REVENGE OF THE SITH

Part III – To All Things, A Beginning

 

 

“You must in some deep trouble if you’ve gone out of your way to contact me here, Revan.”

It was quite late in the evening and Revan had finally felt confident in what he was going to do. He had gathered nearly half the Jedi within the Order to his cause and they had all agreed the Council were cowards if they chose to ignore the Mandalorian threat.

A large number of Jedi had wanted to stop the beasts because of personal reasons: they either had families on Core Worlds or their home planet had been destroyed by the warrior race. He had done better than he ever thought possible. He had even gotten a few masters to accompany him as well.

He had already set in mind the people he thought would be the best help. Malak and Ellis of course were his top choices, but he also wanted his masters. He knew approaching Zhar would be fruitless, but when Kreia had turned him down, he was quite shocked. Even more so was the reason she gave:

“Many of my students feel as you do, feel as I do, about this threat. I feel that I may no longer be a factor in any other student’s training.”

When he asked her to elaborate, she just shooed him away. But now, he could understand her concern. The Council would never forgive what he was about to do; but for their betrayal of the Republic, he would sacrifice anything Jedi if it meant the galaxy would live on from the Mandalorian threat.

There was one person he needed to ask and that’s why he found himself within a private lounge in the Coruscant cantina. He had taken a small shuttle and then a speeder to get to where he had in order to make sure the line he used was secure.

He had requested the lounge under an alias and then set to work at sending out a transmission to the Outer Rim planet of Belkadan. Most people had never even heard of the planet, much less knew it even existed, but Revan knew because of his research for one of his favorite masters.

It took some time before the signal was able to tap into the system computer, but when it did, Revan was greeted with a warm and smiling face. Even in a holo image, the woman on the other end was beautiful, with soft blond hair that now flowed past her shoulders and the most gorgeous blue eyes he ever thought he would see. He returned her smile, with a wolfish lilt.

“Master Kae, I see time has been very good to you.” he purred. “You’re still the best looking Jedi I have ever seen.”

“Even at the late hour, you can still be such a flirt.” Arren Kae laughed. “Don’t let my husband hear you talk like that. He’s jealous, you know.”

“So it’s official then?” he asked. “You finally had him make an honest woman out of you?”

The former Jedi master again laughed, a sound Revan had not heard in ten years. “It’s official, according to the planet we’re on.”

“That’s not saying much.”

“And I don’t plan to.” she retorted. “Now, why have you called at this time of night? I swear Revan, if you’ve done something…”

The Jedi master held his hands up in surrender. “Promise. I’ve done nothing that would be deemed illegal or that would get me kicked out of the Order. At least not yet anyway, but I am working on it.”

“That didn’t sound too much like a joke.”

“It’s not.”

“Tell me.”

And he did. Revan told her all about how the Council had refused to aid the Republic on several occasions and how the very balance of the galaxy rested on whether or not someone would help. Arren sat back and listen, her mind already thinking of ways to join the cause.

She had always liked Revan, seemingly always looking after him like a mother firaxa. Though she wasn’t ashamed of what she had done to be exiled, she had always missed her favorite student, her little Revvie.

“You’ve embarked on quite a mission, Rev.” she said after he was finished.

“I know.” he sighed. “But you understand, don’t you, Master?”

She gave a small laugh. “Revan, I haven’t been your master since you were thirteen. And yes, I do understand, more than anything.” she sighed, running a hand through her hair. “These Mandalorians… and yes I have heard the reports. You don’t get married to an Echani warrior and don’t know what’s going on…they’re brutes all right. I don’t understand why the Council wouldn’t at least send some members of the Order. And Vandar’s vision? It could be anything!”

“I thought that as well.” Revan muttered. He looked at the woman he always felt was like an older sister to him. “I need your help. I’ve gathered those that were willing to join me, but I had wanted – no, needed – to ask you. To join me.”

Just as Arren was about to answer, a small voice came from off screen. The former master turned to her right to see who the caller was. “Yes, Brianna?”

The little voice complained about not having any water and that her father was telling one of his stories again. Arren just laughed and rolled her eyes at Revan. “I’ll contact you on Dantooine.”

“Master, I can’t…”

Arren shushed him. “I want the galaxy to be safe for my daughter, Revan.” she said. “I’ll also see about getting you more reinforcements.” With that, she winked before her image and the transmission faded out.

Revan sighed, thinking on all the things that were happening now. And not for the first time, he wondered if he was doing the right thing.

