Traya was dead, but I knew that I wasn't safe, yet

I stayed where I was as Malachor IV literally broke apart beneath me. I could feel the earth shaking, and watched as the walls of the Sith temple started to collapse. Several creatures around me started to scatter in all directions, obviously panicking. My black shoulder-length hair started to bounce upon my shoulders, caused by the tremors below me. I however, did not move at all.

Calling upon the Force, I struggled to keep one of the parts of the large remaining pieces of the planet in tact, causing the shaking to die down a bit. My lightsaber shook at my side, and as I struggled to keep the ground from breaking apart from under me, I saw the Ebon Hawk.

I saw it flying in my direction, but I could not attempt to show her crew where I was. Even if Atton could see me from that high up, he wouldn't have been able to fly down to rescue me. My stomach sank as I watched it fly over my head and disappear behind a the large wall of the cavern.

I was alone.

I could feel my energy draining quickly as I used every ounce of my power to keep the Planet from disintegrating. The earth was shaking more violently now, and it was only a matter of time before it completely broke apart. I closed my eyes, waiting to fall into nothingness.

Suddenly, the ground jolted violently, then stayed still. I opened my eyes and quickly looked around, seeing that despite the ground not having crumbled beneath me, there were many chunks of the planet floating out to space. The green flash of lightning streaking across the sky could still be seen from where I was. I slowly stood up to my feet, brushing the black dust of the planet's surface off of my dark tunic.

That's when I heard the sound of a footstep against rock. On instinct, I quickly called upon the Force to pull my lightsaber to my right hand, and ignited it. The red blade illuminated the darkness of the cavern in a dim light, but as I pointed my lightsaber outwards, I was able to see a man wearing Jedi robings approach me.

I immediately lowered my blade at the sight of him. I had heard countless stories about this man. I knew that he used to have a terrible reputation with the Republic many years ago, but he soon redeemed himself. I remembered that he used to be a Sith Lord, terrorizing the galaxy and having his name feared all around the universe.

It was Revan.

I looked into the man's face, not knowing what to say. I was standing face to face with, no doubt, the strongest man alive. He just simply looked at me for a few moments, then spoke to me again.

"You're the exile?" he asked.

I nodded my head.

He grunted and walked over to me. As he drew closer, I quickly reached out with the Force to get a better feel of his power. He was very strong, indeed. His mind was completely sealed off, a trick I'm sure he learned long ago. His Force potential, though, was incredible. He was obviously much stronger than I, but he seemingly had no intention to harm me.

He walked over to me and put his hand on my shoulder. He seemed to be scanning my face. What he would see, is my pale, white face, and dark red eyes. My skin had once been beautiful; young-looking and smooth. Now, however, it had turned a dull shade of white, and there were several wrinkles around my eyes. Side affects of the Dark Side, I was sure.

Revan, however, was unnerved by this. He simply looked me in the eyes and asked, "Why are you here?"

I stood where I was, and answered him. "I came to kill Darth Traya," I said.

He nodded his head and looked past me, releasing his hand from my shoulder. I saw him looking at the now-destroyed Sith temple, shaking his head a bit.

I continued talking. "Did you build that temple?" I asked.

He slowly nodded his head. "I did. Long ago, before your time, I'm sure. When I first rose to power as a Sith, I created that temple to teach young, feeble-minded men and women the ways of the Sith. Many of the Sith that I have struck down during my time as a Jedi were those who trained in that very temple."

He sighed to himself. He looked at me sadly. "There were so many men, women, and even children who died under my rule," he said. "I feel ashamed of what I put the galaxy through in the past." He then looked at me.

"I do not want to see you fall to the darkness as I once did, Vestis."

My eyes grew wide. How did he know my name?

Revan seemed to read my thoughts, as he chuckled. "I've been watching you travel with your companions... you are exceptionally strong in the Force. You remind me of myself when I was younger. Strong, yet lacking certain knowledge."

I said nothing. My temper was rising a bit, but I managed to calm myself down, letting him continue to talk.

He seemed to sense my anger, as well. "I by no means meant to offend you. I believe that you are extremley powerful, and my thoughts were confirmed after I saw you strike down Traya. I believe that you are very talented with a lightsaber, as well as the use of the Force. I am curious though, as why you chose to follow the path of a Sith?"

This question caught me off guard. I thought back over the past couple of months, quickly searching for some sort of answer to give him. He raised his hand though, to keep me from answering him.

"I believe that you have been corrupted by false knowledge," he went on. "I sense much anger and hate dwelling within you, having both your lightsaber and the Force taken from you by the Jedi Council."

I nodded, wanting him to go on.

He did. "I felt much aversion towards the Council before my fall to the Dark Side," he said. "I was young, then. I wanted to explore the world, to become more powerful than any Jedi before me. This, along with my belief of the Council using me against my own will turned me against them."

He looked at me.

"I feel that you can be redeemed, Vestis."

I looked at him, unsure of how to respond. I longed to say something... anything; but I could think of nothing to say.

He looked at me directly in the eyes.

"Come with me," he said. There was no beseech in his voice. No commanding tone at all. It was more like a question than it was a statement.

I closed my eyes.

For the first time since I had escaped from Peragus, I actually had the time to think. My thoughts flashed back to the previous months, starting with meeting Kreia, and Atton. I thought back to escaping Peragus and heading to Telos. I thought about Atris, how I killed her, as well as the other Jedi Masters. I remembered how Kreia had turned me against them... turned me against the Jedi overall. The day I was exiled, I thought that I was going to be relinquished of my powers forever.

