The components began to rise.
The dark frame separated into several pieces. Gold bearings rotated around it while the internal mechanisms lifted from the station.
The crystal rose last.
Golden light passed through the chamber.
Blue sparks moved across its surface and reached toward the pieces surrounding it.
Khan remained still.
He had constructed a lightsaber before.
He knew where each component belonged. He knew how the power cell connected to the emitter and how the crystal must be positioned within the focusing chamber.
But the pieces resisted him.
Khan reached deeper into the Force.
The Sith Sanctum answered.
Darkness moved from the walls and gathered around him. The emotions left behind by those who once walked these halls pressed against his mind.
Anger.
Hatred.
Ambition.
The desire to dominate.
Khan used them.
He remembered the creature beneath the waterfall.
Its body collapsing beneath the Force.
He remembered the storm.
Lightning passing through his body and becoming his power.
The components moved faster.
Metal locked around the power cell.
The emitter began taking shape.
Khan pushed harder.
The pieces trembled.
The crystal remained above them.
It refused to descend.
Khan's expression tightened.
Malgus had told him to command the weapon.
To make it obey.
Khan forced his will upon the crystal.
Blue energy erupted from its surface.
Several components broke away from their positions.
Khan opened his eyes.
The pieces remained suspended before him, shaking beneath the pressure.
Something was wrong.
He possessed the strength to force them together.
But strength alone would not make the weapon his.
Khan closed his eyes again.
He remembered another chamber.
Not dark stone or broken statues.
A quiet room within the Jedi Temple.
His first lightsaber had floated before him. Its pieces had moved slowly as Khan struggled to control them.
Dooku stood nearby.
He had not interfered.
He had not told Khan what the weapon should become.
He had simply watched.
"Do not force the crystal to answer you," Dooku had said.
Khan remembered the impatience he felt.
"Then how am I supposed to complete it?"
"Listen."
"To the crystal?"
"To yourself."
The memory faded.
Khan felt the Sanctum around him again.
The darkness remained.
So did Malgus.
Khan could sense the ancient Sith watching from beyond his meditation.
Then Dooku's voice returned.
"Remember, Khan…"
The components slowed.
"Just because the world moves toward destruction does not mean you must follow."
Khan's hold weakened.
The pieces remained in the air, but the pressure surrounding them faded.
He thought of Dooku's broken lightsaber.
The curved hilt collapsing within Malgus's hand.
The emitter falling apart.
The remains striking the cave floor.
Khan had tried to put them together.
Even after knowing they could not be repaired.
Malgus's words followed.
"As long as you wield your master's weapon, you will remain beneath his shadow."
Khan had hated him for saying it.
He still did.
But Malgus had not been entirely wrong.
Khan could not become Dooku.
He could not spend his life attempting to follow every step his master had taken. Dooku's path had ended on Naboo.
His teachings had not saved him.
They had not saved Yoda.
They had not saved him from Malgus's power.
But they had brought Khan here.
Dooku had taught him how to fight.
How to think.
How to question the commands of those above him without abandoning those who needed his help.
His master's legacy was not the weapon Malgus destroyed.
It remained within Khan.
He would not live beneath Dooku's shadow.
But neither would he abandon everything his master gave him.
Khan reached toward the components again.
Malgus wanted to make him a weapon.
Something strong enough to fulfill a purpose Khan did not yet understand.
If Khan allowed Malgus to decide what that strength meant, then he had gained nothing.
He would only replace one shadow with another.
Khan would not become Master Dooku.
He would not become Malgus.
The weapon before him would belong to neither of them.
It would belong to him.
Khan allowed his anger to return.
Not only the anger Malgus encouraged.
All of it.
His anger toward the Sith who killed his master.
Toward the Jedi who failed to see the darkness gathering around them.
Toward the cultists who sacrificed children.
Toward Malgus for destroying the last thing he possessed of Dooku.
Toward himself.
For surviving when greater Jedi had fallen.
For being too weak to save them.
