49 BBY.
Everything has a way of ending, and my time on Lehon was no exception. Revan was squeezing every last drop out of me, strictly following the rule: "at the next training session, you must push yourself just a little harder than the last one." Did it make me an imba, an overpowered being? Yes and no... You always have to remember that for all my strength, circumstances and situations can arise where I'll face someone equal to me, or even stronger. There's always a bigger fish. What did I actually learn, or what abilities did I improve? Well, firstly — my teleportation no longer injured my eyes. It just went into cooldown. Each eye's ability "recharged" in about ten to fifteen minutes.
Seems like a pretty short interval. But fights between the gifted happen very fast, the clock literally ticks in minutes, though they can last seconds. So burning through all my "charges" quickly could leave me with no aces up my sleeve. I need to know how to use them properly. Besides that, Revan helped me refine my telekinesis, as well as pyrokinesis and Force lightning. I improved the Matukai techniques I'd gotten from my former allies, taking the coefficient of my physical ability enhancement to a completely different level. True, again, the physical enhancement had the limit of my physical body's ceiling. So I still won't be able to break the sound barrier in speed.
I can move fast — but there are heights I will never reach for objective reasons, no matter how hard I try. Basically, Revan helped me mostly with Force techniques and somewhat developed my physical body to match them. The most brutal training sessions were the ones for developing my sensorics. They were special because I fought against HK-47... Well, "fought" how? I ordered him to attack me in the harshest possible mode — combat mode, to be precise. I didn't fight back at all. Revan went all out, constantly making the training harder; some sessions pushed me right to the edge between life and death. The Jedi Revan had undergone way too many changes in his life.
And the training was effective, not just flashy, because of its brutality. What he couldn't help me with was swordsmanship. The thing is, long ago during my training, I'd wandered off into some other direction, as he put it. To another planet. And retraining me in his fencing style, in his own words, was nonsense. What was I good at in fencing? Speed, agility, pirouettes, multiplied by two blades. I was like a Yoda on a budget, naturally — just with two lightsabers. "You spin around like a crazy gizka," my mentor once described me. And I held the same opinion myself; I only actually defended myself without spinning like a crazy gizka when I was objectively outnumbered. Way outnumbered... And a sideways jump could, in theory, leave me even more exposed.
And in combat — whether with lightsabers or against a non-crowd — I try to move around as much as possible. It disorients the enemy. During my time on Lehon, I also set up my own hidden base. Revan suggested it, and I'd come to the same conclusion long before — organizing hideouts in many places across the Galaxy. The main condition for my hideout: it had to be in the Outer Rim, or even on the border with the Unknown Regions. The closer to the center, the higher the chance someone would discover my refuge.
While I was training, BB wasn't idle either. It was his... "shoulders" that bore the responsibility of hauling everything that could be useful for my hideout to Lehon. Besides that, he also had to maintain the ship. And not just the maintenance an astromech droid could handle. Once, I had to leave Lehon completely for about two weeks to fly to the nearest Sienar point so they could check my ship's condition. But now I was leaving Lehon for a long time. For the Order, I was listed as a traveling Shadow. In principle, Shadows mostly operated on what was called a free hunt. But there were also cases when they were summoned to the Council... Or, as I'd noted, you could choose a mission on a special forum where we were registered.
"Hmm," Revan watched me studying the Shadow briefings. "And those you told me about... Sidious and Plagueis. Real monsters, if even in the readable Shadow briefings — the Order's spies have virtually no evidence of Sith activity. In my time, they were more open."
"Well, Vitiate was also inactive until a certain point," I noted.
"No," the ghost shook his head. "I could trace his influence. But with you... there's a problem. Either you've degraded so much that not a single hint of that pair gets into the Shadow briefings, or that pair is far too skilled."
"Probably both," I sighed. "I only know about the actions of those two because the Force showed me a vision. Otherwise, I'd never have even guessed that Hego Damask, the head of the financial organization 'Damask Holdings,' was a Dark Lord of the Sith, and Sheev Palpatine, the new senator from Naboo, was his apprentice."
"But now you've exposed them," Revan noted. "Which means you can properly allocate the resources that will fall into your hands themselves. It's ironic that those two themselves will give the Jedi a weapon that can cut both ways. The clones. And the information about the so-called 'emergency orders.'"
