Year 36421 after the Tho Yor Arrival, Year 3:3 after the Great ReSynchronization

Senate Landing Platform

Qui-Gon, Obi-Wan, and Anakin stood on the landing platform outside the ship. R2 whistled a happy tune as he leaned over the edge of the platform, watching the traffic. Suddenly, he leaned over too far and falls overboard. After a moment, he reappeared, using his onboard jets to propel himself back onto the landing platform. Anakin as he listened to the Jedi.

Obi-Wan walked alongside Qui-Gon. "It is not disrespect, Master. It is the truth."

"From your point of view..."

"The boy is dangerous. They all sense it. Why can't you?"

Qui-Gon turned to his Padawan sternly. "His fate is uncertain. He's not dangerous. The Council will decide Anakin's future. That should be enough for you. Now, get on board."

Obi-Wan reluctantly boarded the Naboo spacecraft followed by R2. Qui-Gon goes over to Anakin.

Anakin walked up to him, "Qui-Gon, sir. I don't want to be a problem.

Qui-Gon got down to his level. "You won't be, Ani. I'm not allowed to train you, so I want you to watch me and be mindful. Always remember: your focus determines your reality. Stay close to me, and you will be safe.

Anakin waited a moment before speaking again. "Master, sir. I heard Yoda talking about midi-chlorians. I've been wondering. What are midi-chlorians?

"Midi-chlorians are a microscopic life-form that reside within all living cells."

Anakin raised a brow. "They live inside me?"

Qui-Gon nodded. "Inside your cells, yes, and we are symbionts with them."

"Symbionts?"

"Life forms living together for mutual advantage. Without the midi-chlorians, our way of life could not exist, and we would have no knowledge of the Force. They continually speak to us, telling us the will of the Force."

"They do?"

"When you learn to quiet your mind, you will hear them speaking to you."

The boy shook his head. "I don't understand."

"With time and training, Ani...you will."

32,502 Years after the Tho Yor Arrival, Malachor V, Trayus Core

Meetra Surik walked into the dark room, seeing the familiar figure in the center.

Kreia stood up from her meditation. "At last, you have arrived. Your training is almost complete. Is Malachor as you remember?" She smiles to her apprentice.

Meetra shook her head. "Malachor has not changed, only you have."

The old woman simply nodded. "Indeed. Perhaps it is merely your perception of me that has changed. It is strange that you believe Malachor has not, but it has always been timeless to you, this place. And words have always been inadequate for the horrors that took place here."

The Exile took a small step forward. "It's not too late, Kreia. I can save you if you'll let me."

A small smile grew on the old woman's face, secretly glad that she cares enough to redeem her. "I have thought of this moment, more than you know. And I wondered, if here, at this ending between us, if you would care enough to try to save me - if you could find it within yourself to spare one who has fallen so I wondered, if here, at this ending between us, if you would care enough to try to save me - if a Jedi could find it within themselves to spare one who has fallen so far. I wanted you to say that you would save me. For that, I am grateful. I wanted you to say those words - for that I am I do not want your mercy. I want you to be complete, as you were meant to be. To let the echo die, and hear the sound of the Force again." The smile went away and was replaced with cold anger. "But I do not want your mercy. I want you to break."

She growled at Kreia's persistence. "This Academy here won't last, Kreia. I can activate the mass shadow generator again."

Kreia became disgusted at the mention. "More talk of machines and threats. If you would end Malachor, then do it. But it will not be a victory for you. And of course, you must be willing to die, to kill us all. And your friends. You may hold Malachor in your grasp, but I hold the answers to your past and future in mine. Would you destroy us both before learning them? If so, then do it - for you have already failed me."

Meetra took a breath, clenching her fist. "If I had to, I would," she muttered. "You have to be stopped."

"I know. But there is more than death in this galaxy, and you shall not find it was difficult to draw you here, but it had to be done." Kreia gestured to the room. "This place is your last test. It is the graveyard of the past, where you lost everything. It is the dark place in your mind that still echoes of we shall see if you can overcome the weight of Malachor... and silence the echoes that beat from its heart. "

Her voice went soft. "Is this really where we end? There is much I must ask you."

"You no doubt have many questions." The master's features softened. "I would be a poor teacher if I did not give you the answers you seek here, now."

