KOTOR 2 - Echoes End


WARNING: The following won't make much sense unless you have played both KOTOR 1 and KOTOR 2, and have also seen The Last Jedi movie (or read the novelization). It also contains spoilers about, well, all of that.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: this fanfic takes some major liberties with the Star Wars timeline. For the sake of this fanfic, just pretend that the Rise of Skywalker movie doesn't exist (some of you are already doing that..), but do acknowledge that The Last Jedi exists (sorry). Oh, and SWTOR didn't happen either (you're welcome). This fanfic was inspired by ... nevermind, I'll save that for an end note. Read the fanfic first, and then I'll explain why it might not be quite as outlandish as it seems at first.


"Once you start down the Dark path, forever will it dominate your destiny."

Luke Skywalker recalled the words of Master Yoda, spoken so many years ago, as he held the ancient lightsaber hilt. Luke's search for this item had taken him across the galaxy, away from his family and friends, for far longer than he had anticipated. But at last, he had found it.

Yoda's words had been in reference to Luke's father, Anakin Skywalker, who at that time had been known to the galaxy as the infamous Darth Vader, perhaps the most feared and hated man in galactic history. As Vader, Anakin had destroyed the Jedi Order and delivered the galaxy to his Sith Master, Darth Sidious, publicly known as Emperor Palpatine. Palpatine had then subjugated the galaxy for over two decades, with Vader as his enforcer, before Luke had confronted them on the second Death Star.

Luke had assumed Yoda meant that a person who fell to the Dark Side of the Force was unrecoverable, forever lost. And perhaps that had been the elderly Jedi Master's intent. But in the last moments of his life, Anakin had rejected his identity as Darth Vader, returned to the Light Side of the Force and destroyed Emperor Palpatine. From a certain point of view, Luke thought, Yoda had been correct. Anakin's destiny from the moment of his fall until his death had been dominated by the Dark Side. And yet, he had ended his life redeemed. It was therefore not impossible for someone to return to the Light. Anakin had done it.

Which meant that Ben could too.

Now, if what Luke held in his hand was actually what he thought, what he had scoured the galaxy for, it represented another who had fallen to the Dark Side and then returned. Because the target of Luke's long hunt was Darth Revan's Sith lightsaber.


The Jedi Master sat alone, in a high place overlooking the sea. His face was haggard, older than his years. His countenance and demeanor spoke of defeat. He sat in silence as the galaxy's last spark of hope died. Those he cared for most were perishing in a far away place. His friends. His young student. His sister. And with them, all who stood against the oppressing shadow threatening to cover the galaxy. He had the power to save them, yet he did not. Fire. Despair. Darkness.

Revan's unseeing eyes flew open, and for a moment, she was surprised to see nothing. Then as sleep left her and she fully awoke, recollection flooded in. She was on Coruscant, in the apartment she shared with her husband. And she had not seen anything with her own eyes in half a century.

"Are you okay?" came Carth's voice next to her. Though Revan could not see Carth's face, the concern in his voice was evident.

"Bad dream," Revan said. "What time is it?"

"Morning," Carth said. "I've been lying here awake for a little while. Are you sure you're okay? You screamed."

"I had ... I'm sure it was just a dream," Revan said, "but it was disturbing. I'm okay, though, really. Help me up?"

"Sure," Carth said. He rose and walked around the bed to where Revan's sophisticated mobility scooter sat. Pulling back the bedcovers, he gently turned her and, with a small grunt, lifted her onto it. The scooter automatically secured Revan with straps optimized for both comfort and safety. He often wondered how much longer he'd be able to assist her, how much longer they'd be able to live on their own. Carth had always been physically fit, and still maintained a rigorous exercise program. But no one was immune to age, and as he neared ninety years old, Carth could feel himself declining.

"Balcony," Revan said. The scooter complied, wheeling Revan to a exterior door, which opened automatically, allowing Revan to pass through. The scooter stopped facing the sunrise, the cool breeze gently blowing Revan's thinning gray hair, the warm sun a welcoming touch on her face.

Carth followed Revan onto the small balcony, and looked across the city, admiring the way it glistened in the first light of the new day. Their apartment was many stories above what was generally called ground level, and the view was spectacular. But the city, which engulfed the entire planet, was built in so many layers that Carth wasn't sure how far down actual ground might be. Coruscant must have a true surface somewhere, but Carth had never seen it.

He glanced at Revan, and felt a pang of regret. This woman had once been both the greatest Jedi and the most feared Sith of the age. Together, they had defeated Darth Malak, once Revan's Sith apprentice before Revan had returned to the Light Side of the Force. And along the way, they had fallen in love. Afterward, though, Revan had remembered parts of her past, things about the True Sith, an ancient empire ruled by an almost-forgotten species, who were plotting an overthrow of the Republic. Revan had, together with Carth and other allies, planned and executed an attack on the True Sith. They had been victorious, and the Republic's security was ensured. But cost had been high. The final battle had cost Revan both her legs, one of her arms, and her sight.

Afterward, Revan had pleaded with Carth to leave her, to find someone else, insistent that he could never have a normal life with her. Carth had already lost one wife in the destruction of Telos, Revan argued, and did not deserve to be bound to another who would never again be whole. Carth had refused, and Revan had finally relented. The ensuing years had proved Revan wrong. While Revan's physical condition had undeniable effects on their life together, their marriage had nonetheless been happy and fulfilling. And their son's rise to Supreme Chancellor of the Republic had further vindicated Carth's determination.

Now, in their twilight years, they still found joy in small moments like a warm sunrise. Their part in galactic events was over. Because, Revan thought, it had just been a dream.

Hadn't it?


