[fic] Star Wars - Rise Of Darkness

[Rtas Vadum]

Chapter XV - Dark Evolution

 

As Renae awoke, she quickly noticed that she wasn't where she should be. A large chamber, lit by a raging fire. She wasn't tied down, but she couldn't move. The last thing she remembered was the battle on Naboo. They were wining, but the confusion mounted when a different sort of soldiers entered the fray. They weren't phased by blasters, and lightsabers merely pissed them off. Then there was what they did to anyone they got their hands on. It bore a eerie resemblance to what she remembered from her dream.

 

"Ah, your awake. I must say, your soldiers fought valiantly, but still retreated the second they saw you fall. Morale is an easy thing to manipulate, mainly when it centers around someone like you." The same person she'd seen on he view screen entered the room. He wore black robes which echoed hers, along with a silver necklace adoring his neck.

 

"Tell me, what exactly is it that you believe I can become? And why should I?"

 

He laughed. "You do understand that for these sorts of things, there is a sort of natural order that must be taken. Questions such as those are secondary to one single thing: Introductions. I already know your name, so I'll just give you mine. But as it is, I have been given many names, all of them of an off color sort. The one I've taken a liking to is my original name, Lazarus. While you may know at this point that I am indeed from the same planet that you are from, I can hardly be considered the same species at this point." He walked over to a stone table, which held a shining red crystal atop a silver statue. "To understand what you become, you must understand what I am." He took a large cup from the same table, and put the crystal over it. Crushing it with his hand, a thick red liqud poured into the cup.

 

"What is that?"

 

"The answer is as simple as looking to what you have already see draped around your own mouth. A vision of a possible future for yourself?" He put the cup to his mouth, and drank from it.

 

"That can't be...blood?"

 

Lazarus laughed. "Yes, the most precious liquid rubies that my kind can ever get their hands on. Worth more to us than credits or any sort of valuable object found in the galaxy. And as you now know, my kind drinks it."

 

"You can't expect me to ever-"

 

"You say that like a Jedi in defiance of ever using the dark side. Something you yourself has done, and loved doing it." He walked up to her, and rubbed his pale skinned hands against her pale face."If you want the gift, you will have to accept that one clause, and along with that acceptance, you will gain so much more."

 

"Say I'm interested. What exactly do I have to do for it?"

 

"For me to give you the gift? The only thing I require is for you to accept. Then I will give it to you. " He waved his hands, and she found herself able to move. She gave it some thought, before she finally said it.

 

"I want it." With this, she saw a dark look in his now red eyes. A smile etched across his face, which showed her that two of his teeth were longer than the rest: fangs. He grabbed her torso, a grip which she could not break. He forcibly pulled her head to one side, giving a clear shot at her neck. When she felt the bite, her blood felt like it was being set on fire. A feeling of raw anger pulsed through her body the longer he did not release her. When he did, she fell to her knees. It was here that her body shook, her eyes felt like they were going to explode, and every muscle in her body that could move, did so painfully.

 

"This is only the start. Relish the pain, take it in, understand it. Past the pain, you will find truth, one that you would never find otherwise."

 

As the pain stopped, she felt different. Wiping the sweat from her head, she noticed her reflection in her gauntlets. Her eyes were now deep red, and she had fangs like he did.

 

:"How do you feel?"

 

"Like I've been sliced to pieces with a million lightsabers, how else would you think?" She leaned against he stone table, she felt somewhat drained, even though all she had done was crawling around the floor.

 

"Soon enough, you will need to feed, just like me. The way the galaxy is, our poison of choice isn't the sort of widely available that people accept. But it is their, and ready to be taken. You don't have the craving for it now, but in a few hours, maybe a few days, you will."

 

"So where is it that we go from here? Do you still want this galaxy? If you do, Im not just going to stand back and give it to you!"

 

"I don't expect you to. But for now, I will let you get back to your ship. But in a week, I am going to launch an attack on the core. If you think you can stop me, do so." With that, he vanished into wisps of black smoke.

 

As Renae entered into a city square, she found herself being looked at, a little more than usual, but nothing that was alarming for her. As she wandered into and alleyway, she thought about the definitive choice she'd just made. She was now something entirely different, something that wasn't even close to human. A young woman came up to her, full of questions. Something about her seemed, in an odd way, drinkable. Renae pounced on the woman, using her new fangs to bite. Taste of the blood was odd at first, but within seconds, it became wonderful. Her senses raced, open to the sounds and sights of the galaxy then she'd ever been. She thought of it like an evolution of sorts. One that brought her power, a power that she was going to use.

