THE END PART TWO (ECHOES)

Then...Korriban- Dreshdae Cantina

Revan sat on a loose and creaking chair, HK47, Revan's assassin droid was blocking any bystanders from coming over to observe the Sith Lord's conversation. The headmaster of the planet's Sith academy sat opposite Revan sipping a cup of blood red wine. Revan didn't even want to think about the ingredients used to brew such a concoction. Jorak Uln took another sip and beckoned to his apprentice Uthar Wynn. Revan motioned for HK to let the young man pass, Uthar came up to his master who gestured for him to refill the wine. As Uthar bent to pick up the cup Jorak gleefully pushed the outstretched hand out of the way, grabbed the jug of wine in-between where he and Revan were sitting. Jorak then tossed the wine inside the jug at Uthar's face, Uthar screamed in agony. Revan guessed that the Sith tattoos Uthar was sporting had only recently been applied. Jorak sneered at his apprentice and let out a drunken order.

"Go and get yourself cleaned up! Honestly, Sith these days! Can't have a decent thought in their thick skulls without it being rammed in!" He then knelt almost kindly by Uthar who had fallen to the floor clutching his face. Jorak put a hand on his pupil's head, and savagely beat his fist against Uthar's head again and again. Screaming, "are you thinking straight now sonny?! What've I taught you? Never put yourself into a position of weakness you utter idiot!"

Revan had had enough, watching a drunken Sith master pound his apprentice mercilessly was not how Revan liked to spend a tactical meeting. Jorak found himself being grabbed by a cold ironlike hand by his neck, the Dark Jedi rose until he was looking directly down at Revan. Revan didn't turn from Jorak but spoke to the quivering Uthar.

"Go, return to your quarters. You are not needed anymore today."

Uthar stood shakily and ran past HK and out towards the academy. Revan sat down again but used the Force to keep Jorak rising and with the same pressure on his throat. Revan looked at the puddle of wine from where Jorak had thrown it, Revan gestured and the wine, along with the jug, rose. With another gesture the wine poured itself from the air into the jug, the jug floated to and landed on the bar.

Jorak let out a desperate wail, Revan let him fall unceremoniously onto the floor. Jorak gasped and rubbed his throat, Revan turned to HK, the droid grabbed Jorak's arm and deposited him back in his chair. Jorak cleared his throat, "My lord, I apologise, I don't know what I was thinking I-"

"I do." Revan interrupted, "you wanted to show off in front of your superior, however I do not like violence without a reason, it is a very demeaning tactic that I would not do to even the worst of my enemies. You will refrain from such acts in the future or you will be punished. The Sith Empire does not have a place for psychotic fools."

"Yes my lord." Jorak looked dejected and, most importantly, sober. So Revan proceeded to business.

"Do you remember two years ago? When Malak and myself came and set up this academy?"

"Yes my lord, you brought my predecessor and myself to this planet with a group of Dark Jedi, you told us to recruit any Force sensitives and to train them in the ways of the Sith."

"How many Sith have passed your final tests and become part of the galaxy?"

Jorak looked uncomfortable. "Um, well..."

"Exactly. Not a single one, I need warriors not corpses in the Valley of the Dark Lords."

"But...my lord...we have several initiates just about to start their final tests. They are most proficient, I'm sure they will succeed."

Jorak was looking very unlike a Dark Jedi now. He was stammering and was uncertain about what to do. He himself had designed the final tests for the initiates, they were literally impossible to do. All his initiates would die first. Revan spoke up.

"Never mind the tests, simply send them to my ship, I need them for various tasks. I will talk to you later, there is another matter we need to discuss.

Revan got up and walked out of the cantina, HK47 following. As an afterthought Revan turned."Oh, and Jorak. Did you think that a delivery made to the academy that is the exact size of a Krayt Dragon would go unnoticed? Especially as it's used for your tests?"

Jorak buried his head in his hands. It appeared that even the most secret of deliveries could never stay a secret for long.