Luke Skywalker sat in his hut on Ahch-To, satisfied with his progress. He was now fully confident that the artifact he had recovered was indeed Darth Revan's Sith Lightsaber. He had disassembled the ancient hilt, pausing from time to time to admire the quality of the construction. Had the Sith of four thousand years ago constructed their own lightsabers? Luke wasn't sure, but so, and if this one's construction said anything about its maker, then at least some of the legends Luke had uncovered about Revan might be true.

Revan was a mysterious figure in galactic history, having lived at a time when the Jedi Order almost went extinct, and for which there were therefore few reliable historical records. From what Luke had been able to piece together, much of the blame for the Order's near-death experience lay squarely at Revan's feet. But so did its survival. After almost destroying not only the Jedi, but the Republic itself, Darth Revan had rejected the Dark Side, embraced the Light, and defeated not only the Sith Order she had created, but also the True Sith, a shadowy empire from the outer edges of the galaxy who had been planning an assault on the Republic.

Luke briefly wondered what it would have been like if Revan had failed and the True Sith had actually invaded. It would have made the sacrifice of Revan and her companions hollow. It might have led to an interminable stalemate, stretching on and on, spawning increasingly unlikely conflicts that somehow simultaneously seemed to threaten the fabric of the galaxy, and also never actually change anything. Heros and villains might have risen and fallen, over and over, earned various accolades, accumulated strongholds full of spoils, but never actually made any real difference, just multiple players in a massively-

Luke's gaze fell again to the lightsaber and he refocused his thoughts on it. This was no time for idle speculation, and he should not let his thoughts drift. The lightsaber hilt, salvaged from near the ruined planet of Malachor V, had endured four millenia in the vacuum of space. And that was after surviving whatever calamity had destroyed the planet. A lesser weapon would not have endured. But Revan had been a cunning craftsperson, every detail of the lightsaber perfectly made and assembled. Luke could not claim that his own blade had been of equal quality, nor any he had seen.

The inner core of the weapon now hung suspended in his hut, the red crystal exposed. Luke had been painstakingly careful not to touch the crystal as he had disassembled the lightsaber. A Jedi's lightsaber crystal had its own voice in the Force, was as close to a living thing as an inanimate object could be. Luke hadn't been sure if that were true of a Sith's lightsaber crystal, especially a Sith of Revan's era. But now he had no doubts. While many Jedi could hear the song of their own lightsaber crystal, and the more attuned Jedi could hear even the crystals of others, there was no need for any special talent to hear Revan's lightsaber crystal. It seemed to have a lot to say. Would one of the voices echoing from it help him unlock the secret of Revan's redemption?

Would it help Luke save Ben?


Vision again. This one needs to show progression between Luke sitting around while Rey and Leia died, to Luke preparing to kill Ben. Although Revan won't understand any of that. Maybe in this one Luke is building the new lightsaber, using Revan's crystal (although Revan won't know it is hers, just that it is red. It could seem familiar, though.) After building it, Luke could chop some stuff up. Maybe destroying every trace of his past or something. Just something to make it angry and disturbing.

This time Revan's reaction is much more violent. Thrashes around? Falls out of bed maybe? Carth has trouble waking her up? More?

Luke again. This time could be him realizing how strength is gained through conflict (steal some Kreia quotes) and how he robbed the galaxy and those he was trying to help of that. He saved the galaxy, twice. And in so doing he, by acting both through the Force and as its pawn, handed the galaxy something it should have earned. That left it weaker instead of stronger, hurt it instead of helped, as evidenced by the Empire's resurgance after the first Death Star and the rise of the First Order after the second one. And Luke tried to cloister Ben away from all the fights and challenges in a monastery, instead of letting him face challenges and become stronger. The purpose of this scene is to show Luke starting to give up. Kreia's ideas are taking hold, and he's starting to believe that he is the problem and not the solution. I need him to get there, because blaming both the Jedi and himself (mainly himself) is his dominating trait early in TLJ. Maybe some hints that the Force is to blame too, but he never gets there in TLJ, so tread lightly.

The Jedi Master stood at the top of a long set of stone stairs. Far below him, the sea raged and above him storm clouds gathered. He paid no attention to this. His gaze was fixed on the black-robed figure ascending the stairs.

The Jedi Master's face was heavy with regret. He had hoped this meeting would never occur, at least not in this way. But his face also showed fierce determination. Out of options, he would do what he felt he must.

The figure finally reached the top of the stairs and cast aside its robe, revealing a young man with a muscular, athletic appearance and a scar across his face. With a lightsaber at his belt. Despite the long ascent, the man was not even slightly winded. He walked purposefully across the short distance to the Jedi Master and stopped several feet from him, his posture aggressive.

"I was surprised to receive your summons," the young man said. "I have not sensed you in some time. I thought you had died."

"Soon enough, I will," the Jedi Master said. "But I have one last thing to do first."

"The Force has abandoned you, old man"

"The Force? Why would I care? I no longer serve its will. I have claimed my own destiny. You think you wield the Force, but it uses you, like it uses us all."

"That's not what you taught in your academy, before you tried to kill me. You told me it was beautiful."

These words hit the Jedi Master like a physical blow, but he shrugged them off and continued. "Once I thought that. But now it is abhorrent to me. I hate it because it would control everyone to achieve some measure of balance. You think I created you? No, the Force created you."

"You did nothing for me!" the young man spat, his fury now showing. "Only betrayal! I made myself! I claimed the galaxy with my own power!"

"I failed you, Ben. I'm sorry."

"I'm sure you are. The Resistance is long dead. The war is over. And when I kill you, I'll have killed the last Jedi."

"Amazing," the Jedi Master said. "Every word of what you just said was wrong. The Resistance is alive, in me. But not the resistance you think. The war, the real war, never stopped. But it ends today. And you will not kill me. I will do that myself, when I win."
"You talk gibberish."

