Visions
He wanted to know why they wouldn't come to this planet. He needed to know what it was that caused the Mandalorians to fear this dead planet. It was a puzzle that Revan had yet to solve, but he was about to change that. He had told his troops that he was scouting planets to use as bases against the Mandalorians, but that wasn't why he was out here. He needed know, he couldn't remain ignorant of the reason, wondering if whatever it was that he could use it against them.
If there was anything that Revan despised more then anything in this galaxy, it was ignorance. One should not simply accept things because someone told them. It was the reason Revan rebelled against the Jedi Council, when they refused to help the Republic when the Mandalorians first invaded. He could not accept the fact that the Council said that they felt a greater evil beyond the Mandalorians. Revan didn't deny the possibility that there could be something greater beyond the Mandalorian threat, but without any proof he simply could not accept that the Council was doing nothing. They, as Jedi Knights, had sworn to protect the Republic, yet when the time came to take their lightsabers and do their duty, the High Council ignored the Republic's cry for help.
How could the High Council not act after they felt the deaths of thousands when the Mandalorians rained nuclear warheads onto Serroco's surface. The empathic pain so great on his soul that it caused him to double over, clutching his heart. After that he couldn't just continue arguing for Jedi intervention with the council. He decided to gather what forces he could and intervene with, or without the council's approval. Hundreds of Jedi had already been swayed with his words, so it was only a matter of time before he and his followers left to aid the Republic.
Within months of joining the Republic forces, he had been appointed command of all of the Republic's military forces by the Supreme Chancellor himself. That was due to his strategies and his ability to beat back the Mandalorian attacks. If not for his cunning, the Republic would have fallen long before he turned the tide of the war. Once the Mandalorians realized that their tactics were being used against them, they tried to come up with new tactics but those were just as easily countered. Revan's own strategies being far more complexed, traps layered over traps, secondary plans for the secondary plans. Revan left out no possibility when calculating a course of action. Perhaps that's why the Mandalorians respected him, or maybe it had something to do with his victory over Cassus Fett.
Revan understood the Mandalorians, he understood why they respected great warriors on the battlefield. To them there was nothing greater then being killed on the battlefield or defeating a strong opponent. But what he did not understand was why they were attacking Republic worlds. If the thrill of the battle was so important to them, why not duel each other? That was something Revan would have to consider later as he approached the planet called Malachor V.
As he continued to approach the planet, Revan felt something within the force. He couldn't pinpoint it... but it held that distinct Dark Side taint. If he could feel it from that far in space then he couldn't imagine strong it was on the surface. Landing proved somewhat more difficult then usual, but with Revan's skill in piloting it was nothing to worry about. But the second he stepped foot outside he was immediately bombarded with wave after wave of Dark Side energies. He dropped to his knees, drawing on every last drop of will power to beat back the sensation of the Dark Side. Seconds, minutes, hours, he couldn't tell how long he was on his knees, but eventually the energies subsided, leaving him out of breathe.
Returning to his feet, he felt a pull within the force... a call really. It was calling him in a certain direction, so he followed it. Not to be one to be caught off guard, he took his twin lightsabers in hand, possibilities racing through his mind. It was a trait he picked up from his former master, Kreia, always have a plan ready no matter what may happen. Every so often he heard movement off in the distance but it always turned out to be some beast looking for its next meal. Ignoring the beasts he continued to follow that pull he felt, drawing him closer to whatever it may be. Then the pull stopped, and what stood before him was a structure the likes of which he had never seen before. Curious to see what this structure was, he entered.
When he entered he found room upon rooms of what appeared to be some kind of training grounds, or perhaps academy. This structure had similarities to that of the Jedi Temple on Coruscant and other Jedi Academies. But he knew that the Dark Side was strongest here, he knew that this was where he was being pulled towards. But there was something deeper, far beyond the academy's room and archives. And he followed it once again, deeper and deeper into the complex he went, the Dark Side becoming stronger with each step he took. And then he came upon a sanctum of sorts, pillars made to look like giant teeth arranged in a circle, arching in and over a set of smaller, similar shaped pillars. But what was must interesting about this... sanctum, was that it was suspended over what appeared to be the core of the planet itself.
Revan stepped into the inner circle of pillars and immediately dropped to his knees. A sensation, not unlike being ripped out of one's own body spread through his soul. And he saw, he saw the destruction of the galaxy. A race unlike anything within the Republic... within known space, ravaging worlds and leaving nothing behind. Screams of innocent beings filling his mind, his soul sharing in the pain of death and destruction. His skin felt the fires that raged around him, burning anything and everything in their path. But he also watched as the Republic senate fought over what to do while worlds burned and races were destroyed. He watched as the Jedi followed the Republic blindly, not taking action to stop whatever was doing this.
