The small cargo ship Dawn Eagle drifted slowly near Orilon-6, where the crew had recently replenished supplies. Besides a meager market and a small mining colony, Orilon had nothing to boast about, as evidenced by its tiny spaceport by galactic standards. It was laughable that the Eagle was only granted permission for a three-hour stopover, as it occupied a dock intended for loading ore haulers.
In fact, besides cargo ships and rare traders, starships were rarely seen in the Orilon system, which made the Eagle attract too much attention, something its current pilot disliked intensely. Attention was the last thing HK-47 needed.
The reason for the delay in departing from this unremarkable star system in all respects was Revan's order - "Wait."
For a whole week, the former Jedi had been busy studying the datachron received from Scourge. This, however, did not prevent him from monitoring the progress of Maul and Skywalker. His apprentices recovered quickly from the destructive effects of Dromund Kaas. The Zabrak, being no stranger to the consequences, was back to normal the very next day. Anakin took a little longer. The boy was shocked by the fact that his own mind had so easily succumbed to temptation and betrayed its owner. And yet, he was so sure of what he was doing! However, this valuable experience showed the young Force adepts their vulnerability to the true power of the Dark Side. Skywalker finally seriously took up meditation for self-discovery and emotional control. Maul, on Revan's advice, focused on self-discipline.
Daily, the mentor checked the progress of his charges. The Zabrak improved with his staff every day, adapting the basic forms to his style. Sparring with his teacher became tougher. The speed increased with the student's experience. Revan skillfully limited himself, motivating Maul by the proximity of triumph, each time anticipating the student's blade by just a moment.
Skywalker also demonstrated impressive talent in swordsmanship, mastering Shii-Cho quite quickly. Anakin absorbed knowledge like the sands of Tatooine absorbed life-giving moisture. He only needed one explanation of a technique and two or three demonstrations of the correct position and movement for the boy to successfully repeat it. Two days ago, the boy began training with two training drones, and Revan was already considering starting training sparring. After all, Skywalker's reaction speed and overall physical fitness, under the supervision of Maul and HK, had reached the minimum required for a Padawan of his age group. At least by the standards of the Old Order.
At present, his apprentices were resting. The former Jedi himself was in meditation, hovering a meter above the floor of his cabin. Orilon was chosen for refueling and resupplying for another reason, which, besides Revan and possibly Maul, no one on the crew knew about. Namely, the concentration of neutral Force energy. The system was uninhabited during the Old Republic era, and even four thousand years later, it remained sparsely populated, which protected the natural Force "oasis" from the influence of living beings. Orilon was an excellent place for deep meditation, second only to the gardens in the Jedi Temple, but unpopular in the Order due to its remoteness from the Core Worlds. This was only to Revan's advantage.
Meditations always helped the former Republic Army general quickly assimilate and analyze large volumes of information. And what he learned from the datachron of the last pure-blood Sith required careful and comprehensive study.
The information was fragmented and mixed with a heap of useless, and at times frankly absurd, data. The information was presented in a disorganized and vague manner, but upon closer examination, everything fit into an interesting picture.
First of all, the datachron did indeed contain some hints and guesses about how Vitiate managed to return to the world of the living. There were even references to the experiments of an ambitious Sith girl named Zash. Soul transference... Taking over another body... A ritual developed by Tulak Hord... All this seemed like insane fantasy at first glance, but Revan clearly remembered what Sith alchemy and the ancient knowledge of dark Jedi were capable of. Vitiate was one of those examples that are not forgotten.
Having studied the symbols that often appeared in Zash's and Scourge's records more closely, Revan became convinced that his initial impression when quickly reviewing the data on Dromund Kaas was not mistaken. He had encountered exactly the same drawings in the Trayus Academy.
Could Tulak Hord himself have contributed to the creation of the academy on Malachor V? Quite possibly... Did Vitiate have access to the knowledge hidden in the academy? Undoubtedly. The Emperor, even at their first meeting, knew that Revan and Malak had been to Malachor and was not surprised by this. Moreover, he was pleased by this fact.
But Zash, according to the records, never left the Empire's territory... And by the beginning of the invasion of the Republic's territory, Mical had already completely destroyed Malachor and the academy with it.
