Chapter 16: Darkness Falls.
"Light and Darkness always have had a constant battle.
One can not exist with out the other.
If the light triumphs over darkness,
This will grow inside the light until it emerges again,
The same will happen if darkness triumphs over light."·
The Council was surprised that one of them had brought them to Malachor, a planet where the Dark Side was too strong.
"Why you bring us here Vrook!?" Kavar asked.
"Is that no obvious?" A voice of a woman said from the distance. When the Council saw Kreia, they were surprised.
"Kreia!?" Atris asked surprised
"I'm not Kreia anymore, my name is Darth Traya." She answered.
"Why are we here?" Kavar said demanding an answer.
"For a very simple reason." Vrook said and with the Force, he put all the masters in stasis. "I'm going to create a new Order, where if someone violates the Code, he or she is going to be vanished from the Order and would live the rest of the days in the Outer Rim, but if the exiles come back, they are going to be killed." He said darkly, Traya only smiled when she felt Vrook's dark energy increasing and being freed from his body.
"You represent the old Order, but I represent the future and the new Order."
After two weeks of repairs, the Hawk was ready, in the docking bay the group and Carth were saying farewell.
"I hope you find the holocrons, if you need help, don't hesitate to give me a call, my troops are going to be ready." Carth said.
"Thanks Carth." Bastila said.
"Oh…and…when you have found Revan, don't forget to send an invitation to your wedding." He said smiling.
"I will Carth; I only hope it's not too late for Revan." Bastila answered sadly.
"You will find him." He assured. "Goodbye Mission."
"Take care, old geezer." She answered hugging Carth. "Take care, you too." He answered.
The group boarded the ship, T3 came from the communication room very excited. "Dweep bop bop bop Dwep." He said.
"What is it, T3?" Mission asked.
"Answer: I believe that T3 unit is trying to say that he has received a message from the small Enclave, near Khoonda settlement, on the planet Dantooine." HK said.
"What do they would want?" Meetra asked.
"I don't know, we better check it out." Bastila said. "Connect us with master Dorak, T3." She said.
The little droid connected the signal with the holoprojector in the main hold. "This is master Dorak, Knight Shan, do you copy?" The image of the master said.
"Yes, I'm here master, what is the problem?" She asked.
"I received some intriguing news from a Padawan on Coruscant about the Council and one of his members." Dorak said.
"Who gave you this news, master?" Bastila asked.
"Someone you are very familiar with, Padawan Juhuani, come here please." Dorak said. From behind, the image of Juhuani appeared.
"Juhuani?" Jolee asked. "What are you doing on Dantooine?" He asked again.
"I came here to inform master Dorak about something that happened on Coruscant a few days after you left." The purring voice of Juhuani said.
"What happened?" Meetra asked.
"Kreia informed the Council about a place where the Force was very strong, and there, they could learn more about the old traditions of the Jedi." Juhuani said. "But the Council deliberate for a week, making master Vrook very impatient, he disappeared four days after the Council started to deliberate." She said.
"And what happened?" Jolee asked.
"Two days later, master Vrook returned, but something odd about him captured my attention."
"What?" Meetra asked.
"He had like-a-dark energy around him, but somehow, he managed to keep the dark energy controlled." Juhuani answered.
"A dark energy?" Bastila asked.
Juhuani nodded. The group looked at each other, then, Bastila spoke, "Master Dorak, please tell the three groups of Jedi who accompanied us to be ready. Tell them to meet us in the Malachor system as fast as they can."
Master Dorak nodded, "I will. May the force be with you." He said. The group bowed in front of the image and turned off the holoprojector.
"Atton set course to Malachor's system." Bastila said. Atton nodded and he and Meetra went to the cockpit to prepare the course to Malachor, after leaving Citadel Station, the Hawk entered in hyperspace, the trip would only take a few hours.
While the ship was on route to Malachor, the group discussed about the news they received.
"Do you think Vrook fell to the Dark Side?" Meetra asked.
"Maybe he did without noticing it." Mical answered. "But where did he go to fell to the Dark Side?" He asked.
"Maybe to a Sith world, or maybe to a world tainted with the Dark Side." Jolee answered.
"Malachor." Meetra said.
"Are you sure?" Kraig asked.
Meetra nodded, "Yes, Malachor is tainted with the Dark Side. When you are there, you can feel the taint everywhere."
"So, you're saying someone set a trap for Vrook, only just to make him fell to the Dark Side?" Jolee asked.
Meetra nodded. "Who could do something like that?" Atton asked.
"Maybe someone who already had fallen to the Dark Side and convinced him to go to Malachor and there they twisted his mind." Visas answered. "But who?" She asked.
