It was almost silent in the main chamber of the Sith academy, where the Sith Master Uthar Wynn meditated upon the dark side of the Force. Elsewhere, the faint pained cries of hopeful Sith echoed through the construct, and the hum and clash of lightsabers from the training center were faintly heard.

The echoes of Kagi's booted feet impacting against the stone floor reverberated off the rough-hewn walls of the main chamber as the Jedi passed under the stone archway that marked the end of the exterior corridor. As soon as Canderous was clear of the door behind him, Kagi stopped, the deactivated hilt of his lightsaber held tightly in his right hand, his face hidden in the shadows of his hood.

Uthar looked up curiously at this intrusion, his deformed features twisting in confusion. "Is there a reason you have intruded upon my Academy, Jedi?" he asked angrily.

Kagi did not answer. Instead, he gestured toward the doorway leading into the student dorms, and the massive stone slab ground downwards until it locked into its sealed position. He repeated the gesture, and the door that led back toward the Valley of the Dark Lords also sealed, as did the door to the training area, and the door back toward the colony.

"What is the meaning of this?" Uthar demanded, igniting his lightsaber. "Answer me now, or face the wrath of a Sith Lord!"

This time, Kagi answered. He brought up his right arm, a blue flash of light accompanying the snap-hiss sound of his lightsaber springing to life, before he fluidly swung his arm to the left, beheading the unarmed Sith guard standing beside the door.

"Republic spy!" Uthar bellowed, raising his lightsaber in a defensive posture. "Guards, kill him!"

The three guards standing at the other doorways raised their weapons to comply, but Canderous was faster than them, sweeping a pattern of blasterfire over all three doorways, instantly gunning down the troops standing there.

A pair of unarmed students ran for the door into the dormitory, looking to get help. With a gesture of his left hand, Kagi caught one of them in the Force, throwing the student over the edge of the pit surrounding the arena-like meditation chamber. The student's shrill scream was interrupted when his spine impacted the stone wall before falling into the pit, resulting in an audible snapping sound.

The other student reached the door, and tried to no avail to get it open. "Master Uthar!" the student cried. "The door won't–" A burst of blasterfire from Canderous cut down the misguided young man in midsentence.

From across the room, two Sith instructors ignited their lightsabers and charged Kagi. He could sense them in the Force, sense their almost nonexistent levels of power. These were not true dark Jedi, not true Sith. They were dilettantes.

As the first one reached him and swung, he took a step forward, adding the motion into the power of his parry, which knocked the 'teacher' off-balance. He spun to his right, laying open the Sith's spine with a caress of his lightsaber blade.

The other instructor reached him next, bringing his lightsaber around for a horizontal attack at Kagi's midsection. The Jedi expertly parried the attack, forcing the instructor's lightsaber downwards and holding it there, despite the man's efforts to dislodge Kagi's lightsaber. Twisting the lightsaber in his grip until he held it inverted, Kagi pivoted his lightsaber around, neatly severing both hands of the Sith instructor.

As the instructor collapsed to his knees, the horror of the smoking stumps that had been his hands dulling the pain of the suddenly-clipped nerve endings, Kagi spun his lightsaber around his hand and drove it into the instructor's chest, then pulled it out just as quickly.

Turning his face toward Uthar as Canderous burned down the only remaining Sith in the room, Kagi lifted his lightsaber up, the light from the blade temporarily dispelling the shadows of the hood, and revealing his face to Uthar.

The Sith Master gasped. "L-Lord Revan! You're still alive!"

Kagi could sense, through the Force, that the man had lowered his defenses. A stupid move. His left hand rose and closed partially, as though grasping the hilt of a lightsaber. At the same time, the energies of the Force seized Uthar and lifted him into the air.

The angry young Jedi clenched his hand slightly, and the sound of snapping bones echoed around the room. "Tell me where to find the Star Map," he demanded, anger bleeding through every word. "Tell me, and I will show you mercy."

"It's…it's in the tomb of…Naga…Sadow…" Uthar replied, straining against the pain of his broken bones.

