Arriving in Sith Space, Revan and Malak posed as mercenaries to gather intelligence and
eventually formed a plan of working with the royal guard Yarri to infilitrate the Imperial
Citadel and assassinate the Emperor.
Unfortunately for them, the Sith ruler was fully aware of their presence and sent Yarri
to work as a double agent, meaning that when Revan and Malak arrived in the throne room,
the Emperor was ready and quickly dominated their minds with his unique powers.
Enslaved to his will, they were each granted an ancient title of great prestige, and reborn
into the dark side as Darth Revan and Darth Malak of the Sith Empire.
Publically, Vitiate announced they caught and executed two spies, but in private, he
ordered his new servants to return home and conquer the Republic.
To aid them in this mission, the Emperor instructed them to use the Star Forge, which was star
powered, force-infused technology built by the ancient Rakatans, capable of creating
an endless supply of ships and war materials.
In order to find this mechanical wonder, the Dark Lords left Sith space and journeyed to
Manaan, Tatooine and Korriban, collecting the final pieces of the map to reveal its
location.
On Korriban, Revan recovered the Mask of the great Sith Lord Tulak Horde, and throughout
the journey recorded a personal Holocron with his teachings and philosophy, most notably
explaining his thoughts on the relationship between master and apprentice, ideas which
later inspired Darth Bane’s rule of two and a lineage of Dark Lords who eventually
defeated the Jedi Order.
Following the map they assembled, Revan and Malak were led to the planet Lehon where they
crash landed on its surface.
Learning the planet was surrounded by a disrupter field, the Sith Lords made deals with and
betrayed both sides of a tribal conflict among the local Rakatan population, allowing them
access to the Temple of the Ancients, where the disrupter field was controlled, allowing
them to leave the planet and enter the Star Forge.
*Lehon Rakatans: A once mighty people who ruled the Infinite Empire, the planet of Lehon
was populated by some of the last Rakatan’s in the galaxy, who were now reduced to primitive
tribes.* Yet something changed within the minds of
Revan and Malak throughout the weeks and months since leaving the Sith Empire, as their distance
from Dromund Kaas and strong wills allowed the Sith Lords to unknowingly free themselves
from the Emperor’s control, leaving them with only vague recollections of their time
in the Imperial Space.
From these altered and obscure memories, the Dark Lords concluded they must take direct
control over the Republic so they might possess the strength necessary to defeat the terrible
threat waiting in the unknown regions.
Believing the Jedi proved their weakness by abstaining from the Mandalorian Wars, they
dedicated themselves to the Dark Side, and founded a New Sith Empire with Darth Revan
as Master and Darth Malak as apprentice.
Inspiring great devotion within many of those under his command during the war, Revan had
legions of loyalist soldiers ready to serve in his new Sith fleet, manning ships built
and supplied by the Star Forge.
Taking their new fleet to Korriban, they captured the planet and established an Academy to train
a new generation of Sith Lords under their command.
Hoping to better understand the Star Forge, Revan conducted an experiment by removing
a tiny piece of the device and from it created an Infinite Engine, able to absorb raw materials
and in return produced food, water, clothing and the essentials of life.* Though the Star
Forge appeared to be an incredible resource of seemingly limitless potential, prolonged
use could also have terrible side effects resulting from a design flaw unforeseen by
its creators.
*left on moon of nar shadaa* Due to the force sensitive nature of this
technology, it was corrupted by the dark side energy of the ancient Rakatans, who were cruel
slavers bent on galactic conquest.
This meant that anyone exposed to the Star Forge felt a surge of negative emotions to
the point where it could cause the downfall of entire civilizations.
Fortunately, Revan was wise enough to avoid overusing the Star Forge or obsessing over
its potential, and instead used it as a tool for a specific purpose and nothing more.
Malak however, disagreed with this decision, and believed they should spend more time studying
the Forge and exploiting its abilities.
Using his vast knowledge of the Republic and his incredible skill as a strategist, Darth
Revan planned a 20 year campaign to achieve a final and complete victory, beginning with
the First Battle of Foerost in 3958 BBY, where they captured a large portion of the enemy
fleet.
Since most saw no difference between the force wielding warriors doing battle across the
galaxy, the conflict was named the Jedi Civil War, and soon saw many Republic warriors crossing
over to the Sith, as they were sympathetic to the cause of Revan, whom they remembered
as a war hero.
Among the many defectors, the highest ranking was Saul Karath, who was made Admiral of the
entire Sith Fleet.
However, in order to prove his loyalty, Malak demanded he bomb the civilian population of
Telos IV, and so Karath did as ordered, much to the anger of Revan who wanted to conquer
and make use of the planet.
In addition to his plans for direct military engagement, Revan also ordered the assassination
of many prominent Republic figures, with the aim of crippling their leadership while keeping
the military and political structure of the government intact, thereby making it easier
to assume and maintain power upon their victory.
Yet not all his enemies were murdered in secret, as the Echani General Yusanis was so outraged
by Revan’s betrayal, he outright challenged the Sith Lord to single combat, leading to
his defeat and death.
In order to simultaneously grow the ranks of his sith warriors and reduce the size of
the enemy, he sent his servants to capture jedi, torturing and corrupting them until
they either died or fell to the Dark Side.
As for the logistical and commercial needs of his people, Revan allied with the greedy
Czerka Corporation, offering them an exclusive contract with the Sith Empire.
Though not everything was going exactly to plan, Darth Revan’s larger strategy was
working and had the Republic on the defensive, but soon an unexpected threat to his plans
emerged from within his own ranks, as his apprentice Darth Malak was growing ever more
tired of being second in command.
Though Revan and Malak were friends and comrades for years, their fall to the dark side poisoned
their relationship, transforming it from an emotional connection to a professional one,
with each now viewing the other as a useful tool to further their progress.
As a result Malak’s loyalty to Revan existed only so far as he remained strong and successful
leader.
To this end, the apprentice was beginning to suspect his master was growing weak, and
in 3957 publically challenged his authority.
In response to this insult they fought a duel in which Revan struck Malak down, removing
the man’s jaw with a strike of his lightsaber.
Though the Sith apprentice survived, he was forced to wear a prosthesis for the rest of
his life.
Despite momentarily reclaiming his authority, the rift between master and apprentice was
now visible for all to see, and another confrontation was inevitable.
In the meantime, Revan suffered yet another unexpected threat, when he was lured into
an Outer Rim trap, and soon found his vessel boarded by a jedi strike team.
Undeterred by the many light side enemies he was facing, Revan sent out a signal for
assistance and prepared for battle.
Finding the Dark Lord on the bridge, the jedi were set to engage him, only for Malak’s
fleet to arrive in time to intervene.
Yet rather than save his leader, Malak realized this was his chance to become Master of the
Sith, and so instead fired upon Revan’s ship, hoping to destroy them all.
As a result of the chaos around them, Revan was knocked unconscious while all of the jedi
were killed save for the padawan Bastilla Shan, a specialist in battle meditation, who
used her powers to save the Dark Lord’s life, which under the stress of the situation
created a force bond between them.
Escaping the ship, Bastilla took Revan’s unconscious body as well as his mask to Dantooine
where the Jedi Council decided to heal his wounds and give him a second chance at life
by wiping his memory.
Granting him a new identity as a republic soldier, the council hoped his tremendous
talents might help them in defeating the Sith Empire he created.