A/N — First of all, apologies to anyone getting an alert for this because they followed me for my Ben Ten fanfics. Completely different fandom, completely different story, so I get that maybe you'd be annoyed to be notified for this. That's why I also published another Ben Ten fic, so go check that out!

That out of the way, I guess I should clear up some stuff. This is a fic heavily inspired by Lincoln Six Echo's Revenge of a Sith (here on FFN) but taken in a rather different direction. I sometimes see people talk about a "Sith!AU" or something similar where all our favorite main characters (those being, mainly, the two trios of the PT and the OT) turn to the dark side but I never really see fics about that. This is that fic… sort of. Unfortunately we won't really get to see Sith!Luke and Sith!Leia (love Sith!Leia; she's so perfect for it) here, since it's mainly a Prequels-era fic, but I wrote this to have fun with it. Anyway, the first chapter is probably the most similar to LSE's Revenge of a Sith but should diverge substantially from there.

And just to get this out of the way, yes, it is a multi-pairing for Obi-Wan, just like the inspiration for the fic. It won't be a smut fest but Obi-Wan does get to be with multiple love interests. Think of it as compensation for having three love interests die in his arms (no, we aren't bringing Cerasi in).

Last of all, I need to say that as of publishing this chapter I have five chapters fully written out of about… eight or so I figure for this fic in total. I plan to update the fic weekly so that gives me about five weeks or so to get it done. Shouldn't be too bad, since I have the outline planned out.

Now, onwards!

Everyone You Love Is A Sith:

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Chapter I: The Junior Senator

•

Darth Renova was dead.

Not yet, but having been stabbed through it was now an inevitability. The lightsaber of Darth Plagueis' mysterious apprentice, Sidious, had severed his spine cleanly below the shoulders and it was now only his mastery of the Force that kept Renova alive. That, however, would fail him as it failed all eventually. Soon his nervous system would shut down entirely, and then he would die. Already he could not feel most of his body, and his concentration was bent upon keeping his heart beating and his lungs breathing, just to hold on for a few moments more.

All in the hope of seeing his apprentice one final time.

It was somewhat ironic that he had been struck down by Darth Sidious. Perhaps it was merely delayed punishment for Darth Tenebrous' transgression in training not merely a second apprentice, as the Sith of Bane's line were forbidden to do, but also, in secret, a third. His first was Darth Plagueis', Sidious' master; the second Darth Venamis, who had tried and failed to usurp Plagueis' place as apprentice. The third and last was Darth Renova himself, who had stayed in the shadows. Darth Bane's rule had been only two Sith and Tenebrous had broken it liberally. Now Renova was paying the price. Plagueis had never known his master had trained a third apprentice, and so Sidious had never known the man he had just struck down was another Sith. Renova, at least, took some satisfaction in that. To the end, Sidious had thought him only Ben Cortess, eccentric heir to a mining fortune.

When Plagueis had at last become unnecessary to Sidious' plans, whatever they now were, Renova's only peer as Sith Master had been slain and Sidious had taken his place. And now here he was, struck down unwittingly himself to further some small scheme of Sidious' for which he was at best a minor inconvenience. The thought that Sidious would probably never know who it was he had killed was amusing in some dark, cosmic way.

Now he waited for the only one who could avenge him: Darth Consilus.

Despite his best intentions, Renova had grown to love the boy. He was a cautious man by nature, surviving not merely the paranoia of Plagueis, Sidious, and Tenebrous but the assassination attempts of three apprentices of his own. A long and bitter life had hardened Renova's heart the way every Sith's heart should be hardened, yet for all that the boy he had found on Bandomeer had found his way into it and never left.

Perhaps it was because he was so unlike the apprentices Renova had trained before. He had been full of anger, yes, but the boy had also been defined by a deep and abiding loyalty, a fundamental capacity to trust and love. Perhaps that was why the Jedi had cast him out, but even if he could bring himself to intellectually think it plausible Renova could never fathom actually believing in rejecting such a gifted student of the Force. Had the Jedi trained him, Renova knew his apprentice would have become a great Jedi Master, but it would have been a waste. Just as the life of a farmer and miner would never have done Consilus well, so too would the shackles of Jedi life ill-suited him. Perhaps he would have found more greatness than as a farmer, but it would have been a waste either way.