 

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The Mandalorian War was brutal. For every battle the Republic had won, it seemed the Mandalorians would win two. That is until those rogue Jedi showed up.

Defying the Jedi Council, a thousand or so Jedi led by Master Revan had come to the aid of the Republic and with him were also a hundred of the famed Echani warriors, with the infamous Yusanis at the helm. The Mandalorians didn’t know what hit them.

And neither did Revan.

Somewhere, some moment in his quest to defeat the Mandalorians, Revan stumbled down a path he shouldn’t have. But it was part of the plan. It seemed the Mandalorians were so far only attacking those Republic planets on the Outer Rim, so what better way of being prepared than to build bases on some of the planets that could be hit? It seemed such a good idea at the time and made absolute sense. So he went ahead and began to scour out planets. Most were nothing, not close to any big planets.

Then he saw Yavin 4.

He had learned about Yavin and its moons from both Zhar and Kreia. It was on the fourth moon of Yavin that Exar Kun had the native people – the Massassi – build him his dark palace. He had then sucked their energy in order to stage his last stand against the incoming Republic Fleet.

The young master was curious and wanted to see a piece of Jedi – and abet some Sith – history. He built his own stronghold within the ruins of Exar Kun’s temple.

From there, he did all he could to learn about the Mandalorian people. They were warrirors, whose thirst for battle was their greatest pride. They sought worthy battles and worthy opponents and that bothered Revan.

These Mandalorians were just barging down on poor planets, those that couldn’t withstand an attack. Why were they attacking unarmed planets? That fact alone bothered him deeply.

And while he studied the Mandalorians, he was secretly learning about the Sith. He was surprised to learn that the true species of Sith had married and mated with exiled Jedi, centuries ago.

In fact, the Sith Lords Naga Sadow and Marka Ragnos were decendants of the True Sith species. And while he learned about the Sith, he wanted to know more. More about the dark side of the Force, more about their code and their traditions.

Malak, of course, had been the first one to notice the change that seemed to be taking place. One day, Revan finally told him what he had been doing and what he had learned. He insisted the Jedi would never have them back, especially with the plan he had in mind.

While during his research, he discovered the Mandalorians had a taboo planet, something called Malachor V, located deep within the Outer Rim, nearly teetering on the border of the Unknown Regions. Revan wanted to check out this planet first, see what made it so taboo in the first place, and then he would decide if the plan was even worth it.

So Revan went on that first trip. Even traveling through space to the planet became overwhelming. Revan knew the taint of the dark side and the aura around the planet oozed from the dark energy it cast off. Landing his ship, he was instantly attacked by dark Jedi – or what he thought to be dark Jedi – and he barely managed to escape intact.

He was…proud, excited. There had been at least fifty of these beings and he had defeated them all. And when looking at the corpses, he could see scorch marks, from the blast of energy that had come from his fingers.

Force Lightning.

He had let his anger get the best of him. But unllike the teachings by the Jedi about the horrors of emotion, Revan found that he was still in control of his faculties. And he felt stronger, more energized.

He had always held the belief that once you tasted the dark side, your insides would rip apart and you’d feel horrible – at least that was what the Jedi promoted – but here…he felt stronger for it. He had given in to his anger; his frustration that he was on this planet, planning for an ambush when he could be back on Dantooine, drinking, flirting; angered by the Jedi Council…

Revan stood on the darkened surface of Malachor V and allowed his anger to flow through him. He didn’t go mad, like he thought he would, instead he was more focused. He understood what he needed to do. If the Republic, after an impressive offense against Exar Kun, couldn’t defeat some heavy armored bastards, then it deserved to die…no.

It was just heading in the wrong direction. It was common knowledge that the Senate was corrupt and some senators would rather sell their own mothers than to push for a bill that could possibly restrict their illegal tendencies.

And the Order…they were the ones to blame for this entire thing. If they had only helped before things got so far. But no. They sat in their enclave and their temple, passing judgment from high atop their towers…

He would need to build a place, a place of learning to show other Jedi that the path of the light was flawed and in danger of killing them all. Then it came to him. He would hand pick a group of Jedi, loyal to him, to help in ridding the galaxy of the Jedi Order and that of a corrupt and weak Republic.

But these Mandalorians would need to be dealt with first. A slow smile came to his lips. He would lure them here, with the promise of a worthy battle. He would destroy their leader in front of their eyes and then kill them all.

He wondered if he could do the same with the Republic officers…

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