Star Wars

Knights of the Old Republic

The Prodigal Knight

By

Gipper 40 & Sarge42

Prologue

A long time ago, in a galaxy far far away…

Approximately 4000 years before the Battle of Yavin and the era of Darth Vader and Emperor Palpatine, the Galactic Republic and the Sith operated as two distinctive sovereign regimes, fighting a war for control of the galaxy.

Despite the efforts of the Republic and the Jedi Order, the Sith: consisting of thousands of foot soldiers, warships, and Dark Jedi Apprentices, and led by the dreaded Darth Malak have gained the upper hand in the war and stand on the cusp of victory.

In a final push, the Republic and the Jedi have launched a massive effort to destroy the heart of the Sith strength and stop Malak once and for all. The following story is the tale of Revan.

The Republic Capital ships began to bombard the Star Forge from all angles. Each ship barraged the reactor core that powered the enormous space station. Their lasers were at maximum firepower, yet their individual hits seemed to do little damage; but there was no turning back now, for this was the deciding battle of the Jedi Civil War.

The Star Forge was no ordinary space station. It was an ancient Rakatan factory designed to harness the power of the dark side and create an army of numbers greater than any other. It had been discovered two years ago by Darth Revan and Darth Malak and they used it to create an enormous fleet of unending size to strike at the Republic.

At this time, the Sith forces were in disarray, and the remnants of the fleet were no match for the Republic fighters, who were highly motivated and in perfect formation. This was due to Bastila Shan and her Battle Meditation ability.

Bastila was a powerful and beautiful Jedi Knight. She was Revan's bond mate, as it was because of her that the Sith Lord Darth Revan was saved from death and redeemed as a servant of the light once again. Her unique ability of Battle Meditation allowed her to use the Force to tap into the minds of her allies and enemies. She could use the Force to inspire her allies and break the will of her enemies. Such had become the deciding factor in this major battle.

The Sith Warships had recalled all of their ships and then began to jump to hyperspace. Admiral Dodonna cared nothing for the deserters. If they did not destroy the Star Forge now, the Sith fleet would easily reassemble and in greater numbers, and the Republic would be fighting an unending wave of reinforcements. As the epic battle raged on from the outside, the former Dark Lord Revan entered the main factory to confront the mighty Darth Malak.

Revan was a largely built man. His shoulders were broad, his chest was strong, and his figure was tall and powerful. His brown eyes gleamed, his hair stood still, his expression was calm cool and collected, and the battle scar above and below his eye was nearly impossible to see without the proper lighting. As he gazed around the factory, he noticed the bodies of Jedi floating in kolto tanks all around the room. He could tell this because he felt a strong Force presence coming from each tank. He pondered this, but only for a moment as he had to focus on the task at hand. His former friend and apprentice Darth Malak stood on the other side of the ramp facing his back to him with his hands crossed at his chest.

Darth Malak was very tall, very frightening, and very powerful. His mechanical jaw covered his entire mouth and made his voice much raspier and darker. His eyes were glowing bright yellow. The tattoos on the top of his bald head were straight gray lines that marked the distance between his eyes. He was dressed in red, with a black cape over the back of his right shoulder. Revan, in his powerful Exoskeleton Heavy armor and his two lightsabers strapped to the back of his belt in an X-shape slowly and calmly walked forward towards Malak. Malak turned as Revan neared him.

"Well done Revan," said Malak. "I was certain that the defenses of the Star Forge would destroy you, but it appears that there is much to your old self than I had realized. You are stronger than I thought, stronger than you ever were during your reign as the Dark Lord. I did not think that could be possible."

"Spare me the complements Malak," Revan said. "We both know that this duel was inevitable, so unless you have something really important to say, draw your lightsaber before the fear overtakes you."

"Do not attempt to break my will Revan!" groaned Malak. "With all the power of the dark side at my disposal, and the energies of the Star Forge at my beck and call, you cannot hope to triumph over me. But let us talk for a second. After all, it is our last conversation together as living beings. By the end of today, only one of us shall remain."

"You have a point," Revan admitted. "So talk."