"Did something survive? Or did she find information about Tulak Hord's ritual in the Temple on Dromund Kaas? Or perhaps on Korriban?" Revan mused, "Hmm... no, Zash arrived on Korriban much later. So, it must have been Dromund Kaas... Or any other Sith world... Hutt!"
He could guess endlessly. The only thing that was reliably known was that Vitiate knew about the Ritual. Moreover, if Scourge accurately described the process by which he gained immortality, then some of the symbols inscribed on the walls... well, perhaps Vitiate's laboratory, were very similar to those used by Zash.
So, the Emperor improved Zash's ritual, supplemented it with Sith alchemy, and previously tested the strengthening compound on Scourge? Or was this just a stage in his experiments? The latter was more likely.
Revan frowned. He was missing something.
Reaching out to the Force streams, the former Jedi let them pass through him, dispelling fatigue and clearing his mind.
Concentrating on the datachron again, he began to piece together the mosaic fragments in an attempt to see the whole picture.
Zash needed the Dark Temple's ritual chamber and Tulak Hord's relics to try to transfer her consciousness... no, her entire essence into another body. At the same time, she chose a young and strong candidate for the role of the new vessel, which indicated that she could not influence the degree of connection to the Force and the number of midi-chlorians in the recipient's blood. Otherwise, anyone would have suited. Or did she simply not want to waste time on development?
On the other hand, Vitiate had no such problems. His colossal power manifested in Valkorion as well. And no artifacts were required. The Emperor was able to revive without any external help. Or not entirely so?
"Too many gaps," a thought flashed through Revan's mind.
The former Jedi was forced to admit that one datachron was not enough to understand the issues of immortality. However, the information contained in it provided hints, and sometimes directions, on where to look for more precise information.
And the first two places were quite obvious: the Dark Temple and the Trayus Academy.
To Revan's displeasure, both places were presumably destroyed. However, with the temple, things were not so clear-cut. According to Scourge's information, the Prophets had settled there. This meant that the Temple itself had survived... or at least partially survived.
As for the Academy, its destruction was confirmed by Mical herself, Scourge, the Order's archives, and even galactic maps, from which Malachor V had been removed for several thousand years.
However, as Kreia once said, "Manuscripts do not burn, and holocrons even less so."
It was not so easy to destroy ancient repositories of knowledge, otherwise hundreds of dark pyramids would not have ended up locked in the vaults on Coruscant, hidden from outsiders, but would have simply been scattered into dust.
Could anything have survived among the debris of Malachor?
Revan listened to the Force, as he had done thousands of times before. There were no disturbances, which would indicate the erroneousness of his judgment. Moreover, the Force seemed to be pushing him to go to Malachor. This was encouraging. The former Jedi was well acquainted with this feeling. Like a barely perceptible itch under the skin, forcing one to pay attention to its source.
Revan concentrated on his memories of Malachor. His consciousness noticeably swam somewhere into the distance, and then sharply shifted directly to the remains of what was once a large planetoid, stretched across the former orbit of rotation around the local star into a new asteroid belt.
Revan could not fail to recognize the place where the gravity shadow generator had been used. Malachor V.
Once a habitable world, it had been under the rule of pure-blood Sith, Rakata, and Mandalorians, but it had not survived its encounter with Revan.
The superweapon struck the unfortunate planet twice, wiping it off the face of the galaxy, leaving only dust and stones in its place. And along with Malachor, the Trayus Academy disappeared...
But not its knowledge.
In the cloud of swirling Darkness that had permeated this star system for long millennia, amidst the deafening echo of hundreds of thousands of soldiers' deaths from two fleets, several bright crimson lights pierced through, invisible to other sentient beings, but clearly visible to one who knew exactly what to look for.
The sources of the blood-red glow were holocrons. Three surviving pyramids of ancient Sith knowledge, which had survived the planet's destruction and thousands of years of the Order's search missions, marauder attacks, and attempts by Dark Side adepts to find fragments of past power.
A true treasure.
A long time ago, the former Jedi had already held these holocrons in his hands. He had studied what was hidden within them. Only then, immortality had not been his goal. He hadn't been seeking it, and therefore had not attached importance to the ancient Sith's rambling thoughts about eternity. And he should have.
All of Revan's senses screamed that this was what he needed! These holocrons contained what would help him! He had to get to them!
Suddenly, a shadow fell over the pyramids, dimming their glow.
Someone or something was also searching for the holocrons.
