Yes! The epic final chapter to the story. (actually, it's not the last, there's an epilogue after this) First off, let me apologize for the long wait for an update. While I wanted to get the next chapter out very soon, I was suddenly loaded with a ton of work that lasted through the month. My apologies. But hopefully this chapter will be worth the wait.

In accordance with Star Wars tradition, expect a massive battle and lightsaber duel at the end. Also, just so you know, this is a long chapter and the longest in the story as well. You have been warned!

l0ngshotr: Yeah, you were right. I re-read that little scene with Mission and realized the same thing! First she cries, then she's all sunshine and butterflies again? So I took your advice and edited it. Thanks. I think it works better that way. If anyone else has any advice, don't hesitate to offer.

Disclaimer: I own nothing! Except Saimos, but that's it.


Chapter 28: Zero Hour

From within the hospital at the Khoonda settlement, the furious sounds of battle could be heard through the walls. Khoonda's defense system would not last very long against the Sith's superior might, and the militia wouldn't last too long either. Their only hope was that the Republic could make it before all was lost. But with every second that passed, that hope seemed more and more impossible.

Lying almost motionless on one of the beds was the pale form of a young Jedi female. Her skin had paled to an almost pure white, and her once-brilliant blue eyes had faded into a dull bluish-gray. A medical droid tended her and the other wounded soldiers in the room. From outside, a pair of medics watched the scene sadly. The first, a tall male, spoke up.

"Her vital signs have been fading for some time. It doesn't look like she has much longer."

The second, a female, replied, "Bastila's holding on for some time. It's a miracle she's lasted this long. I don't understand it. It's just as if someone stole a piece of her soul." She shook her head sadly.

"But now her heartbeat has been slowing gradually ever since this morning," the male doctor replied sadly. "If it keeps up, then she only has a couple hours left."


With precious little time to spare, the Ebon Hawk streaked through Dantooine's stratosphere at top speed. From the cockpit, Atton, Revan, and Saimos watched the clouds fly by.

"Damn it, I sure hope they haven't destroyed Khoonda's docks. We'll need to be able to land this thing," Atton growled.

"Then we'll parachute out if we have to," Revan said sternly. At this point, with Bastila's life on the line there was not a soul in the galaxy that could stop him from reaching his destination. The white-robed Jedi stared ahead. Beneath his mask, his face was that of utter determination.

"What if Nihilus is there, Revan? What are we going to do?" Atton asked with concern.

"Don't worry about him, Atton. We can beat him."

"And it's something you will have to do. Unfortunately, I will not be able to defeat him myself," Saimos told Revan. "I can help with the rest, but Visas will need to be there when you face Nihilus. It is the only way."

Revan nodded.

"We're here!" Atton shouted. He grabbed the controls and steered the Hawk downward. The ship broke through the layer of clouds and the scene on the ground came into view.

Down below, they could see clearly the settlement dotting the landscape. Even at their height, they could tell a battle was going on down there. Blaster fire could be seen shooting back and forth. The formations of Sith soldiers and assault vehicles could be seen closing in on the settlement from two sides.

Atton cursed. "Just as I thought. It's going to be dangerous to try to land this at the docks. We'll get blown out of the sky."

Revan pointed at a grassy plain away from the chaos of battle. "Try landing it there. It's flat enough. I've done it before."

Atton didn't protest, and maneuvered the vessel in the direction Revan indicated. The vessel descended further until at last it came to a stop on a grassy plain. None of them wasted time in getting out. By the time the three had reached the main hold, everyone was already out of his or her seats and ready to leave.

"Follow me!" Revan instructed. "T3, you're coming too!" There was no telling what could happen, and Revan needed everyone.

Every person and droid on the ship exited out the ramp. They had landed behind where the battle was raging, but even still it was not safe. From his vantage point, Revan could tell that the Sith were coming in through the two bridges that lead to the settlement. The river had luckily provided a natural barrier, but it so far was doing little to stem the tide of soldiers. Hordes of soldiers and militia were lined outside the buildings, firing at the oncoming Sith. They were fighting fiercely, but they would not last long.

Revan and his crew ran to the town that was under siege. Once inside the settlement, they weaved their way through the streets while trying to dodge the blaster fire that was raining down on them. All around they heard shouting the sound of battle around them.

