Under the cover of all this chaos, Padawan Bastila Shan leads a team through the halls of the ship, holding onto the thread of the Force, calming the minds of the Sith soldiers around them, letting the small group of Jedi slip through, like shadows. 

Things are somewhat spiraling out of control, today.

She feels the Jedi approaching.

Darth Revan hides her own presence - more accurately, she plays a bit of a game of misdirection. The unobservant will think she remains on her bridge. Instead, she leaves the battle to the ship's captain, stalking through the halls to cut the Jedi off early.

A flicker, a change- but then Revan's presence stabilises. Bastila breathes a sigh of relief. 

"She knows we're here. Prepare yourselves."

"Bastila, we cannot take on a Sith Lord, and all her followers," one of the Jedi says, sounding serious, but scared. 

"Ailia, this is our only chance to end the Sith before they destroy the galaxy. We must continue." 

She leads the way.

Revan knows these corridors better than them.

Knows the ideal place for an ambush, even.

She'll spin out into the middle of their formation, lightsaber flaring to life, if their caution slips but an iota.

Something...flickers, on the edge of Bastila's awareness, but as her mouth opens to warn the group-

Darth Malak arrives, ripping through the Republic fleet.

"NO!" One of the Jedi cries, and the rest turn to him.

Don't let your caution slip, little Jedi. A more dangerous opponent is closer.

Revan starts cutting them down.

Three of the Jedi fall before the last two can even react. 

Bastila doesn't scream, even as she feels them die. 

She reaches out, singling into Revan's mind, fighting through it, pushing all of her power into it. 

Revan knows who she is. She's stubborn, mind centered firmly. Hard to shake.

Still, Bastila now has her full attention.

The last two of Bastila's team press their attack.

Bastila, a little arrogant with her own power, presses forward. 

It doesn't take much to keep the other two off her back. Standards are slipping, it seems. She cuts down one of the two.

Her mind's not presenting any cracks for Bastila to take advantage of.

No, it isn't. 

But Revan can sense her forces heavily suffering. Malak's seem to be getting stronger, and isn't that the way of the Sith? The apprentice cuts down the Master?

She trusts Malak. They're friends, they have the same goals, she wouldn't have gone into this with her if she didn't know her conviction -

There's a creeping doubt, still. It throws her off a bit.

Not in the physical fight. She could do this in her sleep. But in the struggle with Bastila...

And she's got her- Bastila can feel her mind, and can sense her thoughts, her fear-

...she's gone too deep- there's an opening for Revan-

Revan lashes back, snarling, trying to get the same advantage over her enemy that her enemy has over her.

Bastila is spread too thin, trying to boost the Republic forces, hold back Revan's- she can't hold her back, she's-

The last remaining Jedi takes a strike at Revan.

Revan lashes out, but she's a bit distracted - still a deadly fighter, but it's getting harder to balance the physical fight with the mental -

...something's wrong, something's...too much...she can't tell where she begins and Revan ends...

The Jedi launches forward in an attack-

"Wait-"

Revan yanks back, reflexively, almost startled.

She defends herself. Of course she does. But she's on her back foot now.

The Jedi has the upper hand, could press the attack.

But they wait, fear in their eyes as they look at Bastila. 

It's a fear that Bastila echoes, not understanding why she warned Revan-

The Jedi shakes off Bastila's feelings, and presses forward anyway.

Bastila isn't sure whether it was her or Revan who reaches out, flinging out a hand towards them. 

She does know it's her power that flares out, flashing blindingly bright. 

Revan backs up, disengaging from the fight. Wary. Alarmed. Curious.

The Jedi falls back, eyes rolling back in their head.

"No- no, no no no-"

Bastila's hands are shaking, her emotions pulsing through the Bond-

Revan lowers her lightsaber slightly. Evaluating Bastila.

Pushing a question across.

What did she do?

Panic electifies along the Bond, and then-

Revan can see how Bastila's battle mediation flared out, overpowering the Jedi's will to fight so much that it sent them unconscious. 

"Your control is poor," she observes, voice low. "You need more training."

"It's a very uncommon practice!" Bastila hisses. 

And then flinches. "I- I shouldn't have-"

She observes Bastila for a moment.

"I can teach you."

Down the bond: the offer is, in fact, genuine.

"You're Sith-"

Hatred spills down the Bond.

She's annoyed, and wistful, and a bit sad, and frustrated.

"I am only the enemy of fools who don't listen."

"And of those who don't want their world razed in your pursuit for power-"

Frustration. She isn't used to having to explain herself. Usually isn't the one doing recruiting. Thinks razing worlds is wasteful, of course it is, it weakens their final position, but they need to consolidate - need to work together, and isn't that what Bastila is doing? Coordinating, so the whole may win, even if some parts have to be sacrificed?

