Chapter 1

His stride out onto the landing pad made his boots click against the surface. It was an excellent tool in conveying the authority and the raw power that he held. Revan stopped at the head of the line of troopers and Dark Jedi that were now gathered there and folded his arms around his chest, he hadn't expected contact this soon with them. He'd anticipated their arrival of course, but in years, not months, and that's why he commissioned his astronomical fleet and the orbital defense platforms – but other than that, there was no outward sign that he was expecting an invasion anytime soon. He stilled his breathing and looked up to the cloudless Coruscanti Sky for any sign of the fighter and its escort. If they thought for one moment that he was going to be welcoming, they were sadly mistaken.

"What is the meaning of this?" He heard Arenna's confused voice from behind him.

Revan didn't turn around at all to meet her. He couldn't exactly shout this to his troops. It would spread quickly like a virus that infected its host, so he simply raised a hand and beckoned her with one finger. As she came to his left, he turned to her and sighed. Arenna knew of them too, he knew that, she couldn't have possibly have been in exile for that span of a time in the Unknown Regions and not have run into them. Revan sighed again, "They're coming."

"Who's coming?" She asked, and for a moment, just a spilt moment, he heard fear in the mother of his eldest child's voice, but she concealed it well enough.

He sighed and shook his head, "Have you ever wondered why the Unknown Regions repel users of the Light Side of the Force? Have you ever wondered why every time you cast your glance on it in the Force, you feel utter dark?"

It dawned on her, he could see it in her green eyes as they widened to the size orbs. She hadn't known what was causing it, he could just infer that from his face, but she knew what he was talking about and that was very good, she wouldn't be foreign to the overwhelming presence that they created in the Force itself. Without saying another word to her, he turned his head sharply towards the sky. It came like a weight, a weight that came down on his chest and his chest alone. He knew the uses of the Force well enough that he was able to assume that this was some sort of intimidation tactic. This stranger didn't know him and didn't know that Revan had intimidation tactics of his own.

"Fool," Revan spat and turned his head back to the Sith Commando Captain and the leader of the select group of Dark Jedi, "Troopers, ready your weapons, aim but fire on my command – Dark Jedi, ready your weapons."

All at once, he saw the troops cock their rifles and the Dark Jedi snap their lightsabers on with a hiss, he ordered, they followed. He turned to Arenna and nodded at her once and she didn't even need to be told what to do, she reached for her lightsaber on her belt and activated it with a hiss. She felt the same danger as he did, that much was evident in her stance and her expression. And just as the strange freighter and its large escort of Sith Fighters broke the skyline, he wondered if this was the beginning of everything that he had been planning for. If it was, the Galaxy was about to be plunged into one hell of a war, Dark Side versus Dark Side, it would be a very Dark War.

But it was a war that he intended on winning and he would give all of his blood and treasure to win it.

He had a feeling that he might have to do that.

OOOO-OOOO-OOOO

It happened quickly, but she had been prepared all along for the day that this alarm went off in the Palace. Bastila Shan jumped from her bed and summoned her lightsaber to her hand and activated it with a hiss before running to the adjoined rooms of her step-daughter and her son. If there were intruders in the Imperial Palace, they'd have to get through her, the guards were not their problem, they were not the biggest threat to their lives, she was.

These were two children that were not to be harmed and they were not to be threatened – when that happened, Revan shouldn't have been the most feared being in the Galaxy, Bastila should have been and frankly – she was.

Revan had told her that the security alarm was ultra-sensitive and the slightest disturbance that was not a guard or troop, from either their air or the surface would set it off and give her an advanced warning. It had taken her quite a long time to understand that there was almost and absurd amount of security and defense around the Palace, on the ground, in their air and in space. There were constantly two warships in geosynchronous orbit around the Palace to deflect any attempted orbital bombardment, there was an entire fighter division assigned to protect the Imperial Palace exclusively and there was an entire legion of troops and Dark Jedi stationed there, all of them were handpicked by the parents of the two children, herself, Revan and Arenna. They were quite simply the best security in the Galaxy, they were known unofficially as the 'Death Squad'. That stemmed from an incident in which a protest group – who were protesting the inhabitants of the Palace – got to close to it and promptly had all of their heads shot off of their body – all twelve of them, in a minute and a half. Since then, no one dared to ever come that close to the Palace.

