REVENGE OF THE SITH
Part VIII – Revenge of the Sith
On the planet of Thule, Ellis Yoly, now Darth Trayun, waited for the time to strike. His masters had told him the time drew nearer for action and the hidden base there would be ruled by the young lord.
But for now, the young man worried for his wife.
She had been sent out a few days ago and he hadn’t heard from her. He tried not to worry, but he couldn’t help it. He knew the winds of Rhen Var were said to be harsh, but he just hoped nothing had deterred her from her mission.
He had completed his own mission and he had felt the power grow within him, an odd hunger at what he had done. After Atton and HK had returned from Honoghr, that had set about putting the final pieces in place for the True Sith’s return and their operatives on Coruscant had informed them the Supreme Chancellor had told Revan that he was alone in this war.
It made it that much easier to take what they wanted. As for Ellis, he had a score to settle with his old friend and it would end in his death.
And then nothing would stop him.
After the initial shock of what they had experienced, the crew of the Ebon Hawk tried their best to remain calm. They had no information to go on, other than the fact that a great number of people and Force sensitives had just died and the only conclusion was an attack by Darth Trayun and the True Sith. But even that little amount did nothing to relieve them of the tension that had now settled aboard the ship.
It was then T3 immediately came in from the cockpit, rolling up to Revan and chirping wildly, attempting to get his master’s attention. “What’s with him?” Lynsel asked, wondering what had the little droid in such an uproar.
Even Revan was having a hard time understanding, as T3’s beeps were fast and in a high-pitched whirr, it seemed the former Jedi and Sith master understood. “A message?” he asked. “Show me.”
The little droid went quickly into the communication area and begin punching in codes and the like to get the message to display within the room. Everyone crowded around the same screen to see what had come in to them. It was a holonized image of a young woman who seemed to be wearing a cloak or robe of some sort.
Her hood was down, showing the others her face. Revan held a breath, immediately recognizing the young woman as one of Ellis’ apprentices, the woman who he had been told was Arren Kae’s daughter, the daughter of Yusanis. A sinking feeling came over him and he dreaded to hear what she would say.
“If this message reaches you,” she began. “Then I know things will be okay. I know you recognize me, Revan. My name is Brianna Kae; my mother was the Jedi Master Arren Kae and my father was General Yusanis of the Echani.
“Though I am apprentice to Ellis…Darth Trayun, I do not feel the dark side as strongly as he or our followers. I send this message with hopes that you can help. We’ve been meeting with the former masters of the true species of Sith and they have organized attacks on the Republic.
“While I’m not privy to some things, Ellis and I do discuss plans and I know a plan was hatched to attack the worlds of Dantooine and Ossus. I was sent to Rhen Var in hopes of securing a base here, as well as trying to find the spirit of Ulic Qel-Droma.
“Atton and the HK-47 were sent to Honoghr with hopes of enlisting the Noghri in this fight. Where Ellis went, I don’t know, but I do know that we were supposed to meet on a planet near Korriban, within the Outer Rim after these things had been done.
“I am still here on Rhen Var and I’m asking you for your help. I don’t believe you want to cause harm to Ellis, but if anyone can bring him back to me…back to the side of light, it is you, Revan. You’ve lived the life of a dark lord and you were redeemed. Please. He’s falling faster than I can truly handle and I think some part of him knows this as well.”
The holo-image appeared to look down, rummaging through something before her face again appeared. “I have never been to the planets were the Sith have their bases,” she continued. “Though this would be my first. Atton and Ellis retrieved a Sith holocron some time back and I believe Atton is training with one of the Sith masters on this hidden base. I wasn’t given names, but I have the coordinates…”
Brianna stopped mid-sentence and then turned around. “And just what do you think you’re doing?” she asked. She paused, apparently listening to another conversation. “What I do in my own ship is none of your…no. You can’t! I am your lady and…” Again, she appeared to be cut off, this time as though she struggled with her breath.
