So. It's been almost two years since I last updated this story. Since then, I've gone through some major stuff in my life, but I'm through it and I'm not dead yet. I am so sorry it's taken me this long, but I'm going to be working a bit on Darkest Light, Brightest Shadow from now on. Now, for all of you who actually stuck around this long, I give you a new chapter in Revan's tale!
Chapter Four
Revan would survive. Bastila was sure of it. Her love had managed to travel across the galaxy, fight two wars, kill Malak, rediscover the Star Forge and save the galaxy. Surely he could overcome an upstart Jedi traitor?
"What's happening? The little blond boy who had recognized the Sith asked.
"I'm taking you to our ship." Bastila soothed him. She held the hands of two children, the little Nautolan girl and an even younger human boy. She was taking them out the only safe route she knew, the High Council's secret passage. A long and winding staircase hidden under the centre of their chamber, it was kept hidden from all Jedi except those on the Council. Revan had of course discovered it as a Padawan and shared it with her in the sweet moments they had together on the Star Forge. Before he went to face Malak.
"Why are you sad?" A young girl asked. Bastila stared at the child's caring face and felt tears form at the corners of her eyes.
"Nothing will be the same for me." She whispered softly. It was true. The weight of the situation was crashing down around her. The datapad's report said they were dead. The vision the Force showed them all told them that thousands of years had passed. If that were true . . . oh no. Her mother was surely dead. Her friends in the Jedi Order were dead. The Council was dead and gone. So much had happened, and they had been thrown into the centre of it. Bastila shook of these thoughts. She was a Jedi. She followed the Force's guidance. If it had seen fit to send her, Revan and their group to this moment, it had a reason.
"Come quickly!" Bastila urged the children when they reached the ground floor. The younglings didn't truly understand the danger and were beginning to get bored. Bastila gently pushed with the Force, guiding the children towards the hangar. The Council's passage let out into a corridor not far from where they'd encountered the twin Padawans. If she was lucky then the clones wouldn't have filled out the hallways they had cleared. A sudden voice behind Bastila made her jump and reach for her lightsaber.
""Informing: The way ahead is clear." HK-47 uttered without any emotion. Bastila hated Revan's droid. It was a cold, ruthless killer. Not unlike Darth Revan, but not the man who led their motley band. She glared at the red droid and continued on. She sighed in relief at the sight of the open hangar doors.
I hope your time is as easy as mine Revan. Bastila thought as Carth started running towards her.
This couldn't be easier! Revan laughed in his head. Vader was good with a lightsaber, he had to admit, but he had no idea how to use his anger. If Vader struck high, Revan only had to duck. Vader would counter with a kick at Revan's head, which only required a roll. Vader's anger acted as a hammer, smashing at everything that moved. Even Malak had used his rage to better purposes, like plotting and winning a war. Revan snorted as he leapt back for the fifth time.
"Stop running!" Vader shrieked. He sounded like a whiny child. They looked so opposite to their real goals, Revan realized. Vader stood in brown Jedi robes and wielded a blue lightsaber. In his attacking stance he looked the absolute beacon of heroism against a dark foe. In contrast, Revan wore his black and red armour, his grey mask crowning his face. He had sheathed his purple saber, preferring a defensive single-bladed stance. His crimson lightsaber burned brightly in the dusk of Coruscant. They circled each other in a ruined hallway, the statue of a long dead Master staring sullenly at them.
"Only if you can catch me!" Revan laughed. He tensed and surged forwards, flying overtop Vader. Revan landed over ten meters away and twirled his lightsaber dramatically. Enraged at being taunted, Vader followed suit. Breaking every rule of duelling, he swung his lightsaber high over his head. Revan backed up slightly as he prepared for the Sith's charge. Vader shrieked in anger and rushed forwards. Revan pushed on his back foot, summoning his will. As Vader closed in, Revan smiled.
"RAAAAAAAAAAGH!" He roared as he shot himself towards his opponent. If Revan had ever tried this with Malak, he would have been sliced to ribbons before he even got close to his old friend. Luckily for him, Vader didn't seem to be anywhere near Malak's level.
"Oooph!" Vader choked as Revan's shoulder slammed into his stomach. The two Force-users went crashing down together. The serene gardens they had moved their battle to was smashed to bits, with little bits of clones scattered around.