"It's just that their wording has a lot of flaws," I remarked. "Plus — they were implanted into the clones by people who are clearly on Palpatine's side. At least until a certain point. They can't be turned. More precisely — Sidious won't allow it. The moment I show up there, he'll be able to understand everything right away."
"So the mission to create the right conditions for executing orders that will neutralize Sidious's activities falls on your shoulders. Or do you still think it's necessary to repeat that catastrophe? The destruction of Alderaan, the tragedy on Caamas, and countless other incidents across the entire Galaxy — just so a Sith could cling to power and also 'prepare,' in his own understanding of the word, for an invasion of conquerors from another galaxy?"
"As you've already noted — we have two important bifurcation points..."
"Yes, and by pressing on each of them, you will be able to fundamentally change the history of the entire Galaxy. As you once noted — you are not the Chosen One who changes everything by the mere fact of his existence. Though some might say otherwise based on your talent... But no. You're more like someone who wants to change everything by choosing the right moment, which matches your direct specialty. The Chosen Ones are usually some kind of little knights without fear or reproach who throw themselves into the embrasure. And now you have your moment... You must display all your political skill, your skill as a Jedi military general, and spin around as if you're fencing five Sith at once, but twist it so that the Republic not only doesn't fall, but begins large-scale reforms. Or... step aside and hand the galaxy to the Sith. Allow billions of casualties, on top of those that those insane conquerors will kill."
"Well, you sure know how to paint a vivid picture of the consequences."
"That's not even vivid yet," Revan noted. "That's just..." He shook his head. ."..facts, even if not fully calculated. In any case — you must act. And if I were you, I'd act with maximum effort."
"Maybe I should just hand my body over to you?" I asked with a smirk.
"Hand you? Your body?" Revan asked in a cold voice. "And what would be the point of your life then? You trained, you suffered, you gained knowledge about the Sith who, from the shadows, planned the destruction of your beloved Republic — only to hand your body over to some ancient whose existence is a three-thousand-year-old history? If that's a joke, it's a bad one. Wipe your remaining snot and do what you can, how you can. It might be too little, but... At least you'll have a clear conscience."
"I hear you," I said.
"Heard — you heard. But did you understand?" Revan asked, then vanished.
Not really, to be honest. My body is perfectly suitable for his resurrection. Developed enough and has an excellent affinity with the Force. He just got pissed... Because it would devalue all his efforts as a mentor... And mine too, if you look closely — it would devalue them. A truly stupid joke... As for whether I'll interfere in the process of the Empire's formation. It really would allow avoiding countless casualties. And I'm confident that by that point, I might even become stronger than Palpatine, considering he's a politician and I'm an operative. A politician is forced to engage in politics, while I can hone my skills during that time and devote more attention to the art of the Force. But... The problem with the current Sith, and the ones to come, is that they can't be stopped by simply defeating them in battle. The consequences of their actions will manifest everywhere possible. By inertia, many processes will unfold.
And without the proper setup in the form of the rebellion from the original trilogy, the Galaxy might consider us far greater tyrants. On the other hand... What is my current reluctance to act in the twenties BBY? Cowardice? Or a pragmatic calculation costing billions of lives? Because that's exactly the price I decided to pay for the "opportunity" ... Damn, I thought the torment and doubt had stayed with my previous self, but in the end, nothing changed... Well, no, the previous self worried about pretty minor problems. If I wanted Mira to live, I'd just have buggered off with her to some Galactic Backwater. Now I'm not worrying about something as trivial as the life of one sentient, even if she's very precious to me. I'm worrying about the lives of billions, if not more, and I'm hesitating... Why am I hesitating? What's actually holding me back? The lack of an ideology? A worldview, a lack of understanding of how the Galaxy should be structured if everything works out? I have all that. I have answers, outlines, plans... So what would change with the establishment of the Republic after Palpatine's canonical death? Essentially the same thing, I just figured that then my ideas would be accepted by a larger part of the galaxy... Yeah, right...