“No!” she screamed. “You can’t! I’m…”
The message ended there, abruptly fizzing out, and leaving those who watched it more than a little confused. “What do you think happened to her?” Mission asked, quietly.
“I think that’s a bit obvious,” Lynsel retorted.
“Dantooine and Ossus…” Mical mumbled.
“That would explain what we felt,” Dustil mused. “Unfortunately, she was interrupted before we got the coordinates for the bases she mentioned.”
“We don’t need them,” Revan murmured. “You have me.”
“You know where they are?”
Revan nodded slowly. “I have a pretty good guess.”
The trip to the mysterious planet was done in quiet contemplation. Revan’s use of instinctive astrogation allowed them to plot a course across the galaxy, towards the region of the Outer Rim.
The problem of course was the fact that none of them knew the name of the planet, but Revan assured them they didn’t need to, as he was sure he knew where the planet was. When the Hawk reached that part of the universe, a chill came over the Force sensitives; it seemed even Carth and Lynsel were affected by it.
The young Intel officer wasn’t sure what to make of it, but it reminded her of the feeling she had gotten at the entrance of Freedon Nadd’s tomb. The same….malice she had felt at the door was the same she felt in this part of the galaxy.
She noticed Dustil, Bastila, and Revan seemed to struggling with the feeling as well. When she had asked about it, Bastila replied, “It’s always harder for those that have been on the dark side. We feel it stronger perhaps because we’ve had a taste of it.”
“Is this the place?” Carth asked, as they all gathered around the galaxy map. It only showed the nearby planets of Korriban, Yavin 4, Ord Radama, and Rhen Var. “Revan, is it one of these planets?”
The former Sith lord shook his head. “You won’t find it on the map,” he said.
“But we’re at the coordinates,” Lynsel replied. “And there’s no planet here.”
“It’s here,” he insisted. He pointed to a spot on the map, in between the planets of Ord Radama and Korriban. “We’re going to land here.”
“But there’s nothing there!” exclaimed Lynsel.
“That feeling you have,” he began. “That’s the dark side.”
“So I’ve been told.”
“It’s the planet itself,” he continued. “It’s shrouded in the dark side. That’s why the feeling is so strong.” Revan looked at the map, starting at it intensely. “It takes someone of immense power to shroud an entire planet within the dark side. As far as anyone is concerned, the planet does not exist and no one would think the wiser of seeing it on a map. The only reason we know about it is 1. me and 2. because we can sense its dark power. However, some may attribute it to the likes of Korriban or Yavin 4.”
He turned to look at them all. “Believe me when I say that the planet does exist and that it is where I say it is.”
The others just nodded, noticing the hard look in Revan’s eyes. He went to the cockpit, Carth following him. A few moments later, Revan had landed the Ebon Hawk on the darkened surface of the planet in question. Revan, along with Carth and Dustil, was wary about stepping upon the surface here.
There had been some discussion about whether or not this was just an elaborate trap by Ellis and his Sith minions, but something had told Bastila that wasn’t the case. She sense something from within the woman both before, when they had met her on Khar Delba, and now; something that led her to believe that Brianna Kae was telling the truth. In fact, the only reason they had truly landed was that Revan had never doubted his wife before and he wouldn’t start now.
The surface of the planet was rather rocky and the three men spent time maneuvering around large rock formations and avoiding craters. They were immediately greeted with a large bolt of lightening that struck to the left side of them.
The lightening also gave them a bit of a scare; it came at rather high intervals and once or twice, it came close to them. They hadn’t walked very far until they reached a large fortress in the distance. The entrance reminded Revan of the Trayus Academy and even from the distance, he knew the fortress to be apart of the rocky landscape the saw before them.
The entrance was black in color, its outer walls and steps slick and smooth, a stalk contrast to the rocks that seemed to hide it.
The closer the three got, the more the feeling of forebodingness came upon them. Carth seemed especially erratic and jumpy, his alertness heightened in the close proximity of the fortress entrance. “I want you two to stay out here.”
