Shadows of the Sith
Disclaimer: Disney owns everything and I make no profit from this.
Chapter 2
Hunted by the dead! Jedi Knights Anakin Skywalker and Revan, now locked inside an ancient Sith shrine from a bygone era, discover that Sidious and Tyranus aren't the only Sith they'll have to worry about when it comes to new enemies. Meanwhile, dark forces close in on our heroes as the shadows of the Sith threaten to shallow them whole.
Warning: For those who have not read my story "A Messed Up Destiny: Before the Dark Times", it is needed for context of what's going on here and for the other side stories I plan to write that will take place in the same universe. So I suggest you go read it or you'll be completely lost here.
Note: For those who remember chapter 19 of the main book, this chapter provides an explanation to the fake Stormtroopers that Revan summoned as part of Anakin's training challenge in Force Absorption. It's something I wasn't able to fit into said chapter since it's a completely separate plot point, but it also deserves an explanation since it'll be a rather big part of book two in the main series, something I'll also be disclosing there when the first chapter is out, whenever that happens.
Jedi Temple, Lower Levels, Anakin's point of view:
Left in the dark and with the door locking behind us, saying that we were in a bad spot would be an understatement. Revan let out an annoyed groan as the door let out a 'click', signifying that we were trapped inside. I on the other hand, was about to smash the door to pieces with the Force, but Revan placed a hand on my shoulder, stopping me.
I shot him a questioning glance, trying to figure out why he had done so, but he quickly pushed me to the floor and behind of what seemed like a piece of a broken pillar. "What are you doing?", I whispered to him, wanting to know what he had done that for.
"Be quiet!", he whispered back, almost ordering me to do so. While I knew that he had done it out of reflex, hearing it was still irritating to say the least.
Suddenly, voices could be heard from down the dark hallway and soon enough, heavy footsteps followed. This puzzled me, since Revan wasn't the type to be stealthy when there was no need, and this was the first time where he seemed almost desperate to avoid confrontation.
"You think the intruders are still here?", a voice, slightly muffled by headgear, asked.
"Even if they are, they're no match for Lord Revan's men. And that's us. So we'll just kill them if they show their faces.", a second voice responded, almost identical to the first.
The…being to which the first voice belonged let out something that barely resembled a laugh, but sensing Revan's emotions of sadness and despair pushed any questions out of mind, my priorities having shifted to consoling him.
"My men…", he crocked out, his voice barely audible. "Those were my men…"
Confusion immediately invaded my mind, and thoughts of the mission came to mind once more, so I mentally apologized to Revan and asked the question I could sense he dreaded having to answer. "How did they get here? How are they even…alive?", I inquired, and Revan let out a long sigh.
I could sense he didn't want to answer, but whether it was out of overwhelming emotions or the story behind this event having disturbed him, I did not know. "My worst fears have been realized. I knew this would happen, and yet…", he whispered, mostly to himself.
Placing a hand where his shoulder had one day been, I tried to help him by sending positive emotions through the Force, but it didn't seem to work. I was about to try calling out to Qui Gon for advice, but Revan then cleared his throat, stopping me at the last second.
"Anakin.", he said, as if he was about to give a speech to his soldiers, in the same way I usually addressed the Clones before battle. "We've had numerous conversations about what 'Balance of the Force' truly means, and we've already come to the conclusion that both Light and Darkness but always be equal, for that is how the Force wills things to be."
He cleared his throat, and his hand twitched, almost as if he was about to move it, but never found the strength to do so. "With the death of Darth Vader and your return to the Light Side of the Force, as well as the sheer numbers of the Jedi Order, the Light Side rains supreme throughout the Galaxy, your power outshining Sidious' several times over. Unfortunately, this creates an imbalance that the Force has attempted to fix by forming several dozen, even hundreds of Dark Side Force Nexuses throughout the Galaxy.", Revan said, ignoring the look of shock on my face.
"However, those who once served the Dark Side have managed to use these focus points to 'leak' into the realm of the living. Normally this wouldn't be a problem since the spirits are trapped here, but I'd be willing to bet my life –if I still had it- that if Sidious discovers these Nexuses he'll try to use them for his own purposes, which would hardly pose a challenge since these spirits have already devoted themselves to the Dark Side and the Sith. I need not describe the damage he could do with an army of the undead.", Revan finished as chills went down my spine.
Sidious with an army of trained Sith Warriors and Acolytes the size of the Jedi Order was something even I was smart enough to fear, especially of the possibility that he'd get his hands on the power lying beneath his feet here on Coruscant. Noticing my fear through the Force, or perhaps that I had gone paler than him, in Reva's own words, Revan sent a sense of power and confidence through our Bond, which certainly was enough to lift my spirits for the time was being.
Having taken a moment to think on the implications of what I had now learned, I shifted my focus on learning as much as I could about this new threat and the powers these Sith soldiers may possess. "That still doesn't explain the regular guards. The ones that passed us weren't Sith.", I commented, knowing that Revan would notice the unasked question.
