Chapter 1

Revan did not say a word as he walked down the grand entrance of the mansion. The red carpet muffling the sound of his thick boots. He absently stared at the decorum around the walls. Large statues built to the vanity of some long dead Sith. Paintings that had no real meaning. Sith art was always like that. For a belief that was centered around passion it always seemed to lack any when it came to the finer things.

Revan headed up the grand stairs, the Sith security moving out of his way as he walked past. Revan had been here long enough for every guard to know his face. Though they did not know him as Jedi Master Revan, they all though that he was Lord Eruta Ken, lord of the Sith and servant to Lord Nyriss, one of the twelve council members of the Sith Empire.

Revan reached the top of the stairs and turned down the hallway leading to a room at the other end. Revan stood in front of the door for a moment before he walked in putting on the persona that he had created to fit in. As he exhaled he swung open the door, letting his presence fill the room as he entered.

"So nice of you to come Eruta Ken." the red skin Sith smiled at Revan as he walked into the room. His full tooth smile making his dangling mandibles to move back and forth. A thing that only drew attention to the scar on his chin where a mandible should have been.

"My apologies Sechel, I was held up doing more important things, like feeding birds." Revan sat down across from him putting his booted feet up on the table.

"There are no birds on Dromund Kaas." the Sith replied.

"Yeah I would imagine all the rain and lightning would be a bit of a problem for them." Revan gave the Sith a mocking smile. Sechel may come across at first as being week and helpless but Revan knew better. Inside that mind was a storm of plots and schemes. Revan knew that if anyone was to ever figure out his true identity it would be Sechel, so he must be extra vigil around him. Revan did his best to keep his distance and not make himself worthy of Sechel's time but he could not come across as having something to hide. Thus the banter.

"And what dose our Lady Councilor have on the agenda today?" Revan asked trying to move the meting along.

"Lord Nyriss as been tasked by the emperor himself to find and deal with a smuggling ring within the city."

"That seems like a fairly small job for someone as important as Lord Nyriss."

Sechel smiled his scheming smile. "Oh but this smuggling ring is supplying weapons to the rebels on the outer rim of the empire, and they are causing the military out there some serious problems. The fact that the Emperor would turn to Nyriss, one of the twelve most powerful sith in the empire, to handle it shows how serious that he is taking the mater."

Revan studied the Sith's red mandible face. Did he somehow know that it was Revan who was supplying the weapons in hopes to destabilize the Sith? No he had been too careful. He had done too much to cover his tracks, but Sechel was up to something and he would find out what.

"And does this somehow involve me?" Revan asked.

"Why yes, Nyriss asked that you be the one to sort out the matter." he was still smiling. What was he up to?

"Grate, then send me the information and I will get right on it." Revan moved to get up.

"You and Lord Scourge that is."

Revan cringed at the very sound of the name. The hatred that Scourge had for Revan was not a secret and Revan could not say that he did enjoyed the Sith very much ether. That must be why Sechel was so smug. Sechel did not hide the fact that he did not trust Revan, not that he really trusted anybody, but by the way he would sometimes touch the scar on his face whenever Scourge was in the room told Revan that while Sechel did not trust him he hated Scourge.

Revan was sure just he mere thought of the Revan and Scourge killing each other or at the very least trying to must have given him joy beyond belief. He liked making everyone suffer and squirm. That meant that he was in control of the situation. Revan disliked Scourge but he feared Sechel.

"I'm sure that we are more then capable of getting the job done." Revan got up to leave.

"Assuming you two don't kill each other before you do." Sechel called to Revan as he walked out of the room.

"Good evening Eruta Ken." The street vender waved at Revan walking down the busy street. Revan smiled at the man and walked over to him.

"Good evening to you Tallnus." Revan gave a polite bow.

"And how are things with Darth Nyriss?" The vender asked.

"The Dark Councilor is fine and I should not speak to you about her for you are a shady fellow and who knows to whom you might sell such secrets to." Revan smiled at the worn faced man.

The vender gave him a curious look. "Eruta, are you sure you are a Sith? Cause you have a since of humor and not the kind that involves torturing things."

"As sure as the Emperor is immortal." Revan smiled. "Now tell me what lovely things are you selling to people today?"

"Ah nothing that I am sure a Sith Lord like yourself would be interested in. I'm sure at the estate you get all kinds of good food."

"Oh I never eat food that I did not make myself. Sechel is always scheming and I will do best to make sure I do not leave myself open for one of his ploys."

"Life of a Sith must be hard." Tallnus nodded not convinced of his own statement. "But I suppose there are things that I will never understand."

"Much the truth." Revan picked up an orange fruit and paid the man with a smile. It had been almost two years since Revan came to Dromund Kaas. He had been following in his own footsteps trying to peace back together his lost memory. It had started to come back to him after helping his friend Canderous find the lost Mandalore's mask but there were still major holes in it. He started to get flashes of other places, worlds that he could not remember visiting. That journey had finally led him to this world.

