Aaron LightBlade, General of the Republic, Verse II

Gray smoke drifted from the overhead panels as Aaron opened his eyes. Instantly, he felt that their momentum had stopped and that they were stationary, or had landed, and that the ship no longer rocked in the energies of the wormhole they had just passed through. Rolling onto his side, he resisted the urge to wretch, his faculties soon returning as he levered himself onto his feet, a wave of dizziness soon passing. Looking out the cockpit canopy, he saw a strange hangar outside, a large, somewhat humanoid robot...armor...giant...filling his view. Taking in the bridge, he saw Lored still sitting in the pilot's seat, her head lolling, her helmet still in place, Calia releasing the harness that held her as Adabu groaned and began to come around. Stepping forward, he hit the emergency lockdown button and moved to Lored's side. Looking at Calia and the blaster rifle she held ready, he made several quick hand gestures she had taught him and pointed down the hallway of the Galaxy Tiger.

Check it out. No coms. Let's play dead.

She nodded and moved off as he tended to Lored and then moved to the two fallen guards, Aprbi and Lanca. Adabu was already running a systems check. Checking on the two women, he found them no worse for wear, all of them stunned, but none seriously injured. Thinking to use his Force Healing, he discovered that none of them required it, the nausea and dizziness quickly evaporating as they gained their feet. Calia came back in and gave him a positive nod of her head to let him know that none of the others were seriously injured and that the ship was secure. Having dealt with those in the cockpit, Lored being the last to come around, he took the time to look out the blast shield, this time doing more than checking if they were in imminent danger. In some ways, he was reassured and in others, not so much. As he watched, their ship was surrounded by strange men in strange uniforms, some vaguely reminiscent of the Sith, others totally unknown. Taking them in, he caught the barest hint of another ship peeking around the nose of the Tiger, but that was all that it took. With a grim smile, he recognized the Ebon Hawk.

Looking over his shoulder at the emotionless mask of Calia, he said, 'It looks like we found what we were looking for.'

Looking where he indicated with his eyes, she responded in that masked, mechanical voice. 'Looks like.'

Angel's eyes snapped open as the wave of precognition swept through him. Before he had even moved, he felt the Rift slice open and the hum of the tractor beam snap into existence. Feeling the pulse of the Keep that he knew so well, he waited for the impact, but it never came, the screeching that was so obvious to him not disturbing his companion who shifted in her sleep but didn't awaken. As the shrieks became a whine and then a reassuring hum, he listened intently to the bays begin to open and the subtly shifting drone of the tractor guiding an object into the hangar. Hearing the impact, the slow settling of whatever it was being guided into the bay, he imagined he could smell the smoke drifting up from four levels down into his private suite above his office. With all of the filtration that took place, he knew that couldn't be the case, but the reality was that he smelled the ozone, tasted the smoke, and was unsettled by it anyway. Shifting ever so slightly, he shushed the warm woman next to him, sliding his arm from beneath her resting head, her nerves over the past weeks relaxing into a coma like sleep, the safety of the Keep allowing her to relax without fear of attack. Sliding out of bed and standing, full wakefulness being replaced by full watchfulness, Angel looked down at Adria even as he reached for his pants and then his weapons. Even asleep, her beauty was nearly unmatched, even by the most stunning Tintallin or Khanishan, her normally seductive yet complex demeanor replaced with a near innocence that he knew was beguiling even as it was attractive, stirring briefly only to relax back into a quiet sleep as he shushed her and told her everything was o.k. Even this was revealing, the omnipresent Force showing that it wasn't omniscient in its alertness or chose to hide the arrival that sent shockwaves through his system. All encompassing the Force may be, but it chose its moments and this wasn't one of them.

Settling the communicator in his ear, he listened to the communiqués that darted back and forth between his control room and his security. They prepared but seemingly unwilling to engage that which faced them, this still a new experience to them all. Angel was still amazed at how this could have missed so many even as it added credence to his growing suspicion of what was happening. If the Force were real, and he had no reason to believe it was not based on Bastila and Adria's first hand accounts, then it had chosen now to reveal something to the 'other side,' the Republic, Adria and her teammates, that was only now becoming evident to Angel and his staff of experts at the Keep. On the other end, a random Rift moved through the space of the Republic and who knew where else. On this one, it was solidly anchored and had all the appearances of not moving for now or possibly forever. If what he believed was true, the Keep now had, or always had, an anchored Rift right on their doorstep and they had never imagined it was there. The unwelcome chill that crawled his spine at the thought made him visibly shiver. He was glad no one was there to see it.

