Trouble: A Knights of the Old Republic Fan-fiction
by: Sam Lincoln
Revan stared at the Chancellor's Palace through a pair of macrobinoculars. He had waited until nightfall before starting his infiltration and put the time spent waiting to use observing the building to get a sense of the security measures in place.
All around him Coruscant thrummed with activity but Revan focused solely on his objective. He watched as a stream of speeders left the compound, the bureaucrats were going home for the day. This suited Revan since it made it easier for him to move around within the palace.
Revan saw a cargo hauler approach his position. He had hacked into the Palace's communication system and knew that the hauler was carrying food for an upcoming state function. It was also Revan's key to entering the palace.
Revan took a deep breath then leapt off the building. As he hurtled down he activated the stealth unit built into his armor. He twisted through the air and called on the Force to slow his descent. He landed gently on the roof of the cargo hauler and then lay flat as it roared through the gates of the palace.
Revan listened as droids unloaded the hauler. He slipped off the roof and landed noiselessly on the ground. A rapidly approaching droid forced him to roll out of its way or be crushed. He followed the droids inside the palace.
All the incoming droids passed through a scanner manned by a pair of heavily armored guards. Revan hoped that the Genoharaden-designed stealth unit would be able to confuse the scanner enough to get him through. "This might be a short trip," Revan thought to himself. He knew he could use his Force powers to confuse the guards if they did detect him, but in doing so he would alert Palpatine to his presence.
"Have I ever mentioned how boring this is?" One of the guards asked his companion.
"Only about five times already tonight," the other guard replied testily.
"I don't even know why we have to be here," the first guard continued. "The scanner will catch anything trying to get in and initiate lockdown."
"Oh quit complaining, would you rather be stationed on some frozen rock chasing down pirates?"
"I didn't join up to stand watch over a bunch of droids that's for sure."
As the guards argued Revan slipped through the security scanner. The scanner beeped that it found something abnormal but Revan kept walking.
"What was that?" The attentive guard asked. "You there, droid, stop." He ordered the droid that Revan followed through the scanner.
Revan watched from a short distance away as the two guards carefully examined the droid. "Nothing here, must be a glitch in the system." The first guard said. Revan breathed a sigh of relief and continued on his way.
Revan stole through the hallways of the palace until he came to a deserted collection of offices. He entered the first open office he came to and activated the computer terminal located inside. "Thank-you Master Vrook," Revan said quietly to himself. The new set of skills the Jedi Council gave him to round out his new identity once again proved invaluable. Revan was not sure why the Jedi had given him the talents of a galactic freebooter, but he was not going to complain.
Revan downloaded the floor layout for the palace and shutdown the terminal. He paused when he heard the sound of a patrol walking past the office door. Revan crouched behind the office's desk to stay out of sight.
"What's this door doing open?" One of the guards asked.
"Probably a cleaning droid," the guard's partner replied.
"Cleaning droids aren't due through this section for another hour." Revan heard the door fully slid open. "Nothing's in here, some wage slave must not have shut his door tight. Make a note of that."
Revan listened as the two guards continued on their patrol. He eased out of the office, this time he made sure the door latched shut behind him. He glanced up and down the hallway before sprinting into the nearest stairwell.
According to the map he downloaded the Chancellor's office was only accessible through a single elevator. "Trust a Sith to be overly paranoid about his security," Revan muttered to himself. Getting past the checkpoints at both ends of the elevator would not be easy.
The elevator that lead to Palpatine's office sat in a small corridor that was more an elevator junction than an actual hallway. Revan had no problem identifying which elevator of the several elevators in the hallway lead to the Chancellor's office -- it was the only elevator with guards standing watch in front of it. Revan waited patiently behind a stack of cargo containers for an opening to make his move.
The opportunity arose when the next shift came to replace the guards currently on duty. Revan slipped onto the elevator the replacements arrived on. He pushed open the service hatch in the elevator's ceiling and climbed onto the roof of the elevator car. Revan saw a ladder leading up to a maintenance hatch. He scrambled up the ladder and climbed through the hatch.
Revan found himself looking down the elevator shaft that lead to Palpatine's office. The elevator car was still at the security checkpoint so Revan dropped down onto the roof of the car. "I hope the ceiling isn't flush to the car," Revan thought to himself. "That would be an embarrassing end to the great Revan."
The elevator shot up the shaft. Revan felt himself flatten against the car as it continued to accelerate up into the darkness. There were no lights lining the walls so Revan had no sense for how far he was traveling.
After a several minute ascent Revan felt the elevator begin to slow down. He readied himself to call on the Force if it looked like he was about to be crushed, but the car came to a stop with several meters to spare. Without giving his possible demise a second thought Revan eased open the service door in the car's ceiling and looked into the car. He saw that the guards had all left the elevator. Revan seized the opening, he swung himself through the service door and let his momentum carry himself out of the elevator. He landed with a soft thud behind one of the replacement guards.
The guard heard the noise and turned his head to see what caused it. "Hey, Jevrit, pay attention," the guard's commander snapped.
"Sorry Sarge," Jevrit said. "I thought I heard something behind me." Revan quickly walked away from the group.
As Revan walked down the hall he could still hear the sergeant berate the guard. "I don't see anything there, do you?" The sergeant said derisively. "Now look sharp, there've been a few reports of things out of place." Revan chuckled to himself as the sergeant's voice faded out.
