Bonds of Fate I: Darth Revan, Dark Lady of the Sith
Darth Revan, Dark Lord of the Sith~
~The Valiant One, surrounded by Death.
________________________________________________________________________
-Sith Interdictor-Class Ship Revenant, Flagship of the Sith Armada-
“I am Revan, Lord of the Sith..”
Lord of the Sith, indeed. I am a failure, a fallen Jedi-not a Dark Lord.
No, that title belongs to those who walk in shadow beyond the Outer Rim. Past even the Unknown Regions, where few dare tread. I am just a simple woman, trying to keep them from taking over what is here. The Republic does not deserve such a gruesome fate, especially not so soon after Exar Kun’s little galaxy-wide temper tantrum. What awaits it if they manage to reemerge here.. it gives me nightmares.
Nightmares worse than the terrible atrocity of Malachor, of what I endured there. Beyond even Dxun, or the Star Forge itself. Beyond even this whole war, started by them. Just so they could have a few more slaves, a bit more territory.
They tried to break me, upon worlds that have no name for those that can speak it. They promised me glories beyond glories if I would only succumb to them, listen for just a moment. But, I was always the stubborn one. Never would I bow to anyone, not the Jedi Council, not the pitiful excuses for Sith that lie upon Korriban, not even those who promised me a slow, torturous death. They were the few who could beat me, true-but they could not break me. I appeared to follow their wishes, became a Dark Lady in their traditions-but only to survive.
To return to my galaxy, to prepare them for the next impending war in the only way I could-by waging war against those I called friends. They would have never believed me, never even guessed what I know.
They desire the end of all free life, no matter the cost. As long as they survive, one shall continue their horrible quest, even if they cannot complete it.
There are always new disciples willing to learn. The most powerful are born among them, but some can be chosen from their slaves.
I was the single exception to that rule-I defied all their structure. The Jedi Council never knew of my parents, my family..
Born to the rulers of the True Sith Empire, I was their second child, one of three sent into the galaxy that I know as home-to conquer it. They hoped that if I knew this, I would listen to them. My family. But what they do not realize is that though I may be related to them by blood, I am not a slave to their teachings, as the oldest one is.
She was.. indoctrinated much earlier than I, kept as a royal pet. Successor to the throne.
But they each hungered for more.
I was the most powerful of us all, the child of the two leaders of our race. I was destined, according to them, to bring ruin to those who I had once called Master. I was supposed to be their perfect child, their Sith’ari.
Yet, I defied that. They cannot sense what I am thinking, feel what I feel. I love the Republic-it is my homeland, my life-not their shadowed paradise they call home. The shadows beckon to me, but the shining light is what I know. Darkness may reign, but not within me.
How can one kill what they truly love with all their heart? I don’t even want to know how, or why.. I feel the answer would sicken me. I would have come to understand what I would have to do, to become, to truly join my family in shadow.
To destroy the Republic.
To destroy myself.
Malak has already understood this lesson-the dark side comes to his call easily, as if it were a part of him. But he is a fool. The dark side claimed his soul so completely that he cannot even comprehend that what he is doing is wrong.
To him, he’s entitled to it. Cruelty, death, destruction-these are his playthings, his puppets. And he controls all the strings.
Yet, by doing this, he gives up everything that made him better, defined him as Malak-his cunning wit, his joking humor, tactical brilliance. By becoming Darth Malak, he gave up that young Jedi named Malak and smothered it within himself. His new self. The self that I despise, that killed my friend. My love.
He was lost so long ago, I just never saw it. I was blinded. And now, he is to the truth of what he has become. While I can see his true face all too clearly.
And I led him to this place, to the Darkness that has consumed him.
I introduced him to the teachings lying within the Trayus Academy.
I helped him transform into a beast, uncontrollable-save by me.
And even then, I can sense his growing ambition, his hunger for power.
He will kill me soon.
With that, he will truly give up his humanity, what separated him from all the rest upon my damned homeworld.
I just hope that I can beat him, yet again.
The Republic needs me here, to keep my kin from taking them all and doing to them what their teachings have done to Malak. What they could do to my old friend, Bastila Shan.
All the Masters of the Jedi Academy would become the very thing they have sought for years to destroy-and develop into even horrid specters more than that.
The ‘Sith’ upon Korriban would revel in their newfound glory, becoming servants to the highest echelons of their society.
And the ordinary citizens.. Force, I don’t even want to think of what will happen to them.
A life of complete slavery to an oligarchy of the Dark Side. It would be a time where the common people find themselves bending to their rulers’ every whim. The Force Users would rule with an iron fist, leaving no room for debate or rebellion. Just.. servitude.
It would be just like the Infinite Empire of the Rakata, the former rivals to the True Sith.
I think of the plague that wiped them out, crushing their Empire and taking them to the brink of extinction. That was a Sith-engineered virus, to control their slaves-and crush their enemies. It worked just as well upon a species called the Yuuzhan Vong-it cut them off from the Force so completely that now.. now they know nothing of the integral part of themselves that they miss. Permanently blinded from the Force, they could not stand against the True Sith.
And so it was with the Rakatans. They had no choice but to return to Rakata Prime, slowly dwindling from civil war after a time. After eons, until all that was left of their Infinite Empire was crumbling dust and a few ancient texts carefully guarded.
Then, to exact vengeance upon their oldest enemies, they led me to Rakata Prime, hoping I would do just what I did-activate the bane of the remaining Rakatans’ existence, the Star Forge.
I had no choice. If I hadn’t done it, then not only would my parents have killed me, then and there, but Malak would have. He would have listened to them so easily; it scares me to think of what would happen if he ever knew of their existence.
But, I can’t help but think of what would happen.. the galaxy would live in flames. A veritable hell, even compared to what the True Sith would do. They’d allow him to decimate the people, weaken and capture the Force Users, bringing them to the shadows. Converting them to True Sith power. And then.. then he’d die, having outlived his usefulness to them, leaving them to fill the vacuum of power.
But, thankfully, he shall never know.
“Lord Revan, your apprentice is asking for you.â€
“Thank you, Admiral. Follow me to the bridge, then.â€
“Yes, milady.â€
And with the closing of the turbolift doors, Revan somehow could sense that this would be the last time she’d see her meditation chamber. She needed a new one, anyway.
What she could not sense was her apprentice’s traitorous thoughts.
