"This is a terrible idea," Revan announced.

Malak rolled his eyes. "No it isn't. You're just saying that because you don't want to do it."

"I think me not wanting to do it makes it a terrible idea by default."

"You would," Malak said. "But, if this could be accomplished without inconveniencing you in the slightest, would you think it was a great idea?"

"Well, sure," Revan agreed. "All sorts of things that would be a horrible idea with me involved are perfectly lovely ideas without my involvement."

"Most people would say otherwise, given that you are far more skilled than other people," Malak said.

"Yeah but those are other people who, if I do it, don't have to do it themselves," Revan said. "And who aren't at all inconvenienced by my participation."

"I wouldn't go that far," Malak said, holding up a hand. "Plenty of people are highly inconvenienced by your participation."

"No, I think that's just you, actually," Revan said. "And yet somehow you refuse to learn not to involve me."

"Well, as much of a point as I think you have about how much easier my life would be if I could just stop, we both know that I can't."

" 'Can't' is such a strong word and not what I think you really mean at all," Revan said.

"Fine, not 'can't'," Malak agreed. "We just live in dangerous times-"

"Everyone always lives in dangerous times," Revan complained.

"And I just can't abdicate my responsibility as Jedi-"

"Despite the fact the Council will kick us out if we ever bother calling home."

"Or as a citizen of the Republic and let it be destroyed. And, come on," Malak continued. "We spent all this time defeating the Mandalorians and do you really just want to sit around collecting praise and dodging the Council's attempts to punish us for our heroism-"

"Yes."

Malak gave him a look. "While waiting for whatever it was that prompted the Mandalorians to attack us in the first place to come back and kill us?"

"Well, no, waiting for another invasion does sound pretty awful. I mean, not the waiting part," Revan clarified. "I do so like waiting. But the invasion isn't good. But I don't know why we're pretending we don't know who it was."

Malak frowned. "That's because we don't know. Unless you've been holding out on me?"

Revan waved him off. "It's not that. It's just that these are mysterious people out to destroy the Republic and bait the Jedi. It's not the Mandalorians because they wouldn't need to secretly convince themselves to do it and they're not exactly the most subtle of people. So I think we all know it's going to be the Sith."

Malak stared at him skeptically. "Really, Revan? The Sith?"

"Oh, do not even give me that. It is always the Sith. Like, 80 percent of our problems can be traced back to the Sith in some way," Revan said. "You know it's true."

"Well, yeah," Malak agreed. "And what does that say about the Jedi as an order? But no one important has fallen and is still around or gone missing and could probably reemerge as a Sith or something in years."

"So we're about due for another one," Revan said. "But I don't even mean that. I'm sure there's probably some secret Sith out there doing secret things we've all either forgotten about or never heard of."

"I'm just saying, it seems a little unlikely."

"So does the Mandalorians, of all people, needing to be talked into invading someone by some mysterious force that they didn't even bother finding out anything about before attacking," Revan said. "And yet we are reasonably sure that this happened."

"Sith."

"It's just statistically likely," Revan said.

"I hate Sith," Malak complained. "They're so annoying."

"Probably not the reason most people hate Sith but I can sympathize."

"I mean, yeah, there's all the other stuff, too," Malak acknowledged. "All that stuff about them hurting and killing those we've sworn to protect and all that. But all the bad guys do that and the Sith are uniquely annoying."

"Yeah, it's all 'I've known you for years and now that I've embraced a new philosophy our lifelong friendship means nothing' or 'I remember that you always fell asleep during meditation so you should join the side of killing babies too'," Revan said.

" 'There is no good and evil, just my side torturing people for fun and your side having some sort of weird problem with it' and 'You have negative emotions so you should just give up everything in your life and come to the side of random murder and betrayal.' Fine, maybe annoying isn't the first word most people would think of to describe them but you know that I'm right," Malak said.

"Boy do I ever," Revan said. "But then, you know I've always had such a low threshold for annoyance."

"Still, it means you're always sympathetic to what I find annoying," Malak said. He sighed. "Well, I'm hoping that it's not the Sith and not just because I do not even want to deal with them. But if it is then it's even more important that we go and figure this out."

