"The Sith still exist then?" Master Windu summed up.

I nodded, looking around the entire Council Room of the Jedi Masters. Twelve seats lined up the circular room, just like the seats of power for the gods of Olympus back on Earth. A few among the council I recognised from the earlier years of my training - Ki-Adi Mundi, a Cerean who once helped me back on the planet of Hoth; Kit Fisto, a Nautolan who I met on the ocean world of Manaan; Plo Koon, a Kel Dor with a breathing mask and goggles so he could breathe and see due to the atmosphere here on Coruscant; but most importantly the three Jedi who helped me out the most in all my years of training - Mace Windu, Master Yoda and Master Qui-Gon Jinn.

Mace - according to Jason when I'm not around the famed Jedi Master - was a Jedi to be reckoned with, and that I should not make any wrong choice in the council. His own style of Vaapad had earned him the rank of Master when he used it against the Mandalorian's on Mandalore. Even though he seemed like a cynical person when looking at him, he was actually a generally nice guy who fiercely protects the Republic and the Jedi Order.

Yoda was like the mortal grandfather I never had. He had been the one to train me the most in all my years of being in the Order - helping me control the Force and honing in my senses to their maximum. He had brought back from the brink when I was feeling down twenty years ago. If it weren't for him, me and Jason would've been dead.

Qui-Gon...man, the guy could read you like a book and figure out what would be best for you. In all my years of being with the Jedi, it was Qui-Gon who I would go to for knowledge on most occasions. His hair was long, just past his shoulder blades, and he wore his usual dark brown Jedi cloak around his tan robes. His grey eyes sparkled with intelligence, an it actually made me sad because they remind me so much of Annabeth's grey eyes.

Qui-Gon was actually the Jedi master that I was closest to. The reason being was because he and I would sometimes meditate and submerse ourselves directly into the Force. We would look into each other's past and we would learn a lot from each other, thus forming a bond that no Jedi understood. Out of the two masters that I had (Yoda being the other), Qui-Gon had taught me the most and has helped me with so many things in the ten years of training I had with the Jedi.

"Yes, they exist," I reported, one arm behind my back and the other in front of me, clutching my Mandalorian mask to my side. "Me and Alec found a Sith army there, after we found a man named Vitiate, who proclaims himself Emperor and Master of the Sith. Even though we hadn't felt it before, the Dark Side of the Force is extremely strong there on Drommaund Kaas."

Yoda gave me and frown and pondered my words. "Find out more of the Sith, we must. Disturbing this information is - if attack, defend the Temple we must."

Bastilla came up at my side. She had kept quite behind me with Jason, while Mission, Zaalbar, HK and R2 stayed outside the Council Chambers. Only Jedi were allowed in here, and non-Force users were not permitted to come up here.

"We can definitely set up some sort of defence," she said. "If the Sith do plan on attacking us, then we could formulate some counterattack plans. If all else fails, then we could flee to the enclaves on either Dantooine or Tithe. The Sith wouldn't know we would go there."

"They would," I muttered. Bastilla frowned, and I sighed. "Vitiate said that we have a spy in our midst, someone who had knowledge of us going to Drommaund Kaas. Who knows who it could be?"

Qui-Gon nodded. "We can certainly keep an eye out for this spy. If he does know that we would go to our secret enclaves and that he would tell this...Emperor you speak of, then we need to come up with another hidden place to go to."

Yoda tapped the floor with his grimmer stick. "For now, prepare our defences, we should. Revan, Alpha and Bastilla - speak to you alone I must. Something of importance there is to talk about."

Me, Jason and Bastilla bowed. "Yes Master Yoda," we said in unison.

Moments later, when the rest of the Council filed out, we stood before the Grand Jedi Master, who suddenly looked older than he actually was (he was almost eight hundred and seventy six, but he looked over nine hundred years old).

"An awakening there has been," he told us. "Felt it, have you three?"

Me and my friends exchanged looks, coming to a silent agreement.

"Yes we have, Master Yoda," Jason answered sincerely.

"The Sith, a problem they are. Saddening it is, for Knight Alec to give up his life to save you. In vain, his sacrifice will not. The Senate we must warn - if here the Sith come, a target the Senate will be. Contact the Chancellor, Knight Jason will. Help the Republic prepare, Knights Perseus and Bastilla shall."