Revan concentrated harder on the feeling of anxiety that flared in his mind. A blurry image of something massive, slowly making its way through the asteroid belt, appeared in his consciousness.
A ship.
The vision cut off as if someone had abruptly pushed Revan away, not allowing him to learn more.
The former Jedi's eyes snapped open, and he barely managed to catch himself with telekinesis to avoid falling to the cabin floor.
Standing up, Revan allowed himself to catch his breath, clinging to the echoes of the vision and trying to memorize all the details. The ship's location, its surroundings, how far was it from the holocrons? Who commanded it? And, just as importantly, who could have pushed him out of the vision?
Five minutes later, wearily wiping his face, Revan approached a small holoprojector that occupied a third of the desk in his cabin. At the former Jedi's command, a map of the galaxy unfolded above the desk.
"HK," Revan opened the channel via intercom.
"Gladly: Listening, Master!" came the cheerful voice of the droid in response.
"Course for the Malakor system. Fast and quiet," the former Jedi was peering at the map of the destination, "Try to exit near Malakor III. And be careful, there might be an enemy in the system."
"Query: Is there any information about the enemy?"
"A large ship. I'd say cruiser-class. Nothing specific."
"Understood, Master."
The communication channel closed.
After standing over the Malakor map for a little longer, Revan deactivated the projector and left the cabin, heading to the arsenal equipped by HK, where, in addition to weapons, one could find tools and a repair workbench. After the fight with Skorge, Revan had repaired the damaged blade, replacing the power element. However, it turned out that one of the focusing lenses had shifted, causing the plasma arc to destabilize occasionally, losing density. The former Jedi had noticed this a few days ago during a training session with Maul, but had not found time to fix the malfunction until now, for which he mentally chastised himself. After all, a lightsaber was not just a tool and a weapon. It became a part of the Jedi. So Revan sincerely believed he should take better care of such a valuable artifact. Especially considering its origin.
The hand of the resurrected former Jedi instinctively went to the hilt of the damaged blade. His fingers traced the carving on the handle, making him remember Bastila again. All this was for her. It was solely for her return that Revan decided to hunt for immortality.
"I could have taken better care of her last gift then," Revan mentally chided himself.
He could name only one excuse – the information from Skorge's datachron.
Because, in addition to fragments of data about the ancient Sith's experiments, it also contained something else. Something dangerous... and powerful.
It was upon stumbling upon these files that Revan lost track of time and almost did not leave his cabin for a full day, missing even one of the training sessions with his students.
And the reason for the former Jedi's state was her... the Star Forge.
A sinister work of art by Rakatan masters, a colossal space station capable of producing virtually anything, using the Force and... stars for that purpose.
Four thousand years ago, the Republic fleet destroyed the Star Forge in orbit around Rakata Prime, also known as Lehon. Revan, after a difficult battle with Malak, personally ensured that the station could not survive. The Republic had to close the system to access, so that no one would even think of using the remnants of the Infinite Empire's technology. The wreckage of the station remained in orbit around Rakata Prime.
However, Revan remembered one amazing feature of Rakatan technology. They possessed a semblance of sentience and, more importantly, could self-repair.
The star maps, by which Revan had first found the Forge, were destroyed during the fall of the Rakatan Empire. However, slowly but surely, over thousands of years, they managed to restore themselves to working condition. The copy on Kashyyyk even managed to restore the artificial intelligence that had put Revan to the test.
No, that Star Forge, which was destroyed near Rakata Prime, could not recover. Not that quickly. In four thousand years, it wouldn't even have assembled its core structure. But Skorge's datachron spoke of something else.
Even on Tatooine, before meeting HK and Anakin, Revan remembered the Infinite Engine Seed, hidden on Nar Shaddaa. It could become the core of a new station, but again, not in such a short period.
Upon meeting Skywalker and following the will of the Force, Revan decided to postpone searching for the Core, focusing on the boy's fate and studying the current state of affairs in the Order. But he had not forgotten the coordinates of a strange object on the border of inhabited systems, which the Rakatan star map pointed to.
According to the datachron, the Core was discovered on Nar Shaddaa during the war with the Vitiate Empire. Judging by the surviving reports, the semi-sentient mechanism had managed to develop into an AI and occupied an entire city block in size.