 

"This feeling....I like it."

[Rtas Vadum]

Chapter XVI - Accepting The Gift

 

The first time Renae entered the bridge after her capture, she brought a new wave of fear to those who served aboard the Angelic. Their looks begged questions, questions that their curiosity begged to ask, but they kept silent. As she neared the command consoles at the apex of the bridge, she was met by Radiv, Lilith and Jenni. All of them had similarity in their impeding questions, but only Lilith could pluck the courage to speak.

 

"What happened to you?" She asked, feeling that it needed to be known.

 

"It seems that the threat to the galaxy is far more a threat than I think even Revan thought. They are a odd species, one that came from my home planet one hundred years ago. They were changed in the darkness that exists past the outer rim, the same darkness that the "True Sith" wait in. These are Sith, indeed. But they have odd rituals, ones that at first, disgusted even me." Renae explained this in her usual tone, but their was something obvious that Jenni couldn't help but notice.

 

"Why are your eyes red? And what the...you have...fangs?"

 

Renae sighed. It was the moment that she was slightly dreading since she first set foot back aboard the ship. "You know I said they have odd rituals. Even one that can change other species into what they are, or at least something like them."

 

"You can't possibly be saying that you are now like those accursed soldiers that we saw on Naboo?" Jenni said, rather taken aback.

 

"Not exactly. Its something that I can't change. But my aims have not changed. I plan to use these powers they gave me to destroy them."

 

Renae stared into the blackness of space, thinking about what she now was. It was a point of no return for her, and she was miles past it. One thing was clear to her: She had to stop Lazarus from taking the galaxy with little to no effort. That she would make sure of. But what concerned her, was her powers. She still had her control over the force, the same strong connection she'd had for years. But it felt different, like she was a lake, and the force was a never-ending waterfall pouring into her.

 

She would not take this gift as a curse. She would use her new-found power to destroy the one she had been after for so long. The one who did this to her, the one who she'd felt for ages. It would not be easy, but she didn't want it to be. She wanted it to be the hardest fight of her life, so it would be something that could been etched in the minds of all who hear the stories, the rumors, and most of all, those who would help her do it.

[Rtas Vadum]

Chapter XVII - Facing The Past...and The Truth

 

"There is something you must know. Something that vastly sets you apart from all those who followed Revan. The things you did, how you did it, are what is important."

 

Renae stood before Lazarus, who sat on a obsidian throne, surrounded by two of his Midian guards. Fanged structures encircled him and his guards. She wanted to attack him, to end him. But she knew how things work. Far from the Sith before her who fell, because they were to arrogant to notice that their foe knew what they would do. No, she would wait. Allow him to speak, and crush him when she wanted to. She hated herself for being captured on Korriban by them, but it wasn't the real problem.

 

"Then tell me. What is different about me?"

 

"It is simple. Many of the Jedi who joined Revan bonded themselves with her. Making their lives, and in some cases, their power over the force, tethered to Revan's life. This meant that at the time of her fall, when the Jedi attacked her, they lost their powers. As she regained them, as did they. But you are a different tale. You pledged your loyalty thousand-fold, yet your bond with her was different. When she fell to the weak Jedi, you didn't change." He stood. "You have a bond with her, one that didn't tie her life to yours, but did something else. It gave you many glimpses into her power. Into her force of will, into her being. You are a mirror image of her, but not her opposite. You are her equal. One who has no wish to betray her, only the wish to perform her will. And why did you keep faithful to her? Because she asked? NO!"

 

He walked toward her, and gently touched her soft white skin. "Your loyalty to her, was out of your bond. Out of what you truly became. You are a Sith, but your strong philosophy allows compassion and caring. Your compassion for Revan, for your former Jedi Master, for your own apprentice. Even he realized this, and would not move to destroy you when you were at your weakest point. He found himself realizing that with you, he was stronger than without. In his own way, he loves you. You, who took him from the broken Jedi, and gave him a immovable force, one that would standby him, rather than fight against him. You gave him a higher purpose. Just as Revan gave you a purpose beyond that of a Jedi serving a Republic that was breaking at the seams from the first minute of the Mandalorian wars."

 

He turned his back to her. "But why tell me all this? You think that I had no idea of what I was? Of what I'd become?"

