Knights of the Old Republic: Rise to Glory/11-12

The former Echani General and current leader of the Echani people in the Republic Senate, Yusanis sighed wearily as he walked into his Senatorial apartment. In the fourteen months since the end of the Mandalorian Wars, the Senator had spent most of his time caring for his daughters and seeking peaceful resolutions to war. The Mandalorian Wars had changed him as they had in all that had fought in them. The once feared Mandalorians were reduced to refugees, forced to work as mercenaries and bounty hunters to make a living. The Jedi had lost nearly a fifth of their number and what remained behind after Revan's disappearance beyond the Outer Rim were uncertain of where their place was in the universe.

Taking a moment to linger outside his youngest daughter's room, Yusanis sighed, staring at the sleeping teenager. "I don't think they know what danger they are in," he murmered to himself.

Yusanis took a deep, calming breath. He had recently been pressing the issue of the Echani joining the Republic and Jedi's war effort against the newly emerged Sith threat. His old friend Revan had already taken twenty systems along the Rim and was moving even further, threatening to engulf the Echani and their allied worlds. Making his way to the kitchen area of his apartment, Yusanis made a cup of Jawa juice and seated himself on a chair in his common room to review the latest movements of the Sith fleet.

Yusanis awoke to a pair of glowing crimson eyes. "What the-"

"Threat: Cease all movements or be terminated," the rust-colored droid responded, leveling a blaster rifle at the Echani. Yusanis calmed his breathing and eyed the assassin droid as it stood motionless across from him.

"Like my new toy?" a deep voice cut through the dark room. Yusanis' breath caught for a moment before he turned his wide eyes to the armored man standing in the dimly lit hallway with his arms crossed over his chest.

"Revan," Yusanis breathed. Revan remained motionless, staring at the Echani.

"Do you remember your promise?" Yusanis nodded, standing. His rise ceased as the assassin droid charged its blaster.

"HK-47 Stand down." The droid's eyes flashed as the blaster rifle powered down. "Now then, lets discuss this new bill before the Echani as to what actions are to be taken against the Sith Empire," Revan started as he stared down at the Echani Senator through his mask. Within his mask, the advanced sensors woven into the crimson and obsidian mask picked up the increased heartbeat of the Echani as he looked down to the datapad he had been reading before he dozed off.

"What do you want, Revan?" Yusanis asked in a tight tone. Revan turned his head from Yusanis and looked towards the area of the apartment his children slept in.

"I want you to pass a new bill, Yusanis."

"I can't do that!" Yusanis snarled. Revan raised an eyebrow beneath his mask as its sensors picked up one of the Echani's children stirring.

"Do you wish for me to unleash the full might of my fleet upon your people?" Revan hissed.

Yusanis glared at the Dark Lord, "Let them come!" Revan laughed eerily as he turned from the Echani.

"If you don't..." Revan turned in time to see HK-47 move to restrain the enraged Echani.

"You haven't fallen so far that you've forgotten your honor have you!" Yusanis nearly yelled, frightened to wake his children with his rising voice. Revan laughed loudly, shaking his head.

"I give you another option. Fight me, tonight. You and I. Your death will be all I need." Revan motioned to HK and turned to leave, stopping as he neared the doorway. "Meet me on landing pad 34-A In the Alpha-89 docking port." Revan turned and gave Yusanis a pointed look through his mask. "Come alone and tell no one. If you do I will go room to room in this house and kill each of your children, all but your precious Brianna. She, I will take with me." Revan stalked towards Yusanis, glaring into his hateful blue eyes. "And she will die very slowly if you cross me, I can assure you." Revan turned to leave, but Yusanis' voice stopped him.

"If I fight you... will you leave them be." Revan's shoulders dropped slightly.

"I will..." his voice was barely a whisper, but Yusanis heard and nodded, standing and leaving the room as Revan and HK-47 vanished.

"Query: Master, why do you give the meatbag Echani a chance to escape?" HK asked. Revan chuckled at the usage of the term 'meatbag.' Ever since hearing Malak arguing with the assassin droid and the droid referring to him as a meatbag, Revan had programmed the rust-colored droid to continue using the term when speaking to any type of organic lifeform.

