Jolee anticipated the strong pull of the dark side. He prepared himself for it. It was part of the same draw that saw him return again and again to the Rakatan computer, which repeatedly turned him away without answers, that holds his friend in its grip now.
He once feared the lure of the dark side, but instead learned to take it as far as a sign of importance rather than prescription. It is just as dangerous to ignore significant secrets as to go in search of them. He turned out to be right. The star map was a critical piece to a larger purpose.
Now Jolee has the listing, silent Apocalypse rising into view of his window. And Jolee senses nothing. There is the complete void of life, the vacuum of space, poor deluded souls long fled.
There is only the faintest spark, mechanical power that survives unspent that one could only hope would lend the capacity to open doors and facilitate traversing the passageways. Most of all, there is the potential for ship's logs to be preserved and therein Revan's name.
Simply put, the Force is not present here. They shall be the ones to deliver it to the Apocalypse.
To use an old master that comes to Jolee's memory, 'they shall only have what they take with them.'
The Ebon Hawk scans across the hull with spotlights while flying in low. The wayward prodigals, knowing they go without the Council's blessing before the asking, light upon an open hanger bay.
Subsequently, T3 is dispatched to arrange for an airlock bridge to extend out to them to circumvent the depressurized chamber which is without the power to shield them from space.
So T3, pleased at himself for his talents more than anything else, is there to greet them once the crew arrive on the other side and cheerfully chirping. Revan pats T3's head in silent confirmation as he is struck dumb in having returned. This was the place he last knew himself. And by all accounts he didn't do good things.
Jolee is struck by the phantoms of life that peel off of Revan. All around him float and mill the
star-crossed crew, betrayed by no less than the second most important figure in their lives. He sees their bodies clearly. But constantly he and the others are met with tricks of the periphery. From mundane movement to frantic fleeing for their lives, the crew is restored in vague glimpses that maddingly do not stand up to scrutiny of trying to look at them directly.
REVAN: These are the last I saw
of each of them.
Bastila takes his hand.
BASTILA: You are at the center of these apparitions.
REVAN: I know. I am beginning to remember.
He relinquishes her hand for another a woman
who Revan turns and is able to look upon her face.
Grabbing her close he begins to weep.
REVAN: Do you remember her, Bastila?
BASTILA: Remember?
REVAN: She had to make a choice between one betrayal
or another. And she helped you escape with me.
In her final moments I felt her spirit so torn over
what I would demand of her and she could
not ask me. She wanted you to save my life.
BASTILA: Then this was the same hanger
that we used to escape.
REVAN: She hated Malak's betrayal. It had little
to do with her own life in jeopardy. She... loved... me.
Monster such as I was. How did I inspire such devotion?
Bastila kneels down to him.
REVAN: Was my indoctrination so complete?
Is the lure of the dark side so strong?
JOLEE: Or it turns out one of you
managed to find the light.
BASTILA: You made the Sith strong in their cause.
She believed in you, that you still had a purpose.
REVAN: And she didn't? Shall I sue to the Force
that sacrifices the likes of her? And what of my
responsibility to them? I raised an army filled
with people like you see all around. The Council is
right to be wary of confidence in me. I don't even know...
BASTILA: Yes?
REVAN: If I loved her. I was angry at her.
So very angry for allowing me to be
taken and not fighting. And I think
at the last that's what she felt from me.
You were loyal to a fault, my dear Arzilla.
You should have saved yourself and never me.
She hesitates at the quote
and offers it gently.
BASTILA: There is no death.
REVAN: But what is the Force to me?
He replaces Arzilla and rises with Bastila
holding him steady by the arm.
BASTILA: Please, be patient. Whatever you might
find with the power to trigger old memories,
remember, these are shadows of the past.
They are not a light to guide your future.
REVAN: These shadows, unchanged, stand in the way
of the light. I must learn of them. But I will try
to look on them with peaceful eyes.
He looks upon Arzilla again.
REVAN: I should not have come back.
Revan's power is drawn out of him and his cheeks turn black, gasping for air. He falls back and Jolee stoops down to attempt some healing. Revan pushes him away and calls, gurgled, for Bastila to him.
REVAN: You have to get me to the bridge.
Bastila joins in Revan's dilemma and returns to the healing that first bound her soul to his. She sustains his spirit. As before, where their force bond was forged, it seems all very tenuous.
She feels the spark, but weakly. And though it is not a tangible flame Bastila is hesitant to so much as breathe. The change, her heart is struck with fear in a different way than she had known.
Canderous, Carth, Juhani and Jolee help to carry Revan.
HK and T3 run and roll ahead to put cutting torches
to doors that will not otherwise be removed from their path.
Jolee is present to sense it all wash off of them. Swimming against history as it once unfolded, Bastila is not afraid for her life, of the ship's imminent destruction, the loss of a key means to challenge Malak. No. Here lies in her arms the possible outcome of a dark peace. To be alone.
