The year 20 BBY was drawing to its inevitable, tumultuous close. As the first week of the twelfth month commenced, the galaxy was a tinderbox of exhausted regimes and rising shadows. For Revan Shan, the "Jedi Maverick," the time for subtler games was passing. The board was nearly set, and the pieces were beginning to move toward their final squares.
The 596th 'Maverick's Roughnecks' fleet did not arrive at the Utapau system with the thunder of turbolasers. Under the command of Admiral Kaine, the six Venator-class Star Destroyers—including the newly integrated Arbitrator, Dream, and Vanguard—executed a precision micro-jump that placed them in the permanent shadow of Utapau's furthest moon, Taris-Prime.
Revan stood on the bridge of the Sovereign's Grace, his black Beskar-filament cloak settled heavily over his shoulders. His hood was up, masking the 23-year-old face that carried the weight of a century. His fingers tapped a rhythmic, impatient beat against his gauntlet.
"Admiral Kaine," Revan said, his voice a dry, sassy hum. "The moon is doing an excellent job of being large and rocky. Are our signatures masked?"
"Total sensor blackout, General," Kaine replied, his eyes fixed on the passive scan feed. "The Separatist listening posts on the planet's surface won't see anything but lunar radiation. We are ghosts."
"Splendid. I've always found being a ghost much more relaxing than being a target," Revan quipped, popping a lemon candy into his mouth. "I'm taking the Black Pearl down. Fives, Tup, and sixty of our best ARCs are coming with me. We're going to see if General Grievous has been keeping up with his rent in the lower sinkholes."
The Utapau Infiltration: Into the Depths
The Black Pearl detached from the flagship, its Automatic Stygium Stealth Generator rendering it a non-entity to the local scanners. Revan sat in the pilot's seat, Cortana managing the atmospheric thrusters to ensure the descent was as quiet as a whisper.
"Master, I have localized three distinct encrypted high-bandwidth bursts originating from the tenth level of Pau City," Cortana reported. "The encryption matches the Grievous 'Coughing Fit' signature."
Revan chuckled. "Coughing fit? I really must update your nomenclature, Cortana. But if the General is there, he's likely hiding behind a mountain of droids. Fives, how are the boys?"
ARC Trooper Captain Fives, now free of his inhibitor chip and looking more alert than ever, checked the seal on his helmet. "Ready, Sir. The sixty ARCs are prepped for silent entry. We've got the EMP snares and the localized jammers ready. If we find him, he won't be able to call for help."
The Pearl slipped into one of the massive, winding sinkholes, bypassing the primary Pau'an starport. Revan landed the ship on a disused, overgrown maintenance platform clinging to the side of the limestone wall.
Revan stepped off the ramp, his matte-black armor drinking in the dim light of the sinkhole. He didn't ignite his sabers. Instead, he pulled out his Sonic Screwdriver. Whirrr-click. He tapped into a local data-conduit, his Kyber-Quantum processing array quickly bypassing the local Pau'an security.
"He's here," Revan whispered, his eyes sharpening behind the shadow of his hood. "But he's not alone. He's meeting with the Council of Neutral Systems' representatives. He's trying to squeeze more resources out of them before the 'endgame' starts."
The team moved like shadows through the lower corridors. Revan utilized Force Stealth to mask their collective presence, a feat made possible by his dense midichlorian count. They didn't engage; they observed. They documented the droid counts, the tactical layouts, and the hidden hangar bays housing Grievous's personal starfighters.
"We aren't here to bag him today," Revan told Fives via a short-range encrypted pulse. "We're here to audit his assets. When the time comes to end this, I want to know exactly which door he's going to run through."
Side-Mission: The Masterkey Protocol
While Revan's physical body was navigating the damp corridors of Utapau, his mind—projected through a high-bandwidth link—was operating a Holographic Sith Training Droid back in the Core.
Disguised in the white-and-red porcelain Fox mask and a deep black cloak, Revan (as the Fox) successfully breached the high-security engineering vaults of the Kuat Drive Yards. This wasn't about theft; it was about the Republic's next generation of warships: the Venator II-class Star Destroyer.
"Palpatine wants a bigger stick," Revan mused from Utapau while the Fox moved through the Kuat server rooms. "I'm going to make sure that stick has a 'Maverick' handle."