"No, I finally have clarity. This was all my fault. But not because of what happened in your hut, all those years ago. I failed you, and the galaxy, long before that. I did not understand that by raising myself up, by trying to raise a new generation to serve the Light, I was demanding that the Force create the Darkness that has taken you, has taken everyone."

The young man scoffed. "You know nothing. You are cut off from the Force, deafened."

"At last, I hear," the Jedi Master replied.

"You are broken."

"I am whole."

"You are blinded."

"At last, I see."

"I tire of your nonsense," the young man said. "Why did you call me?" To save me? Because I have no desire to be saved from anything."

"No," the Jedi Master said, his firm voice heavy with both resignation and grief. "I called you here to kill you, and to end the Force's hold on the galaxy."

The Jedi Master ignited the lightsaber in his hand. The young man could not hide his surprise that it burned a pure brilliant red. But that did not compare to his shock as the Jedi Master opened himself to the Force, pulling it back into himself in a nearly audible rush. The swirling power was almost visible, and the very air seemed to hum with energy. The young man started to speak, but whatever he might have said was lost as the Jedi Master attacked. The young main ignited his own crackling scarlet blade.

For a few moments, the two exchanged blows, the Jedi Master seeming to almost hope that the young man would be more than his equal and prevent him from accomplishing his intended task. But he was not. The Jedi Master was the superior combatant. A few more swift strokes, and the Jedi Master plunged his lightsaber into the young man's chest.

Rather than looking into the young man's eyes as Revan had expected, the Jedi Master instead focused his attention on the lightsaber itself. With a almost inhuman scream, he poured into it all the energy in his body and mind, together with his anger, his regret, and all the pain of killing this young man who clearly meant so much to him. As he had once severed his own connection to the Force, now he channeled these emotions as fuel for a dark power in the lightsaber, using that power as a weapon to attack the Force's very connection to the galaxy. A shroud of darkness encircled him as the blade, still embedded in the young man's chest, flared into a crimson supernova. And then it exploded, a blast that threw the Jedi Master backward and expanded far, far beyond the ocean planet, to the utmost edges of the galaxy.

From somewhere unseen, Revan heard an elderly woman's voice, triumphant: "At last, the echo is freed."
Waking vision, takes over in the middle of something she and Carth were doing. This one is long. Carth got worried she wasn't going to come out of it. After this one, they decide to go to Meetra.

Waves crashed against the base of the Ahch-To cliff, sending salt spray dozens of meters into the air. It washed over Luke as he stood at the cliff's edge, but he took no notice. He had recovered the lightsaber hilt - and more importantly the crystal contained inside - in hopes of understanding how Revan had returned to the Light, so that he could use that lesson to help Ben. Ben, his nephew. Ben, who had turned to the Dark Side. Ben, lost, Luke now understood, because of the failure of the Jedi Order and, more importantly, his own failure.

He had planned to spend some time studying the crystal and then, regardless of the outcome, rejoin his family and friends: Leia, Han, Chewbacca, and the others. But he now realized that he would do them no good. In fact, his presence would almost certainly cause them to fall, to fail. Much better that he remain apart. Once he had been rash, acting without consideration, not realizing the ripples he was causing, the imbalance he was creating, which the Force could not tolerate.

The echoes.

Luke had loved the Force. The brilliance of its Light had called to him. He recalled the words Obi-Wan had said to him after the first time Luke had intentionally connected to the Force: "you have taken your first step into a larger world." And it had been. For a time, Luke had thought that Darkness could be vanquished, that the Dark Side was a perversion of the Force, a result of evil beings like Palpatine imposing their will on the Force, twisting it into a mockery of itself. He had understood balance to be the natural state of the galaxy, of the Force itself. Yes, there was life and death, but in a self-reinforcing cycle, a natural rhythm that gave each new creature its moment to shine, then allowed it to gracefully surrender the stage to its successors. This was not a fearsome form of darkness, but a comfort, the opposite side of life's coin, merely another chapter in existence. The Force itself, if indeed it had a will, desired this harmony and would only ever nudge the galaxy back toward this sustainable balance.

He had been a fool.

What Luke had failed to understand, he now realized, was that the Darkness must also be balanced with the Light. And that when that balance was attacked, the Force's response would be overwhelming. In his efforts to grow his attunement to the Light Side of the Force, and to share that knowledge with his students, Luke had created an imbalance that the Force could not abide. So it had struck him down, destroyed his academy, and taken his nephew. Luke had goaded the Force, and it had responded by killing Ben and raising up Kylo Ren from the ashes. His shine had caused Ben's shadow.

If only he had been wiser, seen the inevitable consequences of his actions before it was too late. The echoes he was causing. But he had not, and he only understood now because of the crystal, which had taught him so much. Now, he would correct his error. No longer would he be the problem, the imbalance. If the Force was obligated to raise the Darkness to counter him, then he would simply step aside.

He would later wish that he had taken a last moment to savor the life around him, the eternal hum, the intricate tapestry woven from every living creature, from the simplest microbe to the most complex sentient. But he did not. Instead, he summoned the pain of all his failures, all the lives lost because of him, all the anguish his hubris had caused, and focused it into a burning ball, a consuming flame, and used it to burn away his own connection to the Force.


Revan talks to Meetra about the visions, and about what she might be able to do. Thinks Meetra's ability with connections might help, but Meetra has no idea how to connect to someone who doesn't even exist yet. Thinks it is impossible. The future is in motion. Revan must just be seeing one possible future. (to Meetra Surik, later in the fanfic, maybe at the conclusion of a conversation about Luke)
"All these years," Meetra said, "I never asked. But I'm old now, and running out of time, so I'll finally ask. Why did you not use the Force to see?""

"Some paths that might be open to others are closed to me," Revan said, her voice heavy with resignation.

"But you know you could have," Meetra said. "Kreia did, and you are far more powerful than she was. Even she knew that."