Revan easily defeated the security mechanism on the door to the chancellor's office. Once the door closed behind him he deactivated the stealth field to give it a chance to recharge. The office was spacious, but less opulent than Revan expected. Palpatine was obviously concerned with not looking out of touch with the average Republic citizen.
Revan walked around the large desk that sat in front of the bay windows. He inserted a computer spike into the access port of the computer built into the desk and began to slice the chancellor's system.
"Master Delwynn, what are you doing here?" A voice asked. Revan looked up and saw Palpatine standing in the center of the room. "If I didn't know any better I would say you're trying to steal from me."
"I wouldn't say stealing," Revan replied. "I'm simply conducting my investigation."
"But I thought I made it abundantly clear that my security force will take care of everything."
"I have a hard time believing that," Revan said. "Considering that their boss is the person I'm looking for."
"The commander of my security detail is a Sith Lord? Impossible."
"I wasn't talking about your security chief Chancellor, or should I say Darth?"
Palpatine chuckled, "Oh so you think I'm the Dark Lord of the Sith do you? Master Delwynn I'm afraid you've been chasing ghosts for far too long."
"Not at all. See I got to thinking. Based on the testimony of the Neimoidians I know that the Sith encouraged the blockade on Naboo. But why? Why a little nothing of a planet like Naboo. It's a planet just like a thousand others in the Republic. From the Trade Federation's standpoint there was no good reason for them to blockade that planet." Revan walked out behind the desk and advanced on Palpatine. "But you gained a great deal, didn't you. Convenient isn't it that the Trade Federation blockaded your home world. If there was no blockade then you wouldn't be in this office."
"You know you really are a quiet gifted storyteller Master Delwynn. I should think you would have a highly successful career writing holo vid scripts," Palpatine said derisively.
"You engineered the blockade to advance your political career. You have agents like Alton Behl sowing mistrust throughout the galaxy, all the while you sit here and decry their actions and gain more political power in the process."
"You wouldn't happen to have any proof to back up these rather convoluted and paranoid accusations of yours."
Revan decided to try and bluff Palpatine. He reached into a pocket and withdrew a blank data disk. "I have all the proof right here."
Palpatine chuckled, "A nice try Master Delwynn, but I know that disk is blank, I've watched you from the moment you entered this office. Now would you please leave. If you go now I won't mention this little talk of ours to the Jedi Council."
"I've seen your true form," Revan insisted. "When we shook hands earlier today. You cannot hide your nature from me Palpatine so drop the act."
Palpatine sighed, "Very well, if you insist...Revan," His voice turned more sinister and dropped an octave when he said Revan's name. "Oh yes, I know your little secret. It seems the Force allowed us to see each other for who we really are."
"So let me guess, this is all a trap," Revan said
"That all depends on why you are here," Palpatine replied smoothly. "Come, sit down. Unless you are here to try and kill me." He brushed past Revan and sat down behind his desk. Without thinking about it Revan sat down in one of the chairs opposite the desk. "Good, I was hoping that we could talk this out like civilized beings. Now, if you aren't here to kill me why are you here?"
"To turn you away from the Dark Side," Revan said matter-of-factly.
Palpatine chuckled, "Why would I want to do that?"
"Because the Dark Side offers nothing but death."
"Everyone dies, regardless of which side of the Force they follow," Palpatine pointed out. "So why should I limit myself based on some archaic set of morals?"
"Your condemning yourself to a never ending cycle of violence. Eventually hatred will be all that you know, how can you possibly enjoy life like that," Revan paused, "But you already know that don't you? That's why you're doing all this; you feel like there's something missing. So you obtain more power, but that's not enough so you get more. What happens when you conquer the galaxy and you still feel hollow Palpatine?"
"Don't even begin to presume you know how I feel," Palpatine snarled. "I should summon my guards right now and have you arrested."
"But you won't" Revan confidently said. "There's something you want from me."
"What I want is for you to join me. Your tactical skills combined with my political acumen would be an unstoppable force."
"I've already traveled down that path, I have no intention of repeating my mistakes."
"In that case you are a fool!" Palpatine snapped. "A fool blinded by Jedi lies."
"You're the one who's blind," Revan shot back. "I've seen what happens to the Sith in the end. I've seen the ghosts of the ancient Sith, heard them talk of their regret. If you continue down this path you are binding yourself to their fate."
"How a weak fool like yourself managed to beat Darth Malak is something I'll never understand," Palpatine said scornfully. "He must have been truly incompetent if even with the Star Forge's help he lost."
Revan chuckled, "No that's not it at all. Malak was powerful, perhaps even as strong as you, and the Star Forge added to his power immeasurably. But that didn't matter because I found something even more powerful."
"Oh you did, let me guess, is it some scrap of Jedi doggerel?"
Revan shook his head, "No, it's something neither the Jedi or the Sith understand."
"Then enlighten me."
Revan smirked, "Now that would be telling wouldn't it."
"But it is what makes you resistant to the Dark Side," Palpatine stated.
"It allows me to see through your lies," Revan replied.
"Such confidence is unbecoming in a Jedi," Palpatine noted.
"Who said I'm still a Jedi?" Revan countered.