"Curiosity my metal friend. I wish to see if he still holds to his honor. If not I'm sure you wouldn't mind killing about six miniature meatbags?" HK's eyes gleamed with hope at the promise of eradicating more life.

"Request: May I kill the miniature meatbags anyways, Master?" HK asked hopefully, or as hopeful as a droid could ask. Revan shook his head firmly.

"Only if he does not come alone." Revan scowled towards the droid. "Sometimes that thing is a little too sadistic," Revan scoffed as he waited on the landing pad. A strong wind swept through the obscure spaceport, causing his cloak and robes to flutter. Turning, Revan saw Yusanis slowly approaching, clad in his Echani armor.

"No one knows I am here," Yusanis snarled as he pulled his double-bladed Echani Brand from his sling. Revan tilted his head in acknowledgment and turned to HK.

"HK prepare the ship for departure." HK's eyes dimmed slightly in disappointment as it boarded the small transport and prepared the ship's preflight protocol. "You and I have a promise to keep, Yusanis."

Revan activated his crimson saber, stalking towards the Echani Senator like a feline preparing to pounce on its prey. Yusanis let out a war cry and charged Revan, striking air as the Dark Lord vaulted himself upwards. Yusanis' eyes followed the Dark Lord as he rose into the air before he spun and brought his double-bladed sword to deflect Revan's crimson blade. Revan kicked off the ground to add speed to his dodge as Yusanis skillfully slashed for the Dark Lord's form. Revan twisted away from the counterattack and spun his saber, thrusting backwards and hearing a chocked gasp from his opponent.

"Yo- You're better," Yusanis coughed as he sank to his knees and his blade dropped from his hands. Revan made no move to acknowledge he had spoken as he held his saber in the same position.

"Goodbye, my friend," Yusanis coughed as he fell forward and his vision darkened. Revan turned and drove his saber into the man's heart swiftly to cease his pain. He eyed the wound he had made through the man's stomach and sighed as he called Yusanis' Brand to him with the force. The Dark Lord tested the weapon for a moment before driving one of the blades into the landing platform.

"This should remain with your family..." Within moments, the Dark Lord had vanished into his transport and the transport was shooting into orbit. Nearby a scavenger looted the famed war hero and Senator before throwing his body over the platform and watching it fall into the Coruscant undercity.

Darth Revan eyed the news holo with a vicious glare as it revealed the current affairs of the Republic.

"And in other news, The Echani Senator, Yusanis' body was recovered from the Coruscant undercity, stripped of all valuables and killed with what appears to be a lightsaber. Reports state that a dark figure was seen fighting with the Echani Senator on a landing pad and many believe it to have been a Sith. The man leaves behind six teenage daughters who have been taken into the care of Jedi Master Atris of the Jedi Council."

Revan continued to glare at the holo. "If I ever find who desecrated his body..." Revan clenched his fists tightly as he turned his smoldering gaze to a nearby guard. "Prepare my fighter," Revan snapped. The guard hastily saluted and vanished. The holo continued and the Dark Lord calmed slightly at the news.

"The Echani government had officially cut all ties with the Republic as their worlds have begun to decay into a bloody civil war. The passing of Senator Yusanis marks the end of the shaky truce the Echani crafted to view the Sith threat."

"At least something went as planned," Revan snarled as he stalked to the corner of his room and activated his assassin droid. HK-47's eyes flashed as he powered up.

"Exclamation: Master! How wonderful to see you! Is there someone you would like me to kill?" It had been a week since Revan had returned from Coruscant and he had heard rumors of the Mandalorians attempting to regroup under a new Mandalore. Eyeing the silver armor that only the true Mandalore could wear, Revan snarled, "It is my right to be known as Mandalore. Only I, or someone I appoint can be called Mandalore."

Revan turned to his assassin droid and smirked darkly. "Yes, there are quite a few, HK." HK's eyes gleamed in anticipation as Revan began stating off his demands. "Lelin-Der of Serroco has been a bit troublesome. He will have to go immediately. Mimas Yoon of Corellia is also being quite the bother." HK sealed the targets deep within his memory core, preparing for it to be erased. "There is also the matter of the new Mandalore. Find him and kill him," Revan stated firmly. HK acknowledged and prepared for Revan's next command.

