When Venar woke up from the vision, it was the morning of the next day. He was certain that Bastila had also experienced the same dream as well. He had felt her presence within the dream as it had unfolded.

He began his routine of getting out of bed, taking a brief shower in the refresher, and changing into his Jedi robes. All the while, chewing over the events of the dream in his mind. The more he thought about the prospect of having these visions, the more it troubled him. He still didn't understand why he was having these visions, and frankly it didn't seem to make much sense. Not that Bastila or the Council understood it either. It just seemed a bit too convenient to be having visions about the enemy.

Regardless, they had work to do and Bastila was already down at the Council chambers. Some engineers had been sent by the Jedi to install some upgrades on the Ebon Hawk, and Carth was busy getting brought up to speed with the new modifications. Venar rushed down the boarding ramp, his brown cloak trailing behind him. The one custom of the Jedi he embraced wholeheartedly was the robes. They were surprisingly comfortable and he had to admit, there was something that just felt right about wearing them.

When he reached the Council chambers, Bastila already stood before the four Jedi Masters. As he entered, Bastila turned to regard him with a short curt nod.

"Good morning, Padawan Moonrunner," Vandar said, the knee-height Jedi twitching his pointy green ears, "Bastila was just telling us about the vision you shared last night."

"Yes," Bastila confirmed, "As I was saying, according to what we saw Revan and Malak came he directly after the battle of Malachor. It also appears Revan had a secret relationship with the Jedi Exile, Meetra Surik."

"Mmm, yes we suspected as much," Vandar said.

"Is it possible she could know anything of what happened to Revan?" Venar asked.

"According to what we know," Dorak responded, "Meetra and Revan fell out of contact after that last battle. She was exiled from the Order. While we like to keep track of those who have left our Order it appears she has escaped our notice."

"Her whereabouts are not of our concern at this time," Vrook said, his demeanor serious as usual, "We have decided to send you both on an extremely important mission."

"It is vital that we uncover this secret of the Star Forge," Vandar said, "It has become not just our belief, but that of the entire Jedi Council, that you both have been selected by the Force to uncover this secret. From what we have been able to decipher of the data you've brought back from the ruins, we believe there are more star maps on the other four planets shown on the first one."

"It is your mission," Master Zhar explained, "to travel to each of these planets and find the other star maps. Once you've found them, it should fill in enough of the missing data to pin a location on the Star Forge. This will be a difficult task. There will be many dangers and trials ahead, but the fate of the entire Republic and Jedi Order depends on this mission."

"With all due respect, Masters," Bastila spoke up, "shouldn't this be something more suited for a Jedi Master?"

"Normally, yes," Zhar responded, "However, the Sith have spies everywhere. Sending a Master on this assignment would draw too much attention to the mission. At the same time, this is not a stealth mission either. Identify yourselves as Jedi wherever you go, rely on the Force, and on each other."

"The Ebon Hawk," Vandar said, "and the crew are yours to accompany you. Many of them have special skills you may find useful in your travels. Also, Juhani would also like to accompany you, and we have decided to grant her her request."

"Her presence will serve as a reminder how easy it can be to fall to the Dark Side," Vrook said sternly, "While she has embraced the light again, perhaps she will serve as a warning to the dangers the Dark Side poses."

"What if we run into the Sith on our mission?" Venar asked.

"In all likelyhood the Sith will become aware of you," Zhar said, "Though it is very unlikely they will discover you're purpose or what your mission entails. You must guard that secret."

"Now as far as the Mission goes," Vandar said, "Keep us apprised of your progress. Tattooine is the nearest mission planet. You may want to start there."

"Understood, Masters," Bastila said.

"Safe journeys, Jedi Shan, Padawan Moonrunner," Vandar nodded to each of them, "May the Force be with you."

As the two Jedi left the room, a brief silence fell among the Jedi Masters. Vrook shook his head.

"I do hope we haven't made a grave mistake," he said. "I still sense much darkness in him." The others simply nodded in a solemn response.