"I see, you've transcended labels like Jedi and Sith. You are now a servant of the Living Force, is that it?"
"We are all servants of the Force," Revan replied. "The only difference is that I reject the Dark Side."
"Ah, so you reject the Dark Side. Then how do you account for the darkness that I can feel seething in the depths of your soul? Come now Revan surely you know that once you start down the dark path you are never free of it."
"The Force is both the light and the dark," Revan replied without rising to the bait. "And both exist within all of us. Even you Palpatine." Revan smirked as he tossed the insult back at the Sith Lord.
Palpatine's hands gripped the arms of his chair tightly. "I will enjoy breaking you Revan," he said after he collected himself. "Perhaps it is better this way, that we know each others true identity. It makes the game all the more interesting."
"This isn't a game Palpatine, turn away from the Dark Side, or you will be destroyed."
"Is that a threat?"
Revan shook a head, "Like you said, we all die, sooner or later, but your death will be quicker than mine if you continue to follow the Dark Side."
"So sure of that are you? In that case you had better strike quickly since you will not be leaving this building alive."
Revan leapt out of his seat and drew his lightsaber, "You're welcome to try," he told Palpatine.
"Yes, yes a grand lightsaber battle is exactly what you had in mind isn't it? Preferably in front of as many people as possible, what better way to show I am the Dark Lord of the Sith? Sorry, but no. You will have to be more subtle than that."
Revan returned his lightsaber to its sheath and drew his blaster. "Alright then, no lightsabers." He aimed the blaster at a point between Palpatine's eyes.
"The thought occurs to me," Palpatine began to say, not batting an eyelash at the blaster pointed at his head. "If you are Revan then the lovely young lady accompanying you must be Bastila Shan."
"Leave her out of this," Revan said as he tightened his grip on the blaster.
"I wonder if she has such an enlightened outlook about the Force as you?" Palpatine continued. "Personally I have no use for her, but my apprentice would find her talents most intriguing. Naturally if you were to kill me here he would become the new Dark Lord and would need to find an apprentice to train in the ways of the Sith. I'm sure your precious Bastila would be the first person he would 'ask' to join him."
"Bastila won't turn to the Dark Side," Revan insisted.
"Again you mean," Palpatine added. "Are you so sure about that. Are you willing to take that risk?"
Before Revan could reply the door to the office burst open and a squad of guards burst into the room. "Chancellor Palpatine, your silent alarm..." the lead guard's voice trailed off when he saw Revan pointing his blaster at Palpatine. "Drop the blaster!" The guard shouted as the squad aimed their rifles at Revan.
"I believe we find ourselves in a bit of a stand-off," Palpatine told Revan. "What will it be, shoot me and die, or turn yourself in."
"Neither," Revan said. He spun to his right and fired a volley of blaster shots over the heads of the guards. The guards ducked for cover giving Revan the time to throw a grenade at one of the large windows looking out on Coruscant. The resulting explosion blew out the window and a sizeable chunk of the wall. Revan ran towards the hole in the wall. "This isn't over," he shouted at Palpatine before throwing himself out into the Coruscant night.
"No, I wouldn't imagine it is," Palpatine said to himself as he watched Revan's fall. "That man was a Separatist Assassin," he told the guard commander. "I want him taken care of."
"But sir," the commander protested, "He just threw himself out..."
"Yes I know that, scrap his body off the pavement if you have to, but bring his corpse to me!"
The commander saluted. "Yes sir."
As Revan plummeted towards the ground he tapped a button built into his armor. His swoop bike responded to the call and shot out of the sky. The bike raced past Revan and he called on the Force to angle himself onto the bike. He gunned the engine and sped away from the palace.
A blaster bolt flew past Revan's head telling him that his escape had been less than clean. Revan looked behind him and saw a pair of palace security speeders closing in fast. "Ok boys see if you can keep up," Revan said to himself as he dove into the heavy Coruscant speeder traffic.
Revan relied on his Force-assisted reflexes to weave his way through the slower moving speeder traffic. He spared a glance back and saw that the speeders were still keeping pace. Revan gunned the bike's engine and roared between a pair of freight haulers.
The daring gambit did not pay off, and the blaster fire that skittered over Revan's head proved as much. Revan banked hard and sent the bike plunging down in a spiraling dive towards the lower level of speeder traffic.
This time he entered a stream of traffic heading in the opposite direction he was. Sweat started to form on Revan's brow as he concentrated on not smashing headlong into one of the oncoming speeders. At the very least Revan knew his pursuers weren't following him, a person would have to be crazy to attempt a stunt like this.
Revan slalomed out of the line of traffic and paused to catch his breath. The swoop bike rocked as a blaster shot skimmed the nose of the bike. Revan looked up and swore, the security speeders were approaching quickly. The drivers had followed Revan's progress from above the line of traffic and now that he was in the clear they were vectoring in on him.
"They're persistent, I'll give them that," Revan muttered as he flew between a pair of skyscrapers. Blaster fire splashed all around him. The swoop shot out from the gap and into a heavy stream of traffic. It took all of Revan's skill to cross the lane without getting hit by either blaster fire or another speeder.
Revan veered sharply and watched as streaks of red sailed through the space the bike had occupied. He pointed the nose of the swoop down towards the ground. The swoop was more maneuverable in low altitude situations than the larger speeders. Revan pulled out of the dive with barely a meter to spare.
