Dark Heretic-Child of the Sith
By Aglaranna
Chapter Two-Crimson Blade
"What you call the dark side is the raw, unrestrained Force itself."
-Vergere, 'Traitor'
An aroma of spicy smells tickled Revan's sensitive nose as she entered the chambers of the Sith Lord. Smoothing the creases of her steel gray uniform hurriedly, trotting across the stainless black floor, feet slipping on the polished surface. Behind her, the door hissed shut, leaving the faithful Karth to guard the hallway.
Revan glanced around herself, each time in awe. Vader's rooms were simple. Lacking in anything of true material value, though the Dark Lord was one of the richest men in the galaxy. There was none of the posh fluffiness existing in the Imperial Palace, or the overdone elegance of the Emperor's Throne Room. His room reflected his personality, harsh, exacting, and cold. The walls were a colorless gray, flat and smooth, everything symmetrical. Nothing adorned them. Though the room could be dark or dull, the glow panels gave the room a brighter atmosphere. A quiet hissing came from the vents on either side of the large room, as stale air was recycled. His room was plain, allowing only uncomfortable black chairs, a large table, and a bed. The bed contained all the implements needed to keep the great Lord alive. Revan was grateful to it. The door on the opposite wall led to another room. One containing a sphere, in which Vader could exist outside of his breathing mask and other contraptions. Approaching the table where Lord Vader sat, she settled into the uncomfortable chair, wriggling uncomfortably beneath her Lord's stern gaze. Beneath her nose was a tray filled, sparsely of course, with many foods. Prepped to perfection. Salivating, staring at it, she subjected her master to a questioning look, a smile quirking her lips. "Mine?" She asked. Giving the barest inclination of his helmet, Revan began shoveling food into her mouth. Who was to blame her? She'd been surviving on Storm Trooper rations for the past month and a half.
"Slow down." Vader rumbled, allowing himself a wheezing chuckle. The sound came oddly out of the respirator, booming out into the echoing room. Half comical, though it was meant as a reprimand.
Revan glanced back at the imposing giant. Cocking her head, a puzzled expression working it's way across her youthful face. "You've never made that sound before." She said, eyes flicking over the stoic mask. It was impossible to discern what emotions lay behind them. "It sounded like a half-choke!" Concern flooded her voice, visibly stressing her. "Is your respirator malfunctioning?" Seriously asking him, mathematically running her eyes over his visible systems. "'Cause if it is I should get a maintenance droid to check it out." Continuing on in a ramble. "It's not a good idea for you to walk around with a malfunctioning respirator.." Adding hastily. "It's not like I want you to die or anything." Piercing him with a nonchalant glare.
"My respirator." The Dark Lord said in harsh clipped tones. "Is functioning exactly as it should." A chilling sensation traveled up Revan's spine as Vader continued. "You would do better to focus upon your own training, than worrying about my.health." He added after some duration. Revan hung her head, ashamed.
Snapping in an annoyed fashion. "It's not like I care!" Fuming, she added. "Go ahead and die!"
"Revan." Vader warned softly.
"What!" She demanded. "Your respirator always malfunctions! With all the creds you've got you'd be better off with a new one."
"Revan." Vader growled, air crackling around him.
"Yes?" Aggravated, she glared at him. Sensing his quickly changing mood, she thought it wise not to add the last retort.
"You forget your place." He rumbled, the reprimand hanging dangerously between them.
Sinking deep into her chair, Revan apologized. "I'm sorry sir." Bowing her head, angry with herself. Her thoughtless comments ruined his good mood, suddenly she was in wasn't hungry. Shoving her tray away from her, she recoiled back, hiding her tears. Shivering from the cold, avoiding his face.
"A cowering lump is unworthy of being Sith." He reminded her, voice a mirror of disgust, etched with undertones of disappointment. "I expected more from you."
The girl straightened, stung, turning a baleful gaze upon the older Sith. "I know sir." She muttered woodenly, backboard straight, shame and indignation burning on ruddy cheeks. "I am not Sith."
Nodding in agreement, Vader said. "No you are not."
Brows knitting together, Revan opened herself to the Force. Quietly probing her mentor. What did he mean? Wasn't she Sith? Even the Emperor said so. 'He calls me the Last Child of the Sith.' The Emperor was never mistaken.
"You are not yet of the Sith Order." Vader added, causing the tension crackling in the air to ease. The Dark Lord smiled, her reactions had been satisfactory, and her use of the Force impeccable. The child's control was growing; it was time to introduce the next phase. "The Emperor decrees that you will begin constructing your lightsaber." Vader did not necessarily share this viewpoint. He felt they should wait until she was older, more readily trained. But what the Emperor willed? It was always so. One did not go against the Emperor lightly.
Blinking in confusion, Revan thought. 'What does he mean? Construct my lightsaber? Aren't I young?' "Really.I mean yes sir." She stumbled over her words. 'He's going to train me with a lightsaber!' She thought excitedly.