Bastila sighed. She was used to being given important missions. This was different, though. When she had lead the attack against Revan, she had had an entire team of accomplished Jedi Knights backing her up.

This time, however, she was on her own. Or at least it felt that way. She didn't have a team of Jedi Knights behind her back this time. In this situation, she was filling the role of what a Master would normally take. Even further, the entire fate of the Jedi and the Republic rested on this mission's success. She remembered when she had faced Darth Revan, when he had effortlessly crushed the Jedi who were with her, the feeling of impossible odds that stood before her. She couldn't help but feel similar now, as her Padawan now walked beside her.

When they reached the ship, Juhani was there waiting for them at the foot of the boarding ramp. Gone were the slick black wraps and battle skirt she wore during their duel. Now she was adorned with the fitted brown robes of a Jedi Knight. On her belt hung her lightsaber, the same one she had dueled with. Now though, Venar could sense that it had been cleansed of the pain that had infected the kyber crystal within.

"Venar," she said with a bow of reverence. "I owe you my life. You've done me a great service. You showed me the errors of my ways, and I am idebted to you."

"Don't mention it," Venar replied, "You don't owe me anything. I don't believe everyone touched by the Dark Side deserves death."

"I must admit, I still have much to learn," she said, rising to her feet. "I'm not sure I would have made the decision had our roles been reversed."

"I've learned recently that we have a lot more strength in us than we might at first believe," he said as they walked up the boarding ramp. "We are all learning. I believe that when we think we know everything, that is when we are most at risk of losing ourselves. I understand that your Master Quatra is alive and well?"

"How did you know?"

"I can sense a calmness and peace in you to such an extent I would not think one could have after such an event."

"Your insight seems to be far beyond that of most Jedi of your rank," Juhani said. Bastila glanced sideways at Venar.

"Again, we're all learning."

"Indeed," Bastila said.

"I think you will fit in well here Juhani," Venar said, "Come, its time to introduce you to the rest of the crew... they're an interesting sort."

Thirty minutes later, they were cleared for take-off from the spaceport. It had only been a relatively short time, but Venar felt like his time here marked a significant change in his life. He was a new person now, his old self extinguished in the fires of Taris and forged anew in the temples and ruins of Dantooine.

He looked at himself in the mirror of the refresher. He had slicked his dark hair backwards along his scalp. His eyes had a rejuvinated quality to them. Gone were the old scoundrel's gear he used to wear. He looked like a true Knight of the Order. His forearms now brandishing tan armored bracers, a brown tunic overlaid with a tan chestpiece, and a flowing brown battle skirt.

He collected himself and made his way to the cockpit where Carth and Bastila were studying the nav computer. Venar walked up behind them, hands clasped behind his back.

"Venar," Bastila said looking up to greet him, "the Council sent over the data from the star map."

"What are we looking at?" he asked as he took a closer look at the holographic map that floated before them.

"We have four planets to scout for more star maps or artifacts that could give us a clue to the whereabouts of the Star Forge," she replied as she began pointing to several locations on the map. "Tatooine. Kashyyk. Manaan. and Korriban."

"Korriban," Carth mused, "Isn't that a Sith world?"

"Yes," she confirmed, "Its not just any Sith world though. You may also know of it as Moraband."

"The Sith homeworld?!" Carth asked incredulously, "how are we supposed to scout a planet literally infested by the enemy?"

"We should deal with that when we come to it," Venar said. "Looking at our optimal route, it seems that should be the last planet on our journey. It would give us more time to form a plan."

"Agreed," Bastila said.

"I believe our best approach would be to hit Tatooine first," Venar pointed out, "Its the closest planet to our current position and its a port I'm familiar with... I think."

"Its settled then," she said, "set course for Tatooine."

"Setting course," Carth said, as he started punching in coordinates into the console. "Its going to be a little bit before we get there. Might be a good time to get some rest before we search the hot dunes for... whatever it is we're looking for."

"Good idea, Carth," Bastila said, "Perhaps some shut eye could do us some good. I need to meditate. See if I can focus in on any clues to where we should start looking."

"Perhaps maybe if we meditated together?" Venar suggested. Carth gave them an amused look.