Renova could not stand waste.

So it was that he had taken the boy under his wing and trained him and never once had Renova regretted his choice. Consilus was so dedicated, so hungry for knowledge, so gifted that Renova had little doubt his apprentice would one day surpass the greatest of the Sith. Unlike the rest of the Sith of Bane's line, however, Consilus would never walk the path of paranoia and betrayal. He was completely and totally loyal to his master as Sidious hadn't been to Plagueis. Consilus would do anything for Renova not out of fear of pain or punishment but because he loved his master and his master loved him in turn.

Darth Bane had no use for such things, Renova knew. That great Sith who had founded and guided their Order for the last millennium considered, as all Sith did, love to be a weakness. It provided weak points for opponents to exploit, and a Sith could be nothing but totally independent, a power unto themselves. It was the only way to avoid defeat.

Renova's mouth twisted into a bitter smile as he considered the irony. It seemed not to have occurred to any of the other Sith that they all had been defeated anyway. They also, he knew, had not considered the other side. It was because he loved that he would be avenged, for nothing else would drive his apprentice to avenge him otherwise. Had he remained independent and alone, Renova would have died and remained alone and unmourned, powerless.

They also, apparently, had not fully appreciated the benefits of trust. The Sith before Bane had been disunited and paranoid, their knowledge always being lost and rediscovered for fear of giving their rivals an edge. Bane's line had no rivals and so complete knowledge had been passed intact from master to apprentice, growing with each generation — so long as the Sith Master did not become too selfish. Fear — of his inevitable end at the hands of his apprentice — could push him to deny his apprentice and succeeding Sith the knowledge that was so rightfully theirs. It had happened before and would happen again.

Renova had never had this problem with Consilus. He had never feared the younger man would strike him down or usurp him. He trusted Consilus completely, and so he had passed all he knew to the boy without regret or hesitation. There was something ironic in the fact it was not dissimilar to the ways of the Jedi, but being the hypocrites they were the Jedi had always denied the strength of the relationship of master and apprentice, as they denied all relationships.

Footsteps were coming towards him and Renova opened his eyes but couldn't move his head. He felt Consilus' vibrant, strong presence in the Force, for once unmuted and unshielded, and felt it color with distress and anguish as it raced towards him. Strong young hands appeared under his neck and his body was gently maneuvered so that he was staring into the bright, blue-grey eyes of his apprentice.

For all that Consilus' face was twisted with pain, however, Renova could only find himself filling with a strange sense of peace. There was fear, yes, of death as all Sith secretly feared it, but after decades he had finally accepted his own mortality. Death was inevitable, and in the end he had fared better than most and probably better than he deserved. He would be remembered and missed. It seemed like little, but it was enough. The desires for greatness and power suddenly seemed so juvenile.

"Master?" Consilus whispered, pain coloring the word. Renova tried to smile and didn't know if he succeeded.

"My… apprentice…"

"Who did this to you?" the young man demanded.

"You… know…" Renova wheezed. "You know…"

Consilus' fists clenched and his eyes suddenly blazed bright and yellow as the dark side coursed through him. "Sidious," he said through gritted teeth.

"Yes…" Renova whispered. "As you said…"

"Did you see who he was, Master?" Consilus asked, eyes fading to their blues as concern and desperation replaced his anger.

"No…"

Tears filled Consilus' eyes. "Why did you send me away, Master?" he demanded, and Renova could feel his apprentice trying to keep his anger at him at bay. "I could have protected you."

"No…" Renova gasped. "Not… strong enough."

"Together, Master," Consilus begged. "Together we would have been."

Renova chuckled but it turned into a cough. "I… am old…" he whispered. "Not… even together."

Consilus grit his teeth, trying to stop his tears from flowing freely. "Damn it," he hissed. "We could have, Master. We could have."

"That… is your destiny," Renova murmured. "Not now… not soon… but you can… defeat him. The Sith… will rule the Republic… Sidious will… plot this. You… know of him… but he does… not know of you. Avenge me…"

Consilus nodded shakily. "Yes, Master. I will. I will."

"Good…"

Renova exhaled his last breath and then was still.