The core pulsed, green tinted energy exploding outwards in a mist, swirling around him showing him races that he did not recognize, futures played before his eyes though all ending in death and destruction. When had the vision ended? How long had he been staring at nothing? When had his soul been shoved back into his body? But he knew it was not the same soul. That vision had changed him, showed him things one should never experience in their own life time. The green mist condensed around him, absorbed into his body, the Dark Side filling his entire being. But unlike those that had fallen because they craved more power, he knew no such lusts. He knew there was no other way, he knew that the Jedi, that the Republic was weak as it was. And he knew that something had to be done to ensure that what he had seen may never come to past. But the green mist did more then just fill him with Dark Side energies, it changed his appearance.
Where once he wore the standard Jedi robes, he now wore a new set of black robes. Chest armor covered his once brown shirt, which along with his gauntlets, pants and boots turned black. Attached to the chest armor was a type of skirt similar to the Mandalorian kama, covering the sides and back of his legs. A sash wrapped around his waist connecting at a ring forming an X-shape before looping and dropping to cover the front of his legs. A cape and hood completed the look, but when he went to drop the hood his hands brushed a metallic mask. Revan removed it and saw that the mask was red and black in color, but it also gave the distinct 'T' form that the Mandalorian helmets were known for, though much thicker in design. Revan replaced the mask and traveled back into the archives of the Academy.
There he spent days, weeks, or perhaps months learning the secrets that it contained. Absorbing the knowledge like a sponge to water, not a single holocron was left unread. He learned all of the teachings that the Sith before had learned and taught. He learned of other Sith academies on other planets, silently promising himself he would visit those worlds and learn as much as he could. But this... lust for knowledge did not stem from wanting more power, despite what the Jedi would very well believe when he revealed himself. It came from wanting to understand his enemy, wanting to know a means to prevent the return of these 'True Sith' that he was certain he had foreseen within the core.
But he also knew that he did not have the means of fulfilling his ambition to create a new Republic. There had to be something that could help him... something that could give him the supplies that he would need and the troops as well. The troops under his command now would easily be persuaded to swear loyalty to him... but that still left the problem of supplies. He searched the archives, until he came across an entry that said something about a massive space factory that an ancient race used. It was said that this race used this factory to help spread their empire across the galaxy. It also said that this race had some type of map, a starmap it was called, but their was no record telling where these starmaps were located. It was noted, however, that Dantooine was a possible location for one of the starmaps. Knowing that whatever this race used could help benefit him and his ambitions, he made plans to eventually find this starmap on the planet... and he already had an idea of where to start looking.
But he was getting ahead of himself, he still had the Mandalorians to deal with then he could worry about reforming the Republic and the Jedi. But that still left the question of why the Mandalorians wouldn't come to this planet. A planet that was nothing more then a barren waste land filled with cliffs and valleys and mindless beasts. But to the Mandalorian's eyes it wouldn't be a challenge, who thrived on battle and strong opponents. This wasn't the type of planet that they would want to conquer. But if he could give them a reason to come here, where his new found power was at its strongest... it was the perfect setting for the final battle of the war, the place where he would end the threat of the Mandalorians. With plans and strategies racing through his mind, one of which was to turn Malachor V itself into a weapon, he returned to his fleet,.
There he gave the task of building this machine to the best engineer they had, a Zabrak named Bao-Dur. This machine basically turned Malachor V's already strong gravitational pull into a weapon. Now all that was left was to decide who would be on the planet's surface when the finale fight commenced. He knew of only one person that could pull off what he had planned. He knew she would carry out his orders no matter what. There was only one Jedi general that he trusted could keep the Mandalorians on the surface fighting. And no matter how much he wanted to send someone else, he knew that she was the only one that could do it.
He stood looking out the view-port in his personal quarters, the hood down and mask on his desk. He knew what he was about to order would do, he knew the deaths it would bring and he knew the cost it would bring to either side... it didn't matter though, he would live with the consequences. He just hoped that when it was all over, she would be able to forgive him and join him. He prayed that their friendship was strong enough to endure what he was going to order her to do.
"You called for me, Revan?" a female voice said from behind him. Revan turned and there his childhood friend, Kaidra, stood, dressed in the standard robes of a Jedi.
"Yes I did," he said, tapping a few keys on his desk and bringing up the battle plan for the final confrontation. "I'll need you to personally be on the surface to protect the machine that Bao-Dur has built until it can be activated. But I'll also need you to keep the Mandalorian troops busy until I can kill Mandalore."