The dark side answered.
Power moved through Khan.
The components began joining again.
This time, he did not stop with anger.
He remembered Kit laughing after one of their sparring matches.
Aayla sitting beside him in silence when he had no words to offer.
Dooku correcting his stance before allowing Khan to try again.
Yoda watching him with patient eyes.
Padmé speaking of those with power becoming a voice for those without it.
The people of Thalonis receiving the aid that had been stolen from them.
Xavier leading the children away from the cultists.
Memories continued passing through him.
Some brought pain.
Others brought warmth he had almost forgotten.
Khan allowed himself to feel all of them.
Hatred.
Anger.
Grief.
Love.
Sorrow.
Happiness.
Fear.
Hope.
Every emotion had shaped him.
None would be discarded.
The Sanctum grew darker.
The power surrounding Khan pressed against the components. The dark side remained the strongest current flowing through him.
But it was not all that remained.
The golden crystal descended.
It entered the center of the weapon.
Blue sparks leapt between the components.
The dark frame closed around them.
Gold bearings locked into place.
Khan felt the weapon taking shape.
Not as Dooku's successor.
Not as Malgus's creation.
As his own.
The Force surged through the chamber.
The completed lightsaber flew into Khan's hand.
Its weight pulled against his wrist.
It was heavier than his first weapon.
Khan tightened his grip.
His thumb touched the activation switch.
A golden blade erupted from the hilt.
Light filled the Sith Sanctum.
Blue sparks moved around the blade, appearing and disappearing within its glow.
The statues surrounding the chamber were illuminated.
Figures that had watched generations of Sith rise and fall now looked down upon Khan.
He opened his eyes.
Amber reflected against gold.
The weapon hummed in his hand.
It carried his anger.
His grief.
His hope.
His strength.
His power.
Malgus looked at him.
Then he smiled.
"Good."
Khan lowered the blade.
"You are ready."
Khan deactivated the weapon.
The golden light disappeared, leaving the red glow of the Sanctum around them.
"Ready for what?"
Malgus turned toward a passage at the back of the chamber.
"There is an artifact beneath this world."
Khan secured his new lightsaber at his side.
"What kind of artifact?"
"One that has fed upon this planet since before the ruins above were abandoned."
Malgus began walking.
Khan remained where he stood.
"And what does that have to do with us?"
"The artifact anchors the darkness surrounding this world. Its influence reaches beyond the planet and prevents those trapped here from escaping."
Khan thought of the transport.
Every attempt to locate their position had failed. Their instruments could not identify the system, and the darkness surrounding the planet interfered with their connection to the Force.
"If we destroy it…"
"We will release what it contains."
Malgus looked back at him.
"It must be sealed."
Khan's attention returned to the passage.
If Malgus was telling the truth, sealing the artifact could allow the Jedi to leave.
It could save Kit.
Aayla.
Coleman.
Xavier and the children.
Khan looked at Malgus.
"That does not explain why you needed me."
Malgus's yellow eyes moved toward the weapon at Khan's side.
"What we are about to do requires the strength of two."
He faced the passage again.
"No other being upon this world possessed what was needed."
Malgus continued walking.
Khan followed.
Questions remained.
Malgus had been imprisoned inside the ruins when Khan found him.
He claimed to have only recently awakened.
Yet he knew where the lightsaber components had been hidden.
He knew where to find the crystal.
He remembered every path through Kaas City.
Now, he knew of an artifact buried beneath the planet.
Khan kept the questions to himself.
He was not strong enough to force answers from Malgus.
Not yet.
They moved through the passage and descended farther into the Sith Sanctum.
The walls became rougher.
Symbols had been carved into the stone, but many were damaged beyond recognition. Some had been cut apart deliberately.
Malgus never slowed.
The passage ended before an ancient elevator.
Its platform was surrounded by four broken pillars. Beyond it, a shaft descended into complete darkness.
Malgus stepped onto the platform.
Khan joined him.
The golden crystal pulsed within his new weapon as he crossed the edge.