"Good," Kagi said.

He lifted up his right hand, the tip of the lightsaber blade aimed unerringly for Uthar's throat. With an invisible surge in the Force, the glowing energy weapon flew out of the Jedi's hand, straighter than a blaster bolt, and impaled the Sith Master's throat, nearly severing his head. Kagi then opened his left hand, letting the dead body drop to the ground as the lightsaber flew back to his other hand.

"Stay here," Kagi told Canderous, as he strode toward the exit into the valley. "Do not let any Sith follow me."

"It will be as you wish," Canderous replied.

As Kagi crossed the center of the room, the door in front of him exploded open, revealing two battle droids and four Sith officers. The Jedi marched right into their fire. The two shots of one of the droids passed meters over Kagi's head, then in a flash of azure fire, two smoking halves of a battle droid clattered to the stone floor. Those halves were soon joined by the corpse of a Sith officer who had been using the droid for cover.

The other officers broke and fled, fleeing for the relative safety deeper in the academy. Kagi spun his lightsaber around his hand twice, then swung it up and vertically down behind his back, the blade positioned perfectly to reflect a blaster bolt from the second droid back into its own head.

As the droid clattered noisily to the stone floor, Kagi stopped in place, turning slightly back toward Canderous to assure that nothing else was alive, except the Mandalorian, in the room. As he did so, Canderous caught sight of the rage on the Jedi's face, of the hate-filled yellow glow to the man's eyes.

Then Kagi turned and continued on, leaving Canderous with the distinct impression that he'd just gotten a mere glimpse of what Kagi used to be as the Dark Lord of the Sith.

---

Evil laughter, combined with the crackling energy of Force lightning and feminine screams, echoed through the corridors of an ancient temple on a forgotten world.

"You are strong, child," Malak said, leaning over Bastila's chained form. "But I will break you."

"I will never fall to the dark side," Bastila snapped defiantly, turning her head away from him.

Malak turned and walked a few paces away from her, not responding. A buildup charge of energy within the room caused the hair on the back of her neck to stand on end. Suddenly, the Sith lord spun, turning his right hand out toward her, and another fiery barrage of lightning shot between them in an instant, simultaneously assaulting all of her nerve endings. She screamed in pain, writhing against the chains that held her in place.

After a moment, the dark lord relented. Taking a moment to regain her composure, Bastila turned defiant eyes on him. "You think torture will turn me, Malak?" she questioned, breathing heavily. "You are a fool."

The fallen Jedi leaned in close to her, so close that she could smell his breath, if he had any. "Torture?" he repeated. "No, dear Bastila, you misunderstand. This is but a taste of the dark side…" He brought up his left hand, running his cold, scarred fingers along the line of her jaw. "…to whet your appetite."

He pulled away from her, turning and walking forward several paces, his hands clasped together over his shoulder cloak. "When you finally swear loyalty to me, it will be willingly." He spun around again, whipping his cloak behind him, and waited.

"Never," Bastila hissed, eyes narrowed menacingly.

Malak laughed, the harsh electronic sound painful to her ears. "Such resolve in your words!" he said mockingly, then lowered his voice down to a range where it would vibrate rocks and tabletops. "But I see the truth in your heart. The dark side calls to you, Bastila. You hunger to taste it."

Thunder echoed in the room as another charge built up, feeding its energy into Malak's black heart. Sparks of energy shot from the floodlights mounted around the room, overloading several of them in electrical discharges. Static shot across the raised hairs on the back of Bastila's neck. She knew this next hit would not be good.

"Become my apprentice," Malak continued, his electronic voice rasping painfully as the electrical current built, "and all its power can be yours!"

Finally, he released the charged energy within him, using both his hands to direct the overwhelmingly-powerful current of energy toward his captive.

Her shrieks echoed throughout the entire temple.

---

Apparently, some of the Sith he had allowed to live in the academy had called ahead to the valley, and they were all waiting for him. It didn't matter; they could not stand against his power.

