"It's not the Jedi way. You would remember that, if you cared to."

Shrug. "I've never been very good at following rules."

"The Jedi way is to care for all life. It's not rules."

"I never actually got a good explanation for why pacifism in the face of a war is anything other than enabling death."

"You started this war!"

"I am not the first to have ever declared war on the Republic, nor will I be the last."

"So glad to know you see your Imperialism justified." 

Something is building in Bastila. Something dark. 

"Justified? Yes. Regrettable? Also yes."

"Then why."

She actually seems like she's about to respond to that -

When an explosion rocks the ship.

Bastila falls, feeling the minds she's connected to die, but rips herself away, focusing desperately on the Republic troops caught in the attack-

Revan realizes what happened.

Betrayal whips through her, shock, grief -

She lashes out at Malak, I thought we were friends, and...

Reaches across the bond.

Bolsters Bastila's efforts.

Malak wants to play this game? Fine. Let him know what it means to be an enemy of Revan.

The power Bastila feels is- intense...and euphoric. It's power that she could do anything with, she could change the course of the battle, this war, the galaxy-

"No!" She tries to force the bond to break, trying to wrench herself away.

Across the bond: frustration. Revan's trying to meet betrayal with betrayal, here.

This offer of power isn't, from Revan's perspective, a trap.

Bastila can feel the truth of it, of that. And she knows it wasn't a trap-

It was a temptation. Not intentional, but Bastila is already powerful. It would be like pouring an ocean into a fast-moving river. 

"We have to go. Now." She starts moving back the way she and her team came, stepping over their bodies, heart heavy.

Revan nods, though she doesn't understand why temptation is bad. (And what of the team member Bastila knocked unconscious?)

Not unconscious, upon closer inspection.

Drained. Their eyes stare upwards, alive but empty. A shell. 

Likely not worth rescuing, then.

Revan follows Bastila out, keeping her power on offer, though not forcing it across the bond.

The more Bastila strains against the bond, the more she feels it strengthen. It’s like the more she fights it, the more it digs it’s claws in.

She still tries, straining against the pull of Revan’s power, and focuses on getting back to her shuttle, feeling death all around her, as Malak’s efforts intensify. 

Revan doesn't like not standing by her people. Feels she should be on the bridge, going down with her men if nothing else - 

But she can't abandon the effort. She has more people loyal to her than those here. She needs to survive, for their sake, if nothing else.

And, perhaps, if she withdraws, she can convince Malak to follow her, leaving off the attack on her people...

At that moment, a huge section of the ship is destroyed, the metal screeching as it separates from the rest of the ship, sucking people into the vacuum of space.

Bastila doesn't think. She just pulls everything she can from Revan, throwing up the strongest barrier she's ever made. Stronger than any she's ever known. 

And the power feels good. It feels right, feeling the flow of emotion from everyone around her, feeling the light being drained from people as they choke to death in the coldness of space. 

Revan stumbles, falling against one wall, trying to keep moving -

Not really succeeding at that, though.

And Bastila keeps pulling from her, but keeps moving forward, her command of power effortless, easy-

It could be like this all the time, a small voice says inside her.