The core of Revan's problem was that he could not head directly to the Jedi Temple, not with the speeders following him at least. He activated the communicator built into the bike, "T3, I need you and HK to do something for me," he outlined his plan to the droid as he dodged blaster fire.
Revan continued to jink through the streets of Coruscant until he turned the swoop and headed through a long tunnel. When he emerged from the other side he saw the two speeders blocking his path. Revan slowed to a stop and stared at the speeders.
"Shut down your engine," a voice from one of the speeders announced. "You are under arrest." In response Revan raced the engine of the swoop. "If you do not comply we will fire on you."
Revan jammed the accelerator wide open and raced towards the speeders. The speeders opened fire, but their shots fell long. At the last possible moment Revan pulled up on the controls and the swoop shot over the speeders, clearing them with millimeters to spare.
"T3, how's it going?" Revan asked.
"Statement: T3 and I are in position." HK replied. "Commentary: We await your arrival master."
"I'm on my way," Revan applied more thrust and raced towards another tunnel. Out of the corner of his eye he saw the two speeders pull up and head for the other end of the tunnel in an attempt to cut him off again, exactly like Revan wanted.
The swoop bike tore into the tunnel at full speed. Revan had to stand on the brakes when a flatbed cargo speeder loomed into view. He threw the bike into a power slide to bleed off more speed. The bike turned 180 degrees and slid up the cargo ramp. It came to a stop in the middle of the cargo bed nestled in between a pair of shipping containers.
Revan leapt off the bike and tossed a tarp over the swoop. "Nice work T3," Revan called out to the droid sitting in the speeder's cab. "You too HK. Did you have any problem getting this?"
"Negative: No master, T3 was able to hotwire this speeder without any difficulties, sad as that is."
Revan threw a cloak over his armor. There wasn't much time until the speeders realized he'd tricked them. "Get back to the Hawk, I'll meet you there." T3 chirped in reply and started up the cargo hauler. Revan hopped off the flatbed and walked off in the opposite direction. He slouched down and added a limp to his step. As he was exiting the tunnel the two speeders swept past him heading the other way. Revan chuckled to himself and struck off towards the Jedi Temple.
Palpatine watched as worker droids repaired the damage Revan inflicted on his office. The communicator on his desk chirped that it had received a new message. Palpatine glanced down and saw that it was from Dooku. His apprentice had responded to his summons and was waiting for him in their usual meeting spot.
Palpatine ducked out of the office through a hidden door that lead to a private hangar bay. He entered an enclosed speeder with darkened windows and flew off to the hidden Sith headquarters. On the way there he pulled on his Sith robes.
Dooku was waiting for Palpatine in the small hangar bay. "Thank-you for responding so quickly to my summons," Palpatine said to Dooku. He started to walk down the hangar bay, Dooku fell into step beside him. "I was visited by Master Delwynn tonight," Palpatine said.
Dooku raised his eyebrows, "What did he want?"
"It seems Master Delwynn knows the identity of the Dark Lord of the Sith," Palpatine said conversationally. "He came to me with his concerns."
"How convenient," Dooku commented. "And just who does Master Delwynn think the Dark Lord is?"
"Chancellor Palpatine," Palpatine said.
Dooku stopped in shock. "Did you take care of him?"
Palpatine continued to walk, "I also learned something interesting about Master Delwynn. His name is not Aarn Delwynn."
Dooku hurried to catch up with Palpatine, "What is it then?"
Palpatine stopped and faced Dooku, "Revan."
"Revan, should that name mean anything...you don't mean the Revan do you?"
"Of course I do."
"But that's impossible..." Dooku paused. "No, obviously it's not. l assume there was a hyperspace accident or something similar. That would explain how Captain Brecktan found him."
"Your insights serve you well my apprentice," Palpatine said. "But you do of course realize who you let slip through your grasp?"
"Bastila Shan?" Dooku asked, only slightly less incredulously than before.
"That's right, everything you need to supplant me as the Dark Lord was there for the taking, and you couldn't hold on to it," Palpatine taunted Dooku. He knew that would anger his apprentice. In fact he was counting on it. Dooku was far more cunning than Darth Maul, but he lacked Maul's tremendous capacity for anger. So long as Dooku clung to his dispassionate Jedi training he would never be worthy to challenge Palpatine. What Palpatine desired above all else was an apprentice with Dooku's cunning and Maul's anger. If he could not tap Dooku's anger then Palpatine would just have to find a new apprentice.
"How will you be dealing with this new threat my lord?" Dooku asked. "Bastila and Revan pose a serious threat to your plans. Any army with the two of them at its head would be invincible."
"Do not worry my apprentice. I have a plan that will neutralize Revan. I know his weakness."
"Which is?"
"If you'd remember your history better the answer would be apparent," Palpatine chided. "Get me a bounty hunter, preferably an Iridorian. I want to see if we can get Darth Revan to come out and play." Palpatine chuckled to himself as he and Dooku exited the hangar.
-to be continued-
Author's Notes: Hear that sound, it's the plot ratcheting up as things draw to a close, only five chapters left -- thank goodness. My apologies for the tardiness of this chapter, but I got Doom3 and those zombies aren't going to shoot themselves in the head.
by: Sam Lincoln
Rating: PG
Summary: Will Trouble ever let a pair of Jedi Knights be?