"You've already begun." Her Lord informed her. "It is only a matter of adding the next step." With a flick of his wrist, Vader drew the deadly hilt of his lightsaber from his cloak. Pressing the power stud, a blade red as blood licked into being. Humming its deadly notes, as the saber gleamed undiminished in the darkened light. Sensing the dark energy clinging to the hilt, Revan drew slightly back. The blade had it's own bloody thirst. "Every Sith builds their own." Calmly he told her, lazily taking several passes with the meter long weapon.
Pondering his words, she asked. "Like the Jedi?"
Flinching beneath his mask, Vader responded coldly. "Yes like the Jedi." The word "Jedi" was long and drown out, suggesting something foul. Holocrons had their uses, but disadvantages came with them. The child was developing an interest in the extinct religion, too deep an interest. That would have to be eliminated. "You're lightsaber will be uniquely yours. All I will provide is the crystal."
"The power source right?" Revan fidgeted in her seat. "How am I to construct it?"
"You will be equipped with a diagram, properly showing you how to build the weapon." Vader told her. "I want your components chosen in the next ten standard days."
"Yes sir." Revan said, playing with her food.
"Off with you." Vader growled, giving her a half-hearted shove towards the door.
Turning with one last wave, she called. "Bye sir." Then vanished into the corridor, the door sliding shut behind her.
Only after it had clicked, did Vader allow himself a satisfied sigh. "Goodbye dear child." Wondering if the fatherly affection he felt for the young apprentice was the same that Obi-wan felt for him. Well, it was no matter. Best clear it from his mind, silently preparing for his audience with the Emperor.
***
Emerging from Vader's chambers, Revan turned to the faithful Karth. Innocently asking. "Can we practice Karth?" Knowing her guard was in need of a proper sparring match.
It never seemed to cross the young Sith's mind that all she need do was order him, and he'd obey. But Revan never did, trained to respect her teachers, and as he was one of her teachers, respect him she did. Karth was again thankful that the mask hid his chagrined smile. Always, she asked, never ordered. "If that is what you wish." He replied simply.
"It is what I wish." She responded. Determinedly changing direction and heading towards the training room. 'If I am to build a lightsaber I must be competent in wielding one.' She wanted to impress Lord Vader, thinking quietly. 'I want him to be proud.' Her gray eyes darkening as she waited for Karth to say something. But the man was quiet as a tomb, and they walked in silence. Each trapped within their own thoughts.
Revan picked up a stun rod, heading onto the training mat, stripping off her stiff ceremonial boots and slipping into older more comfortable ones. Flicking the switch, the rod began it's monotonous humming, though nothing like a lightsaber's deadly thrum. More coordinated than most children her age, Revan was more competent with a stun rod than either of her teachers would admit. Having a frightening aptitude for any weapon she touched, she'd quickly grown to one of the Imperial Military's elite. Or she would've been, if anyone let her into battle. She could handle force pikes to blasters, though she dismissed the hand held gun. It was too easy, she'd said, you just point and shoot. Smiling she made a few passes with the stun rod, testing it's weight. Licking her lips in anticipation, she turned to face her opponent.
Karth met her on the mat, his stun rod buzzing softly. Settling himself into his stance, as she assumed hers, the Imperial Guard regarded the student with a critical eye. "Keep your back leg bent more." He instructed, and she complied. "Deeper!" He roared.
Glaring, she sank deeper, listening to her hardened muscles scream and tremor. "Ready!" She snapped, saluting him crisply with the point of her stun rod.
With a brisk nod, he answered, refraining from the salute. She sprang at him. Their hands a flurry of blurred motions, strikes, parries, thrusts, and blocks. Matching her step by step for speed. Sweat sprayed from them in a dark cloud, the stun rods sizzling with contact. From Karth's mouth spat a fray of instructions, most of them unintelligible to the trained ear, but to the young girl they were clear. "Hands up.I said deeper stance.faster.you call that a block!" He shouted as she caught his rod. "It couldn't block the staff of a nerf herder." Grunting in return, feeling the Force flow around them, guiding her movements. They moved fluidly and quickly, more like an intricate dance, rather than any form of combat. The motions slowly increasing in speed, coming in swift elegant and deadly arcs, all nervousness and insecurity gone. Giving herself over in complete surrender, she allowed the Force to guide her. Karth smiled as she grew more precise, but he was not hard pressed to keep pace. Her skills grew daily, however they did not match his yet. She was a pathetic excuse for a challenge. At least, she wasn't much of one yet. 'One day she will be.' He vowed silently. 'And I shall keep her alive until then.' Seeing an opening, with precise accuracy of an experienced man, he flipped his rod down and under her exposed armpit. He jerked, sideways and up, toppling over, she hit the mats hard.
Sitting up, a chastened smile on her face, she said. "That one hurt." Grimacing as she rubbed her stinging under-arm.
"You were overconfident." Karth informed her. "If you are not careful, it will become your weakness." Shutting down his rod, watching the blue color dissipate before he tossed it aside. Turning on his heel, he strode from the room, not offering her a hand up. "Practice drills eight, nine, and ten." He ordered. "When you are done I shall escort you to your room." With that he exited the practice room, with none of the flourish or pomp many of the Imperial officers used. His style was very similar to Vader's. Perhaps that was what she liked about him.
