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Chapter 1: Remembering

Bastila had felt completely overwhelmed when the Council had informed her of the mission they were sending her on; the mission to capture Revan, the Dark Lord of the Sith. She knew that this was an act of desperation on the Council's part; they wouldn't risk her unless they felt they truly had no other option. Bastila had been the Republic's single advantage against the Sith during the war, and if Revan killed her – or even worse, somehow managed to turn her – it would only be a matter of time before Revan conquered everything.

As Bastila and the other Jedi and Republic commandos prepared for the mission, her thoughts constantly drifted toward Revan. What would happen when she confronted him? Would she be able to follow the council's orders, or would she be frozen in place by his overwhelming presence? 'No. The Council knows of your history with Revan, and they took it into account. They would not send you unless they were absolutely certain that you would be able to do what is necessary.' Bastila thought, attempting to strengthen her resolve. Yet in spite of this, she just couldn't forget her time with Revan, and the feelings she'd had for him.

When Bastila had first come to the Jedi Academy on Dantooine, she had been a teary, needy, lonely, five year old child that was anything but Jedi material other than her strong connection to the Force. She hadn't gotten along very well with the other apprentices, and her Master, Vrook, was a rather harsh teacher who had no patience whatsoever when it came to emotions. Bastila had spent almost every night for the first month crying herself to sleep, until one day she bumped into an apprentice boy five years older than her already on the brink of becoming a Padawan. That boy had been Revan. And he'd been everything that Bastila had needed to continue her time in the Academy. When she needed help understanding her lessons, Revan had been there to teach her. When she needed to touch up on her lightsaber skills, Revan had been there to train her. When she needed someone that she could actually talk to, Revan had been there to listen. And when she just couldn't keep her sadness inside her any longer, Revan had given her a shoulder to cry on. Almost as soon as the two of them had met, Revan had been the big brother she'd never had, yet always wanted. However, as Bastila reached puberty, she began to see Revan as her knight in shining armour.

As Bastila got closer to her teens, she began to fantasize about what it would be like to kiss Revan – and as she grew older she began to fantasize about other things she could do with him as well. Everything Bastila learned about Revan served only to make her idolize him even more; he was the last descendant of the Mandalorian clan Bloodraven; he was the best duellist in the entire Academy; he was the youngest Padawan – and later the youngest Knight – the Jedi Order had seen in centuries; and he had a connection to the Force that already rivalled some of the most powerful Jedi Masters. As the years went by, Bastila slowly worked up the nerve to confess her true feelings to Revan, even if it meant being expelled from the Academy.

Then the Mandalorians came.

As Revan's brethren pushed further into Republic space – conquering every world in their path and slaughtering anyone who resisted – Revan and his closest friend Alek Squinquargesimus (nicknamed 'Squint') repeatedly requested that the Council assist the Republic in their war efforts.

But the Council had insisted that there was a far greater evil behind the Mandalorian threat, and that they could not go to war for fear of exposing themselves to this mysterious enemy. Yet as the Mandalorians won battle after battle, and more Republic worlds fell, Revan's patience with the Council eventually wore out.

Bastila still remembered the look on Revan's face when he stormed into the Council chambers with Alek at his side. The conversation that had transpired in that room had simply been unreal. As many other Jedi of all ranks gathered to witness what would happen – some with worried looks on their faces, while others seemed excited – Revan continued to walk forward with indescribable purpose in his stride until one of the Masters finally spoke up

"Revan, Alek, if the two of you are here to once again ask us to go to war against the Mandalorians, then I suggest that you save your breath and leave, because our decision will not change." Unsurprisingly, it had been Master Vrook who had delivered this lecture.

With thinning patience in his voice, Revan argued "Masters, the Mandalorians push further into Republic space with each passing day. And with their progress, countless lives – innocent lives – are lost as the Republic lacks the might required to fight these crusaders alone. They need. Our. Help."

"Revan," Master Vandar insisted "as we have said before, we sense that there is a much greater threat. One we believe to be the cause of the Mandalorian invasion the Republic fights now. We must remain vigilant for when our true enemy arrives.

Stepping forward, Alek demanded "Then tell us what this 'true enemy' is, Master. Because until then, the only enemy I can see is the one that is invading us as we speak, and I'm not the only one here." As he finished speaking, many Padawans – and more than a few Knights – nodded in agreement with his statement.

"Enough!" Vrook shouted. "Revan, Alek, we have heard all this before, but we will stand by our decision. Now return to your chambers. Moments like these make me think it was a mistake to promote the two of you to the rank of Padawan, let alone Knight," He muttered with a pointed glare at Revan. "So early."

"No." Revan responded flatly.

"Excuse me?" Vrook demanded, incredulous at the disrespect being shown to him.