"I cannot help but think what would have happened if you had discovered the true power of this Rakatan factory; then maybe you would have become truly invincible. All you ever saw was a factory capable of churning out and ever growing fleet to crush the Republic." Revan looked at Malak slightly perplexed, but let him continue. "In some ways the Star Forge is like a living creature. It hungers and it feeds on the dark side within all of us. That is what gives it its undeniable power, the undeniable power of the dark side!"

"It isn't strong enough to turn me over!" replied Revan. "What are you trying to say; that the environment is in your favor? It will do you no good; for I am a Jedi, and the power of the light will always shine through the darkness." Revan spoke with confidence, though he was still unsure of what Malak meant.

"Oh please, spare me the lecture!" said Malak with an air of impatience. "I used to think that you were a shell of your former self, and yet, despite that false perception, I can read you better than you can read yourself.

"The light and the darkness wage a constant war within you. The balance may be tipped one way now but you could easily be tipped back. Savior, Conqueror, Hero, Villain; you are all things Revan and yet you are nothing. In the end you belong neither to the light nor the darkness. You will forever stand alone. And that is why you will never be strong enough to defeat me…ME, the true master of the Sith!"

"Wrong again Malak!" said Revan. "All your life you have cheated to get to where you are. You were not prepared to face me in single combat, so you cowardly fired upon my ship and left me for dead. You were afraid to face me then, and you are afraid to face me now. You tried to have Bastila kill me, you even tried to have the Star Forge itself kill me, and yet here I am, unharmed." Revan said as he clenched his fists. "Are we done here? I'm not eager for blood or anything like that; I just want to get this over with."

"Indeed," said Malak with the air of a laugh. "But I cannot deny your resilience Revan. I will admit that you have astonished me in more ways than one. After being made a puppet by the Jedi council, you followed the tracks we carved when you and I first discovered the Star Forge. You even managed to kill the bounty hunter Calo Nord and my apprentice Darth Bandon in your journey. You escaped me on the Leviathan, and you almost destroyed my Academy on Korriban. Then, even after crashing on the Rakatan planet, you entered the Rakatan Temple again despite all your weaknesses, and turned off the disruptor field allowing you to come here. And as I expected, you tore through a few hundred of my forces to get to me. Despite my best efforts, fate and destiny have conspired to keep you alive. That is why you and I have been inextricably pushed to this final conflict, and that is why here on the Star Forge is where your journey shall end! Once again we shall face each other in single combat and the victor will decide the fate of the galaxy!"

Malak drew his lightsaber and ignited it. A red beam hissed out of the handle as Malak spun it in his right hand and stuck his left hand out taunting Revan. Revan in response reached his hands out to either side and his lightsabers on his back flew into each of his hands. Revan ignited them simultaneously and held them in front of him in the Jar'Kai formation and a left neutral stance facing Malak. In his right hand was the bright orange Heart of the Guardian blade. In his left was the cyan colored Mantle of the Force blade.

The two former brothers in arms exchanged one more glare at one another, and without another moment's pause, they leapt into the air at each other and began to fight. Malak was the first to land on his feet; as he thrusted his lightsaber forward at Revan in a quick circular motion. Revan, still in the air blocked all of his shots with both sabers and landed in contact with Malak. Revan lunged forward at Malak swinging both his blades ferociously. Malak blocked Revan's flurry with ease, for he was a master at the Makashi lightsaber form. Revan aimed both his sabers at Malak's head and their sabers clashed. Malak was physically superior to Revan, and with both hands on his lightsaber hilt, he forced Revan back, nearly cutting his ear off. Malak switched the lightsaber to his left hand only and began to spin it at incredible speed as he moved towards Revan. Revan immediately went on the defensive as he dodged and parried a barrage of blows from Malak aimed all over his body. Revan regained his footing and attempted to Force choke Malak.

