Dark Visions

Cathar

"Shield wall!" Ashla yelled out over the din of the battle as they rushed toward the advancing Mandalorians.

She and the other Jedi stood in a line before the rows of troopers. Together, they shielded the troopers positioned behind them, their lightsabers acting like a blurry colorful wall. They moved in unison, deflecting the incoming blaster fire so the troopers behind them could take aim.

"Duck!" She shouted to the Jedi beside her. They dropped into a low lunge simultaneously, allowing the line of troopers behind them to toss a round of poppers at the incoming throng of Mandalorians.

Waves of warriors surged at them, attacking from both the ground and the air, thanks to their jetpacks. Ashla nodded to the fellow Jedi standing beside her. He leaned down and cupped his hands into a basket. She stepped lightly onto his hands. Together, they used the Force to propel her up into the air. She landed on to the back of one of the Mandalorian's jetpack, crouching down low as they soared over the battlefield.

This is where the fun begins, she thought with a grin.

The Mandalorian tried to shake her off but she held on tight. She leaned over his helmet, and grinned at him.

"Hello there," she said with a wink.

"Hey! Wait, what are you doing?" The Mandalorian yelled as he rocked, trying to toss her off.

Another flew close by, firing upon her as she blocked the incoming blaster fire with her lightsaber. She breathed in, feeling the Force swell around her. Using the tip of her lightsaber, she tore through the Mandalorian's jetpack underneath her. The Force rose up around her as she leapt. She watched him careen towards the surface below, as she landed lightly on the back of another jetpack.

"You crazy ass Jedi! Get off me!" The Mandalorian yelled angrily up at her. He rolled, hoping to dislodge her. However, she sensed his intent through the Force, and crawled her way under him, holding on tightly as she gripped her long legs close to his hips, keeping them away from the heat of the jetpack.

"Hello, handsome." She grinned widely at him. She saw his eyes widen though his helmet.

"Jetii," he said, with a deep laugh as they soared over the battlefield. "If that's what you wanted, I could think of a better time and place than this."

She used her lightsaber to deflect incoming blaster fire, while the other arm wrapped around his neck as she held onto him. She cocked her head and smiled up at him as she felt his gloved hand move to the small of her back.

She smiled seductively up at him, "perhaps another time, Mando."

Then, she let go.

"Hey, lay off the luna-weed!" The Mandalorian yelled as she dropped. "And, the name's Canderous, you crazy Jetii!"

She grinned up to him, blowing him a kiss as she fell.

She reached for the Force as she turned and landed lightly on top of another jetpack, ripping through the device as she jumped to another. She breathed in as she leapt, destroying their jetpacks in the process. She let go, and dropped through the air. Feeling the force constrict tightly around her as she fell, she slowed her descent and landed softly in a low lunge in front of their ground troops.

Alek frowned at her as she landed beside him. "Show off."

"You're just mad I beat you to it, Squint." She grinned as she flourished her violet lightsabers with a whirl and settled into a defensive stance.

#

The battle was over.

Ashla walked through the battlefield, stopping to check the pulse of one of the fallen. Today's battle had been a costly one, she thought as she looked out over the bloody battleground. She called out for a medic when she knelt beside one of the fallen who was still breathing. Raising, she raked a bloody hand across her forehead, leaving a dark red smear on her left temple. Her breath was shaky as she continued checking for survivors.

She froze.

Blackness swirled around her as she felt thousands upon thousands of people screaming in terror as they died.

"No…" Her knees buckled, threatening to bend underneath her. Alek appeared by her side, steading her as she wavered.

Cities burned as nuclear warheads slammed into the world of Serroco.

"Serroco burns…" Tears streamed down her face as she felt the darkness spread. She raised her bloodied face to gaze at the sky above them on Cathar.

The Force exploded with a cacophonous note ringing in her ear. Dissonance rippled through the Force as Serroco burned.

Serroco...that was where Carth had been transferred as one of the transport pilots.

"No…" She trembled as she stumbled to her knees on the bloodsoaked earth.

She zeroed in on his signature in the eddy of the Force, praying the man was unharmed. She saw a vision of Carth flying, his face focused and intense as he called out false tornado warnings in the hopes that the people would seek shelter in time, flashed before her. She felt his fear and grief. He was terrified, but safe. She breathed a small sigh of relief.

"I feel it too." Alek said. "What, in the name of the Force, have they done?!"

"The Mandalorians must be stopped. This atrocity cannot be allowed to happen again!" She cried, as she held her head with her bloody hands. She lowered her hands, leaving her face covered in a red gruesome mask.

