It came from Nar Shaddaa

Dustil Onasi's final trial before being fully accepted into the Jedi Order.

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"What in the Force am I doing here?" thought Dustil Onasi.

He contemplated what interest the Jedi council could possibly have in a place such as Nar Shaddaa.

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"There are many things the Jedi council takes an interest in, all of which are of utmost importance...not all of which, however, are clear from the very beginning' Revan said.

Dustil looked into the eyes of his brand new mentor. He had asked her to meditate with him upon his father's recommendation. They sat in the common room of the flat Revan had rented on Coruscant after her return from the Outer Rim. After three hours of meditation, Dustil grew impatient and asked Revan for advice from her own personal experience.

"You will understand one day, Dustil...I just hope that you don't find out as I did."

"Find out what?' Dustil questioned.

'Nothing, I said!' The Last thing Revan wanted was for Dustil to question the council.

She was convinced that Dustil, unlike herself, would be the perfect Jedi. Never questioning

the code or council...well...until just of late.

But this type of apprehension was only to be expected in light of orders such as the council had given to Dustil... It wasn't, after all, your run of the mill assignment. In fact, Dustil would follow and defend whatever belief he held as true until the end...it was in his blood.

"But...,' Revan hesitated, 'should you arrive on Nar Shaddaa and find that what you assumed to be your goal is...uh, is just a step in accomplishing your true test...don't be surprised. Just focus on the task and accomplish what the Jedi council sent you to do.'

Dustil looked at here with a bewildered expression on his face. He knew she must have been talking about something from her own Jedi trials...and seeing as how he really knew nothing of her past as a Jedi before the destruction of the Star Forge other than the legends he had heard and the little time they spent together on Korriban...this wasn't helping at all.

"But Master Jedi....'

"I am no longer a Jedi, Dustil.' Revan interrupted, thinking perhaps that her giving Dustil advice wasn't in his best interest.

"... Master Revan...' Dustil corrected, wondering about the mixed signals he was receiving...If the Jedi were so wise and wonderful...why did Revan leave them? He knew she had had no intention of leaving the order before she left to find the true Sith...even when she formed an attachment to his father. Dustil couldn't help but shudder to think of what she had found out on the outer rim that had made her change her mind.

"Revan will do just fine...'

"...how will I know' Dustil said, opting not to specifically address Revan, 'when I've done what I am supposed to do when...when the council won't even tell what I'm supposed to be doing?'

"Trial and error.'

"Is that really the best way?'

"You could try to Force persuade the council into telling you.' Revan lightly taunted, wishing he would somehow decide to ask someone else for advice.

"Look...Father said I should talk to you about this...and...and I really don't need your taunting.' Dustil snapped. According to his Father, this woman was one of the best negotiators in the galaxy, but right now she seemed to be searching for something useful to say.

"All you have to do is pick up a shipment of kolto...', Revan didn't know what else to say. Only talking to an Onasi did she ever find herself at a loss for words.

"You're saying,'Dustil interrupted, abandoning his false pretense of admiration for the mighty Revan,'that all I have to do is Fly to Nar Shaddaa to pick up a package of kolto?

"For the time being, yes.' said Revan calmly, hiding her discomfort. Why couldn't Carth have sent Dustil to Bastila, or any other Jedi for that matter? 'And what happened to your reverence of the Jedi Code? 'There is no emotion, there is peace.' "

"Don't change the subject!...And what do you mean by 'for the time being'?

"Look, the bottom line is the Jedi want you to find something more than kolto on your journey.'

"And that's why there sending me to Nar Shaddaa instead of Manaan?'

"It's likely.' Revan replied.

Dustil took a deep breath. He knew Revan was right...and he was ashamed of himself for not thinking of what she had just said earlier...before he had wasted three hours in meditation. No...no...time spent in meditation is never wasted. Meditation clears the mind... Although, truth be told, Dustil's mind was still much cluttered. 'I must admit, I didn't want to question the wisdom of the council...'

" Oh really?' Revan retorted. She hid the relief she felt at the first sign that the conversation was almost over.

'...but I couldn't see why a group of Jedi as powerful as the council needed a shipload of kolto in the first place.' Dustil said, ignoring her remark.'

Chuckling, Revan replied, 'Well, if they don't find a good use for it, I'm sure you will on Nar Shaddaa!....By the way, did you tell your father where you're going?'

'I told him they were sending me to check out a gizka problem on an enclave on Alderan.'

'You lied to Carth?' Revan said, eyeing the teenager with a hint of suspicion.

'No, no...not really...I mean I...' Dustil stuttered, revealing apprehension he had in revealing all this to his father's friend, '...I plan to stop by Alderan on the way home and make sure there isn't a Gizka problem.

Revan laughed as she watched the teenager walk out of the room...'Is there even an enclave on Alderan?"

'If there is...I'll find it.' Dustil called from the corridor as he headed out to make preparations for his journey, thinking of her light-hearted, carefree, uncaring, condescending, cryptic, and all-over trivial responses to his questions about his serious situation. He didn't understand how a person like herself could have ever been a Jedi Consular.

But she did help him understand what the council was trying to do. Now Dustil knew he needed to face what lied ahead of him on his own,...or... at least without the help of those he already knew and trusted...He needed to decide for himself what was the right thing to do. Dustil couldn't do that if his beloved father was by his side, which (if Carth knew Dustil was going to Nar Shaddaa)...was what would have undoubtedly taken place.

Perhaps he had done the right thing in lying to his father...

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Whatever he had to do, Dustil was almost certain it had nothing to do with the kolto. This rather agitated Dustil because he had spent the last five hours going through several shady looking vendors, each one clearing him with countless superiors before eventually was told the kolto would be delivered to his ship in the morning.

Dustil was inwardly happy to hear that the daunting task of loading a shipload of kolto would have to wait until morning, although he tried his best to keep from showing any outwardly emotion. Exhausted from being on his feet all day (you would think at least one of the vendors would have offered him a seat),...he headed back to the barge on loan to him by the Jedi Council and caught up on some well deserved sleep.