Stepping forward with barely contained anger in his eyes, Revan snarled "Every day, innocent lives are lost to these invaders, yet despite the death, the destruction, and the chaos, you do nothing other than sit here meditating."

"Revan, please," Master Zhar sighed "You are allowing your emotions to dictate your actions; I suggest that you take time to clear your mind and-"

"NO!" Revan interrupted "When I became a Jedi, I swore an oath to protect the innocent. Yet it is clear to me that this Council has forgotten that. Well, if doing the right thing for others means that I can't be a Jedi as well, then so be it." With that, Revan ripped off his Knight robes and threw them to the ground like they were filth, leaving him bare-chested. He then announced to everyone in the room "From this moment forth, I, Revan Bloodraven, hereby revoke my title as a Knight of the Jedi Order. I do this so that I may be free to aid the Republic in their fight against the Mandalorian crusaders and neo-crusaders being led by Mandalore the Ultimate, Anyone that has reached the rank of Padawan or higher who wishes to follow me into war may do so, and I will not begrudge those who choose to remain with the Jedi." Bastila stared in disbelief as she saw Revan forsake everything he had worked for for fifteen years. And then she realized the full impact of what he had just told them all; he was going to war. Saying all he had to say, Revan marched out of the Council's chambers with Alek at his side once more, leaving behind him a bewildered Council.

That night, a fourteen year old Bastila Shan had gone to Revan's room, and cried for what seemed like an eternity as she clung to him. "I don't want you to go." She finally managed to sob.

"Bas," Revan sighed, with much sadness in his own voice. "If the Republic doesn't receive help soon, then there won't be a Republic left to save. I can't just stand by and watch as the Mandalorians massacre entire worlds. As much as it pains me to leave you like this, I have to go."

Eventually, Bastila raised her head to look him in the eye. "I... understand." She finally managed to painfully croak out. Realizing that this would be the last time she would see him in years – maybe the last time ever– Bastila mustered her courage and finally did something that she'd wanted to do for four years: she kissed Revan.

Revan's lips were frozen with shock for the first couple of seconds. But just before Bastila could pull away out of sheer embarrassment, Revan began to kiss her back. His lips were indescribably soft to Bastila, and it was better than she could have ever imagined. The two of them lay together with their lips in a chaste kiss for over a minute, locked in each others' embrace, until they finally had pull away so they could breathe. Touching her cheek softly with nothing but affection, Revan smiled "You've wanted to do that for a long time, haven't you?"

Her cheeks immediately turning red, Bastila averted her gaze from Revan's eyes and shyly admitted "Yes... since I was ten. It's just, I might never see you again. And... I wanted to know what it was like."

Softly turning her head so she would be forced to look into his eyes again, Revan promised her "Bastila, I will do everything in my power to stop the Mandalorians, but I swear to you; I will see you again." With that, the two of them fell silent, and they stayed that way for the rest of the night: not saying a word, simply holding the other in a loving embrace.

It had been difficult for Bastila at first – getting by without Revan to guide her – but eventually she'd learned to cope. But barely a month after Revan had left, while watching the news holos, Bastila and the other Jedi who'd stayed at the Academy were shocked to discover that Revan had led the Republic forces to several major victories over the Mandalorians, and that despite his youth, he had been given direct command over a full third of the entire Republic fleet. They were even more surprised when Revan stood in front of a camera wearing a Mandalorian battle mask, and revealed to them all the genocide the Mandalorians had inflicted on the Cathar people. Revan's name and the massacre of the Cathar quickly became a rallying cry for the Republic people. Within a matter of months, with Revan's tactical genius combined with Alek's – now known as Malak – ferocity on the battlefield, the two of them crushed the Mandalorian armies. Eventually the Mandalorians were pushed back to Malachor V, where Revan activated a powerful superweapon that all but completely destroyed the Mandalorians, and where Revan fought the Mandalorian champion, Mandalore the Ultimate, in single combat, and defeated him.

With the Republic's victory on Malachor V in combination with the death of the Mandalorian leader and the loss of Mandalore's Mask, the Mandalorians gave the Republic their unconditional surrender, with many becoming mercenaries or pirates afterwards. This resulted in most of the Republic soldiers returning home to their families. But Revan took those loyal to him and chased the Mandalorians that had fled into deep space so that they would never pose a threat to the Republic again.

For years the entire Republic had thought that the heroes Revan and Malak had tragically perished in the Unknown Regions. But eventually they came back – at the head of a Sith fleet.

Darth Revan was proclaimed as the undisputed Dark Lord of the Sith, and Darth Malak as his apprentice. When Bastila – who by now had reached the rank of Padawan – found out that the man she had loved since she was a little girl had not only fallen to the dark side, but was also her greatest enemy, she immediately ran to her room and spent hours sobbing into her pillow. The only way she'd been able to cope was by becoming what Vrook had tried to make her since she'd become his Padawan: emotionally dead.