"I'm not going to say you're right because I still really, really don't want to go."

"You always could have left and gone back to the Council like your favorite general did," Malak said. "After your not-so-subtle attempt to have her killed didn't work."

"But how did it not work is what I want to know," Revan said, groaning. "And she is proof that being super annoying is not just related to the dark side of the Force. But no, I think I'll stick with the Sith."

Malak blinked. "That…probably did not come out the way you intended."

Revan shrugged. "Maybe not but you know you can never hang out with the Sith without at least a 25 percent chance of falling yourself."

"The Sith," Malak said dramatically. "Not even once."


To say that people were shocked when Revan returned with Alek was an understatement. Well, actually Bastila hadn't been surprised at all. She had taken one look at them and rolled her eyes and told Revan to at least try and make it work.

The rest of the crew had been…well, actually only Carth had tried to attack Revan and everyone else seemed a little star struck so it was a good thing that Revan had actually come to join them. Alek had muttered explanations as they escaped the wreckage of the Star Forge and then sort of not told anybody else Revan wasn't dead until they were all safely on the Rakatan planet.

And by 'told anyone else' he really meant he and Revan had quickly sent out a broadcast over the holonet to the entire Republic (those that didn't catch it live would undoubtedly see it soon enough) about how Revan was still alive and wasn't evil anymore. Revan managed to pull off vaguely earnest if not the slightest bit remorseful and made sure to mention the True Sith to everyone. Then they had each of the crewmembers of the Ebon Hawk introduce themselves and say that they believed Revan wasn't evil anymore. Bastila might have said that she didn't know what Revan was but he probably wasn't going to go be a Sith any longer and Carth might have promised to follow Revan around for a while and shoot him if he looked to be evil – like that would be any more effective than the first time – but they said it.

"So it seems you have returned to us at last, Revan," Master Vandar said solemnly. "It is not an outcome that I had predicted but I cannot find myself in opposition of it."

That was exactly what Alek had wanted to hear.

"Well I can," Admiral Dodonna said.

And that was more along what he had expected.

"You had to have known that you couldn't just come back and pretend none of this ever happened," Dodonna said. "Because if you hadn't then you wouldn't have made sure to present your case to the Republic before anyone else got the chance to."

"Oh, no, that was mostly about just saving time," Revan claimed. And for him it might have even been true. "I just didn't want to have to repeat the same thing to everyone for months so I figured why not just tell everyone all at once? I may have to record some question and answer sessions so I don't have to answer the same clarifying questions now just so everyone can make sure that they understand."

"I know it hasn't been all that long," Alek said. "But how has the general public taken the announcement? I mean, Mission's monitoring the message boards and they seem to be mostly positive but maybe you've heard from a different sector of the population."

"Some of the Jedi are a little skeptical about your return from the Dark Side," Vandar said. "But most are delighted to have such a great champion of our order on our side again, especially in light of these troubling allegations about there being a secret Sith Empire out there in the outer regions."

"You are going to actually deal with that right?" Revan asked. "And not just humor me? Because you really can't afford to and if you're not going to take it seriously then I swear by the Force that I will go off and become a Sith Lord again. I don't want to do it, believe me I don't, but this is probably the most important thing in our lifetimes."

"Don't worry, Revan, we have been persuaded of the truth of your words. We do not know the scope of the threat and how to best meet it is still something that needs to be determined but never let it be said that the Jedi will not stand against the Sith," Vandar told him.

Revan nudged him. "See? Told you the name thing makes a difference."

"I don't like this at all," Dodonna complained. "And I believe I speak for many of the leaders of the Republic. It is true that more of them than I'd like to admit still have signed pictures of you in their office – not that they can even tell it's you with that cloak getup – but enough of them are still rationale enough to see just how you screwed us over."

"I disagree with you but I guess I'm sorry or something," Revan said.

Alek glared at him. "That is the least sincere apology you have made in a while."

"But not ever," Revan countered.