"You did a fine job capturing those Jedi," Revan complimented his creation. HK's eyes again shined with pride as Revan wiped the assassin's memory core and programmed the targets. No matter how useful HK was for capturing Jedi, there were other things that Revan needed done and HK-47 was one of a kind. After he finished his programming, HK swiftly vanished form the room and boarded a transport, preparing to assassinate his new targets.

"Why don't we just kill them all?" Malak's mechanical voice cut through the silence of the torture chambers of Korriban. Revan turned to his apprentice and former friend with a contemptuous look beneath his mask.

"Because, fool. True power is not having your enemies lying at your feet dead and broken, but having them stand by your side, willingly." Revan leered for a moment at the torture cells that contained nearly a dozen Jedi that had been individually captured in their newly captured territory.

"What if they lie? What if they are not loyal?" Malak questioned. Revan turned to his shadow and smiled.

"Because I know how to break Jedi." Malak shuddered despite himself. "Keep your friends close," Revan began, causing Malak to tense. Revan elbowed Malak's ribs painfully, causing the apprentice to grunt and turn a glare to his former friend."And your enemies closer," Revan finished as he waved Malak away. "Now leave me, I must get to know our new apprentices."

Malak turned and left quickly, casting one last glare over his shoulder. The message in Revan's words was clear and he no longer blamed his old friend.

"One day I will return this favor." Malak ran his hand across his metallic jaw covering and scowled mentally. If Revan would view him as an enemy, so be it. "Its not like I'm your friend." Malak ignored the pain that settled in his stomach at those words. He had thought he had cleansed the love he held for his childhood friend through the hatred he felt at Revan's betrayal of him.

"His lesson," Malak corrected mentally. The Sith Lord let out a mechanical sigh as he rubbed his aching side.

"Must have broken a rib with that blow," Malak said aloud, only to feel the burning hatred return and block out whatever pity or sorrow he felt when looking at Revan when a machine and not his own voice spoke. Revan had returned to the way he had been during the Mandalorian Wars, distant and detached. Malak would have been concerned if he had viewed Revan as a friend, but he merely shrugged the thoughts away. The Dark Lord's mental condition was none of his concern. Revan had made it clear what his position was when he had taken Malak's jaw and called him a coward and a traitor for wanting to run from the Yuuzhan Vong.

"And look what he is ding now, exactly what I said!" Malak's internal voice chanted. "Someday, Revan you will lie broken before me and I will be certain that my debt to you is repaid."

Chapter 12
Malak stalked through the corridors of the Sith academy, stopping momentarily to observe a young and powerful student strike down one of his classmates before the academy's Master.

"Excellent, Bandon," Jorak Uln praised as he and his apprentice, Uthar Winn eyed the promising student's power hungrily. Making a note of the name, Malak continued down the corridors until he reached Dreshdae and boarded his transport.

Jedi Padawan Orosia Kilnor moaned slightly as she awoke. It had been a week since she had been captured by Sith while on a mission with her Master. The Sith had seemed to appear out of nowhere and had killed her Master and knocked her unconscious. The following days had been filled with beatings and taunting. The doors to her torture chamber opened to reveal a young man. The young man smirked as he eyed the human female.

"Hello there, dear," he called out in a sickeningly sweet tone as he stalked towards the woman and caressed her cheek. Orosia felt her skin crawl at the man's touch and felt bile rising in her throat.

"I was sent to torture you but I can think of something that may be a little more pleasurable for the both of us," the young man eyed her hungrily and Orosia resisted the urge to scream. The sixteen year old Padawan struggled violently against her restraints as the torturer ran his hands over her.

"Come now, its better if you don't fight it. For you anyways," the man added with a smirk as he tore away the Padawan's tattered robes, "I will break you and you will bow to me and beg for whatever scraps I choose to give you in the end."