"Don't be stupid, Revan! You'll only get yourself killed facing Mandalore alone! He's not the strongest warrior and leader of the Mandalorians for nothing you know!" Kaidra shouted, her concern for her friend overpowering her common sense.
"Don't you think I know that! But there's no other way to bring this war to an end. If there was, I'd use it but there isn't. Even with my strategies it's only a matter of time before they overpower our forces and crush not only us but the entire Republic!" He shouted back, rare anger showing through his otherwise impassive nature.
"So you're risking everything on this one battle?"
Revan sighed and dropped into his chair, his right hand covering his face. Taking a few moments to calm himself and regain his composure, Revan replied, "We'll win this battle, I've made sure of it, I've considered every possible outcome."
Kaidra walked over to kneel next to Revan, taking his gloved hand in her own, "Revan, what happened to you? Ever since you came back from your scouting mission, you haven't been the same. I've barely seen you outside of this room." Here she lowered her head, trying to fight back the tears that threatened to spill forth, "We're friends, always have been and always will be. Don't you trust me enough?"
"I... can't. It's too soon to reveal everything. I... I... just promise me you'll be there on the planet's surface."
Kaidra stood, walking towards the door where she paused, "Very well, Revan. I'll be there," she said walking out of the room. Revan never took notice of the tears that streamed down her face.
The rest of the time Revan spent within his chambers, writing volumes of books about all that he had learned. It was his hope that, should he fail, future generations of Sith would take what he learned within the wall of the Trayus Academy and continue with his work. While the chances of that happening slim, he wasn't one to overestimate his own ability. He knew that whoever became his Sith apprentice would eventually gather enough courage and betray him, and if that were to happen he wished to leave behind what he had learned, adding his own beliefs as well.
When the time finally came to end the war, Revan stood on one of the many cliffs that littered the planet's surface. Revan had issued a challenge against Mandalore, a challenge of a fight to the death. He knew Mandalore wouldn't reject the challenge, the prospect of killing the commander of the Republic too great. Every thing was in place, the Mass Shadow Generator, as Bao-Dur called the machine he had built, was ready to be activated. The entire Mandalorian fleet surrounded Malachor V, although they were surrounded themselves by the Republic fleet.
When Mandalore appeared before him, Revan lured him away from the battle that was waging against their two forces and drew him towards the Trayus Academy. Deep within the core the two faced off, both with equal skill. Their duel waged on for many hours, until finally Revan drove his twin lightsabers through the Mandalore's throat and cut off his head. With his victory, Revan ordered the activation of the Mass Shadow Generator, the planet crumpling upon itself. But the strange thing was that it had not imploded, but Revan already knew this would happen. The Mandalorian ships that were stuck in orbit did implode, killing everyone.
When Revan returned to his flagship, he found Kaidra in her own quarters. She was rolled up in a ball crying, he had felt the disturbance the deaths of thousands had caused. He supposed she felt it greatest of them all, he only wished that he could relieve some of her pain. "I can't continue, Revan," she said to him. "This battle has changed me... I... I don't feel like myself any more. I'm returning to the Jedi High Council and accepting whatever punishment they deem fit." Hoping to comfort her Revan reached out through the force to her. But he felt nothing but a dark hole within Kaidra's soul, as if the force had completely left her. Perhaps when the Jedi High Council did the same, they would understand what their inaction caused.
His best friend, Alek, came running into his quarters. Demanding that Revan send out his personal assassin droid, HK-47, after Kaidra, though he refused. "Why?" Revan asked only to get no answer. He turned to his best friend, his cold dark eyes piercing into Alek's own eyes. And Revan saw into Alek's mind, seeing past memories of both Alek and Kaidra together in various situations. But he also saw one memory where Alek found out about a relationship between Jedi Master Kavar and Kaidra. When Alek confronted her about it she denied everything, and Alek being the stubborn man that he was didn't believe her despite the truth in her words. Kaidra had struck Alek across the cheek and fled, ever since the two had been cold to each other.
Revan took this time in his best friend's mind to show him all of the techniques that Revan had learned art the Trayus Academy. And like all other Jedi, Alek fell to the temptation of power that the Dark Side promised. Alek was filled with the growing lust for power, caring for no one that stood in his way. Alek had fallen to his knees when Revan returned to his own mind, and he walked up to his best friend and said, "Arise, Darth Malek, Sith Apprentice." Now all that was left was to make his ambitions a reality.
The whole point of this story was to show that Revan didn't fall to the Dark Side. It was to show that he made that choice and willingly accepted the mantle of Dark Lord of the Sith. Or atleast, that's what I think about it any way. I would also like to thank Kaidra Ordo for allowing me to use her RP character Kaidra. So I thank her once again and would like to say that I hope you enjoyed it and will see you next time and please review.