"Bastard!" Vader roared at Revan. The two men were grappling on the ground and fighting for domination. Revan could feel the sheer power coursing through Vader's limbs as the Sith slowly raised Revan into the air.
"Damn it." Revan hissed. Then Vader shrieked with rage and hurled the former Sith Lord away. Revan crashed through a statue of an old Jedi Master and kept flying, landing in a heap in one of the artificial rivers.
"Note to self: No hand to hand." Revan muttered as Vader charged. His red saber laying on the ground behind his charging opponent, Revan ducked and rolled around Vader's right. In one swift movement he drew his amethyst blade and called the blood red lightsaber into his outstretched hand. They stood there amongst the destruction, waiting for each other to make the first move. Vader held his ground with a defensive Shien stance, growling at Revan with hatred in his eyes. Revan faced him in an open stance, both sabers pointed out to the sides. It was a difficult move to pull off, but Revan was a master duelist and had trained in his chosen form, Jar'Kai, for years. At last, the lure of an open opponent caused Vader to attack. Revan immediately fell back, letting Vader gain more and more ground. It was in this test that Revan noticed something. Vader's form of lightsaber combat was immensely efficient if he were battling a squadron of blaster-wielding enemies, but found itself substandard when dueling another opponent with a lightsaber. Revan allowed himself a moment to smile, then launched his counter attack. He twisted around Vader's left, kicking the Sith Lord twice in the shin. Vader's face twisted in pain as Revan's metal greaves connected with his leg. Revan landed lightly on one foot, pivoted around and spun like a whirlwind, slashing at Vader over and over. To the Sith's credit, he weaved, dodged and parried like a master. The rage-influenced style from only minutes earlier was gone. Vader had slid into an almost clinically executed form of combat. Revan couldn't help but grin under his mask. He loved a challenge.
Revan finished his spin and immediately fell into a roll. He could feel the heat of Vader's lightsaber pass over his back as he fell towards the ground. Revan went to sweep Vader's feet out from under him, but the Sith had the same idea. Vader's foot shot out, catching Revan in the stomach as he finished his roll. The former Dark Lord was pushed down hard on his back. Revan grunted in pain as his own armour dug into his flesh from Vader's force. The Sith towered over Revan's prone form, wasting no time. Vader swung his arm back with his saber, preparing for the finishing blow. As if Revan would let him finish. The Lord of Revenge shot out both of his arms, pushing his will as hard as he could. Vader had a moment to stare in surprise before he shot off towards the stars. Revan watched in relief as the Sith flew up several floors before Vader pulled himself to safety. Revan grinned with victory as he heard the enraged man's scream. He pulled himself to his feet, grunting with discomfort.
"I hate the Temple." Revan muttered to himself. Revan moved to take a step, but found himself falling to his knees. His vision blurred with pain. He sucked in a sharp breath and glanced down at his leg.
"Ooh." Revan winced. Sometime during the fight Vader had stabbed Revan's thigh with a footlong shard of glass. It was currently stained red with his blood, more of which was slowly oozing out of his leg.
"Well this is an inconvenience." Revan said plainly. He took a moment to fiddle around with the wound, a habit his old master Kreia had hated immensely, before setting off. He had given Juhani orders to take the Ebon Hawk and leave the planet if Revan was late. And despite his honourable tendencies, Revan really didn't want to be left behind. He hobbled his way as quickly as possible through the ravaged Temple, occasionally glancing at places he recognized. The weight of his situation was starting to crash down on him. He . . . was in the future. The constantly shifting future he had spent countless restless nights worrying about. All his work as Darth Revan to strengthen the Republic, and all the work as Hando Cral to save it. It had all led to this event, the massive galactic civil war. And to the fall of the Jedi Order. Once he would have crowed with triumph. Now, he felt only remorse. All of these thoughts cumulated as Revan turned a corner. He stared down the massive hall at a shattered window, the walls scorched by blaster bolts. Slowly, he limped towards it. Was it still there? Could it possibly be?