Malak was forced to use all his energy and will to defend against it and barely managed to save himself. This bought Revan time to make his next move. He lunged forward again to thrust the Mantle of the Force straight through Malak's chest, but Malak was too quick. Malak gracefully spun his saber downward and parried it to his right. As Malak parried, Revan swung the Heart of the Guardian in a circular motion first slicing Malak's left foot and then looping up to the chest before Malak could recover. Malak was set back by this action, for his clothing was ripped and he bore a small scratch on his chest, but that was minor compared to the pain he felt in his foot. Blood spilled from his foot as Malak limped backwards towards one of the kolto tanks. Revan rushed in to follow up, but Malak force pushed him backward. As Revan leapt up to his feet, Malak drained the life of the Jedi floating in the tank killing the Jedi instantly. The kolto tank shattered, and the dead Jedi lay on the floor in a fetal position. The scratch on Malak's chest disappeared, and the deep gash on his foot mended itself right in front of Revan's eyes. Blood ceased to spill, and the skin rapidly grew back. Malak stood up tall once again good as new as if nothing had happened and sighed. Revan gave a curious look at Malak, and then began to smile.

"You're cheating again," said Revan, rolling his eyes. "Why can't you just fight a good honest fight? Even your idiot apprentice could do that!"

"You continue to amaze me Revan," said Malak, ignoring that last remark. "If only you weren't so naive in your initial exploitations of the Star Forge, I might still be studying under you to this day."

"What the hell are you talking about now?" demanded Revan with impatience, his sabers reignited.

"When we first discovered the Star Forge, all you saw was the potential for a grand and mighty army. I tell you this now, the Star Forge is far more than just a limitless war factory. You were blind Revan; blind…and stupid."

"Yeah well," said Revan. "I don't remember anything about my past, so you'll have to be more specific."

"Look around you Revan. See the bodies? You should recognize them from the Academy on Dantooine. These are Jedi that fell when my forces attacked; for all intents and purposes…dead, except for one difference."

Revan's right eyebrow rose. "And what difference is that?"

"I have not yet allowed them to become one with the Force. Instead I have brought them here. Their life force can be of assistance to me in combat should I require it. As you have just witnessed, any attack you bestow upon me will be useless, for I shall simply mend myself again. I have surpassed you in every possible way as the Dark Lord of the Sith. That is why you cannot beat me Revan; not here. Once you are beaten, I shall do the same to you. With your life force at my disposal, I will become truly invincible."

"I won't allow it Malak!" exclaimed Revan. "It is better that these Jedi die honorably by my hand, then serve as your medpacs in death!"

"You're welcome to try!" hissed Malak as he ignited his lightsaber again and held it with both hands.

Revan backed up as Malak pressed forward delivering a large series of powerful hard-pressed blows from the Ataru lightsaber form. They fought their way up to the left side of the factory and up the ramp passing another lifeless body in the tank. As Revan hit the wall, he ducked as Malak aimed a sideways blow to his head. Malak's saber scraped the wall as Revan stuck his both his sabers up to deflect Malak's backhand blow clashing with his saber once again. With true determination, Revan forced Malak's saber back a bit as he obscurely shifted the Heart of the Guardian into his left hand along with the Mantle of the Force, and punched Malak straight in his mechanical jaw. The jaw flew off and landed 50 feet away from them. Malak stumbled backward, his hand clutching the bottom of his face. As Malak's hand dropped, Revan saw the horrifying form of the non-existent bottom of Malak's face. His chin was completely gone and what was left of his mouth was completely blackened. A small microphone emitter existed where his mouth would be, and projected his deadly voice.

"What's the matter Revan?" groaned Malak. "Are you so terrified of what you once were? Do you not remember the day that you did this to me long ago?"

"Did I not just tell you that I don't remember anything at all about my past!" said Revan rather coyly.

"Ah yes," said Malak with a hiss of laughter. "Thanks to the fine work of the Jedi council."

"You're getting careless Malak. If you surrender now while you still can, I'll spare your life," said Revan. He wasn't sure if he actually would if that happened; it was just something a Jedi usually says as a point of showing mercy.

"NEVER!" yelled Malak as he began to thrust his lightsaber straight at Revan's stomach.

