Title: Destiny's New Path
Summary: A what if. What if it wasn't Revan on the Bridge when Malak fired on his Master's ship? Suddenly the Apprentice is betrayed by the Master, and Revan then infiltrates the ranks of the Jedi. The Dark Lords mission: turn Bastila to the Dark Side of the Force.
Disclaimer: George Lucas and Bioware own the basis of this FanFic. I am merely entertaining the idea that I am good at making Star Wars stories (stupid ideas).
Author's Note: And now, my storyline will take a turn away from the game, after following it for so long (or maybe I haven't been…but I haven't been able to tell much difference between the two).
Chapter 20: The Shadows Gather
Revan
I watched as Bastila left the observation deck, heading to one of the hangar bays. I had no doubt that, in the end, she would defeat Malak. But while she faced him in the Rakatan temple, there was some business with the Ebon Hawk that I had to deal with.
I turned and left the observation deck, taking out my communicator. "Admiral, I need you to prepare a fighter for me to take down to Rakata." I said into it. A moment later, a voice came through.
"Of course, my Lady." The admiral said. "The Star Forge has just finished materializing a brand new fighter for you: the Star Pearl." I rolled my eyes; who came up with these names?
Into the communicator, I said, "Well done, admiral. I will be there momentarily." I took in a deep, meant-to-calm-but-didn't breath. It seemed my anger at Malak had not cooled since nearly killing him on my old ship. I needed to vent some of it out on something. Or someone, I thought as I got to the hangar bay, opening the blast doors, and saw the admiral.
"Ah, my Lady Rev-" He made choking sound as I closed a Force grip around his throat. It always felt good to let my anger out through the Force. And I always felt so revitalized after killing someone.
Smiling, I Force-jumped up into my new fighter, and prepped it for take-off. Before leaving, I activated a com-screen, and a middle-aged man with very little hair and a goatee appeared on the screen. I never liked men with goatees, but seeing as how my old admiral was dead…well, sacrifices must be made in war.
"You would be Captain Seero?" I asked. He nodded fearfully, obviously aware of how I dealt with failure. I wondered if he had failed at doing something, and decided to check out his history later. "There's some garbage in my private hangar, I need it removed, Admiral Seero." I said. "I'm going down to the Rakatan world for a few hours. Let me know if we have any trouble up here." I added.
"Of course, milady." The new admiral said. I cut the transmission, powered up the Star Pearl, and prepared to leave the Star Forge.
Bastila
I landed atop the Temple of the Ancients, where Revan had told me Malak would have to come if he wanted to deactivate the disruptor field surrounding the Star Forge and the Rakatan Homeworld. I prepared myself, slipping into a meditation as I waited, touching the minds of the many Dark Jedi in the Temple. I knew that, on my own, I stood an average chance of defeating Malak, so I intended to wear him out before he got to me.
I dared not touch Malak's mind as he (and Juhani and Jolee Bindo!) entered the Temple. He would sense my presence for sure if I did that. So I settled with empowering the Dark Jedi with my Battle Meditation, giving them thoughts of defeating Malak and earning the highest praise possible from Revan. Then, just before they killed him, I replaced that with fear of failure, knowing that should they fail and not be killed by Malak, they would surely suffer a far worse fate at the hands of Revan. Needless to say, they chose the better of the two evils.
After almost half an hour of waiting since Malak had entered the Temple, I finally saw the three figures approach, coming from the depths of the Temple.
I smirked as they approached. My new lightsaber was hooked onto my belt for now, but I had practiced and trained a lot since swearing allegiance to Revan, and I could activate it in less then a second should the need arise.
"Malak - I knew you'd come for me, as did Revan." I said. "I see you were too cowardly to enter the Temple alone." I said, nodding to Juhani and Jolee. All three of them sensed the darkness inside me, and all three of them had their lightsabers out of their hands and ready. Jolee still had the single lightsaber, Juhani still had two, but Malak had a new saberstaff, not unlike my old one.
"It didn't take long to convert you, did it?" Malak asked. "I always knew you were weak!" He spat. I narrowed my eyes at him, snarling.
"I resisted at first." I said. "I endured the Sith torments with the passionless serenity of a true Jedi, emptying my mind. But after a week of endless tortures I finally saw the truth. Revan forced me to acknowledge that the Council was using me. She forced me to face my anger, my pain. And finally, she forced me to take revenge."
"She?" Malak asked.
"The Dark Lady Revan," I said. "Was under the guise of Zora Firemoon during our mission." I smirked at their shock. Malak obviously hadn't fallen as far as I had thought if he still did not remember the true identity of his former Master.