"Those 'men' were manifestations of the Dark Side, something like soulless puppets to be used by the Sith spirit that awaits us further inside the shrine. They appear to have retained characteristics from when they still lived, but they can't be reasoned with.", Revan explained, sadness at the loss of those he knew slowly creeping into his voice. "They are obedient to the one that has summoned them…and also indestructible.", he added, and…did I hear that last bit right? Please tell me I did, by the Force!
"Please tell me you're joking…", I sighed, already exasperated.
Revan shook his head quietly before responding. "They only way to truly kill them would be to destroy the Sith spirit that's using the Dark Side to manifest them into existence, and that isn't going to be easy considering how many of them must be guarding him or her.", he replied, dead serious, or more dead than usual, I supposed.
Resisting the urge to ask why he hadn't told me this sooner –which I could sense Revan appreciated me doing- I shifted my focus from any distractions and tried to come up with a plan on what our next move would be. Fortunately Revan seemed to already have one, since he gave me a slight nudge to the shoulder a moment later, pulling me away from my thoughts.
"Let me guess, you have a plan?", I inquired, sounding a bit harsher than intended.
He shook his head, nodding an affirmative. "To destroy the Sith spirit residing in this Nexus, we'll have to find it first, and that means going through many, many waves of invincible enemies, which is more of a suicide mission than your usual fighting plans, so I'd prefer to avoid it. Instead, I'll try to project an illusion in front of us, making the spot we are in seem empty, but I'll need your help.", Revan said, seemingly having recovered his determination.
"There's just one problem. I've never used Force Projection before, and I didn't even know it could be used like that.", I pointed out, silently asking him to show me so we could deal with this already. Sidious has enough allies as it is, he doesn't need another army under his control.
"Is the great Darth Vader asking for Force lessons?", Revan joked, desperately trying to lighten the mood.
I gave him a stiff nod, channeling a bit of the Dark Side so my eyes would shine yellow while I did so, which resulted in the grin being wiped off his face immediately. Revan then let out a long sigh, though I didn't understand why he did so.
"Very well then.", he said. "To cast an illusion over yourself or others, you need to reach out into the Force and feel your surroundings. Project a picture of the desired image in your mind, be it an empty hallway or a legion of Clones running towards the enemy and then focus on making it a reality, for others to hear and see. You may use the Dark Side in this case, since our environment favors it, but be careful not to lose yourself.", Revan told me, explaining what I would need to do in order to use the ability.
It took me a couple tries -during which Revan could only see a floating hand, foot, lightsaber or in the most ridiculous case, a head-, but I eventually managed to succeed, successfully covering myself and my robes, which would hopefully allow me to freely move around without being spotted.
Unfortunately, the illusion faded away as soon as I tried to take a step forwards, which made me groan in irritation. Seeing that I was having problems, Revan took matters into his own hands and cast an illusion over the both of us, allowing me to freely move around without the danger of getting caught.
A childish part of me wanted to test the limits of this power, but Revan sensed my thoughts and shook his head 'no', conveying that it was a bad idea, though I could sense that he too was curious about the limitations. The logical part of me agreed with him, so we slowly began to creep down a hallway, searching for the Sith spirit that was causing this mess.
We stumbled into a patrol, composed of two guards, who wore standard issue armor and had once composed the backbone of the Sith army according to Revan, who still seemed very uncomfortable with this whole situation. The three guards passed right between us, with Revan and I sticking to the wall to make sure they wouldn't bump into us and realize we were there.
After turning a few corners, it became apparent that Revan was getting tired, breathing more slowly and seemingly diverting all his energy to keeping us hidden, since he was barely visible to me at this point. Had I not already known of Force Ghosts, I would have thought he was a trick of the light, seeing as I could stare right through him, his transparent robes almost invisible as was the rest of him.
I wanted to ask if he was going to make it, but I myself wasn't feeling very well all of a sudden. I could feel the Dark Side's pull, the coldness in the air and how stale it seemed to be, as if breathing through a cloud of thick dust. It was then that Revan collapsed to the floor, his form flickering, as if trying to stay in one piece.
Not caring for stealth anymore, I kneeled next to him and asked how I could help. He didn't respond for a moment, instead looked me in the eye and I could feel whatever was left of his own going wide under the mask, terror now evident in his Force Presence.
"Anakin.", he rasped. "Your eyes…", Revan tried to say, but was cut off by distant shouting. It appeared that we had been spotted and I was done sneaking around. Manifested by the Dark Side or not, these fools were no match for my power, especially when it was the only thing protecting Revan from their wrath.
"Return to the Netherworld.", I ordered harshly. "I'll deal with them."