"You don't know the meaning of sacrifice-"

Something bright and painful flares along the Bond. 

Revan weathers it.

"And yet you sit here arguing with me, while my friend cuts up your fleet."

That does catch Bastila's attention, and then-

She turns her back on Revan, closes her eyes, and then Revan can feel the flood of power coming from her, echoing throughout.

Malak's fleet weakens, and the Republic finds a foothold in the battle.

She smiles, behind her mask.

And steps toward Bastila.

"You're stronger than anyone knows," she says, idly. "An asset to the galaxy."

"I should kill you where you stand."

Her voice trembles.

"Will you, though?"

"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. 

Revan tries to follow - tries to keep up - she needs to get out of here, needs to turn the battle against that traitor -

She collapses, thoughts muddling into oblivion.

And Bastila, feeling the other side of the bond darken, the power ebbing away, comes to her senses, and gasps, feeling how close she came to falling. She trembles at it, at the edge that she stood at.

"Revan?" She turns, and nearly drops the barrier at the lifeless way the Sith is lying. She can feel the life still pulsing in her, but she can't feel...her. "Fuck." 

She manages to keep the barrier up while she wraps her arms under the Sith's armpits, and drags her through the closest blast doors, dropping the barrier once they slam shut.

Revan doesn't seem to be entirely gone - she isn't empty, like the Jedi Bastila overdrew from earlier -

But she's definitely not having coherent experiences right now, and her Force signature is weird. Turbulent, maybe.

She's also dead weight, now.

Bastila gasps again, feeling her mouth tremble. She feels like she's going to cry. "I- I'm so- Stars, why am I apologising to a Sith?" She wants to pace, to think, but the ship is under attack, and every moment they're here, they're closer and closer to death, and Bastila doesn't know enough about the effects of a Force bond to simply leave Revan to her fate at the hands of her friend. 

So she bites her lip against an apology, and channels her powers, lifting Revan's body. "I'm getting us out of here, and I am going to figure out how to separate us," she says fiercely, and starts towards the shuttle. 

The hanger is thankfully still mostly intact, and the few Sith that are left are frantically trying to escape themselves. Frantic enough, that they miss the Jedi running for a shuttle, the body of Revan floating after her. 

Bastila gently lowers Revan onto the bed in the medical bay, and wakes up the med-droid. She leaves the droid to care for the Sith, still warring with herself, and runs to the cockpit. She's not a pilot, she barely knows how to fly, but she trusts the Force, and puts herself in its hands. 

And hopes it's enough. 

Malak doesn't seem to notice or care about them escaping, focusing on turning the ship into dust - but she felt Revan die. She's absolutely positive she's already won.

Triumph tastes sweet.

She turns her full attention back to the Republic fleet, once her old master is thoroughly disposed of.

They are helpless before her, the one boon they had, Bastila's power, fleeing along with the padawan herself.

It's so nice when plans fall into place.

She sets about making sure no word of her little upset gets out. Bye bye, Republic fleet.

Calls go out, screaming, into the blackness. No one is getting there to save them. 

Once the ship is in hyperspace, Bastila curls up in the pilot's chair, and gives herself over to tears. 

"There is no emotion, there is peace. There is no death, there is the Force. There is no emotion, there is peace-"

Her half kidnapped, half rescued enemy drifts for a long while. Not quite conscious, not quite gone.

But she wakes up, eventually, before the ship gets out of hyperspace even.

She's confused, mostly. She doesn't know how she got here. She doesn't know where here is.

- Doesn't know much of anything, actually, which is even more confusing. She's dizzy, like her ears are constantly popping at rapid pressure changes -

She curls up, eyes squeezed shut, trying to stabilize herself - ending up flailing across the bond, because there's someone else in her head and that's like a lifeline, surely this someone else knows what's going on -

Bastila, pulled from her meditation, runs to the medbay, but forces herself to walk calmly into the room, hiding her whirling thoughts physically, even as the bond picks them up.

She keeps her face blank when she sees Revan. “Good. You’re awake. You can answer some que-“ She cuts herself off, frowning. Something feels wrong. “What did you do?”

"I - don't know. I don't remember anything before - this. Is something wrong?" She's worried, now, more than just confused.

She’s not lying. Bastila can feel her confusion, her fear, but that’s... “How? How are you doing this? How are you hiding your thoughts?”

"I'm not!" Upset, and getting scared. "I - who are you? Who am I?"

“Be calm.” Bastila sends those feelings through the bond, trying to lessen Revan’s fear, while holding back her own. Especially the biggest fear. That she has done this herself.

 “What do you remember?”

She calms down, some.

"I - darkness. It hurt. Not much else, just - pain."