Dressing, he interrupted the chatter, silencing all other traffic. Taking a deep breath, he said, 'I'm on my way. Secure,' he paused and then continued, 'and suppress whatever you've caught. I'll be there in a minute.' With trepidation, he stepped on the elevator and began to chant an all too familiar chant. I will not fear. Fear is the mind killer. Fear is the little death... It wasn't helping.

Aaron stood at the top of the Tiger's ramp as it lowered to the deck of the hangar. The ramp hit the deck with a clang, roiling through the ship. Stepping down the ramp, flanked by his Mandalorian troops, he went to meet their welcoming committee, or their captors. Taking six measured steps off the bottom of the ramp, he looked around at the helmets and visors meeting his own unreadable gaze. Pausing to take in the variety of soldiers that faced him, some in full combat mode, others looking like they had been summoned at a moments notice, and still others that were as rag tag as the Valkyrs had been the first time he had seen them, they all had one thing in common. They all looked dangerous.

Formulating what to say and how to proceed, all of those thoughts evaporated as the doors to a great lift opened out of the corner of his eye. Looking in that direction, his mind went totally blank with a fury he hadn't experienced since the time when Jedi had stepped onto the bridge of a long forgotten ship and Revan had ceased to exist. Tall and blonde, Aaron found himself facing the man of visions, until now, who had tortured Bastila and taken her first to the Dark Side and then to his bed. As the man approached, his gait and demeanor that of a warrior and a diplomat, a General by all reckoning, like himself, Aaron ignored Calia's warning hiss as the man stopped a dozen paces in front of him and motioned to his troops. Although the weapons no longer pointed at him, it was apparent that they would be brought back to bear at the slightest hint of aggression. Aaron took in the pointed ears and blue within blue eyes, as the man, or whatever he was, focused his attention on the crew of the Galaxy Tiger. As he opened his mouth to speak, Aaron preempted him, speaking Galactic Basic.

'Where is Padawan Bastila Shan? Answer with the truth or face the consequences.'

Taken off guard, the other man looked at him and replied with a mixed version of the same, 'Bastila is with us and she is safe. Lower your weapons and you'll be treated with the same kindness with which she has been.'

Aaron's anger went from a soothing warmth to a roiling boil as he calmly said, 'Wrong answer.'

Lightsabers snapped from his belt to his hands and ignited, the women of Mandalore's Valkyrs materializing all over the Galaxy Tiger. As weapons snapped up on all sides and Calia and Antab took aim at the closest troops, Aaron's lightsabers snapped to full extension, he assuming an obvious offensive stance and advancing. When the first blaster bolt flew at him, he deflected it back at the soldiers who had unleashed them, taking each full in the chest and throwing them several feet to crash like rag dolls. Instantly, chaos reigned and Aaron wasn't stopping until he had Bastila, Adria, and the crew of the Hawk back with him.

Rushing this new and unknown adversary, Aaron's ears were filled with the sound of blasters, the shrill sound of a klaxon, and the rush of the Force.

Angel watched as time slowed.

'Wrong answer.'

Seeing the man deflect the blaster bolts back at his troops, his hand snapped out and his own Shadowlake created lightstaff snapped into it. Barely in time, he deflected the first slashes of the onslaught of this new enemy. Fighting to regain some equilibrium, he wondered in the back of his mind at exactly what point he had lost control.

Adria snapped awake as the first klaxon blew through the Keep. Turning to wake Angel, she discovered that he was nowhere to be seen and the sheets were cool where he had been just moments before. Cursing, she rolled out of bed and snatched up her robe, her hand darting out and Force-calling her belt that held her lightsabers. Barely pulling the robe around herself before she was out the door, she buckled the belt and rushed into the hallway, snarling obscenities that increased as she realized she had no idea which way the attack would come from or where to go.

