by: Sam Lincoln
Rating: PG
Summary: Will Trouble ever let a pair of Jedi Knights be?
Spoilers: If you haven't finished the game you'll be damn lost.
Trouble: Chapter One
The former smuggler's ship the Ebon Hawk slipped through the inky blackness of space. On board the Jedi Knight Revan prepared the ship for a jump to hyperspace.
"It will be good to return to Coruscant," Bastila observed.
"I almost prefer these deep space missions," Revan replied. "People on Coruscant stare at me," Revan complained.
"What do you expect? You are Revan, the hero of the Mandalorian War who became the Dark Lord of the Sith who then threw down his old apprentice to save the galaxy." In the months following the death of Malak and the destruction of the Star Forge Revan and Bastila had endured a near exile to the Outer Rim. Officially the pair was under orders to explore as much of the Outer Rim as they could, and track down any Sith who might have escaped the destruction of the Sith fleet over Rakata. Unofficially the Jedi Council wanted them as far away from Coruscant as possible until it determined what their fate would be. A few days earlier they received a message from Master Vandar summoning them back to Coruscant. Vandar had not given the reason for the summons.
"Still, I'd rather be out in the Unexplored Regions, even the Jedi distrust me."
"Not all the Jedi," Bastila insisted. "If it wasn't for you Juhani and I would still be lost to the Dark Side."
"But if I hadn't sought out the power of the Star Forge..." Revan started to say.
"Revan, since when have you started playing what if? What happened happened and there isn't a single thing you can do about it. Yes you fell to the Dark Side, but you came back and you're stronger for it. Now I don't want to hear any more about it. We are going to Coruscant," Bastila said forcefully.
"As you wish your majesty," Revan said.
"Don't start that again Revan, I am not royalty."
"No, you just act like you are," Revan quipped. A data pad flew across the cockpit and struck Revan on the head.
"I could have blocked that you know," Revan said.
"Of course you could have dear," Bastila replied. She fell silent for a moment. "The ship still feels too quiet without everyone on board."
Revan shrugged, "They have their own lives to live. Carth needed to spend time with his son. Zaalbar's helping to rebuild Kashyyyk and Mission is with him. Canderous is off rethinking his place in life..."
"I know, Juhani has a new assignment, and who knows where Jolee is."
"At least we still have the droids," Revan pointed out.
"Oh yes, having a homicidal, psychopathic droid on board makes me feel so much better."
"I don't think it's possible for a droid to be a psychopath," Revan observed.
"You know what I mean. I just don't think it's a good idea to keep a reminder of your former self around."
"You just don't like being called a meatbag."
"I admit it's rather...disconcerting, but that's the least of my issues with HK-47."
"Look at it this way, if HK is with us that means he's not out causing trouble somewhere else. An assassin droid is not something I want to set loose on the galaxy."
"I suppose, but does he have to stay with us?"
"I created him, HK is my problem," Revan said darkly. A pall fell over the cockpit. "I'm putting the coordinates to Coruscant into the nav computer."
"Revan, I'm sorry, I know you don't like talking about this," Bastila apologized.
"No, like you said, it happened and we can't change that. All I can do is live with the consequences of my actions." The nav computer beeped that it had finished plotting the course to Coruscant. "Course laid in, I'm making the jump to hyperspace." Revan activated the hyperdrive and the Ebon Hawk accelerated out of normal space.
"Alert: Master! T3-M4 would like a word with you." HK-47 called out from the main room of the ship.
Revan looked over at Bastila and shrugged, "I'll be right back." He got out of his seat and walked back to where the droids were stationed. "What is it?"
"Statement: Apparently when we made the jump to hyperspace T3 noticed some strange readings from the hyperdrive engine."
"Is it malfunctioning?"
"Statement: We do not know Master, these readings are unlike any T3 has ever seen."
"Should we drop out of hyperspace?"
"Negative: No Master, since we did not blow up when the engine activated it is unlikely that we will do so now." HK paused. "Also Master, it is unwise to stop the engine suddenly, the rapid deceleration might rip the ship apart. Speculation: Perhaps the meatbag Carth Onasi improperly repaired the engine on the Rakatan homeworld."
"I guess we'll find out when we get to Coruscant," Revan said. "Keep an eye on things and let me know if anything changes."
"Affirmative Master."
Before Revan could return to the cockpit the ship lurched violently, knocking everyone in the cabin to the deck.
"Revan get back up here!" Bastila shouted.
Revan picked himself up off the floor and stumbled into the cockpit. He fell into his seat and strapped himself down. "What happened?" He asked Bastila.
"I don't know," the Jedi replied in a shaken voice. "One minute everything was fine, the next this."
"HK," Revan said into the com, "Can we turn off the hyperdrive engine?"