“What?”
The group stopped, both Onasis staring at their leader. “I want you both to stay out here,” he repeated. “I need you to search the parameter, make sure nothing will happen to me once I’m inside.”
“But what happens if there are dark Jedi inside?” Dustil asked, giving Revan a look.
“I’ll take care of them,” he stated. After receiving identical looks from both Onasis, he sighed. “Look,” he said. “I need to do this alone. I need to face Ellis — Darth Trayun — alone. But I wouldn’t put it passed him to have someone jump me from behind. Seems to be the Sith way.”
“Just…just be careful,” Carth reprimanded. “You do have a com-link, right?” At Revan’s nod, he looked towards the terrain. “Come on, Dusty, let’s see what we can find.”
Revan watched as father and son headed to the east, both weapons within reach. Revan watched them until they began to fade into the distance and then he turned, walking up to the steps towards the entrance that would hopefully have his nemesis inside.
He wasn’t surprised when the doors opened to him, allowing him entrance into a place he knew he had been in before. The halls were sparsely lit, torches hung on various walls and he found himself walking along a corridor.
It was quiet, eerily so, and Revan knew his adversary must have done this on purpose. At the moment, however, Revan didn’t care. He didn’t need distractions when it came to Ellis; he needed the calm that it would take to slay his former friend.
The corridor led him to a fork, one going east and the other west. Revan focused his energy on finding anyone within the building itself, latching on to the dark presence of Ellis coming from the west. Turning on his heel, he went in search of the signature.
His walk was short, easily finding a door that blocked his path. With a wave of his hand, the doors opened and the former Jedi and Sith found himself in a circular room, with Darth Trayun standing before him.
“We meet again, Revan,” the young man replied, switching on his red double-bladed lightsaber.
“Hopefully for the last time,” Revan said, stepping into the room and withdrawing a long vibrosword.
The Onasis took their time checking the eastern portion of the large fortress. So far, nothing appeared out of the ordinary, but neither man wanted to take any chances. Both had their weapons out, waiting for the moment when they could use them, and both were a bit on edge. The lightening did nothing to calm their heightened senses and every strike caused the two men to jump.
“What kind of place do you think this is?” Dustil asked.
Carth looked around the parameter, shrugging as he did. “I’m not sure,” he said. “Could be a training facility, but I guess we won’t know with Revan inside and us out here.”
“This place looks deserted,” the young man continued. “Do you really believe what that woman told us? What if this is a trap of some sort?”
The seasoned pilot sighed. He had thought of that, too. However, Revan was not to be swayed. “I just hope for Revan’s sake, it’s not.”
Their continued journey took them to the back of the establishment, noting the different kind of rock that seemed to form. The two couldn’t get around, the building apparently built from within the rock itself. Both father and son looked at each other and shrugged, before turning back the way they came.
The air seemed humid and crackled with the dark side energy that Dustil had seen briefly during his time on Korriban. He had to calm himself, for he felt very jittery at the moment, as though he felt something would happen. He hadn’t seen anything however, even as they came up to the front of the building.
The doors were closed and the two couldn’t help but look, wondering what sorts of things could be happening on the inside. “Come on, Dustil,” Carth replied. “Let’s check the other side.”
“You’re not going to leave without saying hello, are you?”
The voice surprised both men, who turned quickly — Carth’s twin blasters ready to go and the green glow of Dustil’s lightsaber — ready to fight the person who dared to sneak up on them. If the voice hadn’t startled them, the appearance of the figure before them did, so much that the young Jedi actually dropped his weapon to the ground.
The figure was dressed in what seemed to be a summer dress, something yellow that blended with white, a sight that seemed to bright the darkness that descended on the planet. Her long black hair seemed to blow in the slight breeze and the way she smiled at them was quite disarming.
If anyone had told either Carth or Dustil Onasi that they would be traveling to a dark sided planet, a planet of the former Sith empire, and that they would see someone they thought dead, the two would never believe you. But as both of them stared at the figure, neither one of them could say they didn’t see what was right in front of their faces.