Revan stared at Jorak coldly, then turned again and walked out of the cantina and towards the academy.

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Now...Ossus-Jedi Library

Revan walked down the ramp from the Ebon Hawk onto the surface of Ossus. The barren planet looked better than it had when Revan last came, however, the last time that Revan came to Ossus was as a Sith Lord. Revan's very presence had brought even more suffering to the planet's landscape. Thankfully this wasn't the case now, now Revan could walk without destruction in the wake of every step.Revan looked around, Exar Kun had been thorough, both in the destruction and pillaging of Jedi valuables. Harnessing the power of a star to make it implode couldn't have been an easy thing to do. Revan imagined the people on Ossus as they heard the news. They would most likely had less than an hour to get anything worth taking and then to leave the planet before they were destroyed too. However, Exar Kun came to Ossus as everyone was leaving, he and his followers took many artifacts of value and power.

Revan wasn't here just to reminisce though, there was a reason for coming to this site of tragedy. As Dark Lord of the Sith Revan had imbued many objects with the Dark Side, including records and data. Revan had hidden a Sith holocron on Ossus, reasoning that no one would come and find it as the planet had already been robbed beyond reason. Thieves and treasure hunters would not come here as, aside from the holocron, there was nothing to take.

Revan walked into the main chamber of the library, despite all the destruction the room was still partially intact. Revan remembered training on Ossus as a child, Revan had followed the master that had been assigned to teach Revan's group of students into the main chamber. As a child Revan had felt overwhelmed by the strong presence of the Force in the room. Every manuscript kept in Ossus was handwritten, Jedi had poured their thoughts, ideas and hearts out into making every piece of writing. It was a great honour for any Jedi to have their writings placed on the bookcases of Ossus and some of the greatest works of the Jedi had been contained in the halls of the library. As a child Revan had felt overwhelmed, now Revan just felt sadness. Revan picked up a piece of ash on a nearby bookcase, this piece of ash would once have been a manuscript, to be poured over by all manner of Jedi scholars, trying to work out what the author intended to teach. Now it was just a piece of rubble, just another casualty of the war against the Dark Side.

Revan cleaned the ash off another bookcase. The holocron was on one of these, after searching through one bookcase and finding nothing Revan moved to another, still nothing. Revan turned and searched through the bookcase behind the original one, absolutely nothing, Revan frantically searched through all the bookcases in the wing. There was nothing there, Revan reached through the Force, trying to locate the Dark Side aura, there was nothing. Revan reached out further, past the library, looking through the whole planet. There was nothing, the holocron was nowh...Wait. Revan got a faint pulse of Force energy, it was so small that Revan had missed it earlier, but now...All of a sudden Revan was forced to fall on hands and knees as a powerful Force bolt rammed itself into Revan's mind. Revan was driven into a wall and pinned there as a strong and ancient mind pushed itself into Revan's through the opening that the Force bolt had carved. Words were projected into Revan's mind through the Force.

"Hrrgh. Here again Dark Sider? When will you learn? LEAVE OSSUS BE!!!"

Revan grimaced, "What...Who are you?"

"I am Ood, Sith Lord! Ossus will not fall to your filth again. Begone!"

"I am not of the Dark Side." Revan screamed as Ood delivered another devastating Force bolt.

"Liar! I felt the Dark Side in you last time you were here Revan! I did not think that you would be foolish enough to come here again, much less alone!"

"I was defeated as a Sith Lord and my memory was taken from me, I do not remember much of my time in the Dark Side. I have long tried to repent for my actions as Dark Lord of the Sith. I came here to destroy a Sith holocron I placed here. Nothing more!"

"Hmmm. Very well, come to me Revan and I shall see your honesty for myself."

Revan didn't know which way to go but Ood's Force imprint was strong now, strong enough for Revan to locate where Ood was. Revan walked at a steady pace to the source of Ood's Force imprint, eventually Revan reached the imprint and was confronted with a very large tree. The tree itself was the source of the Force energy. Revan knew that the Force flowed through all sentient life, but couldn't see how a simple plant could harness such power.