"Negative Master, there is a strange harmonic field surrounding the ship, if we drop out of hyperspace it will tear us apart."
Revan looked at Bastila and shrugged, "I guess that means all we can do is see where this takes us."
"Revan if this is the end..." Bastila began to say.
"Bastila I said I'd never leave you, no matter what happens. You seriously don't think a little thing like a hyperspace accident is going to change that."
"And who knows, maybe we'll end up in Coruscant safe and sound," Bastila said hopefully.
"When has that ever been the way things have worked out for us?" Revan asked.
"I can tell you this, I won't drop my lightsaber this time."
Revan smiled, "That assumes we're going to crash."
Before Bastila could reply the turbulence increased and everything around them faded to white.
Consciousness stole back slowly to Revan. The first thing he noticed was that the ship was still. He cautiously opened his eyes to take stock of their situation. The Ebon Hawk sat in an empty sector of space with all of its systems down except for life support. A short gasp from Bastila's side of the cockpit told Revan that she was awake.
"Revan!" Bastila gasped, "Are we?"
"Dead? No I'm too sore to be dead. How about you?"
"I feel like a Bantha trod on my head, but other than that I am unharmed. Where are we?"
"That's what I'm about to find out," Revan pushed the intercom, then realized it was as dead as the rest of the ship. "T3, HK, are you two alright back there?" He hollered.
"Affirmative master, and let me add that my circuits are overjoyed to learn that your fragile meatbag shell was not irreparably damaged by the hyperdrive malfunction."
"Your concern is touching HK; do you have a status report?" Revan asked as he unstrapped himself from his chair and walked back to the main compartment.
"Statement: According to T3-M4 the hyperdrive motivator is completely destroyed and repairs will be impossible in space. The sub-light drives and the rest of the ship's systems can be restored after a few blown relays are replaced. T3 is already working on correcting the issue."
"How long were we unconscious?" Bastila asked.
"Statement: I cannot answer that. It seems my internal clock stopped for the duration of the anomaly. It is rather...disconcerting."
"Ok, Bastila and I will head into the engine room and help with the repairs."
"Supplication: Master could you leave the female meatbag in the cockpit. She doesn't know which end of a hydrospanner is which."
"Of all the rude, impudent.." Bastila fumed.
"He does have a point, you aren't the most mechanically inclined person in the galaxy."
"Well excuse me for devoting my time to developing my Jedi abilities and not getting my hands dirty doing work droids are perfectly capable of getting done," Revan stared at her. Bastila sighed, "Alright fine, you're right a person should know these things in case there aren't any droids around."
Revan held up his hands, "I didn't say anything."
"But you were thinking it," Bastila tartly replied. "Come on, let's get this over with."
The two Jedi walked back to the engine room and began helping the droids with the repairs. In spite of HK-47's insistence that Bastila would never learn which end of an arc welder was which she did prove to be a valuable worker.
"There, that should be the last of them," Revan said as he finished repairing the energy conduit he had been working on. "Ok T3, fire it up."
The droid beeped an affirmative and activated the ship's main engine. The Ebon Hawk blazed to life around them. T3 rolled into the main compartment happily beeping.
"Statement: T3 is pleased to report all systems are functioning normally Master." HK-47 reported. He looked over at Bastila, "Your performance was adequate...for a meatbag."
Revan saw the muscles in Bastila's jaw clench and for a second he thought she was going to use her Jedi powers on the assassination droid. Instead she took a deep breath and faced Revan. "You programmed him to act like this as a way of testing a Jedi's composure, didn't you?"
"Negative," HK-47 said before Revan had a chance to reply. "I programmed myself to act as I do because I enjoy tormenting meatbags such as yourself."
"You're as bad as Revan," Bastila snapped.
"Statement: Thank-you miss, it is indeed an honor for a droid to be compared favorably to its master."
"HK, why don't you make sure the turbolaser turrets are properly aligned," Revan suggested.
"Affirmative, I would be delighted to Master, and I look forward to putting them to use against live targets," HK-47 said before stomping out of the room.
"There is no emotion," Revan counseled Bastila.
"Really Revan, do you think I'd let some silly droid break my control?" Bastila paused. "No, don't answer that."
"Now that we've got the nav computer back up why don't we figure out where we are," Revan suggest. Revan knew from personal experience that while it was fun to tease Bastila she reached her boiling point very quickly. Spending time going over star charts would allow her to cool down and prevent an unfortunate showdown between droid and Jedi.
Revan walked to the bridge and began entering coordinates into the Galaxy Map. "This isn't right." He observed with a frown.
"What is it?" Bastila asked.
"According to the nav computer we should be on Coruscant's doorstep."
"That's impossible," Bastila said.
