Authors Note:
Hello everyone, I would like to thank you for taking the time to read my story, please note that all characters, places, items, and Star Wars materials belong to Lucas Arts and Mr. Lucas. A few characters, as well as the main character's personality are my own. This story is based off one of their great games, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic and does contain "spoilers" to the game. Don't read if you don't want your game spoiled!!!!
Anyways this takes place right after the game ends, I hope you do enjoy it and please let me know what you think :)
Chapter 1: Ending and Beginnings
Takera was huddled in a small room located in the cargo hold. She had found this convenient shelter while searching for Sasha, the little girl who had decided to hitch a ride on the Ebon Hawk. It was just perfect, somewhere she could get away with her thoughts and not be bothered. She lowered her eyes and let a few tears drip down onto her hands. So much pain… and confusion, Takera mused, as she thought about the events that had transpired. She forced herself to go on after that terrible revelation.
She remembered those icy words that Malak had spoken to her while she was aboard the Leviathan, "Hahaha, you mean you don't know? You haven't figured it out yet…Revan!" Malak laughed at her. Darth Revan… destroyer of worlds, and killer of innocents. It seemed impossible that Takera and Revan were one and the same. However Bastila had confirmed it, "The Jedi don't execute their prisoners, we were sent to capture Revan, you are Revan. When we boarded your ship, Malak, your apprentice, had fired on your own bridge. You were badly hurt, and your mind was shattered. Then the Jedi council made a new identity, one who served under me…Takera, a republic scout." Takera remembered staring into Bastila's eyes and feeling sick. What use was she to anyone, broken that she was? She had forced herself to finish what she started, to that final confrontation aboard the Star Forge. Her mind wandered back to that last stand against Malak.
******
Revan studied the bridge, horrified by what she saw. Many Jedi were hung up like hunting trophies, a testimony to how far Malak had fallen into the pit that was the Dark side. "How you have fallen Malak," she thought, "so far…are you lost forever?"
Chuckling Malak studied her face, "You were a fool, and stupid." He clenched his fist, "The Star Forge is more than you could have possibly imagined, much more."
"Go on," Revan commented.
"The Star Forge is alive with the dark side! Its very walls are soaked with its energies. It hungers for more," He said pointing to the Jedi. Revan gasped.
"Yes Revan, you see now, the Star Forge taints what remains of the undead Jedi and feeds it to me!" He cackled, turning around and used the Force to suck out what little life remained in the Jedi.
Revan's eyes widened in realization, she was horrified by what he did.
"You see Revan. You cannot beat me here, not while I have all these Jedi to feed on." Malak laughed. With that Malak lit his light saber and faced off against Revan.
"I must destroy the captured Jedi, it's the only way," Revan thought sadly.
She felt the Force surge through her as she called out to it, filling her with strength. With all her might she threw her right light saber, its blue beam shattering three of the containment tubes holding the Jedi. She quickly brought up her left saber just in time to parry off Malak's first blow. Violet and red sparks sizzled from the two beams. They battled, throwing force powers and trying to gain the upper hand on each other. Revan parried another flurry from Malak and then she slashed at his left side. He hissed and kicked her in the stomach, toppling her over.
"Hahaha," Malak laughed, "You're growing weaker while I grow stronger, the star forge feeds me." He ran to another of the Jedi trophies and sucked the life out of his with the Force. "There is no way you can defeat me. I always knew this day would come, the day I strike Revan down!"
Revan's muscles ached; she could feel the dark taint of this place eating at her soul, begging her to surrender to it, to claim what she once was. "No" her mind whispered, "I will never give in." But in her heart Revan knew she had to free the rest of the Jedi, or she was doomed, and this had to end now.
Her body blurred, as she called to the force, streaking as she rushed towards the nearest containment pods and slashed them open with her light sabers. Malak caught up to her and lifted his light saber, ready to strike his master down. Revan barely had enough time to meet this fresh assault. She parried his blow and raised her fist, and with a wave of the Force she flung his body across the room.
She tried to keep her breathes in an even, steady manner as she hurried to the last of the pods and slashed those open too, watching the milky liquid drain from them. Revan sighed in relief when she felt the Jedi become one with the Force, she was afraid that they were lost forever.