That was until today, because that protest incident was the only other time that the alarm had gone off.

"Your Majesty," Her chief of security called after her, she had to stop her bolt to the children's rooms, "Your Majesty – the palace has been put under security code 101 lock down."

She shook her head in frantic confusion, "I don't know the entire blasted code! Damon – tell me what's going on now in normal language or get the hell out of my way and let me get to the children!"

"Possible Invasion," Palace Security Chief Damon N'Jarr said, "It came from Lord Revan himself."

But Bastila had already dropped her lightsaber, and was now looking at him imploring, "Do everything you have to do to keep those kids safe."

"That's my job," He said, turning on his heel, "I have the outside covered, you just get in there."

OOOO-OOOO-OOOO

Revan put the full weight of his presence in the Force down on the man as the boarding ramp descended.

You did not come to his planet, present yourself as a possible threat to everything he had built and his loved ones and expect a warm greeting. He clenched his fist and it was almost as if the Force itself started to quake, only the Dark Jedi, Arenna and the stranger could feel it. The intention behind the gesture was clear – it was to assert the fact that he was the most powerful man – both force user and non-force user alike – in the entire galaxy and some unknown, shrouded Sith Emperor was going to assert or tell him otherwise. And as the stranger finally stepped off of the ramp, visibly distressed, it was clear that this message was going to be taken back to the Sith Emperor himself. Pure, dark, unrelenting, humiliated anger ran off of the man as he approached Revan. But surprised filtered through as he was shoved down to kneel by the most powerful invisible force that he had ever experienced.

When the man looked up, he realized that it was Revan who was causing this humiliation.

As for Revan, he had never, ever seen such a hideous face in his life, this stranger was gaunt, sickly looking and the deep red-yellow eyes didn't help at all. However, the torrent of scars on the man's face seemed to distract from it all – the human was truly a stain on the Galaxy and Revan would not hesitate for a single second to clean the stain. Still forcibly kneeling, he slid forth the datapad that he had been carrying on his person, direct from the Dark Council itself and clutched at his ribs, the pain was to unbearable to embrace, "Oh m-mighty Revan – the master, the Emperor, wishes to make peace with you and this mighty Sith Empire of yours – in defeating our common enemy."

Revan raised an eyebrow and summoned the datapad from the group – and for a moment, he forgot to keep his hold on the man. When he noticed the stranger trying to get up, Revan hissed and moved his fingers forward and let lose a bolt of crackling lighting that was absorbed into the man, causing him to go back to kneeling. You fought fire with fire, you met violence with violence and you met darkness with just as much, maybe more, darkness, "Knell."

And so he did – and Revan proceeded to read the datapad, every word of it, every word of its grandiose and patently false language.

The Dark Lord of the Sith was not an imbecile – he could see a trap from a mile away.

"So tell me-…," His voice came to one of curiosity.

"Lord Saraock" Saraock answered in a pant.

"Lord Saraock," Revan began evenly, before reaching forward with his freehand and summoning his lightsaber, "Tell me why I shouldn't believe that this is a very cleverly designed ruse to get me to take my guard down."

He dropped the datapad and crushed it under the heel of his boot, before walking forward, gripping the other man's neck in the force, lifting him up off of the group and aiming the point of his weapon at his threat, "Because I can tell you, I can smell the trap waiting for me – I will allow you to return wherever it is you came from – later, but first you and I will get to know each other and then you can decide who is more deserving to be undisputed ruler of the Sith."

"Your Emperor," Revan said moving his lightsaber tip across the surface of the man's throat, not enough to kill him, but enough to deal him indescribable pain, "Or me?"

OOOO-OOOO-OOOO

Authors Note: I've been working 9 AM to 9 PM for a month now - don't ask, but that's the reason I haven't been updating, and as dead tired as I am right now, I felt like I owed you all something to make up for the neglect that I've been showing you, so here it is - any glaring mistakes - you'll have to look the other way, because my goddamn eyes are drooping right now and I don't care that it might be mistake-ridden. I hope you enjoyed it all and I'll try to get the next update out as soon as I can. Thank you to all my loyal reviewers and to the new ones! I did enjoy reading them all and I love to hear your opinions in what direction the story should go, so give me more!

I'm off to bed now - goodnight!