This is what Bastila did to her Jedi team. To her friend. If Revan wasn’t stronger, it would’ve killed her. Bastila wants to cry all over again, hide away and make herself small. But this is wartime. She can’t.

She turns to the droid. “What’s the report?”

“The patient is healthy, Master. She has no head injuries, and so her memory loss is not related to cranial trauma.”

Not the physical kind, at least. “Thank you. You may shut down now.”

She turns back to Revan. “My name is Bastila Shan. I am a Padawan.”

" - Are you okay?"

No. No, she is not.

 “I’m fine. Merely trying to figure out what happened.”

She doesn't believe that. Still -

Bastila doesn't seem to want her to push.

She bites her lip and nods.

"I don't know my name, either."

Bastila's teeth worry her lip. "I don't want to name you. Maybe it will just come back?"

"Maybe? I - do you think anything will come back?"

“I don’t know. What happened to you hasn’t happened before. Or, at least, not that I’ve heard.”

"You know what happened to me?"

“Yes. But I don’t know why it affected your memory. Can you feel the connection between us?”

"Of course. You're - there."

"You-" Bastila swallows back fear, and a little revulsion. This isn't Revan, at least not now. "You helped me. A ship was attacking, and with your power I was able to get us both out."

"And using my power - damaged my memories?"

“I...I think I took too much of your power. I didn’t know that I could do that.”

"Oh."

The thought of losing even the few memories she has is... Really terrifying.

"Is - losing my memories again still a risk?"

Bastila wraps her arms around herself. “I don’t know. I...I didn’t even know I could hold that much power. But I’m not going to take any more from you. And then, I guess, we’ll just have to figure out how to sever this bond.”

...But she likes this. But if Bastila doesn't - "Okay. If you want."

"What if we're threatened again, and you need my power?"

Revan has a point, though she doesn’t know it. Malak is still out there, and Revan’s own forces. Bastila hugs herself a little tighter. “I don’t want to hurt anyone. I didn’t mean to- I don’t know the extent of what I can do.”

She really wants to give Bastila a hug. Really really. She - doesn't know if it'd be welcome, and it seems strange to articulate, so she pushes that silent want over the bond.

"If the problem was you took too much - we might be able to work on it while things are calm. Take only a little at a time. And if we know losing memory's a risk I can record stuff I think is important to know for - the next me." Though losing memories permanently is basically dying. Still, nothing gained without risk.

Bastila flinches away from the offer, turning to face the wall. She’s struggling to reconcile Revan, Darth Revan, who struck down her friends without mercy, who razed planets, with this person in front of her. She wishes almost that she was wearing the mask again.

She shakes her head a little, centring herself. “We’re not going to risk something that we might not need. You’ve already lost your memories. It’s not worth trying until we know more.”  

She feels confusion, hurt, uncertainty - she doesn't know why that upset Bastila.

"...Why are you - scared of me?"

“You...well. We’ll see if you remember.”

Bastila forces herself to relax. “Are you hungry? The ship has a synthesiser.”

...She isn't sure she wants to remember, if the original her was - the sort who would scare someone she's connected to like this.

"I am a little. I don't know what I like, though."

“It mostly all tastes like cardboard. Food for sustenance, not taste.” The joke falls flat, but Bastila manages a small, grim smile.

She nods towards the door. “Follow me.”

"Cardboard food sounds unpleasant."

Still, she gets up and follows. She can eat a little, she supposes.

The ship is large enough for a small crew, but they are the only two people on it, aside from the med-droid and a couple of astromechs. Bastila leads the way past a few closed doors, and into a middle space, a kitchen, a seating area, and a holotransmitter all crammed in.

Bastila walks over to the kitchen, and keys a couple of things into a screen, and once a ding sounds, pulls out two servings of what looks like standard Army rations. “Here. I’ll grab you some caf too.”

"Thanks."

She sits, poking at the food. It's - unpleasant. She makes a face.

Which gets a small smile out of Bastila, as she pushes a mug across the table. “It’s digestible. About the nicest thing that can be said about it.”

She takes the caf, but doesn't seem to like it much better. "Are we sure about the digestible part?"

“Mmm.” Bastila eats hers with a blank look, used to the bland taste of the food, and the sharp bitterness of the caf. “Wartime rations. Bland, but digestible.”

"Wartime?"

She seems a lot less enthused about the prospect. Maybe she should see how long she can go just not eating. Seems preferable, at the moment.

Right. No memories. Not even of the war she perpetuated.

Bastila pushes some of her food around, thinking. Then she puts her fork down and clasps her hands in her lap, looking at the wall. “Mandalorians first. Three years ago. They started attacking Outer Rim worlds, then made their way inwards. Some Jedi went out to fight them, stop them. But once they defeated the Mandalorians, they came back as conquerors themselves. We’ve been fighting them for a year now.”