Malak chuckled, "You think that by freeing those Jedi you will win this fight? Nooo, you are wrong Revan, I am stronger than you. That is why I seized the Sith thrown from your crumbling grasp."
Revan shook her head, "Do you think that is why I came? To claim the Sith throne."
"No Revan, I do not. You're too weak to even accept what you are! I am assured of my victory here, the power you once had has escaped your grasp! When I defeat you, I shall feed you to the Star Forge. What little power you have will fuel my conquest!" Malak laughed as he used the Force to throw her across the room.
Revan got up just in time to parry Malak's blow, but she was too late to completely block it. He slashed her across the left shoulder, but Revan's counter move kept him from going too deep. She took the opportunity to give him a blow in the stomach with her booted foot. He jumped back with a grunt.
"You are stronger than I would have thought possible, Revan, but now it's time to end it." Malak raised his right hand and sent a shot of lightning towards Revan.
"Such pain…must go on, I must end this now," Revan cried out as she staggered to the ground.
"But why… what do I have to live for anymore" Revan gasped.
"Hahaha, no one will save you Revan," Malak chuckled.
She looked up at him, "No one…" she thought, "No one will grieve for me…"
"Please Revan, please don't die, I need you," came a whisper to her mind. It was Carth!
"But how…??" Revan choked.
"Please Revan, finish this," said Bastila's familiar voice, "I need you. We all need you."
Revan heard the voices of her good friends in her mind….yes they were her good friends, they had been through so much together, and she would not fail them. As Malak approached her Revan jumped up and hit him with a flurry of blows. The Sith Lord struggled to push back her assault, and Revan pushed her advantage. She fought with a cool aura that would have made the Jedi masters proud, if they could have witnessed the fight. Blades clashed and sparked in the dim of the Star Forge's command room.
"I must end this now, for the sake of everyone," she thought as she kept pushing Malak back, the two combatants vying for supremacy over the other. Each fighting for their beliefs; Malak for rule over the Sith and eventually the Galaxy. Revan, reformed as she was, was fighting for the republic, for the people of many worlds, for their hopes and dreams, but not her own.
Long and hard they fought, but soon Malak, arrogant and foolish that he was, made a mistake. He brought his blades up and brought them down to strike Revan with a killing blow but she ducked under the blow, grunting as she curved her back and stabbed her twin light sabers through his middle.
He dropped to the ground coughing and sputtering, "I…I cannot be beaten. I am the Dark Lord of the Sith…"
"I'm…I'm sorry Malak, but that is the way of the dark side…death."
"Still quoting the Jedi code I see….maybe there was more truth in it than I thought." Malak coughed, and fell over. Revan rushed over and cradled Malak's head in her lap, letting the tears fall freely.
"You…you grieve for me… why? after all I have done?" Malak asked while looking up into Revan's eyes. "I would have killed you…"
"I'm so sorry Malak, for leading you down the dark path…." Revan sobbed.
"I can only wonder what destiny I would have had if you didn't…. I wonder what would have happened if fate decreed that I was to be captured? Would I have turned to the light as you have?" Malak mused. "Don't grieve for me Revan, It was I who continued down the dark path, but now as the darkness takes me I…am… nothing."
"Wait Malak, it's not too late, you can still turn to the light," Reven cried.
"How?" Malak choked, his voice failing…
"Turn to the light Malak, you are still welcome there," Revan whispered to him, her tears falling upon his face. Revan thought she saw a flicker of hope dawning her former friend's eyes upon hearing her words.
"Can I, my old Master?…." Malak coughed out as he died.
Revan felt her grief overwhelming her as her tears continued to drip upon Malak's face and down his metal jaw. So much pain they had cause and for what? She could not remember. She let her grief overwhelm her. She sat there, with no intention of leaving. "It's over," she sobbed.
"I will die here too," she thought, "and so ends both our pain."
Just then she felt Malak's spirit touch her and she looked up to see him standing over her, radiant in the light. His skin was vibrant and young again and his metal prosthesis was gone, replaced by his own flesh. He smiled at her and placed a glowing hand on the side of her face.