Carth rubbed his eyes, tired from the nights reading and reviewing of the holos of Denver. He had been biding his time until he could catch Adria alone to talk, but no time had seemed right as of yet and sleep neither seemed necessary or restful until that time came. Turning his attention back to his latest review, something called the 'Twentieth Century,' klaxons rolled through the Keep and the image changed from a beautiful holo of a woman name Rita Hayworth to a layout of the Keep. With a flashing red dot, the holo pinpointed the cause of the disturbance and the reason for the klaxon. Performing a weapons check as he moved, Carth headed for the elevator and towards Level Three.

Xiao froze in mid-sentence as the first Klaxon ripped through the Keep and into the sitting room she was sharing with Canderous at the moment. In a hushed voice, she said, 'Someone's broken into the Keep. That's not possible.'

Looking at her over the rim of his Scotch, Canderous replied in a growl. 'Where I'm from, lady, there is no such thing as impossible. I wouldn't be surprised if Malak fell out of the sky!'

Standing from his chair, Xiao pointed to the back of the suite and hit a button. 'There. That will take you to the control room overlooking the bay. It's in Level Three, where the big ships dock. Be careful.'

Moving, Canderous strapped on his belt and turned his grin on her as he headed in the indicated direction. 'Don't worry, honey, I won't be long.' He felt that he had been close to talking this beauty, Angel's second wife, into the sack. Damned interruptions.

Eyes smoldering, she watched him disappear down the steps. Sitting back in the chair, she lit a cigarette and exhaled. Mumbling to herself she said under the klaxons, 'If something managed to make it inside the Keep, you'll be lucky to come back at all. And so close too.' Taking another drag, she waited for the inevitable disaster that usually came when that klaxon sounded.

Adria quickly found herself following the soldiers as they streamed past her. Not able to question them, she only had the choice to follow in their wake or stand there and watch them run by. Not one to watch, at least not a fight, she followed along and soon found herself, after a hand reached out and pulled her in another direction, guided to a control room of sorts. The hand that had grabbed her belonged to Canderous and she quickly took in his arms and relaxed dress. He wasn't in armor. Interrupted at something, no doubt.

Abruptly, the klaxons silenced, but the lights continued to strobe, she taking in the scene in the control room. Carth was there, his eyes fixed on the sight through huge, bay windows overlooking Bay Three. She had already taken in Canderous as her eyes drifted over to see Mission dressed in a bath robe that hid nothing, Warhawk and Akirinol flanking her for protection. To their left, Bastila stood there in her own Jedi robe with her lightstaff clenched in her hand, she too looking as if she had just jumped out of bed, Shadow and Slider coming through the door to stand behind her. Of T3 and HK along with Zaalbar, there was no sign, but it seemed every eye was focused out the windows and on the scene below.

Slow and dreadfully, she turned her eyes out the window and gave her full attention to the scene below. It was carnage and her breath caught in her throat.

In the analytical part of his mind that was the Mentat, Angel estimated that he had roughly thirty-eight soldiers on the ground, nine of which who wouldn't see the sun rise ever again. Of the forces they faced, only the man in front of him remained standing, but he didn't have time to consider much beyond that. He was far too busy.

Angel parried the initial onslaught with some degree of difficulty as the attack pounded into his defenses. Around him, blaster and laser fire, grenades and plasma, filled the Third Bay of the Keep. Steadily, he found himself forced back and away from the main conflict, his inability to coordinate the attack and defense hampered by the devil he faced now. Around him, he sensed his own troops fall even as they slowly felled one after the other of the enemy, they accounting to his troops at more than three to one in success. Estimating nearly one hundred troops in the bay and more coming, this was proving far more expensive than he would have anticipated and that made him angry, but his anger would have to wait.