Alek nodded, his face grief stricken. "Yes, whatever the cost, little sister."

#

She frowned as Master Vrook Lamar stepped off of the transport. Masters Zhar Lestin and Vandar Tokare followed him across the sandy beach to the rendezvous point. "They are here, Malak. It's time."

"Who all came?" Malak asked, having adopted the name after being sent back to the Revanchists with a cease order from the Jedi Council. He was determined to keep the new name until there was an end to the war's suffering. Only then would he return to use the name Alek.

"Masters Vrook, Zhar and Vandar. They will listen to our plight, although Master Vrook will object. As always. He has been staunchly against our involvement since the beginning, whereas at least I felt an understanding from Zhar and Vandar. Come, we must go." She made her way down the grassy embankment toward the beach below.

Malak stared after her, his eyes clouded with concern. He touched his sister's shoulder. "Ash, are you sure you're alright?"

She shrugged off his worry. "I told you before. I'm fine. I just need to focus." She used her macrobinoculars to gaze at the beach below.

"You need sleep, sister." Malak studied the dark circles under her eyes.

She thought of the nightmares that had begun to plague her. Once the war was over, the nightmares would stop. "I can sleep after the Mandalorians have been dealt with. I believe they are the cause of Ferroh's missing people. If we could find proof, perhaps that might convince the Council to endorse our cause. That's the whole reason we came to this planet. I feel we are too close to stop now."

He frowned, thinking she was not the same as she was before they had felt Serroco fall. No, now she was distant and austere. She isolated herself from the other Jedi and soldiers, and avoided the med center all together. Instead, she pushed all her energy and attention into planning battle strategies and meeting with the military leaders.

He sighed heavily as he followed her down the beach.

They were joined by Meetra, Ferroh and several of the other Jedi who came out to fight against the Mandalorians'.

She bowed to the Jedi Masters before her. "Masters."

Vandar gazed upon his former student. "Ashla. It is good to see that you and the others are well."

Ashla's robes floated around her in the cool breeze coming off of the ocean. "Thank you, Master Vandar. Why have you come? Are you here to lend aid to the Republic?"

Master Vrook stepped in between her and her old Master. He scowled down at her. "No, Ash. We have not. We have come to beseech you one last time to end your involvement in this travesty. Only pain will you and your followers find along this path."

"How can I do this when the people are suffering? You do not see how they go hungry, but get up each day to press on. Our troops are giving everything to stop the Mandalorians, who are nothing but a scourge on the Republic. Did you not feel the disturbance in the Force from the devastation of Serroco?!" Ashla asked passionately.

She couldn't believe what she was hearing. How dare they come all this way, just to deny her the assistance they so desperately needed. It was an injustice! An abuse of their power and authority!

"The Mandalorians are nothing special! A hundred years from now, a new group will rise to take their place. Such is the way of humanity and it is nothing that we have not seen played out time and time again. You and your followers must disband and return to the Temple." Master Vrook demanded.

Ashla's troubled eyes gazed out over the ocean as the tide came rolling in. Gray clouds hovered in the horizon. Her boot touched something in the sand. She glanced down and saw something dark sticking up. Reaching down, she brushed the sand away revealing an old black and red Mandalorian mask.

She picked it up, and her world tilted.

The other Jedi gasped around her as ghostly Cathars ran toward the shoreline, being driven by hordes of Mandalorian specters.

She drew her lightsaber and held it high as she advanced upon the Mandalorian spirits, but her lightsaber just cut through air. The other Jedi did the same, their lightsabers slashing through the air, but the ghostly apparitions were unscathed. She looked around in confusion. Malak met her eyes, unsure of what he was seeing.

"It's a vision!" Ashla yelled over the fray. "I can't stop it!"

She had inadvertently pulled everyone in her vision and they watched in horror, unable to pull their eyes away.

The Mandalorians herded the defenseless Cathar people into the ocean, as the Mandalorian forces prepared to slaughter them all.

One lone Mandalorian woman flew out over the horde. "Cassius Fett! Stop this needless slaughter! The Cathar people are defeated and have surrendered! This genocide is unnecessary and wrong!"

Ashla recognized the mask the woman wore. It was the one she held in her hands.

Cassius Fett laughed. "I applaud your valiant attempt! The Cathar must be annihilated! They dishonored the Mandalorians' during the Great Sith War. They must pay for this dishonor against us with their blood! If you choose to stand with them, then you can die with them as well."

She saw the ghostly warships overhead, with their guns pointed downward toward the helpless specters amassed on the shore.

