Awakening

Cregen awoke in a dark room. He recognized the scent almost immediately, it was the Imperial Academy on Coruscant. He frowned at the realization, why would of they brought him here? He remembered what had happened. They had managed to slice his systems and a proton torpedo caught his cockpit head on. He had managed to manually trigger the eject and punch out right before the torpedo hit but not soon enough that he wasn't riddled with shrapnel. He remembered floating in space, trying to seal the hundreds of micro-tears in his suit before blacking out. And now he was here, at the Academy and in his old room if he recalled. It didn't make sense. He sat up in his bed, groaning in anticipation of the pain. It didn't come. Panicking he looked down and realized that he was whole again. His cybernetic arms and legs were gone and his own limbs were all back. He patted them to be sure and smiled. He was himself again. But how? A wash of realization swept over him.
"Am I dead?" he said to no one in particular. A hissing noise caused him to whirl, scrambling back in his bed. The door to the room had opened. There was no one on the other side and it sat open, a low-light spilling into the room. He stood up cautiously and walked to the door, peering out into the hallway - empty.
"Hello!" he called, voice echoing down the hall. "Anyone there?" His voice echoed off the walls and down the vacant corridors. This was odd. The Academy was always packed with new recruits. They ran classes 24/7 so there was always some kind of activity going on.

He walked down the hallway of the barracks, searching every open room and hallways for any sign of life. After the eighth or ninth room he began to accept the fact that he was alone. Maybe he had died. People had certainly died from less and he knew he wasn't in good condition when he had blacked out. He strode down the hall, arms folded against his sides as he grappled with the cold reality of his situation. He was going to the main concourse of the Academy. He didn't know why he was but he felt that it was the right thing to do. He had always liked being in the concourse. It ran down the center of the pinnacled building. The vaulted ceilings and ornate halls reminded him of the palace in Korhall, his home. He would spend hours, lounging in the concourse with his friends, studying for their tests, and trying to win the affection of some of the more fetching female pilots. His two closest friends and eventually wingmen, Asren and Masserecht, had met him hear and saved him from a particularly irate Corellian who had caught him flirting with his girlfriend. They had all brawled together, them having his back and he having theirs, against the group of Corellian and then kept their mouths shut when the overseers pulled them in individually for questions. They were his closest friends, some of his only friends to be honest. Royalty didn't have the privilege of friends in most circumstances so those two were a treasure for him.
"And now they're dead," he thought. Both of them had been flying with him at Kessel when they attacked. They fell in the first wave of the attack to the Rebel X-Wings. He hadn't had time to grieve their loss and the sadness was just beginning to sink in. He leaned back against one of the stone pillars and slid to the floor. They were dead and he likely was as well. Even in the cold embrace of death he couldn't be re-united with his friends; it was a final rebuke against him for slights unknown. He rested his head in his hands and began to cry.