"Yes, I could have," Revan said. "I could have compelled the Force to grant me a form of sight. But Meetra, I would have had to make the Force do that."

"I don't think I understand what you mean," Meetra said. "The Force flows through us, and we direct its flow, as Jedi always have. How would this have been different?"

"Surely you have taught your students how subtle the Dark Side is. How easily one finds oneself on its path, without even realizing it."

Meetra nodded and then, remembering that Revan could not see her, said "Of course."

"Then knowing who I am, would you have me command the Force?" Revan asked, her voice now taking on an edge that Meetra had not heard for half a lifetime. "Do you think my broken body an obstacle to my full exercise of every power that was once at my command?"

As she spoke, Meetra perceived a menacing glow about Revan, a dark halo, a long-rejected shadow. Revan was no more an old woman in an elaborate wheelchair. She was the ruler of the known galaxy, the conquering, irresitable tide, an untapped ocean of power.

"We are luminescent beings," Revan said, her voice rising, clear and strong. "My injuries are irrelevant. Have you not asked why I drive about in this ridiculous vehicle? Have you not questioned why I do not construct legs for myself so that I may again stand on my own feet, steady and strong? You know my technical skills are more than adequate for such a simple task. Do you not ask why my one remaining hand does not grip my lightsaber, red and glowing? Would you face Darth Revan again?"

At this last, Revan's voice carried a tone of command that Meetra had not heard since the Mandalorian Wars. Meetra's hand dropped unconsciously to the lightsaber at her belt, realizing all the while that if this blind, one-limbed old woman chose to attack with the undiminished power of her mind, Meetra's weapon would be as useless as a child's toy.

"That door must remain closed," Revan said quietly. "I would not be that person again." The moment had passed. She was once again simply a disabled octogenerian.

"I-" Meetra started to speak, but found she had no idea what to say. Meetra watched in silence as Revan slowly wheeled out the door.


Last vision scene. The echo is freed. Force-sensitives across the galaxy drop dead. The last to die is Luke, who dies realizing he's been deceived and used. The last line is Kreia's. (Dunno if there's a quote I can steal, or if I need to make my own line.) Revan probably hears Kreia's voice say it, and find the voice familiar but either can't place it, or doesn't want to believe it. This ends the what-if-Revan-hadn't-intervened timeline, showing the utter destruction that achievement of Kreia's goals would have been. I need to tack this on to either the end of Revan's visit to Meetra, or the beginning of Mical's visit. Probably the end of Meetra's, as it seems like a lot for Revan to go straight from this to the next part. She could have the vision as she's leaving Meetra, and require medical attention and assistance to get back to the apartment.

Meetra talks to Mical (I probably don't write this, just say it happened) and Mical realizes that while Revan cannot connect to the future, which indeed doesn't exist yet, the future can connect to the past. So it is possible that something in the future is reaching backwards to Revan, echoing across the centuries. Nobody knows what it is, though. This is mostly a conversation between Mical and Revan (maybe Mical comes to Revan and Carth's apartment). Meetra and Carth should be there too. Anyone else? Mical says that it is impossible for Revan to reach forward. Simply can't be done. What they need to do - because this has become dangerous for Revan - is to identify and break this connection, for Revan's sake. Mical promises to research more to figure out how. Mical and Meetra leave, Revan isn't satisfied. That isn't good enough. She has to help the Jedi Master, to stop the death of the galaxy, of the Force. But it is impossible. Carth does his "I thought I married Revan" speech. Something like: Revan figures out some ridiculous scheme to help Luke in the far future. Says to Carth it is impossible. Carth started to say something, then stopped himself. "What?" Revan said. "I want to hear it, whatever it is." "No, sorry, it was my mistake," Carth said. "I must have been confused for all these years." "What?" Revan asked again, more intensely. "You said 'impossible'," Carth said, grinning, "but I thought I married Revan." Revan intentionally has a vision. Senses the thread from the future, doesn't know what it is. Snaps out and tells Carth she has to follow it (this is their goodbye, and the end of the Coruscant setting, except for the final closing paragraph of the story). Revan goes back into the vision. --------- DOES THIS WORK?
"I'm going to do something now, something I was unwilling to do before," Revan said. "I was afraid it would open doors better left closed, but we're past the point of worrying about that."

Carth looked at her curiously, but she simply smiled and closed her unseeing eye, her face a mask of intense concentration. And then she opened her eyes and looked at Carth. Really looked at him.

"Revan, did you just-" Carth began.

"I had to see you, one last time," Revan said, her voice thick with emotion. "You understand how dangerous what I'm about to do is, don't you?"

Carth nodded. "When all this started, I wished I could have stopped you, instead of encouraging you. But I've never been under any false impression about who you are. You'd have never been satisfied with anything less than seeing this all the way through."

"Thank you," Revan said. "Thank you for accepting me as my full self, for knowing who I truly was and loving me anyway. I have so many reasons to love you, but none greater than that."

"I couldn't have asked for anything more," Carth said.

Revan stared deeply into Carth's eyes for one last moment, their locked gaze sharing more than further words could have. Then she closed her eyes and reached again for the thread.

