Author's Notes: The party last chapter lasted longer than I expected - this chapter was supposed to be the Jaw Incident. Be patient, though. Telos, and more HK are our feature presentation this week. Not to mention an answer to why Revan ran off at the end of last chapter.
Dark Lord Daishi: Well Czerka ARE evil... aren't they? I thought the concept of Czerka lawyers was fun - comparable to Wolfram and Hart, almost. And Revan left - she is genuinely terrified of what made her run. "Clean up on Aisle 2!" :falls over laughing: cute!
Ozziegrl: Yes, that was utterly shameless. No Cinderella spell, though I thought it was fitting to have her make a Cinderella-esque exit - gave it some dramatic flair or something like that. She was wearing makeup, and that was the only thing concealing her otherwise less-than-appealing appearance, but she doesn't look any more monstrous than the DS-mastery PCs in the game (many of the females of which I actually think are pretty hot.
Darth Arachne:gives you chocolate: yeah, Van Helsing has to be one of the best vamp movies out there (certainly the best-looking werewolves - WAY better than Harry Potter). Ahem, yeah.
RollingSkull: Yes, you and Erin both know the secret. As for your "explanation" of it... I could say something about that role-reversal game and Malak ordering her to kneel before him, but that would just be obscene. The only reason they prattled about legal skills was because the girl they talked to was from their legal department :p and I will not pardon that expression - blatant, much?
Rascarin: Hey, it's not actually that bad of a cliffhanger - you should see the one in RSC, now that was evil... and Xenzen has done some vicious ones, too. Besides, it's not even that pivotal to the plot - I was actually debating leaving it out altogether, but I liked the Cinderella-esque exit it gave her.
Cantankerous 84:hugs you: I LOVED THE LONG REVIEW! Um, good guess, but it's not THAT big a deal, plot-wise - the plot-bunny was actually totally expendable. Soap opera, you say - Force, I hope not. The Czerka party was a sorta interlude for the holiday season, that's all. Vadery - hadn't noticed till you mentioned it, but you're right - wow. Yes, Erin gets royalties of 99.9 of all monetary profits for that chapter. Selene should sound familiar, yes - she is pivotal to someone else's plotline in the KotOR story... and Malak's LS-tendencies are becoming more self-serving - he only really saved her because she was a potential new minion for the Sith. Derrin will not be killed before Malak betrays Revan - this I can confirm with absolute certainty.
PadawanMage: Oh gods, I love you! Long reviews :huggles you! Actually, the Masters weren't voyeuristic, but the Knights spread rumours that they were. Bastila's much younger than Revan and Malak - Revan's about halfway between Carth's age and Bastila's. Revan and Malak didn't go down to Taris at all in my version. I'd figured an Interdictor ship is one with tractor-beams to catch other ships and drag them out of hyperspace. Yay! Finally, someone who recognised where I got Darien from! Yeah, dialysis 3 times a week - don't worry about it, though. Revan/Bastila's Force-bond... initially parental, because Bastila gave Revan a second chance at life... but later changing into one of the other two forms depending on Revan's gender and how you play the game. I do love my foreshadowing, yes I do. Yes, the pilot was Carth. The Zabrak homeworld is Iridonia. Actually, HK knew the Sandpeople language because it was a Star Forge droid and the Sandpeople were once slaves to the Builders. You flatter me (calling me evil)... and you clearly have a very good Thesaurus. Yes - I saw that trailer, and I even own identical contact lenses. I'd also love it if someone could draw a couple of scenes from this fanfic - the one you mentioned and the one in the medbay after the Jaw Incident (which I've already written, and there's a flashback to in SCHV)... but I'm crap at drawing humans. Yes, Hagrid :gives you chocolate, just because I love your reviews SO much: and in the game, Vrook's last name is Lamar. I have this theory that Carth's an itty-bitty bit Force-sensitive (just enough to make him "lucky" in a fight - there is no luck, there is only the Force). The Riddick reference you missed was the two daggers Malak used - in my mind they looked like the curved things Riddick liked to use. They were meant to seem like Sirens. Actually, "you could be great" was stolen from the Sorting Hat. Yes, that's where I got Cassie from. No, I give my characters more pain than I get, so I don't feel so bad about myself. Not "used to love" - she still loves him. It's not healthy, I agree. Actually, I was thinking more of Event Horizon, when I thought of the black hole thing. HK says it's a Systech droid because its memory is messed up and Systech was where it was bought from - kinda like Revan telling Carth she was a soldier on the Endar Spire, lol. Nope, that wasn't Telos... this chapter is. I actually based Czerka in my fic on Wolfram and Hart. Hope she isn't what, eh? If you're thinking what I think you're thinking... well, just read on.