Footsteps sounded and he scrambled to his feet. A few feet away, standing in the middle of the hallway was a figure cloaked in long black robes. The hood was drawn and it's face was almost completely shrouded. Under the hood he could make out what appeared to be a metallic mask of some sort - surface etched with designs. Two yellow eyes pierced through the shadows from behind the mask. He stumbled backwards and raised his hands defensively.
"Who are you!" he yelled, completely overrun with emotion. "Get away from me!" he called.
"Quiet child. Do not presume to tell me what to do," the figure snapped in a gravelly voice. It raised a gloved hand and Cregen felt an unseen force grab him. He was raised off the ground despite his best efforts to squirm free, and drifted slowly towards the figure.
"What are you doing? What are you!" he cried out. The figure said nothing. He stopped about two feet from the figure and was dropped gingerly to the ground. He braced himself for an attack but nothing came. Staring at the figure he gasped and pointed at it.
"Wait, are you the Emperor? I've seen you before on the holovids." he said. The figure shook with a course and abrasive laugh.
"No child I am not your Emperor. Sidious believes that he and Vader are all that is left of the Sith. He is short-sighted and ignore powers which reside right under his nose," the figure snapped. Cregen frowned at him.
"You're a Sith? I thought you were all dead. The Jedi killed you all," he said confused. The figure shook its head slowly.
"You will find that a true Sith is not so easy to kill," it mused. It began to paces around him, Cregen quivered as it passed behind him but remained still.
"I was a very powerful Sith during the Old Republic. I was called many things: Farseers, Soothsayer, and most commonly a Dread Lord." it croned. "I used the dark side of the force to wreak havoc upon the minds' of my enemies. Those brutish fools such as Darth Rampage and Vindrake would rather beat down and enemy through overwhelming force where as I would sit parsecs away and delve. The Jedi believed that Bastilla Shen and her line were the true masters of Battle Meditation. They were wrong. I could cause a Republic General to put his own blaster in his mouth and end his life with my powers or an Admiral to alter their hyperspace route into a sun - it was glorious," it said with a nostalgic air to its voice.
"Unfortunately, I underestimated a young Jedi Knight. She was able to infiltrate my sanctum and strike me down. My own apprentices betrayed me, providing her an opportunity to attack. I fell that day but not before I created this," it said motioning to the world. "I trapped my mind in this place and waited. I watched as the Empire fell. I watched the Jedi dynasty rule for thousands of years and eradicating any legacy of the Sith. And then, just when I had almost given up. I watched as the years of complacency and dogma wore them down. Vader was a cancer that the Jedi order induced upon themselves. Now the Empire has returned but Sidious has no interest in growing the Sith. He fears our nature. You see, I am angry that my apprentices betrayed me but it was not unexpected. I grew ignorant in my power and refused to see the threats right in front of me. As I did to my Master, they did to me. Such is the way of the Sith," it said.
"Seems reckless," Cregen said.
"That is what the Jedi would like you to think. But search your emotions. How do you truly feel about it," the figure said, stepping close to him and almost whispering the worlds over his shoulder.
"I-I guess it could serve to bolster your ranks. So only the strong prevail," Cregan stammered. The figure breathed in slowly.
"Yes," it hissed. "You're beginning to see the method to our madness. You are not a fool my fallen prince. There is more to you than meets the eye," it finished with specific emphasis on the words. Cregen turned to face the figure but he was alone again in the room.
"And now for you and I," it said. He whirled to see if a few paces in front of him. "I waited her for years to find someone truly worthy. Someone who had not only the desire but the true capacity for hate which I require," it said. Cregen's eyes grew wide.
"Me?" he stammered. "I'm no Sith. I can't use the force?" he said.
"But you can, child. Think back to your days in these halls. Were you not just better at thing than others? Your reflexes just a little quicker, your aim always true? You could convince others to do things they didn't want to do and inspire people to rally behind you when you needed them to," it said. Cregen stood silently, thinking. He had been the top of his class. During his exams he just knew when to juke and roll. He had chalked that up to intuition but even his instructors had called his reflexes uncanny. He made Squadron Leader faster than almost anyone else in his group. He had attributed that to his royal blood but in hindsight people just seemed more willing to do things he wanted them too.
"I-I-there's no way," he said shaking his head. The figure's hands clenched, leather of the gloves audibly tightening.
"I do not have the time nor patience to convince you of this fact. So instead I will show you," it said and lunged at him. Cregen didn't have a chance to react and before he could do anything its hands were on his face.

Pain. Suffering. Darkness. A series of emotions and sensations washed through him. He felt something at the back of his mind. Something boxed up. He could sense the energy within the box but it was sealed shut. Suddenly a massive force came down and smashed the box. The energy within exploded and Cregen screamed. It was almost excruciating. He fell to his knees, blood dripping from his nose, and shook. He felt different. He had a heightened awareness for his surroundings. He felt connected to the things around him. He looked up, blood on his chin, at the figure and gasped. He could see an immovable darkness within the force. It was almost physically sickening to stare at. Fear, Pain, Death, Destruction, all these emotions washed through him. He shakily stood up and put some distance between him and the figure.
"What have you done?" he yelled.
"Unleashed a greatness within you which you had squandered for years. You have a great power inside you. Something which you convinced yourself you didn't need or desire. So you sealed it shut within your own mind to let wither in the darkness. I have awakened that power within you and set it ablaze!" the figure said, voice rising steadily.
"I know what you desire fallen prince! I see your pain. I savour it. I know the death and destruction you want to wreak upon your enemies and only I can give you the skills to do anything about it," it called out. He waved his hand and two spectral images appeared. Cregen gasped. It was Azren and Masserecht. They looked so real, both standing there and staring at him in admiration.
"I know what they have taken from you and together I can help you to take it all back," he said. Cregen looked to his friends. Stared into their eyes and the fierce fire of determination began to rekindle within him. He looked to the figure, a fire in his eyes.
"What do you need me to do," he said. The figure convulsed with a deep laugh.
"Good. I can taste the hate within you. Good, use it!" it quaked. "For too long I have sat in the shadows, waiting for an opportunity to strike! Now is the time for me to return!" it shouted. The pillars of the concourse shook under the power of its voice.
"I will restore you to life, my apprentice. I have placed the location of my tomb in your mind. Find me. I will teach in exchange help restore me to my former glory. I promise you that you will possess the power to flay the flesh from the bones of anyone who stands in your way," he said. Cregen's hands were clenched as he tried to contain the raging torrent of power inside him. He began to scream, a bestial roar as the power welled up.
"Do it!" he yelled over the torrent. The concourse cracked around him and large pieces of stone began to crash around him. "Unleash me!" he yelled. The figure raised his hands and a waves of dark lightning arced from between them and into Cregen's chest, rupturing the damn he had containing the cascade of power - blackness.

Light years away in the swamps of Dagobah a small green creature sat on a rock. He was watching a younger man run through a series of obstacles before him. He looked suddenly to the sky, a look of concern on his face. The man stopped as well, looking to the creature and then to the sky.
"Master Yoda," he said. "What is it?"
"Malefax," Yoda whispered. "He has returned".