"But then again, things are hardly what they seem are they little one?"

"Indeed. I am guessing that you are a Jedi."

The tree moved slightly, as if stretching. Revan moved round it in awe, then two eyes suddenly opened and gazed at Revan."Yes. I am Jedi master Ood and you, I can see, are not of the Dark Side after all. You show no signs of the corruption on your face." Master Ood shook again, any cobwebs on him were gone.

"What happened to you? I have heard of a master Ood, but only in legends. Even then they were from an old man who, I'm sure was cdompletely eccentric and more lax with the truth than any other being I have ever met."

"I see you've met Jolee Bindo then. Nggrah! He was an old student of mine, I'm glad he has still survived after all this time. But in answer to your question I am like this due to the objects in my posession. Exar Kun tried to take them from me so I forced this transformation upon myself so that he will never get his hands on them!"

Revan used the Force to look beneath Ood, there were strong Force emissions below the ancient Jedi, they had been masked earlier by Ood but since Revan was so close they were easy to make out. Revan looked up at Ood. "Exar Kun is dead, he died a decade ago!"

Ood let out what Revan percieved as a sigh. "Good, it had to be done. It makes the pain that I have been carrying much more bearable."

"Master Ood," Revan began, "I need to ask something of you. Do you remember when I was here last?"

"How could I forget?" Ood rumbled.

"I left something here, a Sith holocron. I have came here to destroy it, is it in your posession?"

Ood shook in anger, "Graagh! I would not carry such a cursed thing. No, the warriors clad in white came for it. I allowed them to remove it, I did not like that thing in the hallowed halls of the library."

Revan gasped. "Do you know who they were? I need to destroy it so that the Dark Side knowledge in it cannot be learnt by anyone!"

"No young one, I could not tell who they were. The only reason that I even have this meagre knowledge is because one of them laid her staff against my thigh. I could tell that one of them, there were six of them you see,  I sensed a great deal of Force potential in the youngest.

"Interesting..." Revan pondered these facts carefully, someone may have the holocron but it required someone well skilled in such arts to unlock it and all it's secrets. Such a person could not be found amongst the Sith any more. But it would take a very skilled historian amongst the Jedi to be able to even attempt such a feat, and even then they were at a large risk of losing themselves to the Dark Side.

Still, Revan couldn't deal with this now. There was still one last place to go before the final stop.

"Master Ood, I apologise but I must leave. There are other places where I must go to ensure the future."

"Yes, I see that you shall be very busy in the future. May the Force be with you Revan."

"May the Force be with you master Ood."

Revan walked sadly back to the Ebon Hawk, Ood had been forgotten, he was still there guarding lost secrets. Waiting until someone would come and release him from his burden, Revan knew that it would be a long time before the Jedi came again to Ossus. There were too many memories there, many of them were too terrible to remember. Revan walked up the ramp, who were these six warriors? Why had they came? More importantly, who were they working for? Hopefully a collector where the holocron would lie forgotten in a museum somewhere. More likely however they were working for someone who was powerful or who knew powerful people. Revan had a feeling that the holocron's path wasn't over.

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Revan walked briskly into the room, examining the situation. Sith officers were sat at stations, only a few people were talking, everyone was tense whenever Revan entered a room. Jorak Uln was standing in front of a viewscreen.

Revan walked up to him, "Please explain why I have been disturbed from my meditation. If you value your position you will make sure that your reason is a good one."

Jorak turned, fear in his eyes. "My lord Revan! The academy is under attack! A Republic fleet has closed in, they are destroying our perimeter satellites!"

Revan sighed, the fools! Didn't they realise that their situation was impossible? They couldn't win and yet they still struggled on. Revan gave a cold grin, it would be considered valiant if it wasn't so annoying.

"Why were we not alerted to their presence hours ago?"

Jorak gulped. "They only came out of hyperspace minutes ago my lord. We were caught completely by surprise. We weren't sent any reports about any mobilisation of Republic forces."

