Learning from the Past
Chapter IV: Return of the Sith
His head span wildly again and a large pounding began in the back of his skull. He grabbed his head with both hands and tried to use the Force to stop the pain, but it was to no avail. The throbbing wouldn't stop. He rolled about the ground in pain, praying that this torture would end. It did.
Anakin opened his eyes and stood up. He wasn't on Tatooine anymore or Coruscant for that matter. This was a strange world that he had never been to before. He was standing on top of some sort of temple. The white sun above was nearly blinding and it took a moment for his eyes to adjust.
When they did he realized something; he wasn't alone. There was a pale woman dressed in black robes standing next to a large archway. She looked very anxious and the hand that gripped her double-bladed lightsaber was sweating profusely. A small one man ship was docked behind her, which she kept turning back to as if she considered using it.
"Bastila?" Anakin asked as he walked up to her. She didn't seem to see or hear him, even when he stood directly in front of her. "Bastila, are you alright?" he asked. Bastila began to walk forward, igniting her lightsaber – her red lightsaber. She walked right through Anakin, leaving him with a cold feeling.
He spun around and saw that three Jedi were coming towards them. "Revan!" Anakin growled. Revan, Jolee, and Juhani each activated their lightsabers as they came towards Bastila.
"Revan," Bastila said with a smile. "I knew you'd come for me. Malak thought you might be afraid to enter the temple again, but he doesn't know you like I do. Not anymore. Not since you've changed."
"Quickly!" Juhani said urgently. "Bastila, come with us! We have to escape before Malak arrives!"
"Escape?" Bastila asked. "You don't understand. I have sworn allegiance to Lord Malak and the Sith. I am no longer a pawn of the Jedi council." The words sounded so liberating. She sounded so pleased with herself. Anakin was disgusted.
"She deserves to die!" He shouted.
"Does she?" a familiar voice asked him. Anakin turned and saw a man he recognized standing behind him. The fallen Count Dooku beamed at him with a smile. Anakin gasped. "Did I deserve to die?" Anakin backed away as the Sith Lord came near him. "Do not be afraid, young Skywalker. I am not here to hurt you."
"Then why are you here?" the Jedi asked cautiously.
"Think of me as your guide," Dooku replied. "You and I have so much in common. It is only right that I should be the one to help save you."
"Save me?" Anakin scoffed. "You're a Sith!"
"Not anymore," Dooku said shaking his head. "I have been redeemed, as you yourself may be."
"Redeemed? You're dead! That's not possible!"
"Anything is possible with the Force, young Jedi." Dooku chuckled as he stepped towards Bastila and Revan, who were still speaking with one another. "This was a monumental moment in your friend, Revan's life. This was the day he severed all ties to the Sith and was truly redeemed."
"How?" Anakin asked.
"Watch," Dooku instructed.
"Malak forced me to acknowledge my anger and pain! He showed me the liberating power of these emotions. He made me see how the Jedi council has denied me what is mine by right!"
"Is that how you felt?" Anakin asked Dooku.
"To a degree, yes."
"Then why change back?"
Dooku chuckled. "The dark side may make you strong, but it also strips away your true emotions. Love, compassion, happiness. They all die once you are overcome by darkness, though you don't realize it at first."
"You mean-,"
"You may love your wife, but once you fall to the dark side that will change. She will be seen only as an object that you will use until she proves useless."
"No!" Anakin insisted. While the two of them were talking, Revan and Bastila began to fight with one another. "I love her. Nothing can change that!"
Dooku smiled. "Look at these two. They were very much in love. The dark side drove them to this!"
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Revan's speeder pulled up in front of the Ebon Hawk and he deactivated it. Carth and Canderous were standing outside waiting for him. "What happened?" Carth asked, seeing Anakin's unconscious body on the back of Revan's speeder.
"He put up a fight," Revan replied simply, lifting the young man in his arms. "Canderous, take him to the med bay. I want to lift off in less than an hour."
"Alright," Canderous said taking the body. "But Mission and Zalbaar are in the city. They decided to look for you."
Revan turned around to look back at the spaceport exit. "I'll be back as soon as I can," he said to them as he started back towards Anchorhead.
