"Dammit all," the Force Ghost of Revan spat, "sitting" on a small rock and watching me train. "All for nothing. So much that I, Steyris, and so many others showed the galaxy, so much we taught! And where has it all led? To peace? To development? To balance? And what was I hoping for..."
A light breeze rustled my clothes. A bead of sweat ran down my cheek from the strain. Revan's training was of two types. First — he taught me new Force Techniques. Second — he improved my existing skills. In addition, he often spent evenings telling me about the war against everyone... Mandalorians, Jedi, Sith. He talked about when to use certain tactical maneuvers. He philosophized at length about what it means to be the leader of a fighting army.
"Query: should I continue, Master?" HK cut into the conversation.
"Continue," I rasped. Revan didn't waste time on trifles. His "training" barely qualified as training. It was more like a manual entitled How to Kill a Jedi Knight. He made me maneuver among the massive ruins of a once-destroyed temple on a very famous planet, while simultaneously holding five or six boulders in a telekinetic grip. A sniper rifle fired; the bolt quickly covered the twenty meters between us and should have hit me in the head. I dodged to the side. Two more shots would follow... one was aimed at my landing point, since I'd jumped off the ruins of a column towering above the ground. Already in the air, I shifted my body position, so the moment I touched the ground, I immediately leaped away, doing a somersault. The massive boulders I was holding with the Force had to maintain a five-pointed star shape at equal distances from my body — all moving together, preserving the formation. Revan usually watched for that. Oh no... another blaster bolt was coming at me. He'd fired three shots instead of two! And he'd perfectly predicted my movements. HK's analysis module was simply incredible. My hands were occupied — I used them as guides for directing the Force and holding the boulders. The blaster bolt hit me in the chest and would have killed me, but I used Tutaminis at the very last moment, absorbing the shot. However, the kinetic energy of the shot remained. "Ugh!" I was thrown backward and skidded a couple of meters. The energy needed an outlet, and I made a decision instantly. More shots from HK rang out. In an instant, I used the energy to enhance my body with the Force, feeding my muscles and boosting my speed to evade HK's attacks. A grenade? No, several at once... Damn, I won't make it in time.
And there's a wall behind me. He'd deliberately cornered me here and overwhelmed me with grenades. Hutt, this is unpleasant! I had to protect myself, or my own droid would kill me. I looked at a chunk of rubble... Heavenly Hand. In an instant, I swapped places with it. The wall shielded me from the grenade explosion, though not completely — the blast shattered it into fragments that flew toward me. In an instant, I stopped them with telekinesis, protecting primarily myself.
"Praise: Master navigates such situations admirably."
"But that's enough," Revan said. "Order him to stop."
"HK," I looked at the droid. "Cease fire. Enough for today." With a sigh, I lowered the rocks to the ground. Carefully, to avoid unnecessary noise. Revan himself had once blasted me with emerald-tinted Force Lightning for making too much noise. It hadn't killed me, but it had been extremely unpleasant. After Revan's appearance in my life, the training had started again. First, Revan asked me for all the details about what had happened in the galaxy after the war with Vitiate and the final death of the Sith Emperor. I first described history to him. Then I told him about the present. And I shared with him my knowledge of the future that awaited us all. The latter moved the Jedi a bit too much, and for the past couple of months he'd been lamenting that we'd squandered everything. Where were we after I summoned him? On Lehon. Also known as Rakata Prime.
Rakata... so much began with them. Who were they? Essentially, the most ancient precursors of the Sith. They were also known as "the Builders." The Rakatan were discovered by another ancient race — the Kwa.
Rakatan
Kwa
Lehon
The Kwa themselves were subjects, or slaves, of the Celestials — the most ancient race of super-powered beings who wielded the Force at a perfect level. The infamous Father, Son, and Daughter... and also Abeloth, the Mother. The Kwa taught the Rakatan the Force, elevated them, but the Rakatan — whether due to their predatory nature or something else — began to massively embrace the Dark Side of the Force, unable to maintain balance as was fashionable. This led to their society becoming expansionist. An empire... The meaning of any empire is an enemy. That's what my government administration teacher believed. An empire always needs an enemy — internal or external, it doesn't matter. For the Infinite Empire of the Rakata, thirty-six thousand years ago, that enemy became everyone they hadn't enslaved. The Rakatan invaded the galaxy and began subjugating one people after another. They even turned against the Kwa and the Celestials. And the latter didn't merely destroy them. The Rakatan were still thriving even after the wars with them. So what made the Rakatan famous? Their Dark Side-based technology. The Infinity Gates, built by the Kwa, allowed instant travel from one corner of the galaxy to another — that inspired them. The Rakata's greatest creation — the Star Forge.
