Fifty years ago
On a barren planet of rock and silence deep amidst the Unknown regions of space.
A lone figure, his face all but darkness beneath his hood, sits in silence on a throne of carved stone atop crudely shaped steps. The moon shines in the dark night, revealing to the keenest of eyes an unforgiving expression beneath two yellow-pupiled eyes glistening with malice.
His two hands rest on the carved rock of his throne. He leans back slighty on the ancient granite. Beneath it, piles of bones, many resembling those of humanoid creatures, lay in heaps around the unconquerable Lord.
"Why have you come?" The imposing figure in full robes dark as night asks from his throne.
"I seek answers to questions previously thought unanswerable," the confident voice of the young female Jedi walking into his view responds.
"Ask, but know that anything in this world comes with a price," the stern, unyielding voice dictates.
The dark lord of the sith shifts his yellow pupiled eyes onto the Exile's face for the first time.
"Why did you depart for the Mandalorian wars?" The Exile asks, looking up at the steps leading to the dark throne.
"The truth of war. A hard truth indeed to grasp. Why did I fight?" Revan chuckles. "Why does it matter any longer? I fought to satiate a hunger, to satisfy a craving. What does it matter its source? Perhaps I fought for justice; maybe peace; possibly glory; even guilt."
"Then why turn against the very people you were protecting? Why become the monster you had fought so hard against?" the voice of the Exile seems to plead for an answer.
"The price of war. Is innocence. The most brutal truth of all truths." Revan pauses. Then, slowly and deliberately, he raises both arms above his head, lifting his hood and lowering it to reveal his pale skin.
In the moonlight, the exile clearly sees the scars on his face, marks of sith initiation.
Revan smiles briefly. The exile steels her nerves once again:
"I too served at Malachor V, the battle that gave way to destruction and carnage previously thought unimaginable. I know of war, Revan. Even atrocity. But of betrayal, no one can know more than you. You led scores of Jedi to their doom without remorse. And now you sit on that throne as the Darkest of the Sith."
"You say I acted without compassion? Without loyalty? Or perhaps consistency?" Revan asks with a trace of irony. His lips curve into a sardonic smirk
"I do not understand, how a servant of the light could have fallen so far, in such a short time." The exile retorts. Her face gleams in the moonlight, revealing a determination in both her stance and resolve.
"Perhaps I tasted power and experienced freedom as I had never thought possible. Is that not an adequate motive?" Revan dismisses her question with a wave of his hand.
"Why, then. Why redeem yourself against Malak when you had the mantle of the Dark Lord?" The exile implores, desperate for the explanation that would save the both of them from their own consciences.
"That…was not my choice. I was broken and remade. That I reverted back to my dogmatic Jedi beginnings, should not have been such a surprise." Revan lifts his head slightly, as if beginning finally to ponder the Exile's questions in depth.
"And now you sit once again, back on your old throne. When will you pick a side? When will you choose once and for all your allegiance?" The exile demands of her former comrade at arms.
"I chose long ago. I chose the Force, as it chose me since I was a young boy. And once again, as before I fell to temptation. My path is clear. No amount of mind erasing can prevent me from resuming this path. I have regained everything of my former, true self."
"Yet there are so many others who chose you Revan. Do you not think of them in the slightest now?" The exile questions.
"There was a time when I loved, yes. But love is pain. Love is crippling, even more so than a flesh wound. I have no more use for affections or friendships." The dark lord suddenly feels as though someone else has been listening to him.
"You left yourself open for attack to me on that day, do you remember?" The clear voice of Bastila Shan echoes from a cloaked figure, now stepping into Revan's view from behind the Exile. She raises her hood to reveal her familiar face.
The dark lord appears unfazed. A small twitch of his mouth reveals the conflict in his heart.
"So, this is your real weapon against me. Your hidden blade," Revan addresses the Exile.
"We're only here to help," resounds the voice of Carth Onasi, famed Admiral of the republic. His stealth field generator deactivates as he too steps from the shadows.
"I refuse to call you Revan, my old friend. Whatever you are now, your path is one of redemption rather than darkness. You will come back into the light, my old friend." Carth confidently states.
The sith lord rises from his throne, putting his hood back on. "How did you escape my senses?"
No one answers. "Ah, the Exile. I should have known. A gem in the rough. No one else has such Force masking abilities. It is a valuable asset," Revan surmises.
Bastila retorts, "Like my battle meditation?"
"Even more so. The only feasible counter to one so immersed in the Force like me, is a Force wound like yourself, Exile," the dark lord speaks without a trace of emotion.
Bastila implores, "The three of us didn't come to fight you, my love. Please, remember the very reasons you left us for. Remember who you're protecting and what you're fighting against!"
"At first I thought as you did. When I came in search of ultimate evil, I found instead freedom. Even more empowering than my old days of the Mandalorian wars.
For the sake of what we once shared. That was what you said. I remember everything, my old love. So…for the sake of the bond we once shared, Bastila. Don't get in my way.
"I have neither allies nor enemies. Only obstacles…to power." The dark lord draws his lightsaber slowly, and deliberately with his right hand.
"No! We can't fight! This is insane! You can't be serious! After everything we've gone through, all the sacrifices we've made for the Republic! Please, old friend, you said it yourself! We're old friends, not foes! Remember all the hardships we endured and triumphed over because of one another! " Carth approaches Revan's throne, the Exile at his back.