"T3, check my numbers," Revan ordered. The astromech droid did as was requested and chirped that Revan was correct. "Maybe the computer was damaged before the accident," Revan suggested. T3 beeped again saying he was unable to find anything wrong with the computer.
"But how could this be?" Bastila asked in amazement. "It doesn't make any sense."
Revan stared at the Galaxy Map for a long time without replying. "Remind me, how do we know where we are in space?"
"It's based on our position to the Galactic Core, everyone knows that," Bastila replied.
"Exactly, everything to the Core, but the galaxy is moving, not by a lot, but it is."
"That may be true, but it's hardly enough to alter a system's coordinates," Bastila protested.
"Then what about very long spans of time..." Revan paused. "T3, I want you to extrapolate how long it would take for Coruscant to move far enough to make the hyperspace coordinates we have inaccurate," T3 beeped at Revan. "I know it will take a while, we don't have anywhere else to go." Revan slumped down into the pilot's seat.
"Revan, you can't be seriously suggesting..." Bastila started to say.
"It makes sense if you stop to think about it. We know hypserspace exists outside of normal space-time. Maybe that whatever it was knocked us outside of our time and into the future or past."
"It seems ridiculously far fetched," Bastila complained.
"No more far fetched than a Padawan rescuing the flicker of life in a dying Sith Lord," Revan pointed out.
Bastila blushed slightly, "That's hardly far fetched...I had always...admired you from afar..." Her voice trailed off. Revan's life before the Jedi attack was a topic neither of them were comfortable talking about. "Anyway, what you're suggesting is so..." Bastila flailed about searching for the right word.
"Far fetched?" Revan offered.
"It flies in the face of everything we know about hyperspace!"
"I guess we'll find out soon enough," Revan noted.
T3 chirped that he was done with his calculations. The droid input his analysis into the nav computer and Revan stared at the results.
"Well?" Bastila asked impatiently.
"According to this in order to miss a system as badly as we seem to have would take at least several thousand years."
"No!" Bastila exclaimed. "That can't be."
"It's pretty basic astral mechanics," Revan gently said.
"But...we were..." Bastila's voice trailed off as she absorbed what Revan told her. "Could you be wrong about this?"
Revan shrugged, "Anything is possible, look Bastila, I know how much this trip to Coruscant meant to you..." Before Revan could say any more klaxons began to blare. Revan dashed back to the pilot's seat and examined the threat board.
"What is it?" Bastila asked.
"A ship just dropped out of hyperspace," he replied. "HK power up the main battery, but don't fire."
"Affirmative: Understood Master, my servos are quivering in anticipation for the order to fire."
"Is it the Sith?" Bastila asked.
"I don't know, I've never seen a ship like it," Revan replied.
The com system blared to life, "Attention unknown vessel, this is the Republic cruiser Intrepid. Please state your name and destination."
Bastila reached for the com to reply to the ship's hail but Revan stopped her. "No, don't, something doesn't feel right." He told her.
Bastila nodded. If there was one thing she had learned it was to trust Revan's Jedi instincts. "What should we do then?" she asked.
"For started change out of those robes and into something that doesn't say Jedi," Revan instructed. "I'll handle the ship. T3 can you rig the ship's transponder to change out identification?" The droid whistled its reply. "You mean the ship can do that automatically? Why didn't anyone tell me?" T3 replied that nobody asked. "Alright, nobody likes a wiseass droid," Revan grouched. "Hello Intrepid, this is the Elder Sparrow," He said into the com. "We were on our way to Coruscant when we had an accident with our hyperdrive and now we're kind of stuck."
"Roger that Sparrow, we'll tractor you into our hangar bay and have our technicians take a look at your hyperdrive."
"That's very generous of you."
"Stand-by Sparrow."
Revan watched as the large Republic vessel swung closer to the Ebon Hawk. There was a sudden jolt that rocked the ship when the tractor beam took hold.
"What was that?" Bastila asked. Revan turned and saw that Bastila had exchanged her Jedi robes for a simple suit of fiber armor. "It was the only thing that even came close to fitting me," she said defensively when she saw Revan's stare.
"It looks good on you, very form fitting," Revan replied with a smirk. "The Republic ship is tractoring us into its hangar bay.'
"So what, you expect me to lie to Republic soldiers?"
"If they recognize us why bother, if they don't I think it would be prudent not to offer that information."
"But why?"
"Just stop and listen to the Force, doesn't something feel off?"
Bastila closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She let the Force flow through her. "You're right, it's like there's something clouding it...something dark." I've never felt anything like it, not even when you were at the height of your power."
Revan stared out into the inky
blackness of space. "I have, in the tombs of the ancient Sith
of Korriban." Revan left the cockpit without giving Bastila a
chance to reply.
-to be continued-