Revan, his sabers in each hand once again gave a downward X deflection of Malak's saber and forced it out of his hand and into the air towards the other side of the factory. Malak leapt up and did a half back flip as he kicked Revan in the chest and used the momentum to launch far away from Revan and back onto his feet in the middle-back area of the factory where their battle first began. Malak force pulled his lightsaber back to him, ignited the blade once again, and taunted Revan to follow. Revan, after being slightly winded from the kick violently shook his head and Force jumped upward and forward. He did an aerial cartwheel swinging his lightsabers downward at Malak's head as he neared him, but Malak quickly ducked to avoid them. Revan stood in the air above Malak as he took the Mantle of the Force and hurled it at the kolto tank that they had passed as they fought up the left ramp. The saber went through it shattering the glass, spilling the kolto, and cutting the lifeless Jedi in half. The saber then continued to travel around the room spinning rapidly and violently cutting through every kolto tank in the room.

As this was happening, Revan landed on this feet and Malak, taking advantage that Revan only had one saber pressed forward with all of his might, delivering another barrage of blows at Revan that made tears in his Exoskeleton Heavy Armor, despite his attempts to dodge them. Revan continued to back up knowing that pressing forward was useless. Malak kicked Revan straight in the stomach and Revan dropped the Heart of the Guardian and bent over as he flew backwards and hit the door. Revan coughed up a little bit of blood as Malak charged forward, his saber held high aimed straight for his chest. Revan sat on the ground against the door and looked up at Malak giving him a smirk. Right as Malak was about to slash Revan's chest, the Mantle of the Force came spinning from behind him and severed Malak's right hand. Malak stopped dead in his tracks, and looked down at his severed hand along with his fallen lightsaber. He stumbled backwards and cried out in frustration. No blood came from Malak's hand, but the pain was nonetheless excruciating. Revan immediately leapt into the air force pulling the Heart of the Guardian up to him and with all the strength he possessed descended, delivering a long downward diagonal slash to Malak's chest. Malak sank to his knees, and desperately looked around the room, but it was no use. The Mantle of the Force had destroyed every single Kolto tank leaving Malak completely defenseless.

As Malak gasped for breath and coughed up some of his own blood, Revan walked around to behind him. In one last ditch effort Malak turned and summoned all his power and channeled it into a raw Force energy attack out of his remaining hand. Revan caught completely off guard dropped The Heart of the Guardian and crossed his arms in front of him and took the blow head on instead of dodging it. Revan skidded back about 20 feet do to the force of Malak's attack. He thought it would just be a burst but the power just kept coming. The large red beam Malak was shooting became so bright that Revan could no longer look into it, He turned his head away and closed his eyes. It was unrelenting. Malak sensing Revan's weakness stood up. The dark lord thought to himself of victory, and how after Revan's defeat nothing else in the galaxy would stand in his way. As the thoughts ran through his head, Revan despaired. The force of Malak's attack was too much. With his powers exhausted, he no longer had the strength to repel the dark lord's barrage. As he realized this Revan fell into sorrow, "I was so close… I failed… I'm sorry Carth, Mission, Canderous, Zaalbar, Juhani, Jolee…and most importantly Bastila, I'm sorry!" As he thought of her name a single tear slid down his face.

"Ha ha ha ha ha ha! Can you feel it now Revan! HA HA HA HA! Can you feel my power? The power you gave up…? THE POWER OF DARKNESS!" screamed Malak over the noise of his attack. Revan giving into despair all but gave up until suddenly he felt a surge of energy, and he was able to hold his ground.

"This is not your end…there is still a destiny ahead of you...use your passions. They will give you strength." This seemed to be a whisper in the back of his mind. The last words echoed in his mind over and over that second seemed to last an eternity. It was heard as the voice of a mysterious old woman, and it seemed to haunt Revan as the weight of Malak's power bore down upon him. He feared using his emotions due to his Jedi training, but Revan finally gave in to the words of the mysterious voice in his mind and tapped in to his passions, his desire to save the innocent, to help his friends, to redeem himself, and most of all his love for Bastila.

With these powerful emotions running through him, he felt a power coming forth. A power he had never felt before, rage, compassion, love, hate all swirling around inside his head fueling his power but it was raw and out of his control. Malak noticed that Revan was no longer being pushed back. He turned to face him again and held his ground. Then something very curious occurred. Malak looked over towards Revan's face as it was slowly changing. His eyes had turned pure white and bulging veins had appeared around them, along with this an aura had come to life around him, the color of bright cyan. It burned and flickered like fire in a breeze. The scar above and below Revan's left eye was more visible than ever now. Revan himself had not noticed these things, but what he did notice was the feeling of euphoria and the rush he felt as this power surged through him.