––––––/––––––

The Sith had returned. That was what Obi-Wan Kenobi's contacts at the Jedi Temple told him. As he sat in the small senatorial apartment set aside for junior senators, the new Chancellor's speech playing in the background, he found himself almost amused by the report he read. What were the odds that Qui-Gon Jinn, the Jedi who had sealed Obi-Wan's fate, would be the one to face down the Sith?

And win, somehow. Obi-Wan didn't know whether that was a poor reflection on Sidious' training — as he had little doubt the Sith killed on Naboo was Sidious' apprentice — or merely the prowess of Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn. In the end he supposed it didn't really matter. What mattered was that the Jedi now knew the Sith had survived their purges oh so long ago. Doubtless it would make things more difficult for Obi-Wan himself, but then the Jedi never had sensed him as having turned to the dark side.

"He'll do well, don't you think, Obi-Wan?" Senator Andes of Bandomeer asked from Obi-Wan's couch, breaking the young man's train of thought.

"Hmm?" Obi-Wan asked, looking up distractedly. Then he focused on the Chancellor — Palpatine, the feed said — giving his speech. "Oh, yes, very well, I'm sure," he replied disinterestedly.

"Do you think I ought to enter the Chancellor's inner circle? His favor could be quite important for Bandomeer."

Obi-Wan frowned and concentrated on his diplomatic superior. You will not show him more support than normal, he sent to the man. You will keep your distance.

Andes frowned. "You know, giving it more thought, I think I'll keep my distance. Galactic politics is a dangerous business, m'boy. We'll wait and see what kind of man the new Chancellor is."

Obi-Wan smiled. "I think that's very wise, Senator." You have something to do in your office.

"Oh!" Andes exclaimed. "I think I've stayed too long, Obi-Wan. I just remembered I have something urgent to do… though I can't remember what it is." The white-haired gentleman smiled tremulously. "I'm getting old, Obi-Wan! You'll have to stick by me to keep me from embarrassing myself."

"Always, Senator," the young man replied, graciously showing the Senator the way out to his own apartment. Senators got much larger and nicer apartments than junior senators, but Obi-Wan didn't begrudge the harmless old Andes his comforts. Some disparities were a small price to pay for using the man as he did, but then Obi-Wan had probably kept Andes political career going a decade longer than the man could have done himself. It was mutually beneficial, in a way.

Still, there was something pleasing about controlling Andes as he did. A penchant for minds was something of a gift of Obi-Wan's and it was good to see a job well done. His control over Andes was perfect, the man appearing only as a slightly doddery, absent-minded old man who was essentially harmless, a politician genuinely concerned about his small world in the way only Outer Rimmers could be.

He was necessary for Obi-Wan's plan. Years in the making, Andes was a pawn in a much larger game that the ever-patient Obi-Wan was playing. Aside from the Sith grand plan to take over the Galactic Republic, Renova had been quite sure, after years of investigations, that the mysterious apprentice of his rival Sith Lord Plagueis, Darth Sidious, was in the Galactic Senate. So it was that Obi-Wan had to be there too.

Obi-Wan's heart constricted at the thought of his master.

Ben Cortess, the never-known Sith Lord Darth Renova, had been so many things to him: mentor, friend, confessor, even almost a father. It was no surprise that Obi-Wan had grown to love the man dearly. He had given Obi-Wan everything he had never known he wanted. He had taught him the Force, its intricacies and subtleties, as Obi-Wan had wanted as a Jedi. He had taught him the art of lightsaber combat, never depriving his apprentice of anything, even when Obi-Wan had taken better to the defensive Third Form, Soresu, rather than offensive forms that Sith favored. More than that, he had shown him what the Jedi had always denied: love. Obi-Wan was not told to repress his nature as a man, as a sentient being. He was free to care and love and be passionate and before Renova Obi-Wan had never known the Jedi had been so repressing, so unnatural, so wrong. How could they condemn what he had had with his master? How could they claim it was the right life for every Force-sensitive?

He'd found Obi-Wan only shortly after his last hopes for becoming a Jedi Knight had ended, on Bandomeer. Aged out and never chosen, Obi-Wan had been sent to work as a farmer with the Jedi AgriCorps, an organization that had seen fit to place him amongst strangers and mining-ravaged land. He had briefly had hope when Qui-Gon Jinn had also come to Bandomeer, but the man had refused Obi-Wan yet again, ensuring Obi-Wan would never be a Jedi.