Spoilers: If you haven't finished the game you'll be damn lost.
Trouble: Chapter FourteenRevan stared at the Chancellor's Palace through a pair of macrobinoculars. He had waited until nightfall before starting his infiltration and put the time spent waiting to use observing the building to get a sense of the security measures in place.
All around him Coruscant thrummed with activity but Revan focused solely on his objective. He watched as a stream of speeders left the compound, the bureaucrats were going home for the day. This suited Revan since it made it easier for him to move around within the palace.
Revan saw a cargo hauler approach his position. He had hacked into the Palace's communication system and knew that the hauler was carrying food for an upcoming state function. It was also Revan's key to entering the palace.
Revan took a deep breath then leapt off the building. As he hurtled down he activated the stealth unit built into his armor. He twisted through the air and called on the Force to slow his descent. He landed gently on the roof of the cargo hauler and then lay flat as it roared through the gates of the palace.
Revan listened as droids unloaded the hauler. He slipped off the roof and landed noiselessly on the ground. A rapidly approaching droid forced him to roll out of its way or be crushed. He followed the droids inside the palace.
All the incoming droids passed through a scanner manned by a pair of heavily armored guards. Revan hoped that the Genoharaden-designed stealth unit would be able to confuse the scanner enough to get him through. "This might be a short trip," Revan thought to himself. He knew he could use his Force powers to confuse the guards if they did detect him, but in doing so he would alert Palpatine to his presence.
"Have I ever mentioned how boring this is?" One of the guards asked his companion.
"Only about five times already tonight," the other guard replied testily.
"I don't even know why we have to be here," the first guard continued. "The scanner will catch anything trying to get in and initiate lockdown."
"Oh quit complaining, would you rather be stationed on some frozen rock chasing down pirates?"
"I didn't join up to stand watch over a bunch of droids that's for sure."
As the guards argued Revan slipped through the security scanner. The scanner beeped that it found something abnormal but Revan kept walking.
"What was that?" The attentive guard asked. "You there, droid, stop." He ordered the droid that Revan followed through the scanner.
Revan watched from a short distance away as the two guards carefully examined the droid. "Nothing here, must be a glitch in the system." The first guard said. Revan breathed a sigh of relief and continued on his way.
Revan stole through the hallways of the palace until he came to a deserted collection of offices. He entered the first open office he came to and activated the computer terminal located inside. "Thank-you Master Vrook," Revan said quietly to himself. The new set of skills the Jedi Council gave him to round out his new identity once again proved invaluable. Revan was not sure why the Jedi had given him the talents of a galactic freebooter, but he was not going to complain.
Revan downloaded the floor layout for the palace and shutdown the terminal. He paused when he heard the sound of a patrol walking past the office door. Revan crouched behind the office's desk to stay out of sight.
"What's this door doing open?" One of the guards asked.
"Probably a cleaning droid," the guard's partner replied.
"Cleaning droids aren't due through this section for another hour." Revan heard the door fully slid open. "Nothing's in here, some wage slave must not have shut his door tight. Make a note of that."
Revan listened as the two guards continued on their patrol. He eased out of the office, this time he made sure the door latched shut behind him. He glanced up and down the hallway before sprinting into the nearest stairwell.
According to the map he downloaded the Chancellor's office was only accessible through a single elevator. "Trust a Sith to be overly paranoid about his security," Revan muttered to himself. Getting past the checkpoints at both ends of the elevator would not be easy.
The elevator that lead to Palpatine's office sat in a small corridor that was more an elevator junction than an actual hallway. Revan had no problem identifying which elevator of the several elevators in the hallway lead to the Chancellor's office -- it was the only elevator with guards standing watch in front of it. Revan waited patiently behind a stack of cargo containers for an opening to make his move.
The opportunity arose when the next shift came to replace the guards currently on duty. Revan slipped onto the elevator the replacements arrived on. He pushed open the service hatch in the elevator's ceiling and climbed onto the roof of the elevator car. Revan saw a ladder leading up to a maintenance hatch. He scrambled up the ladder and climbed through the hatch.
Revan found himself looking down the elevator shaft that lead to Palpatine's office. The elevator car was still at the security checkpoint so Revan dropped down onto the roof of the car. "I hope the ceiling isn't flush to the car," Revan thought to himself. "That would be an embarrassing end to the great Revan."
The elevator shot up the shaft. Revan felt himself flatten against the car as it continued to accelerate up into the darkness. There were no lights lining the walls so Revan had no sense for how far he was traveling.
After a several minute ascent Revan felt the elevator begin to slow down. He readied himself to call on the Force if it looked like he was about to be crushed, but the car came to a stop with several meters to spare. Without giving his possible demise a second thought Revan eased open the service door in the car's ceiling and looked into the car. He saw that the guards had all left the elevator. Revan seized the opening, he swung himself through the service door and let his momentum carry himself out of the elevator. He landed with a soft thud behind one of the replacement guards.
The guard heard the noise and turned his head to see what caused it. "Hey, Jevrit, pay attention," the guard's commander snapped.
"Sorry Sarge," Jevrit said. "I thought I heard something behind me." Revan quickly walked away from the group.
