Sith Gothic. Part Eight.
"After Malachor, after the Mandalorian Wars, that's when the Sith teachings started spreading through the ranks. We knew where our loyalties lay—to the Jedi who came to help us, not the ones who sat back on Dantooine and Coruscant, watching us die." - Atton Rand
New Personal Chambers. The Sith Academy. Korriban. Revan's Sith Empire. Star Wars KOTOR Galaxy.
I never would have guessed that tomb raiding could be quite so profitable. Not only had I acquired a nice bit of wealth but I had also rapidly climbed the social hierarchy of the academy. By no measure could I be considered extremely rich. I'd actually only got a percentage of the overall value of the loot since it anything found on this world was owned by the empire, hence the black market trade of artefacts, but at least now I had a nice stack of credit chips as a sort of finders fee.
I'd spent quite a bit already. A new and more stylise uniform had been the first thing that I had brought. Black suited me so much better than grey which was such a dull colour. Next, I'd gotten myself a nice long coat, also black, made of something called amourweave, it was a fabric that acted as light armour.
Granted it had been expensive but it was well worth it as the material would protect me from light blaster fire (such as from a blaster pistol) or even a glancing strike with a lightsabre. Wouldn't help me at all if I came under heavy fire or took a real blow from a sabre but any protection is better than none at all. I had considered investing in proper body armour but it that would hamper my combat moves too much.
Moving up the ladder had also benefited me. I know had much larger quarters which were also much better decorated than my last one. My servant Zanii loved the place because it had the local equivalent of a hot tub in the 'refresher. On an arid world like Korriban, such a thing was the very height of luxury.
While my alien plaything spent her time in the tub, when not in it with me, I spent most of the time I had split between lessons taught either by Ban or Wynn.
The two of them seemed to be attempting to slow my progress oddly enough, but now that I had the holocron it hardly mattered. The memory of Tulak Hord would teach me everything that I ever needed to know and more than I could imagine.
As I'd discovered Sith Lord Tulak Hord was not in a master of Lightsaber combat, as that lying bitch Kreia had said in KOTOR II. He was indeed 'the greatest the duellist of the Sith Lords' but he used a sword, the very same sword that I now wore hidden inside my new coat.
When I'd asked the gatekeeper of the holocron it had revealed that Hord had been the greatest swordsmen of his time but lightsabre users had actually been rather rare. However I had found crystals suitable for use in a lightsabre in Hord's tomb so perhaps the use of lightsabres had come back into fashion at some point after Hord had constructed his holocorn. It was in my view possible for Hord to have made use of both weapons, and to have become very skilled at using them.
Records from that time were few and accounts of ancient Sith Lords tended to blur the line between fact and colourful fiction often on the same page. But after some internal debate I decided to believe what the Holocron said was valid up until the point it had been constructed. If I spent my time trying to confirm Hord's teaching my progress would be slowed, and in any case trying to find information on Tulak might suggested to others that I had his holocron. Everyone knew that I had been in his tomb.
Lord Hord, or at least the part of himself he had placed with the holocron had a lot to teach to me about using a sword, and the gatekeeper seemed rather flattered that I wanted to use his blade. But the holocron had much more to teach me than how to kill people with a sharp bits of metal. Hord had been far more than a warrior, he'd been a conqueror and he'd even gotten involved in Sith sorcery.
Until now I hadn't been able to find much on that subject. A lot of studies down the archives stated that sorcery didn't even exist and even if had it was a lost art this.
What was even more impressive than that was that this holocron contained the secret to extending one's life indefinitely. I wasn't foolish enough to think that meant immortality as I knew that everyone dies and given that Hord wasn't still alive it kind of proved my point. But extending life, that I badly wanted to know.
But Holocrons don't just tell you everything. They are very interactive, but they are meant to be teaching tools a way for a master of the Force to pass on what they know. Just like a maths teacher doesn't try to educate small children by having them solve algebra problems, a mentor in the ways of the dark side does not try to teach a relative novice how to drain the life out of people.
However I did have some knowledge about what it meant to be a Sith I wasn't a complete noob. Proving this to the holocron was a bit of a chore but it was well worth it. I'd learned more about swordsmanship from the holocron in a day than I had from all the Sith here at the academy. But to be fair to Wynn using a sword had never really been the point of those lessons with the Sith marauder. Ban's teaching methods were far more straightforward and useful.
