AN: This plot bunny attacked me in my sleep and I couldn't help but put it into words. I was hesitant at first to post this because of the dozens of redemption stores - so I went out of my way to try and make this one different. Make no mistake, this is a redemption story, but it takes the long way around. I hope that you'll stick around to read it, please tell me what you think!

Chapter 1

The battle was at a fevered pitch.

Through the endless eddies and currents of the Force, I could feel lives winking out of existence and the mesmerizing ocean of fear, triumph and concentration and it was all so very delicious. And as the seconds stretched into minutes, I found my eyes drifting over to the Leviathan and I didn't need a mirror to know that the grin that was stretching out over my lips was devious. Did the fool honestly think I wouldn't know about it? Did he not even consider the possibility that I could see it in his mind? Malak and I had known each other since before we could walk, I had always been able to read him and he never knew it. And then the grin fell from my face as I felt the Jedi and the Republic Soliders enter the periphery of my awareness in the Force, this needed to be ended quickly. Turning to one of the crew pit officers and giving him a sharp nod, I returned my attention to his ship. It was the coward's way of dealing with him, I would admit that, but I did not have the time or the patience to deal with Malak in a duel or through slimy games of politics.

It was more prudent to pull the rug out from under him and deliver the killing blow, and as that crew pit officer began to count down, I held my breath. As the countdown entered its last five seconds, I closed my eyes and took a deep breath in. I would never admit that I was holding a silent and begrudging requiem for the only person that I could ever call my best friend – and as the countdown stopped and I slowly felt nearly nine thousand lives being torn from the force, I had to admit that Malak had died years ago. Darth Malak however had become a tempestuous, arrogant, impatient and rash fool that no longer served a purpose and who had become more of a liability then an asset. His death was of no consequence to me and if my ability to see into the future was correct, his death was beneficial. The future was always in motion, but if the vision that ultimately to me going through with my decision was correct, he would have no issue with killing me either or better yet doing it from afar either. Turnabout had continued to always be fair play between the two of us – but Malak was dead now and none of that mattered anymore. It was time for me to begin anew with a new ball of clay, but first, first I would deal with my enemies before finding an adequate new student.

"Was Admiral Karath extracted from the Leviathan as I instructed?" I turned and asked my bridge commander, Admiral Varrow. The middle aged human male was not inept in his assignment, but I didn't want him here. Saul Karath for all of his shortcomings was a brilliant tactician and someone wasted in Malak's service as far as I was concerned. I had taken great pains to make sure that my agents were not detected when they boarded Malak's vessel, drugged Karath and brought him here.

Admiral Varrow ran a hand through his graying hair and nodded – I could see that was fearful and he was practically shouting the question at me mentally. He was simply going to be transferred to another ship, not killed, but I'd let him stew in the possibility of being killed. His fear was quite wonderful, "Yes Lord Revan, our agents did have to kill two junior aides to the Admiral, but he was successful extracted."

"And what of the strike team that the Jedi sent?" I asked, not taking my sight off of the viewport and the raging battle below. There was something about this battle and the events that had taken place that made me uneasy. Not uneasy in a bad way, but the Dark Side was whispering to me in my ear that the Force had moved into another direction and events had just transpired that would secure my victory.

Malak was dead, there was no one who was capable of dethroning me, the Republic was on the run and the Core was in reach. The Star Force was working at capacity and millions of Republic soldiers and citizens defected to my empire every day. I would soon begin the plan to launch an invasion of the core, but first the mid-rim needed to be conquered completely and pacified. And when I felt the tug of the Jedi on my ship, I knew that this was another hurdle that needed to be overcome. I took my eyes off of the battle and peered at the Admiral through my mask, watching him as he received a report from one of his aides. When the aide hurriedly whispered something into the Admiral's ear, I felt a sharp spike of ear from him and I knew that it was not good news. I smiled wickedly as he turned back to me and swallowed thickly in fear, "My Lord, the Jedi have penetrated the command deck."

I turned my eyes back to the viewport and tied my hands behind my back, "Alert my elite guard, order them to the bridge and begin to evacuate your crew to the auxiliary bridge. And once the Dark Jedi have arrived on the bridge, I want you to instruct security throughout this deck to allow the Jedi to pass unobstructed to the bridge. I would like to see the faces of the Jedi foolhardy enough to attempt this."

"My lord is that wise? With Lord Malak dead, you are running the risk of the Jedi taking your life and the Empire would be left leaderless-…" I understood his reasoning, it was not entirely misplaced and that was the only reason that I was allowing his questioning of my orders to pass unpunished. Raising a hand to stop his words, he shut his mouth instantaneously while I chose my response carefully.

"It matters not, I am fully capable of defending myself against the Jedi," I waved his concern off and folded my arms over my chest. "What you need to do is to make sure that my orders are carried out and that command function is transferred there. I will meet the Jedi here and I will dispose of them quite easily, do not fear."