"Why would those Jedi betray the others, though?" She's pretty firmly sure betrayal is very, very bad.

Anger spikes through Bastila for one brief, blinding moment, so furious that the betrayer herself sits right there, asking Bastila to explain-

But she calms herself, and rubs her temple. “I don’t know. We were trying to find out how they amassed their fleet and soldiers so quickly. There aren’t enough Republic troops that defected to make up their whole army.”

She flinches. She's concerned -

(She doesn't notice the anger's directed at her.)

She tries to push - something soothing, mixed with her concern - across the bond.

"Did they hurt you?"

“No. But a few of the Jedi who fell were my friends. Were people I admired. And to hear that they turned away from the light so completely that they were destroying worlds...”

Bastila trails off, heart feeling heavy, her head twisted with confusion. She wishes her master was here. He would know what to do. 

"They shouldn't have betrayed you - or. Should have explained themselves. Or given warning." She's frustrated - there's a thing, here, that she feels is important, but doesn't know if she can articulate -

People should be trustworthy, but should also be free, and she doesn't know how to really reconcile those on less than an hour of existing.

Bastila feels wrung out, and closes in on herself at Revan’s words. Explained themselves. What was to explain? Revan chose power and control. That was all the explanation Bastila needed.

Suddenly, the small room felt suffocating, and Bastila could feel the pressure of not just her own emotions, but Revan’s too, pressing down on her. She stood and picked up her plate, shoving it to one side to be cleaned. “I need some time. There’s some bunks if you want to sleep, and if you feel any pain, go back to the med bay.”

With that, Bastila leaves, heading for the cockpit. 

...She really upset Bastila somehow.

She -

Doesn't know how to actually deal with her emotions. Her frustration, her fear, her confusion, how adrift she feels.

She curls up in a bunk, and tries - floating in the Force. She thinks she remembers that.

It welcomes her back like a friend, wrapping around her warmly.

And in the bond between them, she can feel Bastila calming her mind, the softness of meditation smoothing the edges of her pain. 

This is nice. She likes feeling Bastila meditate, and she likes wrapping herself in the Force.

Her own emotions calm, too, echoing Bastila's.

Bastila ignores the person sharing her calm, separates her emotions, her fears, her worries, and opens her mind.

Through Bastila, Revan can feel echoes of the universe sparkling. Lives, beings. 

- Oh, that's wonderful.

She keeps drifting in the Force, but -

She wants to drift with Bastila, now. Feel wrapped in the same sparkling wave.

This is Bastila’s talent, this is where her strength lies, her connection to the Force, the living heartbeat of the galaxy. It’s where she finds her true peace.

So she lets Revan in, lets her drift through the universe with her. 

She's in more than a little bit of awe.

And peace creeps in, too.

She feels connected. Not alone.

Bastila had wanted to find a way to sever the bond, to free them from each other.

But now, floating in space, with Revan feeling so calm and so at peace, she wonders if that’s truly what she wants. 

The person on the other end of her bond doesn't seem to want to sever it at all. She's pretty much the embodiment of 'emotion yet peace' right now, pleasure winding through her contentment.

So Bastila lets her worries go once more, and simply enjoys the peace and pleasure radiating through the bond. 

The ship speeds through hyperspace, carrying the two away from the battle-turned-massacre. 

A few hours out from their destination, Bastila pulls her mind back to herself, feeling hungry. And a need to shower. She heads for the bunks, to her footlocker, to grab another set of robes. 

She's in the bunks, still drifting - though she starts surfacing out of it as Bastila enters.

She smiles at Bastila, kind of still riding high on the experience.

Bastila pauses, the reality warring with how peaceful their time meditating together was, and manages to smile at Revan, before grabbing her clothes and fleeing. 

And now she's back to confused and concerned.

She eats while Bastila's in the shower, then showers while Bastila eats - apparently having decided to give her space despite her own uncertain, adrift feelings.

It’s confusion and concern that is echoed in Bastila. Once she retreats back to the cockpit, she curls up in the seat, hugging her knees, and tries to focus on her options.

She could continue to keep Revan at arm’s length. Her memories might come back, and when they do, Bastila doesn’t want to have sympathy for her.

But...she could open herself up, be this new person’s friend. Keep her on the path of the light. If Revan never returns, it would be wrong to treat the person her soul is bonded to like...well. Like she is who she was.

She makes her decision, and gets up to go and find Revan. 

She's in the bunks, unsure of where else to spend her time. She's getting bored and restless, though.

"Hey," she says when Bastila enters. "Everything okay?"

Bastila takes a deep breath, and hopes she’s picked the right choice.

”I realised you probably have no idea where we’re going,” she says, and sits next to Rev- the woman, on the bunk. 

