Disclaimer: Come on, I've been doing this every chapter!


Jace left Bastila to begin her Battle Meditation and walked alone out of the Command Center. The rest of the command deck was filled with Malak's laboratories: he had been designing new weapons for the Star Forge to build, like the cortosis droids Jace had faced earlier. Malak was up ahead, on an observation deck atop the central sphere. Bastila had never been allowed into the rooms Jace was walking through, so she could not tell him what to expect. The room was filled with large matter synthesizers; Jace supposed they could quickly make parts for whatever experiments Malak was conducting. He passed a door leading back to the lower decks. Jace made a mental note to use it for his escape, if he got the chance. Malak is very skilled. I may have to simply hold him here while the Star Forge is destroyed around us. He continued through the room, past terminals and crates to a large door. If Bastila's directions were right, it was the entrance to a corridor leading to Malak's viewing platform. Jace heard lightsaber combat and opened the door, ready for action. Malak was in the hallway, fighting two Jedi Knights from Vandar's group. Before Jace could stop him, the Dark Lord had cut down both Jedi. Malak turned toward Jace.

"I tire of this game, Revan," said Malak. "You have been a thorn in my side from the moment I seized the mantle of Dark Lord from your feeble grasp!" He raised his fist, then opened his hand to show dark side lightning jumping between his fingers. "You made a mistake coming here, Revan. The Star Forge fuels my command of the dark side. You are no match for me here. And this time you will not escape!"

Jace stared down the Dark Lord. "It's you who can't escape, Malak. Surrender and the Jedi might show you mercy."

"Is that what you call it?" spat Malak, "you think stripping away your power and your identity was an act of mercy, Revan? I would rather die!"

Jace spread his hands. "I was saved from the darkness, Malak. You can be too, if you wish."

Malak waved dismissively. "Spoken like a true slave of the Jedi Code. Save your preaching, Revan-I will have none of it! You are an insignificant speck beneath my notice. I have surpassed you in every way and accomplished what you never could… I have unleashed the full potential of this Rakatan factory!" He surprised Jace with a Force push, throwing him back through the door. "You had no idea of the power within this place! Its very walls are alive with dark side energies! And now, my old master, I will let the Star Forge itself destroy you!" The door slammed shut and sealed. Jace spun as he heard the machinery whir to life.

Beams of light shot out of the matter synthesizers and struck the ground. As each flash faded, a battle droid appeared and marched toward him. Jace gaped. The Star Forge can create fully working machinery all at once. Some droids opened fire with blasters; others closed the distance and attacked Jace with vibroblade claws. Every type of combat droid Jace had ever seen was being generated in numbers. Jace deflected blaster bolts and threw droids around with the Force. He cut down one enemy after another, but the synthesizers kept making more. Jace threw his lightsaber at the matter emitter head, but it bounced off a force field. Jace was forced to retreat; more droids ran past him without attacking to cut off his escape. Jace threw a Force wave, shattering more than twenty droids against the walls. That gained him some breathing space, but he lacked Jolee's skill with pure Force attacks. He had to take out those synthesizers! As long as they continued in operation, the droids would swarm him under. The mass of war machines was pressing him back towards the Command Center. Can't let them get to her. If Bastila's meditation broke, the Sith fleet would overwhelm the Republic forces.

Jace was frantically trying to come up with a plan when the side door opened. Belaya, Yuthura, and Dustil came through at a run and attacked the droid swarm. Yuthura blasted one of the droids with Force lightning. The bolt was different than any he had seen before: instead of being violet, it was a shining silver-white. It arced from one robot to the next, destroying more than ten. Belaya joined Jace and the Twi'lek in pushing back the tide of droids. Dustil drew his father's old blaster in his left hand and a lightsaber in his right. The pistol's blasts were now blue-white, as was Dustil's lightsaber. Dustil's fire passed cleanly through the force fields and wrecked one matter synthesizer after another until none remained. Without their endless reinforcements, the remaining droids fell quickly.

Jace turned to Belaya, concern on his face. "Dak and Thalia?"

The Padawan smiled reassuringly. "Both alive. Thalia was badly hurt by cortosis bio-droids, and Dak escorted her back to the ships."