"This doesn't make sense," Quaid remarked. "Why didn't the Sith send a larger force here? You think they would have wiped this settlement out a lot faster than this."

"I don't know, but we really don't have time to think about it. Just be thankful they didn't send a larger force."

"Statement: All I know is I get to spill more meatbag blood," HK said merrily. T3 gave a beep of disapproval.

The group came to an opening at last, right behind the front line of the fight. Armored Sith troops came in waves over the bridges at a seemingly endless pace. The Khoonda soldiers were lined against the buildings and behind whatever cover they could find, fighting desperately to stem the tide of Sith. It was chaos – everywhere they heard the sound of blaster fire, explosions, and red streaks of energy pierced the air like a lethal rainstorm. Left and right, soldiers were falling as the Sith fought back with equal ferocity.

Off to the right, Revan could see what appeared to be an officer shouting orders to the rest of the fighters. The white-robed Jedi ran to him.

"Are you in charge here?" Revan shouted. The soldier spun around to meet him, momentarily taken aback by his garb. Not having time to take in Revan's outfit, he replied.

"Yeah. Who are you? You're here to help, I hope!"

"I'm Revan! Don't worry, we're here to help in any way we can."

"Well, you're just in time! Those Sith keep coming, and it won't be long before they break into the city. We're going to need you guys very soon!" He looked over and noticed Revan's crew, as well as Saimos' black hooded form. "What in the galaxy is that thing?" he asked.

"Just tell us what to do!" Revan shouted.

"Not much," the soldier shouted as he looked around to make sure no blaster fire was coming his way. "Just kill any Sith you see!"

"Wait, I see you have turrets!" Yuthura noticed. "Why aren't they active?"

"They malfunctioned and have been offline! We didn't have time to get them to work – oh Sithspit!"

He cursed again, and everyone turned to see the Sith had finally broken into the town's limits. The armored soldiers were now within the streets and clashing with the militia head-on.

"This is where we step in!" Revan shouted. "Quick, where's the control panel for the turrets?" Revan asked.

"It's in the armory. It's gray building on southeast corner of this town. But you might have to go to the turrets themselves to get 'em to work!"

"Fine by me," Revan replied. "Quaid, Visas, I want you to go and see if you can fix those turrets. Can you do that?"

They both nodded.

"Good. Bring T3 with you." He turned to the commander. "Have your men place mines in the streets and around the entrances. We're going to need them." He turned to his crew. "The rest of you, come with me!"

Revan, Saimos, Yuthura, Jolee, Atton, Mission, and HK followed Revan up to where the battle was raging. The Jedi all ignited their lightsabers while Mission, Atton, and HK readied their blasters.

Revan gave a cry and leaped into the fray of the battle. He landed right in front of one soldier and cut him down in a flash. He twirled his lightsabers around and became a white whirlwind as he attacked the Sith around him while deflecting the blaster bolts coming his way. The rest followed his example and cut down the soldiers in their path.

Saimos did the same, his intimidating and unusual presence already made some of the Sith pause in their tracks. He sent out a whirlwind that picked up several soldiers and flung them away. He then followed this up with a stasis field that rendered several of them soldiers immobile. The unfortunate soldiers quickly fell under his deadly lightsaber blows. He became a grey-and-black blur as he threw himself at the wave of oncoming soldiers, carving a path through them.


Quaid and Visas wasted no time in getting to the armory. The doors were locked, but Quaid's lightsaber took care of it in no time. The two Jedi along with T3 entered the spacious storehouse. A large computer control console lined the rear wall.

"It looks online. We'll have to access the turret's controls," Quaid said. "T3, can you access it?"

The droid beeped in reply and set about working at the control panel. The droid inserted a probe into the console and accessed the mainframe. A soft buzzing sounded, and soon a display of the turret's control system showed on the screen. Surely enough, all of them were offline.

"Great. T3, can you run a diagnostic to see what's wrong?" Quaid asked. The droid was already on it, and the diagnostic display appeared on the screen. The display read 'ERROR: CONNECTION FAILED AT PORT 002348!'

"No wonder they aren't working, the connection is off," Quaid muttered. "There's got to be something we can do."