With his attention fully on the man in front of him, Angel's defense slackened as he lured the man in. With a feint, he moved to turn the tide, his first two attacks taking the man by surprise, the unconventional tactics unfamiliar to his foe, but as he began to press forward, he was suddenly caught in a wave of power that threw him several feet back, slamming him to the ground with the force of a hurricane. Grimacing in pain, Angel instant-stood only to be met with a flurry of slashes and strikes that he managed avoid or block only by instinct, skill, or blind luck. Being driven back again and his defense weakening, Angel allowed one of the strikes to slip through his defense, leaning away from it as it sliced over his chest, his upper body parallel to the ground. Dropping to his back, he used his innate telekinesis on his opponent and flung him over his body and head, hurling him as far as he could. With a satisfying crunch and the sounds of scattered barrels, Angel again instant stood to his feet and turned to face where his opponent had landed. Taking a flash second, he evaluated his troops with his senses, noting that the battle behind him had ended and the enemy had been subdued, pricey though it was.

With full attention to the opponent in front of him, he watched as the man pulled himself from the wreckage of several empty barrels now scattered in disarray around him. Shaking his head, green eyes met blue within blue and blazed with fury as the loss of his own troops registered. Outnumbered four or better to one, Angel felt that the man should have had no loss of pride in that his troops had fought proudly and with honor, but now was no time to console him. Gathering himself, they met halfway across the distance that separated them and rejoined the battle, green lightsabers flashing against the red blades of the lightstaff, offense and defense mingling into a dance that could only end one way.

Fighting like a demon, Angel heard his opponent spit through gritted teeth, 'You may take me this day, Sith bastard, but the war will be mine.'

With sudden realization, Angel understood whom he was facing. General Aaron Lightblade, General of the Republic and former Dark Lord of the Sith. With a hint of irritation and no little fear, Angel realized that if he didn't find a way to end this soon, it might be his last battle. Of all the fu...He was far too busy to finish that no so pleasing thought.

Adria watched in horror as the battle beneath her progressed, Mandalore's Valkyrs falling one by one until none stood, Angel and Aaron facing off in a battle that could only end in one of their deaths, and she and the crew of the Ebon Hawk only able to stand and watch. Shaking herself out of the morbid fascination that all of them had fallen into, she moved towards the door of the control room only to be barred by the maddening Storm Troopers that Angel employed.

Irritably, she said, 'Stand aside! I must stop this!'

In an irritatingly robotic voice, the guard responded with, 'Our orders are to keep you from harms way. Please return to the con...'

The Force Wave exploded into the room, everyone guarding the room and all of its occupants flying into walls or consoles or doors. Not stopping to check anyone, she stepped over the nearest soldier and headed down to Bay Three. If someone didn't do something quick, there would be hell to pay one way or the other and she was in a mood to collect. Channeling that irritation, she cleared a pathway wherever needed all the way to the bay floor.

Sweat rolled down Angels back as the realization came to him that he might actually be outmatched. Overall, they were about even in their skills in swordsmanship, one neither gaining nor losing their advantage for long and the other equally able to defend or attack as needed. Where Aaron was strong in the Force and used it well, Angel was equally adept in magic and psionics, but his magic was of little use in a combat that required so much physical concentration and his psionics had little more than a temporary effect at best, telekinesis the most useful at the moment. Using all of his natural and learned psionics abilities, he had been unable to gain even the slightest advantage and had settled into a war of attrition. With near unbridled strength and endurance, he still wasn't sure if he could best the other man, surprise catching him as the others strength faltered even as he thought it, Angel seeing his opening. Moving in for the kill, he struck, only to be turned aside in a freak parry that should not have been possible. Still, it wasn't enough and the other man retreated, wounded and on the run. Moving in, he quickly found himself dodging as he ran straight into the trap Aaron had set.

Suddenly, he found himself flying through the air again, his presence of mind noting with morbid fascination that Aaron flew the other way, both landing in heaps, slow to regain their feet. As they did so, both faced the same attack, this one coming from a new and, by Aaron's expression, currently unwelcome one.

Standing halfway between the two combatants with her fist raised in the air and one lightsaber lit in her lower hand, Adria screamed. 'Enough! This ends now or you deal with me!'

Across the bay, Angel's eyes met Aarons and, by mutual consent, the lightsabers and lightstaff discharged with a sucking sound, the blades drawing into the weapons.

'Now listen up, you primitive screw heads! This ends now so we can discuss this like adults, not adolescent rancor with a case of testosterone poisoning!'