--- Revan realizes the thread/echo is coming from the lightsaber crystal. Probably just recognizes it voice, and maybe in the vision sees it in Luke's hut. Follows it. I need Revan to never have an opportunity to just go get the damn lightsaber, thereby changing the future, so the realization, following the thread, whatever Revan does by projecting to Luke, and Revan's death all have to occur in the same scene. Revan follows the thread, first backwards to her flagship exploding, then forward to Luke finding the lightsaber, then to where Luke actually is. This is where I tie everything together for the reader. I should make it clear where in all these separate timelines the final scene takes place, or it'll be confusing. Revan can realize which things have happened and which have not, taking the reader on that journey of clarity with her. ===================== Revan projects to Luke/Yoda/Kreia/whoever and does whatever Revan does to fix things. Where does Revan projecting fit into TLJ? Where is there room? After the Yoda scene? Before? Is there room in there for this? If not, the alternative is that she sees Luke trying to help the Resistance, but sees he's going to fail. And then she shows up kinda like the Force Ghosts in the Rise of Skywalker fan edits and supports him. After rewatching relevant parts of TLJ and reading relevant parts of the novel, I think it fits best between Rey and Luke's last lesson and Luke reconnecting with the Force. In TLJ, there are only two lessons, and in the novel there are three, but either way it would work. This means that Revan doesn't get to actually talk to Luke or Yoda. There's just no good way to fit that in that wouldn't be too weird. But she can talk to spirit-Kreia, who has bound herself to the crystal. She and spirit-Kreia can do battle with both words and whatever powers I think a projection and spirit can use against each other, with the prize being Luke's soul and the future of the galaxy. At the end, the crystal explodes, but Revan contains the echo. And dies.


As Revan continued to watch, time seemed to pass swiftly before her. At first, the Jedi Master seemed hopeful as he disassembled her Sith lightsaber, carefully hanging its red crystal in his hut without ever making contact with it. But as weeks, months, and years progressed, his demeanor changed. He grew increasily despondant. Where he had first spent his time in study and meditation, working towards some goal, now he seemed aimless. Several times, he lit a torch and marched toward a massive hollowed tree that Revan perceived to hold something sacred. Each time, he raised the torch as if to ignite the tree, and each time he again lowered it.

Then the Jedi Master was standing on a cliff, overlooking the tumultuous sea. For a moment, Revan feared he meant to jump, but then realized he was doing something even more terrible. As Revan watched, the Jedi Master performed a ritual unfamiliar to Revan, one she hadn't even known was possible, and severed his own connection to the Force.

Revan could not be sure how much actual time passed before the next event - things were moving very swiftly - but a young, dark haired woman arrived on the island. She argued with the Jedi Master, persistently, over days. At first, he ignored her, but finally he relented, and Revan realized this was student whose death the Jedi Master had felt, and done nothing, during Revan's first vision. Yet while he now spoke to her, and even seemed to teach her, his mannerisms were harsh and his focus seemed to be on on justifying his discouragement. After one such exchange, the young woman walked away, and Revan perceived that she was contemplating leaving.

And then suddenly, everything slammed to a halt. Revan dropped to the ground as if from a great height, the impact running up both her legs. She stumbled, and would have fallen flat if she hadn't grabbed a nearby rocky outcropping with her hands. Her legs. Her hands. Revan wasn't sure if this was a vision, a dream, or a projection. She knew she wasn't really here - her body, still minus three of its limbs - remained on Coruscant, four thousand years in the past. But she also knew that this felt real, and that this was the first time she'd stood on her own feet in roughly half a century. She took moment to savor the sensation, to stretch her arms into the air, standing on her toes, with all the glee of a small child reaching for a treat. She almost overextended herself and had to catch her balance again. Even with her limbs restored, she was still in her eighties.

Revan reached out in the Force, sensing everything around her. The young woman was still here, but might not be for long. She had been easy to find. She glowed in the Force, as Revan herself once had. It had been long since Revan had perceived anyone of this raw power. The Jedi Master was harder to locate. Still separated from the Force by his own choice, his presence was elusive. But finally Revan located him, pacing in the ancient Jedi Temple where Revan had previously seen him teach the young woman. He was lost in his own guilt and despair, but as Revan peered deeper, into his heart, she found purity, affection, even a smoldering ember of hope that his struggles had not completely extinguished.

The thread Revan had followed through the ages was nowhere to be found. And things no longer felt dreamlike. Even clear Force visions had a certain ethereal quality to them, but Revan's surroundings were as real as if she were physically present. But this was not the future of the visions Revan had seen on Coruscant. Revan realized that she was now in the Jedi Master's present. Everything she had seen since she began to follow the thread had been in his past. The visions on Coruscant, of his failure to help his friends, of him killing the young man, and of him severing the galaxy's connection to the Force, were all in his future.

That made Revan's task clear. The Jedi Master's past was fixed. Whatever had brought him to this state, nothing could be done about it. But his future was not set. The unimaginable catastrophe that Revan had witnessed could still be avoided. Here, in the Jedi Master's present, things could be done, actions could be taken, changes could be made. The Jedi Master must reconnect with the Force before he could be healed. And Revan knew what was preventing him from doing that. She took off with great strides towards the Jedi Master's hut, and almost fell for a third time. Reminding herself that, regardless of whether she was a spirit, a project, or something else, she was still an old woman, she started again more carefully, slowly making her way down the hill. After some time, unsteady and out of breath, she neared the Jedi Master's hut. Inside was her old Sith lightsaber crystal, infused with both her own evil, and Kreia's. She wasn't yet sure how to accomplish her mission, but she knew what it was: destroy the crystal before it destroyed the galaxy.

She opened the door to the hut, and saw a robed figure inside. At first, she thought the Jedi Master had beaten her here. But his robe was grey, and this figure's robe was brown. And the person inside was smaller than the Jedi Master, no larger than Revan. Revan thought for a moment it might be the young student, but the figure's shoulders were hunched, as if with age. It turned, and lowered its hood.

Kreia.

"I am surprised to see you here," Kreia said, "although I suppose I should not be. You have already defied death more than once. But to encounter you four thousand years into your future is impressive, nonetheless. I know what it is costing you to project yourself here, the unavoidable price you will pay."

"Kreia?" Revan said stupidly. This was the last thing she had expected. She had seen Kreia's dead body floating in space. How did- "You bound your spirit to the crystal, didn't you? Is this really you, or an echo sustained by the crystal?"