Revan knelt down below the window. A young Twi'lek Jedi had fallen in battle, caught by surprise judging by his lightsaber still being clipped to his belt. Revan carefully moved aside the body, closing the boy's eyes in the process. He steadily felt along the wall, hoping to find the switch. Sure enough, it was still there. The wall clicked and swung open, grinding with the unuse of three thousand years. Revan laughed in surprise and relief. It still worked! Revan crawled into the small space, somewhere he hadn't been since he was a Padawan. He couldn't remember where the light was, but his mask had night vision built in. He switched in on, searching through his old haunt. Finally, Revan laid his eyes on the box. A small wooden crate from his homeworld of Deralia, it was the one object he kept when Kreia brought him to the Jedi Temple. Revan chuckled with nostalgia. Apparently the Deralians' claim that their woodworking could survive millennia was true! He reached out and pulled the box closer to him. Carefully opening it, Revan reached in and pulled out the only item within. Tears began to leak out of his eyes as Revan activated the holocron. Made over three thousand years ago, it was the only picture of Revan and his original group of friends. There he stood, tall, young and in the center. Next to him towered Alek, his best friend. Revan removed his mask as the tears began to slide down his cheeks.
"Oh, Alek." Revan laughed. "If only we knew what would become of us." On the other side of Alek stood Genia, a young girl from Corellia. She started as a bully, making fun of Revan for being an orphan. A fight between her, Revan and Alek somehow ended with a strong bond of friendship. Genia had perished during the Mandalorian War, taking a sword meant for Revan. On the other side of Revan was Aven'Gat, a canny Devaronian slicer. While not a Jedi, Aven was always somehow inside the Temple ready to regale Revan and Alek with his latest tales of adventure. Aven joined Revan in the Mandalorian Wars, and even defected to the Sith Empire when Revan and Malak returned. He was killed during the attack on Kuat. Revan smiled, taking one last look at his old friends.
"I'm sorry it's been so long." Revan whispered. He carefully slipped the holocron and its small box into his robe and slid out of his corner. Revan took one last look at the pillars of the Temple, realizing that this might be the last time he ever saw them. Then without a word, Revan twisted on his heel and sprinted towards the eastern Council spire. He had an idea.
"Carth! Carth do you read?" Revan roared into his communicator. His mask had many wonderful features, the least of which being a built in comm unit.
"Yeah, I he- you. You need - ck, Bastila and Juhani are hol- e clones!" Carth's voice broke through the static. Hopefully he could hear Revan better than Revan could hear him.
"Carth, take off now! I'm making my way to the eastern Council spire, pick me up there!" Revan shouted. His answer was a blast of static, then nothing. Revan only allowed himself a moment of fear for his friend's safety before he continued on. Despite his time away, Revan still had a map of the Jedi Temple burned into his mind. All those times I got lost have finally paid off, Revan thought to himself. Revan hurried through the Temple halls as fast as his injured leg would carry him. The silence of the halls was deafening. There were no younglings chatting, no Knights discussing plans and missions. No Masters teaching their Padawans, no support staff wandering the halls. Revan couldn't even hear the sounds of battle in distant sections of the Temple.
"One day, I will fix this." Revan swore to himself. "Vengeance will come." The former Sith Lord continued on, occasionally glancing out the massive windows of the Temple at the knife-shaped cruisers dotting the skyline of Coruscant. Then he saw it. A fleet of small, fast ships with long wings and what appeared to be crew compartments were rocketing towards the Temple. Revan estimated their size to be nearly twenty meters long, based off of the buildings they passed. If he was right, there could be anywhere from ten to thirty clones in each of them.
"They're a magnificent sight, aren't they?" A rich, smug voice called out from behind Revan. The Jedi Master spun around, drawing his ornate red lightsaber in a single fluid movement. Vader stood before him, arms folded across his chest. The Sith Lord had a proud smile plastered across his face, and was flanked by a half a dozen clone troopers. Each one had a long blaster rifle aimed at Revan.
"It's a shame you'll die long before they arrive." Vader said wistfully, his eyes dropping to the floor. Without a moment's hesitation, Revan flung out his arm and drew on the Force. Vader stumbled backwards as an immense wave of power slammed into him and his men. Vader recovered quickly, but his men were knocked back several feet. Revan twisted around and started sprinting towards the East Tower. All he had to do was make it to the end of the vast hallway and he could short-circuit the doors and stop Vader.
Then Revan's leg gave out.