Utilizing his Advanced Engineering and Logic Programming doctorates, the Fox interfaced with the primary software upload terminal for the Venator II's central command system. He didn't destroy the code; he added a hidden, recursive logic-gate—the Masterkey Protocol.
This software patch was designed to remain dormant. It would pass every Republic audit and every Imperial diagnostic. However, if Revan's personal ship—the Black Pearl or the Prodigal Knight—entered a specific proximity and broadcast a unique Kyber-frequency, the protocol would activate. Revan would effectively have remote administrative control over the Star Destroyer's engines, weapons, and life support.
"Try to be nice, KDY," the Fox whispered as he vanished into the shadows of the ventilation shafts. "But I'm being kind by ensuring these ships can't be used for a genocide I've already predicted."
Talanorr: The Sanctuary Revealed
On the hidden world of Talanorr, accessible only through the Abyss Compass, Master Yaddle stood on the balcony of the newly completed Jedi Temple. Her large eyes were wide with a mixture of awe and concern as she looked out at the golden horizon.
The planet was a fortress. She saw the 360 mobile orbital defense platforms glinting in the upper atmosphere and the 180 planetary turbolasers camouflaged among the lush trees.
"Zee," Yaddle said, turning to the golden protocol droid. "When... when did Revan build all of this?"
"Admin Zee at your service, Master Yaddle!" the droid chirped, bowing low. "Master Revan completed the primary defensive grid and the Kyber-Quantum infrastructure several standard years ago. He has been quite meticulous. He told me that a sanctuary is only a sanctuary if it can survive a siege by a supernova."
Yaddle walked along the terrace, passing one of the 100 greenhouses where Force-sensitive flora was being cultivated. "He has hidden this from the Council. All of this."
"Oh, Master Revan hides many things," Zee replied casually. "He finds the Council's penchant for 'official reports' to be terribly droll. Did you know he has seventeen other hidden bases and bunkers across the galaxy? He even has an entire planet in the Unknown Regions that he refers to as his 'Vacation Planet.' It's apparently very scenic, though a bit light on spice-latte machines."
Yaddle stopped, her lekku twitching. "Another planet? Vacation?"
"Yes, Master. He says the Republic is too noisy for proper meditation. He built this world specifically for the younglings. He said, 'Zee, if the Sith want to play at being emperors, we'll play at being invisible.'"
Yaddle looked back at the 260 younglings currently practicing their katas in the garden below. For the first time in years, she felt a flicker of genuine hope that wasn't tinged with the cold dread of the war. "The Maverick... he is a fool. But perhaps, he is the only wise fool we have left."
Conclusion: Month 12, 20 BBY
By the end of the first week of Month 12, Revan and the ARCs had returned to the Sovereign's Grace. They had successfully mapped the Grievous infrastructure on Utapau without alerting the Separatists to their presence.
Revan sat in his Sovereign's Command Chair, the nap angle set to a perfect 22 degrees. He looked at the data-pad showing the Kuat sabotage was successful.
"Cortana, how is the Maverick Trust?"
"Market fluctuations remain in our favor, Master. The short position is currently valued at an unrealized profit of 125 Trillion credits. The Republic's push for the Venator II has actually increased the collateral value of our Kuat shell companies."
Revan smirked, pulling back his hood. "The war is almost over, Cortana. I can feel the timeline tightening. Dooku is desperate, Grievous is hiding, and Palpatine is measuring the drapes for his new office."
He popped another lemon candy. "Let them have their war. I've got the Masterkey, I've got the Sanctuary, and I've got enough credits to buy a small nebula."
"And the next move, Sir?"
"Next move?" Revan's eyes twinkled with a sassy, adventurous light. "I think it's time for the 596th to make a public appearance on Coruscant. I want to see the look on the Chancellor's face when I bring a captured Harch Admiral and two legions of free men to his doorstep. It's only polite."
The adventure was reaching its zenith, and the Maverick was ready to break the game.
| Current Statistics: Month 12, 20 BBY | Value |
|---|---|
| Maverick Trust Credits | 8.1 Trillion |
| Short Position Unrealized Profit | 125 Trillion Credits |
| Total Legion Strength | 126,220 (63,100 per Legion - 2 Legions) |
| Dechipping Status | 100% (596th) / 62% (597th) |
| Loot Secured | Venator II Masterkey, Utapau Tactical Map |
| Revan's Mood | Sardonically Triumphant |