"Very good," Kreia said. "It seems you recall at least some of what you learned during your time as a Sith. As for my status, does it matter? My physical body had long been a mere device of little consequence, even before its death. If my teachings endure, if my purpose remains undeterred, then the essense of who I am remains."

"Well, it certainly sounds like you," Revan said. "How did you manage to bind yourself to the crystal so quickly? There was no time for the ritual between Meetra's destruction of your defenses and when she ended your life."

"You assume much," Kreia replied. "Did you think I would have risked all on a battle with the Exile in which I knew I would not be the victor? Well trained in combat, that one was, by both myself later and by you at her true beginning. Even before my final encounter with the Exile, my spirit resided in this crystal, animating my already-abandoned body. Yet my transformation into a simulacrum of myself left me unaware of the events of the galaxy for the intervening milennia. Tell me, how did the Exile fare in my absence? Did she abandon my teachings and recreate the flaws of the old Jedi Order, ensuring its ongoing stagnation and impotency?"

"No," Revan said, "but neither is she following exactly what I believe you would have chosen. She is making her own path, and in my opinion doing very well with it."

"If she learned to consider the ramifications of her actions and make intentional choices with an awareness of the consequences," Kreia said, "then perhaps my teachings were not completely lost," Kreia said. "Although the evidence proves that whatever she builds will not be sustained. I have learned through Skywalker that the Jedi Order fell twice in recent years, the first time spiritually through the pride that seems inescapable for the Order, and the second time in battle against the Sith. Perhaps the Jedi simply cannot be saved. Skywalker, though, is something truly special."

Skywalker, Revan thought. That's the Jedi Master's name. A bit grandiose, but if anyone deserved it, it might be him. But Kreia had not stopped speaking.

"When I trained you, I thought you the greatest I would ever encounter. Though you could never match the talents of the old Masters, their ancient knowledge long lost, you were the peak of our era, the very heart of the Force. But Skywalker? He is its soul. Yes, long after my physical death, I have found one even greater than you, and so my last shall be more than my first. Given time and proper training, he could perhaps rival those Masters of old. What the Exile required the destruction of Malachor to achieve, he has done willingly, and in his own strength. Few there have been that survived being so completely severed from the Force, yet none of their own accord. Only one has broken their own chains, freed themseves by their own hand. He exists now apart from the dominion of the Force. No longer does it control his actions, bend his will. And he carries the pain of all Jedi. The lost hopes of twenty five thousand years of misplaced ideals sit upon his shoulders. And this guilt is not misplaced. He knows that he, and he alone, had the ability to rise above all the failures of those who came before him, achieve the impossible dreams that none other could touch. And that is why he can save the galaxy from the Force."

"Your goal, then is to kill the Force itself?" Revan asked in disbelief.

"Surely you are not that foolish," Kreia said. "Kill the Force? It would be easier to extinguish all the stars simultaneously. What can be done, however, is to remove our reality from its influence, to sever its ties to our galaxy. There are realms other than these. Let the Force have those. I will rescue ours from its dominion."
"You intend to disconnect the Force from the galaxy?" Revan asked. "That doesn't seem much less ambitious."

"That is because you do not understand the power of Malachor's echo," Kreia said. "I had not considered that subtle irony. For it was by your design that it was created, yet never did you realize what you had birthed into existence. I had thought to combine the echo of Malachor with the echo from the Exile's wound, killing the Exile at Malachor and releasing the echoes in a self-reinforcing cascade that would deafen the galaxy to the Force. But while that might have protected the galaxy for generations, eventualy I fear that even its cacophony would fade. Would the galaxy remember its lesson and stand on its own, or would it again fall under the Force's subjugation? I think the latter. What Skywalker offers is a permanent solution."

"Kreia, what are you planning to do?" Revan asked, an edge in her voice now.

"Ahhh, do you not see it?" Kreia asked. "For all your ability, for all your gifts of strategy, you have never reached into the true mysteries. In this way, your power may be a curse, a crutch on which you lean, preventing you from learning to truly stand."

"Answer the question," Revan demanded.

"To you, old student, I will give this one last gift. I will reveal what is soon to occur. Malachor's echo remains. In the long years while I floated in space, bonded to the crystal, my spirit drew the echo into it. The echo is here!" Kreia said this last triumphantly, as if it closed the subject, but Revan was still puzzled.

"That's still not an answer," Revan said sharply. "What are you going to do?"

"Like a child, you cannot understand even when the picture is held before you. That is a disappointment. The burden of all true masters is that their students fail to grow beyond them. Very well, I will explain the picture for you. In the final moment, when the echo is freed, Skywalker will reconnect to the Force and use his immense affinity to it like a conduit, to unleash his wrath. Unlike the Exile, who could at most amplify the echo, Skywalker's power will be fueled by it. He will be as a burning blade, a shining instrument of liberation that will free all in this galaxy from their long oppression at the invisible hands of an unfeeling overlord who seeks only its own vision of balance."

OTHER THINGS I COULD CONSIDER WORKING INTO THIS SECTION: - IDEA OF BALANCE WITH THE FORCE AS A SPHERE AND BALANCE AT THE CENTER. THAT COULD BE REVAN'S DESCRIPTION OF IT, TO BOTH BRING OUT THAT CONCEPT, AND ALSO TO SHOW THAT REVAN ACTUALLY DOES UNDERSTAND MORE ABOUT THIS STUFF THAN KREIA - REVAN SAYING SOMETHING TO THE EFFECT OF "You were rejected by both the Jedi and Sith, and your reaction is to blame the Force? Did you ever consider that the problem might be you?" She practically spat this final word, and Revan was amazed that, for all Kreia's self-proclaimed wisdom, she was still apparently oblivious to her own hypocrisy. Her description of the Force more accurately described herself. Was this the root of her pathology, Revan wondered? Was she unknowingly goaded on by her own hidden self loathing, desiring to attack the Force because it was a representation of her? But now was no time to analyze Kreia's complex psychology. Revan could feel her time growing short, the effort of this projection through time and space steadily sapping her. She needed to finish this.