I was not concerned with the safety of the bridge crew, in fact I could care less, but in the event that I was proven wrong and these Jedi were lucky enough to kill me or even wound me – they could not be allowed to gain control of this ship. As my personal flag ship, it contained access to most command codes, strategies and endless amounts of valuable data that could destroy all that I had built. I was thoroughly sure that I was being paranoid, but it was better to be paranoid then to be dead and take everything down with me. The sound of bridge door opening and the feel of the Dark Jedi drew my attention back towards the entrance – and I knew that I was sending these men to their deaths. That, again, did not matter – they would be useful tools to gage the strength of my would-be assassins. I would wait until the Jedi slew all of them to engage them directly. I walked close enough to them as the leader of my personal unit of Dark Jedi stood at attention with his seven subordinates behind him. The Jedi would prove more than a match for them.

The dark robbed man bowed at the waist, "You summoned us Master?"

I nodded, my hands clasped behind my back, "Indeed – surely you have felt the presences of the Jedi that have boarded this ship? I have no doubt that they have attempted to do so in order to kill me – consequently, I have a task for your team."

"We are at your command," He bowed again, and I took a moment to look at all of their faces and I realized that they were hanging on my every word. Thanks to my mask, I was free to roll my eyes and reaffirm my belief that they were useful tools.

It was fairly simple to know where he was.

Anyone with a rudimentary knowledge on how to use the Force could feel him. Revan was on the bridge, a dark, pulsing nexus of power and as I sliced through the torso of yet another Dark Jedi, I reached out and touched him in the Force. He was gathering his strength with alarming intensity and when I felt a slight sense of surprise from him when he felt my presence, it was replaced with bemusement. Scowling intensely at the mocking attitude in the Force, I deflected blaster blots from the squad of Sith Troopers quickly approaching our position and closed my mind off. But I was not quick enough and I was thankful that I had the foresight to take some form of cover before the Dark Lord of the Sith invaded my mind. And when his deep, rich and strangely warm voice came through my mind, I could feel nothing but utter shock.

I had expected someone else entirely – someone whose very voice reeked of the Dark Side of the Force, but it was not the case with Darth Revan. Perhaps I should have listened to Master Zhar, perhaps I should not have built the sickly, demented picture of Darth Revan until I had actually met him. He was proving to be strange.

"You are a strange one little Jedi," He chuckled with dark amusement. "You radiate pure power, enough that you can withstand my very presence – that is impressive enough. Perhaps I shall keep you when this is through – you have earned that…"

And I gasped as I could almost feel the tendrils of his presence reach further and further into my mind, and then his voice was back. What he told me next sent a shiver of fear down to my very core, "Ah yes… I will most definitely keep you…"

I had heard rumors of the Padawan Bastila Shan's power of Battle Meditation and how the Republic and the Jedi were using her power to keep me out of the core worlds. What I did not expect was for the Jedi to be foolish enough to deliver her to me – right to my feet. The girl was very powerful and because of that I could almost see the logic in sending her, almost anyway. What she lacked was drive, what she lacked was will and because of that – all of that power was no threat to me directly. She was simply a foolhardy child who simply had the misfortune of having the masters fill her head with delusions of grandeur. Perhaps the Force had willed that we would meet, perhaps it was simply luck, but I knew that I would never know why the Jedi were foolish enough to think that this girl could kill me. I had not fought all of my life, learned all that I had learned, sacrificed so much and lived through all of it to be taken down by a Jedi Padawan who was willingly playing pawn to the Republic. I would teach her the grievous error of her misguided ways.

My eyes snapped open when I heard the blast door to the bridge forced open, and I unconsciously rested my hand on the hilt of my lightsaber. They had arrived at the bridge quicker than I had anticipated, but that was no matter – my full strength was gathered and I was more the ready to take on five Jedi Padawans. Turning, I watched as the Jedi battled three of my remaining Dark Jedi and it was at this point that activated my weapon and watched. To leader – Bastila Shan I assumed – to put it mildly, was breathtaking – the gray eyes, the beautiful hair, the fierce look of determination, I might have been distracted if I were not so painfully aware that she was here to kill me. And before I knew it, two of the Dark Jedi were down, dead and it was simply Bastila and my last line of defense battling it out to until death.

Quickly deflecting the blaster-fire that the foolish Republic Solider aimed at me, I grasped his throat in the Force and began to squeeze very slowly, extracting every last delicious scintilla of fear and panic from him. The solider and my servant died almost simultaneously and when both bodies collapsed to the floor, I brought my lightsaber up into a defensive posture. My style of fighting had changed over the years and they had most definitely been instructed by my older master, Master Zhar and he would have trained them in my old style. I would attack first, almost blindly, that's how much time had passed since he taught me how to fight. But now, now I would not make a move until they did and that left room for them to make a mistake. But the boldness of these Jedi, particularly Bastila, surprised me.

"You cannot win Revan!" Her crisp accent was very refreshing, it was lovely.

"If you are so sure of yourselves," I practically purred back - the potential that she radiated was intoxicating and I would not be shy about it. I wondered if she had told her companions about our interaction. "Then I suggest you make your move."