Those months had been torturous. He had been nothing but a teenage boy taken from his family before he could even remember them and then ejected from those meant to be surrogates. He had been cut off from his friends and had lost the only home he had ever known. Moreover, he had also lost his dreams. Obi-Wan had only ever wanted to be a Jedi Knight and for all his skill, all his drive, all his willingness to learn he had been denied. The Jedi teachings that had been indoctrinated in him since infancy told him he ought to be content with his life, but Obi-Wan had barely been a Jedi and had a sick certainty he was not meant to be a farmer.

Eventually he had left the AgriCorps. The Jedi didn't really worry about those leaving the Order if they lacked most important training and there had been no fuss with Obi-Wan going, something that had stung almost as much as never being selected. Some part of him had wanted the Jedi to protest, to want him to stay if for no other reason than to prove that he wasn't totally meaningless to them, that all his efforts hadn't meant nothing.

After leaving had been a life of poverty. He was an almost-fourteen year-old with no real skills and no money and all he had wanted was a trip to Stewjon. He had been told it was his homeworld and with nowhere else to go Obi-Wan hoped his birth family would take him back. Then again, if they had so easily given him up who knew what they would do? It didn't really matter, as he had no other options. So he had scrounged and saved every credit he could to travel to Stewjon.

Until Ben Cortess had found him. Wealthy heir to a mining fortune, it wasn't really surprising for the man to appear on Bandomeer, a world dominated by mining. What was strange was for him to take an interest in a beggar-boy, but Obi-Wan hadn't looked a gift-horse in the mouth. Nevertheless, the strangeness of the silver-haired man with piercing green eyes put something in Obi-Wan on alert. He hadn't refused when the man had offered to buy him a meal, however.

At first Cortess had only been interested in talking with him, most specifically his situation. Obi-Wan's impeccable Coreworld, even Coruscanti, accent seemed to intrigue the man who thought it was very out of place for an Outer Rim urchin. So Obi-Wan had told him his situation — that he was an ex-Jedi Initiate who hadn't been deemed worthy of training to Knighthood, that he had been sent to Bandomeer as a farmer, that he had left, and that he was trying to find his way home.

That had been it for some time. Cortess had merely watched Obi-Wan desperately eat all he would buy him. Then Obi-Wan had felt something shift in the Force, something drawing him to the man. When he had looked at Cortess he had thought it seemed as though the man had come to a decision, and when he looked into those green eyes he hadn't found himself repelled.

So it was that Obi-Wan had become a Sith Apprentice. Cortess hadn't waited long to tell him, but even so Obi-Wan had already suspected. There were few Force-users who weren't Jedi, and fewer still who had little fear of the dark side. It hadn't pushed him away, however. Perhaps he was a bad Jedi, but the Jedi had rejected him while Cortess had shown him only kindness. How could the Jedi make demands of him and how he behaved when they rejected him so thoroughly?

The years had been long and hard. Cortess was not cruel, but his training had demanded much of Obi-Wan. It pushed him to his limits and past them, almost killing him several times, yet Obi-Wan wouldn't have traded it for anything. It was what was required to forge him into the Sith he needed to be, to temper and mold him until he surpassed all others. It was what was required to make him better than any Jedi.

Lost in his thoughts, Obi-Wan almost didn't notice the change in the holofeed until the face of Qui-Gon Jinn appeared. Apparently the Nubians were throwing an enormous festival in honor of their Jedi savior, and Obi-Wan felt mixed feelings fill his gut. On the one hand, Qui-Gon's rejections had given him more than he had ever wanted, but on the other had been completely unjust. What right did the Jedi have to take him from his family and then deny him?

Obi-Wan didn't know whether to feel envious of or sorry for the boy almost hiding in Qui-Gon's shadow. It was certain the boy didn't know of Qui-Gon's past or reputation, and Obi-Wan wondered whether Qui-Gon would prove a better master when he actually chose a student instead of being pressured towards one. A part of him couldn't help but wonder what this boy had that he did not — what he had so much of that Qui-Gon would apparently defy the Jedi Code to train him.

He calmed himself. The time of the Jedi would come.

Last edited: 2019/3