"To think! Three hundred years and such progress!" Revan marveled, "This artifact developed even faster than the Star Forge. What happened to it over four thousand years?"
The reports stated that the artifact was dismantled and removed from Nar Shaddaa, and then handed over to Imperial intelligence. Further information was cut off, as it was classified, and Skorge had decided to defect to the Republic's side, thus losing the opportunity to delve into the Empire's secrets until its victory. And then the trail was completely lost.
Several times, R2 approached the Jedi, who was busy working on his weapon, offering his assistance. The curious droid was clearly interested in understanding the workings of a lightsaber. Revan carried out the repair and final adjustment of his lightsaber almost unconsciously, and refused the astromech's help. His thoughts were occupied with the prospect of regaining control of the Forge's power, even if not in its full capacity.
Was it worth it? How strongly would the artifact affect its owner? Would it be as steeped in the Dark Side?
Questions... too many questions!
Revan completed the repair and activated the blade. The weapon was once again in perfect condition, ready to defend its owner at any moment.
The blade was simple and understandable. It was a part of the Jedi or Sith and obeyed the slightest movement of the hand.
The Forge, on the other hand, was a semi-sentient artifact created with the help of the Dark Side. It was more like a dangerous beast that needed to be kept under control at all times. Relax for a moment, and it would devour you.
Wasn't this what happened to Malak? He had stayed on the station for too long... He had delved too deep into the Darkness.
"My mistake... My fault..." Revan recalled the last words of his old friend, "You were right, Alec."
The former Jedi put the sword back on his belt and leaned on the workbench. In light of the latest information that Skorge and Mitra had dumped on him, Revan might have no choice left. Soon, a storm would erupt in the galaxy. And to deal with it... well, to simply survive, an army would be needed.
The Forge was necessary...
Even despite the risk.
"Forgive me, old friend," Revan shook his head, "I will try to avoid past mistakes. But I can't promise anything."
The flight to Malakor took a little less than a day. And by the time they exited hyperspace, Revan was already in the bridge. The feeling of unease had not left him, and anxious thoughts about the datachron's contents only added fuel to the fire.
HK, occupying the pilot's seat, skillfully brought the Eagle into orbit around Malakor III from the opposite side of the asteroid belt, which had once been Malakor V.
"Status report: We have exited hyperspace, Master. According to passive sensors, there are no other ships in the system," the droid reported.
"Can the ship hide from us in the asteroid belt?" Anakin, who had followed Revan, asked.
"Easily," Revan shrugged, "It's an old trick used thousands of years ago. Only the cosmic dust and small asteroid debris, not to mention the deposits of certain metals in such a hiding place, will blind the sensors of whoever decided to hide. So, we don't see them, and they don't see us."
"What if we try to find them?" the boy suggested.
"Instructionally: Active scanners are not recommended to avoid the possibility of detection," HK-47 answered the question, "Displeased: Didn't I advise you to study the manual on small fleet engagement in enemy territory by Forn Dodonna, you useless bag of meat?"
"There are over three thousand pages..." the boy grumbled.
"Irritated: And this is only a small part of what you should know, bag of meat."
"But..."
"Anakin, don't argue," Revan sided with the droid, "This knowledge is indeed important. Admiral Dodonna's manual contains many quotes from my own works on fleet tactics, as well as excerpts from combat operation reports. All of this is based on real experience and created at the cost of hundreds of thousands of lives of soldiers and officers who made the mistakes that such textbooks warn against."
"But I'm not going to command a fleet!" Skywalker exclaimed.
"Who knows, Anakin. Who knows."
The boy found no answer to such an argument. His thoughts carried him far away, to the bridge of his own flagship as a general, no less. What child doesn't dream of becoming a heroic commander?
Revan smiled almost imperceptibly, noting the change in his student's expression, guessing the content of his thoughts.
"I understand, Master," Skywalker finally replied, "I will read Admiral Dodonna's works today."
"The volume will be too large for one evening," the mentor shook his head, "To not miss anything and to remember better, try to recall the text during meditation. Believe me, you will quickly feel the benefit of this method."
"I'll try, Master. Thank you."
Nodding benevolently, Revan turned to the assassin droid again.
"HK, we're heading to this sector," the former Jedi entered the coordinates into the navigation computer, where he had felt the presence of holocrons during meditation, "But try to attract less attention. We don't know exactly what might be hidden in this asteroid field."