"Force Light-", Revan managed, "-dispels the Dark Side. Use it well…and survive.", he said as his hand grasped my shoulder tightly. A small blue light appeared in his palm, and moved to my shoulder, then my torso and finally, my prosthetic arm.
I tried to respond, to tell him that I'd be fine and that he should save his strength and rest before coming back to get me, but I didn't get the chance to as his collapsed, disappearing into the Force before he had even hit the floor. I knew he'd simply ran out of energy and would return after regaining his strength, but in that moment, it felt as though he was gone forever, and that's what made me snap.
I could feel the sickening golden glow my eyes were emitting, but I did not care, for I had just lost a mentor and most of all, a good friend. The Force told me that the enemy was getting closer, advised me to run, but I did no such thing. Instead, I called my saber into one –metallic- hand and summoned a bolt of Lightning in the other as I stared down the now empty hallway, ready to face down the Sith and take revenge for the friend I had lost.
And…scene! There you have it everyone, the second chapter of Shadows of the Sith! Even without putting action into it, which will come next chapter, I think it addressed some very important things regarding several different topics, which will discussed below.
Firstly, when realizing that he's trapped inside the Sith shrine, Anakin's first instinct it to destroy the doorway and let himself and Revan out. While reasonable, the action is made completely on impulse, which is something is still struggling with, not having had to deal with controlling it for the last five years or as he was re-experiencing the Clone Wars, seeing as such actions can usually be the difference between life and death when in War. It's something Anakin will need to deal with later on, and perhaps sooner than he thinks.
Secondly, Revan's orders to Anakin were given purely by instinct. He had no intention of sounding harsh, and Anakin is able to understand this due to sometimes making the same mistake, hence him suppressing his irritation and using logical reasoning to excuse the action away immediately. There was no need to dwell on it his eyes.
Thirdly, the Sith spirits. This is a complicated concept I've wanted to try out for a while, but I didn't want to put it in the main story out of fear of it not being liked, so I tried it here. I think Revan's speech explains the mechanics of the thing well enough, seeing as I've tried to phrase it in a way that makes it as simple as possible. Though the reason for this concept's introduction is that the Separatists are no longer a threat to Anakin, and Palpatine would become less and less of a danger if he had no way to challenge the Chosen One and the Jedi Order.
So instead of giving him a bunch of planet destroying Starships like TROS did, I decided to up the stakes with something that would better fit the concept of "Balance in the Force" the story is based around on. For those wondering, the Stormtroopers from chapter 19 were this same kind of manifestation, just in case that wasn't clear. Also, the following chapters will include the specifics of what exactly these Warriors can do, along with examples and more, which I'll discuss in their respective author's notes that will be below each chapter, like always.
If anyone has questions in regards to this topic, you're more than welcome to ask and I'll gladly answer all of them.
Fourthly, Anakin being absolutely terrified of the implications of the aforementioned Sith spirits being discovered by Palpatine. Anakin is right to be afraid in this situation, since in his mind Sidious was one small discovery away from no longer needing the War and just conquering the Galaxy with his new army of invincible soldiers, who even Revan appears to be afraid of. The way he sees it, this threat has to be dealt with as quickly as possible because it's a danger to everyone he loves, including Padme, who is taking priority most of the time.
Fifthly, Force Projection. This is an ability used in both Legends and Canon, with the most notable example being Luke using it in The Last Jedi to trick the First Order and to buy time for the resistance to escape (Post edit correction: The power used in that specific scene is Doppelgänger, mentioned below) . This power actually falls into the same subset as other very similar ones, Force Phantom, Doppelgänger, Mind Shard and Force Corrupt, but those aren't the only ones in that category of abilities.
What Revan does and Anakin fails to achieve is to cast the illusion of an empty hallway where the two Jedi stand in order to trick the Sith guards into not seeing them. This entire category of powers is very interesting and very likely to appear again since there are so many ways this can be used by several characters in the future, but it's rather difficult to achieve without extensive training in using the power, which is why Anakin fails to use it here.
Lastly, Revan's sudden loss of strength. What happens to Revan here is the same thing that happens to Qui Gon in chapter 10 of the main story, where he saves Dooku's life from Darth Vader. When a Force Ghost uses too much energy they are unable to materialize for an amount of time, at least for this story since there isn't much canon information available on the subject. Revan is over-exerting himself by keeping both him and Anakin hidden while traversing a Sith shrine for an extended period of time and has pushed himself to the absolute limit by the time he collapses, unable to hold it any longer. This, of course, would mean that he needs to rest before retuning –something Anakin tries to tell him-, but Revan forcefully fades away, needing time to recover his strength.
Next time: Anakin, left alone to battle Sith spirit awaiting him in the bowels of the Jedi Temple, struggles with his inner darkness as Darth Vader fights for his life against those that anger and hate cannot destroy.
That's all for now everyone! Reviews are always welcome, whether it be to ask a question or to chat, and I'll see you all next chapter, but until then, May the Force be with you!