The mighty warrior crashed to the hard floor of the hall, sliding forwards in a desperate attempt to go further. His armour was pressed into his stomach and his chest, and he could feel nothing but burning pain in his injured leg. Through the daze in his mind Revan could hear Vader cackling behind him. Revan slowly reached out in front of him, dragging his body forwards bit by bit. He would not be defeated now, not by some upstart little bastard who had delusions of grandeur. He was Revan! Lord of Revenge, Slayer of Mandalore the Ultimate. Vader was weak, Vader was nothing! With sheer force of will, Revan brought himself up to his knees, then to his feet. Putting most of his weight on his strong leg, Revan straightened his back and faced his opponents. Vader was slowly stalking towards Revan, with only four of his troopers flanking him. Revan glanced behind the approaching Sith Lord at the crumpled bodies of the two fallen clones.
"Their names were Claptrap and Kaidan. They died because of you." Vader spat. The wide smile he'd worn just before was gone, as was any trace of the maniacal cackling. Vader was now a predator hunting his prey. "The Jedi are evil, and they deserve death. But you, you deserve some pain before I end your miserable existence." Vader slowly reached to his belt and drew his lightsaber. He slowly activated it, staring deeply into the bright blue of the energy blade before turning back to Revan.
"You have no idea who I am, do you?" Revan asked suddenly. The advancing Sith Lord paused for a moment, before steadily continuing.
"You're just another Jedi scum." Vader growled. His troopers were fanning out, surrounding Revan. Revan stepped back quickly, trying to get his back to the Tower stairs.
"Jedi? I am so much more!" Revan chuckled lightly. "I was an orphan on a backwater planet. I fought with gangs for my very survival every hour." Revan slowed to a halt as he reached the threshold of the Tower. The clones had stopped and taken aim at him now, but Revan was confident.
"I was found by a Jedi Master, and I was taken in. I excelled in training, and I was powerful. I built my own lightsaber before any other apprentice, and I was Padawan to many Masters. Then, I became a Knight and was told to not protect the weak." Revan's face hardened under his mask at the memories. "I went to war anyway. I led armies, I commanded fleets. My enemies fell before me, and I pushed further. I found evil at the edges of the galaxy, and I fell in turn. I turned on my friends and allies, and killed millions. But I learned something through it all. I learned what I am in the galaxy, I learned what I should be. And most importantly, I learned that I AM POWER!" Revan roared at Vader before unleashing a torrent of blood red lightning at the Sith Lord. Vader twisted his lightsaber into a guard at the last second, absorbing most of the energy into the azure blade. Unfortunately, he failed to hold it all back. A single slip of his back foot and Vader lost his control, and the red lightning coursed through his body. Vader screamed in pain as his clothes began to ignite.
"Take him down!" One of the clones shouted, and the others opened fire. But Revan was ready for them. Revan turned his power against the clones and he watched with delight as the genetic warriors were cooked inside of their own armour. Once he was sure they were dead, Revan cut the power flowing through him and fell to his knees.
"Oh, Force." Revan moaned as he looked at the burning remains. "What have I done?" But the dead gave him no answer. Revan pulled himself to his feet and turned to enter the tower. While the High Council Tower might have had its own lift, the eastern Tower was more rustic and constructed with only a simple, but long, spiral staircase. Revan limped up the stairway as quickly as his injury would let him, leaving a bright trail of blood behind him as he went. Revan could feel his heart hammering in his chest and the edges of his vision were beginning to darken. He had to make it, he just had to. He would see Bastila again.
At last, Revan reached the top. He stumbled into the Council chamber only to find five dead Jedi scattered through the room.
"The Council of Reconciliation." Revan breathed. The Council must have been caught by surprise in the middle of a session, he realized. Unfortunately, none of them would be assisting him. Revan hurried to the tall windows of the chamber and scanned the Coruscant skyline. The Ebon Hawk was nowhere in sight. Revan circled the entire chamber, hoping to catch a glimpse of his ship, to no avail. Then his back erupted with pain and agony.
"AAAAAGH!" Revan shrieked as he fell to his knees. He barely managed to twist around to see Vader standing there, smoldering robes practically falling off of the Sith Lord's body. And in his hand, a blaster carbine from one of the clone troopers.
"You . . . Will . . . DIE!" Vader thundered as he rushed towards Revan. Sith Lord crashed into Jedi Master, and both men went through the glass of the chamber's window. Vader raised his fists and pummeled Revan as they fell, and Revan was unable to stop him. Suddenly, Revan shot backwards away from the Sith Lord. His last memories as he finally lost consciousness was of a U-shaped ship slowly descending above with a beautiful woman reaching out towards him.