Meetra asked the question she had since the beginning of their travels together. "Why me?"

Kreia's face shifted to slight contempt. "Perhaps you were expecting some surprise, for me to reveal a secret that had eluded you, something that would change your perspective of events, shatter you to your core." She shook her head. "There is no great revelation, no great secret." Quietly, she finished, "There is only you." It felt as if she thought of the Exile as the most important treasure in the galaxy.

Confused, she pushed on. "But there were other Jedi you could have chosen."

Kreia scoffed. "No, there were not. Because you are a Jedi who turned from the Force, survived, and became stronger for it. In times past and in times future, there are Jedi who will stop listening to the Force, those that will try to forget it, but maintain unconscious ties." Her voice became quiet. "And those, as in the past just as I, who have had the force stripped from no Jedi ever made the choice you did. To sever ties so completely, so utterly, that it leaves a wound in the Force. It was a mistake to try to make you feel it again, I see that now. There is no truth in the Force. But there is truth in you, exile. And that is why I chose you."

Meetra glared at her. "If this was all about me, then why did you destroy Atris? She's lucky that I didn't want to kill her."

Kreia rolled her blind eyes. "I never destroyed Atris. She had destroyed herself. I merely stripped away the illusion and brought her truth. Her teachings could not be allowed to continue. And like Malachor, she was part of your past, unresolved. She needed to be something you could confront - and defeat one last time. It was part of your training. Part of what was needed to make you complete." She sighed. "And there must always be a Darth Traya. The galaxy needs its betrayers, especially in the times to come."

"I won't lie. Atris and her teachings would have still led people to the Dark Side. However, that still doesn't change the fact that you were manipulating me all along."

Kreia didn't even deny it. "Yes, always. From the moment you awoke, I have used you. I have used you so that you might become strong, stronger than I. I used your death to deceive the Sith, to make them believe they had won, so they would turn on each other."

"So, you used me to get revenge on Sion and the others."

"I used you to keep the Lords of the Sith from condemning the galaxy to death with their power unchecked. I used you to lure them to Telos, where they could be, at last, fought and killed. I used you to reveal Atris' corruption so that her teachings could be ended before they began. I used you to gather the Jedi so they could be destroyed. And I used you to make those who wounded me reveal themselves, so they could be killed by the Republic."

Thinking over the events that happened with her, she was still confused. "Why have you done this?"

"It is said that the Force has a will, it has a destiny for us all. I wield it, but it uses us all, and that is abhorrent to me." Her voice filled with disdain. "Because I hate the Force. I hate that it seems to have a will, that it would control us to achieve some measure of balance when countless lives are lost." Looking at the Exile again, she lightened up. "But in you... I see the potential to see the Force die, to turn away from its will. And that is what pleases me. You are beautiful to me, exile. A dead spot in the Force, an emptiness in which its will might be denied."

Meetra was confused. "If you hate the Force, why do you use it?"

"I use it as I would use a poison, and in the hopes of understanding it, I will learn the way to kill it." Kreia looked down at herself. "But perhaps these are the excuses of an old woman who has grown to rely on a thing she despises."

The room grew quiet. "So, what happens now?"

Kreia looked back at her with longing. "The apprentice must kill the Master - if you do not, I will kill you. If I do not, then all you have achieved will be as nothing, as empty, and as violent as Malachor itself."

Meetra didn't "I will not fight you."

"Then you will break. And then, my apprentice, you shall die."

"Then let us end this."

Kreia ignites a red lightsaber, and Meetra ignites her green one. With a motion of her hand, Kreia sends a massive force push sending Meetra across the room. Getting back up, the Exile closes the gap between them, and the two begin crossing blades. It didn't take long for Kreia's physical disadvantage to start showing. Meetra began to push more and more in the fight. Just when the Exile thought she found an opening, Kreia sends an arc of purple energy to her; however, it wasn't force lightning. Meetra could feel her stamina draining. In return, Kreia started to attack back stronger than before. Gritting her teeth, Meetra started unleashing force abilities of her own. Inhaling, she let out an enraged scream amplified through the Force, triggering shock waves that rippled through the Force as well. Kreia covered her ears in pain. The emotions of anger and death struck deep. Unleashing her own emotions, arcs of Force Lightning arced through the air striking the apprentice and shattering the surrounding stone. Minutes of lightsaber strikes and force powers went on before Kreia fell down. With a successful Force Stun and a powerful strike, Meetra broke through Kreia's defenses and cut off her last hand.