"Understood, Master."
The Dawn Eagle began to move slowly towards its target.
They passed the orbit of Malakor IV without incident. There was still no news of any enemy. Revan was beginning to doubt if anyone was actually in the system besides their ship. However, the Force still warned of danger. And its source was clearly not the holocrons.
At the very edge of the asteroid belt, HK suddenly slowed down sharply and drew the attention of those gathered in the bridge.
"Alert: Attention! Flash at coordinates 23-43-A17, mark 5. Presumably fire from a ship's blaster cannon," the droid pointed to the panoramic screen with its manipulator.
Revan peered into the sea of stone debris, slowly drifting in the blackness of space, trying to discern what had attracted the droid's attention. And a few seconds later, he noticed a scarlet flash.
"R2," Revan called the astromech, "Can you reconfigure the sensors for a narrower coverage sector, but without increasing our chances of detection?"
The droid chirped something encouraging in response and connected to the main computer.
A few minutes later, an image appeared above the holoprojector, vaguely resembling a ship. Apparently, this was what the sensors had detected at the flash coordinates.
"Can you clean up the image?" Revan clarified.
The astromech whistled doubtfully in binary.
Meanwhile, the former Jedi was staring at the dimly familiar outlines of a potential enemy. And with each second, he became more convinced that the ship was not just familiar.
As soon as this thought flashed through Revan's mind, the sensors transmitted a new batch of data, and the hologram became much clearer. The outlines of the starship became sharper and more recognizable. To his surprise, the former Jedi realized he recognized the type of ship! A long time ago, in his past life, these formidable predators had torn his enemies to shreds on the battlefield. A six-hundred-meter curved hull, horizontally divided in half, slowly drifted among the planet's debris. Majestic and deadly.
It was an Interdictor! A heavy cruiser of the Republic army, which had become the core of Revan's space forces.
Worn even in appearance, with numerous traces of repeated repairs, but it was still an Interdictor!
"Great Force," Revan exhaled.
"Observation: The external parameters of the ship correspond to a Republic-class Interdictor cruiser, manufactured at the Corellian shipyards."
"It should be almost four thousand years old!" Anakin exclaimed, barely containing the enthusiasm of a ship fan.
"What the hell is it doing here?" Revan grumbled, not particularly hoping for an answer, trying to figure out if they could avoid encountering this vessel.
And, to the former Jedi's displeasure, the Force persistently hinted that their paths were indeed meant to cross with this cruiser. The holocrons were already on board.
"Query: Master? Is something bothering you?" HK inquired, hearing the stream of curses from his creator's lips.
And Revan was bothered by many things. And the first item on the list was time. If the cruiser had arrived in the system to find the holocrons and had already completed its mission, it wouldn't linger here long. Tracking it in hyperspace with the Eagle's capabilities would be impossible. This meant there was no time for long deliberations. Either act now, foolishly and recklessly. Or lose the holocrons, and with them, the hope of Bastila's return.
"Give me the controls," Revan ordered, settling into the pilot's seat.
The droid obeyed without question.
The former general of the Republic troops, mentally cursing the unknown cruiser with all known curses, directed the freighter towards the direction where flashes were appearing more and more frequently. Obviously, the cruiser was fighting its way out of the asteroid field. Time was running out.
"HK, inform the crew. We are preparing to storm an Interdictor-class cruiser. Equip everyone with copies of the internal corridor and room layouts from the auxiliary hangar to the bridge, and brief information about the ship."
"Understood, Master."
Revan, meanwhile, was trying to calculate the probability that the freighter would appear on the sensors as just another small piece of asteroid debris, long enough for them to close the distance. Based on its appearance, the ship's sensor matrix was unlikely to be in perfect condition. Therefore, the chances were high.
"Is this some kind of joke?" Tyra burst into the bridge, "Have you completely meditated your brains away? It's a cruiser, damn it!"
"Addendum: Standard crew complement is five thousand two hundred and forty-four people," HK reported, apparently continuing an argument Revan hadn't heard.
"And three and a half thousand assault troops!" Nomad snapped back.
"Threat assessment: Probability that the ship has its full crew complement..."
"Yes, what difference does it make! It's a cruiser!" the mercenary barked, "At least three hundred sentient beings to simply move this vessel!"
"Confirmed."
