We spent three months on Tython training. I trained along with Kira on everything that Revan could teach us. Revan spent half this time teaching others as well and was speaking with the council on a daily basis. As much as I wanted to see how he got along with Satele, they managed to keep that part of their relationship secret. The Jedi Temple on Tython is one of eight different temples. Master Satele was shocked that we had found them so fast. I knew they existed and Revan knew how to find them.
Bodhi, the Je'daii Temple of the Arts, Akar Kesh, the Temple of Balance, Qigong Kesh, The Temple of Force Skills, Mahara Kesh, the Je'daii Temple of Healing, Kaleth, the Je'daii Temple of Knowledge, Stav Kesh, Temple of Martial Arts, Anil Kesh, the Temple of Science, and Vur Tepe, the Je'daii Forge.
These are the places a Jedi should visit, most of them were in ruins just like Kaleth near the new Jedi Temple. It was there that many early holocrons were discovered and added to the Great Holocron. Here is where I built my holocron to record what I have learned of the Force and my thoughts to pass on to another in the distant future.
Bodhi was the first one we visited and from the huge mountain carvings to the tiniest figurine the art was breathtaking, and many held just a hint of the creator's Force signature. Here I added the knowledge I had gained to the hilts of my lightsabers with decorative etchings.
At Qigong Kesh I learned the more advanced skills that would serve me as a Jedi. Moving rock, water, air, and even influencing fire as it burned, while at Mahara Kesh, I learned to use the Force to heal the wounds of others and my own.
At Anil Kesh, I studied the different objects that had been created with the Force or imbued with the Force. That the technology felt cold or angry a clear sign of the dark side. That there was at one time plants that the lightside favored and grew wild mixed in with the broken darkside machines.
Akar Kesh, the Temple of Balance was the hardest to get to. The eight pillars still stood barely touched after all these millennia by the weather and by the influence of the Force as only here did the Force remain in perfect balance.
“If only I had found this place during my mad search of the galaxy for the Star Forge. Maybe seeing this place, feeling the Force as it is at this moment I could have resisted the Emperor, defeated him.” I did not turn my head as I too was entranced by the calm of the pool. The balance in the Force I had been searching for. This was how it felt to be Bendu. To be in balance, neither dark nor light, just the Force as a whole.
“Shall we meditate in the center?”
“T'aa that would not be wise. I found a few texts that talked about those who studied here. Those that meditated in the middle never stopped. Other Jedi would be forced to remove them from the center in hopes they could break their meditation. Others went quickly over to be one with the Force.”
“Then how about the edges?” Revan nodded as we moved over to a comfortable looking spot.
“Master, I feel strange.” We looked at Kira and Revan was about as fast as I was as Kira collapsed to the ground. We caught her only to be thrown back as she came to her feet.
“Kira?” We looked back at her as she rose up in the air. Darkness rolling off of her like fog off a mountain.
“You have caused me enough problems. I see futures in you. Futures, I will not allow. Your future ends here.”
“That power, it can't be.” I glance quickly at Revan as I focused on Kira and our bond.
“Fight, Kira. I know you can block the Emperor out. Cast him from your mind.”
I do not like talking of the fight between Kira and I. To fight around the most Force balanced place in the galaxy, To cause ripples in the waters as we threw the Force back and forth at each other was upsetting. That our battle moved us across the water to the very center of the pool. Revan unable to help without causing harm to Kira. We fought a three-way battle until Revan backed out seeing that he was causing more harm than good. We were both near the end of our strength as she fell first to her knees.
“This child is unfinished. Weak. I will make her strong. Now you will die. Even if my Child must die with you.” She rose up in the air at the very center of the platform in the middle of the Pool of Balance. She glowed in the dark side as if she was bleeding blood. I could feel the struggle and Kira's will broke free, dissipating the darkside with a flash of the light.
“No... I will not kill for you!” I sent the Force over our bond to help her.
“Resist him Kira drive him out. Keep fighting.” Kira slowly began to glow sending waves across the pool as she fought for control. The ground shook as the glow was nearly blinding before she fell back to the stone below her feet.
