#revanasi

Revan recognizing Sith mental constructs the way I recognize AI

Carth offscreen having a panic attack the entire time she's fighting her way through the ship

Carth offscreen having a panic attack carrying an unconscious Revan through the streets of Taris after pulling her from the wreckage of a ship he was unable to save from crashing. Yes he was having violent flashbacks to Telos the entire time

Revan flirting with Yun to get armor, walking across the bar, seeing Carth do the exact same thing, and becoming rabidly jealous

Revan going "I don't wanna talk about it" and Carth responding with "Ok, I won't interrogate you then" (he's so smug)

Word had it Eva was making excellent progress with her Jedi training, mastering in weeks what others couldn’t in years. Carth allowed himself a modicum of hope he’ll finally be leaving Dantooine, and sooner than he first believed.

He still slept poorly, but eventually he grew used to his bunkmates. Zaalbar stomping his feet against the footboard was no longer an issue. And after so many ‘hunting’ excursions with Canderous, Carth was slowly getting used to having him around. He couldn’t fully trust him, of course. But there was something to be said of having a personal standard for a true Mandalorian, being willing to turn on his own kind in some crazy notion of correcting them.

Carth stirred one morning, barely awake enough to register the sound of small footsteps on grated durasteel floors. Must be Mission going topside to see the sunrise again. Good for her.

It seemed only a second later when he heard screaming.

His eyes shot open and his feet hit the floor. By the time his brain registered what was happening, he was already out the crew quarters, hands splayed against the walls, searching urgently for the sound. It led him through the hall between the galley and cargo hold. Mission was on her knees barely in the cargo hold, attempting to console a little girl with matted golden brown hair and bright blue eyes. She couldn’t be older than seven years old.

Wait. How did she get here? And when? Where did she come from? Taris?

The small girl sobbed and raised her arms over her head and body, as if– no, she was expecting to be hit or beaten.

Mission grabbed a nutrient bar from the nearest storage container, and waved it in front of the girl. Then she held it still in front of her until the girl finally calmed down enough to slowly take it, never taking her eyes off the Twi’lek. Then she looked up to Carth, wide-eyed and curious.

Mission turned to him. “Carth! I… I found her. At first I thought Big Z was dreaming. He said the food stores were depleting faster than they should be, but I thought he had been having late-night cravings. There hadn’t been any ripped packages or half-eaten food bars, so I knew it couldn’t be pests. Then I heard the footsteps. I put up a stealth field and followed them. I found her, but I spooked her, too.”

That explained the screaming, but nothing else of her origins. He knelt down to say hello. The girl simply raised her arms up again. “Nu neeneer nee! Nu neeneer nee!”

It sounded like Mando’a, but Carth couldn’t make out a lick of it.

“I don’t know her language either,” said Mission. “But she keeps repeating ‘neeneer nee’.”

“Nu neeneer nee.” The girl repeated once more, insistent.

“Let me try talking with her.”

Behind them appeared Eva. Carth absentmindedly ran a hand through his disheveled hair, and he and Mission wordlessly let Eva pass through.

“Hello?” Eva started in Basic.

The girl said nothing.

“Su’cuy?”

The girl blinked as if she maybe understood. Then she echoed the word in her garbled tongue. 

Under an hour later, Eva managed to decipher the girl’s language and learn her name. The phrase she had repeated for Mission was her way of saying ne nynir ni. Don’t hit me.

“Her name is Sasha. She says she’s from here, Dantooine. She’s been sleeping in the repair duct and coming out when she gets hungry. Claims this is her home now.”

“But how did she get here?” Bastila asked impatiently. She and Eva were going to be late to their Jedi training.

“She ran away from Mandalorians. Two weeks, three weeks ago? I don’t know. They weren’t her family, but she must have lived with them for a while. It would explain why she understands Mando’a and speaks it poorly with a sprinkling of Basic.”

“Would her family even remember her?” Mission asked. “She could have been taken from them years ago.”

