Disclaimer- I do not own the rights to Star Wars Kotor 1 and 2 or their characters and likeness.

Ch. 4

The three of them continued to fight through the ship's passages and hallways, until they finally reached the door to the bridge. "My master waits for us beyond that door" Visas told Andrew. "It is now time for you to face him. I just hope you are ready."

"Well I know we at least have the numbers advantage, but if what you told me about him is true I don't think it's going to give us much of an edge. The only thing I'm sure about is that we need to stay on the same page if we want to have any chance of defeating him, and that includes you to Canderous. Visas and I will be doing most of the fighting, but if I give you the signal to shoot I want you to blast his head off." They both nodded in agreement, and then the three of them entered the bridge. The sheer size of it was awe-inspiring; it was around hundred feet from the floor to the ceiling and the walls seemed to be crafted from the thickest of rock. Not even the current republic cruiser bridges were that massive. As they started walking they saw the slaves running the Ravager on either side of the walkway, Their faces were sunken in, grey, and wrinkled most likely caused by their life forces being drained away by the strong lure of the dark side emanating throughout the ship.

"I can understand this guy using servants for his personal gain, but what he is doing to these men seems like borderline torture" Mandalore commented.

"There is no limit to what my master can and will do to stay alive. He has proven it many times in the past. You would do well to remember that." The helmet hid it well, but what Visas said worried Canderous. He had went up against Sith before, but none that were as dark and twisted as this man. Nevertheless, Canderous was going to face this evil head on even if he was scared it, because he was Mandalore leader of the Mandalorians. If he died this day, he would die defending that distinct honor.

As they advanced even further down the ramp a hooded figure draped in a black hood and cape came more and more into view with every step they took. When the group finally got to the end of the walkway the man noticed their presence, quickly turned around, and put them under a force stasis.

For a few moments the Sith examined them curious of their intentions not showing any indication of fear or worry. Soon his gaze fell onto Andrew and looking into his eyes Andrew could see nothing but an abyss of darkness. Whatever soul this man once had, it left his body a long time ago. "If you plan on hurting anyone hurt me, leave Visas and Canderous out of this." The Sith Lord began speaking a dialect that Andrew could not recognize. "What is he saying" he asked Visas.

"He wishes to know why he Darth Nihilus should choose to be so merciful and spare a worthless Mandalorian and a filthy scum seer like me ."

Andrew suddenly got an idea, It was dangerous and he didn't know if it would work but he had to try. "Because I'm the one you've been hunting for am I right? I'm that powerful thing you've felt through the force that you haven't been able to shake.. I must have really scared you for you to send your servant instead of coming after me yourself. Well I hate to tell you this but your plan didn't work; she couldn't bring herself up to killing me. So why don't you do what she couldn't, and go ahead and kill me."

Visas did not favor this request. "No, I am the one who has betrayed you. I will accept any punishment you wish to give me. I will even return to your service. Just please do not harm him." In that instant the stasis was dropped, but Visas was then violently force pushed backwards to the ground.

Andrew had to hold himself back from retaliating against Nihilus or else his plan wouldn't work. "Kreia lied to you, there is no Jedi here, I know you sense it. If you use your power on that planet you will only exhaust all your energy, and find nothing in the process. So if you are looking to feed upon the force, why not feed on me?" Nihilus lifted his hand up to Andrew and emitted an orange beam that hit him straight in the chest. His legs began to feel weak like they did back at the Jedi Enclave on Dantooine, but this time it was different. Although he felt the force being drained away from him, he did not feel like he was becoming empty. It was like he was regenerating the force within him faster than it could be taken it away. Suddenly Nihilus dropped to his knees, and Andrew regained his previous state of stability. "It hurts doesn't it? No matter how much you try to feed, that hunger still doesn't go away. It just keeps growing and growing, and now it has become too much for you to keep under control. Your hunger is consuming you just as Kreia predicted it would. You may have ended the lives of millions, but now you're just a weak man hiding behind a mask.

Nihilus grabbed the lightsaber from his belt and attempted to slice at Andrew's head, however Visas force jumped from the ground to defend him. Her purple blade was barely lit before she blocked the attack. "I told you not to harm him. That man has reopened my eyes to the galaxy and made me see clearly what it truly was, instead of your foggy perception of it. I see now that the galaxy is a calm and heavenly place full of life and hope for a better future. I also see that you are one of the reasons why that life and hope is in danger; that is what Andrew has shown me. He is precious to me, and no one deserves to have something that important to them taken away. No matter what else happens here, I will make sure you never threaten him or any other living thing again."

Andrew ignited his own saber and said "I appreciate your sentiment, but you're not going to be doing this alone." Visas gave a good roundhouse kick to the Sith to create some space between them. Andrew took the first move and swung at Nihilus's side, but it was quickly deflected and followed up with a jab at Visas. She parried it, and lunged back at him. Nihilus avoided her stab and swiftly shifted his feet to repulse an attack from behind by Andrew. The two men proceeded to fence with each other until Visas jumped in the middle and double teamed with Andrew to fight against Nihilus. However, even with the two of them giving his and her all, Nihilus would block and reverse every strike she and he threw at him.