"Yes sir." Snapping another crisp salute to his exiting back. She scrambled to her feet. 'There's always a bigger fish.' She thought, slightly annoyed. 'No matter, one day I'll be bigger than them all.' With a determined smile, she began to run through the drills. Focusing only on the thrumming drone of the stun rod, letting all other thoughts pass from her mind. And again, she became one with the Force.
***
"Her training is progressing well, my master." Vader said, kneeling before the floating holographic head of the Emperor. Shrouded in shadow, the Emperor's withered lips and face curved repulsively. About him hung the stench of rotting death, and fear. Even across the galaxy Vader felt his aura of hatred and fear. There was none more aligned with the dark side than the Emperor. One day, Vader would change that, but it was not that yet day. "She grows strong."
Below his hood, the lips of the Emperor puckered into a satisfied smile. "It is as I have foreseen." That was a statement, not a question. "She is becoming powerful."
The Emperor's pleasure inspired Vader's next comment. "She is indeed worthy of the Sith."
"In time, we will see." The Emperor admonished. "Do not let your confidence in this matter betray you Lord Vader." He snapped in slight rebuke and harsh warning. "Blood calls to blood, and the child's tainted."
"Surely, your blood calls to her, my master." The Dark Lord bowed his head, knowing well that the Emperor placed little stock in Revan's growing abilities. Perhaps there was something he feared in the girl. But she was too valuable to destroy. "Kenobi's blood does not run as strong as yours."
"Yet it is still strong." Palpatine reminded his servant. "A worrisome complication." The Emperor dismissed it with a wave of his hand, fixing Vader with a piercing yellow stare. "It will be dealt with in time. The child belongs to us, you have instructed her well Lord Vader. I sense her loyalty to you."
"She is loyal only to you, my master." Vader rumbled humbly, hoping to reassure the Emperor. "Her last living relative."
Nodding as if this was already determined, the Emperor spoke again. "I know. You have done well Lord Vader. Everything has proceeded according to my design, now I am sending you to oversee the completion of my Death Star. It will be completed on schedule."
Surprised, Vader asked. "And what of the child?" Daring the Emperor's anger at questioning his orders, Vader felt he must know Revan's fate. She could never accompany him to the battle station. Knowledge of her existence must be protected from the rebels at any cost, and the station would become a battleground. His place was where the Emperor demanded him, but his promise to Obi-wan still rankled his mind. 'I will protect her and the child.' The child was the only one left, the daughter of his old master, Aranya's only child. Powerful in the Force, her true potential not yet defined. 'And the child.you have my word.' His word meant something then, and it meant something now.
"She is no longer your concern." The Emperor stated simply. "I have arranged for a transport to take her to your fortress Bast Castle. You have no objections."
Of course he didn't. "When will this transport come master?" Vader asked dutifully, his mind whirling. Why was Revan being taken from his control? Who would train her? The Emperor? He must not question his master.
"It will arrive in two standard days. Prepare her."
***
"I can't believe he's making me." Shaking her head, disgusted, as she packed away her few possessions in a meager bag. Carefully wrapping the three holocrons and a volume of Jedi philosophy Vader saved from the Jedi Library, and placing them in the bag a top her three gray uniforms. Storing the components of her lightsaber in a side pocket inside the bag, she pulled on her worn black boots. Earlier that day, Vader informed her she'd be leaving home. Well, if you could call the Executor home. "I didn't even get a.." Leaving the mournful complaint unfinished, she went back to her packing. She knew better. 'When do I ever get a choice?' Asking herself angrily, as she shoved a tiny hologram of Darth Vader into the bag. The answer was simple, it always was. Never. All her life she'd been bounced from one guardian to the next. Did she get to say, 'I'd like to stay here?' No, of course not. Her life revolved around duty, and loyalty. It was her duty to obey the Emperor. If you had opinions they were best kept to yourself. Even with Vader, her home had never been defined. On the Executor or in Bast Castle, did it matter? No. It was just the way it was. 'I've never known anything else.' She concluded quietly, 'How can you miss what you've never known?' Sighing, she closed her traveling bag. 'Besides I prefer the lonely corridors of Bast.' She admitted. 'To the isolation of the Imperial Palace.' After all, it was no use crying over something she would never experience. Still, it gnawed at the back of her mind. Would her real father, whoever he was, treat her this way? Questioning the silent room, she asked. "Who is my father?" Half expecting the durasteel walls to speak, but her only answer came from the whirring of recycled air. And it didn't tell her much at all.
Behind her, the door hissed open. Sensing the presence, she said. "Karth." Not bothering to turn around, sure he had a part in this, she asked. "Is the shuttle here?" Smoothing the crinkles of her old uniform lovingly, she slung her bag onto her shoulder. There was no need for a response on Karth's part; they both knew she'd felt the ominous landing of the shuttle in the Executor's docking bay. The time had come. "You're coming with me?" She asked, voice small. "Aren't you?" Bouncing out past him, the two walked down the corridor.
"No my lady." Karth assured her stiffly.