And the Imperial Remnants? And the chaos of the civil war? The rise of crime, the weakness of the new state... Because of all these upheavals, there's no chance to prepare for the Vong invasion... And as a result — new tragedies on a galactic scale. Is my metaknowledge a universal recipe? But will I have enough time? On the other hand — if everything works out at the first point, we'll have about forty years to get on our feet and build a sensible state. The main thing is not to slack off... Does that mean it's all decided? Yes, it's all decided... I need to act with full dedication, immediately, to take advantage of — or rather, try to take advantage of — absolutely any opportunity. If we win — good. If we don't... Well, then if we survive, we'll get another chance. And if not... What then? If I die... I think I stopped asking myself that question a long time ago. Whether it's the Galaxy, or the fact of my reincarnation, or the training — it's knocked out of me the idea that my death is some kind of super-catastrophe. You have to fear death, but you shouldn't let that fear take control of you...
* * *
To tell the truth, the Shadow's rapid-response missions had... gotten tiresome? Not quite. I mostly flew around the galactic north and west, dealing with dangerous sentients. Mostly those gifted with the Force. Over time, I gained a reputation as someone who can quickly and mostly quietly take care of a problem. After all, my training with Revan hadn't been for nothing, and I rarely got into open confrontations where I was forced to wave my swords around. Though there were cases where slipping in unnoticed was impossible for certain reasons. For example — once I docked with a ship where another gifted individual was in charge, who turned out to be, lo and behold, a Matukai. A Matukai who'd fallen to the Dark Side of the Force, radiating darkness across the nearest couple of sectors. Because of his maniacal sixth sense, he managed to detect me, and we had one hell of an epic brawl for about two minutes. In the end, I dropped him down the elevator shaft of his own frigate, showered him with grenades, and topped it off with pyrokinesis.
Had to hit the panic button afterward because the ship couldn't handle that kind of abuse. But those are just details. While traveling the Galaxy, I also started wondering about summoning someone even scarier than Revan. When I summoned Revan, I'd seriously feared calling up Darth Revan, the Sith Lord I'd likely never be able to negotiate with. And the Revan I'd summoned was harsh... But now I'd returned to an old dream — summoning Tulak Hord. I still dream of hearing the "god of the sword," as I'd dubbed him in my notes. Now there's someone who could help me with swordsmanship... If he agreed, of course. What the training did teach me, among other things, was confidence.
If Tulak doesn't show me at least some kindness, I'll just cancel the ritual and send him back. Then try to refine my swordsmanship myself. Or find another gifted individual who's more agreeable. The concept of "try" works here... If it doesn't work once, I'll do it another time. At least something works that way... Unlike that whole wise "don't try, just do" crap — makes you want to scream. But to summon Hord, I need at least something related to him. And I don't have anything. So I opened the briefings again and started filtering data for "presumed dark artifacts" and "Sith temples" from that era. Alas, there was nothing new, just like the previous times. The Jedi didn't even have presumed information about artifacts, temples, or finds from those times.
But I stumbled upon some strange information... There were reports that what was practically a war had started. Between the Black Sun and... Luna — that same organization that had clashed with me during the destruction of Jarko Itari's cell. No, Lora had said their organization's goal was to oppose the Black Sun... But what started after Jarko's destruction couldn't be called anything other than a war. The Jedi preferred not to intervene — more precisely, no direct orders regarding the fighting between these organizations had come through. Why? Because the battle was taking place in the Outer Rim, and even near Hutt Space, which, by all accounts, was leaning toward Luna. Looks like they're having fun. It's a shame my Order colleagues don't want to intervene, because clearly a clash between two such organizations won't lead to anything good for the peaceful sentients of the galactic south. But should I intervene without an Order command? As a Shadow, I can react to anything, justifying it by saying the Force told me to. I'm not bound by the Order, in a certain sense. Though what kind of thoughts are these? Pragmatism? Rationalism? I can intervene, so I will intervene. Just need to study the sides. "Luna" is fighting the "Black Sun." The Hutts are leaning more toward the former...
Most likely it's because the latter want to knock the Black Sun off its position as the galaxy's strongest crime syndicate. That's why they're supporting Luna, which has grown considerably over this time. And who should I support? In principle, the answer is relatively obvious for now. My goal is to support those fighting the Black Sun. After all — Luna is still considered a PMC, a "private military company," whereas the Black Sun is a criminal syndicate. Defeating the Black Sun will help make the galaxy at least a tenth cleaner. Of course, the Hutts themselves and Luna aren't exactly paragons of virtue either. But in the current situation... I have no choice. That is, if I want to intervene in the conflict.
