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Chapter 26: The Lion's Den

The reflection in the mirror was not something Revan had seen in a long time. The pale, sickly pallor of his skin and the ruptured blood vessels in his eyes. Running a hand along his face, Revan sighed, staring once more at his reflection.

Lifting a small vibroblade, Revan began shaving away the hair on his face, removing the stubble and the disheveled goatee that he had worn for several years. Next came his short, spiky hair. Revan meticulously cleared all hair except his eyebrows from his head and rinsed the blade as he sheathed it in a scabbard within the obsidian robes he wore.

Splashing some water on his face, Revan ran his hand along his cool skin.

"The poison is still clearing..."

Jolee didn't sense it, neither did Juhani or the medical scanners but Revan knew his body as he did every component of his lightsaber. It was as much a weapon as that was and he needed to know he could wield it. Closing his eyes, the former Dark Lord struggled to clear the majority of the poison's remnants. It had taken three days to reach Korriban. One he spent unconscious and the other recovering.

"This one I spend working."

Glaring at his reflection one last time, Revan made his way to the Ebon Hawk's galley.

Carth looked up from the datapad that seemed to constantly find its way into his hand. The report he had filled out over the true identity of Tauryn Katarn as well as his reports on what he had learned of the Sith had been completed since Revan had awoken but he refused to send it, as well as Revan's death sentence to the Republic. The first thing Carth noticed was the lack of a beard, which made Revan look years younger. The next was the pale pallor of his skin. Frowning, Carth nodded. Revan returned to gesture, seating himself across from Carth and eyeing a lightsaber casing with irritation.

"I guess I shouldn't have smashed my other one on Kashyyyk."
Revan smirked slightly, but his eyes didn't glint as they did when he found any humor in the situation. Carth gave a single chuckle before shaking his head.

"Ever try one of these?"

Carth removed an obsidian blaster from his side and tossed it to the former Dark Lord. Revan caught the weapon effortlessly, testing the balance and nodding as he eyed the weapon.

"Family heirloom?"

Revan asked, handing the blaster back to Carth, grip first. Carth paused a moment as he cupped his hand around the blaster's grip. He noticed with some guilt that Revan trusted him enough to offer him the weapon in that manner. A simple slip of his finger could sent a deadly bolt into Revan's abdomen. Carth let out a breath he had been holding and pulled the weapon from Revan's grasp, holstering it and nodding towards the hilt and the azure crystal Revan had been polishing and from what he could tell, cutting for the past seven hours before he had taken his little break.

"Its not going to be ready for another day. I had to grow the crystal and it needs another two weeks at least to crystalize..."

Revan scowled, setting the sapphire gem on the table and running a rag along the unfinished saber's hilt. Both men sat in silence for some time before Carth finally spoke.

"What do you think he's going to do to her?"

Carth didn't think he wanted to know, but part of him had to, needed to know what would happen. The Republic officer couldn't help but feel that if he had been a little quicker and a little less distracted by Revan's true identity that he may have been able to buy Bastila enough time to escape. Revan stopped polishing the silver and azure hilt of the saber and slowly placed it with practiced care on the table. Leaning back slowly, Revan crossed his hands over his lap and shook his head.

"Unless he's changed anything... Bastila classifies as a class one prisoner. She will be as unspoiled as they can make her so no dismemberments or... things that could damage her psyche..."

Carth noticed the disgust and relief that seemed to be in Revan's face as he said that and didn't want to know any more details on what that damage would happen to be.

"He will keep her isolated... only he will see her. Cut her off from the Force... That would be comparable to sealing you in a sensory depravation tank and filling it with water..."

Carth felt his face flushing with anger and nodded as Revan continued mechanically. The former Dark Lord brought his left hand to the side of his head and tapped it for emphasis.

"He will try getting into her head. Use the recent loss of her father and the bitterness that is there of the Jedi for separating her to make her lose her loyalty to them. Then he will try to convince her that he is trying to help her see a greater power that was denied by the Jedi... a power that would have given her the strength to go against the Jedi and their teachings and what would have allowed her to see her father... he will likely use her... mother..."