“We can look into it after today’s lessons.” Bastila assured her. “Master Nemo maintains a record of the locals’ unresolved petitions. Perhaps her family reported her missing.”

“Or we can have her walk off the ship now.”

“Eva!”

“Only joking, Bastila. Mission, could you–”

“What, babysit? I don’t know how to entertain a kid!”

“Leave it to me.” The words left his mouth before Carth realized he said them.

With that settled, the Jedi were off. Carth sighed heavily to himself before turning to the young girl.

“Su’cuy, Sasha.” He didn’t know much Mando’a, just enough to goad a Mandalorian. But Sasha seemed inclined to believe Eva’s assurance that he was a friend, or burc’ya.

Sasha seated herself in front of him and taught him little games he played along with. He in turn taught her a little game that helped improve her knowledge of Basic words. The only time she put her guard up again was when Canderous finally woke up. As soon as she spotted his tattoo, Sasha placed herself behind Carth, putting him between her and Canderous. Canderous merely grunted then minded his own business in the garage.

Slowly, Sasha became more comfortable, and she wormed her way closer to him. By midday, she was half-asleep in his lap, and allowed him to carefully comb her matted hair, starting at the ends. Carth blinked away a few times when he imagined singed and shriveled hair. Like his nightmares becoming reality again.

He’s got to get off this planet.

He leaned to grab a nutrient bar for himself, careful not to disturb the child in his lap. Not long after, footsteps clattered up the boarding ramp. Eva was followed by Bastila and an unfamiliar forest green Twi’lek.

“You said the child is here?” The Twi’lek asked.

Eva nodded. “We found her this morning. She followed one of us to the ship and had been hiding from Mandalorians since.”

She led the Twi’lek to the cargo hold, and Sasha opened her eyes to the sound. The Twi’lek held up a small holocron in his palm. The first image that appeared was that of a small toddler who looked very similar to Sasha.

The Twi’lek nodded, pleased. “Though you have aged, young sentient, I do believe you are indeed the one I seek. I am here to return you to your father, Rundil ot Sulem.”

Sasha held tightly to Carth, throwing her arms around his neck. “Nu neeneer nee?” she asked the Twi’lek.

“No, he won’t hurt you, Sasha.” Eva assured her in Basic, then repeated the phrase in Mando’a. “This is Lur Arka Sulas.”

“I see that Eva was correct about your linguistic difficulties. I am positive that your parents can assist you with that.” The Twi’lek tapped the holocron and a new image appeared. A family of three: father, mother, and a baby in their arms. Sasha pulled away from Carth to look at the image, and cocked her head to the side.

“Buir’e… Mama… Papa…?”

Lur Arka tried to reach for Sasha’s hand. She pulled away and clung to Carth once more, speaking more panicked gibberish into the crook of his neck.

“Now, now. Calm yourself, child. I will take you home.”

Eva knelt down to their level and looked Sasha in the eye, repeating the Twi’lek’s assurances in Mando’a. She and Sasha shared a few more phrases, and Carth nodded along when Sasha looked at him. Finally, Sasha pushed away, stood up, and dared take Lur Arka’s extended hand. “Yaim,” she muttered. Home.

“Yes. Let’s go home.” Lur Arka turned to Eva. “Thank you for your assistance, sentient. I am sure the girl’s parents will be most appreciative of your efforts.”

Lur Arka and Sasha descended the exit ramp. Sasha turned back one more time to look at Carth. She waved her hand. “Bye-bye, Car.”

Bye-bye.

“It was you she followed to the Hawk.” Eva told him. It was all she had time to say before Bastila escorted her back to the enclave.

~

Bastila remained in a less-than pleasant mood since Sasha’s appearance. Apparently Eva had ditched her morning lessons to look into Master Nemo’s records. Sasha’s kidnapping was reported four years ago, and took place soon after the Mandalorians first appeared on Dantooine. Which happened soon after Malachor V.

“They weren’t so aggressive back then.” Eva explained over dinner. “And they didn’t kill those they raided.”

“Makes sense.” Canderous huffed. “We spare the ik’aad. There’s no honor in killing children or willing captives. Instead we adopt them and raise them as our own.”