"I have seen what will become if you succeed," Revan said. "I cannot allow it."

"Cannot allow?" Kreia said with disdain. "You cannot stop me. You lack the vision. You were always too bound to the events of the moment. There is an appropriate time for the mundane physical realities, but ever you neglected the higher callings, the elevated purposes. Though your schemes were intricate and many-layered, they were forever doomed in reach because you refused to look to the horizon. That is your weakness."

"And your weakness is your overconfidence," Revan said.

"Oh is it now," Kreia said, her voice dripping with scorn. "Enlighten me, then my student. Show how you have surpassed your master. Here we stand, a spirit and a projection, unable to influence the world around us. We can, at most, nudge their minds, cast a stray thought, a gentle inclination. Years, it has taken me to bring Skywalker to this point. You cannot think my hold on him so weak that you may dislodge it now, in the few moments available to you. So what shall you do? Shall we battle, you and I, in a pointless display of ineffective power? While such an exercise might be dramatic to behold, it would do no harm to either of us. You have learned little, my foolish apprentice, I have won. So please, explain to me, how this flaw you see in me will be my doom."

"That's my crystal," Revan said.

Kreia's unseeing eyes opened wide with realization. And terror.

"I see you understand, my oh-so-wise master," Revan said, mirroring Kreia's scorn. For a moment, she almost continued her verbal assault, almost took the opportunity to return some of the vitriol that Kreia had dispensed to so many others of the years. It would be a fitting revenge, Revan thought, to not only defeat Kreia, but to first break her, as Revan had broken so many others before her. But then Revan caught herself. How subtle was the Dark Side, how easy to slip back into old ways of thinking, into destructive paths long abandoned. Revan took a deep breath, centered herself, and began again in a more even tone.

"As you yourself taught me many years ago, a kyber crystal has its own voice in the Force. Its existence transcends the physical. Mine called to me across the eons because it knew what you intended. It facilitated visions from the Force of what would happen if you were not stopped. Not because of any benevolence on its part - this is Darth Revan's crystal after all - but because some almost-alive part of it desires to continue to exist. I will grant one of its wishes. I will stop your plans. As for the other, because the crystal extends into the spiritual realm, and because as my crystal it remains strongly connected to me, I can affect it, even as a projection. The crystal ends here, one last relic of a past I set aside many years ago."

"No!" Kreia said desperately. "You cannot- I will-"

"You will do nothing," Revan said calmly, walking across the hut past Kreia, ignoring her continued protests. "As you already explained, we cannot harm each other. But I can do this."

Revan placed her hands around the crystal and focused her thoughts on it. She could sense that her energy, already overextended by projecting herself across time and space, was almost exhausted. But she ignored that and continued, the crystal beginning to glow a brilliant red. She had to destroy it, but she could not let the echo escape. Without Skywalker's wound it would not have the galaxy-wide effects that Kreia had intended, but Revan feared it might have a local one, and she had to protect Skywalker from any last assault. Revan was vaguely aware that Kreia was alternating between cursing at her and futilely searching for some technique, some secret by with she might deter Revan. But there was none. With a loud blast, the crystal exploded in Revan's hands, throwing her backward. Even as she flew across the hut, Revan maintained her focus, directing the echo inward in a self-canceling reverbation that faded harmlessly. And although Revan knew she was just a projection into this reality, the wall of the hut felt very solid as her head struck it and she briefly slipped into blackess.

=====================
When Revan came to, she was alone. She lay crumpled against the wall of the hut for several minutes, unable to rise, feeling herself begin to fade. Destroying the crystal had taken her last reserves of strength. She knew her life was still tied to her failing body, which was dying four thousand years ago on Coruscant, its energy expended. There was no possibility of return. But then, she hadn't expected to.

Kreia was gone. With the crystal destroyed, Kreia's spirit had been released to whatever awaited truly dead Darksiders. And the Jedi Master, Skywalker, was freed. His road would still not be easy. The crystal had been to blame for only part of his struggles, and he might not yet even realize that anything had changed. But without its influence, Revan believed, he would now reopen himself to the Force and begin his own healing process.

There was one more thing Revan had to do, one more thing she had to see. With the last bit of her failing power, Revan sought a final vision of Skywalker's future, and the Force answered her call.

The Jedi Master sat alone, in a high place overlooking the sea. His face was calm. Deep lines were etched upon it, but they seemed to be relics of past hardship, strangers to the person he now was. His eyes were bright and clear, and his countenance and demeanor spoke of peace. Though his body sat alone in this place of beauty, his essence was elsewhere. The galaxy's last spark of hope was threatened, and he had gone to save it. Those he cared for most were in danger far away. His friends. His young student. His sister. And with them, all who still stood against the oppressing shadow threatening to cover the galaxy. He had the power to save them, and he used it now, projecting himself to be with them against their adversary. He knew this effort would claim his life, but he did not mind. There was no death, there was the Force.
Skywalker slipped quietly into the Force, his purpose fulfilled, and Revan followed with him.

Carth held his wife's lifeless body in his arms, unwilling to let go. Even after her injuries, she had always seemed larger than life to him, a presense that filled any room. Now with her empowering spirit gone, her physical remains seemed tiny, featherweight in his arms. His cheeks wet, he looked down at her vacant face through tear-filled eyes. Had she accomplished her mission? Had she saved the Jedi Master, and the galaxy? Of course she had, he thought. She was Revan.