As Revan walked down the hall he could still hear the sergeant berate the guard. "I don't see anything there, do you?" The sergeant said derisively. "Now look sharp, there've been a few reports of things out of place." Revan chuckled to himself as the sergeant's voice faded out.
Revan easily defeated the security mechanism on the door to the chancellor's office. Once the door closed behind him he deactivated the stealth field to give it a chance to recharge. The office was spacious, but less opulent than Revan expected. Palpatine was obviously concerned with not looking out of touch with the average Republic citizen.
Revan walked around the large desk that sat in front of the bay windows. He inserted a computer spike into the access port of the computer built into the desk and began to slice the chancellor's system.
"Master Delwynn, what are you doing here?" A voice asked. Revan looked up and saw Palpatine standing in the center of the room. "If I didn't know any better I would say you're trying to steal from me."
"I wouldn't say stealing," Revan replied. "I'm simply conducting my investigation."
"But I thought I made it abundantly clear that my security force will take care of everything."
"I have a hard time believing that," Revan said. "Considering that their boss is the person I'm looking for."
"The commander of my security detail is a Sith Lord? Impossible."
"I wasn't talking about your security chief Chancellor, or should I say Darth?"
Palpatine chuckled, "Oh so you think I'm the Dark Lord of the Sith do you? Master Delwynn I'm afraid you've been chasing ghosts for far too long."
"Not at all. See I got to thinking. Based on the testimony of the Neimoidians I know that the Sith encouraged the blockade on Naboo. But why? Why a little nothing of a planet like Naboo. It's a planet just like a thousand others in the Republic. From the Trade Federation's standpoint there was no good reason for them to blockade that planet." Revan walked out behind the desk and advanced on Palpatine. "But you gained a great deal, didn't you. Convenient isn't it that the Trade Federation blockaded your home world. If there was no blockade then you wouldn't be in this office."
"You know you really are a quiet gifted storyteller Master Delwynn. I should think you would have a highly successful career writing holo vid scripts," Palpatine said derisively.
"You engineered the blockade to advance your political career. You have agents like Alton Behl sowing mistrust throughout the galaxy, all the while you sit here and decry their actions and gain more political power in the process."
"You wouldn't happen to have any proof to back up these rather convoluted and paranoid accusations of yours."
Revan decided to try and bluff Palpatine. He reached into a pocket and withdrew a blank data disk. "I have all the proof right here."
Palpatine chuckled, "A nice try Master Delwynn, but I know that disk is blank, I've watched you from the moment you entered this office. Now would you please leave. If you go now I won't mention this little talk of ours to the Jedi Council."
"I've seen your true form," Revan insisted. "When we shook hands earlier today. You cannot hide your nature from me Palpatine so drop the act."
Palpatine sighed, "Very well, if you insist...Revan," His voice turned more sinister and dropped an octave when he said Revan's name. "Oh yes, I know your little secret. It seems the Force allowed us to see each other for who we really are."
"So let me guess, this is all a trap," Revan said
"That all depends on why you are here," Palpatine replied smoothly. "Come, sit down. Unless you are here to try and kill me." He brushed past Revan and sat down behind his desk. Without thinking about it Revan sat down in one of the chairs opposite the desk. "Good, I was hoping that we could talk this out like civilized beings. Now, if you aren't here to kill me why are you here?"
"To turn you away from the Dark Side," Revan said matter-of-factly.
Palpatine chuckled, "Why would I want to do that?"
"Because the Dark Side offers nothing but death."
"Everyone dies, regardless of which side of the Force they follow," Palpatine pointed out. "So why should I limit myself based on some archaic set of morals?"
"Your condemning yourself to a never ending cycle of violence. Eventually hatred will be all that you know, how can you possibly enjoy life like that," Revan paused, "But you already know that don't you? That's why you're doing all this; you feel like there's something missing. So you obtain more power, but that's not enough so you get more. What happens when you conquer the galaxy and you still feel hollow Palpatine?"
"Don't even begin to presume you know how I feel," Palpatine snarled. "I should summon my guards right now and have you arrested."
"But you won't" Revan confidently said. "There's something you want from me."
"What I want is for you to join me. Your tactical skills combined with my political acumen would be an unstoppable force."
"I've already traveled down that path, I have no intention of repeating my mistakes."
"In that case you are a fool!" Palpatine snapped. "A fool blinded by Jedi lies."
"You're the one who's blind," Revan shot back. "I've seen what happens to the Sith in the end. I've seen the ghosts of the ancient Sith, heard them talk of their regret. If you continue down this path you are binding yourself to their fate."
"How a weak fool like yourself managed to beat Darth Malak is something I'll never understand," Palpatine said scornfully. "He must have been truly incompetent if even with the Star Forge's help he lost."
Revan chuckled, "No that's not it at all. Malak was powerful, perhaps even as strong as you, and the Star Forge added to his power immeasurably. But that didn't matter because I found something even more powerful."
"Oh you did, let me guess, is it some scrap of Jedi doggerel?"
Revan shook his head, "No, it's something neither the Jedi or the Sith understand."
"Then enlighten me."
Revan smirked, "Now that would be telling wouldn't it."
"But it is what makes you resistant to the Dark Side," Palpatine stated.
"It allows me to see through your lies," Revan replied.
"Such confidence is unbecoming in a Jedi," Palpatine noted.
"Who said I'm still a Jedi?" Revan countered.
