The True Sith-8

Title: The True Sith
Author: Heroes Die
Game: KotOR
Characters: Revan, Canderous, HK
Disclaimer: Everything here belongs to the all-awesome Bioware

Chapter 8

Revan stretched out her hand and it was grasped firmly in return, her eyes locking in a silent reunion with her long-lost friend. The docking bay was lit warmly considering everything was covered in sheets of silver metal, although maybe that was simply an effect that being happy had on your surroundings. She glanced over her shoulder and gestured for Canderous and HK to come forward instead of hovering beside the boarding ramp. Revan guessed that her friend was making them a bit edgy—not that surprising.

Releasing his grasp on Revan's hand, he took the initiative and walked over to Canderous. Giving a cordial nod of the head, he stood with shoulders squared, feet parted at shoulder width, and introduced himself. "My name is Nik'cree'ynodith of the third ruling family from the Chiss Ascendancy."

Canderous raised an eyebrow at the list of titles.

The Chiss noticed his confusion and offered, "My Core name is Creeyn."

"That's a lot easier to follow than Nik'car-whatever," he said brusquely.

Revan sighed at Canderous's usual lack of diplomacy then turned her attention to HK. "Do you remember him now? You didn't recognize him on the Ebon Hawk."

"Statement: I was having a difficult time tracking down this particular meatbag in my memory core I must admit. But I think there were some safety overrides blocking my sub-routines from immediately recognizing him. You wouldn't have anything to do with that would you, master?"

"Of course I would. I was just wondering whether or not they had actually worked. I guess I'm better with electronics than I thought."

"Either that or HK-47 is not a very sophisticated piece of equipment," Creeyn added with a mischievous glint in his blood-coloured eyes.

HK lifted his rifle against his chest plate. "Egotistical Boast: My circuits are far superior to your sloshing fluids, meatbag."

"Enough, HK. Your circuits are fine." Revan turned back to the Chiss, wondering when he would start speculating about the way she was acting or who Canderous was. "I'm here to take a day to figure things out and restock my ship. But I think I need to explain a few things before we get too carried away."

He nodded matter-of-factly. "Yes. I was going to ask, but I knew you would inform me without my prodding. The year without contact from you was becoming unnerving." Creeyn shifted his feet over the polished metal floor, never breaking eye contact. "I thought that someone might have decided to remove you from your station...namely Malak."

Canderous grunted. "That Sith spawn met an untimely end at the wrong side of a saber. At least, that's how Revan tells it."

"Sith spawn? Revan?" Creeyn repeated, a frown turning his eyes a darker shade of red. The casual remarks and the use of her name by one under her rank caught him off guard, but Creeyn set it aside. "So Malak did end up trying to gain the title of master, although he was rewarded with death for his efforts. A very headstrong man. A pity he could not be persuaded to know his place." He looked at Canderous again, this time with curiosity. "What rank does this human hold?" he asked.

Canderous smiled. "Well—"

"As I said," Revan interrupted, "I need to explain some things."

Creeyn nodded to her again, now unsure of her and her companions. "Of course. If you would follow me I will escort you to more comfortable quarters...and perhaps you would care to see A'den on our way?"

Revan's face lit in a bright smile, suddenly reminded that Creeyn had mentioned earlier that A'den would be here. She craned her neck to look over Creeyn's shoulder at the door at the far end of the bay like A'den would burst in at the mere mention of her name. Hearing it again plunged Revan into distant memories: finding A'den wandering in the plains of Kamar, lost and separated from her pack, having to educate her in order to bring her back into society, learning how A'den thought and how to treat her in turn, and becoming fast friends through dangerous situations…

"A'den?" Canderous asked. "Isn't that a Mandalorian word? It means wrath..."

Revan shrugged at the look Canderous gave her, not feeling like explaining anything right now.

Creeyn gestured for Revan to follow him into the compound, and she obliged while reassuring Canderous that A'den would probably welcome someone like Canderous, mentioning she had a tendency to disassemble those she didn't agree with. His response was to subtly check if his knives were still tucked away in their various spots seeing as how he wasn't carrying a blaster. Revan smiled innocently and then moved forward to walk beside Creeyn. She could feel that the Chiss was his still unsettled about her behavior and wasn't sure how to approach the subject, or even how approach her.