And of course I do... The Black Sun has no place in the galaxy I'm thinking of building. And dealing critical damage — or even outright defeat — in the current situation is sensible. I think in the universe where I didn't exist, in the story that was told, Jarko Itari either retired peacefully or was buried by one of the Vigos... There's competition between them, after all — criminals, no matter what. But I intervened and uncovered some forces that, for whatever reason, weren't known in the canon — in either of them. Then again, that's logical. Neither creator of the universe can conceive of absolutely every moment in the invented universe. Many things can happen off-screen; many can only be guessed at. That's exactly what happened with the Black Sun... There was no information about Jarko Itari in either canon. But in the end — she existed until recently and was a fairly well-known figure. And now it's surfaced...
Gaven Hornly, the leader of PMC Luna, who was once an officer of the Black Sun — according to the intelligence I received — reported directly to Vigo Dalridn. Both Kabra and Dalridn — Dugs, natives of the planet Malastare. And both, according to the intel, were in confrontation over the position of "ruler" of the syndicate. As a result of the conflict, Kabra took over the syndicate, while Daridn, following the long tradition of all crime syndicates, was sent to "well-deserved retirement." Meaning — the data indicated — an indefinite vacation to one of the stars of the Malastare system... Gaven Hornly, deeply disappointed with the outcome his boss received, and himself possessing ambition — I'm sure — left the organization. What was Gaven in the organization? A general... One of many, under whose command were all of Dalridn's forces — a Vigo of the outer territories, with his part of the criminal empire's capital on Rishi. People followed Gaven, including the not-unknown Lora, who had once been a mercenary actively cooperating with various scum. When Gaven left the organization and created his own, Lora became one of his four officers.
Gaven began acting very aggressively, attacking Black Sun territories in the Outer Regions, biting off their spheres of influence. And he acts very skillfully, perfectly familiar with the organization's strengths — he strikes precisely at the spots where resistance will be weakest and damage highest. However, now they've decided to deal with him seriously. The Black Sun brought its fleet from the Central Regions, led by Alexi Garyn. And that's already interesting, because Alexi is a Force-sensitive sentient. Both sides were hiring mercenaries, preparing for full-scale combat operations. And judging by what I knew about the Star Wars universe — more precisely, the fact that already in 33 BBY, the destruction of the first Death Star, Alexi Garyn was the head of the Black Sun — the outcome for PMC Luna, under the leadership of Gaven Hornly, was very grim. Alexi, already as the boss, was eliminated by Darth Maul in that same 33 BBY. But that didn't finish the Black Sun. The syndicate existed even in the 40s ABY, and even in Legacy they were smuggling Yuuzhan Vong weapons. Neither Maul nor anyone else managed to deal the final blow to this organization — one that would make it share the fate of the Exchange. Is it even possible? Good question... There were a couple more reasons for me to deal with this syndicate now.
First — I might be able to obtain information that this syndicate is probably collecting. What I got on Iego wasn't particularly valuable. It was valuable for that region and for Jarko Itari. But here's the catch — for me, it holds no particular value. There was info about some of Jarko's own caches... But what interested me was something that could theoretically help me — namely, proof of the Sith's machinations. Plagueis and Sidius got their hands dirty in this organization — more precisely, Plagueis himself had a close relationship with Kabra, the current leader of the Black Sun. Even for someone who doesn't know the canon — it's perfectly official that Kabra took loans from the banks of "Damask Holdings." No one paid attention to it because who is Hego Damask? A Sith? In the shadows, yes — but in the world, a banker. No one knows about his Sith identity, but a banker... Well, Kabra is a magnate who made his fortune trading fuel. He can take loans from any bank. In theory, I can get to the information I foolishly destroyed earlier. Once, killing Shilazh, I decided the Galaxy wasn't ready to discover the Sith... But I could have at least copied that data for myself. Oh well, through the Black Sun I might be able to reach Plagueis. And from there, maybe I'll find a thread to Sidious. That's the ideal scenario. Second — I'll get some more training... And third — it'll clean up the Galaxy by damaging a crime syndicate. So... If I were describing my adventures about two hundred years from now, I'd write the following: the "Black Sun" arc is not over yet... It's still ongoing. And it could lead to something radically new.