Linus: Thank you - glad you like it.
D. Eldsoldier: Disappointed, how? I hate to be predictable, so I'd like to know how best to avoid it in future... or perhaps you're just getting used to my twisted mind?
Soldier of Darkness: Glad you like it. I do wonder what I did to make you want to kill Carth, though?
F-15 Eaglestrike: Yeah, it was supposed to be random. Glad you liked it, though.
Pinguicha: Thank you. I'm glad you liked it, and sorry it took so long to update - writer's block hit me bad.
"You won't believe the things I've seen,
Far beyond you're wildest dreams,
I've seen chaos and order reign supreme,
I've seen the beauty of the universe, a peaceful answering,
From sacricern to violence and screams.
Oh, like, your heart is warring with your brain,
Emotional or reason,
Now which one do you obey?
Oh, like, somebody calling you insane,
When all the world's in bliss,
Bursting tears of happiness"
-Spooks, Things I've Seen.
x x x
Chapter 15 - Anger
Malak caught up with Revan just as she was kicking (literally) Derrin off the shuttle, yelling viciously about teenage children on HER shuttle, and various types of Zabrak mental illnesses. The shuttle then took off, with only Revan on board.
"What the bloody hell?" Derrin asked, stunned.
Malak whacked Derrin in the back of the head, just missing the horns, "Where is the girl, anyway?"
Derrin pointed. Bandon was sulking, and the girl a few feet away was giving Bandon a look that said she'd not trust him as far as she could throw him.
"What just happened?" Bandon asked, mirroring Derrin's confusion.
"If I knew, do you think I'd have been following her that far behind?" Malak asked coldly.
Selene spotted Malak, and scurried quickly over to him, "Who's he?" she asked, pointing to Bandon.
"A bantha-brained young man with serious issues against his father." Malak said flatly.
"Hey!" Bandon snapped.
"It's the truth." Malak noted, smirking.
"He's a Hutt-hearted asshole! Of course I have 'issues' against him!" Bandon snarled.
"Told you so." Malak muttered to Selene, who giggled nervously. "Where can we get a shuttle up to our ship around here, Selene?"
"Probably the taxi service two blocks away." she answered, "They do ground-to-orbit trips, I think."
Malak sighed, it would have to do, "Lead the way."
Selene's guess had been right, and they managed to arrive less than ten minutes after Revan's shuttle had docked. Malak threw a handful of credits - not bothering to count them - at the taxi-pilot, and told him to sod off. The taxi-pilot was smart enough to do as he was told.
Revan was in the medbay, he could sense her there, but when he tried to communicate with her she blocked him. "Derrin, take the girl to guest quarters, and tell her the rules of the ship." Malak said distantly.
"Yes'm, Boss."
A bolt of Force lightning hit Derrin's foot, for the snide tone with which he had addressed Malak. Then Malak turned and ran towards the medbay. He wanted to know what was wrong with Revan.
x x x
When he entered the medbay, he found Revan glowering at a cringing medic. He noted the detail that the medic was clutching a bruised cheek, and Revan's fingers were curled as if she was trying to resist the urge to claw the poor physician's eyes out.
"If you consider it such a bad thing." the medic said, through gritted teeth, "I can... fix the problem."
"Yes, please do." Revan said, venom in every word.
"What's wrong?" Malak asked, stepping into the room. He was genuinely concerned for Revan - she had seemed utterly terrified of something. He couldn't tell what, though.
"Go away, Malak." she growled, "I'll be fine as soon as the medic gives me something to eliminate the problem."
"If you are certain it is less than three hours - and I find it difficult to believe you can sense it this early, my tests barely registered it, but I trust in your Force powers My Lord - I can give you some medication to get rid of it." the medic said nervously, "Though it wouldn't surprise me if you could deal with it yourself - if the Force can grip a man's throat to kill him, surely-"
"Yes, I shall do that." Revan murmured, turning to shove past Malak. Malak followed her down the corridor.
