Chapter Three

"Revan is coming," Riam finished lamely, as he stared across the void onto the derelict ship that his cruisers were slowly turning into slag. How much more bombardment could it withstand. Every moment that passed could lead to the inevitable moment where the shields would completely fail and the hull would crumble. Why was she still defying him? Where had she found this strength from? Even now after all that had happened he had to fight back the urge to call off the bombardment. Terror gripped him as he imaged the ship exploding into shrapnel with her still on. It was like torture to know for certain that she was gone was like looking into the abyss. He could barely stand it. He kept his fingers clenched behind his back into fists as he fought the urge to call off the attack.

His bridge officers were giving him a wide berth as he stalked up and down the command deck. his eyes never leaving the hull of Emera's cruiser. Every time an explosion rocked the surface of the enemy cruiser his fingers clenched painfully into his palms as if this was going to be the explosion that would cause the chain reaction that would finally bring down the ship.

"Lord Riam," a voice called hesitantly from across the bridge. The officer's voice was firm, but behind the words Riam could sense the fear that consumed him. It had taken almost everything the officer had to summon the strength to interrupt him. Riam made note of the officer, fear was not something that he wanted from one on his bridge crew. These soldiers needed to follow their orders without question. One soldier giving into his fear would lead to others and Riam wouldn't stand for that. This soldier would soon find himself posted to a different section of the ship on his next rotation - A position far less critical to the running of the ship.

"Darth Malak demands that you make contact with him." the Bridge officer's voice trailed off at the end.

Riam's heart leapt into his throat at the words. He couldn't make contact with Malak this far out with the hyperspace relay beacons destroyed, he would need to withdraw. He had no choice. These orders must be followed. Darth Malak was Reven's second. His word was almost as if the command had come from Reven. Riam had no choice but to disengage and make contact with his master.

"Very well," Riam rumbled, as he turned his back on the bridge crew, "Begin withdrawing the fighters, and cease the bombardment. Pull our cruisers back and prepare for hyperspace.

"The closest beacon was approximately six hours away. The drone that would have delivered Darth Malak's orders had most likely been at least eight hours in transit. Malak would not be pleased when Riam finally responded after so long. Riam gulped as he considered what this new information meant. Why had Malak summoned him? His orders had come from Revan. What had changed? Was he being called to judgment because of his failure to protect the hyperspace lanes? It was possible. Malak was not the forgiving type. Riam had known the man a long time, having served directly under him in the final years of the Mandalorian Wars. He had thought Malak had died on Malachor V, but he had been wrong. He may as well have died though, since Malak had returned from the unknown regions he hadn't been the same. The Malak of old had been forceful and passionate, but he had listened to his subordinates. Malak now was unbalanced. He was quick to anger, quick to strike and far more powerful.

He now almost glowed with the power of the dark side. But it was ironic really, for all this new power that he wielded, he was lesser than he had previously been. Power was nothing without control. His strategic and analytical mind had been completely overpowered. Brute force was the only tactic he employed. It was good that the same couldn't be said for Lord Revan. Where the dark side had lessened Malak, it had burned Revan to new heights of power.

Riam continued his vigil as he watched his fighters withdraw from the battle and return to the flight deck. He watched as Emera's crippled cruiser drifted in space, listing to one side and surrounded by a ring of its debris. He doubted that the cruiser was functional. Perhaps everyone onboard was dead anyway. Perhaps too much damage had been done and the cruiser was only minutes away from a critical explosion. Perhaps Emera was already dead, fallen to one of the many blasts from his turbo cannons.

He could have reached out through the force and known for certain, but he didn't. Should he do that he would again touch minds with Emera and that was too painful. Her betrayal was too close to bear. Let her be dead on that ship, or if she still live, let her slink off into the unknown. Let her die on some forgotten world far from him. Riam sighed wistfully. He could lie to those around him all he wanted, but he couldn't lie to himself. He reached out through the force and connected with her once again. He had already known that she had lived anyway. He would have felt her death.

"You will stand before me," Riam whispered, "I have seen it. It will come to pass. As usual Emera didn't answer, but he could feel her. He could feel her anger, feel her desperation. She was almost at breaking point. He could feel it. He could almost reach out and break her through the force. It would be so easy, but he didn't want that. He wanted her to stand by his side as an equal, not as some broken plaything. The force rippled around him as Emera shut him out. He had touched a nerve. Had she sensed his motives? Had she been able to read him as easily as he had her? No, impossible. He was far more powerful than he had once been and she was weakened and tired. There was no way that she could have read him.

The force didn't feel as it once had. Before the war it had been like he had been standing on a beach with calm water out in all directions and a breeze on his face as he directed his thoughts towards the force. It didn't feel that way now. Now the calm water was replaced by a raging inferno, the water beat down upon the rocks of the beach in fury as he stood before it. In place of the breeze there was now a hurricane. This was the power of the dark side. He knew it instinctively. He hadn't had to be told what it was. It had always been with him. He had always known of its power. It's just that his masters had told him to ignore it. They had taught him that to use the power of the dark side was to fall to it. He hadn't fallen yet, or at least he didn't think he had. Did one know when one had fallen to the dark side? Was it a conscious choice? Riam didn't know. All he knew was that the force had made him more powerful than he had ever been. There was only one thing missing – Emera. Once Emera stood by his side not even Revan wouldn't be able to stand against them.

The Fleet is ready to jump to hyperspace, Milord," a crisp voice cut into Riam's thoughts, "We may jump on your command.