Revan's eyes seemed to gloss over a moment as what remained of the poison clouded his senses. Carth furrowed his brow at the pause but waited for Revan to continue.

"He will use her relationship with her mother... something the Jedi have only in the last four decades forbidden, to make her see the Jedi's error. She will of course be strong and defiant, saying she won't fall for such a blatant lie but the truth is... it isn't a lie. The Jedi are flawed as much as the Sith are and there will be doubt... there is always doubt. He will starve her for three days... He should be taking her from her cell right about now and setting her at his own table."

Revan shook his head. Obviously to Carth, this was something Revan was very familiar with.

"Without the Force she can't channel the pain... She is so stubborn and prideful... That stubbornness will tell her she doesn't want to die the death he has planned for her and she will eventually eat regardless of how much she hates him or mistrusts him. She will need her strength..."

Revan trailed off, his jaw clenching as his eyes burned.

"The food is drugged and will slowly counteract the Force inhibitor she was given. He will torture her then, either by beating her or striking her with weak blasts of Force-lightning, taunting her the entire time that if she would embrace her anger the Force would not abandon her as it had. By the sixth day she will not be able to ignore her hatred of him no matter how much she tells herself Jedi don't hate. Malak will taunt her with what he knows of her, possible undermine her loyalty by telling her what I did to him..."

Carth noticed Revan's anger diminished.

"And she will be right to listen to what he has to say about me..."

Revan whispered, though Carth heard most of it.

"The seventh day... a week is all it takes to know if you've changed the Jedi's opinions or broken their sanity. If her sanity is broken he will kill her. If not she will embrace her anger and that... boost in her strength will break what remains of the Force inhibitor. Giving the illusion of the Darkside freeing her from the Jedi's lies."

Revan sneered as he spoke those last words.

"The eighth day he will have her murder someone to prove she is loyal. Preferably a captured Jedi or Republic soldier. If she fails to do so she will die but none have refused to kill on that day... Their doubts are lost to their anger and wish for vengeance. She will do anything to punish who she feels is responsible for what has been done to her."

Revan ran his hand along the table before forming a fist and tapping the table once.

"There is no flaw in the plan. You gain an ally or you lose an enemy. There is no escape."

Carth noticed the bitterness in Revan's eyes though none made its way to his face.

"We're landings in an hour. Comm traffic has us listed as the Raven's Claw to avoid any contracts that are out for the Ebon Hawk."

Revan nodded his head, eyeing his unfinished lightsaber with distaste before he attached the incomplete weapon to his belt and placed the crystal in a small pouch.

"No sense letting them think I am defenseless."

The former Sith Lord muttered. Carth nodded, eyeing his datapad once more before shaking his head and clearing the information he had entered about Revan.

"I'm not going to stab him in the back. Its clear he's not the monster I thought he was..."

Carth resolved, though that didn't mean he was going to make it easy for Revan.

"Who is going with you?"

Revan rose an eyebrow, clenching his jaw a moment before he spoke.

"Mission."

Carth didn't like that, and he said so. Aside from wanting to see his son, Carth didn't think placing the young Twilek in danger was an acceptable scenario. To which Revan pointed out that he himself could be recognized and that Zalbaar or Canderous, even Juhani would attract too much attention.

"I want you to take the Hawk away as soon as we land. I need to have free reign here..."

"Why not someone older?"

Carth snapped. Revan shook his head.

"She is posing as my slave... A young Twilek girl doesn't stand out as much as a Cathar or a Wookiee does. Stealth is key."

Carth rose a brow at that.

"Slave? You're posing as a slave trader?"

Revan shook his head.

"No, I am posing as a Dark Jedi with questionable morals. What I need for you, Carth Onasi to do is this. I need you to head to Kashyyyk and drop Zalbaar off. He has many things that need to be done there and will be very important in the years ahead..."

At Carth's confused look, Revan rose his hand to stop the coming question.

"I need you and Jolee and Juhani to go to Coruscant and speak with the Republic and Jedi. If you can..."