"Care to tell me why you ran out on the party, hijacked the shuttle all four of us were supposed to share, and ran straight to the medbay?" Malak asked coldly.
"Not really."
Malak stepped in front of her, grabbed her by the shoulders, and looked into her eyes - she put up her mental defences, but he found far more chinks in her armour than he expected, and he quickly saw why. His eyes widened in fear and surprise, and he couldn't think what to say to her.
"So now you know. Get the hell out of my way. I want to be alone."
"So you can kill it?"
"Yes." she shoved past him, used the Force to knock him to the ground, and fled down the corridor towards her quarters.
Malak picked himself up quickly, and ran after her. He still found it hard to believe, but he sensed it with absolute certainty in her mind. Revan was pregnant.
"Revan, wait!" he shouted, racing after. She ran faster, using the Force to increase the speed of her footsteps. Malak did the same - in a foot-race, even with Revan's superior Force affinity, Malak always could beat her. He caught up with her just in time to get his foot in the door of her room.
He stepped into the room, letting the door close behind him. Revan turned to glare at him, "This is your fault, you do realise that don't you?"
"It's no more my fault than it is yours." he growled, "Believe it or not, it takes two to cause this situation."
"Yes, I know that." she muttered, "I assure you, I shall be much more careful in future."
That's good - at least she's acknowledging that there will be a scenario for her to be careful in, in future - he had been slightly worried she would push him away for doing this to her, even accidentally. "How could you sense it so soon?"
"I sensed the spark of life, not my own, inside me." she said quietly.
The Jedi believed that that spark was the birth of the soul. There were enough thoroughly foolproof methods - some even used the Force - available to prevent pregnancy from occurring in the first place that it was perfectly reasonable for them to believe abortion was murder. Only in the truly horrendous situation of the conception being the result of rape would it really be justified... to a Jedi, anyway. But neither Revan nor Malak had considered this potential consequence before now. It really was their own fault.
Revan, who had been reading Malak's train of thought, turned her face away from him, staring at the floor, "If this had happened before we found the Star Forge... perhaps I would have turned back then. If it had happened during the Mandalorian Wars, I would have let you duel Mandalore, and certainly would have returned to the Jedi after our victory there."
"But..." Malak prompted, knowing it was what she was thinking, and afraid to hear what she would say. The idea of going back to the Jedi would certainly have appealed to him at the time she spoke of, but the thought made him sick now.
"But now, I have no intention of turning back-"
"Nor should you." Malak noted bluntly.
"- and this would ruin all my plans." she looked up at him, "Let's face it, it would ruin the illusion I have carefully cultivated of being either male or at least of unknown gender."
Malak's lip twitched at a mental image of her wearing that robe, cloak and mask, at nine-months pregnant. Revan cringed at the thought.
"On that note," Revan continued, "A pregnant woman is never intimidating, unless she threatens to sit on you. A pregnant Sith Lord would be a laughing stock. Even if I did manage to conceal it somehow, we are at war and I have neither the time nor the inclination to waste my energy dealing with a baby."
"But you can't just kill it!" Malak snapped. He still held on to some of his Jedi morals - it was one thing to kill an enemy, or even innocents that the enemy might choose to hide behind, but... "It's innocent, and you would be killing it purely for your own vanity and that it'll be a bit inconvenient!"
"This is my choice. It is none of your concern." Malak opened his mouth to protest, but Revan didn't give him the chance, "GET OUT!" she snarled as she used the Force to send him flying through the door, which opened for him and locked as soon as he was outside the room. He crashed into the wall opposite the door, and slumped to the ground with a grunt of pain.
He closed his eyes, reaching out through the Force. He could sense the spark of life in her. He focused carefully in order to use a trick he had learned to identify people whose auras he had never sensed... it involved focusing in so closely that he could read the genetic code of the person he looked at. It required deep concentration, but it was accurate. Aside from confirming the obvious detail that it really was his, he could discern the gender of it, even this early.
He pulled back from this, and sensed Revan was also focusing, with the intent to terminate it. 'Please don't kill our daughter, Revan.'
He had succeeded in distracting her. She actually hesitated, her thoughts flickering to the memory of Genie's death. A weak part of her mind, thought long dead, fought with her cold logic trying to convince her that Malak was right. Her conscience. But she crushed it brutally, and then used the Force to do the same to the life inside her.