Sadder still, Jolee is surprised to sense that she would not be altogether alone should the worst come to pass. In turn, Bastila knows she has been discovered, but hasn't the breadth to acknowledge it.
They start to round a corner with him and Revan grabs hold of an open doorframe. His strength is surprising. And to Bastila's compounding grief she fights him, but he will not loose his death grip. Finally, they reverse course in the direction he has set for them.
They enter a dark chamber. At the door are prisoners felled by the guards. The power to their cages failed and the guards in turn died at their posts containing them. Without strength to spare, Revan weeps for them.
REVAN: I created such a dark place
to lock away all things.
He becomes rigid.
BASTILA: Jolee?
JOLEE: He's still breathing.
BASTILA: But you don't know where he is?
JOLEE: No.
Unheard by the others.
MALAK: Is this wise?
REVAN: I've had enough of
you questioning me.
Isn't your jaw proof
enough of that?
MALAK: I only speak the truth to you.
The Republic forces bear down on us.
REVAN: Their numbers are insignificant and distant.
Let them engage us. It will not be the surprise they think.
I want to know why these men transmitted our coordinates
to the Republic. Our enemy should not be here with us.
MALAK: We often have enemies from within.
Revan waves a hand and the soldier manning
the controls releases an electrical shock.
MALAK: Could this not come after we defeat the Republic?
If you do not lead us the defense may falter.
REVAN: Then you should return to the Leviathan.
MALAK: I request that Arzilla join
me there for safe keeping.
REVAN: She is safe here.
MALAK: As you wish... master.
As Malak leaves Revan approaches the cages.
REVAN: Why did you betray me?
PRISONER: We are loyal, Revan.
HAIZE ULGO: Ha! Let me hit them again, master.
Always a pleasure to deal with traitors.
REVAN: Traitors reflect shame upon us.
Remember that.
HAIZE ULGO: Yes, sir.
REVAN: Your actions are plain,
work stations traced to you.
You undermine my efforts.
PRISONER: No, sir. We follow orders.
REVAN: Who's orders?
The Apocalypse tremors and
the Ebon Hawk crew feels it too.
Revan finds a wall com.
REVAN: What happened?
ARZILLA: We just detected a boarding party.
They have disabled our weapons.
Revan turns to the prisoners.
REVAN: Fools.
He flies from the brig and ignites his lightsaber
before a window in time to see Malak's shuttle depart.
REVAN: You forfeit the care
shown an apprentice.
He fades back to consciousness while still in his mind
disengaging his lightsaber and turning for the bridge.
The crew resume carrying Revan and soon draw near where the bridge lies where a dark shade leaves Revan's body. The cloud lofts ahead of them and holds the door sealed. The droids are disabled by dual electrical charges from it. Canderous tries to blast the door and more energy is ripped from Revan's body with howling pain. Jolee stays Canderous' weapon, to be certain, but the Mandalorian is already drawing back in horror.
BASTILA: Take him away! Go back!
In vain, Revan resists Bastila but only finds himself dragging his heels. He is largely mute, jaw locked while trying not to cry out as he is pulled away and the dark door draws more of his spirit out of him. To her dismay, Jolee lights upon them both and forces Bastila away. Juhani joins Bastila at her side, in the first blink to render comfort, but then Jolee's action has a clear sense to it and Juhani soon holds Bastila back by both arms.
Arm drapped across Jolee's back, there isn't an ounce of strength in Revan's body. Carrying his weight upon him, it feels to Jolee as if Revan were already dead. In faith, to what he was uncertain, Jolee marches onward. And whereas there was an undeniable draw responsible for draining Revan's being, in carrying him Jolee encounters great resistance. The invisible force pushed back against them now, desperate to deny them Revan's salvation that lies just beyond this door.
And Canderous joins them. And Carth, disjointed HK and T3, soon Bastila and Juhani as well, all together press forward and fight the whirlwind before them.
Revan touches it. All the dark energy flows back into him as water swirling before a drain. Bastila gasps and collapses. His strength returns, only just. He goes to Bastila and finds her heart broken.
The bond is severed. They both rise to their feet.
And Revan discovers the lock in the door loose. The two halves will part without any power between them, however, metal still grinds against metal. They join in pushing one door aside so that there is room enough to pass.
The inside of Revan's ear becomes
dark with an inexplicable shadow.
MALAK: Is this wise?
Revan stands in the gap between
the doors and rests there.
MALAK: If we pass beyond this
door we can never go back.
REVAN: Stay here.
He steps into the darkness of the chamber.
MALAK: The Order will surely banish us.
Revan disappears from view of the others
in the darkness. Shortly, they follow.
Revan trips and begins probing the deck on his
hands and knees. His fingers glance
something in the darkness.
MALAK: Can its power truly be worth the risk?
Having entered and standing in the dark
the others are bathed in a red glow.
Bastila dips her head in sad understanding.
She then forces herself to harden her eyes
and draws her own saber in turn.
BASTILA: You will not win... Revan.
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