"Hello there." A feminine voice called out behind him, drawing the attention of Sigil. Turning around, he saw an old woman sitting in a meditative position upon a rock in the middle of a seemingly unending meadow.
"Who are you? How did i get here? I was in the med bay following the-" He began asking before he stopped himself mid sentence in horror as he remembered. "Following the sacrifice of your friend you knocked out Darth Nox's spirit currently in possession of your sister's body." The woman finished his sentence for him with a sympathetic look on her face.
"How? How did you learn of this event? It happened hours ago?" He asked, mouth fully agape before he quickly closed it and regained his composure and straightened his back. "Take a seat. I will explain everything in a moment." She said pointing to another rock in front of her.
Hesitantly, he made his way over to rock and sat in a meditative position, mimicking her stance. "Let me introduce myself. I am Satele Shan. Former grandmaster of the Jedi order and a republic general many millennia ago during the time of the great galactic war, galactic cold war and eternal conflict. And most importantly to you, i am your ancestor." She explained.
"Just like Nox, i am able to communicate with you through the force. Difference being that followers of the force's will, can manifest at will to related individuals, the relation could be a blood connection like our case or strong emotional attachment. Whereas followers of the dark side have to have specific circumstances to talk to individuals from chaos." She explained further.
"Wait you used to be the grandmaster of the Jedi?" He asked, taken aback. "Yes." She replied watching as his face grew more confused. "Then how did we not get picked up by the Jedi as children?" He asked. "The Jedi's recruitment process relies on data collected by republic medical centers upon birth. Blood tests show midichlorian counts of children and if they exceed the acceptable threshold, they are kept track of until they become a toddler then the family is visited by a jedi recruiter where he explains to the family their child's gift. If the parents are willing the child is taken to the temple." She explained the recruitment process of the Jedi.
"But because you and your sister were born to a noble house, the doctors were paid to keep quiet. On top of the fact that our family hates force users." She explained with him nodding in confusion. "But why would they hate force users?" He pressed.
"Unfortunately no is to blame for this but me." She said with regret. "You?" He asked perplexed. "I had a son, this went against the jedi code. As such i neglected him for nearly all of his life. Causing him to resent me for choosing the Jedi over him and the Jedi for keeping me away from him. This resulted in him growing spiteful of jedi and he resented everything force relayed and passed it down through generations. He even changed his last name because of me. To avoid being associated with me. So by extension, your familial name isn't Trail. That is what he chose. Which managed to stick around." She explained with great sadness.
"You mentioned chaos. What is Chaos?" He asked. "It is a wretched place for those who disobey the force's will. Their souls shall end up there upon death. Being tortured by the horrors they themselves subjected others to." She answered.
"Due to the war being waged across the galaxy right now, the dark side's strength has grown as such Nox was able to slip through the cracks and reach you." She said. "Why me?" He asked, guilt ridden all over his face. "Naive and untrained when it comes to the force, great potential and a close connection to a powerful yet untrained and undisciplined force user." She replied.
"Revan." He said to himself. "Yes. Nox's goal was Revan all along." She said. "Then why come for me?" He replied with anger. "You had already delved into the darkness by opening up her holocron." She told him. "And i took the bait and look what i have done!" He said getting up, pacing back and forth with anger. "There is no emotion, there is peace. You must calm yourself. Anger will do you no good." She warned. "You're right. I am the only one to blame for all of this." He said berating himself.
"Not all hope is lost. Nox could be banished back to chaos." She said. Upon hearing this he stopped dead in his tracks and turned to look at her.
"How?" He asked softly, unsure if his ears were deciving him. "Although it wont be easy, you must fight and defeat Nox in Revan's own mind. There you will have to fight through an ever changing enviorment against a very dangerous opponent." Satele explained. "What if we lose?" He asked nervously. "Then i am afraid your soul will rejoin the force. In simple terms, you die." She said.
"How do i get in?" He asked further. "It is a meditative ritual that i will teach you but not right now." She said. "What? Then what help are you?!" He snapped. Satele shook her head. "You are not strong enough to confront Nox. The ritual alone will leave you drained. You must advance firther in your training before attempting such a thing." She warned as he finally quited down.
"How long before i can do this?" He asked. "At your current progression rate, about a year." She answered. "You can call me during meditation and i shall respond to help guide you through your journey to knighthood." She further added. He sighed accepting her answer. "Thank you." He said. "May the force be with you." She said. "And with you too." He replied before everything began to fade away.