 

Without turning, he spoke again. "Yes, you knew about much of what you were, and what you had become. But only I understood the extent of it. You are Revan's Siphon, her link to this plane. It was your wish, and your undying loyalty that brought her back to the galaxy. And as history has always proven, it is keen to prove itself, time and time again. Various events, War, Civil Wars, border disputes, all of these are events that happen again and again. Why? Because there are those who create a conflict, and those who end it. You and Revan, along with all the other Jedi that followed you, defeated the Mandalorians. Then you nearly unified the Galaxy, until the Jedi cast their hand upon Revan, and thus Malak was left to destroy all that Revan built. Rather than taking worlds, forcing their populace to surrender upon the death of their leaders or government, Malak chose to decimate worlds without remorse. Without the tactical plans that made him a legend in the Mandalore Wars. Revan trusted you enough to contact you, and you alone before she was betrayed. To tell you to keep your faith in her, and she would

return. The rest beyond that, is, as they say, history."

 

"How do you know all this?" Reane asked, drawing her lightsaber.

 

"Please. I command the force, just as you do. That, and the powers I gained within my exile in darkness, I see every thought, every word, you've ever spoken. Such as, your wish to show your father that you are something he could be proud of. He has said that you have proven yourself already, but why not show him again?" From behind the chair, the guards brought Renae's father, of whom was freely bleeding, the obvious bite marks on his neck. "He was strangely cooperative. He did resist somewhat, but he had faith in you to arrive here. As did I."

 

Renae scowled. From the depths of her body, deep snarls and growls emitted, along with her eyes turning red, amidst black, shining pools. "YOU WILL PAY FOR THAT! YOU WILL SUFFER FOR ALL THOSE YOU'VE HARMED! FOR ALL THOSE I CARE FOR!!"

 

"So I see I will. But rather than talking about it, enact the revenge I see in your new eyes....AND KILL ME!!!" He withdrew his hand from his robes, drawing a lightsaber. He spun it in his hands, and ignited it, the blade pointed towards the ground. Even as she took notice of this, she made no effort to care, as she ran towards him, forcing their blades to lock.

 

Outside the Temple, Radiv walked in slow steps down the ramp of the shuttle. He didn't care what Renae said, she wouldn't be able to do it alone. That, and some thought his intentions had changed when he ordered the crew to prepare a shuttle for him. They thought the worse of him, it that didn't matter. No matter what he called himself, or what he 'was', he knew one solid fact. He was loyal, and was not going to sit by while his Master was slaughtered by Lazarus. He took the lightsaber from his belt, and held it firmly as he walked up the stone steps.

 

Lazarus broke the hold, and backed away from Renae. He similes as she raised her hand. Several bolts of the familiar blue-white lighting shot from her hands into his body, as he smirked. “Is that the best you have? Surely you can do better?”

 

She smiled, then raised her other hand, forcing more bolts to shoot into his body. Tensing her arms, the lightning changed to a red-white color, causing a genuine look of pain in Lazarus. Reane laughed as she watched him lowering himself to the ground, the pain to much for him to take. “How much more of this do you want? Or would you prefer if I ended this now?” Lowering her hands, she deactivated her saber.

 

“I wouldn't want this to end too quickly...” Lazarus said, as he quickly stood, and placed the emitter of his saber to her chest, causing her to grin angrily. Just as he went to slide his finger on the activation plate, a single stream of red light hit him in the back, causing him to fall to the ground, his lightsaber falling from his hand. Renae looked up, seeing nothing but blackness from the Temple entrance. Even Lazarus painfully turned to look. As he turned, a lightsaber flew from the entrance of the temple, cleanly severing Lazarus' right arm.

 

“I see I was right about this. Tell me, Lazarus. How long do you think you could've gone avoiding me, if you had killed my Master?” Radiv said, casually walking into the Temple.

 

“Ah yes. I seem to have forgotten you. But it is no matter now. This story is nearing its conclusion, and only one thing remains. The true explanation. I owe you that much, Renae.” Lazarus crawled back into his throne, leaving his lightsaber were it fell.

 

“So then, what exactly is it?” Reane replaced her lightsaber back on her belt, and waited.

 

“We are not the 'True Sith'. As you might understand, preventing their return is impossible. We tried to do so, and failed. Over one hundred years ago, I was like you were, Reane. I was a Jedi, and proud of it. Me and many others were sent to investigate problems in the outer rim. It lead us beyond the known galaxy, father than any had ever been. That is were we found, them. They saw each of us as pawns in their game, knowing that breaking us to their will would create, for them, a way to warn the galaxy about them, when they became something of legend, something that isn't as feared. As you know it worked. Soon, they will return, and the galaxy will fall, even farther than it already has. Far worse than any time before.”