The group stayed in silence thinking about enemies who wanted to destroy the Order from the inside. Then a thought struck in Meetra's mind. "Kreia." She said.
"What?" Bastila asked.
"Think about it, Kreia was the one who told Vrook about this ancient place where the Force was strong and sensing Vrook's impatience, she convinced him to go to Malachor lying him about the true place where he was going. " Meetra answered.
"Do you think she knew something about the holocrons?" Mission asked.
"Maybe; maybe not." Meetra answered.
"Well, we will arrive at Malachor in a few hours." Mical said. "Kraig, you and Visas could help me, telling everything you know about the Lord Siths." Kraig and Visas nodded and the three went out of the main hold and went to the training room.
"I think we should go back to the cockpit, just to make sure the controls are right when we arrive." Atton said looking at Meetra.
"Yeah, you're right." Meetra answered smiling.
The two returned to the cockpit, the others stayed behind in the main hold. "Those two reminds me a young couple of Jedi Knights I met back on Kashyyyk." Jolee said when Atton and Meetra left the main hold.
"What do you mean?" Bastila asked, then she realized what Jolee was talking about. "Revan and I never had a formal relationship until everything of the Star Forge was over." She said.
"Hmph! C'mon girl, I'm old but not blind, damn it! After the "small chat" you two had a day after the kid's recovery, you acted like a couple of teenagers, although, you did a great job hiding your emotions to the rest of us."
Bastila only smiled, after she and Revan spent their first night together, they walked around Ahto City, and every time they were in a room, their eyes met for few seconds and smiled to each other. Hours later, the Hawk arrived at Malachor's system, the only waited few minutes for the other ships to arrive.
"T3 connect us with the others ships, we need to tell them about our plans." Meetra said. The little droid beeped in agreement and turned on the holoprojector.
The image of three Jedi appeared. "What are we doing in Malachor's system?" One of the Jedis asked.
"We found out that Revan hid two holocrons in Malachor V, but as you have heard, the Council is here too." Bastila said.
"Why?" The second Jedi asked.
"We don't know, but we have reasons to believe that they came here only to fell in a trap." Mical said.
"Set by whom?" The first Jedi asked.
"Vrook." Meetra answered.
"Wait…Vrook? But how?" The third Jedi asked confused.
"We suspect that he came to Malachor days prior and somehow between the dark energy of the planet and the taint of the Dark Side, someone manipulated and convinced him that the Council had lost its connection with the old traditions of the Order." Mical said.
"Who convinced him with those lies?" The second Jedi asked.
"Kreia." Meetra answered the three Jedis look at her oddly. "When she woke up in the morgue, I sensed a strange energy within her, but it was too blurred to know what kind of energy was." She said.
The Jedis stayed silence, few minutes later, one of them spoke, "So, what's the plan now?" He asked.
"We need to stop Traya and Vrook before they kill the Council." Kraig said.
"What do you suggest young man?" Jolee asked.
"We need to split out; two of the ships are going to track down any ship leaving the system. The other ship, and us are going to descend on Malachor. There we can search for the Council." Kraig answered.
"And where exactly you think they are going to be?" The third Jedi asked.
"Trayus Academy." Kraig said. "Is the only building on the scarred surface." He said.
The three Jedis agreed with Kraig's plan, the ship moved to Malachor and turned off their sensors so they weren't detected. Meanwhile, Traya was asking Sion why Nihilus hadn't killed Revan yet, Sion answered that Revan was the big finale when the Council and his friends were dead. Traya smiled; then a dark Jedi informed Sion that they had found the holocrons. Sion went with the dark jedi, who gave him the two holocrons, he examined them and smiled.
Aboard the Hawk, the group was preparing themselves to fight against Dark Jedis, Sith assassins and Sith troopers. In her room, Meetra was meditating, she needed all the energies to fight Sion and Traya, Atton saw her and entered in her room, he sat on a chair next to her. Meetra saw him and got up.
"Hi babe." He said.
"Hi, what are you doing here?" She asked.
"I'm just wanted to know, how do you feel?" He asked.
"Fine." She said and sighed, "But also I feel worried, what if the Sith win this time?"
"They aren't going to win okay?" He said placing his hands on her face. "We are going to defeat them and we will rescue Revan."
Meetra kissed Atton, and he kissed her back. When they broke apart, they stayed in silence. "Get ready." She said minutes later. The two went out of Meetra's room and equipped themselves. When the ships landed in Malachor, the groups descended with their lightsabers in hand.
"T3, guard the ship." Bastila said; the little droid beeped and stayed behind.
"Where is the Academy?" One of the Jedis asked.
"There." Kraig said pointing at a building at the distance. "We must proceed with caution, there must be Dark Jedis waiting for us." He said.