Creeyn had been stuck here for a year with no contact with the outside except for the stray data bites that made it his way. Revan had left him here in this asteroid field that hid her military strategies, collected artifacts, and various thoughts about everything from the Jedi Council to musings on the nature of the Dark Side. Creeyn hadn't had the chance to get out much farther than this string of rocks, relying instead on Revan to come to him with information and training. He was in the dark about what had recently happened to her, but Revan knew he was smart enough to figure out at least a part of what had occurred. The effects of having her identity stolen from her could not go unnoticed by this Chiss whose brilliance had startled Revan so long ago.

Creeyn stopped before a metal door and stood aside for Revan to enter first. She took a deep breath, sensing the excitement that emanated from the other side, and knew this had to be A'den. A'den must have known Revan was here as soon as she had docked for her to get so worked up. They hadn't seen each other for far too long.

The door whooshed open at her press and a great black and white blur raced past Creeyn to slam into her body with a force that dropped Revan to the floor. She vaguely heard the surprised grunt of Canderous amid the huffing, growling, and whining that A'den was making. She got her arm from under A'den's huge paw and pushed on the beast's chest to get her to move off so she could breathe. Revan stood up and roughed up A'den's fur affectionately.

"Feirfek! What is that thing?" Canderous sputtered.

Creeyn answered for her. "Aden's a howlrunner. Surely you've seen one before Mandalorian?" He reached out to pat A'den's backside.

A'den truly was a sight. The front of her head was shaped disconcertingly like a human skull, the large plate of pure white bone resting on top of her ebony-coloured body fur. A mane of fur radiated down from where the bone ended on her head and then smoothed out on her chest, leaving the rest of her body a slick sheen of glossy hair not able to hide the tension of muscles that lay coiled underneath. A'den's tail stirred behind her, swishing back and forth in content.

Canderous did some measurements in his head, squinting at the huge animal. "She must be at least a meter tall."

"Yes. A'den's full grown now—at least I hope so because if she gets much bigger," Revan played her hands over A'den's back and was rewarded with a low rumble from her chest, "she's not going to be easy to keep around."

Canderous released the tension in his chest with a big sigh and gave the beast a pat. "At least she makes you happy, ad'ika. I haven't seen you smile like that since we got back from the Star Forge."

Revan ruffled A'den's fur distractedly, slightly embarrassed at Canderous's fatherly tone and also cringing at how this must appear to Creeyn. He didn't know any Mando'a thankfully, so he wouldn't have a clue that Canderous had just effectively called her his daughter. She turned back to Creeyn, trying to take his mind off the questions this must have spurred. "Thank you for looking after her. I just didn't want her out with me while I was so involved in the war."

"It was nothing, Revan. You know I follow my orders, but last I checked, A'den could hold her own against a Jedi," he remarked.

"You're right," Revan replied thoughtfully, images of A'den's teeth easily ripping through flesh and bone skimming across her vision. It made her jaw tighten and she tried to dispel the feeling of overwhelming guilt, covering it up with humor. "There's a reason I named her A'den. But I didn't think it was good for her teeth to be chomping on lightsabers."

A'den rumbled in reply. Creeyn let a smile tweak across his blue skin even though he felt Revan battling something deep inside herself. He gestured they should continue down the hall and they followed him toward the promised room, A'den happily bounding along after them. It wasn't long before they'd made their way to Revan's personal quarters; it wasn't an extravagant room, but it held the personal touches that had made it her own. A painting of a scenic view from Alderaan, a large Hapan rug, a meeting table with a few chairs, a sprawling bookshelf along one wall, and a small cot was all that comprised the room. It was an unpleasant and yet weirdly comfortable reminder of things past, the familiar settings putting her mind at a state of rest…and yet it heightened the sense that she shouldn't be this comfortable here, not where she had delved so deeply into her knowledge of the Dark Side.