"If you've fallen under Revan's control," Malak said, and he spun his lightsaber in a wide arc as two crimson beams ejected from either end of it's hilt. "Then you must die!" He lunged forward. My lightsaber was in my hand in less then a second, two crimson blades erupting from both ends just as Malak's had, and I met him blade-for-blade. Blocking his first attack, ducking under his second attack.
Then I made my own attack, spinning, striking, dancing around him as he tried to defend and attack me at the same time. He hadn't improved one bit since I'd last seen him, and that would be his downfall.
"A pity the power you once had is so diluted in you." I said, as our blades locked. "You could have been strong as I am now... stronger, even. But that will never happen, now. With the power of the Star Forge Malak will destroy the Republic and conquer the galaxy. And I will be the apprentice at his side - after I prove my worth by killing you!"
I stuck again and again in rapid progression, forcing him into a permanent defensive. I was stronger then even I had suspected.
And then I realized my mistake. I had completely forgotten about Jolee and Juhani. Both Jedi rushed at me at once, blue, red and green blade striking at me at once.
I shoved all three of them backward with a jolt of the Force, throwing them across the summit.
"You're powerful Bastila." Malak said. "You've grown, in the Force and in yourself since I last saw you." He had a mad grin on his face. "And for then reason I can't let you live."
"No, don't give into the Dark Side." Jolee said. "Don't let her win, this is exactly what she wants."
I smirked. "Thanks for the escape, old man." I knew I couldn't defeat Malak as long as he had his friends there to back him up. While Malak was busy berating Jolee for interrupting him, I fled to my G-Wing, prepped it for take off, and was already in the air by the time they realized I had escaped.
"Another time, Malak." I promised.
Another time, Bastila. I heard his thoughts through our Bond. The close proximity with him had strengthened it for a few moments.
I turned the G-Wing and set a course back to the Star Forge.
Revan
I landed my fighter up the hill from where the Ebon Hawk had crash landed. I looked down onto the beach where it was landed. Much of the crew was waiting down on the beach. I smirked. HK-47 was there too. I had programmed him to serve Carth until I came back, and it looked like he was doing his job.
I discarded my Battle Robes, leaving only my Jedi Robes, although they were very dark now; I had dyed them a very dark magenta.
When the crew saw me walking down the hill they were all ecstatic. "Zora - you're alive!" Carth said excitedly. "I was worried about you. For a minute there I was sure we'd never see you again once Revan got his... w... wait a minute."
I smirked. He had worked it out faster then I would have expected.
"Something's changed about you, Zora." He said, backing away. I noticed behind him a young man I had seen once or twice before, and smirked. Dustil Onasi had come along with his father. I was only half-listening to Carth as I probed Dustil's mind for anything I could use. I noticed a lot of anger against his father. With the right words, I could probably persuade him to leave his father and join me.
"Something's changed about me?" I asked. "Could it be that I never was the woman you thought." Carth's eyes narrowed at me, obviously perplexed by what I was saying. "You're not as smart as I thought, Carth." I said. "But then again, why would you want to believe that the woman you bedded was in fact…" I lowered my voice evilly. "…Darth Revan!"
Carth stepped back, shaking his head. "No, you can't mean that!" He begged. It was quite entertaining. "This... this isn't you! You're not Revan, I know it!"
"Don't be a blind fool, Carth." I snapped, using the Force to slap him across the face. "Open your eyes!"
He rubbed his cheek, snarling at me.
"Join me, Carth." I said seductively. Just as Malak had persuaded Saul Karath to join him, I intended to bring Carth over to the Dark Side if I could. "You said you loved me once." I whispered.
"No, never!" Carth said defiantly. "You're not the woman I love. We'll stop you if we have to, all of us. "
"All of you? Are you sure of that?" I asked. I nodded to HK-47, who had powered up his blaster rifle. T3 turned to the assassin droid, who responded by firing an ion beam from the mini-ion cannon built into his shoulder. I turned to the rest of the crew. "The Republic is doomed!" I said. "Who will now swear loyalty to the Dark Lord of the Sith?"
Canderous was the first to step over to me, much the Carth's anger. "You're Revan and I'll follow you anywhere." Canderous said. I had expected that; after defeating Mandalore in the wars, I had earned the right to ruling over all of the Mandalorian Clans. "It doesn't matter who you're fighting against, I'll be at your side. Mandalorians don't have any great love for the Republic anyway. Light side, dark side - it doesn't make any difference to me, Revan. I'll stick by you no matter what comes."