“The darkside has no power over me. I am a Jedi.” I could barely hear her the first time as she repeated this over and over again until she shouted so loud it echoed. “I won, he's gone. I am finally free.”
“Then it is over.”
“This place it helped me. Wanted me to break free of the Emperor. It yearns for balance. It showed me things I do not understand.”
“Our training is over. It is time we found a way to defeat the Emperor once and for all. Together we will defeat him and the Sith Empire this I swear it.” We both looked to Revan. I felt what he was feeling, but I needed to make sure.
“Revan this is not the time. Are you truly healed? Was this not the place that would help you?” I had to challenge him, to question his reaction to the battle of wills. He nodded as a calm feeling radiated from him.
“I have been fighting for three hundred years and it never stopped. I fully see how the Emperor only allowed me to be freed because he still desired the Foundry. That the more I fought, the more I found I was only in the way. Your fight with Kira, was yours alone. I feel it will be the same with the Emperor, but I will do as I did here. Lending you my strength, and my aid. The time to contemplate is over, we must act.”
“Then let us go.” We moved to the speeder that got us here heading back to the temple.
We took a shuttle up to the station and had to wait for the Bendu's Way to return from patrol. As the hatch opened I boldly walked back on to the ship feeling I was home.
“Master Jedi.” Zetta was surprised to see me and a bit more surprised as I gave her a hug.
“Yay! No more boring patrols.”
“ I would not be so thrilled. Knowing her we are going some place in the middle of fighting.”
“No fighting not really, resupply and plot out a course for Tatooine.”
“I thought you just said we were not going into a fight? That whole planet is in chaos.”
“We will not be there for long.” I sat in the captain's chair thinking about how the first time I rode in this ship and saw the light change from a light blue to the black darkness of space. How there were so many more stars then I had ever seen in my life. There is no way to describe the feeling of so many stars in view, and it is impossible to even breath if you gaze on the stars nowhere near a solar system.
My path was now filled with just as many different ways and choices. I felt so much fear of the future and then I laughed as I relaxed. The fear faded from my mind and thoughts with the realization that as much as I fought the script, I was still traveling the same path. Sure it was on my own terms. I was looking forward to facing the Emperor or his voices.
During our travels over Tython's surface, we were never out of contact. The council tried many times to get me to do this or that, but I had resisted, deflected, or suggested someone else. Kira had done the same though she had fidgeted during the last few weeks. She had distracted herself by getting involved with the Revanites who would not stop coming to see the man they idolized. Some were broken of their devotion, most were in awe, and those few saw him now as not the legend he had become, but a Jedi. These were the ones who saw what he truly represented, the power of will.
The Revanites as a group were just a way to believe in something greater than you. That you could find something to believe in. That it was nothing like the beliefs that Revan held, did not matter. Slowly over those weeks, the belief had turned to a movement. We saw little of the effects of their actions. As we traveled to Tatooine we got report after report. Seeing Col. Darok the first time in person made me want to beat the arrogance out of him and I grinned as Revan brought him to his knees. After that, he was a bit more humble. Kira dealt with him the most. Darth Arkous was unusual, and I still had not figured out why he revered Revan so much.
They may have been only part of the leadership of the Revanites, but through them, the cult became a movement and now moved to becoming an order. Numbers filled the messages and reports that were sent our way. Ships that could join us with a simple message. Movements of the different members that worked toward control of assets. Ships, military units, depots, and other strategic points. Most of this was directed through the Empire first, but it happened throughout the Republic as well.
As we landed on Tatooine I was reminded of the Revanites as it almost seemed as if everywhere I looked I saw the Revanite emblem. Three small circles on a straight line to a larger circle. Some very obvious and others hidden, but there if you knew how to look. That the Order Of Revanite had made it to this dust bowl, made it sink in that there were way more than we knew of.
Revan himself wore simple Jedi robes over his armor. He was not this iconic figure depicted in the books, pictures, and games. If you passed him on the street other than his distinct facial scars you would never think twice about him. Then again most people didn't notice the Jedi that walked by them. It was not hard to convince a crowd of people that you were nobody or that you were not there. A common practice from all Jedi. It was something each Jedi was taught since the days of being hunted some three hundred years ago. Hiding in plain sight. Of course, we could have been very noticeable, and disruptive to the common goings of the people doing their business in the spaceport, but it would only cause us to be targeted.
