sworn allegiance to Malak and the Sith. I am no longer a pawn of the Jedi Council.' She smiled again. 'But you knew that Revan.'

'Don't go over to the dark side.' I whispered.

She laughed. 'You speak as if the Dark side were some ravenous beast! The Jedi council must really approve of my work. You are a properly programmed drone willing to spout what they say. They fear the dark side not for what evil it might do but for the power they could attain if they only grasped it! Instead they run from it like frightened children, and use their own skills to yoke those with the most power to their own outmoded ideals.

'Why do you think they forbid you and Malak from joining in the Mandalorian wars? They knew that you would have the veil ripped from your eyes. You would see the world as it really is! You would recognize your true potential and form your own union of other Jedi that have done so. Malak has shown me that the Council was using me the same way they had wanted to use you. They have been holding me back because they know I will surpass them all one day!'

'Don't do this, Bastila.' I reached out. 'You can return to the light.'

'Don't make me laugh! Return to that narrow cage they kept me in?' She shook her head. 'I resisted at first, as I should according to the Jedi. I endured torment with all of the serenity they teach. I finally cut the link between us because you were hindering me. That's right, hindering! Your own darkness called to me, and it was helping Malak!

'But I learned. After a week of agonies, I became angry, and he showed me what anger could do. I broke the chains they bound me with and he applauded my efforts! He forced me to acknowledge my pain, my anger. He showed me how those things the Jedi fear most would liberate my mind and soul. Then he showed me how the Jedi Council was denying me what is mine by right!

'Oh they were happy to use my battle meditation to win their battles, but for what purpose? Merely to return those idiots they call senators to their seats, to allow chaos and bloody-mindedness to wreak havoc. They were jealous of me, of my power that none of them had. If they could have, they would have ripped it from me for their own use. Instead they treated me like a child too stupid to move her hand from a burning fire. I was to bow and scrape to them, obey every word as writ. Yet all they wanted from me was that battle meditation!'

'You know that's not true. Those are lies.'

'Ha! You're the one living a lie, Revan! The Jedi council was happy when I had put your mind together, think how they must have felt when I delivered a woman with all of the Force capability you possessed! A willing drone that would fight and die like a toy soldier. A slave!

'You used to be the Lord of all the Sith. Now all you are is an expendable pawn they can send on a suicide mission. I was like you until Malak freed me. A pity your power has waned so much since then. You could be as strong as I am this very moment, perhaps even stronger! But that will never happen now. With the Star Forge at his command, Malak will sweep away the anarchy of the Republic, and install an order of the strong and obedient. He will conquer the Galaxy! I shall be at his right hand, and together we shall create a new order spanning the Millennia! But first I must rid myself of one thing.

'Break the bond.'

'I will not.' I shook my head. 'If there is any way to return you to the light, I will need that.'

'Fool! If I kill you, it will be broken, if you kill me it will be broken!' She struck at my head. I blocked her blow, and she leaped back.

'Jolee, Juhani, stay back.' I warned. 'I promise, Bastila, that if kill you I must, it will be quick.'

She laughed. 'Feel the power!' She screamed. Force lightning leaped out, and both Juhani and Jolee were blown back off their feet into the wall. I staggered backward, but blocked the blows she aimed at me. Then I reached out, picking her up like a toy and slamming her into the opposite wall. The lightning died, and my companions collapsed to the stone. I wanted to run to her side, make sure she was all right, but if I had, I would have failed. I knew that now. The last battle for my soul was being fought here, and she was the only thing that could drag me down. Malak had sensed it somehow.

Bastila shook her head, then sneered, standing again. 'You are stronger than I would have thought possible after what the Jedi Council and I had done to you.' She smiled again. 'Malak was wrong, the dark side is still strong in you, Revan.'

'I am not Revan any more.' I said softly. 'You made sure of that Bastila when you redeemed me. I am Danika Wordweaver Jedi and Consular now and forever.'

'You can lie to yourself, but not to me. I have seen the shadows of anger and hate you close up in that little box in your mind. I know the truth. Remember, I am the one that put your mind together after the battle. I used the Force to remake your life! I did not the Council! All they did was poke and prod at what I had done afterward!'

'And you linked to my mind when you did.' I said.

'Yes! And that link will survive as long as we let it.'