"Not at all."

“The closest place I could find where we could disappear for now was Nar Shaddaa. It’s not the safest place, but we need to lie low, see if anyone knows you’re- uh, I mean, see if it’s safe. To head to a Jedi enclave.”

"Knows I'm what?"

“Uh. Well.” Bastila nervously rubs her hands together. “Alive.”

"That's likely to be in question?"

“I- Well...” Bastila bites her lip, considering. “Where I took power from you, where you lost your memories...someone was trying to kill you. And she’ll wonder if she succeeded.”

She nods, seriously.

"And if she knows that - at least the body is still alive - she might try again?"

“Exactly. We need to make sure you’re safe, and then we can go to the Jedi, see what we have to do to stop her.”

"Alright - that makes sense."

“I am pretty all right at planning missions.” Bastila ducks her head. 

Laugh. "Seems it to me."

"I'll probably want to figure out a name before we get there, too, though?"

Bastila nods, eagerly. “That’s a good idea. Your other name- your name from before, that’s too well known.”

"I don't think I'd want it, anyways. I'm not her."

Bastila’s smile feels much more real, and she can feel how genuinely the woman next to her means that. And it’s such a relief that she does feel that way.

 “Then what name should I call you?”

She thinks for a bit.

"Ri-Sei."

Bastila holds out her hand. “It’s really good to meet you, Ri-Sei. I’m Bastila.”

She shakes Bastila's hand, grinning ear to ear.

"It's really good to meet you, too."

And in that moment, Bastila knows she made the right choice.

Its with a little regret that she takes her hand back. “I better make sure we’re going to sneak in without attracting any unwelcome attention.”

"Alright. Can I help?"

“Would you like to? I could...show you?”

"I'd like to."

“Come with me, then.”

Bastila leads the way back to the cockpit. 

She follows, hands trailing near controls.

This feels - familiar.

She thinks she's the sort of person who likes to fly, maybe.

She is. She’s one of the best pilots that the Jedi have ever had, and that’s even without using the Force.

 “Maybe you’d like to fly us in? I’m a terrible pilot.”

"Yeah. I think I would."

Bastila gestures to the pilot’s seat, smiling, and sits in the co-pilot’s. “Leave the talking to me. This ship is registered to the Republic Senate, not the Jedi, but it’s still going to be risky.”

"I'll focus on flying," she says, sitting down and familiarizing herself with the controls. This feels right.

Ri-Sei’s surety bolsters Bastila’s confidence, as she arranged herself, ready to slip into battle meditation.

The ship’s console beeps. “We’re coming out of hyperspace.”

"Alright." 

She manages the drop smoothly. Calm flows through her, as she naturally reaches for the Force - not that she needs to, but because she likes to.

Bastila focuses, touching the minds of the people in the ships around them, the ones monitoring the travel in and out of the planet, and not so much controlling them, but just turning their eyes from the new ship in their midst. 

The Smuggler’s Moon looms before them, like a smaller, dirtier Coruscant. 

She has no issues navigating them in, though she finds herself curious about the people who live here.

Bastila gently nudges a ship’s captain to take off a little early, leaving a landing pad empty, discreet enough that the ship isn’t in danger of getting discovered quickly.

She directs Ri-Sei towards the pad. 

Her landing's perfect.

"Where to now?"

“Now we need to find some kind of public terminal.” Bastila pulls herself from out of the co-pilot’s chair. “I have a theory I want to test.”

"Alright." She stands and follows. "What theory?"

“That the Hutts mask all transmissions from their planet, meaning every call is private. Perfect for the Smuggler’s Moon.”

"That'd be useful, yeah."

“It means I can get help, without alerting anyone who might be watching for us.”

She nods. "I'm not sure I'm good at laying low, but I'll try."

"There's a Jedi trick to it. You simply project an aura of 'I am not important', and the weaker minded believe it."

She hums. "I think I can manage that, then."

"I know you can." 

Bastila presses the release for the cargo door, and heads down the ramp. "If anyone approaches you, just keep walking. No one here can be trusted."

"Duly noted."

And, following, rather thoroughly projecting I'm not worth noticing, instinctively layering it with other tricks that might even catch out the Force sensitive.

Bastila leads the way through the busy crowds, the two of them slipping through the docks like ghosts. 

They do catch the attention of one person. A teen twi'lek.

Ri-Sei tries not to make it obvious she's aware of the twi'lek. She does, apparently, have any mundane blending skills.

The strangest thing is, the twi'lek not only seems to know that she's been spotted, but is also concerned by it. Like she was hidden too. 

Interesting.

Ri-Sei glances around, wondering what sort of drama is going on here.

A very tall Mandalorian woman is staring at the twi'lek, with something like motherly concern. 