I frowned, crossing my arms over my chest. "Master, you make it sound like we're preparing for another war. I don't think we can be able to handle another war, especially since we have just come out of the war with the Mandalorian's. I mean, a war with the Sith - we could be losing a number of Jedi warriors here."

Bastilla looked at me. "We shouldn't worry about that right now. The only thing we've got to do is prepare. If what you said about Drommaund Kaas is real, then we need to get ready to leave Coruscant and go to one of the enclaves."

"I say we stay and defend the Temple," Jason said, adding his voice to the matter. "If we leave, the Sith could overrun this place. It's the only safe place that we know - the enclaves are only for training purposes only. We've got over two hundred thousand Jedi here, not to mention that a small portion of that are younglings who have yet to obtain the title of 'Padawan'. The enclaves on Dantooine and Tithe are simply not big enough to house that many."

I looked at my oldest friend with wide eyes. "So, you're saying that we simply stay here and fight? Jason, I know that you are a Roman demigod and all, and that you believe in defending your home, but we're not dealing with giants and Titans anymore. This is way more dangerous. And you really think that we should stay and fight? We would lose so many Jedi - not to mention the younglings, who are just kids."

Jason was about to answer, but Yoda slammed his grimmer stick on the ground like a judges gravel.

"Speaks the truth, you friend Perseus does," he said. "The lives of many Jedi, I will not risk. The Sith - strong with the Dark Side the are. Reckless, greedy, angry and bloodthirsty they are. Care only about glory they do, and until rest they do, slaughter us to extinction they will."

Jason nodded in understanding. "I apologise Master Yoda. It's just...this is the only home I have left, ever since Percy and I left Earth. I find it very hard to believe that there is no hope of saving it from the Sith."

I knew how Jason felt. Ever since we left Earth, after all the painful betrayals we had both suffered, we had become customed to call Coruscant and the Jedi Temple our home. We had lived here for twenty long years - apart from all the times when we had to go from planet to planet fighting the Mandalorians - and we have never felt so at peace.

"If leaving Coruscant means saving so many Jedi lives, as well as Senate and Republic lives," I told him calmly, "then I'm up for it. We've lost one friend Jason, to the Sith. I am not losing anymore of our Jedi friends to these Dark Side user's."

Jason struggled for a moment, but it seemed like he was finally seeing the depth of my logic. He too had many Jedi friends here - it was customary to have many friends here with the Jedi. Yoda says that having many friends keeps you grounded to the light, whether it was other species or droids even.

"Okay," he sighed. "I'll speak with the Chancellor, and get him to prepare the Senate. With luck, I could get them to leave with us. It might take me a while - knowing the Chancellor, it will take him a while to absorb this information."

Bastilla patted my shoulder. "Okay. While Jason takes care of the Senate, me and you will prepare the Republic soldiers. I remember Rex and Cody saying that they are still reparing the Phantom, but I think we can tell them to get the other star cruisers ready."

I nodded. "When that is over and done with, we need to leave as soon as possible. If the Sith come here, and we're not gone by that time, things are going to get bloody. We need to avoid that. The sooner we leave, the better."

"You are kidding me, right?" Jason joked, despite the serious situation. "We're the Prodigal Knights; we've dealt with Mandalorians and defeated Mandalore the Ultimate - things are bound to get bloody, knowing us."

Yoda took in the scene of me, Bastilla and Jason talking amongst ourselves with a deep thinking look. "Go, you must. The fate of the Jedi, rest on your shoulders it does."
==========

"...and if all hell goes down, get as many troops and Jedi in these cruisers as you can," I finished off my talk with Rex, leader of the Shadow Squad.

"Yes sir," he said, giving me a respectful salute and nod. "You can count on me and Cody to get this done." He whistled over to one of the troops. "Fives! Pass the command down - if the Sith attack, get as many Jedi and Republic citizens on these carriers! The same goes for those Senate folk!"

"Roger that," Fives replied back, rushing off to give the command.

Rex looked back at me, giving me a solemn stare. "Hopefully the Phantom should be fully operational when the time comes. If not, it doesn't matter - we got thirty other cruisers we can use. All together, we could be carrying over maybe...I don't know, little over three million people."