The man sneered. He had been an interrogator in what remained of the Sith Empire of Exar Kun before Revan had taken control and found that he enjoyed his work, especially when working with female prisoners. The man held no fear of reprisals. Malak had given him free reign to use any means he deemed necessary and even though it was a crime to rape in the Sith Empire, he knew nothing would happen to him. The interrogator took a moment to eye the Jedi Padawan hungrily. She would be broken by the time he was finished and would either not remember, or not care. The man laughed maliciously as he gave the Padawan a forceful kiss.

"Now be a good little Jedi and submit," he hissed as he continued to tear away the girl's tattered robes. Weary from struggling and tortures, Orosia screamed and was struck violently across the face. "That's not very nice, I have very sensitive hearing you know. I was going to be easy on you." The torturer paused as he smirked and eyed the girl. "But now I think I may be a little rough."

The Padawan screamed as she tried in vain to break free of her restraints. The Force-disruptor collar on her neck keeping her from calling her constant companion's aid.

"We have laws for a reason," a voice thick with malice echoed through the chamber. Orosia felt the torturer's painful caresses of her body cease as his body tensed. "We are not animals. Men should only know the touch of one woman, and women should only know the touch of one man. That is what separates us from animals." The armored form of Darth Revan stepped from a shadowed corridor as his masked features stared into the torturer's face.

"L-Lord Revan... Malak gave me permission to use any means necessary and I thought-"

"You thought that meant you could violate the oath you took to me?" Revan snarled. The torturer leapt from his position over the teenage Padawan and stood at attention before the Dark Lord.

"No, my Lord." Revan stood motionless as he stared at the torturer. The Jedi Padawan stared through blurry eyes at the Dark Lord of the Sith.

"Continue," Revan stated calmly. Orosia let out a strangled sob as the torturer shot her a lecherous look.

"With pleasure, my Lord." As he prepared to tear what remained of Orosia's tattered robes, Revan cleared his throat. Turning to the Dark Lord with a questioning expression, the torturer froze.

"My Lord?" Revan crossed his arms tightly across his chest and leaned against the wall.

"This is a torture chamber is it not?" The torturer nodded to Revan's question. "And you are a torturer are you not?" Again the man nodded. Darth Revan uncrossed his arms and held out his left hand. With a snap, Orosia's collar dropped from her neck. "Funny... I thought you were a rapist."

Orosia instantly broke free of her bonds and pinned the torturer within a second. "Women are so much better at administering pain than men. Did you know that?" Revan asked the torturer. "Padawan Kilnor?" Revan questioned softly. The girl turned her confused eyes to the Dark Lord.

"R- Knight Revan?" She asked using his old title. Revan walked to a nearby locker and pulled out a set of obsidian Jedi robes and a matching cloak.

"Get dressed, Padawan." The Jedi Padawan cautiously rose and quickly made her way to the locker, Relishing the feel of clean clothing though she had the urge to shower and scrub her skin till she bled. A loud thud reached her ears and she turned to see Revan pinning her torturer to the block she had resided moments before, speaking lowly to her torturer before he grasped the man's jaw tightly and squeezed. A loud pop was heard as the man struggled violently and cried out in pain.

"I will stop when she asks me to," Revan had whispered to the man before he unleashed his unholy knowledge of tortures against the man. Orosia heard Revan snarl to the man, something along the lines of, "If you wish to be an animal, I will slaughter you like one."

The Jedi Padawan watched with morbid fascination as Revan pulled the torturer apart piece by piece, surprised that the man still lived after several hours. The entire time she remained silent, watching the horrific display of savage dismemberment until Revan stopped and turned to her. Two blue eyes wide with fear stared back at him and Revan slowly nodded his head as he turned back and removed another piece of the torturer. The man's convulsions did not cease, but the pained cries he made did. Moments later the convulsions died down to a sudden jerk before they became nothing. Orosia knew the man had never lost consciousness until that final moment that Darth Revan had snatched the life from him. She did not know why she did not try to stop him, but looking at the mangled body she felt no sympathy for the beast.

Darth Revan flicked his bloodied gloves for a moment to clear them of some of the mess before he turned to the Jedi Padawan. "I do not wish to break you. I wish to convert you," he said with a sickening calm to Orosia. After seeing him tear the man who was preparing to rape her to shreds and then to hear him directly address her, Orosia was in near hysterics.

