Redemption – Part Three

A/N: For anyone out there interested in watching clips I've posted of the 'Dark Side Ending' of KOTOR, go to Youtube and do a search for 'Revan Returns, Dark Side Ending' or 'Revan's Dark Side Redemption'. There are eight clips in all.

Mucho thanks again to Alice for her beta skills. Her battle descriptions are incredible.

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In the very center of the Rakatan star system, perched above the blazing sun, hung the Star Forge, crown jewel of the once mighty Infinite Empire. A long, thin continuous stream of ionized plasma was leeched from the star and gathered at a focal point between the gigantic lower pylons. Once collected, the energy not only provided power for the massive space station, but also raw material for its extensive factory complex. Fighters, frigates and dreadnoughts emerged from various docking bays to orbit the station and fill the might ranks of the Sith war machine.

A mere hundred kilometers away, the bulk of the Republic fleet was locked in a desperate battle with the main Sith armada. Republic fighters went toe to toe with scores of Sith counterparts in numerous vicious dogfights. Capital ships hurled turbolasers and proton torpedoes from extreme range, breaking up enemy formations and shattering shields. Missiles, contrails, explosions and debris littered much of the sky, destroying the serenity of space. Burning hulks from both sides drifted and collided to eventually be incinerated in the fiery surface of the sun.

At the front of the grand assault, turbolaser fire seared through the shields of a Republic cruiser, followed by a volley of torpedoes that tore into armored hull, deep in the guts of the hapless ship. The stricken vessel careened out of control, venting atmosphere and screaming crewmen into the cold blackness of space. The wreck spun wildly toward the enemy, clipping a Sith Destroyer, ripping its shield generators and command center clean off. The now defenseless Sith behemoth became a magnet for fire, drawing torpedoes and turbolaser bolts. Multiple flashes burst on the armored surface of the ship, rending its skin like long Kath claws across the belly of an Irian. Two Republic torpedoes smashed into the vulnerable magazine of the Destroyer and ignited unused ordnance. In a flash of light and shockwave, the Sith ship was no more.

No advantage could be gained in this galactic cataclysm, with only Death spurring both sides from above.

On the bridge of the Republic flagship, Olympic, Admiral Forn Dodonna pressed her lips together and gripped the arms of her command chair as the ship shuddered from a near miss of a torpedo. Outwardly calm, she inwardly winced as yet another capital ship flared once on the tactical display before her and vanished.

How many more deaths is that? A hundred? Two? I can't mourn them now, even if I did give the order to press the attack. Bastila was right, if we don't take out the Star Forge now, the Sith will never be defeated.

Several hours before, Bastila had contacted her from the Ebon Hawk, first bringing the dismaying news that Carth Onasi had died in her rescue. The Jedi then argued against pulling back, urging the fleet to press the attack while she dock with the space station and mount an assault against Darth Malak. Dodonna had understood that this fight would decide the fate of the Republic and had relented.

The fleet had held since then...but at such horrific cost.

The bridge shuddered again as the cruiser traded long-range turbolaser volleys with a Sith frigate. Dodonna rose from her chair to walk towards the main display, staggered slightly and reached for a support. Several crewmembers fell from their seats under a shower of sparks as the ship shook violently. The Admiral helped her tactical officer up off the ground and then glanced down at a diminutive figure at her side. There was a cold pit in her stomach and a burning question that needed to be asked.

"Has there been any word from Bastila or the other Jedi that landed?" she asked, her voice taut and controlled.

She could not betray her inner fears and doubts, not with the rest of the bridge crew looking to her for support.

Jedi Master Vandar Tokare sighed as he glanced up from the display. "Nothing, Admiral. All the Jedi we could bring to this battle followed the Ebon Hawk as it made it's way towards the Star Forge. The last transmission indicated Bastila and...her Padawan fighting their way past the Sith. Since then, we've heard nothing." The Master's eyes narrowed, his large ears twitching. Something had bothered him about that transmission, but he couldn't place a finger on it.

"Even if we've held against the Sith for now, we can't keep this up for long," Dodonna said. "This battle will be for nothing if we take out that monstrosity and Malak still escapes. I can only hope we can give Bastila and her friend enough time to take out Malak and for her Battle Meditation to come into play." She watched on the display as squadrons of bombers began making their attack runs on the Star Forge. "We just have to hold out till then."

Vandar remained silent, looking out the main view port at the Star Forge itself, his worried expression only growing only deeper.

-O-

Deep within the Rakatan space station, a fight of a different sort was drawing to a close.

Bastila Shan parried a blow that nearly severed her head. Twisting, she pressed her opponent's blade down into the ground with one end of her double-sided weapon, making him lose his balance for a split second. Gripping her lightsaber and snapping her hips forward, Bastila plunged the other crimson blade right through her opponent's heart. The Sith Apprentice howled in pain as he collapsed to his knees, smoke sizzling from his chest. Bastila bared her teeth as she viciously slammed her boot across the face of her now dying foe, who sprawled to the floor. Wiping sweat from her brow, she watched in disdain as the hate in the man's eyes slowly faded into nothingness.

"Fool!" she sneered, tilting her chin upward. "To think you could pit yourself against one such as I."

Three apprentices had been left here in the Command Center to stop any on their way to the main Factory Floor where the self proclaimed 'Lord' Malak awaited. Bastila had tried to get them to see with their own eyes that the true Lord of the Sith, Darth Revan, had returned. Her words, however, had fallen on deaf ears...and whose idiot owners had now paid the price for their lack of vision.