Suddenly my comm device beeped at me and I discovered that it was time for my lesson with Wynn. I really wished for more time with the holocron as I was sure that the gatekeeper would soon tell me about Hord's skill with telekinesis, but when the headmaster called a student to his office that student had to answer.
Wynn's Office. The Sith Academy. Korriban. Revan's Sith Empire. Star Wars KOTOR Galaxy.
"Today I will inform of you of the glorious empire that Darth Revan is building. Through me you will learn about the Dark Lord and the empire he is forging among the stars".
Wait didn't Wynn known Revan was a woman? Perhaps he didn't what with the armour she wore. Could that be the reason why Revan wore the armour? It was impossible to tell from simply looked at Revan what gender she was. In fact you couldn't even tell if she human. Really anyone could be under that outfit. It would certainly make it easy to have decoys. Only a Force User would know a fake Revan from the real one and only if they had met. A trick like that would make an assassins' life a lot more difficult.
Wynn quickly went into lecture mode and I got the impression that he was trying to bore me out of becoming a was strange because until these lessons had started he'd done a lot to encourage me to advance. Now he seemed to be making an effect to stall my progress. Did he know that Ban was planning to use me to help overthrow him? Or was there another reason I needed to know modern Sith philosophy, current galactic geography, and running the galaxy as a Sith Lord: a history?
"The Sith Empire was founded by Dark Lords of the Sith, Darth Revan, and his apprentice, Darth Malak" began Wynn. "It is in direct opposition to the Galactic Republic and its Jedi masters".
I knew more on this subject than Wynn did, aside from a few minor details involving the empire's structure and what they thought was the overall goals.
From what I knew towards the end of the Mandalorian Wars, the then Jedi Knight Revan, along with Malak I assume, had visited the Trayus Academy on the ancient Sith world Malachor V. Anyone who had played KOTOR II knew all about that place.
While there, he fell under the influence of the dark side, but might not of actual been corrupted as the Jedi would think.
What Revan had actually discovered was evidence that there was a Sith Empire somewhere beyond the boundaries of known space and that they were a great threat to the galaxy.
The evidence was not the academy itself as the galaxy was full of Sith leftovers. There were temples, and such to be found on any number of remote planets and moons. I myself if given a good galaxy map and a ship could of led Revan's Sith to a dozen such places just on the information I had gained from reading Star Wars EU books.
No the evidence had come from a person, the leader of the Mandalorians who had confessed to Revan that he had been encouraged to attack the Republic by a Sith.
After the battle of Malachor V Revan and Malak had gone off to some ice planet (not Hoth) to investigate these claims.
Their investigation led Revan and Malak to a rather lovely holiday spot called Dromund Kass. Which was, and still is, the capitol world of the True Sith Empire which is currently gathering its strength in the Unknown Regions. When it is done gathering its might it will attack the Republic.
While there Revan and Malak had tried to kill the Sith Emperor (a goal I fully supported) but it went wrong and the two Jedi ended up becoming brainwashed puppets of the Sith Emperor. The evil emperor turned Revan and Malak to the dark side made them Sith, and then he turned them lose on the Republic. The Emperor's plan was to have the two freshly minted Sith test the Republic's defences and then to report back. He also tasked them with finding the Starforge so that the Emperor could use it to build an army of darkness and conquer the galaxy.
However like all Evil Overlords the Emperor had underestimated the two Force Users, and overestimated his own abilites, they broke free of their temporary master's control and started to work for themselves.
Perhaps it was the Starforge that had freed them because while there Revan declared the creation of a new Sith Empire, one meant to fight the Emperor (who is well worth fighting given that he plans to kill all life the galaxy) and his empire. Still perhaps it would of wiser of them to alert the Jedi I could only assume that some of the brainwashing stuck because in many ways they were currently doing the Emperors work for him.
Also Revan somehow managed to keep control of part of the Republic fleet despite the fact that he'd gone off into the Unknown Regions. How this had worked out was unknown to me and the few details Wynn provided didn't really shed any light on the subject.
Sith teachings had entered the fleet before the end of the war so perhaps the Sith of the empire in the Unknown Regions had been more involved than it seemed, that or Malachor was very evil place and had somehow contaminated a good part of the Republic fleet.
What was known was that Revan and Malak appeared with a fleet of Republic and Starforge made ships and then produced to start conquering the galaxy. Something she was still working on now.
Under Darth Revan's leadership, the Sith invasion was all but unstoppable. From their base on Malachor V, Sith Assassins went about killing and abducting Jedi throughout Republic. What happens to them isn't well known but they sometimes ended up fighting the very people they once had served.