Malgus raised one hand.
A mechanism inside the wall activated.
The platform moved.
They descended.
The red light from the Sanctum disappeared above them.
Darkness surrounded the elevator.
Khan stood across from Malgus.
The ancient warrior remained silent.
Khan looked toward the shaft below.
He could feel something waiting there.
The sensation was faint at first.
A cold presence at the edge of his mind.
It became stronger as they descended.
Khan thought of his friends.
They had no way of knowing he survived the cultists.
Kit and Aayla might already believe he was dead.
Xavier possessed Khan's communicator, but there was no guarantee the signal had reached Coleman.
Every instinct told Khan to return to them.
Instead, he continued deeper beneath the planet with a Sith he did not trust.
If sealing the artifact weakened the darkness surrounding this world, then this was the fastest way to help them.
Khan placed one hand near his new lightsaber.
The unfamiliar weight offered little comfort.
The descent continued.
Minutes passed.
Then more.
The shaft seemed endless.
The air grew colder.
The presence beneath them became heavier.
It did not feel like the darkness in the forest.
That darkness had surrounded Khan.
This darkness reached toward him.
Whispers entered his thoughts.
At first, he could not understand them.
Then they began using voices he recognized.
Dooku.
Yoda.
Kit.
Aayla.
Khan closed his eyes.
The voices disappeared.
Malgus looked toward him.
"Prepare yourself."
Khan opened his eyes.
"For what?"
"What waits below will test the limits of your mind."
The ancient warrior faced the darkness beneath them.
"If your will fails, your body will be the least of what you lose."
Khan waited for more.
Malgus offered nothing.
The platform continued downward.
Eventually, a floor appeared beneath them.
The elevator stopped.
Khan stepped from the platform.
Darkness struck him.
His body froze.
A violent presence entered his mind.
Images passed through his vision.
Worlds covered in fire.
Cities without life.
Stars disappearing one after another.
Something vast reached toward him.
Hungry.
Endless.
Khan fell onto one knee.
Whispers surrounded him.
Some promised power.
Others spoke of death.
One voice told him to surrender.
Another told him he already had.
Khan reached for the Force.
The darkness swallowed his senses.
His hand closed around his new lightsaber.
The golden crystal responded.
Blue energy moved across the hilt and into his arm.
Khan remembered everything he placed within the weapon.
His anger.
His grief.
His love.
His purpose.
The darkness pressed deeper.
Khan held onto those emotions.
They belonged to him.
The presence could not take them.
Khan forced himself onto his feet.
The images faded.
The whispers remained, but they no longer controlled his thoughts.
He opened his eyes.
Malgus was already walking.
Khan followed.
For the first time, the ancient warrior moved more slowly.
His shoulders were tense. Dark energy gathered around his armor and dragged behind him like smoke.
Each step carried more effort than the last.
Malgus did not stop.
The sight unsettled Khan more than the whispers.
He had watched Malgus crush his presence without raising a hand.
He had seen him absorb the mountain's lightning without pain or strain.
Now, even Malgus struggled.
Whatever waited ahead was more powerful than Khan imagined.
They continued through the underground passage.
The walls were smooth and black. No crystals illuminated the way, yet a faint red glow appeared farther ahead.
The darkness grew stronger as they approached it.
An enormous door emerged before them.
It stretched from the floor into the shadows above. Unlike the other entrances within the Citadel, it had no opening through the center.
Two mechanisms had been built into the walls on opposite sides.
Malgus approached the one on the right.
Khan looked toward the left.
"We must channel our strength together," Malgus said.
He placed one hand against the mechanism.
"I will move the right."
Khan approached the opposite wall.
"You will move the left."
Khan placed his hand against the stone.
Cold passed through his palm.
Dark energy moved beneath the surface.
He felt the mechanism extending deep into the wall. Both sides were connected to the door above them.
Neither could move without the other.
"Now."
Khan reached into the Force.
The mechanism resisted him.
He pushed harder.