Standing, neither spoke as hostilities ceased, they waiting to see where she went with her newfound command. Neither missed that she wore only a robe, long, tanned legs bare and the front open nearly to her navel revealing a great deal of cleavage. Angel felt that he didn't dare bring it to her attention either. The look in Aaron's eyes told him that he was thinking the same thing.

In the control room, Canderous stood up and looked out the bay windows as Adria ended the war that had previously been waged. Shaking out the cobwebs, he looked around as the others regained their senses. Commanding, he ordered, 'Alright! Everybody up. Go back to your quarters and get dressed or make yourself presentable! It looks like the boss just got here and I, for one, ain't facing him looking like I just walked out of a Twi'lek whorehouse!' Bristling, Mission started to say something, but snapped her mouth shut with a click of teeth. No one else seemed inclined to argue either.

Aaron and Angel faced each other over the large conference room table, sitting on opposite sides glaring at each other, Adria stood at the head of the table, having taken time to stop and pull on additional clothing before coming here. In a statement, she had blended Republic and local garb, a pair of jeans with high, black boots, her Jedi robe over that cinched at her waist, nothing underneath that. Ever-present, her lightsabers were firmly snapped into their sheaths, hilt out and ready at a moments notice. Her face was set in a flat expression, but her eyes moved between one and the other. She didn't like what she saw and knew that they had taken a dislike to each other, Bastila, Adria, and the crew notwithstanding. Both strong and secure in their stations, neither would brook any argument with their methods or the results they garnered when in this ugly mood and it was obvious that Aaron had had a vision or some such, Angel not willing to be questioned about that same vision. Angel felt justified in his results he had achieved and Aaron exuded anger, not the kind that led to the Dark, but the kind that would not be resisted just because the other party was recalcitrant. Aaron would have his answers and Angel was going to make him walk away disappointed. Just like two Krayt Dragons squabbling over a piece of rotted meat. This is going to be fun! It was all she could do not to roll her eyes.

The fight had not gone well for either side. For Aaron, all of his guards had been felled under overwhelming force, their retreat cut off by damage their ship had taken during their arrival and huge blast doors that would have prevented them from getting out even had the Tiger flown. Luckily, the Rangers and Keep Security had been firing to subdue, no matter their personal opinions on wanting to shoot back to kill. As their fellows fell around them, they had intensified their attempts to subdue the Valkyrs and a wall of stunner fire, tasers, neural lances, and whatever they could bring to bear had managed to finally fell the squad. It had not come without a price.

In such a target rich environment, the force had sustained an inordinate number of casualties with nine men nearly dying had it not been for the inrush of clerics and doctors when hostilities had ceased. Those nine had been rushed into the surgery and attended to first, the rest waiting their turn until the men were stable. Not counting those nine, there were a plethora of other injuries, from concussions at having been thrown back by the Force and concussion grenades, to near misses from blasters, frags, and even one thermal detonator. In total, forty-one additional troops had required medical attention, Calia Fett, Antab Lulos, and Bobba Smalb with her Sith Sniper rifle had accounted for the bulk of those. The two former had been able to withdraw to the cover of the loading ramp and Bobba had been secure and sheltered on top of the Galaxy Tiger behind a special blast plate that had been prepared for just such an occasion. She had been the last to fall and had made it costly to the defenders. When they had finally been stopped and Aaron and Angel had been separated, it had taken a full volume order from Adria to Angel not to lock the women in the cells of Keep, never to be heard from again as far as he was concerned. Instead, they had been moved into the infirmary, separate from Angel's own troops, under heavy guard and strapped to their beds without a stitch of clothing in which to hide a weapon. Adria had impressed upon him how dangerous Mandalorians could be and he wasn't taking a chance, much to Aaron's displeasure. Angel was fully willing to pay the price of the hell that would be garnered because of it, and Adria knew it as an insidious smile flickered on his lips, Aaron's face darkening at the slight. This time it was a sigh she suppressed.

Looking between them again, Adria growled and slapped her palm on the table, neither man startled, but both slowly breaking eye contact to look at her standing there.

Before she could open her mouth to say anything, the door to the conference room opened and Canderous entered, followed by Mission, Carth, Juhani, Jolee and, finally, Bastila. As they did, Aaron's eyes traveled over them and his expression only darkened more.