"Three million is better than nothing at all," Bastilla commented, her hand fingering the hem of her robes.

Rex nodded, walking off towards a group of Republic soldiers.

I looked at Bastilla. "I've never dealt with anything like this before."

Bastilla smiled a little. "Yes you have. It's like you and Jason have told us - you've dealt with giants and Titans for the best part of five years when you were back on Earth. Plus, you've pretty much single-handedly ended the Mandalorian Wars with a swipe of your lightsaber. How is this any different?"

I gave her a pointed look. "The giants and the Titans could be defeated, that much me and Jason knew - all we had to do was find out how we were going to do it. The Mandalorian's could be beaten as well, because even though they are tough, they are still mortal. Me and Jason could do all those things because we knew that those enemies could be dealt with. The Sith...Bastilla, this is totally different than anything we have been through."

Bastilla shifted her feet, nervously. "How different?"

"Don't forget Bastilla: even though we have stopped them before, we still don't know this enemy well enough to know what they are like. Yoda has already explained that they are heartless and merciless in what they do, but we haven't got the full extent of what they can accomplish if they decide to attack Coruscant. I'm not surprised if we end up in another war again. Can you see the logic of where I'm coming from now?"

Bastilla's eyes shifted to the side. "While we are still recovering from the war with the Mandalorian's, we've left ourselves vulnerable to an attack by anyone who would strike a blow at us. While we are defenceless, they could get in."

I nodded, glad that she knew what I meant. I've known Bastilla for nearly two decades now, and because of that we know each other pretty well enough to think the same way.

Just then, I got a ringing in my ears. It was sudden and very painful. Imagine the sound of a xylophone, and the sound it makes is amplified by a hundred - that how loud that ringing noise was in my ears. I groaned in pain, covering my ears.

It wasn't just me that had the same problem: Bastilla helped and covered one ear in agony.

Instantly, I knew what was wrong. Someone was approaching the Temple, on the North Side entrance. Sharing a look with Bastilla and telling her this, we ran off towards the front entrance of the Temple, dread filling our guts.
==========

"Who in the galaxy is that?" Kit Fisto inquired from above us on the Temple wall balcony's.

I was staring ahead at the entrance to the Temple, where a black hooded figure came walking up to us slowly. I couldn't make anything out from him, other than the fact that he was heavily cloaked from the feet upwards. At his side was a man cladded in silver and light blue armour, with a jet pack strapped to his back - a Mandalorian commando.

At his other side, there was another individual. She was of a slim and athletic side and I could tell that she's seen some sort of combat. I knew it was a she, because of her petite frame and size, but she wore dark clothing with a black leather vest attached to her chest. Plus, she wore a mask - a silver mask that had an warrior likeness to it. It represented much like the ones I saw from those Sith acolytes I fought when I escaped Drommaund Kaas. I could see from the very bottom of her hooded, masked face that she had dirty blonde hair that was curly like princess curls.

Bastilla and Jason were at my side, hands on their lightsabers in case things didn't go well. I fingered my two lightsabers as well. As me and Bastilla were running to the Temple entrance, I had slipped my mask on, knowing straight away that something felt off, and that I needed to be in my combat mode.

Mission, Zaalbar, HK-47 and R2-D2 were above us in the balcony. Mission, Zaalbar and HK were aiming their blasters at the dark hooded individual, who was still walking slowly towards with a purposeful air. R2 stood at HK's side, whistling nervously.

Just then, the hooded figure stopped three metres in front of me. I couldn't see his eyes, so I only saw the bottom of his jaw and armoured neck.

"Jedi Knight Revan," he said with a hiss. "How nice to see you again."

"Who are you?" I demanded, clipping off my right side lightsaber.

Hood Face tilted his head to the side, as if silently asking himself that question in his mind. "My name...is Darth Malak, Dark Lord of the Sith. But before I was that..." He reached behind his head and started pulling the hood down. "...you knew me as someone else."

The hood fell down, and I was left speechless by who I saw in front of me.

It was Alec.