Jace sighed with relief. "Dustil, what did you do to that blaster? I've never seen it pierce shields before."

The young man held up the pistol. "I tuned two focusing crystals, one for my saber and one for this. It fires much slower now, but is more powerful. I can use the Force to alter the bolts it fires. I'm still experimenting, but so far I can produce shield piercing, stun organics and droids, and even curve the bolts a little as they fly through the air."

Jace looked over at Yuthura Ban. "It's good to see you walking in the light."

"My old Master survived the Sith attack on Dantooine," she said. "He's with Vandar's strike team-he cried when he saw me again." She looked down. "I was embarrassed to see his weakness. Old habits die hard. But… it felt good, too. It felt good to know he missed me, that he worried about me. The Council said they would give me time to decide if I wanted to try again." She smiled. "I didn't need the time. I knew the right decision; I'm not the foolish young girl I once was. We defectors-the Sith you saved-wanted badly to come on this mission, to help you. Belaya and my Master convinced the Council to allow us to come and help."

Jace cocked his head. "And what about all the slavers you wanted to fight?"

Yuthura ran a hand along her lekku thoughtfully. "You know, I'd forgotten all about that until I spoke to you about it on Korriban. Strange, considering my hate for them is what made me leave the Jedi. I think… I think I've got to help myself, first, before I can help anyone else. Maybe once that happens, I can work with the Jedi to make a difference. My Master said that my experience with the dark side could make me a very wise Jedi." She shook her head. "The Sith bring more misery than the slavers ever did… I don't know why I didn't see that before. I may not be able to change everything at once like I wanted to… but it would feel good to really help someone, for a change."

Jace took a calming breath. "I need to confront Malak. You should get back to the Shadow."

Yuthura bit her lip and nodded. "May the Force be with you, my friend. I hope we will see each other again." Belaya led the two new Jedi back towards the docking bay. Jace opened the door and stepped onto the observation deck.


The viewing platform was a huge circular room with a massive transparisteel dome overhead and a raised walkway around the perimeter. The Star Forge's three massive towers loomed over the platform; beyond the window, the Sith and Republic fleets could be seen furiously exchanging fire. The central floor was ringed with stasis beams; in each one was a corpse wrapped in arcs of pale green electricity. Malak was watching the battle outside. He turned to face Jace, smiling slightly. "Well done, Revan. I was certain the defenses of the Star Forge would destroy you, but I see there is more of your old self in you than I expected. You are stronger than I thought; stronger than you ever were during your reign as the Dark Lord. I did not think that was possible."

Jace met Malak's gaze steadily. "The light side is stronger than you know, Malak."

The Dark Lord angled his head thoughtfully. "I am tempted to try and capture you alive, Revan. Then I could break your will and bind you to me as my apprentice, as I did Bastila. You would be a far greater asset to me than even Bastila and her Battle Meditation, if I could control you. But is it worth the risk? Perhaps you are too powerful to be my apprentice. I betrayed you when I realized my own strength was greater than yours; in time you might try to do the same to me."

Jace squared his shoulders. "I will never serve the dark side again, Malak!"

"Foolish words," Malak hissed. "The darkness and the light wage a constant war within you. The balance is tipped one way now, but it can easily be tipped back." He pointed accusingly at Jace. "Savior, conqueror, hero, villain. You are all things, Revan… and yet you are nothing. In the end you belong to neither the light nor the darkness. You will forever stand alone."

Jace shook his head. "I'm not alone. I have tremendous people at my back: soldiers and street urchins, Light Jedi, grey Jedi, and even Sith who have turned away from the darkness. You, though, you're a Sith Lord; you rely on your own power because you can't trust anyone else. You are right, there is a lot of my old self in me: the real Revan, the one who risked his standing in the Order, his freedom, his very soul to protect the Republic. On the other hand, you are the real Malak. You want power and glory and recognition, and if the galaxy must burn for you to get it, why, you don't care."

Malak crossed his arms. "We have been inexorably pushed to this final confrontation, Revan." He ignited his lightsaber and spun it in a dazzling crisscross pattern. "I see now that this can only be settled when one of us destroys the other."