 

“What about Revan?” Radiv asked.

 

“Ah. She is still alive, as you know. The strongest user of the force I'd ever seen, which isn't to discount each of you. But she had nothing to do with them. All she found on the borders of this galaxy were the things they left behind. She knew that traveling father would mean meeting them in person, like we had. I would not call that a weakness, but something far greater. Where we failed, because of our lust for power, you will triumph for the same reason. The main difference being that you already have your power, where we were grasping for it.”

 

“He is right, unfortunately.” They both heard a voice from the Temple entrance.

 

“Revan!”

[JediAthos]

I think what you're writing here is well thought out and put together. I caught some minor spelling errors as I was reading, nothing that couldn't be fixed with some minor editing. I like your dialog, and I think you do a good job of putting the reader in the moment.

 

I don't particularly care for the vampire angle, but that is merely a personal preference and doesn't mean that it isn't a good idea in the sense that if that is what you want to include in your story than you should include it

 

I'm not sure how I missed this story up until now, but I will keep an eye out for up dates and keep reading.

[Rtas Vadum]

Chapter XVIII – Vanguard

 

The sight of her was, imposing. While it was obvious that she wasn't here for a fight, she still inspired the same emotions that she had a decade ago. Not much about her had changed, even her armor, which was only a quarter of what made her famous, was still the same. Upon removing her mask, it was the same story. Aside from the obvious signs of the dark side, the pale skin, her black hair, the glowing red eyes, she was mostly the same.

 

“So your here. Just as you said you would be.” Lazarus coughed. “You play a dangerous game at every turn, Revan. But every time, you always act as the puppet-master, never the puppet, no matter how much ferocity is directed towards you. Even Malak failed to understand what he could've been, had he followed Renae's example. But that is nothing compared to, other matters.”

 

Renae blinked. “Where do we go from here?”

 

Pulling her hood down, Revan sighed. “The next few years will decide whether or not this galaxy will ever thrive again. The Republic's fall, matters little, even though many believe otherwise. Most of the don't understand why it fell in first place. They only see it crumbling after the war, and think that is the direct cause. This, along with other factors, matter little in the years to come. Restoring it will be a simple task, but one for later.”

 

Renae turned to Lazarus. “This...condition. How can I rid myself of it?”

 

Smiling, he said “Unlike me, it isn't permanent. With you, a sort of evolution has occurred, and therefore, you are not entirely like me. If you wish, the one unfortunate requirement can be brushed off, and all that will remain is the enhanced strength, senses, and the like. You are the perfection of what I wanted to create, and you surpassed what I believed you capable of.”

 

“What exactly is...or are you anyway?” Radiv said, replacing his lightsaber on his belt.

 

Smiling, Lazarus sighed. “Beyond giving it the name 'Midian', we don't know what it is. Perhaps it might be some sort of disease, or something related to the force itself, possibly the dark-side, a form of Sith Alchemy. But we, unlike Renae, aren't perfect. We need living blood, from human or near-human species to survive. As I understand it, only every few months, which is something that Renae doesn't share.” He turned to her. “You don't need it, though it does much more for you than us. Makes you stronger. Though if you wish to rid yourself of that, it will be of no consequence to yourself, or rather you will not suffer for it. You might still be a Midian, but you will also be Chromian, like you were before. A prefect combination of the species, lacking only the weaknesses of Midians.”

 

“What are you going to do?” Renae asked.

 

“I've been living on borrowed time. I could've done so much with it, that I had no desire to do. I could've destroyed every single world in the Galaxy, took one single world for my own, or various other things. But I chose to take the time to find someone like you. And now that I've done that, and it is quite obvious that there is a vanguard to combat the black-hearted Sith-Spawn that lie in wait beyond the outer rim, I can rest. If you care about me, which I don't imagine that you do, if at all. Don't. I've spent enough time waiting in that darkness, and enough effort in the past months, that I don't want it anymore.” He stood, walking slowly over to Renae.

 

“You want death? Not much of a surprise, given that you weren't really fighting me, just biding time. Not that I'm going to complain about that.”

 

Smirking, Lazarus stopped. “You are no stranger to having blood on your hands, even if it is just metaphorical.” He grabbed Renae's lightsaber from her belt, and held it up before her. “It is rather unnerving, to hold the weapon that is going to end your life before it does. All you need do is compete yourself, and you know just how to do that.” Placing the saber back into her hands, with the emitter touching his bare chest, he waited.