"So, I've known for a long time that you're missing a few screws in your tin can," Tyra said, not letting the droid continue, "But your master hasn't suffered from madness until now."
"There's no choice," Revan replied, realizing the last words were addressed to him.
"This is suicide! I didn't sign up to storm an entire cruiser with a group of two fighters, a child, and a couple of crazy tin cans!"
"I'll go to the cruiser alone. Your task is to cover the Eagle and get it out of harm's way if I'm delayed," Revan replied calmly, focusing on piloting.
"What?" Nomad asked again, "Alone?"
"Query: Clarify your plan, Master."
"Teacher?" Like everyone else in the bridge, Anakin was puzzled by this news.
"On the Interdictor, the energy shield does not cover the hangar doors to avoid obstructing the departure of vehicles. The containment field, preventing atmospheric loss in the hangar, is deactivated in its deployed position and automatically activates only three seconds after the doors are damaged," Revan began to explain his plan, "I will breach the auxiliary hangar doors on the upper deck and bring the Eagle inside. HK, Tyra, your task will be to destroy the hangar's defense system turrets before they breach our freighter's shields. It will take a trained crew no more than a minute to block the hangar after destroying the defense system. In that time, I must break through to the cruiser's interior, otherwise..."
"Otherwise, you'll be thrown into open space," Nomad interrupted.
"Yes," Revan nodded in agreement.
"The plan is idiotic, don't you understand?"
"No other can be carried out under the current conditions. I need to get on this ship."
"Why?" Nomad persisted.
"It has the information I need on board. And if this cruiser leaves the system, I will lose it forever," Revan whispered the last sentence.
"You haven't paid me back yet," Tyra reminded, realizing she couldn't dissuade the former Jedi.
"I don't plan to die," Revan replied without a hint of a smile.
For a minute, the mercenary stared at the back of her interlocutor's head before turning and heading to the weapons control console.
"HK, get ready," Revan ordered, "Three minutes. Anakin, buckle up."
"Recommendation: The hangar doors are too strong for our weapons. Request permission to use a proton torpedo," the assassin droid asked with undisguised joy in its synthesized voice.
"Just make sure the hangar itself doesn't suffer too much damage. Without atmosphere and a containment field, I won't be able to leave the Eagle's hull."
"Understood, Master."
"If there's a threat of our ship being destroyed, or if I'm delayed on the cruiser for too long, leave. I'll get out myself."
"Understood, Master."
"Cocky idiot," Tyra grumbled.
"Sometimes, when rational options are absent, one has to act foolishly," Revan replied, not diverting from maneuvering among the chaotically moving stone blocks.
"Words of a true idiot."
"Actually, they were spoken by someone named Canderous Ordo," the former Jedi chuckled.
In response, a disgruntled grumble in Mandalorian was heard.
The cruiser was already clearly visible ahead, even to the naked eye. Revan called upon the Force, focusing on the freighter's flight and the surrounding debris.
"I just hope you don't decide to shoot this harmless pebble flying towards you from the starboard side," Revan thought, sincerely hoping that the cruiser's sensors, clogged with interference, wouldn't mistake the Eagle for an asteroid.
The next second, the Interdictor fired. One of the laser cannon batteries pulverized several stone blocks that were drifting in the ancient ship's path.
Revan exhaled. But it could have been the Dawn Eagle.
"Prepare to open fire," the former Jedi commanded.
"Warning: Master, new information," HK interrupted him, "Observation: The ship's condition is much worse than expected."
"You mean it won't withstand a proton torpedo hit to the hangar?"
"Assessment: There is a probability of that."
"There's no choice anyway."
"Understood, Master."
The Eagle made a sharp turn, changing its trajectory and heading towards the cruiser.
"Fire!"
The freighter shuddered as if hit by a volley from a turbolaser battery. Even though the launcher was fitted on board, the cargo ship was not designed for such a weapon.
The explosion of the proton torpedo, though small in power, blew the armored hangar doors to shreds, revealing the cruiser's dark interior, into which the Eagle rushed without hesitation.
"Suppress the defense systems!" Revan ordered, sharply reducing speed and with a crash, lowering the freighter onto a surprisingly empty flight deck.
Contrary to expectations, not a single shot was fired.