This gigantic factory, when fed with the Force, could produce warships at a rapid pace. The Star Forge was tied to the names of Revan, Malak, and the entire plot of the Knights of the Old Republic game. On Lehon, formerly Rakata Prime, there was a special device that scrambled the navigation computers of any non-Rakatan ship that entered the beacon's range. So, having been here for six months, I'd seen many ship wrecks. That beacon had been deactivated by Revan in his time, and the Star Forge had been destroyed by the Republic fleet. And the Rakata? By Revan's time, they were already a degraded race. At a certain point, the Rakata ran into the Je'daii, who were living on Tython at the time.
That was when the war began that marked the beginning of the Empire's end. The Je'daii didn't destroy them outright, of course. But they gave them a serious beating, killing the leader of the Rakatan invasion. Incidentally, lightsabers essentially originated from the Rakatan — though back then they were force swords that ran on the wielder's own Force. And one of the Rakatan's subordinates, named Zez, defected to the enemy's side. There were some interesting twists and turns there, actually. Either way, the Rakatan took a beating from their enemies. Meanwhile, a civil war broke out within the Empire itself. By that point, the native race was already afflicted by a terrible disease — the Rakatan plague.
The disease was deadly, but surviving it was worse. The Rakatan body mutated to heal itself, but that mutation cut the individual off from the Force. Gradually, the entire race lost its Force sensitivity... And what was the end result? The Rakata created many interesting things, including the first hyperdrives — some of the first that actually ran on the Force. But they lost the Force. Revolutions erupted on all their subject planets. The Empire completely collapsed. Part of the Rakatan population migrated to the Tion Cluster, part remained here on Lehon, where they split into two peoples. Barbarians, whom I'd already sliced and diced plenty. For the most part, by this time they weren't even sentients but pack predators. They came from the so-called "Black Rakatan" tribe. Revan had encountered them during his redemption path. Over time, they had completely turned into amphibious, predatory animals that hunted in groups of five or six. There were also the Descendants — those who wanted to "renounce" the dark path of the Rakata. They were the local good guys, in contrast to the dark Rakatan. I hadn't seen the Descendants in the six months I'd been here. And I didn't have time anyway.
At first, Revan was getting used to the new reality. The only thing he couldn't accept was the fate the galaxy had reached after everything they had done. Yes, essentially nothing had changed. Those who came after him and his contemporaries had their own Sith Lords, their own tyrants, their own galactic-scale wars... and, more importantly, more were still to come. That threw him off balance a bit. But when it came to training, which he conducted with me, it was a different story. Revan turned out to be a charismatic yet harsh and demanding mentor. When setting tasks, he didn't even consider the possibility of me failing them. And at the same time, his charisma and the speeches he gave before training were truly motivating. He called it the "commander's aura." A worthy commander must be able to raise his troops' spirits for even a hopeless fight in just a few sentences.
That's what he did. After the first training session, where he taught me Force Lightning — or rather, improved what I already had — I was ready to curse everything. He grabbed three rancors with telekinesis and gave the order: none of the rancors was to get closer than five meters to me. I could only defend myself with Force Lightning. He drew a ten-meter-diameter circle on the ground around me, placed me in the center, and provoked the rancors. And honestly, in two weeks I'd made more progress in mastering lightning than I had in all the time before that. That was roughly how the rest of his training went: the first part was the task itself, the second part was the condition for execution, and the third part was the implementation. Revan also explained why I needed to do this or that, what exactly we were improving, and where it would be useful. In the evenings, he devoted time to philosophy. He mused on the nature of the Force, its drive toward balance. For example, we had very heated arguments about whether balance was even possible. In the end — everyone who sought balance too often fell to the Dark Side and became not a noble, neutral Je'daii, but a Sith. I told him about my ideas regarding neutrality, and that the Force is just energy. One should simply deny the very concept of sides and use it exclusively as energy.