A flourish of his lightsaber blade cleanly beheaded the guard on his right as he came out from under a column and entered the valley proper. As the other one lifted his blaster, Kagi ran at him, stepped up onto the guard's chest, executed a midair somersault, and landed on the ground behind the guard, facing him, and driving his lightsaber through the guard's back.

Letting the dead Sith slide off his lightsaber blade, Kagi straightened up and turned toward the pair of patrol guards running at him, blasters spitting hot fire. His lightsaber arced through the air before him, leaving glowing trails where it passed, and bouncing the fire of the leftmost guard back at him. The guard collapsed bonelessly.

His stance shifted slightly, and the other guard's bolts were all deflected harmlessly away, save for one stray bolt that shot directly into the back of the head of a Sith student kneeling in a pile of dirt outside the first tomb on his right. As that Sith collapsed, Kagi grabbed the guard in the Force and sent him flying back into one of the pillars in the center of the valley, shattering his spine on impact.

There were six Sith archaeologists in the area, and none of them felt very much like taking on a Jedi that had slaughtered five of their comrades in less than that many seconds. The two nearest him turned to run toward the far end of the valley. Kagi wouldn't have that.

With a gesture of his left hand, a damaged pillar's base shattered, sending the multi-ton stone object crashing down right on the heads of the archaeologists. Before the thing had even hit, Kagi was striding forward, right down the row of pillars, heading toward the tomb of Naga Sadow.

Another of the archaeologists broke from a pillar he was about to pass, trying to make a run for it. A gentle swipe of the lightsaber opened a gaping slash down the woman's right side, depositing her on the dusty ground with a mortal injury.

Kagi spun in midstride and swung his glowing blade, reflecting a blaster bolt back into the gut of the archaeologist who had fired the appropriated weapon. Without even a glance in the fool's direction, the Jedi turned back to his original course and continued walking.

As he came within sight of the tomb he was searching for, he saw another archaeologist scrambling over a fallen pillar, trying to get as far away from the deranged Jedi as he could. Kagi's eyes fell on a digger's pick laying discarded in the dirt nearby. With a flick of his left hand, the archaeologist pitched onto his face, the pick protruding from the base of his skull.

Kagi leapt up, flipping in midair, and landed on the far side of the downed pillar, spinning in place to find the last archaeologist cowering in the dirt before him. "No!" the pitiful Sith cried. "Please, don't kill me! I'll give you whatever you want! I swear loy–"

The cerulean blade of Kagi's lightsaber crashing against the whimpering fool's collarbone abruptly cut off his pathetic cries for mercy.

Turning away, Kagi strolled the last few meters to the tomb entrance and lifted his left hand, expecting its doors to curl away as had the doors of the Sith academy. No such good news. The Jedi scowled.

Suddenly, his arms shot up of their own accord, bringing the lightsaber back over his head to intercept another such blade aiming for his backside. For a few moments, the crackling of energy blades against one another filled the pervading silence of the valley, then he applied a force of strength and pushed back his assailant, spinning in place with his lightsaber out before him, prepared to defend himself.

He found himself face-to-face with the blonde woman he had encountered inside the colony, Lashowe, if he remembered correctly. It was her red-bladed lightsaber that had failed to take a chunk out of his back. "Didn't I tell you before?" he commented off-hand. "You could try to kill me, but you would fail."

She scoffed, bringing her lightsaber up into a standard defensive position. "Save it, Jedi scum. You're no match for the Sith."

Underneath the hood, Kagi smiled cruelly. "Well then, if you are so anxious to die, I have no choice but to oblige you."

He brought his lightsaber up, spinning it once in the air to confuse her as to where he would attack from, then struck from his left, a hard blow that would decapitate her if she didn't block it.

But her red blade rose into position, blocking the strike with some small measure of skill. She slid her blade down toward the ground, pushing his away from her, and then slipped under it, striking fast toward his left side.