His face was pale and white as snow, like he spent two days in a freezer. It was also bruised above his left eye, which was probably the result of his fight with the Sith warriors we faced. He still wore his dark red and black Jedi attire underneath his black cloak, but what really confused was the bag that was attached to his belt.

"Alec..." I breathed out.

Jason and Bastilla's eyes widened as they stared into the face of one of their teammates.

Alec shook his head calmly. "That name no longer has any meaning for me, Revan. It's Malak now."

The Mandalorian checked his wrist, where a some sort of wristband was located. He seemed to be checking up on something, though I didn't like the way he was grinning - it looked very sadistic and crazy.

"What happened after you told me to escape?" I asked, wanting only to know what happened.

Alec glared at me. "What do you expect? Vitiate woke up and had me beat. His followers were about to end my life, but Vitiate told them not to. Instead, he corrupted and plagued my mind constantly for days on end, making me realize that the Jedi would not save me and that I had to look after myself. He made me see the truth of what the Jedi are really like. And so, he turned me into a Sith Lord, which is far better than what the Jedi offered me."

My eyes widened. "He turned you?! Alec, he's crazy! Don't listen to him!"

He barked out a humorless laugh. "Who? This guy?"

He reached into the bag at his side...and brought out the severed head of Darth Vitiate. His head had clearly been slashed off by Alec's lightsaber, as I could see the blackened marks at the base of his neck. His eyes were wide open in shock and horror, as he witnessed the final moments of his dark and twisted reign. Alec threw it at my feet, and I recoiled from it instantly.

"You have no idea what I was really up to, do you?" Alec sneered.

I frowned, and then I felt horrified by what he was implying. "You were the informant giving Vitiate the details of our endeavours and of our mission to Drommaund Kaas. You've been betraying us to the Sith for over fifteen years!"

"That's right," Alec sneered. "I can be pretty patient when I want to."

Jason stepped forward. "You're telling me that you were in league with the enemy, telling them of what we do? Do you have any idea what you've done, Alec? You've caused our doom!"

Alec looked at his Mandalorian soldier, who nodded with growing glee in his eyes. The Sith woman at his side shifted, as if ready to take action at any moment.

"Don't blame everything on me, Jedi scum," Alec...no, Darth Malak hissed. "Look at yourself - while you rested in your cradle of power, believing you and your people were safe and protected, you have grown blind to the danger that awaited you for years on end. You were entrusted to protect this planet, as well as the enclaves on Dantooine and Tithe, but you were deceived by one of your own, who now knows what you are really like."

I froze and stiffened. With all this fuss, I remembered that Alec knew of the enclaves. He could tell his Sith followers to attack! Shit, why didn't I see this coming?!

Just then, I heard the roaring of a ship engine. It grew steadily louder, I got a sick sense that something big was coming towards the Temple. I looked over Malak's shoulder and saw-

"Revan, what is that?" Mission called from the Balcony, standing back just a little.

"Warning: get out of the way, Master!" HK exclaimed. "Take cover!"

I didn't need to be told twice. I bellowed out, "Everyone get down!" and threw myself to the floor five meters away from the Temple entrance. Every Jedi did the same as I did, retreating several metres away, while Jason and Bastilla stayed by my side. I was about to scold at them for not getting back, but my words were lost as large Imperial troop carrier smashed right through the Temple entrance.

Pillars collapsed; the ground rumbled from the impact of the jet black carrier; parts of the Temple ceiling collapsed on top of the carrier and explosions ripped out everywhere, taking down statues and monuments left, rig and centre.

Just when I thought that it would get worse, the carrier instantly stopped to a halt in front of Darth Malak and his Mandalorian soldier and Sith follower. He must've somehow used to the Force to slow the thing down, which would've impressed me if the situation wasn't so serious.

"You assumed no force could challenge you and your pitiful friends here at the Jedi Temple," Malak told me. "I bad decision that was for you to make. That will cost you dearly."

The carrier opened...and out came another Sith acolyte, who ignited his blazing red lightsaber, which illuminated the dark interior of the carrier. I didn't notice it before, but now I could feel it - the immense power of the Dark Side. No...

"And now..." Malak said with finality in his voice.

Just then, another red lightsaber was ignited next to the Sith acolyte, meaning that there was another Sith warrior in the carrier. And then another, and then another, then another...