Dromund Kaas, the capital planet of the Sith Empire. The sky was almost always in a state of electrical storms and the surface seemed to pulsate with the dark side of the force. It felt much like the ancient sith world Korriban, or Malachor V but as where Korriban, and Malachor V were dead, this world was very much alive. It was full of buildings and people, some enslaved others oppressed and the rest doing the enslaving and the oppressing. Despite all of that there was one thing that did surprise Revan, the order and structure of it all.

While the people were controlled by fear they were also controlled by loyalty. They were devoted to the way of life and would die to defend it and their Sith Emperor who supposedly had lead them since the end of the Grate Hyperspace War over a thousand years ago. Revan knew that someone strong in the force could maintain their life for very long periods of time but they became week and frail, and he had a hard time believing Sith would ever allow themselves to be ruled by someone who could not hold his power.

Instead it was far more likely do to his isolation that every once in a while an ambitious Sith from the Dark Council killed the Emperor and assumed his identity. Darth Nyriss though assured Revan that was in fact not the case, that the emperor had found a way to in fact make himself immortal.

Revan bit into the fruit as he walked deep in thought. After he had arrived on this world he had infiltrated one of the ruling sith houses hopping to find out all that he could about what was going on. It very quickly became obvious that the main goal that the Emperor was always working towards was the retaking of the republic. This fact had triggered several of his own memories about how Mandalore the Crusader had been tricked into attacking the Republic by the Sith as a way of weakening the Republic and testing their abilities.

Luckily they were unaware of the Jedi Civil War that immediately followed, for if they did they would know that they would come across almost no resistance from the almost demolished Republic Fleet if they decided to invade now. A fact that Revan was going to make sure that they never found out. Revan had been shown the Sith armada once and by the look of things, l they were primed and ready for the invasion but it was in fact the Dark Council that was delaying it. they feared that a war with the Republic would only end in their failure so they did everything they could to convince the Emperor that they were still not ready. An idea that Revan tried to support whenever possible.

"Mind if I ask you were you are headed to Eruta Ken?" Revan turned to see the face of the red skinned sith standing behind him.

"Lord Scourge of what do I owe the honor?" Revan gave a courteous but mocking bow.

"I'm here doing my duty unlike some others that I know." He smiled as his face mandibles suede back and forth. A True Sith, as he was called, were decedents of the original sith species and this fact alone make them superior in the social hierarchy. A fact that Scourge was never going to let him forget.

"I am not on duty at the moment so my actions are none of your concern." Revan shot at him trying to turn to walk away.

He moved in front of Revan cutting him off. "My job is to insure the security and safety of our mistress so what you do is my concern."

"No that's, Murtog's job as the chief of security. Your job was to be an expendable puppet that somehow managed to survive so they kept you around for amusement."

The Sith gave him a glaring look. "how dare you I should-"

"You should what?" Revan got in his face. "Strike me down? I dare you to try." Revan took another bit of his fruit to show his lack of concern.

Revan had arrived shortly after Scourge had. Scourge had been called to Dromund Kaas to help Lord Nyriss with an assassination problem, against Nyriss' wishes from what Revan understood. It had all been resolved shortly before Revan arrived but something had happened that left a quit awkwardness in the air whenever the two were in the same room.

Revan's arrival seemed to be some sort of threat to the man, that somehow Revan was trying to take the entire spotlight off Scourge and unto himself. And in some ways he had managed to do just that. In a short time Revan had impressed Nyriss with his knowledge and skills in the force and he had been promoted quickly in her guard to one of her top officers. Scourge had taken this as a personal insult and had been trying to make Revan's life miserable ever since.

"You may have impressed Lord Nyriss for now but when she is no longer amused by you, it will be me who gets to decide whether you get to stay here," he leaned in close to Revan's ear and whispered, "Or whether I just kill you and leave you for the birds to find you."

Revan whispered back, "there are no birds on Dromund Kaas?" he took a step back with a smile and turned on his heals his robs flowing around him falling perfectly down around at his side and walked away. He could feel Scourge glaring into my back. Revan had met over ambitious Sith like Scourge before, though most of them he had met when he was the Dark Lord of the Sith, but most of those memories were gone now. Revan though got to deal with more than enough Sith when he had to infiltrate the Sith Academy on Korriban in his search for the Star Maps. He found the best way to deal with them was simply to never show any kind of weakness and make sure they knew who was stronger.

Revan continued walking down the street as rain started to poor down hitting his hood and cloak. Rain on Dromund Kaas was more common then no rain and he no longer even noticed it. The constant storms the lack of sun. he wasn't even sure if he had seen the sun once since his coming here. He had grown to despise this planet. His thoughts were then flooded with images of his wife Bastila. How when she smiled the world around her seemed to light up, or when she got angry her forehead would crinkle.