Revan glanced at an officer sitting at a command console. "You! Relay my orders to all defence ships orbiting the planet!"

The officer pressed buttons in rapid order and turned back to Revan. "Ready my lord."

Revan took a breath and analysed all the factors on the screen. "To all Dreadnought Class Cruisers: Attack Manoeuvre Z-Alpha-Two! Send snub fighters against all critical systems on enemy escort ships. I want Interdictors attacking the main destroyers. This needs to be sorted quickly before they can call for reinforcements!

Within seven minutes the Republic forces were in full retreat, Revan smiled under the mask. They wouldn't attempt something as stupid as this again. Revan turned to Jorak.

"Now then, why was I summoned for something so trivial?"

"My lord, they were annihilating our defences, I didn't think we could..."

"Exactly, you didn't think." Revan's tone was cold, "You are an embarrassment to this academy, you are an embarrassment to the Sith and you are an embarrassment to me! You are stripped of your rank, your apprentice will take over as headmaster of this academy."

"But...But my lord..."

"You have two options, either I kill you now or you can run. If you run you must run into the Valley of the Dark Lords and I never want to see you again. Become a hermit if you so wish but you are no longer a teacher, you are no longer a Sith!"

Jorak looked as though he might speak, then thought better of it and ran. Revan watched him go, Revan had sent Jorak away as a character test, if Jorak had not ran away Revan would not have killed him but would have given him a higher post for trusting his master with his life. Since Jorak ran Revan knew that he could not be trusted, Revan would make an example of him. However if Jorak ever returned Revan had a feeling that time spent alone on Korriban would, at best, make then crazed master even more powerful with a better understanding of the Dark Side. At worst it would make Jorak go insane. Revan couldn't deal with that however, that would be up to someone on Korriban, perhaps a Sith initiate, or a group of them most likely. Revan walked out of the war room to the ship on standby, always ready for Revan's use.

It was time to go and find Malak, it wasn't a good idea to leave him on his own for more than a few days now, the...accident...had changed him, he was no longer Revan's blind follower. He was more like a Sith Lord now, he had rebellious thoughts, Revan could sense that through their bond. Even by looking at him Revan could tell this, Malak had been completely corrupted by the Dark Side now. Revan had to keep from going the same way, if that happened then centuries of planning from even before the Sith War with Exar Kun could be for nothing. Revan walked up the ramp of the ship and gestured for the pilot to take them to the Star Forge, Revan's own ship was waiting there to take the Dark Lord to the Leviathan.

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Revan brought the Hawk out of Hyperspace, they were nowhere near a planet. There was something wrong, a new but familiar presence on board. Revan reached out with the Force and felt the mind of another. It was old and alien, definitely from the Dark Side. The presence came from the crew quarters, Revan broke into a run. If it was one of the creatures from the Unknown Regions then the ship would be destroyed if she wasn't stopped...'She', why could Revan picture the presence as female? Revan used the Force to move even faster, vaulting over the projector table in the main hold. Revan switched on the lightsaber hanging on the light and uncumbersome robes that Revan was wearing. The light from the blade added an eerie effect that would disorientate anyone in the room once they saw the light. Revan held the blade in a straight angle facing directly towards the crew quarters, Revan slowly and warily walked into the room. Revan saw the intruder and gasped, "No...why did it have to be you?"

The figure hunched in a meditative position stood, turned towards Revan and walked forward so that Revan could see her properly. She removed her hood, looked at Revan and smiled coldly.

"Why...why are you-" Revan began before feeling pain and intense heat in the lower abdomen, Revan looked down and saw a blue lightsaber snaking it's way out towards it's owner. Revan knew that unconsciousness would soon follow such an injury. Revan looked up again and screamed as the lightsaber pulled out completely. Revan felt the floor of the Ebon hawk coming up as unconsciousness began to block vision, Revan looked up from the floor. Kreia knelt down, almost tenderly put a hand upon Revan's head, and Revan knew no more.