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Revan swore as he came out of the cantina. He had searched nearly every building and Mission and Zalbaar couldn't be found. A few people in the cantina had mentioned seeing a twi'lek with a human, but there had been no mention of a wookiee. His finger touched the button on his intercom and he spoke, "Mission, Zalbaar come in. Respond, where are you?"
There was still no answer except the buzz of static… at first. After he had shut it off and began walking back towards Yuka Laka's droid shop, his intercom exploded with a powerful, commanding voice.
"Revan!" it cried causing him to wince at the sharp, unexpected noise.
The former Sith Lord quickly adjusted the sound on his ear piece and pressed the red button. "Who is this?" he demanded.
"Come to docking bay nineteen, alone. Otherwise the twi'lek and the wookiee are as good as dead."
"Lay a finger on them and I'll-," the intercom cut off before he could finish his threat. He swore viciously and changed to the Ebon Hawk's channel. "Carth, someone has Mission and Zalbaar. I'm going to docking bay nineteen. Be ready to back me up if I give the signal!"
There was a moment of silence before Carth answered.
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"I'd love to bud, but we're having our own problems here," Carth replied. He, Jolee, Bastila, Juhani, and Canderous were all standing outside of the Ebon Hawk. They were surrounded by men dressed as mercenaries, each with a weapon trained on them. "Go get Mission and Zalbaar," he ordered. "We'll back you up as soon as possible."
"Alright," Revan replied. "Be careful."
"You too," the pilot warned. "These guys don't look like light weights. Onasi out." Carth smiled. "Alright," he said to his friends. "Go!"
Suddenly Jolee, Juhani, and Bastila sprang out their enemies, lightsabers blazing.
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Docking bay nineteen was a private port. It had been for months, though Revan had never known its owner to be on Tatooine at the same time as him. Admittedly, he hadn't paid all that much attention to it. Now he wished he had. Stepping into the port, he saw a large warship, the size of the old Sith interdictor ships. He was unkindly reminded of Saul Karath's Leviathan.
He looked around, reaching out with his feelings to try and find his companions. All he could feel was darkness. He shivered violently. Clenching his fist he started towards the ship. "Hello!" he called out. "Mission! Zalbaar!"
"Freeze!"
Suddenly the entire docking bay was filled with mercenaries, each one training a blaster on Revan. He turned around and saw that the door was blocked. Analyzing the scene, he deducted that there were at least twelve men around him. He sighed heavily. He already had a broken nose from his fight with Anakin and was in a fair amount of pain. He wasn't particularly in the mood to be putting up with this.
"Where are Mission and Zalbaar?" he demanded.
"Your friends are perfectly safe," a man said as he stepped out of the ship. "For now at least." He was a tall man, bald with a black goatee. He wore black baggy pants and a silver breast plate, adorned with mandalorian etchings. He was snickering madly as he walked up to Revan.
"Where are they?" Revan demanded.
"Alive," the mandalorian replied.
"Where?"
"The twi'lek is on board my ship inside one of the holding cells. The wookiee is being interrogated."
Revan was visibly disturbed by this. "Interrogated? For what? What do you want?"
"It's not a matter of what I want?" the mandalorian replied. "It's more a matter of what my leader wants."
"Your leader? You're a mandalorian. You follow the Mandalore and the Mandalore follows me."
"I fought under Mandalore the Ultimate during the wars. He taught me to follow the strongest and it's the strongest that I follow!"
"And who is that?"
"You will learn soon enough, Lord Revan. In the mean time, my men are bored and my master would want you warmed up when he arrives."
Revan lifted his hand into the air and a wave of Force energy exploded in every direction. All of the men were thrown backwards, either dieing or losing consciousness instantly, except for the mandalorian. A Force barrier engulfed him, absorbing the power of his attack.
"A dark Jedi," Revan commented. "Of course."
"A Sith Apprentice," he corrected as he pulled a dull gray cylinder from his breastplate.
"I thought that Eli and I had driven you all out of Republic space three years ago."
"You and the Jedi Exile may have slaughtered our generals and sent half of the Sith running, but then the master came. He rallied us to his cause and reformed our ranks. He spent the last three years adding to our numbers, making our legions strong. Our empire is growing and now we have returned to Republic space, ready to wage war and conquer what is ours by right!"