One of the Sith assassin entered in the main hall of Trayus Academy. "My Lord." He said. "We have been informed that a group of Jedis are here, they are coming to the Academy."
Sion, Traya and Vrook looked at each other. "Send the Dark Jedis, and post ten Sith assassins where the Council is." Sion said, the dark jedi bowed in front of him and left the room. Vrook looked at Sion confused, Sion sensed this; "Don't worry Vrook; we are going to fight them in the core of the Academy." He said.
The groups walked along the surface of the planet, when a group of Dark Jedis attacked them, they ignited their lightsabers and a fight between the Jedis and the Sith started. The group of Jedis and Sith split in half, from the back, Mission and HK covered the group from any sneak attack. Kraig, Visas and Mical were surrounded, but the Dark Jedis were no match for two former Siths and for a Padawan. Kraig attacked two dark jedi simultaneously, he blocked the blow of the two crimson blades which crashed against his orange one; with the Force, he pushed one against a rock nearby, giving him time to defeat the other.
Mical was fighting against one dark jedi, his blue lightsaber blocked the Sith lightsaber; the dark jedi used the force wave which cause Mical to be pushed to the back, but thanks to a backflip, he recovered his balance and attacked the dark jedi stabbing him on the chest . Visas blocked one attack of the dark jedi who was fighting her, with the Force, she made a whirlwind and lifted the dark jedi, the dark jedi fell unconscious. Another dark jedi charged to Visas, but she stabbed him on the stomach, causing the death of the dark jedi. When all the Dark Jedis were dead, Visas, Mical and Kraig went to help the others.
The Sith assassin fell dead at Meetra's feet, when she looked up, Atton was fighting against two Sith assassins. One of them attacked him with his lightsaber, but thanks to all the training, Atton blocked it and kicked him in the stomach sending him a few meters back. The other assassin decided to attack Atton, but Meetra attacked them first; when the Sith assassin that Atton kicked got up, Atton threw his lightsaber at him, but the Sith dodged the attack. Atton called back his lightsaber and swung it to block the attack. Thanks to the training, Atton killed the Sith and deactivated his yellow saber. Meetra and Atton joined with the other three Jedis. After minutes of fighting Dark Jedis and Sith assassins, the groups headed to Trayus Academy.
"Where do you think they are holding the Council?" Bastila asked.
"I don't know, I haven't been here in years." Kraig said.
"Observation: I have detected some organics life forms inside that building, master." HK said.
"Take us there HK." Meetra said.
"Answer: As you wish master." HK said, then, all the group was following HK to the very core of Trayus Academy. Once inside, HK detected again the life forms.
"Have you detected something HK?" Meetra asked.
"Statement: Indeed I have master, I have detected the Council in the East wing of this building, but I have also detected other three organic life forms in the same direction" HK said.
"They must be Kreia and Vrook, but who is the other?" Bastila said.
"Maybe is Sion." Meetra answered.
The group took their lightsabers and started to walk to the East wing, when they arrived at the first room, everything was dark. "You've finally arrived Meetra." A voice said.
"Who's there?" One of the jedis asked. Then, the room illuminated with torches that were on the wall, revealing the identity of Traya, Vrook and Sion, part of the group was surprised at Sion's decaying image.
"Where's the Council?" Jolee asked.
"They are fine." Traya said. "They've been quiet since they arrived." She said. Behind her, there was the East wing, the Jedis saw the entire Council in stasis.
"Why are you doing this?" Mical asked demanding an answer.
"Why?" It's very simple, Padawan." Vrook said.
"Guys, Juhuani was right. Vrook has fallen to the dark side." Visas said.
"Are you sure?" Atton asked.
"I'm sure. I can see his aura; it's filled with the Dark Side." Visas said. Since she had allied with Revan's friends, she became a great part of the group, not only for her skills with the Force, but as well as her ability to detect if someone was falling to the Dark Side.
"You'll see, I've seen that the traditions of the Jedi have been lost over time. When the Council decided to train Revan again, I disagreed with them, but they ignored me. And now they have broken the Code, with allowing emotional attachments." Vrook said. "They even readmitted an exile, who was supposed never to return to the Republic space." When Vrook said this, Atton stepped in front of Meetra to protect her of any attack.
"But, why did you allied with the Sith then?" Jolee asked.
"Because they are going to help me to build a new Order. And if someone breaks the Code, they will suffer consequences." Vrook said. "And I probably should start with you." He said while he was taking his lightsaber from his belt as well as Traya and Sion. Meetra, Atton, Visas and Kraig activated their lightsabers.
"You guys go with the Council and try to free them, we will stop them." Meetra said. Bastila nodded and led the rest of the group to the other room where the Council was. When they got there, Sith assassins became visible and started to attack the group.