Aaron watched his crew enter the room, taking in their appearance as they did. Canderous wore a loose shirt with his weapons belt strapped over it, the deep neck revealing the hint of a bite mark on his pectoral muscle and four thin scratches on his neck. Mission wore jeans similar to Adria's, a thin A-shirt and was flushed, her eyes flickering to his but not meeting them. Carth rubbed red eyes and met his leaders with a look between shame and aggravation, Aaron raising an eyebrow at that. Juhani stood proudly, but she too bore the marks of having been playing instead of following his orders. He recognized the uncharacteristic flick of her tongue on glistening lips and the distended tufts of her ears, a sure mark he had seen many times. Jolee just walked in and stood. Crossing his arms across his Jedi Robes, he met Aaron's gaze flatly, the old man offering no explanation in his face or his stance, but Aaron discerned what was there anyway. For the first time, he hesitated and then let his gaze move to Bastila. His anger nearly flared, but was overcome with a bit of shock as well. Tousled, her hair was in disarray, her clothing more revealing than any he had ever seen. She flared with the Force and then nearly snuffed it, flared, and then tamped it down. Her eyes went to anywhere in the room but him. Aaron saw it anyway. Letting his eyes follow back down the line, he met Canderous' gaze again, the man's eyes flat and dead, as usual, arms crossing for what he knew would be an onslaught, his guard coming up without any outward sign of discomfiture.

Steepling his fingers and leaning back, Aaron addressed the man in a low, calm growl, but Canderous didn't miss the last. 'Well, it looks like most everyone is accounted for. Obviously, you've all been enjoying yourself.' His eyes flickered to Bastila. 'Care to explain why I've had no word?'

Canderous seemed unimpressed, but blinked. That was telling. 'We are delayed. The Ebon Hawk is being repaired and we are waiting for those repairs to be concluded. We had no way to contact you, so we have made the best of the hospitality that has been offered.'

Aaron's anger flared again, the emotions of his visions overwhelming him briefly as his fist crashed into the table. 'I can see that! I have seen it!' Calming himself, reciting the code silently, he let his eyes move over each one, Mission flushing prettily with a shy smile that died under his gaze, Juhani's tongue sliding across her lips again nervously, Jolee looking away, Carth meeting his eyes stubbornly, Bastila glowing with embarrassment. Calmly now, he leaned back and continued. 'Yes, I have seen that. What I want to know is where all of you were when the vision of Bastila came to me.' Turning his eyes to her, he said to her directly, 'What possessed you to submit to these people? Do you not understand your importance to the Republic? Do you have no sense of duty? What were you thinking?' Her eyes snapped up and her own anger flared, but before she could speak, Aaron cut her off with a slash of his hand. 'My visions revealed you being turned...with not a one of them lifting a finger to help you! That...and more.' His voice clouded.

Straightening her back, Bastila squared her shoulders and met Aaron's eyes directly. Clinching her jaw, she let her eyes close and calm pass over her. Meeting his smoldering eyes, she engaged him head on and said, 'You have no perception of how these people have helped me. Do not be so quick to judge that which you do not understand.'

'Then help me understand it.' His voice was cold. The undercurrents spoke of more than just what was occurring in this room or of what was happening in Denver. It spoke of them and Bastila knew it.

'Very well. I have grown here. I have learned. Angel has helped me to see some things, as has his wonderful family.'

Aaron interrupted. 'Oh, I saw what you've been taught. The Dark Side is a very strong and seductive lure and one you can't resist!' He regretted the words as soon as they left his mouth. His eyes flickered to Adria and found her own expression darken, physically restraining herself from jumping over the table and slapping him. Something was amiss, but undeterred he faced Bastila again. 'Didn't resist. So, am I to face you again, or your master?' He looked to Angel. Angel only grinned back, egging him on. 'Beware! I will not suffer you!'

Bastila stepped forward and leaned across the table, palms flat on it. She fought to maintain her anger, her passion, as she stated flatly. 'If you would shut up and quit acting like a wounded kath hound, maybe we could explain things to your limited understanding. And do not speak to me of the Dark Side, Lord Revan. I have a better understanding of it than you might imagine.' She saw the shocked look on his face at her statement and that it had had the desired effect. No one had ever dared calling him that since the Star Forge and knew that it was a painful reminder for them all. 'Listen instead of judging. Things are not as transparent as they seem.'