A few months after becoming a rather notorious 'ice princess' within the Academy, the Council discovered that Bastila had a strong command over a rare Force power known as battle meditation. They'd tested her power by going to a world where there were several small-scale battles between Republic and Sith forces. There, Bastila had used her gift to strengthen the resolve of the Republic soldiers, while simultaneously lowering the morale of their Sith enemies. The Republic's victory there had been absolute, and since then Bastila had been directly involved in as many major battles as she could. Unfortunately for the Republic however, Revan had lost none of his skills in war tactics during his time in the Unknown Regions, and quickly learned to adapt to Bastila's battle meditation. He compensated by fighting on multiple fronts simultaneously, whereas Bastila was the only real advantage the Republic had – and she could only be in one place at a time. Bastila had even assisted the Republic in a half a dozen battles with Sith forces being led by Revan himself, and although the costs had been great, he'd managed to defeat the Republic in those battles a couple times.

Bastila hadn't been stopping the Sith invasion, she'd only been slowing it down. The Jedi Council and the Republic's generals knew this, and as the Sith war machine pressed on, they were beginning to get desperate. Fortunately for them, the Republic had intercepted a Sith transmission that informed where Revan would be heading in a week's time. So they had prepared a trap in which a Republic fleet would engage Revan's upon his arrival. And while he was occupied, Bastila and a small team consisting of the Jedi and Republic commandos around her now would board Revan's flagship in order to capture him. Yet for the two years she'd spent in an apathetic state of mind, Bastila was feeling uneasy with the knowledge that soon she would face Revan again. Her thoughts were interrupted as Master Kar-Thun spoke up. "Bastila, it's time to go. Revan's fleet will be arriving soon." Bottling up any emotions she may or may not have had, Bastila nodded, and grabbed her lightsaber.

As the boarding shuttle made a hasty crash-landing into the Avenger's docking bay, the only thing that kept anyone on board the shuttle in their chairs was their tightly secured seatbelts. As soon as they recovered from the initial crash, they all immediately got out of their seats and grabbed their weapons as quickly as they could. The boarding team then got out of the ship to find several Dark Jedi and Sith troopers running towards them with their lightsabers drawn and their guns blazing. Bastila activated her lightsaber to deflect a few bolts – killing one of the Sith troopers – and was quickly engaged in lightsaber battle with a furious but inexperienced Dark Jedi. Bastila cut him down in a matter of seconds, and then spun to find that all the other Sith were already dead as well, though unfortunately they had lost one of the commandos.

Leaving three other commandos and two Jedi Knights to protect the ship so that they had an escape plan, Bastila and the rest of the boarding team pressed on towards the Avenger's bridge where they figured they would find Darth Revan.

Getting to the Avenger's bridge had been incredibly difficult – they'd lost all the commandos, and over half of the Jedi – but they were there. Master Kar-Thun warned them "Alright everyone, be careful. I can sense Revan in that room somewhere, as well as at least a dozen Sith officers. Remember to stay strong, and that the Force fights with us today. For the Jedi!" With that, the four Jedi opened the doors and stepped onto the bridge with their lightsabers drawn.

The Jedi were surprised to see the Sith officers that Kar-Thun mentioned barely acknowledging their presence as they carried on with their combat duties. However, they were even more surprised when they saw over a dozen men armed with electrostaves walking towards them. For a second Bastila wondered how she or even Master Kar-Thun had not detected them, until she remembered the rumours about Revan's bodyguards; their purpose was to protect Revan from any assassination attempts from Dark Jedi seeking to usurp Revan's power, and to do so they had been trained to resist the Force itself. The bodyguards continued to walk towards them until they were only about five meters away. The four Jedi prepared themselves for battle until a bodyguard with a red stripe on his right shoulder – signifying him as the commander – stepped forward, and after running a calm, calculating eye over them announced "Lord Revan will now see you in his meditation chambers."

Unable to contain his surprise at the bodyguard leader's statement, a Knight named Narruk gaped "What? You're telling me that Revan's been waiting for us?"

Not responding, the bodyguards walked over to the far end of the bridge, where the commander pointed to a reinforced blast door. He then strictly told the Jedi "Go, Lord Revan does not like to be kept waiting."

As Bastila and the other Jedi slowly walked towards the door that Revan was behind, Master Kar-Thun nodded to them all, then opened the door. Before them they saw Darth Revan, the Dark Lord of the Sith, calmly meditating sitting down with his legs crossed. As the four Jedi cautiously walked into the room, Revan simply continued to sit there. Then, when the doors finally closed he raised his hooded and masked head to look at them and politely said "Master Kar-Thun, Knights Narruk and Henshayne, and... Padawan Bastila Shan, greetings. I have been expecting you."

First Chapter's done. What do you guys think so far? Rate and review please.