“I will be your doom!” A female Cathar leapt forward, on the hunt the moment Dan’s group touched the ground. Hair pulled into a topknot of braids, she bared her fangs and aimed her red-bladed sabre at Dan’s throat.
“That’s enough of that, little cat,” Dan gave a soft smile and extended his bare hand. The crimson lightsaber halted, trapped between his pointer and middle fingers. “We’re not Jedi, and your path into the dark side was triggered by a lie.”
“You… you are strong,” Juhani pulled on her weapon without results, face set in a mask of confusion. “Stronger than me, even in my darkness… what do you mean, a lie sent me down this path?”
“Your Master isn’t dead, Juhani,” Dan shook the lightsaber from her hands and deactivated the blade. “She was testing you, though I’m not certain why she chose to leave the planet…”
“Master Quatra is alive?” Dan’s words staggered the Cathar to her knees, face awash in conflicted emotion. “You must lie… she would never deceive me! I…”
“You really think you, especially the you who had yet to fall to the dark side, could have touched a Jedi Master without their consent?” A flick of Dan’s hand returned the lightsaber to the Cathar’s hands. “I am afraid you are STILL too weak to injure a Master, let alone kill one.”
“But…” Juhani bit her lip, eyes unfocused. She shook herself like a cat in the rain and blinked at Dan and his group. “Who are you… Revan!” The Cathar scrambled to her feet, eyes wide. “I cannot recognize your face, you always wore a mask, but your presence in the Force… what is going on?”
“It has been a long time, Juhani,” Revan smiled. When she was a younger Jedi, she had freed this Cathar from slavery. “It is good to see you survived the war… as for what’s going on,” she waved to Dan. “I am no longer a Lord of the Sith, but a follower once more.”
“A follower…” Juhani’s already widened eyes threatened to fall from their sockets as she turned back to Dan. “Who are you, that the Revanchist stands under your banner?”
“I’m just passing through,” Dan gave a half-smile and looked to the heavens. The sun rested just under the horizon and stars dominated the skies. “But, I plan on helping the galaxy out, in exchange for letting us rest here for a time.” He returned his gaze to the Cathar’s feline eyes and extended a hand. “Join me and stand beside Revan… I’ll guarantee to you now, I’ll never play such trivial mind games as the Jedi and you’ll have a chance to witness sights beyond anything you can imagine!”
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
“Why?” Juhani straightened her back and held Dan’s gaze. “What use could you possibly have for one as weak as me, when you’ve got such titan’s by your side?”
“If you think Revan is a titan, you’ll be horrified by some of my other servants… no offence,” Dan glanced at Revan, who shrugged. “Also, you’re not weak, just untrained. Stand with me and no Jedi, past or present, will hold a candle to your power.”
The indecision on Juhani’s face vanished, replaced by a determined glint. She nodded her head and went down on one knee, like an ancient knight about to swear fealty to their lord. Lightsaber held inactive in her hands, she presented it to Dan like a trophy.
“I offer you my blade, my service, until such a time as you find me worthless,” the Cathar bowed her head, until it almost touched the ground. “I only hope I can find glory and power in your care.”
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“So, what now?” May leaned against Dan’s side as they rested in their familiar lounger. The rest of the group had returned to their quarters on the massive Gladius, to rest for tomorrow's work. “We’ve gathered the people we need for now, so what’s the next step?”
“We’ll drop most of our guests off with Canderious and the Kryptonians, then I want to scout around the two Sith empires.” Dan bumped his head against May’s and kissed at her ear. “We’ll also get more involved in the training of the next generation… I’d like you to head a basic magic class with Revan and Jolee, while I’ll start their introduction to ki.”
If all went to plan, the newborn Kryptonians would be a force to be reckoned with, even if they were only fifteen when the time to go home arrived. Trained by a Mandalore, with a solid foundation in both magic and ki control, they could pass on their skill to all who came afterwards.
“Can do, but we should limit lessons to once a week,” May snuggled closer and pulled a blanket over them both. “I want to spend as much time sunbathing as I can, before we get home and Merlyn locks me away for my own classes!”
“Sounds like a plan,” Dan wrapped May in his arms and settled in for a short rest. He only needed an hour or two of sleep a day, a bit more if he skipped out on rest for more than forty-eight hours. “We’ll stop and collect the Starforge on the way, it’s too big for me to haul through the phantom zone, but we can use its hyperdrive to move it to a system where no one will find it.”
Many Sith agents had the station's location, and Revan wasn’t certain of their loyalties. It would be best to hide it away, until it was time to go home… maybe let HK-47 make a few copies of himself to crew the station and any vessels they needed to build for the coming war.
“What about the other Sith…” May murmured, eyes shut as she basked in their shared warmth. “The ones that Revan’s old master trains up over the next five years?”
“They can wait, for now,” Dan kissed the top of his sleepy Wife’s head and smiled. Kreia and her Sith triumvirate were powerful, but they would be easy enough to hunt down. Malachor V was a well known system, and the Sith temple hidden in its depths wasn’t going anywhere. “But we’ll need to hunt for the Exile… her travels before she ends up on Peragus are essentially unknown, but I’d like to find her before that if we can.”
May gave a small grunt, already beyond words as she sank into dreams. Dan shook his head and gazed out the viewport. Besides his quest's objectives and growing the newborn Kryptonians into their power, he also wanted to use this galaxy as a testing ground. He would actively move, without any effort to conceal his power, and see how the people of the Republic responded.
“It will be good practice for our return, and I’m sick of hiding…”