'It is through our bond that I know you will come back to the light, Bastila.'

'Those aren't your true feelings, Revan.' I saw the bathing pool, Bastila cuddled in my lap, all of the desire, the passion, yes, the love in that embrace. She was sending it down the link to me, making me see it from her view as well. 'You wanted me! The Jedi council would never have sent us on this mission if I had told them of that! The Jedi used me, and I used you to make an instrument for them to strike at Malak. I was as wrong as they were!

'The council wanted to use that bond. They hoped that I could draw out the information they needed about the Star Forge. We were both slaves to their will as all Jedi are! But in that bond, I felt the taint of what drew you to the dark side. Not power for it's own sake, but your own compassion for the downtrodden. The desire of a premier warrior to end war forever! Such a farce denying your skills and the arena to use them in the same thought. Even I can see how stupid that is.

'It wasn't Malak that brought me to the dark side, Revan, it was you. Your darkness came from all that love you could never have, all that repugnance at things you can't change as a Jedi, but could as a Sith Lord. I resisted all of that, but I resist no more!' She bowed mockingly. 'I thank you for striking the scales from my eyes and making me see the truth.'

'If you saw the truth in my mind you must also have seen my mistakes.' I pressed. 'Learn from them!'

'Mistakes?' She laughed. 'No, my dear Revan. The only mistake you made in your life is the one you're making now. You are denying yourself the power that was yours by right. And it still is your power, not Malak's. Only now, facing you in combat do I see the truth.

'Your deserve to be the true Lord of the Sith. Malak will destroy the galaxy trying to win it. All you wanted was to save it. All he wants is to rule it. Join me.' She reached out her hand, and I suddenly saw how close she had come during that speech. I could almost feel her touch on my face. I wavered. I could join her, I could be with her, I-

Mission screaming as she died.

-I backed a step.

'Take my hand, accept your fate! We can destroy your old apprentice. Join with me now and regain your identity, your life, your position!'

'I am not Revan any more!' I stepped back again. 'I have no memory of what I once was!'

'Your mind was shattered by the damage, Revan. You may not remember who you were, but I know you remember what you were. The essence of the woman that led the Sith is still there!

'Once long ago you defied the Jedi Council. You freed yourself from their control, and see what you have wrought! The largest Sith fleet in history is in orbit of the Star Forge, awaiting your command to attack! Together we can retake that power, and fling it in the Jedi Council's face.'

'No.' I shook my head. 'I will not slaughter billions to undo what you did Bastila. You saved me, please let me save you.'

'Bastila, it is not too late to be saved.' Juhani cried. 'Remember the teachings of the order. You can find your way back to the light. Let Danika help you as she did me!'

Bastila looked scornfully at Juhani. 'You are beneath my contempt, Juhani. When you felt the stirring of the dark side, you could have gloried in it, you could have slaughtered the masters of the Dantooine council itself. Instead you ran away and hid in a cave like the animal you are. You know nothing of the Dark side, or it's potential.'

Juhani retreated stricken.

'She is my friend, Bastila. Leave her alone.'

'Oh yes the famous 'Revan' speaks again. You always considered those around you as your possessions, didn't you?' Bastila asked sweetly. 'Well this little slave has broken free of your chains! You can join me as a partner, or you can die. I will not be a slave to your will any more.'

'Ask Juhani if she is a slave, or Zaalbar. Both know the meaning of the term. I defend my friends because that is what a friend does.' I sighed. 'Revan is no more, Bastila.'

'You pathetic fool!' Bastila raged. 'We could have ruled the galaxy together! Instead Malak will crush the Republic, slaughter the Jedi like the cattle they are, and I will be at his side when it happens!

'I find it ironic that you could have saved yourself all the pain that is to follow, but think on this, my dear Revan. To keep the bond now is madness for you! I was dragged into the dark by your own darkness, and if I live I will drag you back to the darkness as you did to me! Think of that when we launch our attack!' She reached out, and all three of us were picked up and slammed into the walls. She spun on her toes and raced to the fighter. We had barely reached our feet when it lifted off. Bastila waved mockingly, and then we were slammed down as she went supersonic.