"I don't even wanna know what that means in Jedi," he said with a smirk.

"Thats not funny," Bastila protested, "yet... perhaps if we joined our conciousness we might be able to use this Force Bond to our advantage."

"You know, it doesn't sound any better when you say it like that," Carth jested.

"He's got a point," Venar said with a smirk.

"Ugh!" She threw up her hands in defeat and stormed out. Venar followed her. "I will never understand men," she muttered.

"Oh relax," Venar said as they walked through the hallways of the Ebon Hawk. "Carth is actually in a good mood for once. Let him have his jokes. It lightens the mood."

"Is that why you always insist on carrying on with your childish antics?" she asked exasperatedly.

"Partly," he confirmed, "but also because you like it."

"Oh please," she said forcing the involuntary smile away. They entered the empty crew quarters and the door slid shut behind them. "Now, lets try to focus on the task at hand shall we?"

"Which is?"

"Have you not been listening to a word I've said?"

"Not really."

"No surprise there," she said, again forcing away a smile. "Look its simple. By meditating together we might be able to incur another vision which will hopefully give us some sort of clue as to where to start looking for this star map. It is an entire planet after all."

"Right, ok. Lets do this."

Revan's brown tattered cloak whipped the air behind him as the wind swept across the dusty dunes. Sand caked to the visor of his mask, making visibility poor.

"I hate sand," he said through muffled tones to Malak, who was also wearing bundles of fabric to keep the sand out.

"We're close," Malak replied. A gust of wind whipped past forcing him to pull his cloak tighter around his body. He pulled out a pair of of quadnocs and scanned the dunes off in the distance. He spotted several bantha lumbering about in the sand, large furry creatures with curved ram-like horns on either side of its head. The creatures were packed with pouches and saddles, indicating they were domesticated.

"Sand people?" Revan asked.

"By the looks of it," Malak replied, "no sign of them though." He kept scanning through the magnified lenses, sweeping the dunes for any sign of life. He noticed a rock formation jutting out of the sand off to the left of the bantha herd. He zoomed in on it to discover a large cave cut through the large rock mass. "I think we found our star map."

They began walking down the slope of the dune they were on, heading towards the strange sandstone cave. The wind did not cease or let up as they pressed forward. Malak trudged behind Revan, drawing up the tattered cloth scarf he was wearing up around the lower half of his face.

They were about three hundred feet away from the cave when suddenly they stopped. Revan stood motionless in the sand as the wind whipped his long cape wildly in the air behind him. Malak's eyes searched the area through the protective goggles he was wearing.

"Can you sense it?" Revan asked.

"Yes," Malak said, "I can sense their hostility."

"We will give them something to fear."

Suddenly two dozen cloth-wrapped gaffi stick wielding tusken raiders emerged from their hiding place in the sand, as if rising from the dead. They rose from a short distance from the mouth of the cave and began charging towards them. Malak ignited his lightsaber and dropped into a battle ready stance. For a moment, Revan did nothing. The sand people charged ever closer, screaming and shouting haunting cries of war. They resembled grotesque mumified husks running along the sand.

Finally, Revan ignited his lightsaber and flung it straight through the air, sending a whirling blue blade of light piercing through the chest of the nearest tusken raider. The tusken raider began to slump to the ground as the lightsaber exited clean through and out the back of the man and then continued on to the next charging raider only to deliver the same fate. Two down. Three down. Four. The lightsaber made its way through each of the charging sand people, leaving behind a pile of bodies, before returning to Revan's outstretched hand.

He returned his lightsaber to his hip before again raising his gloved hand yet again and forming it into a fist. A deep rumbling sound began to fill the air and several more tusken raiders emerged from the sand behind them and floated up into the air. They grasped at their throats, gurgling and gasping for air. One by one, their necks snapped at unnatural angles, the sounds of bones cracking just barely audible over the howling wind. Their bodies dropped unceremoniously back to the ground.