'Very well. Make me understand...Padawan!'

Adria bristled. 'Enough! Everyone sit down!' Canderous looked at her with a half grin. Meeting his eyes, Adria raised her eyebrows. 'Sit down and shut up, Mandalorian, or we'll repeat the Mandalorian Wars right here, right now, and I won't be so merciful.' Turning her eyes back to Aaron, she said, 'You will listen. Bastila, the crew, myself, we've all made some changes, for the better. Get off your damned pedestal and listen. Don't talk. Listen.' She let the words sink in and then continued. 'Bastila and I are like oil and water, but she is coming around...not blindly, but with knowledge and wisdom, the kind that only an outside force can inject. You may not like or agree with Angel, but he has helped us in ways that will be strange to you. I don't know if I approve of his methods, but he didn't exactly ask my permission. Frankly, he took liberties, but neither Bastila nor myself,' she nodded her head at the other Jedi, 'nor Jolee or Juhani have detected anything that would concern us since Bastila's...education and growth. If you will listen, we will try to explain.'

Aaron was very displeased and wondered if he had stepped into a mutiny, his troops and closest friends and allies changed unlike anything he had ever seen in a unit. He had been wary before, but now he was downright prickly. In their absence, something had happened to them and it worried him. Something was different. Looking at Angel, he said, 'You and your family are at the root?'

Angel smiled. 'One can hope. We do have this affect on people.'

Aaron nodded. 'Then I will hold you responsible for whatever they tell me. I will listen, but it is you who will pay whatever price there is to be paid.'

'Fair enough, big boy. If you think you and your little bunch...'

'Angel,' the Atlantean's voice was low with warning.

'Tell your stories, Adria. Be honest and tell him everything. I'll order up something to eat.' Getting out of his chair, Angel called the kitchen for food and drinks. Ignoring Aaron as he spoke to each of the others, he served up drinks to everyone else. With exasperation, Adria poured a stiff Scotch for Aaron and slid it down the table.

'Drink that. It will help.'

'I don't need the help. Please, continue.'

'Drink the damned drink, Aaron! This is going to be hard enough as it is.'

With that, Adria nodded to Bastila and they told their story, everyone in the room hearing the full truth for the first time. The result was surprising in some ways and decidedly predictable in others.

'Use that vaunted knowledge and insight of yours, Aaron,' Adria finished. 'You knew as well as I did that Bastila was a continuing threat to the entire Republic as she was.' It was a surprise, ordinarily Bastila would have bristled like a bantha with heat rash, but she only nodded in perfect agreement. 'As for you, Angel, I understand this is your world, but you would do well to be reminded that not even you are omnipotent, and a lessening of your overwhelming arrogance would be in order. You two can be great allies, for the good of everyone, Republic and Denver alike. So swallow your damned egomaniacal pride and try working together for a change. At least Aaron can be excused for his attitude; the Force chose to show him visions that would be...unsettling. You, Angel, have no such excuse except for the fact that you're a fathead.'

Bastila chose that moment to speak up. 'I know what you think you saw or may have seen. We're bonded through the Force and more remember? I have learned. I have new knowledge. I am not susceptible now. Not like I was. You may not approve of the method. I'm not sure I do, but the ends, in this case, were justifiable. Things are not like they were, cannot return to the way they were. My feelings have changed and...I...I would like to leave so that I can ponder what has been said and make my...peace with it.'

Adria spoke up. 'I think we all would like that. Let's reconvene tomorrow after we've all had some sleep and time to think. It will do us all some good.'