“You really think that we are blending into this crowd?”
“Are we not? Or do you notice something even I can not through the Force?”
“Oh for the common ones we are ignored, but several have noticed us. Nearly all, called in our location not much longer than it took to pass them.”
“Oh that is normal for Tatooine. Even if we were escorted with a hundred troopers they would have done the same.”
“No, this is different.” I pushed out in the Force, but didn't feel any difference. I kept watching through the Force for the slightest hint. As we moved around to the outer access to retrieve our speeders I still felt nothing.
“I fail to feel or see what you have noticed.”
“Maybe I am just imagining things, still I feel watched from every direction.” A smile grew on my face as I bumped into him and he stumbled a bit as I caught him off guard.
“What was that for?”
“Oh, great and wondrous master have you forgotten how famous you are?” He paused for a brief second before frowning. He started moving again as he shook his head. Kira and I both giggled at his frustration. We continued on to the speeders and we moved out of town as I followed the Force. I was not sure if it would lead me to where we needed to be to save Jomar Chul's life. The hours went by as we moved further into the emptiness of the Jundland Wastes. Kira and Revan drove the bikes while I was content to ride with T7. He started whistling as he pulled nearer to the cliffs.
“We can stop under that overhang there.” T7 frantically whistled and moaned.
“T7 I know it is hot. My display is telling me it is 55 degrees.” That is about 130 degrees Fahrenheit. He complained some more as we reached the shade. The temperature dropped only five degrees. My bodysuit was taking most of the heat away, but it struggled even in the shade. I looked over to Revan and he was barely even sweating. I knew what he was doing and Kira was giving him the dirtiest of looks.
“How can you be so comfortable?”
“The heat is just another form of Force energy. Absorb it and use it to keep you cool.” I knew the technique, as well as Kira, did, but that didn't make it easy. I also felt it distracted me from concentrating on other things.
“So where are we going and why couldn't we take the ship?”
“I am not exactly sure and bringing the ship could only put Jomar into greater danger if not endangering the Bendu's Way.”
“I sense you are not so sure we are on the right path.” Revan was right as I was constantly feeling out in the Force for any sign. I felt lost and I was still unwilling to admit it. Still, the location we were at felt familiar and I knew there was no way I had been here before. We ate and I slowly relaxed using more of my attention in keeping myself cool and T7 from overheating. We all suddenly jumped as the air jumped from a shock wave. A shock wave only a ship coming in far too close and way too fast. The roar and screams of hot metal came quickly after the shock wave.
“I think we are right on time.” We rushed to the speeders and soon we followed the smoke trail left by the wounded ship. We arrived as soon as the sole survivor exited the ruined ship. He staggered, righted himself, and then fell to his knees. We rushed over as soon as we came to a stop.
“I know your face, the Hero of Tython.” I felt a smile grow on my face as I welcomed the scripted reaction of Jomar Chul, but I didn't expect him o pass out.
“I'll move him to the sled. Kira, check his wounds and dress them.” I watched as Kira went into action. I felt her presence in the Force grow as she started to heal him while binding his wounds. I pushed out with my senses to search for any unwanted attraction. Even passed out, Jomar gave away that the bag he held onto was more important than his life. A dozen minutes passed before I felt the start of a threat.
“We need to move.”
“Almost stable. He has several deep cuts. Surprised he survived the crash.”
“He would have done more than that. My memory of him was that he was nearly healed.”
“The ship is empty. I have every...” We looked at him as I felt his concern that we would waste time searching the ship. I might have, given a chance to, but the less time spent out here the better. We moved away from the crash site and I hoped that we would remain undetected. I did not want to fight without knowing for sure Jomar had recovered enough to guide the sled himself. The minutes dragged by, and slowly the threat I felt stopped and faded as we got farther and farther away as the first sun and later the second sun dropped below the horizon.