In places like Korriban, Revan's most faithful servants attempt to corrupt more Force Users, like myself, in order to led them to the dark side so that they can serve Revan's growing empire. Not that Wynn was putting it in those exact words but that was about the jist of it.
As to prove their evil the Sith had conspired with Czerka Corporation, a soulless, faceless galaxy-spanning business that greatly exploits people and sells inferior products.
Today the glorious (Wynn really seemed to like that word) Sith empire continues to grow. Worlds secede to the Sith voluntarily, mostly out of fear I guessed or because their leaders think that the Republic's days are numbered. Which given the state of things isn't a hard to believe.
The Republic however is still putting up a fight. This is mostly due to Bastila Shan (whose file has a number of photos that show that the game doesn't do her justice) thanks to her the Republic is actually a winning its fair share of battles but unless they hurried up and capture Revan they will lose.
However this wasn't what the lesson was about. The Headmaster was trying to explain to me how the empire works. I figured that he was planning to make me a part of the empire but the question was, where was he planning to send me once I graduated?
The guiding principle of Revan's Sith Empire seemed be survival of the fittest, or at least survival of those willing to do what it took to win even if that meant being a total jerk. Everyone from the lowest ranking trooper to the highest ranking Sith were encouraged to try and grab power. Promotion via assassinating your superior was perfectly acceptable as long you didn't get caught.
Only someone like Revan, and maybe Malak, could keep such an empire intact. Their strength kept their minions in check through fear, and all the backstabbing made it nearly impossible for an alliance of lesser Sith to rise up and overthrow the two Dark Lords.
The Sith had a very direct method of keeping the worlds they conquered under their control. A Dark Jedi, would be posted on each world as its governor and then housed within an embassy which would contain a security force large enough to keep the planet under control. There they could lord it over the natives and generally be a dick towards the people they ruled.
Since the Sith fleet was always on the move what really kept worlds from overthrowing their governor was the threat that the fleet would come back and bombard the planet back into submission. This method seemed to be rather effective and also allowed the Dark Lord of the Sith AKA Revan to command from the front lines.
The Sith military was formed around the veterans of the Mandolarin Wars. Those who had fought with Revan were the top officers of both the navy and the army. However there weren't enough veterans to command the entire armada. So leadership of the army was often in the hands of those Jedi who had followed Revan and those who had gone through the Sith Academy like me.
The objective of the Sith Empire under Darth Revan was to conquer as many worlds as it could and ultimately to replace the Republic. Currently Revan's Sith Empire had control over about a third of the known galaxy. Sith officials estimated that it would only be a matter of months before they were taking the Core Worlds the Republic would fall soon after that. Assuming of course things didn't work out as they had in the KOTOR games.
I wondered if Revan was actually intending to conquer the known galaxy so that she would have the full might of the former Republic behind her when she went back to the Unknown Regions to fight the True Sith. If so it might be wise of me to try and send Revan a message telling her to beware of Malak or to kill Shan before she could kidnap Revan and get herself mind raped and memory wiped.
It was doubtful she'd listen but it might change things enough that I ended up being part of a galaxy-spanning Sith Empire which I could one day be an important player in.
As a Sith I suppose to strive for power, but I didn't think that I would be able to overthrow Revan. So it seemed best to me to let Revan be redeemed and for her to kill Malak. This would leave the Sith of the known galaxy leaderless, which was something I might be able use to my advantage.
However I knew that Revan was the best chance there was for beating the Sith Emperor, at least for the next few centuries, so keeping her alive was in everyone's best interest.
All this made we wish I had been brought to Korriban during the age of the Brotherhood of the Sith. Things would be far less complicated in that time. I could of just killed Bane then sat back to see how the war would end. But it was pointless to think such things no one would ever grant me any of my wishes.
"You now should have a basic understanding of how the empire works" said Wynn.
I told him that I did and he finally ended the very boring lesson, which left me free to go back to my holocron.
A Vision Of The Future.
"You say that as if the dark side is some terrible entity. The Jedi Council has brainwashed you like all the others—like they once did with me. They speak of the dark side as something to be feared, but in reality their only goal is to manipulate those who are strong in the Force. The fear of the dark side is a tool to maintain control."
To one member of the group of Force Users these words were so very familiar but still they had an effect. Just like they had the last time he'd dreamt of this moment.