She is also rolling her eyes-

-as the zabrak next to her clearly makes some kind of joke. Not well received. 

She smiles, a bit.

She likes people. Even when they're being silly or weird.

Bastila has found a terminal, and makes a call. 

"Bas, thank the Force-"

A small hand tugs on Ri-Sei's elbow. 

She turns.

The twi'lek looks up at her, furrow in her brow. "You saw me."

"Yeah. You're hiding from someone?"

"I'm hiding from everyone. But you saw me. That means you're force sensitive. But like, in a big way. More than Kaz."

"What if I am?"

The girl's eyes widen. "You are? Me too! Kyn has been trying to find me a teacher, but it's dangerous because-" the girl clamps her mouth shut. "I shouldn't be talking so much."

" - I bet could teach you a few things, at least."

“That would be so cool, but I don’t know if Kyn would like that.”

"Well, I don't think it'd hurt for me to tell you what I can while you're here before we go our separate ways, and then you'll have at least some training."

The girl’s eyes widen. “Really? Oh my stars, that would be-“

“Who are you? What are you doing?” The Mandalorian is suddenly behind the girl, staring daggers at Ri-Sei. 

“Mum, it’s okay, she can see me!”

“Can she.”

The woman pulls the twi’lek close to her, glaring at Ri-Sei harder. 

“Come on, Fett, we talked about this. People skills, remember? Do we need to practice some more?”

The zabrak pops up on the other side, smiling at Ri-Sei charmingly. His body, however, is angled protectively towards the girl. 

"I can see her, yes, and she can see me. She's a good kid, and could use training, it seems."

“She’s fine without.”

“For fucks sake- Kyn, can we not cause fights everywhere we go?” The zabrak says with fond exasperation.

He turns to Ri-Sei, looking apologetic. “Please excuse my cyborg friend, she was raised by rancors. Kazlath Sang,” he says, and holds out his hand. 

"I'm Ri-Sei. And I don't mind," she says, shaking his hand. "It's good to be protective."

Kaz turns her hand over, and kisses the back of it, winking as he lets it go. “There’s protective, and then there’s Kyn. Makes the poor girl wear a stealth generator everywhere.”

“I don’t mind! I like being secret. No one can see me while I’m slicing stuff!” The twi’lek pipes up, grinning. “I’m Thekla!”

“And the woman looming over us all and plotting our grisly murders is Kyniska Fett.”

Kyn continues to glower. 

"It's nice to meet all of you."

“If you don’t mind me asking, what is a gorgeous specimen of force sensitivity doing all the way out here?”

Ri-Sei can feel a slight push against her mind, like someone very clumsily trying to read her thoughts. Someone very untrained. 

No dice. Her mind isn't even a fortress; it's a hurricane, and good luck tracking any specific drop of rain or bit of cloud.

"I heard here's good for going unnoticed. Seem to have been a bit wrong about that, but the Force works in mysterious ways."

Kaz has the grace to at least look shamed. “Well, there is some truth in that. We do all seem to bump into each other at some point!”

“We’re drawing attention. We need to go.”

“But- my generator is still on!”

“Kyn, come on.”

She doesn’t spare them a backwards look as she heads back through the dockyards, heading deeper into the city. 

Thekla waves sadly at Ri-Sei, before following after the Mandalorian. 

Kaz sighs, watching them go. “You wouldn’t know it, but originally I hired her as a bodyguard. Now she’s bossing me around!”

"Tragic. Still, it's good she's serious about her job."

Ri-Sei is definitely not important to anyone whose attention was attracted.

“Too serious. If she ever smiled I think I’d have a heart attack.”

Kaz stretches, then steps away. “Listen. Nar Shaddaa is a pretty rough place. Watch yourself. Force users aren’t particularly welcome.”

"Thanks for the heads up. I'll be careful."

Kaz winks, and is off after the other two.

“Who was that?” Bastila stands next to Ri-Sei, feeling relieved to be close to her again. 

She relays a summary of the conversation.

"Did they recognise you?"

"Don't think so. I expect they would've acted differently if they had."

"That's-" Bastila stops herself, turning away, taking a few deep breaths. That Ri-Sei doesn't remember who she is a good thing. She doesn't want to disrupt that. 

"I'm sorry. I'm on edge." 

She nods, slowly. "It's alright."

"You don't know how much danger you're in!"

"Someone wants us dead, right?"

"Everyone you meet might be agents for them!"

"I had a good feeling about them. Especially the kid."

"Kid?"

"A force sensitive girl spotted me. She was hiding, too, but doesn't have much training. The other two were watching over her."

Bastila's hand is a vice grip around her wrist as she pulls Ri-Sei into the nearest alley. "Someone saw you!?"

She yanks her hand back. "Just the one girl. She's fine."