No. Revan shook his head, brushing the thoughts aside. He could not afford any distractions his mission was to important. When he was finished here only then could he return home. He steeled himself as he turned the corner into an abandon ally way. He checked to make sure no one was following him reaching out with the force touching the minds of the people near by making sure none of them could see him.

With a wave of his hand the side of the wall slid open revealing the entrance to his hid out. Having a hidden place was not uncommon among the Sith and it would have been more suspicious if he did not have one. But this one served two purposes, one to keep suspicion off of him and the other was to hide all the information that he had acquired over the past two years. Nyriss' spy Sechel would never suspect to look here as it was so obvious. He would be convinced that Revan would hid anything of importance at another location and Revan made sure to leave several bread crumbs to other places to keep him occupied.

When dealing with Sith the rules were simple. Trust on one and treat everyone as an enemy. This principle had served him well but Revan feared it all might have made him a bit paranoid if not a little bitter. He missed the days that he and his friends flew in the Ebon Hawk fighting Malak trying to save the Republic from the evils that threatened it. They were people that he could trust and rely on when he needed them. He knew that if he ever strayed from the path they would be there to bring him back.

As it turned out he had been the cause of most of the problems that they were trying to solve and it was Revan who had brought the Sith to the Republic and nearly destroyed it after he had spent so much time trying to save it during the Mandalorian wars.

That thought bothered him. What had happened to him? What had caused him to fall? How could he have gone from being the hero to the oppressor? How was he able to turn so many loyal Republic solders and Jedi against the Republic and take up Sith teachings? But the real question that Revan could not answer was, why?

The answers were in his head he knew that but it was like trying to see through the fog with one's eyes half closed. He could see flashes images but nothing that gave him any reason or understanding. He had hoped that coming to Dromund Kaas would help jog his memory but it had only lead to more questions.

The door to his room opened and he stepped inside.

"Welcome back Master." The blue twi'lek slave bowed at his entrance giving him a welcoming simile. "I have drawn you a hot bath and laid out fresh cloths. Is there anything else I may do for you?"

"No thank you Saross." Revan bit his tong. He had thanked her again. He had to be careful about how he treated slaves. If he was to nice it would draw suspicion. Revan hadn't even wanted a slave but Nyriss had given Saross to Revan as a gift to show him how much she valued his service. If he could he would have released Saross then and there but that would have only looked liked an insult to Nyriss. So Revan kept her around and tried to be as courteous to her as possible.

"You are to kind master." She bowed again. Revan could not help but stair at the shock collar around her neck. Revan had the device that would send painful yet non lethal voltage into her body as a form of punishment or sick amusement. Revan had only used it once and it was by complete accident.

When he first received the device he carried it on his person to show that to the other Sith that he was like them in how he treated his slaves. One day when he got back he had forgotten about it and sad down bumping the device in the process. It had been set on high and Saross nearly passed out from the unexpected pain.

Revan spent the next half hour apologizing and trying to make it up to her somehow. Ever since he had not carried it impressions be damned. He would not allow such a thing to happen again.

Revan walked past her and into his study area, trying his best to act cold and callow towards Saross. He was still not convinced that she was in fact not a spy for Nyriss or Sechel but in the past two years he had seen nothing that would suggest that was the case. None the less he had to make sure that he was double careful how he acted around her and had to make sure that she did not suspect who he really was or what he was doing here.

The room to the study was locked at all times and only Revan had the key. On top of that everything in the office was sealed with state of the arc security systems. Lucky for him none of this was unusual as many Sith had things that they wanted to keep hidden from others for fear that it could be used against them. Their own paranoia towards each other was the perfect cover for Revan in keeping his secrets hidden.

He sat down at his Holo Terminal and started to write all the things that he had learned from that day. The bath that Saross had drawn for him sounded appealing but he needed to record what he had learned as quickly as possible so he did not forget the details later. Today's entry was mostly about the royal guard. He had spent much of his time in the Emperors' Palace as Nyriss attended a Dark Council meeting. He was there as her escort but was forced to wait outside as no one but the council was allowed in the main room.

He took the time to study how the Guard around him operated. Their movements how many of them were force sensitive. As it turned out none of them were. All of them had been in fact cut off from the force somehow. This was to make them better at fighting those who relied on the force for they would be unable to since their presence or feelings in combat, but then also deadened them to the world around them. but the most terrifying thing that Revan had found out was the layers of mind control and brainwashing. Some of it was caused by the force and some of it from simple braking down on the will and psyche and then remolding it.

The guard was completely loyal to the emperor and had no real ambition or free will of their own. They still had their own since of individuality that allowed them to think and adapt to situations but there was nothing that made them unique or special. It was probably one of the most depressing things that he had seen since arriving here.

Revan sighed as he finished his notes. This had almost become pointless to him. He could not send this to the Republic for the transmission would be intercepted long before it got there, then he would be found out, caught and killed. So the only thing he could do was bide his time until the opening that he needed arose and try and do anything he could to disrupt the Sith until then.

Revan got up and looked to the door behind him. He wondered if that bath was still hot.