Revan withheld a sigh of relief. 'I didn't want to say goodbye to him too.' She thought, thanking the Force. "You'll never leave me." She stated; her tone was one of thoughtful reflection, beyond her years. Yet, underlying her words there was a scared and frightened trembling, befitting a twelve-year-old child. Karth knew her words were meant to reassure herself. She glanced anxiously up at his towering form. "Will you?"
"I will never leave you." The Guard intoned, pledging quietly to both her and him. "As long as circumstance allows." He added not wishing to betray her. He realized perhaps she was more attached to him than he'd thought. 'I'm the only constant in her life.' A sad awe filled him, gazing down at his charge. 'The only constant.' But for how long would that be?
Hurrying her last steps, she arrived ceremoniously at Vader's side. Pleasure passed through her, her Master had come to see her off. Probing his mind, she sensed his unease with the Emperor's plan. It warmed her even more. 'It will be all right.' She sent, impressing her emotions upon him. Wanting to ease the worries beneath the impenetrable mask.
"The Emperor expects you to continue your studies." Revan's lips twitched, could she expect no more than his usual goodbye? "I do not share his optimistic assurances, you will complete your lightsaber by next we meet." He ordered, leaving the poignant threat hanging like a blade over her head. She knew the implications in his tone, what would happen if she did not meet with all that he asked. If she disobeyed.
Bowing low, Revan answered. "What ever the Emperor wishes." Straightening she gave him a cheeky nod, the age-old answer sitting firmly on her lips. "As you command, I will obey."
Frowning beneath his helmet, Vader gruffly told her. "Off with you." Silent thoughts flitting through his mind, thinking as she vanished into the shuttle. 'May the Force be with you.'
From the landing ramp she gave him a stiff perfunctory bow, styling the wooden Imperial manner. She disappeared. 'Why do I feel like I'll never see him again?' She wondered, a small knot of fear wedging itself into her stomach. As several Storm Troopers escorted her inside, flanked by an imposing red Guard. Securing her in the crash webbing, Karth took his accustomed seat behind her. The Storm Troopers on either side. 'You must go where the Force wills.' A gentle voice echoed in her mind, pressing her face against the plexiglass she stared into the black expanse. 'It will guide you to your destiny.' The voice did not belong to Darth Vader; it was to light and kind. Nor did it belong to the Emperor. But it was familiar, a voice long forgotten, on she'd heard long ago in a place far far away.
***
Vader stood upon the deck, his rattling wheeze drawing in sharply as the shuttle fired up its engines. The tiny ship sped away into the glimmering black expanse, towards the freighter The Emperor's Hand, waiting to carry the tiny heir away. Indeed, Vader had many misgivings about this plan. Two small frigates guarded the freighter, a likely target to a rebel attack. And the small ships would break if such an attack were to come. The ships would not take the Heir directly to Bast Castle; instead they would follow the respective trade route to Imperial Posts in the Outer Rim. The Emperor seemed to be dangling a carrot for the Rebels. 'A dangerous carrot indeed.' Frowning, Vader wondered why the Emperor had not asked him to simply escort Revan to their home in Bast Castle. That way was much safer. Did the Emperor fear his grandchild? Vader dismissed the idea with a wave of his hand; there was nothing he could do. The child was too useful for the Emperor to intentionally harm her. Either way, she was out of his hands. Dismissing these troubling worries from his mind, Vader prepared to carry out the Emperor's wishes.
But a gnawing worry ate at the back of the Dark Lord's mind.
***
A loud siren wailed through the decks of the Emperor's Hand. The ship was under attack. Beside it, one of its escort frigates exploded in a burst of flame. Destroyed by a well-aimed photon torpedo. The tiny X- wings swooped around the lagging freighter, like vultures waiting to pick apart the pieces. Another ear cracking whistle blew, they'd just lost their rear deflector shields.
Grabbing the heir and her bag, Karth half-carried half-dragged the girl across the levels of the ship. They passed a window on the lower deck, just in time to see the second frigate vanish in a puff of flame. A third squealing alarm resounded through the decks as the ship lurched. "What was that?" Revan screamed over the commotion.
"Life support is failing." Karth answered grimly. "We're getting you off this ship!" His grip tightened on her wrist as he hurried her along. Revan's eyes widened, innocent fear contorting her normally controlled features. Frozen in place she refused to move. Having no time to argue, Karth swept the small girl off of her feet and carried her down the last few steps. Stumbling slightly as the ship jerked, struck by another torpedo. Karth staggered the last few steps. "Get in." Roughly shoving her towards the pod. Sitting her inside and tightening the crash webbing, he gave her a wane smile. "You'll be safe," He told her softly.
"What about you?" Revan screamed, as Karth stood pressing the release. The ship lurched again.
'We don't have much time.' He thought grimly, he'd done his duty. "Promise me." He told her.
"Promise you what Karth?" She asked, voice taught. "What do you want me to promise?"
A fourth siren sounded. "Promise me you'll survive."
He leaned back slamming the hatch shut on her. "What do you mean Karth?" She cried. "KARTH!" She screamed, punching the release, rocketing her out into space.
'Survive.'
Shockwaves smashed into the tiny pod, as the Emperor's hand detonated into a flaming red ball, vanishing like a put out candle. All alone, the tiny escape pod tumbled unnoticed towards the swamp planet of Degobah.
