Homecoming Chapter 1: Dreams Can Haunt Part 2
A year after the Battle of Rakata Prime, my memory of my travels through the Unknown Region returned. A darker evil, the long hidden Sith Empire known as The Trial, were planning attacks on Republic systems; their headquarters were on the planet Dromund Kaas. A week after my memories returned, I left. In one week, I finished things that I felt I needed to finish in the Republic. In one week, I had said good-bye to the people I wanted to say good-bye to in my own way. In that one week, i wanted to try and marry Bastila, but I never got the chance to. She was away on a mission, and, by the time she returned, I was gone.
That was four years ago; next week would be the five year anniversary. I left so I could stop The Trial; I left everybody behind, all those that I loved. I needed to find The Trial within the next five years, or everything we ever cherished would be gone, which meant I didn’t have much time left.
I got up and started my daily routine. Shower, cup of black cafe with two sugars, reading past journals from when I was known as Revan. I often read about four journals a day, and the journals were often very detailed and long, perfect in helping me find The Trial, or so I had thought.
Today felt like the day that i would finally find The Trial’s new hideout, seeing as the Dromund Kaas was deserted. I was halfway through my fourth journal when I finally found it. Dathomir was were they were, and that was where I was heading.
As soon as I left the cockpit after entering in Dathomir’s coordinates, I headed towards the starboard crew quarters. I would need a lot of equipment to break into The Trial’s headquarters. In a small bag, I packed thermals, mines, and remote mines. Finally I put on my heavy armor and grabbed the one weapon I’d probably never part with. The double-bladed lightsaber I had constructed back on Dantoonie after I was reborn as Isaac Stardragon.
“Alert! Alert! Planet-side targeting systems have locked onto the Ebon Hawk!” My new warning system was going crazy as it detected the planet’s defense systems. This wasn’t good at all.
Quickly, I changed the Ebon Hawk‘s coordinate to two quadrants away. I had only five minutes to get to my drop ship, The Sword, before the Ebon Hawk, went into hyperspace.
“HK-47! Find Nicol Vangasd, tell her what’s happened, and warn her about The Trial!” I shouted before jumping into my drop ship and unlocking the hatches.
I watched as the Ebon Hawk launched into hyperspace, and my ship dropped towards Dathomir. Hopefully I would be able to stop The Trial’s plans. Hopefully.
My drop ship landed in a dense forest southwest of an ancient looking Sith temple. With my bag, my lightsaber, and my heat and energy eye scanner, I left my drop ship and began my long walk towards The Trial’s base.
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It took about two days to walk to the base. I couldn’t risk flying my fighter; I’d be shot down before I even got close. Plus the fact that I already knew they felt my presence since I could sense theirs already.
As I got closer and closer to the base, I could hear the troopers marching. I started to crawl over to a large rock,slowly peeking over it. Hundreds of thousands or more troopers were marching around the base. this would be harder to infiltrate.
I looked around; there had to be a way inside without any detection. Then I saw it; a sewage exit over the river on the east side of the base. No guards or towers around it either.
I checked my surroundings quickly to make sure that none of the troopers were watching before I raised my hand. I usually didn’t use the Force, as I was a Jedi Guardian. We focused more on combat skills than using Force combat. I still had skills in the Force, but they weren’t as powerful as my combat skills. Moving the sewage cover was easy enough, though.
I quickly jumped inside the sewer and started my way down its long pipe. Numerous sewage holes showed that the base was enormous. It’d be difficult to locate The Trial at this rate. There had to be another way; either that or I had to hurry.
Soon enough I found their communications room, which was just as good as finding them because I could have into their computer and hopefully find out where they’ve been or where they actually were. The cover hatch that I had used was loose. Walked on too many times, or had somebody used this sewage way before? I couldn’t worry about that now. I had more important things to focus on.
After checking to make sure no guards were around, I climbed up through the sewer hatch and hacked my way into their communications room. Empty, but the panels were still warm. Somebody had just been using this. This wasn’t good; I had to move quickly.
As fast as I could, I hacked into their systems and skimmed through the data. What I found wasn’t the information I wanted to see. They already had a group of three individuals under their command. One of them was one of my old Masters, Kriea. This wasn’t going to end well.
“Why hello Revan. It’s been years since we last saw each other,” a familiar voice said behind me.
I turned and came face to face with Darth Yarves. He used to be one of the most trusted Jedi you could’ve ever known, which is how he managed to turn so many padawans to the dark side after he fell.
“It has been, Yarves. I’m here to stop you and your friends. I’ve seen what you’ve been planning; I won’t let you harm anymore innocent people!” I shouted, reaching for my lightsaber.
Suddenly, after a loud blaster fire, I couldn’t move my arms from my side. I looked down and saw my arms encased in ice. I turned my attention back to Yarves, who was laughing in victory.
“You can’t stop me, Revan. Or should I call you Isaac now?” he mocked me.
Another blast hit me, this time at my legs. My body had started to get colder with each passing minute.
“I-i-i…w-won’t….l-l-let…y-you…..w-w-win!!” I shouted.
“Ah, but I already have,” Yarves said before dealing the last blast of ice, encasing the rest of my body.
I had failed. If HK-47 didn’t get to Nicol, then the galaxy was doomed.
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Now you know what had happened before my return to the Galactic Republic. Yarves eventually had his guards move me into a secure room. I don’t exactly know how long I had spent in that room, encased in that block of ice, but I knew it had been too long. Loneliness took over my mind; all I ever seemed to think about was Bastila. She was the only thing that kept me sane.