Malak flinched as he sensed the death of it. After almost a minute, he stood shakily, and fled to his own quarters. He couldn't think what else to do. He didn't cry for it - couldn't and wouldn't show that sort of weakness - but it hurt him, all the same.
x x x
Malak couldn't push Revan away for her choice. It did make logical sense. And he was so drawn to her that he didn't want to hate her for it. Couldn't even if he wanted to. Within two days he had given in and returned to share her bed again.
A couple of weeks passed. They advanced on Republic space. The treaty with Czerka was for food and other supplies, which they did receive in perfect condition. Czerka set up shop on a few of the planets Revan conquered, and everyone besides the now-deceased Vernon Mannors was satisfied with this deal.
Selene remained on the Defiant, helping out with odd jobs, and generally earning her keep, though she would be put to much better use when they revisited Korriban to drop her off. Revan had been grooming the girl to act as her spy within Korriban Academy, to report on Jorak's every move - it certainly would be useful to know exactly what that old lunatic was doing to their minions-in-training.
Derrin persisted in his feeble espionage attempts, passing information to Master Vrook. Revan used this to her advantage, telling Derrin plans that not only were inaccurate, but that worked in her favour for the Jedi to believe.
All in all, things were going very well... until.
The day started out badly.
Malak woke in some degree of pain. It felt like indigestion from hell. He just wanted to go back to sleep, really... but he knew he couldn't do that. Sith don't get sick-days.
'Wake up! I don't get to sleep, neither do you.' Revan snapped in his mind.
'I don't feel well.'
'Join the club.'
'What's wrong with you?'
'Same as you. I felt like sharing.'
'Sharing what?'
'Think about it, I'm sure you'll work it out. You're not as stupid as the junior officers seem to think.' and with that, she cut off their communication, though the pain remained. Bitch. He had no idea what was wrong with her, beyond the fact it was clearly painful. But he didn't sense any danger, no fear from her... just resigned displeasure... like this happened regularly.
That was what made it click in his mind. Bloody hell. Sadistic witch. And Revan always was a great deal more dangerous, at the 'wrong time of the month'... so he knew that it effected her emotional balance, too. He really did wish he could block off their bond, so she couldn't share this with him... unfortunately, that was not an option.
With a groan, he pushed himself out of bed and began to get dressed. He would find some way to get revenge for this... he just wasn't sure how yet.
According to research done at the Sith Academy (mostly based on a torture method referred to as 'telepathic invasion' - a violation of the mind on a par with rape), the male body was not designed to experience this sort of... thing. Then again, Malak's connection to Revan wasn't the same thing - he had been willing.
He considered trying to Force choke her... but the thought was rejected the moment it entered his mind - she was much stronger in the Force than he was, there was no point in humiliating himself by trying a stunt like that. It still held some appeal, though.
He found Revan on the bridge of the Defiant. She had just killed some poor fool, whom Malak could sense from her had tried to question her orders - it was not a lieutenant's place to question orders, the Admiral was the only Force-blind allowed that privilege without severe consequences.
"Follow me, Malak." she said sharply, turning to leave the bridge, in the direction of her 'office'.
It was as she swept past him that he noticed the detestable presence of Derrin, nearby. Tyr also stood on the bridge.
"What's her problem?" Tyr asked quietly.
"How should I know?" Derrin retorted, shrugging and deciding to try to be funny, "PMS?"
"Sith Lord with PMS? Scary thought." Tyr muttered.
"Yeah, you get a week of bloodshed, and not much of it hers." Derrin joked.
Malak threw a bolt of lightning at Derrin - nothing fatal though, Revan would really pitch a fit if he killed their pet Jedi-spy. Derrin yelped, and Malak turned to leave the bridge, satisfied that he had inflicted pain on the most irritating creature in the galaxy.
He distinctly heard Tyr mutter to Derrin, "Well what's his excuse then?" as he left.
x x x
Revan went on about some overly complex strategy, for about half an hour. The basics of it were one portion of the fleet would create a distraction in one system... and Malak would command the assault on the next system, in which there was a military training facility - he would order its surrender, and if they refused he would destroy the installation.
Kinda foolproof, really. Derrin would be with Revan's part of the fleet, creating the distraction, so there weren't any purposeful fools to mess it up, either.