Revan pulled a datapad from his cloak and handed it to Carth.

"That is encrypted and I would prefer you personally deliver it to either of the Master Sunriders or Master Atris of the Jedi Council... Kavar if you can't find anyone else..."

Carth nodded, eyeing the datapad warily.

"What's the passcode?"

Revan shook his head.

"Tell them who gave it to you and they will know."

Carth nodded, though he didn't look convinced.

"You promise me you'll find my son... If this is the only way you think this will work..."

Revan shook his head.

"We could always bomb the place into oblivion with the Republic fleet but this is the only way I can think of getting your son as well as the information we need from there..."

Carth nodded reluctantly.

"If we don't make contact in two weeks..."

Carth looked like he would explode.

"Joining the Sith and passing their trials is no easy task. Even when they are looking for apprentices. If we do not make contact in a month I have estimated the section of space the Star Forge is in. It may take months to scour the area but if that is what it comes to..."

Carth sighed, nodding as he stowed the datapad in his cloak.

"Why are you taking Mission?"

Carth asked in a whisper. Revan smiled, shaking his head.

"She can get to places I cannot. I trust her abilities... We can get a lot of information without being caught as early as we would otherwise."

The Republic Commander did not look convinced but did not question Revan's reasoning.

"If I don't hear from you in two weeks I am personally coming back here with an entire Fleet to bomb that rock."

Revan smirked, offering Carth his hand. Carth took the Sith Lord's hand and shook it before turning and leaving the man in peace.

"Why do you get to have all the fun? I think you should face the lightsabers of the Council instead of me. I'm too old for this."

Jolee joked, entering the galley. Revan nodded to the old man, his thoughts elsewhere.

"I need you to tell them about the Sith. The real Sith and the threat they represent. If they could eradicate the Vong with ease... I hate to think of what they can do to the Republic. They wouldn't trust me but you... you they might if they bother to read you."

Jolee scoffed, crossing his arms and shaking his head as he looked to the deck.

"Where are you going after Korriban?"

Revan eyed the aged former Jedi with suspicion.

"So I am going to survive this place?"

Jolee nodded, though he did not like giving away too much of what the Force had shown him.

"Corellia... I have some... old friends waiting for me there."

The aged former Padawan looked just as suspicious as Revan had before; he nodded slowly.

"Just don't do anything you can't live with, kid."

Revan nodded, bowing slightly to Jolee and ignoring the annoyed sound the man made. He knew the gesture was appreciated.

The Ebon Hawk landed and departed the Dreshdae port, leaving behind two of its crew. Revan spoke lowly to Mission for a moment before she bowed her head, keeping her eyes trained on the base of his cloak as she followed him into the port. The Czerka port authority said nothing to Revan as he passed. The sight he saw was nothing more than another Sith returning to the Academy with a slave in tow.

Revan made his way through the halls, annoyed immensely when a young Sith apprentice clad in the gray uniform of the academy asked his opinion on what to do with some terrified, Force-blind citizens. Revan gave the young man, Shaardan, a death glare that silenced him. Fear was apparent in the man's eyes as he stared into the stern, pale features of Revan's visage.

"Why do you waste your time with such things? Are you not here to learn the ways of power? The ways of the Sith? You are nothing more than a foolish hoodlum, a child wielding a weapon that is too heavy. Get out of my sight, scum."

The tone of voice left nothing to question. Sensing the challenger's power, Shaardan paled considerable and nodded, making a hasty retreat and trying to save face by insulting the worth of the civilians one last time.

"Oh thank you so much!"

A young Twilek woman praised as Revan cast his glare towards her, shaking his head once and passing without a second glance.

"We need to get inside the Academy. The only way I can see that will be successful will be for me to pose as a Sith apprentice. You're just a decoration, Mission. Until we get past the guard."

Revan spoke lowly as he and Mission stood outside the Dreshdae gates. Mission nodded, grinning as she thought of the havoc she could wreak on the Sith databases. Revan began walking, waving to Mission to follow with an air of superiority as he approached the sentry, ignoring the four other men standing outside the gates.