AUTHOR'S NOTES:

Per the following links, Luke has a lightsaber crystal in his hut in TLJ that might have been Revan's:

Reddit
inverse.com
screenrant.com

As a KOTOR fanfic author and a Luke fanboi since I saw ANH in the theater as a child, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to write a fanfic starring both Revan and Luke.

I'm going to include more thoughts, notes, and background material than I usually do in end notes. Mostly because it was a lot of work to put together and I don't want to lose it all, but maybe someone somewhere will be interested in it.

When rewatching TLJ after reading the above links, it struck me that some of the things Luke was saying were very Kreia-esque. And it also occurred that the lightsaber crystal, if Revan's, was most likely Revan's Sith crystal that was presumably lost when Malak attacked Revan's flagship, prior to the events of KOTOR 1.

I originally set out to write a story that involved Revan and Luke actually talking to each other, and Revan helping Luke get past his issues. In this idea, the influence of Revan's crystal alone would have been enough to affect Luke (with the Kreia-esque influence present because Kreia was Revan's original teacher). Considering just the TLJ novelization, I might have been able to wedge that in without making Yoda's role redundant, but it would have been a stretch. The movie was harder, though. I just didn't see any way to cram that into the movie version of TLJ without being utterly ridiculous. As much as I with they hadn't cut the "third lesson" from the cinematic version, I have to admit that Luke's motivations make more sense without it. Adding Revan to the cinematic version of the story would have just muddied things.

I also played with an idea where Yoda is trying to help Luke, but the Dark Side power of the crystal won't let Yoda onto the island, or at least close enough to where Luke is. Revan and Yoda could talk, and Revan could go take care of the crystal so that Yoda could help Luke. Their conversation would have gone something like:

"Enter you cannot. More like me than like the living you already are. No ethereal being of the Light can pass."

"I belong to neither the Light nor the Darkness"

(Yoda closes eyes momentarily) "The truth you speak. Concerned for you, I am. Darkness cannot become one with the Force, but Light cannot die. What happens in the end to one who belongs to neither, I do not know."

"Nor do I. It was good to meet you" (takes step forward)

"Wait! Return to your body you must, while you still can, so you may resolve this division in your soul. If enter you do, forever will you stand alone."

(Revan shakes head slowly) "I have been a villain, a conqueror, and a hero. Today, I am a savior." (walks in)

Ultimately, I decided that sounded too corny. But it was a fun line of thought, so I preserved the idea here.

Eventually, I took a fallback plan of making Kreia more directly responsible for Luke's condition than I'd originally intended. This gave me a chance to imagine an antagonistic conversation between Reven and Kreia, which I'd never done before and which was a lot of fun to write. I have not read all the various Star Wars materials from current Disney canon (comics, novels, etc.) so it is possible that the final version violates something in there. If so, I don't really care. Fanfics are just for fun, after all.

In the version I went with, the crystal goes straight from Revan's hand, to Kreia's, to Luke's, with massive periods of floating around in space in between, but never with anyone else touching it in the interim. This seemed like a good journey for the crystal in this story. It also means the crystal was with Kreia for the entirety of KOTOR II, giving her plenty of time to embed it with her philosophy, and also to attach herself to it. Kreia, of course, would have wanted the crystal not only for its inherent power and knowledge, but also as a piece of Revan. Based on her KOTOR II conversation, she's a bit of a Revan fangirl herself, even though, being Kreia, she does have some criticisms of Revan as well.

I hope that the jumping around between timelines in the earlier part of the story wasn't too disorienting. I wanted that to reflect and communicate Revan's confusion about what was going on. The final portion of the story, once Revan starts following the thread, was intended to bring all that together in a clarifying way. Hopefully that worked for you, the reader. Also, I used the thread concept rather than having Revan see/recognize the crystal earlier in the story, because I didn't want there to be any possibility of Revan going after the crystal in her present to prevent Luke from ever getting it in the first place. While this story does involve time travel of a sort, I really didn't want it to be a time travel story, with the associated paradoxes and attendent "this is how time travel works in this story" exposition. While I didn't avoid all of that, hopefully I mostly sidestepped it.

Notes from TLJ book (page numbers are from my hardback copy):

Luke's second change, from being ready to burn the books to projecting to save the Resistance, is fully explained by Yoda. No good way to shove Revan in there.

The first change, the one between the final lesson Luke gives Rey and him opening himself back to the Force, might give a space. If Revan destroys the crystal and talks to Luke there, it could explain the change. Hard to see how he would have actually had a conversation with Revan, though. So may have to be that simply destroying the crystal is enough to help him.


Before opening himself to the Force, Luke's feelings are basically:

So his progression down Kreia's desired path is only partial. He does not yet blame the Force itself. That could happen in Revan's visions after Rey's death on Crait (which happens because vision-Luke didn't go). And then he would decide to kill Ben, both because Ben deserves it and to end the Force (per Kreia's teachings via the crystal finally consuming him)

The cinematic release of the movie cuts the "third lesson" where Rey runs to "save" the Caretakers from the "raiders" and crashes their party. It cuts (with a Finn/Rose scene in the middle) from the "second lesson" where Rey says the "Kylo Ren failed you, I won't" line to Luke opening himself back up to the Force. The implication is that Rey convinced him.

So in the cinematic version we see:

So nothing ever says, or even hints, that Luke was going to go with Rey, as the novel outright says. It seems to suggest that, at most, he's decided to train her. Or maybe just be nicer to her. But go back and save the galaxy? I don't see anything suggesting that in the movie.

This leaves less of a jumping-in place for Revan than the book. All Luke's motivations are pretty well explained already. There is definitely no place that Revan talking to Luke clears up anything in a way that improves the movie's narrative. But the movie doesn't exclude Revan destroying the crystal after Luke's "second lesson" conversation with Rey and Luke reopening himself to the Force. That seems to be my best spot to insert it in a way that makes sense for both the movie and the book.