"I see, you've transcended labels like Jedi and Sith. You are now a servant of the Living Force, is that it?"
"We are all servants of the Force," Revan replied. "The only difference is that I reject the Dark Side."
"Ah, so you reject the Dark Side. Then how do you account for the darkness that I can feel seething in the depths of your soul? Come now Revan surely you know that once you start down the dark path you are never free of it."
"The Force is both the light and the dark," Revan replied without rising to the bait. "And both exist within all of us. Even you Palpatine." Revan smirked as he tossed the insult back at the Sith Lord.
Palpatine's hands gripped the arms of his chair tightly. "I will enjoy breaking you Revan," he said after he collected himself. "Perhaps it is better this way, that we know each others true identity. It makes the game all the more interesting."
"This isn't a game Palpatine, turn away from the Dark Side, or you will be destroyed."
"Is that a threat?"
Revan shook a head, "Like you said, we all die, sooner or later, but your death will be quicker than mine if you continue to follow the Dark Side."
"So sure of that are you? In that case you had better strike quickly since you will not be leaving this building alive."
Revan leapt out of his seat and drew his lightsaber, "You're welcome to try," he told Palpatine.
"Yes, yes a grand lightsaber battle is exactly what you had in mind isn't it? Preferably in front of as many people as possible, what better way to show I am the Dark Lord of the Sith? Sorry, but no. You will have to be more subtle than that."
Revan returned his lightsaber to its sheath and drew his blaster. "Alright then, no lightsabers." He aimed the blaster at a point between Palpatine's eyes.
"The thought occurs to me," Palpatine began to say, not batting an eyelash at the blaster pointed at his head. "If you are Revan then the lovely young lady accompanying you must be Bastila Shan."
"Leave her out of this," Revan said as he tightened his grip on the blaster.
"I wonder if she has such an enlightened outlook about the Force as you?" Palpatine continued. "Personally I have no use for her, but my apprentice would find her talents most intriguing. Naturally if you were to kill me here he would become the new Dark Lord and would need to find an apprentice to train in the ways of the Sith. I'm sure your precious Bastila would be the first person he would 'ask' to join him."
"Bastila won't turn to the Dark Side," Revan insisted.
"Again you mean," Palpatine added. "Are you so sure about that. Are you willing to take that risk?"
Before Revan could reply the door to the office burst open and a squad of guards burst into the room. "Chancellor Palpatine, your silent alarm..." the lead guard's voice trailed off when he saw Revan pointing his blaster at Palpatine. "Drop the blaster!" The guard shouted as the squad aimed their rifles at Revan.
"I believe we find ourselves in a bit of a stand-off," Palpatine told Revan. "What will it be, shoot me and die, or turn yourself in."
"Neither," Revan said. He spun to his right and fired a volley of blaster shots over the heads of the guards. The guards ducked for cover giving Revan the time to throw a grenade at one of the large windows looking out on Coruscant. The resulting explosion blew out the window and a sizeable chunk of the wall. Revan ran towards the hole in the wall. "This isn't over," he shouted at Palpatine before throwing himself out into the Coruscant night.
"No, I wouldn't imagine it is," Palpatine said to himself as he watched Revan's fall. "That man was a Separatist Assassin," he told the guard commander. "I want him taken care of."
"But sir," the commander protested, "He just threw himself out..."
"Yes I know that, scrap his body off the pavement if you have to, but bring his corpse to me!"
The commander saluted. "Yes sir."
As Revan plummeted towards the ground he tapped a button built into his armor. His swoop bike responded to the call and shot out of the sky. The bike raced past Revan and he called on the Force to angle himself onto the bike. He gunned the engine and sped away from the palace.
A blaster bolt flew past Revan's head telling him that his escape had been less than clean. Revan looked behind him and saw a pair of palace security speeders closing in fast. "Ok boys see if you can keep up," Revan said to himself as he dove into the heavy Coruscant speeder traffic.
Revan relied on his Force-assisted reflexes to weave his way through the slower moving speeder traffic. He spared a glance back and saw that the speeders were still keeping pace. Revan gunned the bike's engine and roared between a pair of freight haulers.
The daring gambit did not pay off, and the blaster fire that skittered over Revan's head proved as much. Revan banked hard and sent the bike plunging down in a spiraling dive towards the lower level of speeder traffic.
This time he entered a stream of traffic heading in the opposite direction he was. Sweat started to form on Revan's brow as he concentrated on not smashing headlong into one of the oncoming speeders. At the very least Revan knew his pursuers weren't following him, a person would have to be crazy to attempt a stunt like this.
Revan slalomed out of the line of traffic and paused to catch his breath. The swoop bike rocked as a blaster shot skimmed the nose of the bike. Revan looked up and swore, the security speeders were approaching quickly. The drivers had followed Revan's progress from above the line of traffic and now that he was in the clear they were vectoring in on him.
"They're persistent, I'll give them that," Revan muttered as he flew between a pair of skyscrapers. Blaster fire splashed all around him. The swoop shot out from the gap and into a heavy stream of traffic. It took all of Revan's skill to cross the lane without getting hit by either blaster fire or another speeder.
Revan veered sharply and watched as streaks of red sailed through the space the bike had occupied. He pointed the nose of the swoop down towards the ground. The swoop was more maneuverable in low altitude situations than the larger speeders. Revan pulled out of the dive with barely a meter to spare.