"No one can enter these halls except students of the academy or the Sith."

The trooper snapped to attention as he spoke, though his hand rested on the handle of his blasterrifle. Revan's eyes traveled to the soldier's weapon and then back to the reflective faceplate before a smile crossed his face.

"How would one gain entry into this installation."

Revan questioned.

"You must hold an emblem of the Sith academy and have been accepted by either Master Uthar or Master Yuthura Ban."

The former Lord of the Sith nodded, keeping his Force suggestion as light as he could so as not to alert any nearby Sith.

"Were would one such as I find one of these... Masters."

The trooper explained that Yuthura Ban enjoyed a drink in the cantina in the evenings and describe the woman to Revan. Revan bowed his head, thanking the trooper and leaving, eyeing a nearby Sith apprentice, Mekel, with distaste.

"Do you really find the misery of these pathetic lifeforms so amusing that you would subject yourself to Korriban's mid-day heat?"

The apprentice seemed to ponder what Revan had said before nodding and eyeing the doors that led to the cool interior of the Academy.

"I suppose a little break is called for."

The Sith nodded to Revan, passing the three Sith hopefuls and giving them one last encouraging speech before entering the Academy. Revan turned to the men, shaking his head.

"Fools. The Sith look for leaders, strength. You are only weakening yourself."

The former Dark Lord ignored the men's comments and turned, Mission trailing behind him, trying not to glance back with worry at the men as they spoke amongst themselves.

"Why are they doing that?"

She asked when they were out of earshot. Revan shook his head, clenching his jaw.

"They want to be Sith and someone told them that was the only way..."

Revan shook his head once more.

"Poor fools."

Upon entering Dreshdae, Revan took note that there were a lot of Sith students wandering the corridors and taunting citizens. The surprising thing to Revan was the sheer amount of students that had nothing to do. When he had been Dark Lord students were either training or unconscious. Too tired to train and too exhausted to bother the denizens of the small port. Frustrated even more by the decay of what had once been a strong and nearly flawless system, Revan ignored those around him until something caught his attention.

Mission winced as a Sith grabbed her arm and pulled her to him, groping her. Revan turned slowly, his eyes narrowing as he saw Mission fight the urge to fight the offending Sith. Several other Sith nearby gave catcalls and other, despicable comments.

As Mission was about to give the offending Sith a nice kick in his groin, the man's grip on her ceased as he grasped his throat and made a sickening gurgling noise. Blood leaked down the man's throat as he gurgled in pain. The other Sith fell silent as the dull thump of the man's body hitting the floor sounded.
Revan sneered as he grasped the man's collar, lifting the dying Sith to his height and shoving him with disgust against the wall, driving the small vibroblade into the center of the man's chest, just below his breastplate, effectively pinning the Sith to the wall behind him. The man struggled a moment in pain before his body shuddered and he fell still. Revan drew his arm back, slamming his elbow into the man's limp face before ripping the vibroblade from his chest.

Mission stared with wide eyes at the sight, sickened by all the blood.

"Hey what the Hell! I think someone here is looking for a fight!"

One of the other Sith shouted to his companions. Before any could agree with him, Revan's vibroblade was imbedded between the man's eyes and he fell against the wall, sliding to the floor with a dull thud. The vibroblade seemed to twist in the man's skull, making a sickening cracking sound before it slowly came free of the man's head and floated back to Revan's hand.

"I think you need to lie down."

Revan called to the corpse. The other Sith had gone ash white, quickly leaving what they now believed to be an enraged Master alone in the corridor. Revan knelt beside one of the Sith's corpses, pulling a small metallic emblem from the body and then wiping the blood from his weapon on the man's uniform.

Revan stood, sheathing the blade and placing a hand on Mission's shoulder.

"Thank you for not blowing our cover. I am sorry that had to happen... I'll make sure to keep my eyes open next time."

Mission nodded, numbly. Her eyes stinging as she crossed her arms over her chest and followed Revan silently, and much closer.

Note: Just a little chapter setting up my favorite level in KOTOR. Hope you enjoyed it!