But there she was.
And Morgana Onasi looked every bit as being whole and alive as the men that had been in her life were.
There were only two sentences spoken by the two men.
A total of nine words between them, but enough to convey the feelings of hatred that flowed with every attack and every hit.
In the culture of the Echani, a battle between two people could easily hold a story; a form of communication and self-expression — an art, one where feelings and emotions could be read by the combat that could be seen. The battle that now took place was one of heavy emotions, that was plain to see.
A story of pain and betrayal made this story.
A story of friends lost and enemies gained. Both young men were in their element, both wielding their weapons with precision and a mastery that marked them both as great swordsmen.
The forms they had learned over the years guided them, protected them from blows that would have killed a normal man. And when the swordplay grew tired, the two relied on the mystical Force, using it to cause pain to their opponent. Neither were strangers to the depths of the dark side and in this place, the place of dark learning and training, both used this to their advantage.
On one side was Revan — a former Jedi Master turned war hero turned Sith Lord.
A man who had risen to the top of both the sides of good and evil. A man who knew his way around not only a blade, but a lightsaber as well. Now the former Jedi began this fight by using the Shien/Djem Do form, also known as the fifth form.
It was an offensive form, a more violent one than most Jedi enjoyed using, but Revan had taken to it, as well as the seventh form. It seemed odd for him to be using this form while holding a vibrobrade, but this wasn’t an ordinary sword by any means. It had taken some time, but Revan had researched this sword, this sword that seemed to call to him – beckon him – was none other than a Krath blood blade, a weapon born of the dark side for sure, but also a good defense against Trayun’s lightsaber.
However, Trayun wasn’t an amateur. Being a former Jedi Knight himself, the younger man also knew the fifth form, as well as the others from the masters he had killed. While Revan had his two forms at his disposal, Trayun had the luxury of many forms to choose from. He easily switched between the fifth form to the Ataru, a form he had learned from Revan himself.
The two battled around the room, the fight going back and forth between them. Revan was relentless, blow for blow, completely going after Trayun with a vengeance. In fact, the fierceness of the attacks took Darth Trayun by surprise. He had never known Revan to be so angry in his combat skills – unless they were at war.
“You seem tense and angry, Revan,” the young lord taunted.
“And you seem tired,” came the retort. “I can sense you are tiring, Darth Trayun.”
“The dark side keeps me filled with energy.”
Revan grinned. “The dark side will only help me to defeat you,” he replied, flourishing his weapon.
“Do you truly think you can defeat me, Revan?” Trayun sneered. “You don’t have your vaulted Jedi Order behind you; it’s just you and your merry crew of the Ebon Hawk. Do you really think that you can stop me by just yourself? I have the entire Sith behind me; you have maybe seven people behind you. You can’t beat me, Revan, no matter how much you think you can.”
Revan advanced on his former friend. “I don’t care,” he whispered. “I just want you to die.”
He again attacked with a vengeance, this time not sparing any words or comments. The former Jedi Master had been right — Darth Trayun was tiring, even his Force powers didn’t seem to be doing anything to Revan — who had put on his Force Resistance. As the two fought, they were unaware of a much bigger fight that would await them.
“It can’t be.”
Carth still didn’t know what he was seeing, but he knew it couldn’t be true; it just couldn’t be. He remembered that day very well.
He had arrived too late.
He had held her as she died in his arms. He could see that day in his mind’s eye…
He remembered the smoke and the smells of the attack…
How their house looked, demolished to the ground…
How Morgana’s body had been bloody and battered, but he hadn’t cared. He had called for a medic, praying and cursing all at once on the effectiveness of the medical teams that didn’t seem to be around.
He still remembered the smoke that filled the air and how the visibility was dim; how he didn’t know where their son was, how his wife said that he hadn’t been at home, that he had been at a friend’s. She said she loved him. He couldn’t remember the last time he had been home, more less the last time he had said it in return.