Nothing happened.
Across the chamber, Malgus's side began to move.
Stone shifted within the wall.
Khan focused upon the strength he gained from the creature and the storm.
Blue sparks moved across his hand.
The left mechanism shifted.
The door began to rise.
Stone ground against the floor.
A narrow opening appeared beneath it.
Darkness erupted through the gap.
The energy struck Khan like a wave.
His feet slid backward.
The mechanism began slipping from his control.
The door began to lower.
"Focus!" Malgus shouted.
Khan attempted to regain his hold.
The darkness filled his mind.
Dooku falling.
Yoda's body.
His lightsaber disappearing into the pit.
The children he left beside it.
His new weapon suddenly felt heavy at his side.
The door continued lowering.
Malgus's voice cut through the images.
"Is this as far as your ambition carries you?"
Khan opened his eyes.
He had only just forged his weapon.
Only just claimed the strength to choose what he would become.
He would not allow that path to end here.
Khan reached deeper.
Lightning moved through his body.
Blue energy spread across both arms.
The left mechanism rose.
The door stopped falling.
Khan pushed.
Across the chamber, Malgus answered with more strength.
The ancient stone trembled.
Darkness continued pouring through the opening.
Neither released their hold.
The door rose higher.
Khan felt his muscles straining.
The pressure beneath the door fought against them as though something on the other side wanted it to remain sealed.
Khan shouted and gave everything he had.
The mechanisms reached their limits.
The door locked above them.
Darkness filled the chamber.
Khan released his hold.
He fell onto one knee.
His arms trembled.
His breathing became uneven.
The effort had taken more from him than climbing the mountain.
Malgus walked beneath the open door.
Khan looked up.
The ancient warrior did not wait.
Khan forced himself to stand.
He followed.
A vast circular room waited beyond the entrance.
Nothing could be seen at first.
Then a purple flame ignited along the wall.
Another followed.
Fire moved around the chamber in both directions. One flame after another came alive until the entire room was illuminated.
At the center stood a dark pedestal.
A red holocron floated above it.
The object rotated slowly.
Light pulsed from within it.
Each pulse carried darkness through the chamber.
Khan felt it travel into the walls.
Into the ground.
Into the planet above them.
He approached beside Malgus.
"Where are we?"
Malgus looked toward the holocron.
"At the heart of this darkness."
Khan studied the artifact.
It was small enough to fit within his hands.
Yet the power surrounding it filled the chamber and reached far beyond anything Khan could sense.
The golden crystal within his lightsaber reacted.
A cold sensation passed across Khan's back.
He turned.
The purple flames bent toward the center of the room.
Darkness gathered above the holocron.
It rose slowly.
The shadows stretched into the shape of a person.
Its body floated above the pedestal. Pieces of darkness broke from it and disappeared before returning to its form.
No face could be seen.
Only an endless hollow beneath its hood.
The presence ignored Khan.
It looked toward Malgus.
A voice entered the chamber.
It came from the shadow.
From the walls.
From inside Khan's mind.
"You dare stand in my way again…"
The flames shook.
"Malgus?"
Malgus did not reach for his weapon.
"You are a fragment of a fallen Emperor."
His yellow eyes remained fixed upon the apparition.
"Do not pretend to be anything more."
The chamber trembled.
The shadow released a scream.
Purple flames rose toward the ceiling.
"Malgus!"
Darkness spread from the holocron.
"You will not stop my revival!"
The faceless figure turned toward Khan.
Its presence pressed against him.
"The galaxy still remains…"
The red holocron pulsed.
"…to be consumed."
Khan looked between them.
Malgus had faced this being before.
The shadow was all that remained of an ancient Sith Emperor.
A fragment preserved within the holocron.
Waiting.
Feeding upon the planet.
Preparing to return.
Khan's hand closed around his new lightsaber.
Blue sparks moved across the dark hilt.
Malgus reached for his own weapon.
The Emperor's fragment spread its arms.
Darkness filled the chamber.