A deep furry was beginning to flare up in Visas's eyes. "He is too powerful. We will not be able to defeat him in a duel, even with the both of us working against him." Visas said backing away.

Andrew jumped back close to where Mandalore was standing and waiting to join the fight. "We've got to stay confident Visas; everyone has a weakness whether it be big or small. We just need to find his and exploit it."

She was silent for a moment glancing at her lightsaber and then to Nihilus "I know what his weakness is."

"You figured it out? That's great, please tell me what is it." Andrew said eagerly not noticing how sullen Visaa had become.

She looked over to Andrew and the expression on her face was full of dread. "It is me, when he spared my life on Katarr it formed a force bond between us. I have a connection to this demon and if we want to end him; I have to die."

Andrew was stunned "No Visas, you're being crazy. You don't have to die, there has to be another way to kill him."

"I am afraid there is not." She then began to motion her saber as though she were going to stab herself. "Farwell exile."

"No!" Andrew yelled and almost on instinct he thrusted his arm forward as quickly as he could and force pushed Visas clear across the room before she could complete her action. She hit the wall hard and fell to the floor with a loud thump."

"It seems you have knocked the young woman out" Mandalore spoke up.

"Better unconscious than dead." Andrew responded.

"That may be so, but that doesn't change the fact that you are now one fighter down, and I'm no good with melee combat. So I certainly hope you have something up your sleeve."

"Not exactly. I did have one plan that seemed like it was working at first, but he attacked me before I could make my move on him."

"Well is it something you can try again, or was it a one shot one miss kind of thing." Mandalore asked.

"I might be able to do it again, but I'm going to need you to have your blaster ready; ok? Mandalore agreed, and Andrew stepped towards Nihilus. "I wonder why you didn't kill me earlier. It's because you're scared of me isn't it. You're afraid to push past your limits. You fear that I'm more than you can handle, that I'm too powerful for you to absorb. You'd be right of course, your power is no match compared to mine and you know it." Nihilus leaped forward and tried to come down upon him with his sword, but Andrew rolled out-of-the-way. "Is what I'm saying making you angry? I don't see why you wouldn't be. A Sith Lord, that can desolate entire planets, but can't kill a measly exiled Jedi. Nihilus attempted to swing at his head, but Andrew feinted it and made him miss wildly. "If you are so prideful with your abilities, why don't you try me again with your little light show?" No sooner had Andrew said that, another orange beam was shot out at him. The energy within him starting to slip away again, and just like last time it felt like it was replenishing itself. "Come on Nihilus, you're going to have to do better than that. If you want to kill me you can't just take a little bit, you've got to take it all." The beam grew a slightly larger in size, and Nihilus's arm began to shake from the tension. After a minute or so the strain became too much for the Sith Lord. The beam broke and he dropped his arm but more importantly he also dropped his guard. "Now Canderous." Mandalore raised his blaster and started firing at the Sith. One shot hit him directly in the shoulder and another in the gut, but to finish the job Andrew ran up and stabbed him right through the heart. Nihilus fell against his shoulder, and Andrew could hear one last exhale of breathe from behind the mask before falling silent. Andrew shrugged the lifeless body off of him, and rushed over to check on Visas who was still out cold "Visas wake up."

She let out a small groan and looked right into Andrew's eyes "why did you stop me? There was a sharp anger in her tone. "I told you earlier that if there was an opportunity for my sacrifice to save your life. I would seize it, but you didn't let me. Rather than honoring my choice, you took it upon yourself to try to control my fate. Why did you feel the urge to save me? Do you find it appealing to constantly be mocking my.

Andrew put his finger to her lips "Shhhh. I did it because I care about you."

Caught off guard Visas found herself stuttering at his statement. "You..you care about me?"

"Yes, although I'm not in love with you. You're still my friend Visas, and I do not care if it's a life debt, a death wish, or simply your love that you're trying to prove to me. The bottom line is that I don't let anyone close to me die, no matter if they want to or not. Not if there's something I can do about it."

She smiled at him. "Thank you, those words ring kindly for me. Forgive me for the way I've acted recently. It is not the usual way I present myself to you. You have been respectful to my feelings, even though I haven't been the same to yours. I have acted like a child, there is no excuse for that, and I apologize. Do not get me wrong though, I am still dejected from what transpired earlier on the station, However I want us to have a measure of civility, at least until this journey has come to its conclusion."

Andrew gave her a small grin "I'd like that." He offered his hand to her to aid her in getting up. She took it and said. "Maybe someday i can be precious to you the same way you are to me." He chuckled at the fact that she mentioned that and said "We'll see Visas. It never hurts to have hope."

When she got to her feet she looked over and saw Nihilus dead on the floor. "You killed my master, but how?"

"In the end his own pride was his weakness, and I used it against him. If you don't mind, can you retrieve his mask for me?" She knelt down and removed the mask and brought it over to him. "This shall be a reminder of what can happen when we get too attached to our power, and that if we are not careful it will give us a hunger for more power that will eventually starve us until we are a shell of our former selves. That is the Enlightenment of Darth Nihilus. Come on, let us leave from this place, and send this ship back to the graveyard where it belongs.

...End of Ch 4...