By Aglaranna
Chapter Two-Crimson Blade
"What you call the dark side is the raw, unrestrained Force itself."
-Vergere, 'Traitor'
An aroma of spicy smells tickled Revan's sensitive nose as she entered the chambers of the Sith Lord. Smoothing the creases of her steel gray uniform hurriedly, trotting across the stainless black floor, feet slipping on the polished surface. Behind her, the door hissed shut, leaving the faithful Karth to guard the hallway.
Revan glanced around herself, each time in awe. Vader's rooms were simple. Lacking in anything of true material value, though the Dark Lord was one of the richest men in the galaxy. There was none of the posh fluffiness existing in the Imperial Palace, or the overdone elegance of the Emperor's Throne Room. His room reflected his personality, harsh, exacting, and cold. The walls were a colorless gray, flat and smooth, everything symmetrical. Nothing adorned them. Though the room could be dark or dull, the glow panels gave the room a brighter atmosphere. A quiet hissing came from the vents on either side of the large room, as stale air was recycled. His room was plain, allowing only uncomfortable black chairs, a large table, and a bed. The bed contained all the implements needed to keep the great Lord alive. Revan was grateful to it. The door on the opposite wall led to another room. One containing a sphere, in which Vader could exist outside of his breathing mask and other contraptions. Approaching the table where Lord Vader sat, she settled into the uncomfortable chair, wriggling uncomfortably beneath her Lord's stern gaze. Beneath her nose was a tray filled, sparsely of course, with many foods. Prepped to perfection. Salivating, staring at it, she subjected her master to a questioning look, a smile quirking her lips. "Mine?" She asked. Giving the barest inclination of his helmet, Revan began shoveling food into her mouth. Who was to blame her? She'd been surviving on Storm Trooper rations for the past month and a half.
"Slow down." Vader rumbled, allowing himself a wheezing chuckle. The sound came oddly out of the respirator, booming out into the echoing room. Half comical, though it was meant as a reprimand.
Revan glanced back at the imposing giant. Cocking her head, a puzzled expression working it's way across her youthful face. "You've never made that sound before." She said, eyes flicking over the stoic mask. It was impossible to discern what emotions lay behind them. "It sounded like a half-choke!" Concern flooded her voice, visibly stressing her. "Is your respirator malfunctioning?" Seriously asking him, mathematically running her eyes over his visible systems. "'Cause if it is I should get a maintenance droid to check it out." Continuing on in a ramble. "It's not a good idea for you to walk around with a malfunctioning respirator.." Adding hastily. "It's not like I want you to die or anything." Piercing him with a nonchalant glare.
"My respirator." The Dark Lord said in harsh clipped tones. "Is functioning exactly as it should." A chilling sensation traveled up Revan's spine as Vader continued. "You would do better to focus upon your own training, than worrying about my.health." He added after some duration. Revan hung her head, ashamed.
Snapping in an annoyed fashion. "It's not like I care!" Fuming, she added. "Go ahead and die!"
"Revan." Vader warned softly.
"What!" She demanded. "Your respirator always malfunctions! With all the creds you've got you'd be better off with a new one."
"Revan." Vader growled, air crackling around him.
"Yes?" Aggravated, she glared at him. Sensing his quickly changing mood, she thought it wise not to add the last retort.
"You forget your place." He rumbled, the reprimand hanging dangerously between them.
Sinking deep into her chair, Revan apologized. "I'm sorry sir." Bowing her head, angry with herself. Her thoughtless comments ruined his good mood, suddenly she was in wasn't hungry. Shoving her tray away from her, she recoiled back, hiding her tears. Shivering from the cold, avoiding his face.
"A cowering lump is unworthy of being Sith." He reminded her, voice a mirror of disgust, etched with undertones of disappointment. "I expected more from you."
The girl straightened, stung, turning a baleful gaze upon the older Sith. "I know sir." She muttered woodenly, backboard straight, shame and indignation burning on ruddy cheeks. "I am not Sith."
Nodding in agreement, Vader said. "No you are not."
Brows knitting together, Revan opened herself to the Force. Quietly probing her mentor. What did he mean? Wasn't she Sith? Even the Emperor said so. 'He calls me the Last Child of the Sith.' The Emperor was never mistaken.
"You are not yet of the Sith Order." Vader added, causing the tension crackling in the air to ease. The Dark Lord smiled, her reactions had been satisfactory, and her use of the Force impeccable. The child's control was growing; it was time to introduce the next phase. "The Emperor decrees that you will begin constructing your lightsaber." Vader did not necessarily share this viewpoint. He felt they should wait until she was older, more readily trained. But what the Emperor willed? It was always so. One did not go against the Emperor lightly.
Blinking in confusion, Revan thought. 'What does he mean? Construct my lightsaber? Aren't I young?' "Really.I mean yes sir." She stumbled over her words. 'He's going to train me with a lightsaber!' She thought excitedly.
