Chapter 20

A/N: Potential spoilers for the The Rise of Skywalker Visual Dictionary and the Rise of Kylo Ren comic series.

The tomb doors slowly opened, revealing the dark pit to both Zyon and Mara. "Are you sure about this Zyon", Mara asked him worriedly, "If we bring him back, how do you know we have a small chance to defeat Skywalker". Zyon stayed silent, staring at the darkness in front of him. How were they going to defeat the Jedi? Palpatine is gone, and Luke Skywalker is to blame. "The dark side is strong, it will be our ally, to end the jedi. To avenge the deaths of the Sith, and our child", he said before grabbing Mara's hand and walking toward the entrance.

When they entered, they were met with the sight of six figures all kneeling in a circle, chanting in an ancient language. "Knights", Zyon announced loudly. The figures all faced towards them, each one slowly getting up. "Who is she?", the Knight named Cardo, question. "This is Mara Jade. She and I had a history together as Inquisitors", Zyon explained as Mara simply waved her hands to the Knights. The Knights introduced themselves, revealing their respected names: Ap'lek, Kuruk, Trudgen, Cardo, Vicrul, and Ushar. Mara was impressed that they all sounded young, in their mid-teens to be the least. "Do you use the power of the shadow?", Trudgen asked.

"The what?", Mara asked confused looking at Zyon for an answer. "The shadow is just another name for the darkside of the force", he explained as he set up flames, "It's a more interesting name for the younger generation of dark side users". Mara simply nodded at this information, she wasn't that old herself, infact she was just 27, the same age as the man she so desperately wants to kill, Luke Skywalker. "Master Ren, when do we start the ritual?", Ap'lek spoke up. Zyon put his hand on Mara's shoulder, looking directly at her. "The ritual begins now".

The Knights walked back to where they were first kneeling, with a huge sith relic that held a vibroblade in the middle, the surrounding areas were glowing a deep red. Mara hesitated, looking at Zyon as he joined the knights. "How are we going to start it? We need the sith to actually do it", Mara said slowly joining them. The knights looked at her, then at their Master. Zyon simply smiled, "You were the Emperor's personal assassin, he trained you in the ways of the dark. Some inquisitors might even have thought that you would replace Vader sooner or later. You are the closest we have to the sith. You will lead the ritual", he stated. Mara stayed quiet, but silently agreeing with her new task at hand. "Ok", she said nervously, "Let's do this".

Everyone were kneeling in a circle, all chanting the ancient sith language. "Nw kash zo tash, antai kash tik sh. Pro sh, nu gauti ty. Pro ty, nu gauti midwan. Pro midwan, nu gauti pergaleas. Pro pergaleas, nuyak chains aras svistuis. Tave qy sekleti uzsit nun", they all chanted. Slowly the vibroblade slowly started to move, with several sith statues falling to the floor. The earth rumbled for a moment, before letting out a low moan. "Oy, zavus ir midwanas Marka Ragnos", Mara began as things around the room started levitating, "Mes tapti'kia tu kia nesti mus aid, kash hopes kia qorit tave jidai negu zhol kash reborn. Tave tsis zinot fallen sso tave hands iv jidai Luke Skywalker, kad tave jena'tes uud survived ir uud niekada tukodi viekisas. Mes visita beyond tave grave, kia nesti atgal tave karuvis tsis ari. Ir mokyti mus tave tiesa midwan iv tave tsis. Oy, jengat ari Ragnos".

The fire that was surrounding the blade slowly changed color, from the typical orange and yellow to a now crystal blue. The flames got higher, but somehow, the room got colder. The more they chanted the sith code, the more closer they got to completing the ritual. Mara moved her hands in a circular motion, just as how Palpatine had taught her all those years ago. She released a huge amount of force lightning and continued this as the flames were now a ghostly blue, almost reaching the ceiling of the room. The blade had now moved, opening what it was guarding. A casket started to rise from the ground as the blade fell into abyss.

"Su tave redis sulig nuyak burna, nu declare tu kia buti reborn", Mara said looking up, with the force she lifted the flames and directed them to the casket, "Pradzia ari Ragnos. Pradzia!", she yelled at the top of her voice. The place started to shake again, this time a loud moan filled the room, making them clench their ears.

"Long, have I waited", a deep voice said. Mara looked into the now dying flames, she saw a shadow slowly emerging from the now burning casket. "I have been reborn. The result, has never been stronger!", the deep voice said. Suddenly a tall humanoid figure emerged from the flames, his skin still wearing parts of the flames that hadn't gone out yet. He stood at least seven feet tall, and was quite muscular, even with all the traditional sith robes he was wearing. "Marka Ragnos has returned", he laughed maniacally.

Ragnos turned to see the Knights, Zyon, and Mara all surrounding him. "Rise, my nobel disciples", he said as he called his vibroblade to him. The group slowly rose, still very cautious about what they just did. "I sense great power in you all, but you are not sith. You may look like it, but the sith do not have fear, I sense great fear from you, especially in you", Ragnos said pointing a finger at Mara.

"My lord", Zyon said bowing down, "We brought you back to help us defeat the jedi once and for all". A low humph sound emitted from Ragnos's mouth, "Yes. Skywalker, the last jedi", he said smiling. "I am Ren, and these are my Knights", Zyon declared while gesturing to the knights and Mara, "And we wish you teach us the way of the sith. Our sith are now extinct, so we come to you", he took out a hilt similar in fashion to the blade offering Ragnos the piece. Ragnos simply smiled as he used the force to grab the hilt, reattaching it to his blade. "Here me children, the sith of your time may have past, but the sith of my time will rise again. I declare this", Ragnos stated as he raised his fully constructed vibrosword.

"The return of the Sith will be inevitable. And the Jedi, will be no more! All hail the sith!", he shouted. "All hail the sith, all hail the sith", the Knights of Ren murmured after him. Ragnos looked at Mara, his red gleaming skin making his yellow eyes more visible to her. "All hail the sith", Mara slowly said, "Hail them all".

A/N: Hey there! Its been a while since I last did an author's note. I just wanted to make this quick announcement: My first fanfiction, The Last Jedi Rewrtitten, will be deleted on February 14, at 12:00 PM American Eastern Time. The reason? I am going to replace it with a new and improved version, as well as the other films in the sequel trilogy. They'll have the titles as mentioned: The Force Awakens AU, The Last Jedi AU, and The Rise of Skywalker AU. I've also been pretty busy laying the plan out for my trilogy I've set up with this story, here's a sneak peek for all of you:

-Rise of the Order (current)

-Secrets of the Force: a Luke Skywalker story

-Jade: A Mara Jade star wars story

-The New Jedi Academy: An Ahsoka led story

-The New Jedi Order (book 1)

-The New Jedi Order: War (book 2)

-The New Jedi Order: Fallen Order (book 3)

-Farewell: A Luke and Mara one-shot

-The Last Skywalker : A Star Wars story

And then it will be the sequel trilogy, which I'll tease in a later moment. Make sure to tune in this 2020 for all upcoming stories, later.