"Holy kriff," Jason muttered.

"By the Force," Bastilla said, a tone of fear and worry in her voice.

More red lightsabers kept going off. A double-bladed lightsaber there, a singular lightsaber there. Ten more appeared out of nowhere. Sixty appeared right in front of the carrier, right behind Malak. Soon, we were looking at over a hundred armed, and very lethal and battle hardened Sith warriors, all masked and dark clothed, ready to kill Jedi.

I looked at Malak, the one person who I considered one of my best friends...and saw that his eyes had gone from a warm, kind brown...to a nasty shade of greyish gold. He reached towards his belt, and ignited his lightsaber. It went up like a red lightning bolt, because it was jagged when coming out of its hilt. At the hilt, two smaller beams of red energy came out, so it made me think that I was looking at his version of what a cross guard sword would look like.

"...finally. We...have...RETURNED!" Malak roared.

He charged forward, his disciples screaming a battle cry and rushing behind him, eager to kill us out of cold blood.

I ignited both my lightsabers and charged forward as well, with a battle cry of my own. Jason came forward with his blue coloured lightsaber, with Bastilla rushing forward with her golden coloured, double-bladed lightsaber. With that, the rest of the Jedi yelled and rushed forward, the sounds of many lightsabers flashing to life and many Republic soldiers firing off from a distance.

We clashed into Malak's forces, and right there, the new war against the Sith had truly begun.
===========

Of all the wars I have been in, I knew straight away that this was the worst.

I was slashing and clashing with all my strength, using the Force whenever I could against many of these dark clothed enemies. All around me, chaos ensued - Jedi and Sith alike fell by each other's hands. It was a gruesome sight to see, though I knew I could be able to get through this. I've survived the Mandalorian Wars with Jason, Bastilla and the rest of the Prodigal Knights. But somehow, I was doubting all of that when I kept looking over to see Malak slay many Jedi with his barely controlled lightsaber, which pulsed like live electricity.

I rolled to one side, giving one of the Sith warriors an uppercut slash with my blue lightsaber: he crumbled to the floor. Another acolyte came rushing at me, Force pushing me backwards - I pushed back with even more intensity, and he went flying into another Jedi's blade. I spun my lightsabers into an infinity spin, causing many Sith warriors to back away. Some tried to get at me, but they only found themselves cut to shreds by my spinning blue and green lightsabers.

Somewhere in the middle of the battle, I found myself fighting alongside Jason and Bastilla, who were pushing Sith backwards with the Force and clashing the lightsabers at any who came at them. Bastilla was using her Battle Meditation to aid other Jedi as best as she could, but I knew that the effort was mentally and physically draining her; in the end, she resorted to continuously wreck havoc amongst the Sith formation. Jason on the other hand was a different story, as he was attacking enemy after enemy with his lightsaber in an inverted grip. Master Windu had taught him that using this style of duelling gives the bearer increased speed and agility, which proved to be accurate as Jason battled with the ferocity of a lion.

"We need to order the retreat!" Bastilla screamed at me, blocking a Sith acolytes blade. "We can't hold them off much longer!"

"On it!" I shouted back, quickly slashing the head of a Sith off and reaching for my comm link. "Rex, get the cruisers ready! NOW!"

"Already on it!" he grunted on the other end, the sounds of blaster fire in the background. "We got some Jedi already going in them, as well as the Senators. The Chancellor is on board the Voyager, but we need you and the Jedi Masters to get to the Phantom as soon as possible!"

"We'll be there!" I promised him. "Just be ready to go when we get there!"

With that, I slashed a Sith's chest and roared, "EVERYONE, RETREAT! GET TO THE CRUISERS!"

They all heard me, and started retreating as best as they could, whilst battling Sith warriors as they went. I saw Malak and his personal Sith warrior looking at me with steely eyes. I knew straight away that we were going to have a problem if they started following us. Malak glared at me, and stalked towards me. His Sith follower went off into a different direction.

"Bastilla, Jason," I said, getting their attention. "Get to the Ebon Hawk. I'll hold Malak off long enough for you to there."

"We are not leaving you!" Jason firmly said, levelling his lightsaber outwards in Malak's direction. "We stay together!"