"You've already begun." Her Lord informed her. "It is only a matter of adding the next step." With a flick of his wrist, Vader drew the deadly hilt of his lightsaber from his cloak. Pressing the power stud, a blade red as blood licked into being. Humming its deadly notes, as the saber gleamed undiminished in the darkened light. Sensing the dark energy clinging to the hilt, Revan drew slightly back. The blade had it's own bloody thirst. "Every Sith builds their own." Calmly he told her, lazily taking several passes with the meter long weapon.
Pondering his words, she asked. "Like the Jedi?"
Flinching beneath his mask, Vader responded coldly. "Yes like the Jedi." The word "Jedi" was long and drown out, suggesting something foul. Holocrons had their uses, but disadvantages came with them. The child was developing an interest in the extinct religion, too deep an interest. That would have to be eliminated. "You're lightsaber will be uniquely yours. All I will provide is the crystal."
"The power source right?" Revan fidgeted in her seat. "How am I to construct it?"
"You will be equipped with a diagram, properly showing you how to build the weapon." Vader told her. "I want your components chosen in the next ten standard days."
"Yes sir." Revan said, playing with her food.
"Off with you." Vader growled, giving her a half-hearted shove towards the door.
Turning with one last wave, she called. "Bye sir." Then vanished into the corridor, the door sliding shut behind her.
Only after it had clicked, did Vader allow himself a satisfied sigh. "Goodbye dear child." Wondering if the fatherly affection he felt for the young apprentice was the same that Obi-wan felt for him. Well, it was no matter. Best clear it from his mind, silently preparing for his audience with the Emperor.
***
Emerging from Vader's chambers, Revan turned to the faithful Karth. Innocently asking. "Can we practice Karth?" Knowing her guard was in need of a proper sparring match.
It never seemed to cross the young Sith's mind that all she need do was order him, and he'd obey. But Revan never did, trained to respect her teachers, and as he was one of her teachers, respect him she did. Karth was again thankful that the mask hid his chagrined smile. Always, she asked, never ordered. "If that is what you wish." He replied simply.
"It is what I wish." She responded. Determinedly changing direction and heading towards the training room. 'If I am to build a lightsaber I must be competent in wielding one.' She wanted to impress Lord Vader, thinking quietly. 'I want him to be proud.' Her gray eyes darkening as she waited for Karth to say something. But the man was quiet as a tomb, and they walked in silence. Each trapped within their own thoughts.
Revan picked up a stun rod, heading onto the training mat, stripping off her stiff ceremonial boots and slipping into older more comfortable ones. Flicking the switch, the rod began it's monotonous humming, though nothing like a lightsaber's deadly thrum. More coordinated than most children her age, Revan was more competent with a stun rod than either of her teachers would admit. Having a frightening aptitude for any weapon she touched, she'd quickly grown to one of the Imperial Military's elite. Or she would've been, if anyone let her into battle. She could handle force pikes to blasters, though she dismissed the hand held gun. It was too easy, she'd said, you just point and shoot. Smiling she made a few passes with the stun rod, testing it's weight. Licking her lips in anticipation, she turned to face her opponent.
Karth met her on the mat, his stun rod buzzing softly. Settling himself into his stance, as she assumed hers, the Imperial Guard regarded the student with a critical eye. "Keep your back leg bent more." He instructed, and she complied. "Deeper!" He roared.
Glaring, she sank deeper, listening to her hardened muscles scream and tremor. "Ready!" She snapped, saluting him crisply with the point of her stun rod.
With a brisk nod, he answered, refraining from the salute. She sprang at him. Their hands a flurry of blurred motions, strikes, parries, thrusts, and blocks. Matching her step by step for speed. Sweat sprayed from them in a dark cloud, the stun rods sizzling with contact. From Karth's mouth spat a fray of instructions, most of them unintelligible to the trained ear, but to the young girl they were clear. "Hands up.I said deeper stance.faster.you call that a block!" He shouted as she caught his rod. "It couldn't block the staff of a nerf herder." Grunting in return, feeling the Force flow around them, guiding her movements. They moved fluidly and quickly, more like an intricate dance, rather than any form of combat. The motions slowly increasing in speed, coming in swift elegant and deadly arcs, all nervousness and insecurity gone. Giving herself over in complete surrender, she allowed the Force to guide her. Karth smiled as she grew more precise, but he was not hard pressed to keep pace. Her skills grew daily, however they did not match his yet. She was a pathetic excuse for a challenge. At least, she wasn't much of one yet. 'One day she will be.' He vowed silently. 'And I shall keep her alive until then.' Seeing an opening, with precise accuracy of an experienced man, he flipped his rod down and under her exposed armpit. He jerked, sideways and up, toppling over, she hit the mats hard.
Sitting up, a chastened smile on her face, she said. "That one hurt." Grimacing as she rubbed her stinging under-arm.
"You were overconfident." Karth informed her. "If you are not careful, it will become your weakness." Shutting down his rod, watching the blue color dissipate before he tossed it aside. Turning on his heel, he strode from the room, not offering her a hand up. "Practice drills eight, nine, and ten." He ordered. "When you are done I shall escort you to your room." With that he exited the practice room, with none of the flourish or pomp many of the Imperial officers used. His style was very similar to Vader's. Perhaps that was what she liked about him.