I turned my gaze on the Onasi boy. "And you?" I asked. The eighteen-year-old looked at his father, and then back at me. I could tell that, as angry as he was at his father, when it came down to it, he wasn't sure if he could betray his father. "Your father abandoned you on Telos when you were younger." I said. "Remember? Admiral Karath was taking you to Malak when I came for you. I saved you from both Malak and your father."
His gaze drifted toward me. He seemed to be considering what I was saying. Good. Carth fell right into my plans by giving Dustil the lousiest excuse he could have, "I didn't have a choice! I was needed..."
I felt the rage build up inside Dustil at those three words before he cut off his father. "Yeah? Well you were needed at home, too." He snapped. "You were needed when the bombing started and I-"
"Dustil, don't listen to-!" Carth began.
"Silence!" I said. "Let him speak!" I commanded. Dustil looked thankfully at me, exactly as I knew he would. Carth was doing nothing but cementing the Dustil's path.
"She's right…" Dustil said. "You abandoned us on Telos. The Republic was more important to you the mother and I. You think I don't remember the arguments? Mother thought the same thing in the end."
"What, no, don't-"
"Give it up, Carth." I said. "You've already lost him." I smirked as Carth turned on me.
"Shut up!" He snapped. I gave him an all-too-innocent look, and he added, "Stay out of this!"
"Is that all you do? Give out orders?" Dustil said. "Well I'm tired of taking orders from people who have no authority over me! The only person I take orders from now is…"
"Stop it, Dustil! Stop it!" Carth ordered, as if he hadn't heard a word Dustil had just said. "I won't let you go on like this! What has she done to you!"
"It's not what she's done." Dustil said. "It's what you never did. You... you never gave me so much as a second's notice."
"No... no, that's not true!" Carth insisted. "I was there when you were younger, but I had to leave to fight! I fought for you, for your freedom!"
"No you didn't." Dustil said. I smiled gleefully when I saw his hand hovering near his lightsaber. "You fought for yourself. For glory. Well, the Sith can do that, too. We learn to fight... and to kill. You want to see what I've learned, 'father'?"
"No, Dustil, don't! I don't-" Carth begged.
Dustil's face hardened, as if it was made of stone. "It's too late for that, old man." He said, taking his lightsaber from his belt and igniting the single red lightsaber.
"I don't believe you'll do it, Dustil." Carth said. "And to prove it," He tossed aside his blaster. "I'll leave myself wide open to you."
"You fool." Dustil said. "You should have taken her offer when you had the chance!" And with that, he rushed forward. Carth didn't move away, and he didn't fight back, so Dustil's lightsaber cut straight through him.
It took him only a minute for him to realize just what it was he had done. For a minute, he just stood there, unable to believe it had happened. I had seen that happened before, and I knew what came next.
"You did this to me." He snarled, turning on me. "You forced me to attack him!" He took a step toward me, only to be lifted into the air and sent sailing through the air into the side of the Ebon Hawk.
"I did not force you to attack him." I said calmly. "I forced you to recognize your anger, to recognize what he'd done to you, or rather, what he hadn't." I took a step toward him. "Only a true Sith could have done what you have done. Now tell me, is that what you want?"
He looked at me, knowing that if he said yes and meant it, he would become a full Sith, the same rank Master Uthar had been before being slain by Malak. If he said yes and didn't mean it, or he said no, he would likely join his father. He looked at me for what seemed like hours.
Then he forced himself to his feet, staggered forward, and dropped to one knee in front of me. "I swear myself to you, Lady Revan." He said, and I could sense he was telling the truth. I smiled, and turned to Mission and Zaalbar.
"Mission?" I asked. Dustil stood and walked over to Canderous.
"I saw what the Sith did to Taris - anyone who serves the dark side is evil! Big Z and I will never join you!" She said defiantly. Zaalbar nodded.
"We stand with Kayle…with Malak!" He said.
I smirked. "Then," I whispered menacingly. "It's time for you to die." I ignited my lightsaber and leapt at Mission. Zaalbar roared, and leapt at me, attempting to crush me as I passed him. With one slash of my lightsaber, Zaalbar was cut in two. He was dead before he hit the ground.
"Noo-!" Mission's scream was cut short as I stabbed my lightsaber through her chest. Like her friend, she was already dead as she hit the sand. I frowned, turning around. "So, of the entire crew that served under Malak, I have only managed to get three of you to join me?" I asked. "Hmmm, well, I suppose that is okay, since my fighter could only carry myself and three others."
I turned. "Come, we have much to-" At that moment, my comlink signaled. I activated it, and had a quick conversation with the new admiral. When it was done, I slipped the comlink back into my pocket and turned back to my three followers. "Looks like we're going to be having some company…"