"No!" She gasped as she surged toward the ghostly vessel, unable to deflect any of the spectral barrage. "Malak! I can't stop it!" The phantom ship opened fire upon the Cathars and the Mandalorian woman, killing them all.

The vision faded as quickly as it came.

As the strength of the vision left her, she crumpled to her knees in the wet sand. Her hands trembled as she held the Mandalorian woman's black and red mask. The woman had tried to stop the needless bloodshed but failed. I won't fail you, she thought as she put the mask on covering her pale face, and pulled her hood up over her hair. She ignited her lightsaber and held the violet blade high above her head.

"I may not know your name, but know that I take up your cause! Never shall I remove this mask! Never shall I show my true face to the galaxy - not until justice has been served! Not until the Mandalorians' have been defeated once and for all! So swears - Revan!"

#

In the privacy of her quarters, Revan yanked the mask off. It landed heavily on her bed, and her, beside it. She buried her head in her hands and wept.

Never before had she felt so helpless. Nothing she could have done could have prevented the slaughter. Sobs racked her slim shoulders as the ghostly vision replayed itself over and over in her mind, like a bad dream. A nightmare that wouldn't fade. It held her in its grip, refusing to release her.

Never before had she felt so alone.

Alek was changed after he had returned from Flashpoint Station. He came back with a new name and a darker outlook on the war. She no longer felt as if she could confide in him now that he felt like a stranger. In truth, she hadn't felt as if she could turn to him in a long time. Since the others began calling her the Revanchist and the holo-news heralded her as the saviour of the Republic, she sensed so much resentment in him.

She didn't dare confide with any of the Jedi who followed her to the Outer Rim. They looked to her for guidance. Even Meetra, who had once been her closest friend, now looked to her as more of a master, than a friend. She couldn't let them down. They looked to her for direction. They needed her to be strong, not show them that she was weak and full of fear.

The one person that she wanted to confide in was gone, sectors away on another world.

She felt disconnected.

She felt...adrift...lost.

She was haunted by the screams of the ghostly Cathar people echoing around her as she raked her hands through her hair, loosening it from its braid.

She hugged herself as she stumbled to her refresher and locked the door behind her. Her stomach rolled as tumultuous waves crashed within her, sending all the contents of her breakfast back up. She retched violently, even after her stomach had emptied itself. Sobbing, she laid her hot cheek against the cool steel.

Shaking, she rose and turned on the cool water, letting it fill the basin as she washed the grime from her pallid face.

Turning off the water, she gazed at her reflection. Bloodshot black eyes stared back at her.

A stranger's eyes.

#

Revan entered the small tent where Malak was resting, still not fully recovered from his ordeal at the hands of the Demagol. He covered his bald head with his pillow as the cold breeze flooded the tent.

She nudged his foot gently to awake him. "Malak. Come."

The helmet's damaged vocalizer distorted her voice, making it sound harsher, deeper... almost masculine.

Malak rose wearily. "What did the Council have to say, Revan?" The name sounded odd on his tongue. He had slipped a few times over the past few weeks since she had taken the new name. No one hadn't seen her without the mask and hood since that day on the beach. Not even him.

"We have reached an agreement. The vision on the beach helped them to understand the depths the Mandalorians' are willing to go. Begrudgingly, they have decided to sanction our cause. I suggested calling the mission Mercy Corps, similar to when civilian healers worked with the Republic during the Great Sith War. The Council has agreed to my request and placed the Mercy Corps under my command." Revan said as she stood looking out over the camp in the doorway of Malak's tent. "Come, Malak, it is time we end this war."

#

Dantooine

Rakata Ruins

"Revan, are you sure it was Dantooine in your vision?"

Revan stared out over the rolling plains. She could feel a shadow of darkness to the east. Towards the area the Masters had warned them all to stay away from when they were children studying at the enclave here on Dantooine. "Yes, of course I'm sure."

Malak made a soft hmphing noise under his breath as he crossed his arms over his chest. "Of course, Supreme Commander."

Her masked visage turned to him slowly. Her eyes narrowed under the black visor, but he was too far away to see. "Still pissed off at me for that, brother?"

He glared darkly at her.

"I see," she murmured. "You know I did not ask for that, Malak. It was Supreme Chancellor Cressa's idea, not mine. Besides, Cressa knows we work as a team."

He stalked off towards the ruins they could see peaking in the distance.

She sighed as she followed behind him. She thought perhaps he had been able to work past his anger at her for being hailed the new Supreme Commander of the Republic's forces. Apparently, it was still a sore spot for him.