"Yes sir." Snapping another crisp salute to his exiting back. She scrambled to her feet. 'There's always a bigger fish.' She thought, slightly annoyed. 'No matter, one day I'll be bigger than them all.' With a determined smile, she began to run through the drills. Focusing only on the thrumming drone of the stun rod, letting all other thoughts pass from her mind. And again, she became one with the Force.
***
"Her training is progressing well, my master." Vader said, kneeling before the floating holographic head of the Emperor. Shrouded in shadow, the Emperor's withered lips and face curved repulsively. About him hung the stench of rotting death, and fear. Even across the galaxy Vader felt his aura of hatred and fear. There was none more aligned with the dark side than the Emperor. One day, Vader would change that, but it was not that yet day. "She grows strong."
Below his hood, the lips of the Emperor puckered into a satisfied smile. "It is as I have foreseen." That was a statement, not a question. "She is becoming powerful."
The Emperor's pleasure inspired Vader's next comment. "She is indeed worthy of the Sith."
"In time, we will see." The Emperor admonished. "Do not let your confidence in this matter betray you Lord Vader." He snapped in slight rebuke and harsh warning. "Blood calls to blood, and the child's tainted."
"Surely, your blood calls to her, my master." The Dark Lord bowed his head, knowing well that the Emperor placed little stock in Revan's growing abilities. Perhaps there was something he feared in the girl. But she was too valuable to destroy. "Kenobi's blood does not run as strong as yours."
"Yet it is still strong." Palpatine reminded his servant. "A worrisome complication." The Emperor dismissed it with a wave of his hand, fixing Vader with a piercing yellow stare. "It will be dealt with in time. The child belongs to us, you have instructed her well Lord Vader. I sense her loyalty to you."
"She is loyal only to you, my master." Vader rumbled humbly, hoping to reassure the Emperor. "Her last living relative."
Nodding as if this was already determined, the Emperor spoke again. "I know. You have done well Lord Vader. Everything has proceeded according to my design, now I am sending you to oversee the completion of my Death Star. It will be completed on schedule."
Surprised, Vader asked. "And what of the child?" Daring the Emperor's anger at questioning his orders, Vader felt he must know Revan's fate. She could never accompany him to the battle station. Knowledge of her existence must be protected from the rebels at any cost, and the station would become a battleground. His place was where the Emperor demanded him, but his promise to Obi-wan still rankled his mind. 'I will protect her and the child.' The child was the only one left, the daughter of his old master, Aranya's only child. Powerful in the Force, her true potential not yet defined. 'And the child.you have my word.' His word meant something then, and it meant something now.
"She is no longer your concern." The Emperor stated simply. "I have arranged for a transport to take her to your fortress Bast Castle. You have no objections."
Of course he didn't. "When will this transport come master?" Vader asked dutifully, his mind whirling. Why was Revan being taken from his control? Who would train her? The Emperor? He must not question his master.
"It will arrive in two standard days. Prepare her."
***
"I can't believe he's making me." Shaking her head, disgusted, as she packed away her few possessions in a meager bag. Carefully wrapping the three holocrons and a volume of Jedi philosophy Vader saved from the Jedi Library, and placing them in the bag a top her three gray uniforms. Storing the components of her lightsaber in a side pocket inside the bag, she pulled on her worn black boots. Earlier that day, Vader informed her she'd be leaving home. Well, if you could call the Executor home. "I didn't even get a.." Leaving the mournful complaint unfinished, she went back to her packing. She knew better. 'When do I ever get a choice?' Asking herself angrily, as she shoved a tiny hologram of Darth Vader into the bag. The answer was simple, it always was. Never. All her life she'd been bounced from one guardian to the next. Did she get to say, 'I'd like to stay here?' No, of course not. Her life revolved around duty, and loyalty. It was her duty to obey the Emperor. If you had opinions they were best kept to yourself. Even with Vader, her home had never been defined. On the Executor or in Bast Castle, did it matter? No. It was just the way it was. 'I've never known anything else.' She concluded quietly, 'How can you miss what you've never known?' Sighing, she closed her traveling bag. 'Besides I prefer the lonely corridors of Bast.' She admitted. 'To the isolation of the Imperial Palace.' After all, it was no use crying over something she would never experience. Still, it gnawed at the back of her mind. Would her real father, whoever he was, treat her this way? Questioning the silent room, she asked. "Who is my father?" Half expecting the durasteel walls to speak, but her only answer came from the whirring of recycled air. And it didn't tell her much at all.
Behind her, the door hissed open. Sensing the presence, she said. "Karth." Not bothering to turn around, sure he had a part in this, she asked. "Is the shuttle here?" Smoothing the crinkles of her old uniform lovingly, she slung her bag onto her shoulder. There was no need for a response on Karth's part; they both knew she'd felt the ominous landing of the shuttle in the Executor's docking bay. The time had come. "You're coming with me?" She asked, voice small. "Aren't you?" Bouncing out past him, the two walked down the corridor.
"No my lady." Karth assured her stiffly.
Revan withheld a sigh of relief. 'I didn't want to say goodbye to him too.' She thought, thanking the Force. "You'll never leave me." She stated; her tone was one of thoughtful reflection, beyond her years. Yet, underlying her words there was a scared and frightened trembling, befitting a twelve-year-old child. Karth knew her words were meant to reassure herself. She glanced anxiously up at his towering form. "Will you?"