The distraction went as planned, and Malak ordered his part of the fleet to move in on the planet - Telos.
A hololink to the Military base on the planet was quickly established, and Saul stood proudly in view of it. The image that appeared in front of him was of a balding man in his early forties. He wore the uniform of a Republic Infantry Captain.
"This is Captain Dalgrae, what is the meaning of this?" he demanded.
"In the name of the Sith Empire Captain, I suggest that you lay down your arms and prepare to be occupied by the Sith Navy."
"And who are you?" Dalgrae demanded. He looked closer into the holograph. "You! What are you doing-"
"The same thing you were too weak to," Saul said dismissively. "Now, you can surrender your forces, or you can be taken by force. Your choice."
"I will not betray the Republic like you, traitor!" Dalgrae spat.
"Then that shall be your epitaph," Saul said menacingly. With that, he deactivated the commlink.
"They asked for it." Malak growled.
"Prepare the attack, as per Lord Revan's instruction-" Karath began, but Malak interrupted.
"No - destroy the whole city - leave the militia base to last, but make sure no one from the base gets away alive."
He didn't care that it was utterly impractical to leave them to last and expect no one to have the common sense to run away. The fools were willing to give their lives for their idiocy - their friends and families were another matter entirely - it would serve the morons right for saying 'no' to the Sith.
The captain stared at Malak, dumbstruck.
"Sir, the city is harmless - they're only civilians!" one lieutenant said, horrified.
Malak turned on the lieutenant, "If I hear anyone else question my orders, they will be travelling back to the rendezvous point with the rest of the fleet on the outside of the Leviathan, tied onto the tail of the ship by their own intestines." he snarled, "You-" he pointed to the terrified lieutenant, "-should feel very lucky you won't make such an eyesore."
With that, the idiot that dared question his orders was lifted off the ground by the Force around his throat, and thrown violently into a durasteel pillar, which snapped his spine and killed him instantly.
"Now do as I command." he ordered the rest of the crew. Karath decided he liked his intestines where they were, thankyouverymuch, and started giving orders to coordinate the attack. Malak was aware of the captain's disgust - a Force-blind womp-rat would have spotted it - but at least he knew how to follow orders.
In the back of his mind, Malak knew this attack really was too much, but he pushed that thought away out of a vicious desire to see these fools suffer for refusing to obey the Sith. It certainly felt good to watch the people below burn for their mistake.
The city was in ruins as the Republic forces began to arrive to try to salvage it. The final salvo was released at the militia base, and Malak ordered the fleet to retreat from the Republic reinforcements, and recall their ground-troops from the city. It certainly looked spectacular - the destruction was thorough.
'Quit this pointless massacring! And bring me some prisoners to make up for it!' Revan's voice shrieked in his mind, as the rest of their fleet dropped out of hyperspace in pursuit of the Republic reinforcements, and she got the chance see what was happening. She was so mad that she projected the demand to every Force-adept in the vicinity - he could tell, because the two other Force-adepts on the Leviathan's bridge cringed at it, too.
'I was already withdrawing my troops, Revan.' Malak retorted coldly.
'You just can't follow simple orders, can you?' Revan snarled in his mind only, now, 'You are so going to get it when you get back to my ship!'
x x x
When Malak returned to the Defiant, Revan personally threw him in the brig - lower level, which was more uncomfortable than the upper-level cells where the 'prisoners' she had demanded had been taken. She then had the sadism to assign HK-47 to - and I quote: "Guard him - if he attempts to escape, stun him - under absolutely no circumstances are you to either kill or permanently mutilate him."
Malak was not best pleased with being stuck in the presence of Revan's pet homicidal-droid.
Several hours in the brig (and several fist-shaped dents in the brig wall) later, Malak's temper had finally simmered down a bit.
"Observation: those walls are six-inch durasteel, your pathetic organic fists could not penetrate them unaided."
"Shut the hell up." Malak growled. He was now sitting in the corner of his cell, his face in his hands.
"Commentary: the Master specified no permanent mutilations... I do believe that human livers grow back."
Malak slowly looked up at HK-47, "Try it and I'll reprogram you with an unhealthy obsession for grilled bread-products, you walking tin-can."
"Query: why would one require such pointless programming?"
"To torture the droid in question." Malak hissed.