Jace powered his double-blade on. He and Malak crossed sabers in the traditional duel starting position. Malak struck the end of Jace's lightsaber, trying to leverage the other end of his double-blade into his body. Jace twitched his saber tip away and circled. Malak turned on the spot, keeping Jace in front of him. Jace threw a flurry of strikes low at Malak's knees. Malak hopped back and brought his saber up for an overhead slash. Jace surprised Malak, tackling him around the waist and knocking the bigger man down. Jace grabbed the sides of Malak's mask like handles and repeatedly slammed his head into the durasteel deck. Malak brought his knee up into Jace's groin; Jace crumpled and the Sith Lord threw him off.

Both men got to their feet. Jace stood slightly bowlegged; Malak felt the back of his head and came away with blood on his fingers. The Dark Lord shifted to an attack stance. "A decent start, don't you think, Revan?"

Jace held his saber diagonally, waiting for his opponent to make a move. "My name is Jace. Revan is dead."

Malak smiled. "Not yet, but soon enough."

He charged, throwing his lightsaber ahead of him. As Jace moved to block it, he pulled the saber back into his hand and slid on his knees, aiming to slash under Jace's block. Jace flipped forward over Malak and swung at the back of his head. Malak blocked with his saber over his shoulder and shoved Jace backwards.

"You continue to amaze me, Revan," Malak said, circling warily. "If only you had been the one to uncover the true power of the Star Forge you might have become truly invincible." He smiled confidently. "But you were a fool. All you saw was an enormous factory; all you ever imagined was an infinite fleet rolling forth to crush the Republic. You were blind, Revan-blind and stupid!"

Jace crossed his arms. "Go ahead, Malak-play your last card, and let's see if you hit twenty."

Malak laughed. "The Star Forge is more than just a space station. In some ways, it is like a living creature. It hungers. And it can feed on the dark side that is within all of us!" He gestured to the stasis beams. "Look around you, Revan. See the bodies? You should recognize them from the Academy. These are Jedi who fell when I attacked Dantooine. For all intents and purposes dead, except for one difference: I have not let them become one with the Force. Instead I have brought them here. The Star Forge corrupts what remains of their power and transfers the dark taint to me!" He stretched a hand above his head. In one stasis field, the green lightning turned to the familiar violet. The body inside was engulfed in swirls of purple flame and consumed. Thick dark smoke rolled across the floor and swirled around Malak. Jace felt a sudden, monstrous surge in his enemy's power.

"You cannot beat me, Revan," said Malak, "not here on the Star Forge. Not when I can draw upon the power of all these Jedi! And once you are beaten I will do the same to you. You will be trapped in a terrible existence between life and death, your power feeding me as I conquer the galaxy!"

He charged Jace with incredible strength and speed. Jace was short for a human man, and Malak was a towering brute. The Dark Lord hammered on Jace's guard with the added strength from his dark experiment. It took most of Jace's power and skill to ward off Malak's strikes. Jace moved in close to Malak to deny him room to swing full-force. He maintained a strong defense, waiting for Malak to make a mistake. He didn't wait long. With Jace not fighting back, Malak got careless and took too long between swings. Jace got his foot between Malak's legs and kicked to both sides, spreading Malak's feet into a partial split. Malak teetered and Jace knocked him back. Jace immediately followed up with another set of quick slashes and jabs. Malak parried, but Jace landed cuts on his left shoulder and hip. Malak blasted Jace with an enormous push that propelled him the entire width of the room. Malak held up an arm and began drawing dark energy from two more bodies.

Logistics, thought Jace, cut his supply lines. Malak extended his hand and unleashed a Force storm. Jace concentrated and caught the bolts on his lightsaber. He focused the energy into the double-blade and swept the lightning all around the room. The machinery holding the remaining dead Jedi in stasis blew, melted, or burst into flames. The remaining Jedi bodies fell to the deck. Then they started to fade. A humming filled the chamber-or was it just in Jace's ears? One by one, the dead Jedi dissolved into the same shimmering mist that Jace had seen in the tomb of Ajunta Pall. He was suffused by a feeling of deep gratitude. The mist washed over Jace, then rose to the top of the chamber and dissipated. Jace felt suddenly invigorated, alert, and strong. The aches and pains of his earlier battles on the Star Forge dropped away.