"I will never leave you." The Guard intoned, pledging quietly to both her and him. "As long as circumstance allows." He added not wishing to betray her. He realized perhaps she was more attached to him than he'd thought. 'I'm the only constant in her life.' A sad awe filled him, gazing down at his charge. 'The only constant.' But for how long would that be?
Hurrying her last steps, she arrived ceremoniously at Vader's side. Pleasure passed through her, her Master had come to see her off. Probing his mind, she sensed his unease with the Emperor's plan. It warmed her even more. 'It will be all right.' She sent, impressing her emotions upon him. Wanting to ease the worries beneath the impenetrable mask.
"The Emperor expects you to continue your studies." Revan's lips twitched, could she expect no more than his usual goodbye? "I do not share his optimistic assurances, you will complete your lightsaber by next we meet." He ordered, leaving the poignant threat hanging like a blade over her head. She knew the implications in his tone, what would happen if she did not meet with all that he asked. If she disobeyed.
Bowing low, Revan answered. "What ever the Emperor wishes." Straightening she gave him a cheeky nod, the age-old answer sitting firmly on her lips. "As you command, I will obey."
Frowning beneath his helmet, Vader gruffly told her. "Off with you." Silent thoughts flitting through his mind, thinking as she vanished into the shuttle. 'May the Force be with you.'
From the landing ramp she gave him a stiff perfunctory bow, styling the wooden Imperial manner. She disappeared. 'Why do I feel like I'll never see him again?' She wondered, a small knot of fear wedging itself into her stomach. As several Storm Troopers escorted her inside, flanked by an imposing red Guard. Securing her in the crash webbing, Karth took his accustomed seat behind her. The Storm Troopers on either side. 'You must go where the Force wills.' A gentle voice echoed in her mind, pressing her face against the plexiglass she stared into the black expanse. 'It will guide you to your destiny.' The voice did not belong to Darth Vader; it was to light and kind. Nor did it belong to the Emperor. But it was familiar, a voice long forgotten, on she'd heard long ago in a place far far away.
***
Vader stood upon the deck, his rattling wheeze drawing in sharply as the shuttle fired up its engines. The tiny ship sped away into the glimmering black expanse, towards the freighter The Emperor's Hand, waiting to carry the tiny heir away. Indeed, Vader had many misgivings about this plan. Two small frigates guarded the freighter, a likely target to a rebel attack. And the small ships would break if such an attack were to come. The ships would not take the Heir directly to Bast Castle; instead they would follow the respective trade route to Imperial Posts in the Outer Rim. The Emperor seemed to be dangling a carrot for the Rebels. 'A dangerous carrot indeed.' Frowning, Vader wondered why the Emperor had not asked him to simply escort Revan to their home in Bast Castle. That way was much safer. Did the Emperor fear his grandchild? Vader dismissed the idea with a wave of his hand; there was nothing he could do. The child was too useful for the Emperor to intentionally harm her. Either way, she was out of his hands. Dismissing these troubling worries from his mind, Vader prepared to carry out the Emperor's wishes.
But a gnawing worry ate at the back of the Dark Lord's mind.
***
A loud siren wailed through the decks of the Emperor's Hand. The ship was under attack. Beside it, one of its escort frigates exploded in a burst of flame. Destroyed by a well-aimed photon torpedo. The tiny X- wings swooped around the lagging freighter, like vultures waiting to pick apart the pieces. Another ear cracking whistle blew, they'd just lost their rear deflector shields.
Grabbing the heir and her bag, Karth half-carried half-dragged the girl across the levels of the ship. They passed a window on the lower deck, just in time to see the second frigate vanish in a puff of flame. A third squealing alarm resounded through the decks as the ship lurched. "What was that?" Revan screamed over the commotion.
"Life support is failing." Karth answered grimly. "We're getting you off this ship!" His grip tightened on her wrist as he hurried her along. Revan's eyes widened, innocent fear contorting her normally controlled features. Frozen in place she refused to move. Having no time to argue, Karth swept the small girl off of her feet and carried her down the last few steps. Stumbling slightly as the ship jerked, struck by another torpedo. Karth staggered the last few steps. "Get in." Roughly shoving her towards the pod. Sitting her inside and tightening the crash webbing, he gave her a wane smile. "You'll be safe," He told her softly.
"What about you?" Revan screamed, as Karth stood pressing the release. The ship lurched again.
'We don't have much time.' He thought grimly, he'd done his duty. "Promise me." He told her.
"Promise you what Karth?" She asked, voice taught. "What do you want me to promise?"
A fourth siren sounded. "Promise me you'll survive."
He leaned back slamming the hatch shut on her. "What do you mean Karth?" She cried. "KARTH!" She screamed, punching the release, rocketing her out into space.
'Survive.'
Shockwaves smashed into the tiny pod, as the Emperor's hand detonated into a flaming red ball, vanishing like a put out candle. All alone, the tiny escape pod tumbled unnoticed towards the swamp planet of Degobah.