"Statement: I would find it most entertaining to grill bread-products, provided the tools used were flamethrowers, and the receptacles holding said bread-products were organic meatbags."
"Toasted meatbag sandwiches." Malak muttered, "You're utterly charming." he added sarcastically.
"Observation: sarcasm detected in previous statement. Query: why do organics insist on using this form of communication?"
"What? Talking? Or were you referring to sarcasm?"
"Clarification: I referred to sarcasm."
Malak tilted his head to one side, thinking about that one, "Because the stupider organics don't pick up on it, and make even more of a fool of themselves - sarcastic compliments are most effective for that form of humiliation."
"Extrapolation: previous statement sarcastically informing this unit of charm - had this unit not detected sarcasm, the error would degrade assumption of intelligence by observers. Sarcastic compliments are insults that if misinterpreted make the recipient appear more foolish. Definition and purpose of usage noted."
Malak raised an eyebrow - the droid was plotting to be sarcastic. Oh, Revan was going to love this... he didn't know if that thought should be sarcastic or not, though.
"Why do you hate organics?" Malak asked, after a moment's silence - mostly out of boredom, rather than any real desire to speak to the droid.
"Explanation: I do not 'hate' organics - hatred implies emotion, and droids do not feel emotion as you weak organics perceive. My programming is designed to draw satisfaction from witnessing organics being efficiently or creatively dispatched, preferably by myself, though also vicariously. A distain for organic life is essential to accommodate such homicidal programming."
"Bloodthirsty, aren't you?" Malak muttered.
"Negatory: I do not consume liquids for nutrition."
"This reprogramming I'm promising you will be done with a lightsaber. You'll look like a dilapidated toaster-oven by the time I'm through with you." Malak retorted, snarkily.
"Observation: you would not succeed in such an endeavour. You may attempt to do so, but you would fail most spectacularly."
"And what do you think of me?" Malak asked the droid - he was expecting something snide, really, since the droid so disliked organics.
"Statement: You are an insignificant organic meatbag."
"Meatbag?" Revan's voice asked, from the doorway - Malak couldn't see the door from his cell, so he had no idea how long Revan had been there, "I like that, HK - use that word more often. I'll hardwire it into your programming later."
She was laughing... she thought it was a great joke.
"It's not funny, Revan." Malak growled, glaring in the general direction her voice came from.
"Have you reeled in that temper of yours yet, Malak?" Revan asked coldly, as she stepped into view, her cloak and mask concealing her face as usual.
"What do you think, Revan?"
"I don't know - in case you hadn't noticed, I temporarily blocked off our bond, because the feedback loop of anger and venom I was experiencing was too much." she folded her arms and glared at him.
"It's not my fault you felt like sharing. If anyone here needs to learn to control their temper, I'm certainly not the only one."
Revan flicked her hand in a slapping motion, and Malak felt it across his face, snapping his head to the side.
Cute trick. Slapping the prisoner without releasing the forcefield. If that is possible, then it should be just as easy to use more damaging Force powers on caged victims, too. He made a note of that for future reference.
Malak put his hand to the side of his face where she had hit him, but didn't show any other reaction to it. He just stared at her, his anger had simmered down enough for him not to get mad at her for hitting him. She did it so often these days that he was actually beginning to like it.
"Have you any idea how much that little temper tantrum of yours screwed with my plans? Telos City was a potentially useful trade location. Some of its inhabitants might even have made useful recruits if occupation had been done in a not-too-hostile manner. But now, the few prisoners I have are a bunch of children, and you have left the city not only in ruins but in Republic hands as well!"
"You never told me not to attack the city." Malak said petulantly.
"I never expected you to do something so ridiculous and drastic!" Revan snarled. Malak winced at the psychic venom that accompanied her words. "Why did you do it?"
"The fools in the militia base were willing to die for their cause." Malak said coldly, "It wouldn't have hurt them as much to simply kill them alone. Killing their friends and family first, on the other hand..."
"Surprisingly rational considering the state of mind you were in when you did it." Revan said coldly. "It's still unacceptable. If you do something like this again, Malak, I will have to punish you much more severely."
"What? Making me endure the company of this maniacal mechanoid wasn't bad enough?"
Revan smirked under that mask of hers, and shook her head, "Believe me, I can think of much, much worse, Malak."
x x x