"I've been waiting for this for a long time." Sion said to Atton.
"So am I." Atton said holding his lightsaber tighter. They clashed the blades against each other. Atton swung his lightsaber, but Sion blocked it.
"Two former Sith apprentices. Traya said you were the best, it's a shame you have chosen the Jedi." Vrook said at Kraig and Visas. Visas attacked Vrook from the right and Kraig from the left, but Vrook blocked the attacks and with a Force wave, he sent Kraig against a wall. Kraig fell, but he recovered quickly and charged against Vrook, clashing his blade against the other.
"Something told me that you were already a Sith." Meetra said walking around the center of the room watching Traya.
"What can I say?" Traya said smiling. "It's too bad that you noticed it late." Then, Traya charged to Meetra, Meetra charged at her, she raised her lightsaber, but before it could go down, Traya blocked the blow with her own lightsaber. Meetra blocked every attack Traya threw at her; without warning, Traya ignited another two lightsabers and controlled them with the Force. Meetra blocked every blow of the lightsabers until she managed to deactivate two lightsabers, Meetra got up and attacked Traya, who blocked her attack with surprise at seeing Meetra deactivating two lightsabers.
Vrook attacked with all his forces, although he was an old man, he still had his training too fresh in his mind. Seeing that Kraig was standing in front of a small rock, Vrook attacked him, but Kraig dodged the attack taking a few steps backwards, this made him to lose his balance and tripped over the rock, falling on the ground. Without a lightsaber, Kraig only moved to dodge Vrook's attacks. When his back bump with a wall, Vrook smiled, then he swung his lightsaber down to Kraig, he tried to elude the attack, but the lightsaber grazed his eye, making him to cry in pain.
"Kraig!" Visas exclaimed at the former Sith lying on the ground. Vrook prepared his final blow, but before he could strike down Kraig, Visas blocked his blow. Meetra blocked again Traya's blade, this time Meetra jump over Traya and landed behind her, Traya turned around and sent Meetra a few meters back with a Force wave.
Visas blocked again Vrook's blade, taking a deep breath, Visas started to attack Vrook, Vrook was surprised by the sudden change of events. He was now the one who was blocking the attacks, he swung his lightsaber, but Visas dodged the attack and made a front flip and landed behind Vrook, but before Vrook could react, Visas stabbed him on the chest, the former master and member of the Council fell on his back dead. Visas deactivated her lightsaber and ran to Kraig's side to check him. Meetra blocked the last attack of Traya, and without warning she stabbed Traya in the stomach, she fell on her knees coughing blood.
"You did it well Exile, but this is not over yet." Traya said, coughing more blood, Traya spoke again, "You still have to find Revan, good luck with that." And with that Traya died.
A paused occurred during Atton and Sion's fight, after seeing his master and Vrook lying dead on the floor, Sion used a Forced wave against Atton sending him to a half wall behind him, Atton went through the wall and fell unconscious in the rubble.
"Atton!" Meetra said and rushed to Atton. Sion took the opportunity and ran outside of the Academy; he climbed on his ship and took off. Meetra shook Atton's body trying to wake him. After a few minutes, Atton regain consciousness.
"That will hurt tomorrow." He said.
Meetra sighed in relief and embraced him. "Are you fine?" She asked.
"Yes." He answered getting up. The two walked where Kraig and Visas were and asked her how was Kraig, Visas answered that the lightsaber caused a small damage in Kraig's eye. Fortunately, the lightsaber didn't blind Kraig, after they helped him to get on his feet; they went to the East wing to help the others. When they arrived, the others were freeing the Council from their stasis.
"Traya?" Mical asked.
"She's dead." Meetra answered.
"And Vrook?" Bastila asked.
"He's also dead." Visas said.
"A shame is." Master Vandar said.
"He was one of the most experienced master I've ever know." Zhar said.
"Wait…what happened with Sion?" Mission asked.
"He ran away." Meetra said. With this the groups and the Council returned to the ships, thankfully, T3 and the other ships caught Sion's ship hyperwave. The Hawk and the other ships tracked down Sion's ship.
Hours later Sion, reached at the planet where Nihilus was waiting, he aboarded the Ravager and went to the bridge.
"My Lord." Sion said bowing in front of Nihilus. "The Council was rescued by the Jedis, Traya and Vrook died in the process."
"I knew Traya's plan wasn't going to work." Nihilus said. "Don't worry Sion, I know they are going to be here in a few hours, but they will be late to stop plan B." Sion looked at the ships which contained the Dark Jedis disguised as Jedis exiting the hangars of the main cruisers and entering into hyperspace.