Around the table, she saw the looks. Canderous wasn't concerned with the details as long as Aaron led them. To him, Revan or Aaron or whatever guise he took deserved his honor. Mission, on the other hand, looked stunned, but she, too, would come to terms with it. Zaalbar's release from being a slave and the liberation of Kashyyyk gave her more than enough to support Aaron in whatever path he chose. Juhani and Jolee served the Force, whatever direction that led and they would not desert any of them based on the recent events. That was just another part of the painting as long as they resisted the Dark Side. Carth was less understanding. He was astonished that Bastila had turned to the Dark Side again, even if she had been contained and it had been controlled. The fact that she submersed herself in it and committed atrocities in its name, whether in a controlled environment or in her mind, he was not ok with it and was certainly unsupportive of Angel's method. He had been tortured. He had seen his friends tortured. When Bastila delivered the news that Angel had turned her and how, he had nearly lost any semblance of sanity and had had to be subdued. Still, Bastila was stronger and his baser emotions and loyalties had been tested and tried and he felt that he couldn't desert them, no matter what had gone before. Adria's emotions were plain and she had explained them. It was left to Aaron to decide now and they all waited in anticipation as he thought of his response.

Sighing, he said blankly, 'I think everyone should rest. In whatever capacity you choose.' He said that last with a sharp edge. 'Go to your beds, or wherever you choose to and we'll meet here tomorrow to see where we go from here.'

Without a final word, one by one, the occupants stood and left, each one filing out individually to wherever they would go leaving Angel and Aaron sitting with Adria, the three of them staring without emotion, meeting each others eyes only to turn away to meet the others.

Finally, Angel broke the reverie. He had a dangerous glint in his eye that Adria didn't like, but whatever it was, he was not going to be deterred. Standing, he made his way behind Adria's chair, leaning forward and began massaging her shoulders.

Leaning down, he whispered to her. 'Very well done. I can't say as I approve of the light I was shown in, but whatever. It won't be the first time.' Looking up, he met Aaron's eyes. They were blank as he watched Angel's hands on Adria's shoulders. 'At any rate, Adria has had a long day and so have we. I could do with some relaxation and I have little doubt that you could too.' His hands made their way over Adria's shoulders and down to the front of her chest and biceps. Still watching Aaron, he said, 'I know we have a great deal of dislike between us, but we have one thing in common. Adria. She can be a common bond, but not tonight. It is time to rest. Adria?'

Stepping back, Angel pulled out her chair as she stood. As Aaron made to move, Adria growled a warning in one word. 'Aaron?'

Settling back into the chair, he watched as she opened the door to leave, looking over her shoulder at Angel. Turning, Angel said to Aaron, 'An escort will take you to quarters. She is waiting outside. Adria and I...'

Again, that growl. 'Angel...'

'...are going to retire. Good night.' With that last, Adria stepped out the door, Angel close on her heels, but not before giving Aaron that tiny smile he had worn most of the night. Aaron looked back blankly and had another drink.

Canderous returned to the quarters he had been sharing with whomever walked through the door and was willing. Stepping into the inky blackness, he heard a movement and then a lamp snapped on. Looking to the source, he saw Xiao, in his bed with the sheet pulled up.

Sitting up, she let it slide from her body as she said, 'Now what were we talking about?'

With a grunt, Canderous walked to the bed and hung his weapons on the headboard.

Bastila walked out onto the front steps of the Keep and took a deep breath. Aaron's arrival had been unexpected and unwelcome, to a degree. She had expressed to him that things could not be as they were and he had caught her meaning. He and Bastila, for now, were over and she did not wish to dwell on it.

Dismissing the limo that awaited her, she set off down the road, the men and women who shadowed her not lost to her perceptions, she putting them aside in her senses to let her mind wander. Knowing that it would take her more than an hour to reach her destination, she set her mind to calming herself and her roiling emotions, taking in the night air as a balm and looking to the near future.

It took two hours and the sun was coming up when she walked up the gravel path, but she didn't let that bother her. She was calm and composed as she stepped onto the bricks of the step and slid in through the door that opened for her. Shadow and Slider had been gone from the Keep, but that hadn't mattered.

Shedding her Jedi Robe, she turned to the man that welcomed her, asking him quietly, 'Do you mind if I stay here for a bit?'

With a small grin, Shadow replied, 'Sure. I know Slider wouldn't mind if you used one of the spare rooms and Chranas Alpha and I are just down the hall. Care for a cup of coffee?'

With a small smile, she said, 'That would be fine. I have much to think on and I believe sleep would evade me at the moment.'

Reassuringly, he said, 'Yeah. I'm sure. I've been there before and I must admit, I don't envy you. Not in the least. Cream or sugar?'