"I don't think it's possible to be less sincere than you were when you cut Zez-Kai Ell's mustache off."

"It had to go," Revan insisted, crossing his arms.

"How did you not screw us over? You saved us then you left and came back to conquer us. Being our savior does not give you carte blanche to just do what you want to us!" Dodonna exclaimed.

"I was saving you from the True Sith. Those guys are bad news. Did you know they can turn you evil through sheer force of will? Or at least their leader can."

"Why didn't you feel the need to tell us about any of this?" Dodonna challenged. "And don't give me any crap about how you wouldn't have been believed because you could have tried to be persuasive. People loved you enough when you left and you're convincing enough you might have been able to sway people. And you could have tried to get some proof, maybe a recording of what had happened or some testimonials from the thousands of good people who had taken off with you. Conquering the galaxy could have been plan B for if we didn't accept and prepare for the war."

"Well, once you start conquering the galaxy it really confuses the issue and people might think you were full of it about the Sith thing," Revan said.

Dodonna nodded. "An excellent reason not to attack the Republic! But even if we hadn't believed you, you really should have told us."

Revan sighed. "I've been hearing that a lot lately. Fine, I admit I really should have let you guys know why I was conquering the Republic instead of just doing it, knowing you would never understand and exactly what kind of assumptions you would make when Malak and I started calling ourselves Sith. Although, really, we kind of had to do that part or the Jedi never would have started mobilizing as well."

"That's…fair," Vandar admitted reluctantly.

"And it's not just that. I mean, you just threatened to go be a Sith again. And we're supposed to trust that you've changed?"

"Only if it were for the greater good," Revan said.

Dodonna groaned. "There are no two words I hate more than that."

"Trust me," Alek said. "He won't do something like that unless things get really desperate and if the Republic does its part to prepare for the True Sith then it won't come to that."

Dodonna nodded. "But aren't you Darth Malak? I could have sworn I heard something about that."

Alek coughed. "I've retired."

"Both of you?"

"The Jedi might have mind-fucked Alek into it first," Revan said a bit bitterly. "But I'm satisfied he's still enough himself, and that that self is essentially a good person, that I let him 'redeem' me."

"Did I just hear air quotes?" Dodonna asked.

"I have no idea what you did or did not hear," Revan said.

"Revan, without us Alek would have died," Vandar pointed out.

"I would have gotten him medical attention!"

"Maybe you shouldn't have shot him in the first place," Vandar suggested.

Revan force a smile. "Capital idea!"

"I know you don't like this but what are you going to do about it?" Alek asked Dodonna. "Is there going to be problems with Revan's redemption?"

"Politically, since Revan seems to have joined us before the Star Forge was destroyed and your message seemed to resonate with the general public – not to mention the fact he still has more fans than he really should given what he's done – I don't think it would be a very fruitful endeavor to try and punish him," Dodonna said. "Even though he really kind of deserves it. We especially don't need to alienate him if we want to know about the True Sith out there. Although if he would really withhold information like that from us until he personally is in a good position I don't like what that says about him really having changed."

"Maybe I haven't changed," Revan suggested. "Maybe it's just the circumstances."

"It's definitely Revan who changed," Alek said quickly. "And you, Master Vandar, you said something about not all the Jedi liking the idea of Revan returning?"

"It's not so much that they don't like it as don't believe it," Vandar corrected. "The Dark Side is supposed to be very difficult to return from and redemption is a lifelong process. Revan appears to have gotten over his years of evil in such a remarkably short time."

"I've always been rather stoic," Revan said.

"That's a little complicated," Alek admitted. "But can't we just chalk it up to Revan being talented at everything including redemption?"

Vandar tapped his chin thoughtfully. "You know, that just might work."

"I'm glad we've got all of that sorted out," Revan said. "Because now we need to discuss how we're going to deal with the True Sith."

"I was thinking we could go out and look for them and, once we've found them, destroy them," Dodonna said.

Vandar nodded. "But first we must meditate."

"No, no, no," Revan said.

"Revan, at some point you're going to have to learn to appreciate meditation like all the rest of us," Vandar told him.