"You don't understand the danger we're in-"

"Then tell me."

"I-" Bastila's anger seems to halt, and turn to shame. "I...there's-"

She rests a hand on Bastila's arm. "You can tell me, whatever it is."

No, she can't. 

"We can't be too careful, Ri."

"I don't think the girl was a threat."

"It's about the people the girl could bring. We risked enough summoning my master-"

"I don't think she'll talk about me."

"Well, I'm so glad that you think that," Bastila sneers.

She crosses her arms, posture closing in. "We already established she doesn't know who I am, whoever that is. I'm just - Ri-Sei, random traveling Force sensitive."

"People who know who you are don't care who you are now!"

"But who I am now is who I am to her, and is who she'll talk about if she does."

"You don't know that!"

A spike of pure fear thrills through the bond, giving Ri-Sei an image of someone in black robes...with an odd mask covering their face. 

She flinches a bit. "What - was that?"

"Nothing!" Bastila snaps. 

She then turns away, pressing her hands to her temples. She takes a few deep breaths, and then turns back. "A memory. It was a memory. Of someone I admired, who turned to my enemy."

"...Oh. I'm sorry."

Bastila...can’t have this conversation. It’s overwhelming she almost feels sick.

 “We should go. We should stay hidden. And hope your new friends don’t sell us out.”

She nods, slowly.

"Where are we hiding?"

"There's a slum, in the lower levels. We'll take a taxi. Come with me."

She leads the way, trying to stay calm, while her heart beats frantically.

She follows, keeping an eye out for danger, worried about Bastila and trying not to burden - her friend? - with that.

Once in the speeder, programming the destination with the droid, Bastila tries to close her eyes and meditate, but even have Ri out of sight has her strangely panicked, even though she can feel her. 

So she reaches out, almost subconsciously, to touch one finger to her hand, finding the contact settles her enough to help her to calm. 

That makes her - happy.

She closes her eyes, too, drifting out into the Force alongside Bastila.

The calm that flows between them is more complete than anything Bastila had ever found on her own. 

To have found it in such a strange place is...well. She is the Force's servant. She goes where it wills. 

The droid driver, thankfully, does not care that their passengers are incredibly still and quiet. 

Her mood's significantly improved by the time they arrive.

The slum is obviously nothing pretty, but Bastila can easily find a place for them to slip into unseen, once they arrive. There's a small space in between two shipping containers, still protected from the weather. 

"We'll have to make do for now. Until my master arrives."

She nods. "How long will it be?"

"I'm not sure, but not too long. He said he'd be on the first ship out here." 

Bastila settles with her back against on of the containers. 

She settles in as well. "So we wait here until then."

She feels horribly guilty all of a sudden. What a strange few days Ri has had. And it's not like Bastila has been the most understanding. 

"Yes. I'm sorry, by the way. This is not what I intended."

She curls in on herself a bit. "What did you intend?"

She huffs a self-deprecating laugh. "Oh, I'm supposed to be the saviour of the Republic, what with my rare Force abilities and my natural inclination to lead. Instead I'm...floundering. I feel like a youngling again." 

"Being a savior seems like it's not something anyone knows for sure how to do."

"That's...true enough."

She laughs a little. "If you were one of the Masters on Dantooine, you would've told me that I should trust in the Force, that what it wills is for me to succeed."

"...Isn't the Force everything and everyone? Why would your side be the only one helped?"

"To keep the balance, of course. There are too many Sith, too many Dark Jedi. Hence the war."

"Can't the Sith and the Dark Jedi use the Force, too? Does the Force help them succeed?"

"The Dark Side twists the Force against itself, they use it to fulfill their goals, but not by the Force's will. They don't listen, only use." 

This is recited, like something she read in a book.

"But - they are the Force, same as us."

"Well...yes. The Force runs through all things, but it's how you...use it, I suppose."

"And using the Force isn't helping the Sith succeed, then?"

"...that's...well, it is, but not through the Force's will..." Bastila doesn't remember enough of her youngling studies to make any kind of convincing argument. 

She usually can just get by with 'listening to the Force is better'. 

"Does the Force always guide you to success?"

"...not always. But it always guides me to where I am supposed to be. When I'm not too proud to listen."

"Did it guide you to me?"

"Well...no. Maybe? I did already know where you were, but- I guess...I don't know. There's two answers to that question."

She nods, slowly. "And I'm guessing it's some of the stuff you're not saying?"

Handwave. 

"I don't know how much I should or can say, but I do care about you and I want you to feel like you can trust I'm at least trying to do the right thing. But if I'm struggling to feel that myself-" She cuts herself off, sighing. "This is why I'm still a padawan. I have so much still to learn."

"Well, practice with all this will help, hopefully."

"At least every thing I learn, you will too. I am curious to see how far our Bond extends."