It wasn’t until one day, when alarms started to randomly go off, that I knew something, out of schedule, was going on. Sure, they did regular tests to make sure the alarm systems still worked, but today wasn’t a planned drill day. An intruder was present inside Yarves’s base. Were they allies seeking to move the Sith out of their home base, or were they enemies trying to acquire the base as their own? Sure enough, I couldn’t just walk out of this room and find out.
Suddenly the door to my room opened, the light blinding me for a moment or two. No sooner did the door open did an electronic voice announce, “Commencing defrost of Subject 217.” Somebody was freeing me. The all-enemy question came to mind once again.
The ice around my body started to heat up, melting around me and freeing my limbs. Coughing hard as the ice finally melted away, I fell to the ground, my body weak from the lack of energy. Then two pairs of hands grabbed both of my arms and pulled me to my feet, my arms going around their shoulders to keep me on my feet.
“Who are you?” I asked, my body shaking as it tried to adjust to the new temperature.
“It wouldn’t surprise me if you didn’t recognize me, Revan. It’s been almost a decade since we last saw each other,” a familiar voice told me over the alarms.
“Nicol Vangasd. It has been a long time. I’m glad HK finally found you.” I looked over at the guy who was helping Nicol. “Who’s your friend here?”
“Atton Rand, my pilot. Last time I checked, your condition isn’t that good, and Jedi don’t usually fly broken escape pods off a planet,” Nicol joked as we headed towards her ship. Those were the last words I heard before passing out from exhaustion and lack of energy.
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I woke up in the medbay of the Ebon Hawk, lines attached to my body to help regulate its functions. I sat up, my body sore from the recent movement. Nicol had just walked in as I tore off the last line.
“You should really rest, Revan. Oh, sorry. I meant Isaac. I keep forgetting that you go by that new name the Council gave you,” she said as she walked over towards me.
“It’s alright. I’ve got enough rest inside that ice block you pulled me from. I’m ready to go now,” I replied.
“No, actually you’re not. You’ve been frozen over two years now, according to the records we scanned at their base. You need to rest before we see Scarline, Bastila, Jake, and Emily once we reach Coruscant,” Nicol explained, about to get up and walk out of the medbay door.
“Who are Jake and Emily? New padawans for Scarline and Bastila?” I asked, curious that Bastila would be given a padawan.
“Emily is Scarline’s padawan, yes, but they’re also you children Isaac,” she said, turning around to look at me, only to be met with a face that almost said I had seen a ghost.
I had children?! When could that have-.. Then I remembered. One week before I left for the Unknown Regions, Bastila and I had shared a moment. The best night of my life, that’s for sure. Had I known that Bastila was pregnant, then I would’ve stayed with her.
“How old are they?” I asked, my voice barely heard by the both of us.
“About five and a half, almost six. As I said before, Scaline is Emily’s mentor, while Jolee has taken it as his responsibility to teach your son, Jake. Emily’s as down to Earth as her mother is, and Jake’s got your risky attitude, but both are strong in the Force and can control somewhat the Battle Meditation,” Nicol said, describing my children in the best detail she could as she sat beside me.
“Has she told them anything about me? Or even mentioned that I’m their father?”
“Not that I know of, but she’s still in pain from when you left all those years ago, Isaac. At least that’s what Carth’s told me.”
I looked up at Nicol. “How is Carth? Has he and Dustil seen each other again?”
“Yes, Dustil and Carth have made their relationship strong. Dustil and Mission are engaged now, but they aren’t the only two engaged,” Nicol said, her voice trailing.
“Who then? You and Atton?” I asked, but I received a shaking head.
“Bastila and Carth have been engaged for about a year.”
That sentence hit me just as hard as the children sentence did. Now, not only had I learned that I had children, but the love of my life was about to marry my best friend. Now I really was wishing I had stayed or died back in the Sith base.
“I know it’s a lot to handle, Isaac, but we need to get back and contact the Council. They need to know what The Trial’s plans are.” Rubbing my back, Nicol looked at me, waiting on an answer.
I stood and headed towards the door. “If you need me, I’ll be in the Training room. Contact me if we’re close to Coruscant,” I told her, walking out of the room. I needed to clear my head, and what better way than to beat something up. What can I say? I liked to beat things up when I’m frustrated.
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I was probably in the Training room for about two hours when Nicol finally came in. She had changed into the traditional Jedi Knight brown robes.
“We’re about an hour away. Thought I’d let you know so you can freshen up,” she said softly.
I nodded. “Thanks. I’ll go get ready right now,” I replied just as softly. I started to walk by, but she quickly grabbed my arm.
“The only reason I told you was because I thought you already knew, Isaac. I thought that Bastila had told you, and you left because of that,” she whispered softly.
I shook my head. “We had done it once, Nicol, right before I left. One week to be exact. If I had known that she was pregnant, then I would have stayed with her, not left her alone to raise the children by herself,” I replied before heading to the refreshers.
Twenty minutes later, I was heading to my quarters, clean and shaven. I looked like a new man in the mirror. A broken but clean shaven man. I took out my clean Jedi robes and quickly changed into them. It wasn’t until after I smoothed my hair out did I notice Nicol in the hallway, staring at me.
“Sorry, didn’t know you were standing there,” I said, grabbing my lightsaber.
“We land in twenty minutes. Just thought I’d let you know. Scarline, Bastila, Carth, the Twins, and Jolee will be meeting us in the conference room, or that’s what I’ve been told,” she said, crossing her arms over her stomach.
“She’ll want to know what’s happened during my travels, but I can’t tell her everything until I’ve met with the Council,” I explained.
“You can tell her that. I’m not telling her, even if she asks.”
I nodded. I already knew I deserved the yelling I was going to receive.