The core of Revan's problem was that he could not head directly to the Jedi Temple, not with the speeders following him at least. He activated the communicator built into the bike, "T3, I need you and HK to do something for me," he outlined his plan to the droid as he dodged blaster fire.
Revan continued to jink through the streets of Coruscant until he turned the swoop and headed through a long tunnel. When he emerged from the other side he saw the two speeders blocking his path. Revan slowed to a stop and stared at the speeders.
"Shut down your engine," a voice from one of the speeders announced. "You are under arrest." In response Revan raced the engine of the swoop. "If you do not comply we will fire on you."
Revan jammed the accelerator wide open and raced towards the speeders. The speeders opened fire, but their shots fell long. At the last possible moment Revan pulled up on the controls and the swoop shot over the speeders, clearing them with millimeters to spare.
"T3, how's it going?" Revan asked.
"Statement: T3 and I are in position." HK replied. "Commentary: We await your arrival master."
"I'm on my way," Revan applied more thrust and raced towards another tunnel. Out of the corner of his eye he saw the two speeders pull up and head for the other end of the tunnel in an attempt to cut him off again, exactly like Revan wanted.
The swoop bike tore into the tunnel at full speed. Revan had to stand on the brakes when a flatbed cargo speeder loomed into view. He threw the bike into a power slide to bleed off more speed. The bike turned 180 degrees and slid up the cargo ramp. It came to a stop in the middle of the cargo bed nestled in between a pair of shipping containers.
Revan leapt off the bike and tossed a tarp over the swoop. "Nice work T3," Revan called out to the droid sitting in the speeder's cab. "You too HK. Did you have any problem getting this?"
"Negative: No master, T3 was able to hotwire this speeder without any difficulties, sad as that is."
Revan threw a cloak over his armor. There wasn't much time until the speeders realized he'd tricked them. "Get back to the Hawk, I'll meet you there." T3 chirped in reply and started up the cargo hauler. Revan hopped off the flatbed and walked off in the opposite direction. He slouched down and added a limp to his step. As he was exiting the tunnel the two speeders swept past him heading the other way. Revan chuckled to himself and struck off towards the Jedi Temple.
Palpatine watched as worker droids repaired the damage Revan inflicted on his office. The communicator on his desk chirped that it had received a new message. Palpatine glanced down and saw that it was from Dooku. His apprentice had responded to his summons and was waiting for him in their usual meeting spot.
Palpatine ducked out of the office through a hidden door that lead to a private hangar bay. He entered an enclosed speeder with darkened windows and flew off to the hidden Sith headquarters. On the way there he pulled on his Sith robes.
Dooku was waiting for Palpatine in the small hangar bay. "Thank-you for responding so quickly to my summons," Palpatine said to Dooku. He started to walk down the hangar bay, Dooku fell into step beside him. "I was visited by Master Delwynn tonight," Palpatine said.
Dooku raised his eyebrows, "What did he want?"
"It seems Master Delwynn knows the identity of the Dark Lord of the Sith," Palpatine said conversationally. "He came to me with his concerns."
"How convenient," Dooku commented. "And just who does Master Delwynn think the Dark Lord is?"
"Chancellor Palpatine," Palpatine said.
Dooku stopped in shock. "Did you take care of him?"
Palpatine continued to walk, "I also learned something interesting about Master Delwynn. His name is not Aarn Delwynn."
Dooku hurried to catch up with Palpatine, "What is it then?"
Palpatine stopped and faced Dooku, "Revan."
"Revan, should that name mean anything...you don't mean the Revan do you?"
"Of course I do."
"But that's impossible..." Dooku paused. "No, obviously it's not. l assume there was a hyperspace accident or something similar. That would explain how Captain Brecktan found him."
"Your insights serve you well my apprentice," Palpatine said. "But you do of course realize who you let slip through your grasp?"
"Bastila Shan?" Dooku asked, only slightly less incredulously than before.
"That's right, everything you need to supplant me as the Dark Lord was there for the taking, and you couldn't hold on to it," Palpatine taunted Dooku. He knew that would anger his apprentice. In fact he was counting on it. Dooku was far more cunning than Darth Maul, but he lacked Maul's tremendous capacity for anger. So long as Dooku clung to his dispassionate Jedi training he would never be worthy to challenge Palpatine. What Palpatine desired above all else was an apprentice with Dooku's cunning and Maul's anger. If he could not tap Dooku's anger then Palpatine would just have to find a new apprentice.
"How will you be dealing with this new threat my lord?" Dooku asked. "Bastila and Revan pose a serious threat to your plans. Any army with the two of them at its head would be invincible."
"Do not worry my apprentice. I have a plan that will neutralize Revan. I know his weakness."
"Which is?"
"If you'd remember your history better the answer would be apparent," Palpatine chided. "Get me a bounty hunter, preferably an Iridorian. I want to see if we can get Darth Revan to come out and play." Palpatine chuckled to himself as he and Dooku exited the hangar.
-to be continued-
Author's Notes: Hear that sound, it's the plot ratcheting up as things draw to a close, only five chapters left -- thank goodness. My apologies for the tardiness of this chapter, but I got Doom3 and those zombies aren't going to shoot themselves in the head.