Meetra set her lightsaber to her side. "Yield, Kreia. You need not die."

Kreia hissed at the notion, taunting back. "If you do not kill me, I shall end you. Strike me down, end this."

"No, this is already over. I have defeated you. You are no longer my master, and my path is my own. I will not strike a defenseless opponent. Your life is yours, Kreia, and you cannot teach me anymore." Meetra turned off her blade and begins to walk away.

The injured Kreia hisses. 'This is not how it ends.' She jumps in front of her ready for combat. "You will not show me mercy. I will see you break before you do."

"I gave you a chance, Kreia." She ignites her blade once more. "Very well." Seeing her defenseless, Meetra attempts to end it as quickly as possible.

However, a purple blade launches out, intercepting the player's blade. The strange thing was that Kreia wasn't holding it. "Good... you have strength. But you have yet to learn the full extent of power." She throws out two more lightsabers from her belt into the air and ignites the violet blades through the force.

Meetra's eyes widened. 'I didn't expect something like that.' Kreia was fighting back without literally lifting a finger. 'Note to self, experiment with multiple lightsabers if I live through this.'

The second round of their fight started. Meetra wasn't sure how to take them down as the floating lightsabers advanced toward her. With the three of them attacking at once, the exile was forced into the defensive. Deeding some space, she sent out a force wave knocking them all back. With Kreia temporarily losing focus. Meetra struck at a lightsaber's hilt, destroying it. Seeing her apprentice's idea, the blades acted more defensively, constantly moving and striking. Irritated, Meetra sent out arcs of lightning. Unfortunately, the blades easily absorbed the attack. However, Meetra noted that they couldn't attack and defend against it at the same time. Focusing the force one more time, she unleashes a Force Storm upon them, and charges in with her blade in hand. Seconds later, Kreia had nothing left to fight back with.

Kreia almost relieved. "It is done. At last, it is done. You are greater than any I have ever trained. By killing me here - you have rewarded me more than you can possibly know."

Meetra frowned. "You left me no choice."

"No... no, many choices were there, but... you made the right ones."

The Exile reflected on her journey. Despite, Kreia's actions, she did help her understand the Force and herself better. "What happens now?"

"It is your choice. I had hoped you would follow Revan's path, but you and Revan are... different, and your path is your own. You may take one of the ships that orbit Malachor and depart this place. Or you may remain here on Malachor, and wait for the others, those touched by the Force, who will come in you may return to your exile, where your presence will no longer affect the actions of others. There is no dishonor in any of these choices... I only ask that you make the choice without regret. Then you need no longer be. You have defeated Malachor... This place no longer holds you. You shall become a teacher, as I once was... I am proud. It is difficult to turn away from battle and adventure... and to instead, guide others along their path."

"Kreia, there is still time to save you. I can save that decision for later."

"Save me? You already have - it is enough what you have done, from now into the future."

She became confused by the choice of words. "The future?"

Kreia spoke quietly. "Many things do I see as I gaze here from the heart of Malachor. This place... channels such energies. If it matters to you, at this last moment, I shall look into the future, and tell you of what I see." She took on a more reverent tone. "It is my last gift to you, from one exile... to another."

It piqued Meetra's curiosity. "What will happen to my friends?"

"You travel with them for so long, yet you do not know them still." She went quiet before reaching out. "Feel them through the Force, feel what they feel, hear their thoughts and know them, as I fought to know you. They were the Lost Jedi, you know. The true Jedi, upon which the future will be built. They simply needed a leader and a teacher."

"Tell me of Mira."

"She will stop hunting life, and instead, live it. She was not born to be a predator, despite her true father and the life she led within the shadow of Nar Shaddaa. She will miss you and think of you often. You, who awakened her, to what life is. She will live... but only for a time. Her death will occur in many years time on a forgotten planet, saving the lives of others. But it will be her choice, and she will have no regrets."

"And Mandalore?"

"Many battles does that one have left in him... as Revan intended. A general needs an army, as he needs those he trusts. And Canderous is a loyal beast, no matter how much he is broken upon Revan's will. But you know this."