"He can't be redeemed. Not so long as he holds this much power," The exile concludes.
"We won't draw our weapons, my love. I leave myself completely open to you. Strike me down if you feel you must," Bastila smiles, tears flowing down her cheeks as she closes her eyes.
Revan clenches his jaw. He raises his left hand, forming a fist. His yellow pupils seem to intensify in color, as he draws upon the dark side of the force.
A shriek sounds from the surprised Bastila as she gasps for air, her hands reaching up to her throat instinctively even as her feet leave the ground.
"Bastila! No!" Carth hurries to her side, as the Exile carefully observes Revan's slow march down the stone steps of the throne.
"You…you monster! Let her go this instant! Please! She, she came for you, why, how…how can you do this to her?" Carth's face reveals far more agony and torment than anger.
Bastila drops down to the ground with a sickening thud. She does not move.
"God! This…this can't be happening! After all the betrayals I've seen with my own eyes…this one must be the most heartbreaking of them all. It's true then, the dark lord is reborn, isn't he Revan?" Carth asks with fresh anguish in his voice.
"I refused to listen to the rumors, to even common sense. I came because I guess I needed to see for myself. You were my most trusted friend. And far more than a loyal comrade. But you have nothing of your old self left," the seasoned soldier in Carth determines.
I guess this is it old friend. I…this is for you, Bastila." Carth draws his old and trusted blaster, having survived since the battle for Telos decades past.
Revan raises an eyebrow and stands perfectly still. Carth takes careful aim and hesitates, then pulls the trigger once. In a flash, Revan moves his right arm to deflect the blaster bolt with impeccable precision, redirecting the shot to land on Carth's thigh.
Carth flinches but continues to pull on the trigger. Shot after shot is deflected as two, then three more bolts hit his body. Revan approaches as Carth crumbles down to one knee.
"Fool. You have never grasped the true nature of this galaxy. I alone fought the Sith emperor and suffered pain unimaginable. I alone knelt where no Jedi could possible kneel, and rose unshackled." Revan's voice is full of distain and malice.
"You fight evil but do not realize, evil cannot be killed like a krayt dragon. Eventually you must succumb to its power, or utilize it. So which will it be old friend? Will you continue to fight as I once did?" Revan raises his left hand to Carth, as though offering it to him. His hand then gestures toward Bastila as a warning.
His head lowered, Carth grunts in pain before raising it defiantly: "Finish me, Revan. I die free unlike you."
Revan raises his lightsaber over Carth's shoulder, its red glint accentuating his crimson pupils. He hesitates for a moment. Then out of nowhere-
A flash of green: the exile's lightsaber cuts through the air, stopped mere inches from Revan's head by his red blade.
The air crackles as their blades clash against each other. In the dark night both faces shine with one another's lightsaber hue as the two struggle against one another.
Revan takes the offensive. With both hands he swerves his blade to the side, deflecting the Exile's saber sideways. He takes advantage of the fazed Exile, drawing on his force power to push her away.
The exile opens her palm and saves herself at the last second, using a technique known to few Jedi.
"Ah, I see you've traveled with Darth Traya," Revan surmises.
"Your friend Carth is right, Revan. Your path is not one of darkness. But you must be persuaded to come out of the dark. The greatest tragedy is not a child who is afraid of the dark, but a man who is afraid of the light," the Exile retorts.
"Only the victor shall know for certain. Woe to the vanquished!" Revan shouts as the two resume the dance of lightsabers.
Carth regains consciousness while the two continue to duel. He slowly feels the blaster wounds on his legs, and places a palm flat on the ground to steady himself. He clenches his teeth, as though preparing for a final act.
The two duelists attempt to force push each other, resulting in a backlash for both. Revan begins to gloat as the two circle one another, lightsaber tips slanted toward one another as though magnetically attracted to its target:
"I can feel your energy draining away. You are already tired, after a few minutes of using the Force. Can you feel me getting any weaker? Or can you feel it? A bottomless well of power? Such is only a taste of the power of the dark side. I fear you may have learned this terrible truth far too late, foolish Jedi…"
He raises his left hand: force lightning thunders from his fingertips right at the Exile. With her lightsaber she expertly absorbs the energy, but cannot prevent some from escaping onto her body. Soon her clothes begin to smoke as Revan continues his assault.
Revan briefly pauses: "Tell me when you've had enough. As I said, your force masking ability is only a fraction of its true potential. I sense Darth Traya's old teachings, but I can make you so much…more. Join me, and the galaxy-Ugh!"
A blaster bolt stings the dark lord's back like a bee sting. Carth fumbles with the grip of his blaster, as he struggles to stand up, still resting on one knee. The Exile, momentarily stunned, collapses down onto her knee with fatigue.
Revan's mouth once again clenches. He slowly approaches Carth, deflecting easily the sparse, clumsy blaster bolts coming his way. Carth lowers his head, his energy all but drained. A grunt of pain escapes the veteran soldier.
"Dust…to dust." Revan slowly lifts Carth up to standing position. Then with one stroke he slices into his chest. A soft moan escapes from Carth as the color of his pupils fade. His painful expression is gone, replaced by a peaceful trance, as though asleep.
"Goodbye old friend," Revan slowly utters. He deactivates his lightsaber as he gently sets him down. "Such is evil."