 

“As you wish.” Renae ignited the saber, the white-hot blade searing through his body. He fell limp quickly enough, and would've fallen to the ground, if it weren't for the fact that Renae had bit him on the neck, drawing the dying blood from his veins.

 

“Um, what in the hell are you doing?” Radiv asked.

 

Turning, she dropped Lazarus' body to the ground, and replaced her saber. Her chin was red, stained with blood, but nothing had changed. “Doing exactly what he said.” She dropped to her knees when she finished, and writhed. To her, it seemed that fire invaded her veins, muscles, and organs, tearing them to shreds, though her body was still intact.

 

Radiv watched this in horror. It was almost like watching her in the Medical Bay again. “Are you...”

 

Standing, she moved her entire body periodically, ending with her eyes and mouth opening. Her eyes were the same shiny red, and the fangs still existed in her mouth. “I feel better than ever. In fact, I think I can say for sure that he wasn't lying.”

 

While the two men that had previously stood next to Lazarus' throne made no effort to suggest they had problems with what was going on, it became somewhat apparent that watching Renae kill their master, wasn't something they would just let go. Radiv saw them, and moved to warn Renae, but she simply stood there, even when she could clearly hear the two advancing behind her with lightsabers.

 

“MASTER!” Radiv yelled, causing her to draw her saber and drop to the floor in one motion. In her next, she sliced her blade through the legs of one, and across the waist of another. One dropped to the floor in pain, the other dead. She stood over the one that was still alive.

 

“Clearly, you are a fool. If you wanted to kill me, you should've never tried. Only because for someone like yourself to do so, is next to impossible. And before you say anything, I can understand your position. But throwing your life away for a dead man, is as foolish as it can get. However, realize that I don't mean to spare you. There really is no point. I'm not a hero, after all.” She drew her saber across his neck, severing it. She turned to her father, once again placing her saber on her belt. Helping him up, she waited.

 

“This is why I understood so many years ago, that you are the ideal daughter, even if you grew up far from your home. I don't care what you've become, only that you still know who you are. Truthfully, I never wanted you to please me, only yourself. If you are content with being, whatever you call yourself, then I can't say anything against that. It doesn't matter to me who you might've killed, or what horrible acts that you've committed. You are still my daughter, and the loyalty that comes with that, is above all, unbreakable.”

 

She was almost to the point of tears, but she held them back. “I thank you...father.” She took a Med-Kit from her belt, and handed it to him.

 

Revan walked up to them. “The True Sith are far off, but there are things that must be done in the meantime. However, I think it is best to discuss this elsewhere, and leave this temple to crumble to the ages.”

 

Returning to the shuttle, and to the Angelic, Renae and Revan latter stood on its bridge, silent as space itself. It almost seemed like nothing had happened, though the memories were there, making it all to obvious that none of it was just a dream.

 

“Did you meet them?”

 

Revan turned. “I only wish I had. All I found of them, like the Star Forge, was what they had left behind. I searched as far as I could, but I couldn't find them. Perhaps where they are is somewhere else, somewhere that is much harder to get to.”

 

An officer brought them drinks, and Renae sat in the Commander's chair, while Revan stood. “This might be a somewhat stupid question, but are you scared of them?”

 

Revan turned, laughing.”Not in the least. There is only one thing in this galaxy that I am scared of, and that, is something I think you share. No matter how long it takes, we will crush them, just like you said.”

 

Finishing her drink, Renae nodded, agreeing with Revan. Nodding to the ship's Captain, Renae turned to the front view-port, and smiled.

 

“Dark and Light, Sith and Jedi. Both of them are needed to keep a balance. Sometimes one rises to a decree of prominence, and the other to the shadows of the galaxy. When this happens, the equation is unbalanced, and that must always change. But soon, it will tip in only the favor of one. Soon, the Darkness will Rise, and the ones to quell this darkness with be disciples of the light and darkness, and in the end, the victor will decide the fate of the galaxy. However, I've never liked losing, namely when it is my own, and the lives I care about, are at stake.”

 

Just as she finished, the ship jumped into hyperspace, to a destination that didn't matter. The only thing that matters is the journey, as that is where you will begin to understand what you see at the end.

[JediAthos]

Very well done chapter...again some minor editing required to correct simple spelling errors. I like the philosophical perspective that your Revan takes as it always seemed to me the Revan's perspective on galactic events exceeded that of others involved.