Drew Karpyshyn - Revan

Star Wars: The Old Republic: Revan is a work of fiction. Names, places, and incidents either are products of the authors imagination or are used fictitiously.

Copyright 2011 by Lucasfilm Ltd. & .
All Rights Reserved. Used Under Authorization.

Excerpt from Star Wars: Darth Plagueis copyright 2011 by Lucasfilm Ltd. & . All Rights Reserved.
Used Under Authorization.

Published in the United States by Del Rey, an imprint of The Random House Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York.

D EL R EY is a registered trademark and the Del Rey colophon is a trademark of Random House, Inc.

This book contains an excerpt from Star Wars: Darth Plagueis by James Luceno. This excerpt has been set for this edition only and may not reflect the final content of the forthcoming edition.

eISBN: 978-0-345-53282-4

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Cover design and illustration: ATTIK

v3.1

For my wife, Jennifer

Revans story stretches all the way back to the original Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, and I want to thank everyone at BioWare who contributed to that fantastic game. Similarly, I owe a debt of gratitude to everyone at Obsidian who worked on KOTOR 2, and everyone at BioWare Austin who helped create the Star Wars: The Old Republic MMO. But most of all I want to thank all the Star Wars and Revan fans who have waited so many years for a conclusion to this tale: without your undying support this novel would never have happened.

Bastila Shan; Jedi Knight (human female)

Canderous Ordo; Mandalorian mercenary (human male)

Darth Nyriss; Dark Councilor (Sith female)

Darth Xedrix; Dark Councilor (human male)

Meetra Surik; Jedi Knight (human female)

Murtog; security chief (human male)

Revan; Jedi Master (human male)

Lord Scourge; Sith Lord (Sith male)

Sechel; adviser (Sith male)

T3-M4; astromech (droid)

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

HERE THE DARKNESS REIGNS ETERNAL. There is no sun, no dawn; just the perpetual gloom of night. The only illumination comes from jagged forks of lightning, carving a wicked path through angry clouds. In their savage wake thunder shreds the sky, unleashing a torrent of hard, cold rain.

The storm is coming, and there is no escape.

Revans eyes snapped open, the primal fury of his nightmare wrenching him awake for the third night in a row.

He lay still and quiet, turning his focus inward to ease the pounding of his heart as he silently recited the opening line of the Jedi mantra.

There is no emotion; there is peace.

A sense of calm settled over him, washing away the irrational terror of his dream. Yet he knew better than to merely dismiss it. The storm that haunted him each time he closed his eyes was more than just a nightmare. Conjured up from the deepest corners of his mind, the storm had meaning. But try as he might, Revan couldnt figure out what his subconscious was trying to tell him.

Was it a warning? A long-forgotten memory? A vision of the future? All three?

Careful not to wake his wife, he rolled out of bed and went into the refresher to splash some cool water on his face. Catching a glimpse of himself in the mirror, he stopped to study his reflection.

Even now, two standard years after rediscovering his true identity, he still had trouble reconciling the face in the mirror with the man he had been before the Jedi Council had turned him back to the light.

Revan: Jedi; hero; traitor; conqueror; villain; savior. He was all these things and more. He was a living legend; the embodiment of myth and folklore; a figure that transcended history. Yet all he saw staring back at him was an ordinary man who hadnt slept in three nights.

Fatigue was taking its toll. His angular features had become thin and drawn. His pale skin accentuated the dark circles under eyes that stared back at him from deep hollows.

Bracing a hand on either side of the sink, he slumped his head and let out a long, low sigh, his black, shoulder-length hair falling forward to cover his face like a dark curtain. After several seconds he stood up straight, using the fingers of both hands to sweep his hair back into place.

Moving quietly, he made his way from the refresher and across the small living room of his apartment. He proceeded out onto the balcony, where he stopped and stared out across Coruscants endless cityscape.

Traffic in the galactic capital never stopped, and he found the constant buzz and blur of shuttles speeding by soothing. He leaned out over the railing of the balcony as far as he could, his eyes unable to pierce the darkness to make out the planets surface hundreds of stories below.

Dont jump. I dont want to have to clean up the mess.

He turned his head at the sound of Bastilas voice behind him.

She stood at the threshold of the balcony door, the bedsheet draped around her shoulders to ward off the nights chill. Her long brown hairnormally pulled back up from her forehead into a bun on top and a short ponytail belowhung loose and sleep-tousled. Her face was only partially illuminated by the glow of the city below, yet he could see her lips pressed into a wry smile. Despite her joking words, he could see real concern etched on her features.

Sorry, he said, stepping away from the rail and turning toward her. Didnt mean to wake you. Just needed to clear my head.

Maybe you should speak to the Jedi Council, Bastila suggested. They might be able to help.

You want me to ask the Council for help? he echoed. You must have had too much of that Corellian wine at dinner.

They owe you, Bastila insisted. If it werent for you, Darth Malak would have destroyed the Republic, eliminated the Council, and all but wiped out the Jedi. They owe you everything!

Revan didnt answer right away. What she said was truehe had stopped Darth Malak and destroyed the Star Forge. But it wasnt that simple. Malak had been Revans apprentice. Against the wishes of the Council, the two had led an army of Jedi and Republic soldiers against Mandalorian raiders threatening colonies in the Outer Rim only to return not as heroes, but as conquerors.