"I've explored the outer regions. There's nothing out there except for space!"
"Wrong," the mandalorian Sith sneered. "There are entire solar systems, filled with sentient life. From these planets we have gained many and grown strong."
"The Sith have never known true power," Revan replied.
"No, Revan. We are power!"
The Sith activated his crimson lightsaber and brandished it threateningly. Revan stepped back as his opponent lunged at him. The former Sith Lord drew his own cerulean colored saber and parried a quick slash. The fight had only begun, but Revan could clearly see the attacks of an expert Shien master. Shien was a difficult form to face, especially if your opponent was advanced in its use, but Revan wasn't worried. He possessed total mastery over the superior Juyo form.
The blades flashed as the two dueled, but Revan had a clear advantage. The mandalorian began to use the Force to augment his strength and speed, but it was no use. Revan could heighten his traits just as far and still have power left over. The battle wouldn't last long.
Revan back flipped and landed at the loading ramp of the ship. He deactivated his lightsaber and turned to enter the ship. "Stop!" his opponent cried, flinging a volley of Force lightening at him. Revan lifted his hand and absorbed the energy into a ball, before deflecting it right back at him. Unprepared for the attack, the Sith was thrown back, landing several feet away from the ship.
"I will kill you!" the Sith insisted as he charged Revan in a desperate rush. The former Sith Lord used the force the wrench a nearby cargo crate off the ground and throw it at the mandalorian. It hit him full on, pinning him to the ground. Revan looked impassively as his enemy tried to throw off the crate, but he couldn't focus. Fear had interfered with his ability to concentrate on the Force.
Revan turned to enter the ship, but was suddenly pulled back and sent rolling in the sand. He looked back and saw the crate fly off of the mandalorian, but it couldn't have been him. He would have sensed an attack.
"You were a fool to take him on single handedly, my apprentice," a mechanical voice told the Sith as he got to his feet. Revan stood up and looked at the door of the docking bay.
"It's not possible!" Revan gasped. Darth Malak began to walk towards his former master, his yellow eyes shining. "I watched you die!"
"Die? No Revan, you watched me fall, only to rise and become even more powerful! Did you think it was truly possible to kill me on the Star Forge?"
"It was worth a shot," Revan muttered.
Malak chuckled. "Still making jokes, Revan? Even now, in your final hour."
"I killed you once on board the Star Forge, Malak. How can you hope to defeat me without it?"
"I've spent three years becoming stronger and stronger. There is no power in the galaxy greater than mine and the Star Maps will only continue to make me stronger!"
"The maps? What good are they now that the Forge is gone?" he asked.
"Their dark energy has continued to energize me. Soon I'll have absorbed the power of the last two and I will be unstoppable!"
"No, Malak. You won't live that long!"
Revan drew his lightsaber as Malak did the same. They leapt at each other and the battle begun.
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Bastila deactivated her lightsaber and turned to the others. "Juhani and Jolee, come with me! The rest of you stay with the ship. Carth, watch Coryn while I'm gone!"
"Where are you going?" Canderous demanded.
"To find Revan!" Bastila replied as she and her fellow Jedi ran from the docking bay.
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Malak vaulted over Revan and swung his saber again. The former Sith ducked and kicked his old apprentice in the chest. The mesh armor vibrated under his foot, sending shocks up Revan's leg. Malak took advantage of Revan's momentary shock and used the Force to throw him backwards.
Malak's apprentice threw the same crate back at Revan, knocking him down and sending him rolling. The two Sith began to tower of their prey. He struggled back to his feet, but he was tired. His fight with Anakin, along with his trek through the desert had taken its toll on him.
He stood up and created a Force barrier around himself to ward off Malak's attacks, but he couldn't hold out long. "Your friends will be dead soon," the mandalorian goaded. "We captured two of his companions," he explained to his master.
Malak stopped. "Excellent. Then we'll let him suffer before we finish him."
Malak suddenly threw an entire wave of Force lightning at him. Revan screamed in agony as he writhed on the ground. Soon he was overtaken by darkness.