He thought he had gotten over this, thought he had finally made peace with the heaviness in his heart in regards of his wife. He had been finding it easy to open his heart to another, to a woman that he was starting to love.
But now, his past seemed to be standing in front of him, in front of his own eyes. He wasn’t sure what he should feel or how he should feel.
For Dustil, he too was just as shocked as his father, but he couldn’t rid himself of the relief and happiness he felt at seeing his mother again. “How…” he asked, taking a few steps towards the figure.
“Dustil…” Carth warned, wary of the woman that stood in front of them. It couldn’t be real. She died in his arms; he held her as she took her last breath.
This wasn’t real.
“It’s okay,” she said, smiling at them both. “I know you have a lot of questions and I do have answers, but we must leave here first. Then I can tell you everything you need to know.”
“But where have you been?” the young Jedi asked. “I thought…we thought you were dead.”
“She was,” Carth whispered. “I watched her die.”
“I apparently was nearly lost,” she said. “I guess the medics were able to stabilize me after you left. I can’t explain it, but as you can clearly see – I’m okay.”
Dustil looked back between his parents. On one hand, he knew his father to be right; this couldn’t be real. His mother was dead. She did look at bit different, but he attributed that to the darkness.
But on the other hand, his mother was standing right there!
How could it be anyone but his mother, the woman who gave birth and raised him? Why would this be a trick? And where had she been all this time? Why hadn’t she contacted them? He had so many questions, but she had said that she would answer any questions they had if they went with her.
He didn’t see a problem with that.
Unfortunately, Carth did.
He could feel that something was wrong. This wasn’t his wife, it couldn’t be. She was dead, she died in his arms. This had to be a trick, it just had to be. But then who was this woman pretending to be his wife? Was this some Sith disguise?
All he knew was that they were in danger, big time apparently. He looked quickly, wondering if something was about to jump out in front of them at any moment. He watched as Dustil continued to walk towards the mysterious woman, heedless of the danger they were in.
What Carth didn’t know was that he and his son were slowly being surrounded by Sith assassins, all cloaked within the Force. There were about ten of them, not an easy match for two people. And it wasn’t just them; with these ten assassins were five members of the True Sith species.
They too were cloaked, just watching the exchange between the trio. It was their magic behind this meeting and they wanted to watch it unfurl. Their allies in the Senate had been very forth coming about Admiral Carth Onasi and his history and they used that to their advantage. While they detained Revan and his followers here, it would allow their own order to move forth within the galaxy, reclaiming what was once theirs.
They hoped that their leader would defeat Revan, but they were not worried if the young lord died in battle. His apprentices had been most helpful and they still had uses for them, especially Lord Casus.
They would be victorious once more.
Ellis Yoly could once admit defeat.
When he had been a padawan at the Academy, he had lost his share of battles, even fights. But he had been young then and he knew he still had much to learn. But as the Dark Lord of the Sith, he wouldn’t admit he was losing.
Especially not to Revan.
But this was a different Revan from the one he had known and followed to war with.
This Revan seemed hell bent on killing him. He had never seen the former master so angry — not since the Mandalorian Wars. Truthfully, it frightened him just a little. Revan had a vengeance about him.
“You are weakening.”
“And you are falling further to the dark side once again,” came the young lord’s retort. “How does it feel, Revan? Tasting it again after not having it for so long. I admit, I was surprised how easily it came to me, even after I had been away for ten years.”
“Why won’t you die?” Revan asked, advancing on his opponent.
“I might ask you the same thing,” Trayun replied. “It seems no matter what comes your way, you can not be killed. Malak tried twice and failed; I’m sure I won’t leave this fight with your body either.”
“Then perhaps you should surrender.”
Trayun laughed. “You must be joking,” he chuckled. “Even if you did manage to kill me, do you think you can outrun the Sith? They will hunt you, as they hunted me, and believe me, they will not give up until you are dead.”