I never thought that I would be standing face to face with Revan himself. The very Revan who had killed millions of Jedi and innocent people single handedly.

But also the Revan who had brought peace back to the entire galaxy.

I opened my eyes and looked back at the man who stood in front of me. His shoulder-length dark brown hair swayed gently in the breeze. The green flashes above in the skies of Malachor were dying down, and for the first time since I had arrived there, all seemed peaceful.

It may take a long time before I can become fully redeemed of my past doings; and it may take even longer to get the Republic, and the Jedi back on its' feet.

Revan and I will make it happen, though. That much I'm certain of.

I finally spoke. "Let's get out of here."

After I said those words to him, he smiled. He stepped beside me and put his arm around my shoulders. He led me in a different direction away from the Sith temple, taking us down a winding path that was lined with jagged, charred rocks and enormous cliffs. As we walked, my mind was flooding with thoughts about the future, and what Revan and I would accomplish. My thoughts were mainly focused on becoming reunited with my friends, and with Revan's companions, as well.

Soon, we had reached a large, open area. It was about a mile long by a mile wide, and several smaller rock pillars and formations were scattered amongst the ashes of the land. I looked to my left, and watched as Revan reached into his robes and pulled out a small black object. He extended his index finger over it and pressed one of the buttons on it. He then turned his attention to what was in front of him.

I turned around and also looked, seeing a ship there that had not been there before. Revan had used a cloaking device on his ship to make it hidden from the creatures that infested this planet, as well as any Sith that may have been wandering the surface as well.

The ship itself was incredible. It was a cross between a starfighter and a transport ship. The main hull of it was painted silver, with streaks of black painted across the outline of it. The cockpit windows were tinted to the point where they were completely black. This ship would definitely stand out amongst other ships of its kind.

Revan walked towards it, gesturing with his hand to me to follow him. I obeyed him, and immediately followed right behind him.

As I walked, my lightsaber started feeling ponderous for some reason. I looked down to it, expecting to see something physically attached to it. There was nothing on it. However, as I looked down at it, my thoughts flashed back to the previous couple of months that I had experienced as a Sith. I remembered killing all of those people… and the Jedi. As much as I wanted to move on from all of that, I knew that it would take time for me to forgive myself for all that I had done.

Revan turned around and looked at me, standing patiently in front of the lowered platform of his ship. He looked like he knew what I was thinking. He knew that I couldn't stop being a Sith just like that. It was a process… one that he had once gone through himself.

I unclipped my lightsaber from my belt and looked down at the hilt. It was one that I made myself; the hilt itself was chrome, and had my initials engraved onto it. I had made it look like the Adept hilt style.

My initials could be seen next to the ignition switch. VJ. Vestis Jenroux. It had taken me nearly a week to construct the lightsaber, but after I had finally completed it, I inserted the red crystal into it to mark myself as a Sith.

That was different, now.

I glanced back up at Revan, who nodded at me. He, as well as I knew what to do.

Without hesitation, I tossed my hilt aside. I watched it roll across the rocky ground, over several cracks in the surface. It suddenly hit a bump in the ground and rolled down one of the many holes taking up the ground. I watched as it fell into nothingness; the green, bright light of Malachor's inner core illuminating the area where my hilt had just fallen through.

I turned back to Revan and walked back to him. He walked into the ship to get it fired up for takeoff. I slowly treaded along, afraid of what my future would hold, but also somewhat atingle of it.

I boarded the ship, walking along the main corridor of it. I entered the main hold and sat down on one of the passenger chairs in front of a large monitor. It showed the planet of Malachor in a computer-generized picture, and I felt the jolt of the ship as Revan started the main thrusters, preparing for take off.

The room I was in seemed very congenial to me. There was a metallic table positioned in the middle of the hold, the walls were lined with monitors and computer screens of all shapes and sizes. A small droid rolled into the room, and as it saw me, it started beeping in a friendly tone towards me.

I nodded my head down to it. "And you are...?"

The droid warbled a response.

I smiled. "You're T3-M7? Do you happen to know a droid named T3-M4?"

T3 started rocking back and forth in excitement, waving it's head up and down.

I laughed and stood up from the chair. T3-M7 beeped a goodbye, then went off to the engine room of the ship. I headed towards the cockpit, and saw Revan sitting at the controls. I took a seat next to him in the co-pilot chair.

I swiveled myself so I was looking at him. "Where are we going?" I asked.

He turned and smiled at me. "To meet up with your friends."

I nodded and sat back in the chair, strapping my saftey belt on. I switched three switches on the control panel, readying the jump to hyperspace.

I took one last look at Malachor IV, which seemed to be calm and quiet as we flew farther away from it. I would never forget what happened there. I had defeated Darth Nihlus, Darth Sion, and Darth Traya. Hopefully now, the Sith won't try anything for a while.

As the hyperspace cooridnates were coming in to the computer, I looked over at Revan. He and I would reform the Jedi Council. We would build a new Jedi Order. We would search the galaxy for any remaining Jedi, no matter what their rank.

Of course, we would have our companions there to help us.

As we jumped to hyperspace, I closed my eyes.

Peace would finally be brought back to the galaxy.

-

End