Malak deactivated his lightsaber as Revan resumed his walk to the cave. He looked around at the bodies that lay around him. Then he looked up at Revan, walking ever closer to the cave. He shook his head and then started forward towards the cave. As they entered, the wind-swept sands of Tatooine reclaimed the bodies of the fallen tusken raiders, enveloping them in a blanket of course sand.

The cave was large with a tall ceiling with hanging stalagtites. The main chasm went back about eight-hundred feet before it sloped down in a dead end. However, there at the very back of the cave, was an ancient terminal, a three-pronged holoprojector that displayed a long lost hyperspace lane. The star map.

The Ebon Hawk shot out of hyperspace over a large brown planet orbited by two twin suns. Tatooine. There was no orbiting space station, no fleet, nothing but the planet itself. Venar was only familiar with the planet because he had been sent there on a smuggling run years back. The deal had turned south and he was forced to make a hasty retreat, but he had spent time on the rock nonetheless.

"We are in orbit over Tatooine," Bastila said after they gathered the crew into the main lounge area.

"I'm not familiar with the planet," Juhani said in her thick accent.

"Tatooine is a desert world which is pretty much unsettled save for a few small settlements," Venar explained, "There's not much there to be honest."

"So where do we start?" Carth asked.

"Anchorhead," Venar responded, "its the largest port on the planet, though, that's not really saying much."

"What's the mission?" Juhani asked.

"That... is... confidential," Bastila spoke up, "All you need to know is there is something important down there that we need to find."

"How are we supposed to help if we don't know what we're looking for?" Mission spoke up.

"The kid makes a fair point," Carth said.

"I'm not a kid!" Mission shot back.

"When do I get to shoot stuff?" Canderous muttered.

"Enough!" Bastila shouted. "This mission is mine to command. Only those who really need to know will be informed of the details."

"Great speech, commander," Carth said sarcastically.

"Ok everyone just calm down," Venar spoke up. "Look, this assignment is extremely important. It very well could turn the tide of the war, even end it. But we all need to do our part and work together. Can we do that?"

"I don't see how we can if we don't even know what we're doing?" Mission said.

"Which is why I will tell you we are looking for an ancient star map," Venar said suddenly.

"What are doing?!" Bastila asked, adding some steel to her tone.

"Look, let's be reasonable here," he said to her. "The Council said the mission was confidential, but they never said we couldn't tell our crew the details of the mission."

"You are playing a dangerous game, Padawan."

"Look, you yourself said that only those who need to know will be informed," he continued. "Given that they are our crew and will be helping us along the way, I'd say they need to know. Sure, they're no Jedi, but they each have valuable skills that will only be best used if they know the full details. We have to work together on this. We need to trust each other."

Bastila regarded him for a long moment, frustration written all over her face. Finally she gave a small nod. "Fine," she said. Venar turned back towards the rest of the crew and began to fill them in on the details of their mission. Bastila straightened her posture with her hands clasped behind her back. She felt the heat in her face as she tried her best to focus inward to supress the frustration and embarrasment. She was furious with Venar. Her own Padawan, standing up to her.

"So with these visions you're saying you are able to retrace Revan's steps?" Mission asked.

"Pretty much," Venar said, "We only get little pieces, but it was enough on Dantooine. Hopefully, it will be enough here. Carth, can you pull up a map of Anchorhead and the surrounding area?" Carth tapped a few keys on the holoterminal and a holographic map projected into the air overhead, displaying a rectangular topographical map of the settlement. "What am I looking for?" he asked.

"We're looking for a completely barren area," Venar replied, "with lots of dunes. There was a large cave, big enough to fit a small starship in." Carth scanned the map for a few moments.

"I'm not seeing anything like that within this section of the map," Carth said, "though it is possible with the changing sands that the topography is different than it was when Revan came through."

"Perhaps then Carth," Bastila spoke up, "you and Mission and Z can stake out the local cantinas, see if you can find out anything about two Jedi coming through before us."

"Where does that leave us?" Venar asked.

"You, Canderous, and I will visit the office of whatever is acting as the governement of this place. Juhani, you and Tee-three will guard the ship," she said, "The Force willing, something will turn up."