Revan let her gaze wander over the antiquated bookcase near her meeting table, small currents of memories running into and out of her mind, and caught herself staring at one bound book in particular. The words were recorded not on datapads and reliable electronics but on ink and flimsy—an old but still practiced form of data storage. She casually walked over to it, fighting the urge to run and rip it off the shelf, and gently removed it from its resting place. Revan ran her fingers over the innocuous cover and hesitated before cracking it open, its letters testing a barely-healed wound. The words that had taught her after she'd left the True Sith, the secrets of darkness, they were here again, brushing against her touch, just a thought away from reading and understanding...

A paw grabbed at her leg and Creeyn's voice flowed over her shoulder. "Revan—"

She quickly shut the book, and turned her head to her curious audience, all reaction wiped from her face. "I guess we should start."

Revan let her arm hang at her side, the book still clutched in her fingers. It seemed as if the muscles wouldn't contract to bring the book back to its resting place. It exerted its own will to remain in her hand. The same thing had happened with her mask when Carth walked in on her in the cockpit.

She took up a chair at the table and Creeyn sat at the opposite end as the proper ceremony of rank awarded. Revan glanced at Canderous who was staring at her, slightly perturbed at the lack of understanding he had in this situation, and HK who was waiting with photoreceptors locked on A'den's back. She set the book down on the wood table. "I want you both to wait on the Ebon Hawk until I comm. you." They didn't move. "Now, gentlemen."

Canderous hesitated for a moment, another glance at the Chiss showing the cause of his reluctance. He did follow HK after a long stare at Creeyn and a quick look at Revan to make sure this was really what she wanted. He made his way back even with his misgivings.

Creeyn nodded with appreciation at the privacy as they left and relaxed his shoulders. Just a bit. "That's more like yourself, discounting the other differences that are glaringly apparent." He inclined his head towards the book on the table. "When you touched it you looked as if it had burned you. That used to be your favourite..." He watched her stolid face, waiting for a response. None came. "Will you tell me what has happened in the war or must I keep prodding?"

Revan let her eyes drift to the creases of the book's cover, not knowing how to start the discussion. Creeyn had been a good friend to her, someone she had trusted with anything from privileged information about the war to her own thoughts and feelings, but she saw now that he looked at her in a different light—perhaps with a degree of pity or remorse?—she couldn't tell and she wasn't going to invade his privacy by using the Force to find out. She just wanted it to be the way it was. To not have to worry about pleasing someone by throwing on an act. Revan was tired of it and firmly decided she wasn't doing it any longer. Creeyn would either accept her aside from her identity as the Dark Lord or she would make him deal with it another way.

Revan steeled her gaze and bored her eyes into his, not blinking, not looking away, and let Creeyn grow uncomfortable. She let him see she wasn't about to back down from the truth, her truth. The Force had previously told her the truth was the way to go, and she was listening to its advice. She pressed her elbows against the table and leaned in. "I'm telling you right now that I hope you didn't expect me to walk in here a weaker individual for what I've been through, because I'm afraid I'll disappoint you."

Creeyn crossed his arms over his chest. "Indeed."  He dipped his head to her, lowering his eyes in respect. "I simply didn't expect…you…How you feel in the Force has certainly changed, but I would never say that you are weaker for it."  He looked back up at her, curious. "Whatever has happened to you, Revan, could never change who you are. Your strength is part of you. But something has changed, something is missing…"

Revan allowed him to drift and think as he tried to discern more of her from the Force. Her thoughts wandered as she forced herself to relax, remembering how she had found him drifting in the Unknown Regions. A ship lost in the depths of space…

*****

"I want a scan of that ship. Immediately."

"Yes, sir!" Her commanding officer saluted and gave orders while Revan stared out the viewport at the stranded ship.

She could feel something alive on it, an amazing feat of survival considering how cold the systems were. Life support had to be minimal by now. It was a wonder that she'd even stumbled upon it through the endless depths of space. The Force must be leading her.

Malak joined her at the viewport as the scanning crews made their sweep. He gestured to the drifting ship. "Rare to find something so small in the middle of space. I feel someone still alive…"

She nodded to him, narrowing her eyes at the ship. Whatever presence was here had called to her strongly through the Force, the urgency of his desperate calls for help made her irresistibly curious. Revan was sure the being didn't even know he had called out using the Force: the feeling she had was one born of primal fear and instinct for survival. Raw. It was a curiosity that might pay off if the surviving crew member happened to be as adept at using the Force as he appeared to be.