Without considerably moving, he brought his own weapon down, blue meeting red a full foot from his side. With the strength of just his right hand, he shoved her blade out of line and tapped her left upper arm with his energy blade, gouging out a chunk of flesh and melting away a matching segment of her uniform.

She let out a startled cry and retreated several steps, letting go of the lightsaber with her right hand to press it over the wound. Her fingers came away bloody; the contact between lightsaber and flesh hadn't been long enough to cauterize. She glared lasers at him as she wiped the blood off on her pants leg and resumed her two-handed grip on the lightsaber.

"You have some skill with the lightsaber," Kagi remarked honestly. "But not enough. You can see that you're out of your league. Back down now, and I'll let you live."

"Out of my league?" she mocked. "I don't think so."

She let go of the lightsaber with her right hand again, this time pointing her hand toward Kagi as if it were a blaster. Bolts of lightning shot out of her fingertips, arching across the space toward the Jedi.

But before any of them could touch him, he simply brought up his lightsaber into their path, the blade absorbing the energy of the bolts. "Useless trick, girl. I've seen it all before. Hell, I wrote the book on all your Sith tricks."

"Just who do you think you are?" Lashowe snarled.

"It's not who I think I am," Kagi calmly replied, lowering his blade to his side again. "It's who I know I am. You know who I am too, even though you've only heard stories about me."

Confusion crossed her expression, just for a moment, but he knew she wouldn't venture a guess.

"I am Revan," he said calmly, and gave her just enough time for the shock to register.

Before she could say or do anything, he sent a powerful Force blast into her mind, stunning her temporarily. But it would be long enough. He deactivated his lightsaber and returned it to his belt, then reached out with both hands toward one of the monstrous statues out in the lower valley. He got a strong grip on it in the Force, and pulled for all that he was worth.

With a tremendously-loud cracking sound that could be heard all the way back to the Ebon Hawk, the statue broke free of its base, and fell toward them. Lashowe shook off the mental paralysis just in time to see the shadow falling over her, just in time to see the falling statue, and meekly raise her hands in a futile effort to ward it off.

Then, with a boom that shook the ground, the statue hit the ground, crushing them beneath it. Or, at least, crushing Lashowe beneath it. The section of the statue that would have crushed Kagi had fractured in two places, allowing the pieces above and below it to hit the ground as normal. But the part that would have crushed him hovered benignly in the air, held aloft by his power over the Force.

Kagi turned toward the tomb of Naga Sadow, and reared back both arms. With a forward gesture, the heavy section of statue soared forward, smashing into the wall of the tomb and shattering it inward.

Pulling his lightsaber off his belt, Kagi spun it once to properly orient it, then snapped it on and leapt high into the air, through the hole he had created.

---

Malak watched with perverse amusement as the last vestigial energy streamers from the Force lightning played across Bastila's exhausted form. Her body slumped against the pillar he had bound her to, unable to support her weight any longer.

With a gesture, the chains binding her snapped, allowing her to fall flat onto the floor. Two of Malak's dark Jedi immediately moved to her side, picking her up and giving her just enough of a kolto injection that she could support her own weight. Then they retreated from the chamber.

Of her own accord, Bastila fell to her knees at Malak's feet, supporting herself with her hands planted against the stone floor. She did not lift her eyes to meet his. Good.

"I…" she breathed, struggling to drag the words out of her. "I pledge…myself… to your teachings…"

"Very good," Malak said smugly.

"I will… I will do whatever you… ask…" she said, swaying wearily in place.

"You are fulfilling your destiny," Malak told her.

"Just…please…"

Face twisting in anger, the Sith lord backhanded her, sending her sprawling to the deck. "You dare to ask deals of me?"

Spinning on his heel, Malak stormed out of the chamber, leaving Bastila collapsed on the floor.

Lying there, weak, unable to move on her own, Bastila curled in on herself as best she could, weakly wrapping her arms around herself as more tears rose, unbidden.