He stood still, straight and tall, and faced Malak down. The Dark Lord charged; Jace ran at him. They met in the center of the room at full speed and locked sabers. The champions of the light and dark braced against each other. Jace heaved and Malak staggered backwards. Jace leapt higher than he ever had before and delivered a tremendous kick to Malak's face. The Sith Lord's mask flew off and he stumbled. Jace slashed at Malak's throat. Malak parried, but only succeeded in deflecting the blade so it slashed across his belly. Darth Malak fell to the deck, mortally wounded.

"Impossible," coughed Malak, "I… I cannot be beaten. I am the Dark Lord of the Sith."

Jace walked over to the dying Sith Lord. "The power of the light will always be stronger than the dark side."

"Still spouting the wisdom of the Jedi, I see," said Malak weakly. "Maybe there is more truth in their Code than I ever believed." Jace knelt at Malak's side and placed both hands on the gruesome slash. Malak was beyond even the healing power of kolto, so Jace poured the healing Force into Malak's torso to numb him.

Malak's head wobbled up to look at Jace. "Even now, after all this, you are easing my death?" He smiled strangely. "Thank you, Revan."

Jace shook his head forlornly. "I wish it hadn't come to this, Malak."

The fallen Jedi reached up and grabbed Jace's shoulder. "I… I cannot help but wonder, Revan. What would have happened had our positions been reversed? What if fate had decreed I would be captured by the Jedi?" Malak coughed uncontrollably for a moment; when he stopped there was blood at the corners of his mouth. "Could I have returned to the light, as you did? If you had not led me down the dark path in the first place, what destiny would I have found?"

Jace shook his head. "You cannot find redemption with self-pity, Malak. You were no more my puppet than I was a puppet of the Jedi Council. I am sorry I started you on this path. But you chose to continue down it."

Malak nodded. "I suppose… I suppose you speak the truth. I alone must accept responsibility for my fate. I wanted to be Master of the Sith and ruler of the galaxy. But that destiny was not mine, Revan." He looked up into Jace's eyes. "It might have been yours… perhaps, but never mine. Chaos take me, I've been a fool."

Jace gripped Malak's hand tightly. "It's not too late, Malak. It's never too late. While on Korriban, I managed to redeem the spirit of Ajunta Pall, after thousands of years. The path is not easy, or direct, but it is one you can still walk. Free yourself from your envy, and hate, and sorrow, and the light side will always welcome you home."

Malak shed a single tear. "Thank you, old friend." His head fell back, and Malak was still.

Jace stood up and looked around. The Sith fleet was in disarray. There were about ten fewer cruisers in the sky, and several of those still visible were burning. Half a dozen Republic cruisers were advancing on the Star Forge. "Time to leave," muttered Jace. He sprinted back into the droid lab and out the side door. A turbolift sat open at the far end of the corridor. As Jace ran for the lift car, the deck shook and the lighting flickered. Jace dove into the lift and hammered the button for the docking bay. By the time he reached the Hawk, the Shifting Shadow had left and the Forge was shaking constantly. Carth and Bastila were waiting.

"There you are!" called Carth, "what happened?"

"Darth Malak is dead," Jace replied. "It's over, finally."

"That's wonderful news!" Bastila said. "There's no time to celebrate just yet. I was able to use my Battle Meditation to allow the Republic to break through the Sith fleet. The capital ships are in bombardment range!"

"And that means we have to get out of here right now," said Carth urgently, "before this entire complex comes down around our ears! Everyone else is already on the ship! Let's move!" They ran for the ramp. They all dashed for the cockpit; Jace strapped into the third seat. The freighter lifted smoothly and soared away from the Star Forge. Carth climbed up above the Forge so everyone could get a good look at the Republic attack; the crew dashed to various viewports. Several cruisers were firing on the Star Forge's orbital stabilizers. As they watched, the stabilizer tower blew and the entire station shifted. It began a slow roll and sank toward the star Lehon. The giant space station fell into the plume of gas it had been drawing from the star and exploded.


A/N: So much for Malak. Next chapter is a little wrap-up and set up the sequel. How have you liked this fic? Are you excited to see where we go from here? Leave a review, or drop me a PM, I love hearing from readers, or just talking KotOR in general!