He has always competed with me. Always trying to outdo me. When will he learn I do not crave the power he seeks? I want peace...for this war to end, and if it means using unscrupulous means to achieve it, then so be it.

Victory at any cost.

Give the Mandalorians what they have been dishing out...a taste of their own medicine.

And it was working. The Republic had been able to push the Mandalorians back, the tides had turned.

She was silent as they rounded the corner and saw the ruins laying in wait for them. The dark side was strong here. She shivered from the cold dark energy. For once, she was grateful for the thick layers her black robes and armor afforded her.

"Malak, this is the place."

"Can you feel it, sister? The dark side of the Force is all around us." He shuddered visibly as he studied the ruins. "Tell me again about your vision."

She paused before the large stone door. "Inside these chambers, we awaken something. Something that had been dormant for eons. It will lead us on a great journey. At the end of our journey, we find a place of immense power - power that we can use for the Republic. To bolster our forces, and bring peace to the galaxy."

"Are you sure about this? Are you are certain that whatever we find inside of this...temple...will lead us there?" Malak looked dubiously at the stone doorway before them.

She nodded silently as she reached out with the Force, an ominous melody filling her as she focused on the door. You will open.

Together, they walked into the darkened depths.

#

Malachor V

Death was all around her.

It crunched under her boots as she stepped lightly off of the shuttle. The air was heavy, like a dense shadowy fog clinging to the surface. She was thankful for the rebreather that was built into her mask so that she did not have to breathe in the foul scented air.

This place is ancient, she thought as she studied the ruins, looking for any signs of the Builders. Looking for any evidence to explain why the Mandalorians so feared this place. Why they forbade their people from even stepping foot here.

As she searched through the ruins, she found no sign of the enigmatic Builders from the Infinite Empire - the builders of the star maps that were leading Malak and herself to the Star Forge.

Instead, she found something far worse.

The large red pyramid loomed before her. She felt it beckoning her onward. Ghostly voices wailed through the Force as she crossed the threshold, their voices rising up in a deathly fugue. She edged her way cautiously as she held aloft her violet lightsaber to light her way.

The corridors twisted and turned. Her skin crawled, as if spectral fingers were reaching out to touch her as she passed through the darkened chambers. Her senses screamed at her to turn back, run away and return to the safety of the ship.

Yet, she continued further...deeper...into the temple. Toward the dark heart she could feel beating at the apex.

There she found it.

The source of the whispers.

The ghastly voices.

The haunting tune sang through the Force as her fingers latched onto the red prism, holding it up to study it.

A dark knowledge pulsed inside with a life of its own.

She longed to throw it against the stone walls, to shatter it into a million pieces.

But, she could not bring herself to fling it aside.

No, she held it closer to her. Studied it. Tempted by the seductive promise of what might lie inside.

A red glow illuminated the room, chasing the shadows into the far corners of the room. A discordant note rang through her ears as she turned the prism in her hands, looking for a way to open it.

Revan hummed along with the sad and lonely tune that resonated through the Force.

You will open, and you will open...now.

The prism levitated, spiraling round and round as the corners lifted away and a terrible voice filled the room.

The voice echoed around her telling of a great and powerful society. Battles fought long ago. The ancient enemy of the Jedi.

"We are the Sith. We will wait and lie dormant until the time comes to strike. Our enemies will be no more."

Revan gasped as she set down the prism, watching it close in on itself.

The Jedi said the ancient Sith were defeated. That they had been vanquished years ago, never to return.

Yet, here was proof - right at her fingertips - that the Jedi had been deceived. Deceived into believing what the Sith wanted them to believe.

She found other prisms, Sith holocrons, and learned about the Sith Empire. She learned how they stole themselves away, deep into the wild edges of space. There they waited. They rebuilt. They grew stronger.

It was only a matter of time before they crept from their hiding places to come and exact their revenge.

If what she discovered was in fact true, there was no way the Republic would be able to withstand such an onslaught. They would be destroyed, consumed by the Sith Empire.

There was no way she could allow that to happen.

It was imperative that she find the Star Forge, and use it to save the galaxy.

There was no other way.

#

Mandalore the Ultimate's Flagship-Malachor System

"It wasn't supposed to end like this," Mandalore said, gasping his last breaths. "Mandalore was supposed to have reigned supreme, not end up in ruin."

Revan stared down at the hulking Mandalorian, her mask hiding any emotion she might have shown. Enraged, she stormed at him. In her anger, her blades of light had become lethal. Now, she stared down at him and felt...nothing. An emptiness.