"First off, I wouldn't count on it," Revan said. "And secondly, that's not what I meant."

"Revan and I know where the True Sith are," Alek said. "But we kind of already tried the confronting them approach and it got us very little. Not just because we didn't have as big of a fleet as we could have but because the Sith Empire is some kind of nigh immortal monstrosity who can literally turn other people evil with very little effort."

"Or at least it looked like little effort to us and I'm kind of sensitive to these sorts of things," Revan added. "The Emperor didn't destroy us even though he very well could have."

"Then what, exactly, do you recommend?" Vandar asked. "You wanted us to do something about this."

"Just…prepare, for now," Revan said. "I know that as we prepare, the Sith can do so, too, but they've been preparing for a long time without us knowing and they had very little to start with. They're not ready to invade just yet and that's why they wanted the Star Forge. If we can build up our supplies and learn what we can, try to adapt to this coming fight, that would be a far more useful way to spend our time. And hopefully the invasion doesn't even happen until we're all dead anyway."

"What are you suggesting?" Vandar asked.

"The way we see it, the biggest threat is the fact that the Sith Emperor can just turn people evil," Alek said. "I mean, the fact they're almost certainly sending people in to infiltrate us and have positions of power maybe even through the generations is almost certainly going to come back to bite us and we need to find a way to either identify these people or have a plan in place for when they eventually reveal themselves to minimize the damage they can cause."

"But the turning people evil thing seems a more immediate threat for obvious reasons," Revan said.

"And how do you propose we stop him from turning people evil?" Vandar asked.

"Well, not having much regard for the concepts of good and evil in the first place seems to help," Revan said. "Although I guess that wouldn't really fly with you guys."

"Revan, we cannot just stop teaching people morality because of one threat. It's very short-sighted."

"Although if you wanted to start teaching the kind of morality that doesn't lead to people deciding to go terrorize the galaxy because they suffer a bad breakup or something that would be great," Dodonna opined.

"I'm not suggesting that, even if it would probably work," Revan said. "I just feel too much emphasis is placed on not falling and how hard it is to come back after you fall. Alek was telling me they met a Sith ghost who wanted nothing more to redeem himself but still felt it would be too hard and had to be given a pep talk before he'd try. And it was super easy for him. Like, insultingly easy."

"And what's our alternative? Preventing people from falling in the first place seems the most practical choice," Vandar said.

Alek nodded. "If we can avoid it then great but I think we all know it's never going to be a perfect success rate because people are people and the Sith Emperor is coming. But once people fall, they usually lose all perspective. I was fortunate in that protecting the Republic was still important enough to me that, while I may have made a lot of mistakes, I was still ultimately trying to do that. We need people to not give in to the Dark Side – or have it forced on them – and then decide to join their enemies and help destroy everything they've ever cared about. We need to get them to stop tasting the Dark Side for five minutes and decide to spend the rest of their life wallowing in it. We need some sort of measure that's more effective to save these people than a dedicated friend or family member appealing to their better nature which could just as easily cause them to fall as well."

Vandar nodded slowly. "I can see the sense in your words and I cannot help but think of the many who have been lost to the darkness. But how would one even begin to try to do something like that?"

Revan glanced at Alek. "We're something like experts on the subject and it's not like we don't have the time to try and work something out."

"Well I'm glad to know you're going to try and do something productive," Dodonna said.

Revan groaned. "Don't even say that!"

"It's true, though," Alek said.

"I am not even listening."

"This whole thing makes me feel marginally better about how you're going to receive Crosses of Glory for your part in stopping Revan," Dodonna said.

Revan frowned. "What, even me?"

Dodonna nodded. "I'm afraid so."

"I'm getting an award for stopping myself?" Revan asked. "Tell me I'm not the only one seeing how messed up that is."

"A medal is better than the alternative," Alek said.

"Yeah but it's making it sound like I just have great self-control or was self-sabotaging," Revan complained.

"And how exactly did you come to be on this beach with me?" Alek asked pointedly.

Revan cleared his throat. "So, Crosses of Glory all around then? T3 and HK will be thrilled."