They moved like anxious animals and I was very impressed to see that Padawan Shan was simply holding back and observing my clashing with her companions. It made an involuntary smile come across my face and I made a silent note in the back of mind to not underestimate her. But what drew the genuine smile to my face was when I used the Force to summon my offhand lightsaber that was strapped to my arm into my hand and drive it right into the surprised Jedi's torso. Pulling it out swiftly, I decided to give the Jedi a small bit of mercy for his boldness and brought my main weapon up to sever his head from his body. Spinning back around to face the two remaining Jedi that were attacking me, I angled myself so that I would not be taken surmise by Bastila if she decided to join the battle and pressed my lead.

Driving my two opponents back towards one of the command pits, I became keenly aware of the fact that Bastila was now… she was now using her power on her companions. Sparing a glance back towards the girl, my breath caught as I witnessed her on her knees, and through the Force, a swirling and pungent aroma surrounded her. Glaring silent daggers at her, I sent a powerful shove through the Force at my opponents and then sent powerful arc off lighting at Bastila. I was quite confident that I could defeat the Jedi with or without the girl's "gift" – but it would make it difficult and I had no time to waste here. When I heard Bastila's scream of utter pain and her subsequent fall out of the meditative trance, I turned my attention back to the two Jedi fools that I suddenly no longer had patience for.

Reaching out to the Force, I exerted my full strength and overwhelmed the girl, ripping the lightsaber from her hand and forcing her to her knees. With one clean sweep of my lightsaber, her head fell free from her body and she collapsed to the ground, most certainly dead. I did not get to where I was by luck of the draw, I had fought all of the ground that it took to get here and neither these Jedi or Battle Meditation would be able to stop me from achieving my admittedly lofty goals.

But in turning my back on Bastila, I might have made my biggest mistake of the day by forgetting my promise to myself to underestimate her. I suppose I had blinded myself to her in my predatory and very slow advance on the second fallen Jedi. I did not see Bastila slowly and yet silently force her body up, I did not hear her make her way behind me and I most definitely did not anticipate the crack of a very hard lightsaber against the un-guarded back of my head. And as the pain set it and I dropped my lightsabers, the only thoughts and feelings that I felt as I drifted into blackness and hit the cool, hard deck was a begrudging, but strong respect for her. There were not many people alive with the tenacity – or ability for that matter – that could sneak up on me like that and completely disarm me. When I closed my eyes, I was felt a profound sense of relief that I had evacuated the bridge crew and closed off all functions to the secure auxiliary bridge. Admirals Varrow and Karath could administrate things in a competent way until I broke free of the chains that the Jedi and the Republic would undoubtedly put me in, they would be just fine.

Still, I couldn't help but feel impressed and very angry by and with Bastila Shan.

"I will never underestimate her or turn my back on her ever again."

I couldn't believe the turn of these events, and even as Serena and I managed to drag Revan's unconscious body back to the escape pods – it still was shocking. I had captured Darth Revan, Darth Malak was dead and the Sith Fleet was very close to being routed from the Mid-Rim all together. Thank the Force! Just the enormity of the consequences of this day made my eyes water. It was against the Jedi way to show emotions such as the one I was feeling at the moment, but damn it I was tired of war and the prospect of it ending made me feel positively giddy. It even overshadowed the grief that I felt by the awful deaths of my friends who had trained on this mission with me. Darth Revan's incapacitation and Darth Malak's death seemed worth it to me, now it was in the Jedi Council's hands on what to do.

Sliding Revan's body into the seat between the two of us, I buckled him in and reached up to press the airlock button and then slapped the eject button. If Admiral Dodonna and Master Vandar did their part, they would be waiting to intercept this escape pod and take us to safety. Now there was nothing more to do but wait. That was until I felt Serena's eyes burning into the side of my head and I spared her a speculative look, "I know that this is surprising, but think about it! We have him!"

"He butchered them Bastila, you saw it and you did nothing!" Serena spat back.

"I did! I just wasn't quick enough!" I replied rather loudly, far louder than I'd like.

Serena sighed heavily and shook her head before turning her attention back to Revan who now sat with his head slumped against my shoulder. I could tell what she wanted me to do and I was silently debating if it was wise, "I want to see him!"

I remained silently, looking at the heavily armored and robed figure and when I reached out in the Force and touched him, I conceded that it wasn't such a bad thing to do. With a deep breath, I propped him up in the seat, lowered his hood and reached around to the back his head to take off the infamous mask. When I looked at his face, I actually dropped the mask in shock at his face and I heard Serena let out her own gasp. I had not expected Revan to look like this, not from the horror stories of his legendary ability for cruelty. He looked young and yet old at the same time with a clean shaven face, boyish features and the scars he bore. His lips were so obviously made for smirking as I would have expected from him, and it was then that I realized that they all coalesced to make a very handsome face. But I would never admit that to Serena or anyone else, only the blush that came to my face betrayed anything and I doubted she could see it. Sighing, I clamped down on the thoughts and tried to take in the obvious signs of Dark Side taint to quell them.

"He's… he's not what I expected," Serena finally spoke first.

I nodded, "It is surprising."

I couldn't shake the feeling that my life had just taken a sharp right turn.