"I did it master!" he exalted, "I turned back to the light! I can be at peace…. and I hope you can too. You were right, there is always hope, I… wish you peace Revan. But please, the Star Forge is going to be destroyed soon, you must escape." He smiled as his spirit faded.
Revan sighed as the memory of the events on board the Star Forge faded from her mind. "It will be a while before the fleet organizes and the celebrations begin, I can get some sleep," she thought while yawning. She curled up in the little smuggling hold, feeling the gentle vibrations of the ship's engines sooth her as she drifted off to sleep.
******
Mission wandered around the ship. She desperately wanted to talk to Revan, to see for her own eyes that she was truly ok. She looked up to the Jedi, Revan…was like the mother she had never had, and a very cool mom at that, even though she did get the occasional "lecture." Mission perked up as she heard the crooning of a gizka near the cargo hold. Turning into the hold, Mission stared at the little beastie, smiling faintly. He was the last of a rather large group that had "moved" onto the Ebon Hawk. Revan had managed to dump all but one of those little beasties off to selkath at Manaan. He was smaller than the rest and unusually pale, an albino, Mission thought. The little creature had had become attached to Revan and even insisted on sleeping at the foot of her bed…. Revan had reluctantly agreed, saying it was much better than hearing the little creature howling at night. If "Hoppy" was there then Takera must be near-by. She still was confused on what she should call…Revan, but most people did call her by her by real name. She wasn't happy with either actually, one was a person who she could never remember having caused so much pain, and the other was a fabrication of the Jedi, someone that never existed.
Mission stared at the distressed gizka crocking and crooning at the wall. "What the heck is he doing," she muttered, "Wait a minute…"
Mission sauntered over to the wall in question and passed her hands over it. She felt a tiny switch and pushed it. The panel slid open to revel a curled up Revan fast asleep. Mission crept closely and examined her. Her face was a little bit puffy from crying, and she looked exhausted. Mission decided not to bother her. Just then the tiny gizka leapt into the hold with Reven and snuggled up next to her. Mission gasped; fearing "Hoppy" would wake her up. Revan only shifted slightly and remained asleep.
"I hope they don't run you ragged when the celebrations start," Mission whispered, while tucking a blanket around Revan.
Mission heard a chuckle from the doorway. The Twi'lek turned around in irritation, only to find Jolee grinning at her. "What do you want old man?" Mission snapped, "And do please keep your voice down."
"Kids these days, no respect at all," Jolee snorted.
"Hey! I'm no kid, I…."
Jolee raised a quieting hand, "Shhh, no need to wake up the whole ship." Jolee mumbled. Looking over Mission's shoulder he saw Revan, fast asleep with a gizka curled over her arm.
"Poor kid," Jolee sighed, "She didn't tell you what happened, did she?"
"No… I was looking for her, to talk, when I found her asleep in this convenient smuggler hold. But she doesn't look so good…" Mission said worriedly.
"Come, let us leave her alone, we can talk out in the hall," Jolee whispered, closing the door behind them. "There, now we can talk without disturbing anyone."
"Do you think she will be ok?" Mission sighed.
"Her mind is very disturbed and confused. I suspect she has a lot of healing to do…as do we all," Jolee mumbled.
"I hope she understands there is much for her to do, much to live for," Juhani said, cutting into the conversation.
"All we can do is offer support and hope…" Jolee confided, his voice trailing off, eyeing the Cathar. "Do you always interrupt conversations like that?"
"I am sorry if I offended you, but I felt this conversation was too important to not voice my opinion," Juhani said.
"Well…anyways did Revan happen to tell you what exactly happened aboard the Star Forge?" Jolee asked.
"No, I only know a little bit of what happened, and that was when Bastila had used her Force bond to Revan so we could call to her, to give her strength." Juhani commented, wincing slightly at remembering the pain, and distress in Revan.
"Hmhmm," Jolee mumbled, as he also remembered that brief touch of Revan's mind.
"Well, the way I figure it," Mission piped up, resting one hand on her right hip, "Is that it really isn't any of our business unless Revan decides to tell us."
"I…I suppose your right, we should return to our duties," Juhani said.