"I am too! It's nice."

Bastila ducks her head. "I am...surprised, by how nice it feels."

"Oh?"

"I'm very bad at making friends. It's nice that someone just...knows me, without me having to pretend to have social skills."

She laughs. "I like the - ease, too."

"I'm glad of that. Something in this mess should be easy on you." 

Bastila shuffles closer, enough that their knees are touching. 

She leans in a bit. "Talking to you's easy, even when it's frustrating or whatever."

Bastila sighs, and tucks a little closer. "I know. I'm sorry. I don't...there are...my Master will know better than me what the right way is. It's not that I don't want to tell you."

Being pressed up against someone's nice. Settling.

"I can be patient, probably."

“What if you never had to know?”

"I'd rather be told, someday. It'll be - unpleasant, probably, never knowing."

“I’ll...keep that in mind.”

She keeps herself pressed close to Ri, but closes her eyes, trying to meditate. 

She leans on Bastila, the odd posture apparently not bothering her as she closes her eyes and drifts off into the Force.

The next few days pass like that, keep their heads low, only coming out of hiding for food or to check for Bastila’s master. On the third day, Bastila heads out to check on the ship, to see if maybe they could sell it.

She asks Ri-Sei to stay put, but also reminds her that she can call for help through the Force if she needs, and then is off. 

...Staying put isn't very pleasant. She's more than a bit bored, is her main problem.

Then, half through the Force, and a little through Force-enhanced hearing, she can hear a young girl say “Leave me alone!”

...Well of course she's going to see what's up.

She leaves her hiding spot, still keeping herself cloaked in the Force, reaching out...

It’s the twi’lek girl she met the other day, cornered by a group of scavengers. In her arms is a few parts, and she’s holding onto them like they were worth all the credits on the moon.

One of the men advance, and she presses back into the wall, hissing at him. “Give us the parts,” the man says, and she holds the parts closer. 

Ri-Sei steps up, revealing herself and holding herself as menacingly as she can. "Are these men giving you any trouble, Thekla?" she asks, voice low and dangerous.

“Ri-Sei!”

“Fuck off. She stole from us,” one of the men snarl.

“You stole them first!”

"I don't think you want to fight me," she says, voice hard. She pushes a bit in the Force, almost instinctively. "The girl is under my protection."

“Couldn’t care a single-“ the man pauses as Ri’s power ripples through him. He seems unsure all of a sudden, and two of his fellows turn to him, frowning. 

Thekla sees their distraction, and takes that as a moment to fling out a hand, making the man in front of her stumble back, and then she took off running. 

“HEY!” The man yells after her, and draws his blaster. 

Nope.

Ri-Sei darts forward, aiming to close with the man and yank his blaster away - she knows she's good at fighting, good at hand to hand, and she doesn't want to reveal that she can use the Force -

The man goes down, managing to fire one shot wildly into the air.

The others converge on Ri, forgetting that they just saw a Jedi.

At least, until one of the parts hits one in the side of the head, and he can’t see who threw it. 

"I've got this!" she calls (have the men considered she is very important and they should definitely ignore things that aren't her - )

Suddenly defeating Ri is the only thing these scavengers care about, she is literally the only thing they can focus on. 

Thekla stops trying to help, but Ri can feel anxiety coming off her in floods, terrified she’s going to get hurt on Thekla’s behalf. 

She knows what she's doing -

She calms down, centers herself, and starts fighting seriously to take down the scavengers. Non-lethally.

They are a somewhat challenging fight, proving that if she weren’t highly Force sensitive, they probably would’ve taken her down.

That said, she does have the upper hand. 

Thekla, despite the fact that the smart thing to do would be stay out, even smarter to run, hates standing here, watching Ri fight for her, just like everyone else always has to-

Her anxiety, her fear, manages to distract one of the men, and he is able to turn away from Ri’s influence, long enough to fire one shot. 

Thekla disappears from view as she turns on her stealth generator, but still lets out a terrified yelp of pain as the blaster bolt hits her. 

Ri-Sei snarls, pressing her attack more, aiming to injure now, to incapacitate as quickly as she can without blatantly tipping her hand.

The scavengers fall, and they won’t be getting back up for some time. 

Ri-Sei takes a deep breath and steps back, looking around for Thekla.

She’s...around. Somewhere. The Force carries her terror, her pain.

"Thekla! It's okay. Can you turn off your stealth generator?" Ri-Sei calls, simultaneously reaching farther into the Force, trying to pinpoint Thekla's location.

She’s...moving. Slowly, and in pain, but she’s moving.

Away. Towards the ramp up out into the bazaar. 

She follows.

"Thekla - you're injured, I can help."

There are two small thuds, a whimper, and then, “...Ri?”