Revan put his hands down and to Malak's dismay the aura itself was splitting off Malak's attack. As this happened Revan's surge of power had become so great that lightning was being sent off in every direction. Unknown to both of them, the power surge was disrupting the electrical equipment throughout the entire Star Forge and even in the starships battling above. Revan focused containing the aura and its energies. Letting out a tremendous cry that sent struck fear into the heart of the dark lord, Revan focused the power outwards sending a shock wave that repelled Malak's attack and leveled the half of the room they were on and needless to say flung Malak back against one of the broken kolto tanks. Malak stood up and faced Revan again. Revan was standing but barely, he was clutching his side.

The dark lord stood up and prepared to attack Revan again, but as he did, he felt the pain from Revan's last attack sink in. He stumbled and coughed up some more blood. A small shard of glass from the kolto tank had sunk into the back of Malak's head. The giant gash on Malak's chest was deep, and blood from that wound oozed down Malak's body inside his clothes. Malak could feel the warmth of his own blood trickle down his legs, but it was nothing compared to the pain he felt in his entire body. The blast that Revan had dealt him still echoed inside of Malak, and it severely deepened the large gash on his chest. Malak was broken. "Revan has just bested me again, in every possible way!" thought Malak. Revan had always been better, even since they were kids, but still they had become the best of friends, all their lives, Malak may have been the better lightsaber dualist, but Revan was stronger in the Force and always would be. Finally realizing this Malak fell on his remaining hand and knees to the floor and heavily gasping and grunting in pain cried:

"NO! I…cannot be beaten! I…am the Dark Lord…of the Sith!"

"Now you see the dark side for what it is…" Revan sighed walking over to him. "A path of empty promises and false power," said Revan calmly as he put away his lightsabers back behind his belt in an X shape. As he did this his physical features returned to normal. The scar nearly vanished, and his eyes returned to their usual brown color.

"Still…" coughed Malak, "Still spouting the so called wisdom of the Jedi I see. Perhaps there is more truth to their words than I have realized. Perhaps…" Malak coughed again. "Perhaps the light side truly is more powerful. But there is more to this than meets the eye. No ordinary Jedi could have defeated me in combat Revan. Only you could have." Malak coughed up his own blood again as he looked up at Revan. "I feared this…feared it since the moment I learned from Calo that you were alive. You…you are special Revan. You are far greater and more powerful than any other Jedi…but…but I foolishly believed that because you drew power from the light…I could best you in combat. I only wonder Revan, what would have happened had our paths been reversed. Would I have been as strong as you? Would I have been able to save you from yourself, as you have saved me? Would I have been strong enough to stay true to the light as you have?"

"There was nothing else I could have done Malak," said Revan. "You had to be stopped. I regret my initial part in this, and I would take it back if I could, but you chose to continue down the dark path." Malak's eyes throbbed. "All I can do now is look to the future and prevent something like this from ever happening again. I wish you had seen the error of your ways earlier so we could have avoided this."

Malak coughed again. "You have bested me in every possible way. I do not know what to say Revan. You are the greatest warrior of this age. And I...I am nothing." Malak coughed again. "I think it is best that I die here…by your hand." With those words, Malak coughed up blood once more and dropped flat to the floor. As he drew his last breath Revan squatted to hear the whisper that came from Malak: "Now get out of here…before you share my fate." With that, Malak passed. Revan bowed his head in sorrow, sat on the floor and shed a silent tear for his childhood friend. As he sat, he allowed himself to recharge some of his energy that had been drained during the fight, as well as ponder what had happened, and what he could have possibly done differently.

Suddenly the whole station began to violently shake. The Republic's barrage on the main reactor seemed to be working. The entire Star Forge was going critical. Revan immediately jumped to his feet but not before looking back at Malak's body he went over and took Malak's lightsaber, and sped out of the Factory and down to the Ebon Hawk. His speed was incredible as he shot past the remaining troops that were trying to escape the station. As he arrived in the docking bay, he found Bastila and Carth Onasi waiting for him.