"Why do you think the Jedi forbid you and Malak from joining the Mandalorian Wars? They knew you would realize your true potential and break free of their domination. Malak has shown me how the Jedi Council has been using me the same way they once tried to use you. They've been holding me back because they knew one day I would surpass them all."
Revan shook her head, trying to reach out to her friend through their Force bond, but it was futile effort.
"No—I don't believe it! How could you betray us like this, Bastila?"
"I resisted at first", Bastila answered "I endured the Sith torments with the passionless serenity of a true Jedi. But after a week of endless torture I finally saw the truth. Malak forced me to acknowledge my anger and my pain. He showed me the liberating power of these emotions. Then he made me see how the Jedi Council has denied me what is mine by right!
"He brainwashed you" stated another Jedi this one an alien with cat like features.
"The Jedi Council gladly used my Battle Meditation in their wars, but they still treated me like a child—like an inferior! They were jealous of my power…of what I could become! They wanted me to bow and to call them Master and follow their Code and obey their every whim But all the while they were just using my Battle Meditation for their own ends!"
"Don't be lured in by these Sith lies, Bastila," Revan pleaded, but this too fell on deaf ears".
"Lies? You are the one living the lie, Revan. The Jedi Council made you into something you are not; they programmed you as if you were a droid. You used to be Revan, Master of the Sith, but no longer. You are simply a pawn of the Jedi Council and the Republic they serve…like I was until Malak freed me from their shackles!"
"And you!" the fallen Jedi spat as she turned her words on the dark haired Human who carried a lightsabre but was no Jedi "you are stronger than Malak. You could of destroyed himself but you'd rather hide behind Revan skirt and let her do all the work".
These words weren't as elegant as what came before. They were more like stabbing knives meant to wound a man's ego.
"Revan, at least has the excuse that she has been brainwashed but you are worse, as your lying to yourself," Bastila accused. "I know the truth. I know what you have planed. And I know you, Lord Gothic".
There was a rising level of tension in the air as the Jedi noticeable backed away from the one called Gothic.
Unlike last time Gothic replied.
"Its more complex than that" he tried to point out "I've seen how this plays out. The real threat is still out there. We need Revan alive and on the light side".
"Your a Sith" the fallen Jedi said ignoring most of what Gothic had to say "and more powerful than Malak could ever hope to be, perhaps even greater than Revan. There is still a chance for you to claim what could be yours. With command of the empire there would be no threat to your power".
The words were carefully chosen. Bastila had wounded Gothic's pride and was now offering him away to restore the respect he had lost. The newly made dark side user knew how to manipulate the Lord.
"Learn from my mistakes," Revan still trying to reach out to her friend. "It's not too late to come back to the light!"
"You are a pathetic fool, Revan!" Bastila said with a sneer on her face "Together we could have defeated Malak and ruled over an Empire with me at your side. Now you will be crushed with the Republic and all the fools who bow down to the Jedi Council! No one can stand against the power of the Dark Side".
Bastila once more turned to Gothic.
"I still love you, but I will only serve the Dark Lord. And since Revan is a lost cause that leaves only you and Malak. So if you want me you will have to come and claim me".
It was hard to tell what had been programmed into the lost Jedi and what words were really hers, they were all effective and held a subtle hint of the Force. The Force had strong effect on the weak minded and it also had a weak effect on those with strong minds.
Sometimes that was enough. This time it wasn't.
Twin red blades came to life and Bastila made her move, as did Gothic his sword cut through Shan as her blade's met Revan's. The fight was already over.
"Sorry my love, it just wasn't meant to be".
New Personal Chambers. The Sith Academy. Korriban. Revan's Sith Empire. Star Wars KOTOR Galaxy.
I was really starting to hate these dreams. No two were exactly alike yet they were all similar. Most of them centred on the moment when I had to make a choice. Either protect Revan to save the galaxy or side with a woman I'm apparently going to love and possible doom galaxy as the Sith Emperor would consume it all. I'd seen that happen as well.
Maybe if I took on Malak rather than Shan that moment could be avoided. I might die but at least I would have to kill someone I cared about.
I sighed and wondered why it was sometimes I could a ruthless bastard were as other times I felt guilty for things I hadn't actually done yet. I was dreading the thought of becoming some sort of bipolar person. Half me wanted to save the galaxy and the other thought that I should strive to conquer it.
Knowing that I needed to rest but that I didn't want to sleep I got into a meditation posture and entered a light trace all the time hoping I wouldn't have any more prophetic visions.