Unless you’re burying them alive with their families, Carth thought. And if all Mandalorians raised their children like Sasha had been treated… well, it’s a good thing Revan wiped out so many of them at Malachor.

Canderous grunted and dismissed himself to the garage.

“Bastila,” Carth dared ask. “Did you ever think about joining all the Jedi who were running off to follow Revan and Malak when they went to fight the Mandalorians?”

She shook her head. “That was nearly eight years ago. I was barely a padawan; my Battle Meditation hadn’t even manifested itself. Yet even then I had the wisdom to obey the will of the Council. Unlike Revan.” She shot a glare at Eva, who merely shrugged.

“I guess. Still, do you ever wonder if things could have been different? Would Revan and Malak still have been corrupted if the Council had supported them instead of dragging its feet?”

She glowered, indignant. “Do not blame their corruption on the Council! Your Republic saw only the threat of the Mandalorians, but the wisdom of the Masters saw beyond the immediate threat.”

It sounded like she was just making excuses. “And what did they see, exactly?”

“There was something lurking out there, something that devoured Revan and Malak– and many other Jedi. Had the Council sent us all into the unknown, how many more would have fallen?”

“So you’re saying we should have done nothing? Just let the Mandalorians conquer us unopposed? I mean, the Republic was under attack, and the Order abandoned us!”

“We did not abandon you!” Bastila snapped. “But the Council were not about to throw lives away foolishly. In time, we would have aided you against the Mandalorians. But you couldn’t wait. Revan and Malak offered a quicker answer, and the Republic chose to walk the easy path rather than the path of wisdom. Now we see the results all around us. You asked me if I think things could have been different? I know they could have! If Revan had only listened to the Council, millions of innocent people would still be alive.”

Carth scoffed. “Yeah, right. And every single one of them would be speaking Mandalorian.”

Bastila set down her cleared plate and huffed. “I think we’re done here.”

“Fine by me.”

She excused herself to meditate in her crew quarters. Mission and Zaalbar discreetly left the hold as well. That left him with Eva.

“That’s probably my fault, her attitude.” She confessed.

Strange thing for her to own up to. “She was that annoyed you skipped your only day of lessons since when you started?”

Eva shook her head. “Master Vrook was, certainly. This morning didn’t help things with Bastila, but no. No, this started last week after I learned Master Zhar knew Revan and Malak personally, and that some of the other Masters did too. They were rather uneasy when I asked about them. No surprise there. Today I asked the chronicler Master Dorak to share his perspective of the Jedi’s more recent history. The other masters and some padawans listened in as well. Then Master Vandar made the mistake of asking my opinion on the decision to not enter the Mandalorian Wars.”

A Jedi Master, making a mistake? “And…? What did you say?”

“I started off by reiterating a few pieces of their story, which they confirmed. How the Mandalorians had been selectively choosing neutral worlds for more than a decade before moving on to Republic targets. How some of their strongest knights found their way to the Jedi because they were refugees, their homeworlds were among the Mandalorians’ first targets. How Revan as a knight had been asking about taking action against them for years, but only defected after the Republic started fighting back, after investigating a number of battle sites, after presenting this evidence to the Jedi High Council, and after the Jedi still chose to stay out of the wars. I then said if it took the Council so long to not find any additional threat, then err on caution and still not take action after seeing so many territories fall… I couldn’t say I blamed Revan or Malak for striking out on their own to help the Republic. If I was a Jedi back then, limited to the same information they had, maybe I would have joined them.”

“And you said all that to them?”

“Sure did.”

At first Carth grinned. Then he chuckled.

“You called out the Jedi Masters for not helping the Republic, and made them look foolish for it?”

Eva nodded through the biggest smile he’d seen her wear. “You should have seen Bastila. She looked like she was about to blow a gasket!”

Carth laughed again, and this time Eva joined in and laughed with him. Of course the woman who would shout down two arguing superior officers would be the one to question the past judgement of Jedi Masters and make a good case.