"So I can be like you?" She cried as she felt helpless. Revan tilted his head slightly as he looked into her blue eyes that reminded him so much of another young woman he knew.

"I just murdered that man. Violently. What difference does that make? I am already called a mass murderer but tell me this. What difference does this man's death make?" Orosia crushed her wish to fall to her knees and cry as she looked into Revan's masked features and eyed the blood that seemed to be splattered across his armor.

"He can't hurt me, or anyone else again." Revan nodded.

"Good, you're learning." Revan walked to the doorway and stopped for a moment. "The Jedi and the Republic would have allowed that man to live, throwing him into exile for his crimes or locking him away for only a year or two. Does that fit your view of justice?" Orosia found herself shaking her head. She turned her eyes to the Dark Lord as he turned to her.

"I have the power now to end such things. Do you want that power?" Orosia's eyes widened slightly. He was asking her to join him, willingly.

"I- That is the Darkside." Revan calmly pulled back his hood and removed his mask, causing the girl to gasp. She had seen Malak once, as well as the other Sith Masters that were disfigured by the Darkside and what she saw when she looked at Revan was not what she had expected. His skin was pale, likely from being hidden from all light within his armor and his face drawn and tired, but still handsome and somewhat young. His eyes where a deep brown, though red seemed to cloud them, giving him the look of utter exhaustion.

"Do I look like I bathe in the darkness?" Revan asked in his deep voice. Orosia stared at the Dark Lord for a moment before turning away and wrapping her arms across her chest.

"– No," she whispered.

"That is where you are wrong," Revan's voice said calmly, but with hidden malice. Orosia turned to see a vicious scowl adorning Revan's handsome features. "I am a mass murderer and one of the most evil men you will ever meet. But I still believe in honor and that is why I spared you that thing's touch."

Revan motioned to the pile of body parts and blood that lay motionless in the room. "I am fighting a war, Padawan. One I will do anything, almost anything to win." Revan sighed as he stared at the girl. "I have a friend. Bastila Shan. I want you to tell her that I am beyond hope. I want you to tell her that I have fallen."

Orosia gasped. She had met the arrogant Padawan a few times during her stay at the Jedi Temple but was far from her friend.

"Wha- Why do you want me to do that?" she asked. Revan's face took on the weary look once more as he looked away from the young girl.

"Because I don't want her to be foolish and believe she can save me or capture me. You have witnessed what I am capable of and my only other offer is your immediate death." Revan took a threatening step towards Orosia. The Padawan instinctively backed away. "I want her to hide in some hole with the rest of the Jedi to spare me the trouble of having to eliminate her."

Revan did not voice his desire to not see her fall. He had been tortured for weeks by dreams of Bastila falling in battle against his forces or of her being captured and tortured by the likes of Malak and the man he had killed a short while ago.

"I-" Revan took another threatening step towards the young girl.

"Do you want to die?" Orosia shook her head. "Do you want me to do to you what I did to that man over there?" Revan motioned to the torture slab. Orosia again shook her head furiously.

"Then what is your answer?" Orosia stared with wide eyes at the Dark Lord.

"I will tell the Council and Padawan Shan what I have witnessed here, today." The Dark Lord was silent for a moment before he nodded and pulled his hood over his head, replacing his mask.

"Good," he said, apparently satisfied. The Dark Lord reached into his armor and produced a small datapad. "These are directions out of this facility and this..." Revan pulled a lightsaber from his cloak and tossed it to the Padawan along with the Datapad. "Completes your disguise."

Orosia took that moment to eye her attire, gasping to herself when she realized she looked exactly like a Dark Jedi. "Your ship is waiting," Revan said quietly as he bowed mockingly to the terrified Padawan and vanished darkly into the shadowed corridor. Orosia gulped as she attached the lightsaber to her belt. Making her war through the Sith complex, she quickly found the ship set aside for her and left Korriban behind her. The Jedi Padawan did not take the time to relax until she had reached hyperspace.

"Why would he want Bastila Shan to think he is evil? From what I've heard she hates him more than he hates the Jedi." Orosia sighed as she tried to keep her minds from her imprisonment and her Master's death. "I will do as he asked."