"What of the Mandalorians?"

"They will die a death that will last millennia until all that remains is their code, their history, and in the end, the shell of their armor upon the shell of a man, too easily slain by Jedi.

'Was Mandalore's quest for a rebirth doomed to fail in the end?' "And Visas? What of her?"

"The blinded one shall return to her homeworld, and she shall look upon the surface of that world, and perhaps, at last, see what she was meant to see. Her life has been changed by your meeting, in ways that may not be felt for decades to come.

"Did I save her?"

Silence followed before her answer. "Salvation is a relative thing... but as you understand it, yes. The blinded one's heart has now been put to rest - vengeance no longer clouds her sight, and she shall be stronger for it. She will leave her memories of Katarr in the wreckage of the past, and instead, turn her eyes to the future that you have put before her."

"The Handmaiden?" Meetra thought about how her fellowship with Atris would survive.

"If she leaves this place, she will leave battle behind her... in no small part due to your influence. She will take Atris' role as historian, and teach others of the Jedi exile who gave up the Force... and became stronger for it."

"And the Disciple?"

"If he leaves this place, he will leave the galaxy behind him. He will sit upon the new Council, reluctantly, as all good men do, and he will not forget the Jedi who had lost the Force, yet showed him the way to reclaim it. After that, I do not know. I do know that you must leave him behind. The same choice that Revan made: where you are destined, you must not take anyone you of the ones who traveled with you... that is all I see."

"But what about Atton?" He was her longest companion since the mine. She tried to get close to him, but he kept pushing her away.

"Atton is, as always, the fool. And the Force watches out for ones such as him, I feel. As it does for the old such as I."

"Did he love me?"

"There is no love left in a heart such as that one. But he would die for you, yes. He is a fool, and that should answer your questions. He has nothing to offer to one such as you and even a fool such as Atton is not so ignorant of that fact. I do not believe one would die lightly for someone the one did not care about."

There was a hint of dejection in her thoughts. 'I suppose it would have never worked.' "And you? Did you love me?"

"I would have killed the galaxy to preserve you. I would have let the galaxy die. You are more rare than you know; what you have taught yourself cannot be allowed to die. You are not a Jedi. Not truly. And it is for that that I love you."

It was analogous to parental love. Kreia was shaping her to become stronger. With Kreia's death, she would take her place. Meetra would change the galaxy. "And Bao-Dur - and the droids?"

"Their paths are unknown to me. Even the small one who waits for you outside of this place. I sense it has one last journey for you. You must go where Revan did, into the Unknown Regions, where the Sith, the true Sith, wait in the dark for the great war that comes."

Her old commander? The true Sith? She needed to know more. "And Revan? He came here, was here. What happened to him?"

"He came because he remembered what lay buried here - this place, its teachings. It paved the way to Korriban, you know, the remnants here. And he came because Malachor, like Korriban, lies on the fringes of the ancient Sith Empire, where the true Sith wait for us, in the dark."

Meetra only grew more confused. "But we've fought the Sith. They were the cause of the Jedi Civil War. Revan was a Sith. You, Sion, and Nihilus are Sith."

"Have we? You thought that the corrupted remnants of the Republic, the machines spawned by technology that Revan led into battle were the Sith? You are wrong. The Sith is a belief. And its empire, the true Sith Empire, rules elsewhere. And Revan knew that the true war is not against the Republic. It waits for us beyond the Outer Rim. And he has gone to fight it, in his own way. He left the Ebon Hawk and its machines behind, for he knew he would not need them. And, like you, he knew he must leave all loves behind as well, no matter how deeply one cares for them."

"Revan went to face this Sith Empire on his own? Why?"

"Because such attachments are not the way of the Jedi, and they would only bring doom to them both in the dark places where he now walks. It would have helped had he helped her understand. But she was always strong-willed, that one, and did not understand war as Revan did."

"Why did you not follow him? It's obvious from his droids that something happened."

"Because I did not know where he had gone. If he had asked... would I have gone? I do not know. But he will need warriors, Sith and Jedi, any who can be sent after him into the depths of space, any who know the way. Perhaps you shall go there with him, and do battle at the end of all things. Instead, I remained here... and now show others the way."

'Maybe I should ask about the very government that's been hanging by a thread these past few years. "What of the Republic?"