She reached down and ripped the mask off of him. "I believe this is mine now."

"Mandalore…" his words cut off with his dying breath.

Revan picked up his spear. "Mandalore is dead."

She turned and stalked back to her awaiting shuttle to return to her own flagship and fleet, where the rest of her Republic forces were awaiting to join up with Meetra's forces.

The end of the war lay in her grasp. Soon it would all be over, and they would have peace.

Standing on the bridge of her flagship, Revan gazed down at the mask she held in one hand and the spear in the other. Mandalore's mask dangled from the tips of her fingers.

Through the Force, she saw Meetra look at Bao-Dur and nod once. The weapon was activated. The weapon she had ordered Bao-Dur to create. The weapon she had ordered to ensure this war would end.

A flash. An explosion.

Pain blasted through her, sending her to her knees. The mask and spear slipped from her hands and fell with a loud clatter.

Through the transparisteel window of her shuttle, she watched in horror as a gravity vortex opened up. The vortex sucked countless ships, Mandalorian and Republic alike, down into it, slamming them into the planet below and fracturing the planet to its very core.

Chaos.

Death.

She couldn't breathe. She felt as if all the air in her lungs had been pulled out into the vacuum of space.

All she could feel was death.

Republic and Mandalorian forces gone in a heartbeat. Mandalorians, soldiers and Jedi all perished in the blink of an eye.

"What have I done?" she gasped. Her mask hid the tears that ran in rivulets down her pallid face.

"What have I done?!"

#

Revan dreams.

In the mist, she sees dark shadows within an evil temple.

Dark shadows that are linked together through the Force.

Dark Shadows that cripple the Republic, leaving it weak.

Leaving it vulnerable to attack…

Shadows that ravage the weakened Republic

One who hungered, consuming the Force from his prey.

One who appeared as death himself.

And, finally, a dark mistress who controlled them both.

The Republic lies in ruins at their feet.

The Jedi purged and were no more.

A dark whisper echoed across the galaxy...the Force must die.

#

The Star Forge

"Revan, we promised the Elders we would destroy this space station," Malak said, breaking the silence. "That is what we set out to do, why are you hesitating?"

"In order for the Republic to finally achieve peace, we need the power of the Star Forge. No, we cannot destroy it." She paused, deep in thought. "You have seen the shadows in our visions, just as well as I… With the Star Forge under our control, the Republic would stand victorious before the Darkness that is coming. If they will not see, then they must be made to see. No, whatever this Darkness is, I fear it will be much worse than the horrors inflicted by the Mandalorians. We must protect the Republic, no matter the cost."

Malak turned to his sister in concern, "Revan, are you sure? Surely you feel the dark energy residing in this place? Are you sure we should use this monstrosity?"

She stood silent, as she listened to the sound of ghostly voices that rose from the Star Forge. The black cowl hid the curve of her face, allowing only a part of the black and red mask to be seen. "To defeat your enemy, you must know them. In order to get to the light, sometimes you must go through the darkness."

"Revan, I promised our mother long ago that I would do whatever I could to protect you. That I would stay with you, no matter what." He placed his hand on her shoulder protectively. "At your side, I will remain. Even into darkness, if I must."

"In order to save the Republic from the threat we both know is coming, my brother," she spoke sadly, though the vocalizer distorted her voice leaving it to sound harsh and unsympathetic. She turned her head slightly, the black visor looking up at him. "I fear that is where we must go."

She ignored the warning bells going off like a siren in her head. No, this is the only way. This is what I must do.

She left him staring out across the dark expanse of space as she searched the rooms of the Star Forge and found a suite to her liking.

She withdrew the blood red prism and knelt before it in meditation.

Before, in her meditations, she would visualize tranquil places, like gardens which were full of calm and serenity. She would listen for sounds of harmony in the Force. Beautiful melodies, full of light.

Now, she focused on the anger that had been building inside of her for years. Her anger at the Council. Her anger at the Mandalorians. Her anger at the corrupt politicians who helped the war drag on and on. She let it churn within her as she listened for the dark cacophony of notes.

A red glow illuminated her masked visage as the holocron opened a sinister disembodied voice whispered to her in the darkness.

She listened.

She learned.

She embraced the darkness, and let herself fall into the abyss.

*A/N: It was fun including Canderous in the battle scene. I hope it brought you a laugh!

Darkness has fallen, and Revan has emerged. Our story will only get darker from here. As always- I hope you enjoyed this week's chapter and thank you for reading! Cheers! ~ Nia