Revan turned her head as her commander came to report.

"There is one life sign emanating from the forward compartment. Very weak. All systems appear to be shut down except for vital life support. The ship's cold, sir."

"Thank you, Grynan. I want the ship pulled in for inspection."

"My Lord…this could be a raider ship, a trap, or rigged to explode as soon as it makes contact with another vessel. I wouldn't want to risk…"

"Thank you for your caution, Grynan, but this ship is just what it looks like. The Force has shown me no signs of danger."

He gave a short military nod. "Then I will take the ship in immediately, sir."

Revan watched as Grynan started the process of dragging the ship into the docking bay and then turned back to Malak. "Care to find and greet our new guest?"

He shrugged and they began their way to the turbo-lift. "As long as he's friendly," he said with a krayt-dragon smile.

A short while later, the two were gingerly navigating their way through the vessel which looked as if it had been torn apart by rampaging Wookiees. They had to pull live, sparking wiring and sheets of metal out of their way with the Force as they maneuvered through, careful not to pull one sheet loose and find that a whole pile of debris came down with it. There was no evidence of the former crew however, no bodies lying bloodied or cut in pieces by the sharp edges of the plating, no sign of a group of beings living here at all although the destruction hampered any real investigation. There was only that one signature of life, a wave like a heartbeat calling her through the Force that she followed straight and true to where Grynan had said it would be.

Moving one final sheet of plating, this one with smears of blood across it that resembled a handprint, the hallway opened up to the cockpit. It was a good size for the ship, a commander's chair situated at the back where she was standing while the rest of the crew's station lay forward by the viewport. But it was not the layout of the cockpit that interested her, it was the body slumped on the floor just in reach of the commander's chair that held her attention.

His arm was extended, like he had been reaching to climb into the chair but had not had the energy to do so. He'd ended up lying face-down on the floor, a rivulet of dark blood snaking away from his head. The form of his body was humanoid, and the skin that Revan could see was a smooth, deep blue. His clothing was tattered, blood drying and flaking off from his clothes, no identifying symbols or marks that she could see printed on his jacket.

Revan knelt beside him, placed her hand on his back, and closed her eyes.

The Force pounded through his veins.

Malak pushed the body over and his arm flopped over on his side, his hair a dense black, his body in the same rough state as his clothing.

Malak sniffed, his nose crinkling at the odor of blood. "Will he live? Or, more precisely…" he corrected, "do you want him to live?"

Her eyes scanned the being's face over and over, the Force beckoning to her from his body like a sweet temptation, candy to a child. She ran her hand over his chest, finding his heartbeat—a long, slow thrum, under her fingers. Keeping one hand on his chest, the other reached up and undid her mask, letting her study his face with her own eyes.

"What manner of being are you?" she whispered. "What will you give me in exchange for your life?"

  She listened to the silence, staring at his face as he breathed weakly, searching him in the Force. Malak cocked his head. "Revan? Should I call for a med.?"

Revan suddenly stood up. "He's awake. Listening."

"Really?"

"Yes. And I think he just agreed to make an exchange with me."

*****

After they took him from the derelict ship, the exchange took place; she saved his life and in turn he devolved all that he knew of his species, the Chiss. Revan learned why he had been drifting out in space—apparently his inherent talent in the Force made him an outcast from his people—and she shared with him her knowledge of the power that had earned him that exile, the power of the Force. He desired to control his abilities that threatened to overwhelm him at times. Creeyn became her apprentice to the Dark Side, an arrangement that Malak knew nothing of. Creeyn was a promising student, and Malak's jealousy was well-known to her to be one that led to unexplained fatalities among her officers, so Revan had hidden Creeyn here in order that his talents could be fostered without the threat of Malak's jealousy looming over him. Creeyn could most likely have held his own but there was no point risking a life that was useful to her.

*****

Revan entered the present, her eyes opening to find that Creeyn was waiting for her to make the next move. His red eyes were focused directly on her, and she knew that he'd felt through the Force the basics of what had happened to her and yet was still willing to wait and hear her explain.

He could be saved, she knew it. Revan wasn't willing to let a friend be affected forever by her wrong choices and be doomed to wade in darkness because of it. Not when she could fix this.