"The Republic will fall, as it always has, a fall that will take millennia. Under the care of the herds of Ithor, the surface of Telos will bloom again, and its golden fields shall again harbor scientists and thinkers. And complacent and peaceful, it shall forget the time that Saul Karath orbited it and brought fire to its skies. But it shall be a homeworld again to others, who will stretch out across the galaxy and bring life."

"We really need to reform the government to something more stable. Tell me of Dantooine."

"Dantooine shall survive. The community you saved shall be the foundation upon which Dantooine shall be habitable again. They shall drive back the raiders, the Mandalorians, and all that strike at the Outer Rim. The Republic shall again establish their presence there, and shield it with its forces... And Dantooine shall heal, be safe, and its skies free. The ruins of the academy shall remain."

"And Nar Shaddaa?"

"Nar Shaddaa shall persist as it always has, but there will be a heart to the world where there was nothing before. Where once the lost and disposed were trapped there, now they will struggle and grow. From despair shall come hope."

"And you said that helping the refugees would only bring suffering. I understand the need for struggle, but there are reasonable limits." She thought once more. "What about Onderon"

"Queen Talia shall have a long reign, much good will come of it. She will, as she has, rule wisely and well. Onderon shall remain in the Republic, and the world shall prosper, though its people shall, over time, lose their customs in the ocean of the Republic and become the people of Onderon no longer."

"That sounds fine, I guess. Tell me about Korriban."

"Korriban shall be as it always was. A graveyard for the darkest of the Sith Lords, still whispering within their tombs. It shall always be a source of evil, spawning threats throughout the millennia. It, like Malachor, brushes the edges of the empire that waits in the dark. And like Malachor, the Sith have forgotten it... for a time. They will remember. Revan knew this."

"That's very foreboding." 'I don't think that will be the last time I set foot on that planet.' "I suppose that's all I have to ask. Your methods are unorthodox, and you used every one for your own goals. However, you had some good intentions for the galaxy. You believed in me when I didn't. You trained me to hear the force again to understand what I lost, what I am willing to give up. I became stronger through my own strength." Meetra smiled at her teacher one last time. "Rest now, Kreia. You fulfilled your mission. Your time in this place is over."

Kreia smiled as well before she gave a weak cry before collapsing to the floor dead. With Kreia's death, she silenced the echoes of the atrocity that, until then, Malachor had still sent through the force. Meanwhile. Bao-Dur ordered his remote to reactivate the superweapon in an effort to destroy the tainted world of Malachor V once and for all. The pillars of the Sith Academy begin to crumble. With haste, the Ebon Hawk and its crew managed to escape. The dead planet crumbled under the pressure of the mass shadow's gravity, leaving behind only asteroids and the wreckage of many hundreds of blasted warships, a grim memorial to the Battle of Malachor V.

Ebon Hawk

With the Sith Triumvirate finally put to rest, Meetra and her companions decided to celebrate with Ale and music. They all knew that with the threat gone, they would go about their separate ways. They would enjoy their time together. A few hours later, things started to die down with most of them going to bed for the night. Meetra sat the console, thinking over Kreia's final words and her choice.

A rusted droid walked up to the sitting Meetra. "Query: What do we do next, Master?"

Her eyes drifted to the utility droid sitting in the side of the room. "Tomorrow, contact Mandalore. We have much to discuss regarding your previous master, Revan."

His receptors glowed red. "Exclamation: The Mandalorian and I always had a similar view of things. I would very much like to kill those responsible for the disappearance of the Revan. He will make an excellent ally once more."

Hearing the mention of going after Revan, T3-M4 rolled up to Meetra and started speaking in binary.

Meetra frowned at the reply. "What do you mean, not yet?"

"Statement: I agree with the Master, you trash compactor. What is so important that we must stall amassing our strike force?"

T3-M4 rolled to the Nav-computer and started uploading coordinates. When he was finished, he spoke again.

"Bastila!?" Meetra was surprised that the little droid knew where she was the whole time. "You knew where she was and didn't tell me until now?!"

HK-47's eyes glowed in realization. "Recollection: Oh yes, her. Master Revan would be displeased if his... Mistress was not involved."

Meetra massaged her temples. This whole ordeal was getting overwhelming.

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