Naturally, my theory raised questions for Revan. After all, he'd seen truly dark and truly light Force techniques so many times. Nevertheless, our evening conversations were instructive. He also didn't neglect battle topics — both in space and on the ground. And he gladly learned from me about the specifications of various ships. Overall, I liked Revan. Yes, he was uncompromising and brutal in training... but I'd asked for it. I wanted to gain power and abilities... Why did I need all this? As it happened, I was Force-sensitive. And the best way to prove my right, even among Jedi, was through the Force — the ability to wield it. The power and abilities that would not only elevate me to the highest ranks in the Order but also help me implement my projects concerning the galaxy. I'm not an angel or a perfect deity. And I'm not even a chosen hero — that became clear to me almost immediately. Reality had shown that my talent and my abilities, whatever they were, wouldn't save me from mistakes. So there would be nothing perfect... only something striving as close to an ideal as possible. And that's what I wanted to achieve. I had the memory of the future we could get.
My task was to change some things, correct others... to make the future at least a little better. And for that to happen, I had to learn. To level up, so to speak. That's what I'd been doing with my trademark fanaticism. And I could feel myself getting stronger... No, not just stronger — more precise. My techniques were improving; I was definitely capable of more. And yet — I never stopped, continuing to train and learn.
"Your progress is impressive," he noted. "It must be that insane motivation of yours."
We returned to my ship, which was parked not far from the training site. All around were ruins, teeming with various fauna — a wide spectrum of animals, from harmless herbivores to dangerous monsters like the rancors, which Revan loved to use in training.
"It's hard to live any other way after seeing what my laziness can lead to," I noted. "Emperor Palpatine, the Imperial Remnants, but what scares me most of all — the extragalactic invaders."
"It seems you're destined to live in difficult times too," Revan agreed. "But you could have used your knowledge to flee somewhere far away and keep your head down. But you didn't, which is to your credit."
"I used to think about running away," I said sadly, taking a sip from my flask. "But then I thought: is running really a solution? So many casualties, a real hell, fire across the entire galaxy."
"So your conscience woke up. Well... what do you plan to do to prevent the disasters? Do you have a plan?"
"Yes," I said. "I think we can let Palpatine come to power — let everything this Sith has planned come to pass, except the final part. We'll destroy him the way I foresaw, and then, on the ruins of the Empire, we'll create our own Republic, our own nation that will absorb the remnants of Palpatine's..."
"Nonsense," Revan replied laconically. "Don't you see? To win, to save as many sentients as possible, you have to overturn history at a specific point. A bifurcation point, I'd call it. At that point, a real vacuum of possibilities is created, in which you can realize your plans. You think Palpatine's death at the hands of Anakin Skywalker is that point. I won't argue — it is a bifurcation point. Push on it, and with enough skill you could build a strong state. But there's an even earlier option you told me about, Light. If you push on that one, you could realize your plans much sooner and get a much stronger state. Your memory of the future will help you build this nation not right before the invasion, but much earlier. That way you'll strengthen it, make it powerful and worthy. And all threats could be ground down by this nation. That's what you called Order 66 — when your Jedi comrades fall at the hands of those they'd have called their loyal soldiers. A sad fate... Do you agree with it?"
"The Order needs restructuring too, Master," I disagreed. "And such an event would help."
"Oh yes," he noted sarcastically, "it would help a lot. Especially the activities of Sate Pestage, the Empire's Vizier, who after Order 66 really did a number on your Order. Do you truly think that's a reasonable option? Jedi with a tarnished reputation. A ruler's death doesn't mean the people will suddenly forget everything he did, labeling it all 'lies.' Sentients rarely forget anything. And not everyone, if your information is correct, will decide you're right just because you killed Sidious. And besides, by your own words, he won't die."
"And what would we get, Master, if we tried to oppose Palpatine's coup?"
"The most likely outcome — one of the poles of power: either you Jedi, or the Sith Sidious — would flee and form your own faction. Then it's a question of who holds onto power. But you'd have a unique opportunity not just to preserve the Order but to reform it under the pretext that you missed a Sith, for one. Two — you'd be able to retain your power base and at least some of the army. The worst that could happen is a civil war within the Republic and a Parade of Sovereignties from the wealthiest sectors and clusters."
"Yes, a civil war... with many factions. Not CIS versus Republic, and not even Empire versus Rebels. I can't even imagine who might theoretically claim independence in that reality! The Tion Cluster? The Hapans? Or maybe the Mandalorians? The Bothans? Kuat? There are so many, really!"
"Exactly. But you'd have time to sort it out. Such chaos would allow both the Order and your subordinates to swallow any reforms. And then you could start conquering the secessionists. Build up your strength and attack the weaker ones, then sink your teeth into the stronger ones. And in the end, you could restore the state, reform it, and begin creating a real force capable of fighting the Vong and other problems. Why aren't you considering this? Afraid? Of Palpatine? Or do you just want to operate within the timeline you know, as you call it? Foolishness, Light. Quirks of perception, cowardice, and idiocy, forgive me. A unique opportunity — much earlier, and more beneficial."