Kagi, please forgive me. I am doing this for your sake…

---

…please forgive me…

Deep down inside Kagi, something broke. Just like when he had been ready to tear the face off of Carth after they had escaped the Leviathan, all the darkness and rage in his body fled as though a bright light had been shone on his soul.

It was Bastila. Something had happened to Bastila, something powerful enough to break through the barricade of their Force bond. He didn't know what had happened to her, but he knew it was safe to assume it had been something bad.

Shaking his head to clear it, Kagi leaned forward and stared into his reflection on the datapad screen he was using to record the galactic coordinates of the Star Forge. Nothing wrong with his face or eyes. Unnerved, he finished recording the coordinates, then activated his comlink.

"Carth? Kagi here. I've got the last Star Map. Time to get out of here. Take off and meet me near the lower cliff face of the Valley of the Dark Lords."

"You got it, Kagi," the soldier answered. "I'll pick up Canderous on the way and meet you out there."

The comlink beeped, indicating that the channel had been closed.

Pocketing the datapad, Kagi turned and picked his way back up to the surface, climbing over the section of broken statue, and out through the hole he had bashed into the tomb.

As he emerged back out into daylight, the Ebon Hawk was hovering a meter or so above the protruding edge of the statue he had hurled, its boarding ramp extended. Securing all of his belongings, Kagi leapt across the open space, and into the freighter. As soon as he was aboard, the ramp rose behind him, and the ship made for space.

Inside, Kagi made his way directly to the cockpit, settling himself in the copilot's seat. Once fully seated, he sagged wearily, trying to expel the memory of all that he had done on Korriban's surface. He knew he had taken a trip into the dark side, and that it had taken Bastila's suffering to bring him out. He would not allow that to happen to him again.

"You've got the coordinates, Kagi?" Carth asked as the Hawk left the atmosphere, sailing into the silent void of space.

"Yeah," the Jedi replied automatically, handing over the datapad. He blinked, then looked over at the pilot. "We need to talk, Carth. About me being Revan."

Carth froze halfway through entering the coordinates in the navicomputer, and looked over at the Jedi's troubled expression. Slowly, he nodded. "If you're ready to talk then yes, so am I."

"And?"

"I can't hate you," Carth said, sighing as he flopped back into his seat and stared out at the vista of stars. "I tried…" he admitted. "I tried to hold you responsible for all the things you've done. For my wife, for Telos, for Dustil. But I can't."

"I'm glad to hear that," Kagi said tiredly, nodding. He felt like he'd gone ten rounds with a rancor.

"I got the revenge I always wanted when Saul died," Carth continued. He obviously wanted to get this off his chest, so Kagi did nothing to hinder him. "But it hasn't brought me the peace that I thought it would. Despite whatever part of Revan is inside you, the… the darkness that must surely be there, it isn't who you are."

Carth sighed again, and rubbed his temples slowly. "That's why I can't hate you, why I don't want any more revenge. You don't have to be Revan, you can be so much more. Whatever the Jedi did to you, they gave you that chance."

Yes, Kagi mused to himself, but I almost threw that chance away and became the dark lord again. It was Bastila's suffering that brought me back. I must not let her continue to suffer. We have to go save her!

"Whatever's happened up until this point, there's going to come a time very soon where you're going to have to make a choice. And there won't be any turning back."

Kagi nodded. He knew this as well. But for Carth's sake, for the sake of Bastila, he had to face that time with steadfast determination. "And if I make the wrong choice?" he ventured.

"Well then I hope I can save you," Carth replied. "From yourself." The computer console in front of them beeped, and Carth leaned forward to check it. "Okay, the coordinates check out and we've got a hyperspace course laid in." He looked up at the Jedi. "You ready to go save your sweetheart?"

"As of two days ago," Kagi replied with a nod. "Punch it."

The Ebon Hawk's engines flared, hurtling the ship into hyperspace, on toward destiny…

A/N: Yeah people, I realize that I totally butchered the mission to Korriban, but think about it. Which one is more fun? Running around playing gopher for the Sith, or killing them all and cutting a bloody swath across the planet? XD