Switching off her weapon, she looked around for a certain assassin droid that had accompanied them, and caught sight of a pair of photoreceptors flickering unsteadily. Bastila walked over and frowned down on the ruined and crackling remains of HK-47. The charred, smoking corpse of a second Sith Apprentice still smoldered nearby as well. Bastila's nose wrinkled at the thick stench of ozone and burnt flesh that hung in the air. The apprentice's ruined hand was stretched out in the direction of HK, whose metallic finger mounted flamethrower still sputtered fire.

The assassin droid had dispatched it's opponent in typically violent fashion...but not before being the target of a Force induced storm of charged particles. The black clad woman snorted.

"Pity. We could have used him as well as the Mandalorian." She shrugged. "They were expendable, they served their purpose."

As if in anger, the eyes on the droid flashed.

"Ingratitude: Just wait until I stand over your dismembered meatbag remains, you offshoot from a female quadruped."

HK's eyes dimmed and then grew dark.

Another small flash caught Bastila's attention and she was drawn to the gargantuan hologram that towered over an enormous dais in the center of the Command Deck. The Star Forge hung in the air, as it's immediate area showed two sets of large icons floating around it, with numerous smaller ones darting everywhere. Occasionally, an icon would flash and disappear altogether. The chorus of death in space was reaching a crescendo.

"The Republic fleet is closing in on us," she said with a curl of her lip. "Admiral Dodonna is a persistent, if annoying, adversary...don't you think, Lord Revan?"

But no answer was forthcoming. Bastila snapped her gaze over and caught sight of her master looking down at the body of the last Sith Apprentice. Eyes narrowing, she walked over.

Darth Revan – formerly Republic soldier Mirelle Dana – simply stared down at her dead opponent, a mildly confused expression on her face. Two deactivated lightsabers hung limply in her hands. Her brows furrowed as a hand came and up and rubbed her temple. She arrested the motion when she caught sight of the armored gloves she wore. Blinking, she looked down at the redone ebon Sith robes fashioned by the Star Forge's computers.

"Master?"

Revan turned to stare in bemusement as Bastila stood by her side.

"Bastila...?"

Staring intently back at her master, Bastila gently but firmly grasped the other's shoulder, leaning in to whisper in her ear.

"Focus, my lord," she said slowly. "The longer we waste here is another moment that that traitor of a former apprentice grows ever stronger. You must move quickly if you're to exact vengeance. Remember the cowardly way Malak usurped your title from afar? Or how he toyed with you as you fought on the Leviathan? You can crush him, my master – remember that. He is nothing!" she vehemently finished, her face taut with barely controlled rage.

The fiery passion in Bastila's words cleared away the clouded expression in the Sith Lord's face. Her eyes burned as she tightened her grip on her weapons, back straight and jaw set. Seeing the resolve in Revan's eyes, the other woman nodded, a wicked smile returning to her lips. She then glanced back and pointed towards the massive hologram.

"The entire Republic fleet is about break through our line and assault the Star Forge. If I don't use my Battle Meditation, Admiral Dodonna's capital ships will destroy everything we've worked for. You have to go and face Malak without me." Her voice lowered to a whisper and the space between the women chilled by several degrees. "Find him. Kill him and reclaim the title of Dark Lord of the Sith!"

Revan hesitated for just a moment before turning and marching out of the Command Center. When the doors slammed down behind Revan's receding back, a corner of Bastila's mouth quirked for just a second.

Turning back, she faced the tactical hologram that towered over her.

"Let us see how the Republic likes it this time," she murmured, her voice full of venom, as she knelt down on to the cold, metal floor. She slowly started to focus by taking long, deep breaths. Closing her eyes, she could hear the sound of her heartbeat in her ears. With each passing breath, her heart rate slowed. All external stimuli faded from Bastila's consciousness as she was completely absorbed by her breathing.

As she found her center, Bastila opened up to the Force, her consciousness expanding far beyond the confines of the Command Center. As a creature of chaos, she could better sense the fury of the battle that played out in space.

Through Battle Meditation, the collective 'will' of both combatants was laid bare for the user to see...or manipulate. Tendrils of the Force connected everyone on both side of the battle. Like a small stone dropped into a pond, the tightening or loosening of those tendrils caused 'ripples' in the battle space.

Small beads of sweat formed on Bastila's forehead as she slowly strengthened resolve in certain key Sith forces. Groups began to fight with even better efficiency than ever before, fighter pilots and capital ships shot down the enemy with unerring precision. On the Republic side, Bastila strengthened doubt and fear, making pilots second guess themselves while their foes out flew them, or hesitate from taking risks long enough to be targeted.

Slowly, the battle started to swing in favor of the Sith. Bastila smiled as she sensed the Republic defenses begin to crumble.

It won't be long now before the Republic fleet is decimated. Those fools on the Council should have never underestimated me. How I wish I could see at least one of my old masters' faces now...

Her breath suddenly caught in her throat as she sensed a presence out among the enemy ships - a very familiar, very powerful presence.

Interesting. The idiot Malak must have missed one in his assault of Dantooine.

She toyed with the notion of withdrawing her presence so as to go undetected, but then crushed the thought. No, let them know why they are losing...let them all know the true meaning of despair.

Bastila's eyebrows rose and she smirked humorlessly as the identity of the presence became apparent.

"Hello...Master Vandar."

She then tipped her head back...and laughed maniacally.

-Continued-