Author Note.
A short chapter but I'm eager to get to the point where Sith Gothic gets to met Revan.
Reviews.
FLaTone
I plan for Sith Gothic to have HK-47 with him. Having an assassin droid will come in handy.
A W
Getting the pearl is part of why I want Sith Gothic there. The in story reason is that Wynn wanted Gothic out of his way and Tatooine is a remote enough place.
War Sage
Nope but it won't be long before Revan arrives.
Ruvian
I don't write to gain followers, but its good to know people are enjoying the story.
Joe Lawyer
If Sith Gothic can form enough Force Bonds then he could create his own empire without much worry of betrayal. He'd still have to worry about a mass uprising and rebels but at least he wouldn't be stabbed in the back by those he trusts the most.
The Old Sith Empire lasted a while and the True Sith Empire lasted for centuries while hidden in the Unknown Regions. But Revan's Sith Empire could only survive with Revan as its head. It was built like Palpatine's Empire and fell apart just like the Galactic Empire will without its strong leader.
That sort of empire can only survive as long as it has a good leader like Revan or a cunning one like Palpatine.
Sith Gothic. Part Ten.
"Well, if there's a bright center to the universe, you're on the planet that it's farthest from." - Luke Skywalker
The Eastern Dune Sea. Tatooine. Malak's Sith Empire. Star Wars KOTOR Galaxy.
After spending less than a week on Tatooine I had already decided that I really, really hated this place.
It wasn't that different from Korriban really. Tatooine was a dry, hot wasteland as was Korriban but at least that world was strong in the dark side and had a bit of mystery about it. Tatooine was just a dump. Oh and there was sand, a lot of sand but without a decent beach the sand was just annoying. Plus there were no hot girls in bikinis.
"Kriffing Sand People" cursed one of the troops under my command.
I ignored the Sith solider and their attempts to blast the Sand People from a distance and instead focused my attention on Komand Fortuna, a yellow skinned Twi'let hunter who was trying to gain my assistance in slaying a krayt dragon.
The alien hadn't need to try very hard as I too wanted the dragon slain, but for very different reasons than the hunter.
One of those reasons was so that I could get to the Starforge map hidden in the back of the cave the dragon currently called home. The other reasons was that killing the beast would give me access to a krayt dragon pearl, the pearl could be used in the construction of a lightsabre and since I was planning to make my own lightsabre the pearl would be useful.
"Statement: Komand Fortuna says that we will need to lure the krayt dragon out of its lair" reported HK-47 who was acting as a translator.
Yes I knew the plan. The dragon would be lured out of its cave, and then met the mines the Twi'lek had planted around the cave's entrance. The bait for this trap was the banthas which under the protection of the Sand People. My Sith troops were trying to drive the Sand People away with harming the Banthas, which was why I hadn't ordered them into battle just yet.
"I don't think we will need the bait" I told the alien "I'll just send a couple of the soldiers into the cave".
It would serve me better in the long run if there were less Sith on the planet. I was planning to defect after all and that would be a lot easier if I had less troops around. But the soldiers weren't the real problem, they were trained to obey orders and most of them were spread out across the planet in an attempt to impose order upon the smuggles, and other trash, which called this planet home.
No the real problem was the three Dark Jedi that had been stationed here, I assumed, to watch for Revan. Perhaps they were even here to keep an eye on me. I'd gotten the sense that my appointment as military governor had very little to do with the fact that I was now a Sith Lord. In my mind my being here was all about the power games between Wynn and Ban. Sure I might be a powerful Force User but I didn't have the experience needed to be a proper Sith Lord. Which might be why I'd been sent to Tatooine, it was a pretty easy posting to manage.
At least the job came with some nice perks. I had nice air conditioned house back just outside of Anchorhead which I didn't have to share with the Dark Jedi as they had taken residence near the space port. Also the lack of any real work meant that I had plenty of time to study my holocron.
I could of used my free time to bang more alien babes, but I'd gone off the idea recently. Perhaps it was due to the fact that my lovers had a habit of leaving my life as rapidly as they entered it.
Deep down I had to admit, at least to myself, that I really missed Zanii, and even Ban despite how much she had used me for her own gains.
"They will surely die" said the HK-47, still speaking on behalf of the hunter.
Having HK-47 around would be a very good thing should his operation go wrong. I'd certainly welcome having an extra blaster user.
"Go after the Sand People!" I shouted loudly and the troops ran off hopefully to get themselves slaughtered.
Given that they were Sith soldiers and had been terrorising the locals since we got here I didn't feel bad about sending them off to their deaths.
"Not you two!" I shouted again and a pair of the soldiers stayed behind.
Once the main body of troops was out of sight I ordered the two remaining silver armoured soldiers to enter the cave.
Neither the Twi'lek hunter or I had to wait long for the dragon to appear. One of the troops made it out of the cave alive but he only lived long enough to set of a mine.
Thankfully the dragon was so angered about the Sith violating its lair that the beast charged out of its cave and right into the minefield. The animal took a while to die as it was a tough beast but it had been badly wounded by the mines and so it was no threat to me without its limbs.
Once the fearsome dragon was slain the Twi'lek went to claim the priceless pearls while I focused on the sounds of what seemed to be blaster fire coming from the distance.
My danger sense wasn't that great but I felt safe enough. It didn't matter which side won the battle as both the Sith soldiers and Sand People warriors would suffer losses.
That outcome served my interests well as it was my job to bring order to this world, but I also didn't want to do too good of a job as that might led to me to getting a more important posting elsewhere and I needed to stay on Tatooine, so that I would here when the Ebon Hawk arrived.
"Statement: The Hunter wishes to thank you, Lord Gothic" said the droid.