“Or I join them?” asked Revan. “Is that it? My death or joining up with the Sith again? Perhaps you should ask yourself what it would be like if you rejoined the Jedi.”
“There are no Jedi,” the lord spat. “I made sure of that myself.”
“Maybe so,” Revan said. “But there is always a side of right and you should make more of an effort to see that your troops do not fall to it.”
That stopped him. “What’re you talking about?”
“Why your apprentice,” Revan began. “Arren Kae’s daughter. She has betrayed you, Ellis, and given information to me.”
“You lie.”
“How do you think I knew about this planet?” he asked. “Or the fact that you would be here? I got it all from her and she was more than willing to share it with me.”
Trayun was in a rage. How dare he talk about her like that? How dare he insult her and lie about her? He didn’t know her; Ellis knew her, better than he had ever known anyone. Brianna wouldn’t betray him, she wouldn’t, and how dare Revan insinuate that she had.
He came at his former teacher with renewed energy, arching his double-bladed saber towards the man’s head. Revan stumbled back, feeling the air as the blade missed him. He brought his weapon up quickly to block the incoming blow from his enemy, enabling him to send a Force wave, pushing Ellis away from him.
It was countered, of course, with a Force Storm so strong it sent Revan to his knees in pain. The two continued to battle it out, until finally Ellis made a break and tried to escape by heading outside. It was then all hell broke loose.
The sounds of a fight coming from behind him caused Carth to turn around, as well as Dustil, who was now close enough to touch the woman that had been his mother. The distraction allowed those that stalked them to reveal themselves and it soon became an all out battle.
The current admiral of the Republic Navy barely had enough time to alert those on the Ebon Hawk that they were in trouble before he began shooting at anything that moved towards him.
The time it took Dustil to take in the chaos that had sprung up was apparently the time it took for him to see that something was horribly wrong. He quickly turned back towards the woman he believed to be his mother and was shocked by what he saw.
Her eyes were different. They were hard and cold and not at all like the brown that he knew. The time seemed slowed as it dawned on him this was a trick; he heard his name being screamed from somewhere before his body took flight. He would only remember hitting something before his world went black.
Revan’s leverage was now gone with the addition of added troops. He and Ellis still fought, but it was amist dodging the stray Force power that he blocked or easily missed. He was only too glad to hear Bastila’s familiar battle cry as he continued to bear down on his former friend.
Neither had wanted to be the first to heal and that arrogance had no cost them. Both were beaten and broken, but too stubborn to call it quits. Their Force powers were also losing some of their grip, as Revan had just enough to send a weak Force Storm of his own at Ellis, who struggled to counter it with Drain Force, which managed to seep Revan of his last arsenal of power.
They were still outnumbered and both Onasis were down for the count. Revan wanted nothing more than to end this and retreat, but Ellis wouldn’t let him. The young lord stood between his former teacher and the two men that were wounded and it seemed Ellis wasn’t about to let Revan to get to them.
“You will die here, Revan,” he panted. “You will die by my hand and my hand alone. And even if you manage to escape, your friends will die because I refuse to let you near them. I want you to watch them die, like you watched me die that day on your flagship.”
Revan knew he was beaten. He ached all over and he couldn’t muster enough of the Force to heal himself nor did he have enough to heal his friend and his son. He couldn’t see any way out of this. They were stuck.
And then, as the Force seemed to predict, Ellis was struck by the power of Insanity and the battle he waged with his mind seemed to tire him. He collasped before Revan, who stood in shock of what he saw.
It wasn’t the effect of the Force power – he had seen it before – but it was the fact that one of Ellis’ troops seemed to have missed so perfusely that it struck their master. That was until he felt their presence. Looking off to his right, he could see them, in the distance as they watched the chaos that errupted. Could it be…
He didn’t want to know.
Instead, he picked up Ellis and gave the order for his own troops to leave, taking Carth and Dustil with them. Even though they had caught the Sith Lord responsible for this, Revan knew in his heart they had lost this day.