"What happened in there? Is Malak dead?" asked Bastila with a tone of concern.

"Yes," Revan said as he nodded.

"That's wonderful news," said Bastila.

"I hate to interrupt the party, but if you haven't noticed, this place is coming down around our ears! Let's get the hell out of here! Everyone else is already on the ship!" said Carth hastily. Bastila was the first to make it up the ramp while Revan and Carth were far behind. Carth tripped and a bit of the wall fell onto him pinning him to the ground. Revan stopped and turned around to help but Carth yelled back: "Go get out of here! There's no time!"

Revan ignored him and force blasted the metal beam off Carth with a swipe of his right hand. Revan held out his right hand. "I've never left anyone behind and I'm not about to start now," Revan said with a smile. Carth looked up smiling remembering that he had said the same thing to him back on Taris. Carth grabbed Revan's hand and sprung upward, throbbing his head. The two ran up the loading ramp and Carth jumped into the cockpit seat.

"Hang on! This is going to be a little rocky." The engines fired up and the Ebon Hawk lifted off the floor and began to turn towards space.

The Republic Capital Ships began to turn as the main reactor up at the top of the station blew. This sent a chain reaction to the rest of the station creating multiple large explosions all over the inside as well as the outer hull.

"All Republic ships pull back now!" yelled Admiral Dodonna. She turned to Jedi Master Vandar who was standing next to her. "We've done it Master Vandar," she said with a happy grin. "The Star Forge is destroyed and the Sith fleet is in disarray. This is a great victory for the Republic!"

"But at what cost Admiral?" said Vandar with a concerned facial expression. "Where is the Ebon Hawk and her crew?"

"I don't know Master Vandar. I don't know." As she said these words, the front screen flashed bright as the sun as the Star Forge exploded, causing everyone on the bridge to cover their eyes and look away for a moment. From the explosion, shot a small smuggling freighter that soared upward, somersaulted, and flew straight towards the Republic fleet. "Carth! You made it!"

"We couldn't let you start the victory party without us, Admiral!" said Carth with much glee and excitement.

"I'm glad you escaped safely. I'm sending and honor guard to escort you in. You'll be receiving a hero's welcome when you arrive." The entire fleet landed on Rakata Prime and the soldiers and remaining Jedi marched from the ships to the Rakatan Temple Exterior. The Ebon Hawk landed on the beach where they had landed the first time they were forced down onto the planet.

The entire crew of the Ebon Hawk left to the Temple each one of them nervous as to what was going to happen. As they arrived, the already assembled Republic soldiers cheered and clapped, so loud that it shook the foundations of the temple. All of them waving to the crowd they passed, Revan, Bastila Shan, Carth Onasi, their Mandalorian ally named Canderous Ordo, the powerful Cathar Jedi Guardian named Juhani, the elderly Jedi Consular and Great Sith War veteran named Jolee Bindo, a teenage twi'lek scoundrel named Mission Vao, Mission's personal Wookiee friend Zaalbar, and the droids T3-M4 and HK-47 marched proudly up the ramp to the outside edge of the Temple. All of them had personally aided Revan during his quest for the Star Forge in the recent events before this major battle. Admiral Dodonna and Master Vandar stood waiting for them. When they reached the top, Admiral Dodonna pinned a medal on each member of the crew.

"You have defeated Malak destroyed the Star Forge and broken the spirit of the Sith. For this I am proud to present each of you with the cross of glory the highest honor the Republic can bestow. From Coruscant to the farthest reaches of the Outer Rim you will be known as the saviors of the Republic." As Admiral Dodonna stepped aside, Vandar walked up.

"On behalf of the Jedi council, defenders of the galaxy and sworn protectors of the Republic, I too would like to honor you for your actions." Vandar then pointed to Revan. "We Jedi have another tale to weave into the grand history of our eternal order; The Redemption of Revan - the Prodigal Knight. Wherever you go you will be recognized as the saviors of the galaxy the heroes of our age. But you must remain ever vigilant for one day you may be called upon again to defend the glory of the Republic from the tyranny of the dark side; for this is the destiny of the Jedi."