Sigil's eyes shot open. Immediately he noticed that his throat was dry and he was starving. Just as he opened them he quickly moved his hands to cover his eyes from the blinding light of the medbay.
"Finally awake." Ahsoka said in her usual sassy voice. "Guess i am." He said sitting upright on the medical bed. "Listen Ahsoka." He began. "I am sincerely sorry for hiding the holocron away and secretly using it to further my own selfish agenda. In the process i got you and Revan paranoid of me. It all ended up with Revan being possessed, you being stabbed and i the one behind it all being unharmed. I failed as the captain kf the ship to protect my own crew from harm. I failed as an older brother and failed as friend. I take full responsibility for my actions and am willing to accept the fact that you might not forgive or trust me anymore or might want to leave." He apologized.
"I do forgive you Sigil. You were unaware of the darkside and we all make mistakes. Thankfully no one got killed. However i will still have trust issues. And that leaves one final question; how do we rid Revan of the ghost?" She said.
"When asleep, i encountered an ancestor of mine through the force. She was a former grandmaster of the Jedi order and told me that i wasn't ready for the task, i need to advance further before this. By her approximation, a full year." He explained. "Is that so?" She asked. "I am certain." He said, finally climbing out of the medical bed.
Walking over, he offered her his hand. She took and finally stood up again. "Wait, how long was i out for?" He asked. "About two days." She replied. "What?!" He exclaimed. "How did we not starve or freeze to death already?" He thought out loud. "Because i ordered 5cn to take us to Bilbringi when i woke up from the surgery." She said, looking at spot where the ice had gone through.
"Master Sigil? Mistress Ahsoka?" 5cn said. "What?" Sigil. "Oh thank the maker you are awake. You both seem to have guests outside." The droid exclaimed. "What kind of guests?" He asked. "Mandalorians." He replied. "Tell them to wait for a bit." He said, going to his quarters and changing into his professional outfit, before meeting up with Ahsoka short of the boarding ramp as they headed outside in unison.
Stepping outside, they noticed around 5 mandalorians outside. "I am Bo-Katan Kryze of house Kryze and current leader of the night owls." The woman in the very front said, introducing herself. Ahsoka looked skeptical towards Bo-Katan. Sensing her feelings, he guessed that they have a history of rivalry.
"I am the night haunter. Captain of the void dragon." He said introducing himself by his professional name. Very few knew his real name. His modulated voice matching his name. "We are looking for your assistance on our quest." Bo-Katan explained. "What kind of quest?" He asked. 'Did this lady think she is in a fantasy hologame?' He thought to himself. "We are looking to liberate mandalore from the sith lord known as darth Maul and his traitorous mandalorians." She explained. "I am afraid my field of expertise isn't what you are looking for." He said dismissively.
"I need both of your expertise." She said correcting him. "I need you to pick off Maul's officers from a far before we attack. And as for Ahsoka Tano, i know we did not meet each other in the nicest of situations, but i am asking for your help to liberate the suffering civilians caught under Maul's iron grip." She explained. "Is there an insignia distinguishing officers from rank and file troops?" Sigil asked. "Horned helmets." She said. "The larger the horns on the helmet, the higher ranking they are." She explained further. He just nodded in response.
'Do you really want to help? She didn't speak of even paying' he said telepathically. 'People are suffering Sigil. You must put the innocent before yourself as a Jedi. And this is a stepping stone to advance as a Jedi and redeem your actions.' She responded. 'You are right. I can't disagree with that.' He said, agreeing. "If the people are in need, we will help you and you night owls." Ahsoka said. "I appreciate your help." She thanked them. "We, on our own, do not possess enough manpower to usurp Maul however. We need assistance from your allies in the Grand army of the republic." She explained.
"I will go with you to convince the republic of an intervention." Ahsoka assured her. "Thank you. Now we need to get going." She said, a sense of urgency present in her voice. "I will be departing for Mandalore." Sigil said as he silently walked back to the ship and started it up. "What about mistress Ahsoka?" 5cn asked in the cockpit. "She has a different assignment." He said. "Where are we going?" The droid pressed further.
"To take out Mandalorion high command in preparation for an invasion." He answered. 5cn didn't speak as if in agreement. As they lifted off the Bilbringi orbital shipyards and flew off towards the hyperlane entry point Mandalore system. "Here goes nothing." He said as he pulled the hyperspace lever sending the void dragon into hyperspace.