I watched the fighter disappear in the distance, and my heart was torn in two. When next we met, I would be forced to kill her. Not because I wanted to, but because she didn't want what we already had. I went to the computer console, and activated it. I felt the temple screen die, and the disruptor field went down. I stepped back, and my lightsaber blade shattered the console. The self-repair could rebuild it, but it would take time. Time when any attempt to restore it would be in vain. We ran from the temple parapet, and down through the structure. There wasn't much time.

Circumstances

Carth

We had seen the Sith fighter rip past at supersonic speed, and everyone tensed. It could have blown us away sitting on the beach, but the pilot didn't notice, or worse yet, didn't think we were important enough.

'Carth? Check the repeater.' Mission shouted. I switched the screen to the senor array. A huge portion of the fleet was leaving their orbit. Almost all of them were the Rakata designed ships. As we watched, they leaped into hyper.

'Where are they going?'

'I don't know.'

I bit my lip. From here half the Galaxy was within striking distance in just a few days. I hoped that whatever the Republic would send wasn't supposed to be guarding their target.

'People coming down the path Canderous shouted. I flicked to that screen instead. Jolee Juhani and Danika had stopped outside the weapon's perimeter. I shut down the intruder system, and cracked the hatch. We all gathered at the ramp. Sasha charged through all of them and bulleted into Danika's arms. They hugged, but I could see that Danika was haunted.

'You're back!' I shouted. 'What happened inside the temple?'

'We fought Bastila.' Juhani said. She looked even more haunted than Danika.

'Fought her? But why?'

'She has turned to the dark side, Carth.' Danika said. 'She fled to the Star Forge.'

'No! How could that happen!'

Jolee shook his head sadly. 'She was always in danger of falling to the dark side, Carth, as are we all. Bastila is strong, but she is also headstrong and impatient. Malak preyed on her weakness. Where he had her didn't help.' He waved at our surroundings. 'This place has been under a pall of darkness for millennia. Throughout the reign of the Rakata, and sealed when they fell over 20,000 years ago. It has seeped into the ground itself. The Star Forge and the temple has twisted the Force into a giant dark sucking mass that draws in everything, and spits it out tainted, Just as Malak did the same to Bastila.'

'But she can be saved.' Danika said. Jolee looked at her sadly.

'Malak has too strong a grip on her now. It will be difficult to break her free, especially considering the long association you have had with both. Remember, she created the bond between you to save that last spark of life and kindle it into what you are now. Through that bond she touched the you that existed before and especially the dark taint within you.'

'But there's still hope, isn't there?' I waved at Danika. 'Revan was saved, can we deny Bastila that same chance?'

'We will try.' Danika set the girl down. 'I will try. I will not let her be dragged away from us.'

'I do not know what fate awaits us all, but I sense Bastila has a role to play yet.' Juhani said. 'I have no doubt that she will be waiting for us on the Star Forge when we arrive.'

'No doubt.' I said. 'We had best get off this planet before she calls in a larger reception committee.'

We ran aboard the ship. I reported the departure of one of the Sith fleets and Danika nodded.

'Good, less of them to run through to get to the Star Forge.' She said.

'Wait a minute! The ship is fast and we are pretty well armed, but against a hundred or more ships? We don't stand a chance!'

'We will get through because it will tickle Malak's vanity. I intend to broadcast that I am aboard, and that this is between my apprentice and me. The Sith will understand and back off. No one interferes between a duel of succession.'

'Then, you're going to go back to the dark side.' My fingers brushed my holstered pistol.

'No, Carth.' She shook her head. 'I have a way to destroy the Star Forge, or at least severely weaken it. But I must be aboard for that to happen.' She looked haunted. 'Even if I have to die in the attempt.' She smiled sadly. 'Trust me for just a little longer, my friend.'

'Well no one said we'd live through this, did they?' I asked with a chuckle.

'That is what all people forget.' She said. 'No one gets out of life alive.'

She stood. 'Take us up.'

Ebon Hawk staggered a bit, and I set the auto-compensate system. As we roared up out of the atmosphere, I felt it smoothing out.

'Carth!' Mission screamed. I flicked to the senor screen, and felt my blood run cold. Almost a hundred ships had appeared in space, and they were coming toward us at high speed. The damn fleet had returned!

A moment later, another massive trace appeared. Before I could curse the IFF read their transponders. I whooped in joy. 'It's the Republic fleet!'