I didn't understand whatever speech it was that the Twi'lek was using, but this time I didn't need to. I could see the hunter's gratitude for myself and it was expressed the most when the alien gave me one of the priceless pearls.
"Tell him that he is not to speak of my involvement in this matter" I commanded.
The assassin droid translated once more and informed me that the Hunter would suitable embellish his story. Frankly I didn't care what he told people as long as no one found out that I had purposely led Sith troops to their deaths. Possibly all of them given that I could no longer hear the sounds of blaster fire.
That meant that I'd have to go myself and make sure that the Sand People raiders were dead and then I would have to collect those sticks the natives used they counted as proof of the Sand People's demise and the promised reward would serve me well once I started making my own way around the galaxy.
But that was the far future, for now I had other things to concern myself about.
Sith Complex. Outside Anchorhead. Tatooine. Malak's Sith Empire. Star Wars KOTOR Galaxy.
Inside the house that served as my home and as command centre for the Sith presence on this world I sat in the mediation chamber and tried to connect to the Force in a way that would allow me more visions of what might be.
When I slept and dreamed I often saw possible futures but they tended to be the same scenes but with sightly different outcomes depending on the choices I made.
From what the holocron had told me visions obtained via mediation tended to be more useful as they showed the possible futures more clearly and often allowed one to see the present as well and even events from the past.
I sometimes saw things but I was unsure if my mind was simply tricking me, letting me see with my inner eye what is was I wanted to see. However this time I was sure I was seeing proper visions.
As my half built lightsabre floated in the air before me I focused on what I was seeing.
Images of myself fighting alongside Bastila, and sometimes Revan, filled my mind. I saw myself in a place of darkness filled with the trunks of huge trees. The Wookie home world no doubt.
In one vision I even saw myself taking control of the Starforge, which was a bad thing because the alien device had a very corrupting influence on any who used it. Hopefully that was only a very remotely possible future, one that could be easily avoided
When the comm line opened and a voice said "My lord" the visions ended and the lightsabre parts fell to the floor.
Oh god what could be now? I'd dealt with the Sand People, had the gunrunners arrested and smuggling was at an all time low. What else could be needed of me?
"Yes, what is it" I answered knowing the comm line was open.
"Forgive me for interrupting," begged whatever cowardly piece of scum who was operating communications "but there is a call for you".
Wait someone was phoning me? Why would anyone be calling me?
"I will take it here" I told the minion.
Slowly I stood up and the holoemitters built into the wall of this chamber came to life. The image was crude as holographic communication over such vast distances was tricky even at the best of times but I knew at once who it was.
To my surprise it was Darth Malak, the current leader of the Sith Empire which I 'served', who was contacting me. I forced my face into an expressionless form and then bowed before the Dark Lord.
I would not have been able to hide my fear had he been here in person, then no doubt he would have been able to sense my true feelings towards him and would kill me for it.
Thankfully not even a powerful Sith like Malak would be able to sense my true intentions over the holonet. Or at least I hoped that was not the case.
"How may I serve you my lord?" I asked of the hologram once I felt it was okay to stand up and look upon the Dark Lord.
Malak didn't seem to be one for pleasantries, he got right down to business his machine voice filling the room creating an odd echo.
"I have reason to believe that a group of Jedi will soon arrive on Tatooine, perhaps to liberate the planet".
It didn't require the use of the Force to know that the Dark Lord was not being one hundred percent honest with me. The Jedi weren't coming to liberate anything what was really happening was that Revan was coming to find the Star Map. But if Malak knew that he wasn't going to tell me.
"You must stop the Jedi, Lord Gothic. They can not be allowed to capture Tatooine. The world itself is not important, but if they succeed in taking the planet form us it may embolden them and earn further support for the Jedi".
It made some sense that the Jedi might try to liberate this world. It wasn't worth much but as a symbolic victory could raise moral. The Republic, despite its recent victories and the 'death' of Darth Revan, was not winning the war so any victory that could be achieved would be welcome.
Of course that wasn't what was going to happen as that was not why the Jedi were coming here, but it was a good cover story.
"I can not spare you any further troops" stated Malak "so you must make do with the resources that you have".
My face expressed disappointment, but actually I was rather pleased. I'd gone to great efforts to make the soldiers already on the planet as ineffective as possible by spreading them to thinly and by purposely getting quite a few of them killed.
"The three Dark Jedi I assigned to that world are fully expendable, and will engage any Republic forces they encounter".
That seemed to be Malak's way of saying 'don't get in the way, let them do their job's but if they fail then its up to you and if their deaths help you then let them die'.
Right now I figured that I would be a match for one of the Dark Jedi, if I was lucky and more skilled with the sabre that I though, but there was no way I could take two of them and the three of them would annihilate me without trouble. But if I attacked them when they took on Revan and her group then I could help to destroy the Dark Jedi and declare my intention to defect all in one move.
"It will be as you say, my lord" I told the image of Malak giving him a short bow.
The Dark Lord's eyes seemed to narrow and he said.
"My apprentice died attempting to stop these Jedi. Should you prevail were he did not then you will become my new apprentice".
Clearly the offer was meant to motivate me. Had I been merely interested in becoming as powerful as possible with no concern for the long term then I might have been somewhat tempted.
However even if I could of beaten Revan, which was highly unlikely despite having three Dark Jedi and a small army of troops at my side, I wouldn't of lasted long as Malak's apprentice. Either the Dark Lord would cut me down for my treasonous thoughts or someone else would challenge me for the job and they would likely end my life.
"I will not fail you" I promised Malak.
He seemed to accept me at my word for the holographic communication ended.
Once I was sure that the channel was closed I sat down and tried not to panic. I didn't have much time left and I needed to have my lightsabre ready for when Revan arrived.