"But it could also lead to casualties..."
"Everything leads to casualties," Revan said sharply. "Every change is paid for with the lives of those who make it. That's unavoidable in politics or war. You seem to understand that, yet you're still being foolish. What separates a winner from a loser? Why did the winner win and the loser lose? Ability? Skill? Or perhaps better convictions? In battle, the winner does have better skills. But in politics, the one who wins is the one who relentlessly pursues something. Really, you're just being a coward."
"So what should I do? Fly off and kill Palpatine right now?"
"No," Revan shrugged. "You need to act then. You've told me about many things over these six months. And specifically, you have two bifurcation points where you can change everything. Palpatine's death at Endor — that's your favorite. And the second — earlier one — the attempted coup on Coruscant during the execution of Order 66. The victor always acts. And you must seize the moment, considering what a gift you're being given. All that's left for you is to decide on a new vision for the Galaxy and the Order, so you don't hesitate but start acting immediately. Democracy, in your opinion, is the best way out, isn't it?"
"Yes, even after everything — I still believe sentients should speak and negotiate."
"And I don't judge," Revan noted. "What are you looking at like that? Yes, I was the Emperor of an entire Empire, but even so, I don't judge you for your views. And truly — democracy itself isn't a bad system, just as autocracy isn't. The point isn't what form of government it is, but how you will wield power. Who will you entrust it to on the ground? How will your state function? Do you have a plan? How will you fit the Jedi into your country?"
"Well, there are three branches of government," I activated my datapad and brought up a diagram. "Legislative, Executive, and Judicial. For now, I'm thinking of handing the legislative branch over to the Senate. The Senate will still consist of representatives from the sectors, chosen by the sector residents. Actually chosen, not appointed."
"Oh, yes, I remember you told me about Navi, the nephew of your planet's King. And that he appointed Navi as Senator. A shitty practice. But monarchs love it. It's a display of their power. Are you going to change the regimes on those planets? Including your own homeland? The Sephi are unlikely to be pleased with that."
"No, they won't be. That's why I intend to make the Senatorial position elective for everyone. Better to leave the rest of the sectoral aristocrats' power alone. Let them rule on their own planets, but they must obey the Republic's directives."
"So you still intend to bring everyone to a certain standard," Revan sneered.
"Yes, but it won't be so harsh or impossible to achieve. Roughly speaking — about eighty percent of the races and political entities in the galaxy will be able to implement Republic policy without any problems. Next — the Executive branch. It will be represented by Ministries, each overseen by Ministers appointed by a separate authority — the Chancellor of the Republic."
"Is that so," Revan said.
"Yes. After convening, the Senate holds elections for the Chancellor, who is elected once every ten years. The Ministers of the Executive branch are appointed by the Chancellor and must be confirmed by the Judicial branch. That branch is entrusted to the Jedi Order. Every law and every government minister must be reviewed by competent Jedi, after which they issue their verdict. The Judicial branch can demand revisions to a law. Moreover, in every Ministry, one of the Deputy Ministers is a Jedi."
"Interesting," Revan smirked.
"That's not all. The Jedi have full control over two ministries: Defense and Internal Affairs. In other words..."
"The army and the police," Revan finished for me. "As I recall, during the Ruusan Reformation, the Jedi withdrew from political affairs. And now you want to bring them back into politics, and weave them in that deeply."
"Exactly. That is my reformation of the Order. We ourselves must not be just lapdogs of the Senate — we must influence its decisions. Laws regarding the Jedi should come not from the logic of the Force, but from common sense. If we are the Keepers of the Peace, then give us the tools to preserve it. Give us the army, give us the police, give us authority over the courts and the ability to influence certain poles of policy, so that we can ensure that peace!"
"Sounds promising. All the more reason for you not to become the hero of the Rebellion against Palpatine, but to strike precisely at the end of the Clone Wars — that's what you called them, right? With the right skill, you'll succeed."
"You think so?"
"And you must think so," Revan began to fade. "Stop being such a coward. Do what must be done, with maximum effort. And then your efforts will be rewarded. That's just how life works." He dissolved completely. Guess his charge for the day was used up. And in some ways, Revan was definitely right. It's just... Will I have enough strength to pull all this off when he suggested? Good question... One that, alas, I won't know the answer to until I try.