The hangar looked abandoned. Only emergency lights provided illumination. There were no small ships ready for launch. Everywhere, there were signs of corrosion from durasteel oxidation in the oxygen-rich atmosphere, indicating malfunctions in the life support systems.
"Tyra? HK?" Revan decided to confirm his assumptions.
"Nothing to shoot at," the mercenary replied, "Not a single turret. All destroyed."
"Confirmed, Master," HK echoed, "The defense system was disabled long before us."
"What the hell is going on here?" Nomad whispered.
The hangar's containment field activated belatedly the next moment.
"Warning: Master, atmosphere is restoring. If you still plan to implement your plan, I recommend hurrying."
There was no need to repeat it twice.
By the time the pressure in the hangar normalized and HK reported the presence of breathable atmosphere, Revan was already standing at the cargo bay ramp, ready for battle.
"Remember, in case of danger, leave."
"Can we take off now?" Tyra chuckled over the radio.
"A little more dangerous," Revan retorted.
Humor helped calm nerves and prevented the crew from succumbing to panic.
As soon as the ramp touched the hangar floor, the former Jedi, with speed impossible for an ordinary person, rushed to the exit and, with a Force push, literally ripped the locked door from its frame.
The corridor that opened up also lacked lighting... as well as any signs of crew presence. An ominous silence and an icy chill from the life support system operating at minimum.
However, as soon as Revan stepped into the corridor, he was engulfed by a sudden surge of the Force. His vision blurred, his head filled with voices, and he felt the presence of thousands of sentient beings around him. A shadow flickered past, then another. A flash of pain pierced his head, and a deafening ringing filled his ears.
And then, it was gone.
Revan activated his blades and cautiously surveyed his surroundings. Everything was as it had been a moment before. Emergency lighting, and no sign of a crew.
But at the same time, a strange feeling arose. As if this ship were... familiar? Had he been on it before?
"HK," the former Jedi called over the comm to his loyal droid, "Try to connect to the cruiser's computer with R2. Find out what you can about it."
"Acknowledged, Master."
Revan, meanwhile, began to move cautiously but rather quickly through the ship's corridors, following the Force's guidance that led him to the holocrons. Apparently, whoever commanded this ship had decided to hide the artifacts in their own cabin. For it was in that part of the ship where, as Revan remembered, the captain's cabin was located, that he felt the accursed pyramids.
What troubled the former Jedi was the fact that he barely sensed any living beings aboard. Yet, a cruiser like this couldn't be operated alone. A minimal crew was required, at least of droids. The entire ship was also permeated with Dark Side energy, which clouded his vision, preventing him from utilizing his full potential.
Suddenly, a figure appeared from around a corner.
A shot rang out, but Revan was ready for an attack and easily deflected the blaster bolt back at the shooter.
Approaching the motionless body of the attacker cautiously, Revan couldn't believe his eyes.
Before him lay a Sith Empire soldier in easily recognizable silver armor and a helmet with a mirrored visor. There was no life in him.
"A droid?"
Deciding to test his guess, Revan used the Force to rip off the fallen opponent's chest plate. As he had suspected, it was a droid inside the armor. The manufacturer was impossible to determine, but at least it explained why there was no life sensed on board.
No one else crossed his path until he reached the captain's cabin. This only made him more wary.
And then, just as he was ready to rip another door from its hinges, he felt a distinct presence behind him. A living being. Powerful... Force-sensitive...
"Master!" HK's voice crackled over the comm simultaneously, "Alert: Master, we've managed to gain access to the ship's computer..."
"Not now, HK..."
Revan turned towards the potential opponent and froze in a combat stance, glad that his mask hid his expression. For the shock he felt at that moment, he couldn't have concealed.
Opposite him stood someone in disturbingly familiar armor and a Mandalorian mask, so much like Revan himself that for a moment he thought he was looking in a mirror. Even the attacking stance of Juyo was perfectly copied from the original, and if not for the color of the lightsaber, glowing a bloody red, Revan would have believed it.
"You won't pass, impostor," a surprisingly high voice came from under the opponent's mask.
"Insistent: Master, this is important."
"HK..." Revan tried to object.
"Insistent: Master, it's the Obsidian!" the droid cut him off.
"What?" the former Republic Army general and commander of the heavy cruiser "Obsidian" asked, stunned.
"Explanation: We are aboard the Obsidian, Master."
"What the hell..."