The warning had been unnecessary; there was no way that Riam hadn't noticed the fighters docking with the cruiser bays below. He couldn't have helped but noticed the ship altered its trajectory to jump to hyperspace. Riam took one last look at Emera's crippled cruiser until it left his view.

"The Command is given," Riam rumbled as he stormed from the command deck, "Once we are in range of the Leviathan, notify me. I will be in my chambers."

It took only two hours until the comm buzzed, letting Riam know that Malak was on the line. This was surprising. Malak mustn't be with the fleet. Where was he then? A sliver of fear rippled through Riam as he pondered what this new information might mean. Was Malak on his way here? Riam took a deep breath and steadied himself. It would not do for Malak to see him unbalanced. He breathed out as his anger washed over him at the weakness. Instantly, his fears vanished as his mental walls rose. No, Malak would not sense any weakness from him today.

Riam flicked his fingers to dim the lights and lock the door. A second gesture activated the holo projector in his room. The massive visage of Darth Malak consumed the far side of the wall across from him. Riam was forced to suck in his breath as the Dark lords baleful glare dominated the room. The Dark lord's eyes pierced through the void and directly into Riam's soul, but that wasn't what had surprised him. Malak was missing the lower part of his jaw and face. Where his mouth should be there was now a metal visor. It took everything that Riam had not to keep his surprise from his face. He knew that Malak would not condone any form of shock or sympathy. Any attempts at familiarity would be met with the Dark Lords rage. The first pin pricks of fear began to assault the iron mental walls that Riam had built around himself.
"Lord Riam," The Dark lords voice synthesized voice rumbled, "Explain yourself. The voice was as Riam remembered, albeit with a new mechanical lilt. It contained the same arrogance and fury that Riam had expected from Malak, made worse by the mechanical coldness of the synthesizer. It was almost like talking to a machine, except that machine's couldn't hate and hate was all that Riam could sense from Malak now.

"Explain? My lord?"Riam raised an eyebrow. Riam wouldn't play this game. He knew that he was being baited. Malak had already been aware of the loss of the hyperspace beacons and that there was very little that anyone could have done to prevent it.
"Your failure to protect the hyperspace routes into the core worlds." Malak continued, "Your obsessive chase of a single Jedi as blinded you to the greater campaign. You have wasted enough time on this foolish crusade."

Riam was about to interject, but Malak cut him off, his metallic voice cutting out all other noises.

"Further failure will not be tolerated. You are to pull your fleet back to Rumarh. You are to blockade the planet and await my further instructions."

"…But, the Jedi," Riam interjected, "She could hurt our cause further. I almost have her."

"I do not care about the fate of a single Jedi." Malak rumbled, his voice rising in mechanical fury. Riam knew in that moment, that Malak knew of Riam's designs for Emera. He knew everything. In that single second, the Dark Lord tore down the walls that had been protecting Riam, and Riam knew Fear. It tore into his very fabric through the Dark Lords gaze. Darth Malak let the moment linger before issuing his commands. Riam could sense the pleasure that Malak took from extending this moment.

"A delegation of Jedi from Dantooine is being sent to Rumahr, You will be our welcoming committee. The survivors will join us or die."Malak's orders rippled through the chamber as the transmission was terminated.

Riam sat in the darkness for several minutes before he was able to collect his thoughts. He had wondered, only several hours ago, what falling to the dark side looked like. He now knew. What had remained of the Jedi Malak from before the war was gone. In its place was only Darth Malak - There was nothing else left. Was he going to fall to the same fate? He feared he might. That didn't matter though. Only one thing mattered - Emera. Once she was by his side, Malak wouldn't matter. They would depose him and take his place at Revan's feet.

Riam gave the orders to the command deck to alter their course to Rumarh and issued instructions for the rest of his fleet to join them. Twenty Cruisers - more than enough to take the planet. He had never been to Rumarh, although it had been a major world in the supply line that had fed Revan's forces during the Mandalorian wars. It was possible that he had perhaps defended it from Mandalorian forces – there were a lot of planets that he had defended. It was ironic that now he would be the one to attack it.

It made sense that the Jedi would now seek use Rumarh as a command post. It was an important world in the Outer Rim. He briefly wondered what defenses the planet had, but it was more of a curiosity than any sense of worry. The planet would have no cruisers. Curiously enough, he was now sitting on one the cruisers that originally been built to protect it. Their defenses would be insufficient to withstand his attack - Of that he was certain.

Riam clasped his fingers in front of him as he sought to find the balance that would allow him to draw upon the force and renew himself. It was getting harder and harder with every passing day. What had once been as simple as rising from a slumber now took effort. The balance wouldn't come in the tornado that the dark side had conjured within him. He gritted his teeth as his failure inevitably led to anger and from his anger then rose the necessary clarity to draw upon the force. Riam smiled as the force washed over him and bowed his head as he went through the processes of rebuilding the mental walls that Malak had just torn down. He couldn't allow such a lapse again, How had the Dark lord so easily overcome his defenses? Humiliation gave way to rage and Riam threw that into his work. He methodically tore through his psyche destroying anything that would bring weakness, anything that could be used against him, until at least he reached the core of his centre. The place where he couldn't lie to himself, the one place where he was truly vulnerable and the one place he didn't dare destroy. It was the place that Emera held within him. Her loss was like a needle in his mind that he couldn't pull free. It was like a wound that wouldn't heal. It was killing him, it was killing them both. He could feel it. He could feel her loss everything he made contact.

"You will join me," He whispered through the void of hyperspace, "You will seek me out, and you will join with me."