"Jason's right!" Bastilla came up to my right. "We will not leave a friend."

"Do as Revan told you."

I looked behind me and saw Qui-Gon walking up to my side, his green lightsaber blaring in the barely lit Temple, his robes burnt and torn slightly. "Get to your ship - this is our fight."

My friends looked really hesitant to leave. I said, "Guy's, we'll be alright. Just be ready to leave once we get back to you. Trust me."

They finally agreed and rushed off to help other Jedi get to the cruisers, calmly but nervously telling them where to go and to follow them.

Qui-Gon nodded at me. "You'll see them again."

I nodded, spinning my blue lightsaber in my hand. "I know I will. For now, let's focus on Malak. We need to hold him off as long as possible."

Qui-Gon twirled his lightsaber. "That we can do."

We turned back to Malak, who was actually starting o snarl and growl like a feral animal. His lightsaber was levelled at us, and he glared the most at me with his yellow-grey eyes. I was still sad to know that the man I once knew as my friend was gone, replaced by this twisted monster.

"You will not live to see another day, Revan," he hissed. "By the existence of the Force, I promise you that."

I sound nothing. I lunged forward, which actually took him by surprise. He acted instantly, raising his blade to block both my lightsabers, as they collided with his in a burst of sparks.

Me and Qui-Gon rained blows on Malak, who held us back with almost apparent ease. However, I knew Alec well enough to know that he would tire soon - his heavy muscled frame was built for strength, not pure speed. The other reason was that he was use to fighting other people, but he had nothing against the combined speed and strength of two Jedi duellists.

Suddenly, I saw an opening - Malak was going for an other head strike, hoping to slash my head in two. I blocked his lightsaber with my green lightsaber...and swiped my blue lightsaber at his face, earning a scream of agony and rage from Malak, who stumbled backwards, clutching his face and jaw.

His hand moved for a moment, and I could see the extent of the damage and it horrified me to no end: the entire bottom of his jaw had been slashed off, leaving a black scorch mark below his top jaw. The only sounds that came out were slight whimpers and gurgling sounds. He looked like he was so much pain, that I couldn't bear it any longer. So, I rushed forward and smashed the hilt of my blue lightsaber into his head, knocking him out cold.

Qui-Gon came to my side, deactivating his lightsaber. "We must move. We need to get to the Hawk."

I nodded numbly and ran with him towards the hanger.

I was actually feeling hopeful that we would escape Coruscant. We reached the hanger, and I could see the Ebon Hawk, it's rear entrance open and I could see Bastilla waving at us to hurry. I started to rush forward, but suddenly I felt a searing pain in my right hand.

I screamed and dropped to my knees, clutching my hand - only to find that there was no right hand. I looked down and saw only a burnt stump of a hand. It had been severed at the wrist, and the sight of it almost made me throw up. My hand was somewhere to my left, the fingers twitching out of control.

I looked to see my attacker and I saw that it was the Sith follower who was with Malak when he attacked us. She had a blazing purple lightsaber and she was about to end my life with it. That was until Qui-Gon stepped in front of me and blocked her attack.

"Revan, RUN!" he ordered, Force pushing the Sith woman backwards into a wall. "Get out of here!"

I couldn't move, I couldn't speak. I just knelt there, clutching my severed wrist with my left hand. I felt a pair of hands grip my shoulder, and I saw Bastilla supporting me towards the Hawk. We got onto the ship, and Jason instantly started the ship up. We started to lift off the the hanger ground.

I looked out the sight seeing window and saw Qui-Gon and the Sith woman battling still. To my horror, I saw her kick Qui-Gon in the stomach, which made him double over...and she stabbed him right through the chest.

"NOOOOOOO!" I screamed in grief. Bastilla saw the scene too and she cried in dismay.

The Hawk shot upwards into the red clouded sky. I saw the destruction of the Jedi Temple, it's South and east towers collapsing to the ground as Sith Infiltrator ships bombed the streets of lower Coruscant.

Soon, we had escaped into space, where over thirty Republic cruisers were waiting for us. But I couldn't think straight. I was in so much pain, my ruined wrist screaming in agony.

Through the red haze of pain, only one thought came through my mind:

Qui-Gon...