"Can it be repaired? If not, we could try re-routing it," Visas suggested.

"T3?" Quaid asked the droid. The droid buzzed in acknowledgement and set about its task.

It was another couple moments before another display appeared on the screen. This time, the display read: 'TURRET 1: ACTIVE – TURRET 2: ACTIVE – TURRET 3 – ERROR; TOWER NOT RESPONDING – TURRET 4: ACTIVE." A map of the layout of the turrets displayed, with a red X over the inactive turret.

"Crud," Quaid said. "Looks like we'll have to go to that one. At least the other three are up. T3, command those turrets to attack intruders and we'll go."

A few seconds later, the three of them were out and headed for Turret 3. The battle was raging as fiercely as ever, and the newly active turrets were now firing at the hordes of approaching Sith. At last they came to the inactive turret, and Quaid searched desperately for a control panel. Finding one, he opened it up and examined it. By the looks of it, it was not active in any sense.

"T3, see if you can repair it," Quaid ordered. The droid set about its task, but after a few moments, Quaid soon grew impatient. If they could not get it active, they'd just have to go back and help Revan and the others. Quaid's fears were soon assuaged though, and after another moment he heard a loud mechanical groan as the turret came to life.

"Excellent! Great work, T3!" He turned to Visas. "Let's get to the others."

"You will not be going anywhere, you traitor!" a voice shouted at them.

Quaid and Visas both spun around to see who had shouted at them. Both their jaws dropped when they saw who it was. T3 gave a shocked beep of its own.

"Vrook! What are you doing here?" Quaid asked. The Jedi Master stood there with his green lightsaber pointed straight at Quaid.

"I'm correcting a mistake the Jedi made a long time ago," Vrook said hatefully. "By ending your life now!"

"Vrook, are you insane? Quaid shouted back. "Look around you! This place is under attack!"

"I know. And it's no doubt your fault," Vrook said. "You betrayed us."

"Vrook, what are you talking about?" Quaid asked. "I haven't betrayed the Jedi! In case you can't see, I'm trying to help you!"

"Help us?" Vrook scoffed. He pointed his lightsaber at Visas. "By allying with the Sith? You've fallen very far, Exile."

"My name is Quaid," the exile seethed. "And don't judge Visas. She's on our side now."

"Quaid," Visas whispered. "His aura…he has fallen to the dark side."

Vrook scoffed. "I have not fallen to the dark side, you have! You've placed all of us in jeopardy! And now I'm going to make sure you don't place the Order in danger ever again!"

Quaid became aware again of the blaster fire that was raining perilously close to their position. Nevertheless, he tried reasoning one more time. "Vrook, listen to me! I don't know who told you these lies, but we're not helping the Sith! We can't fight over this now! Khoonda needs our help! And if we don't get out of here, we're both going to be killed!"

"One of us is going to die, and it will be you, Exile! And once I'm done with you, I'll make sure she doesn't live through this, either!" Vrook shouted.

"Master Vrook, please listen!" Visas pleaded.

Quaid extended an arm to hold her back. "Visas, it's no use trying to reason with him. Stay back," he growled.

"Quaid, please-"

"Just stay back! Do not get involved!" Quaid ordered.

The exile ignited his green lightsaber and raised it in a poised position. Vrook responded by readying his own green lightsaber, and the two approached each other in combat stance. Vrook glared at the exile with hate radiating from his eyes. Quaid merely stared back, tense but collected.

Vrook was the first to strike. The now fanatic Jedi Master swung his lightsaber at Quaid. The Jedi blocked Vrook's oncoming blow, and for a moment their two lightsabers ground together in a loud hiss. Then Vrook brought his lightsaber back for another strike, and Quaid responded by raising his lightsaber to block again. In a flash, the two erupted in a furious duel of green light.

Visas stood by next to T3. Her hand was instinctively gripping the lightsaber that was still attached to her belt. It took everything she had not to join the fight and help him. But she knew he wanted her to stay back, and her interfering would only upset him. For now, she was forced to watch.

The two continued to duel fiercely. Vrook was a powerful and experienced Jedi Master, but Quaid was holding his own. The Master swung his lightsaber down at the Exile, but he blocked it and countered with a strike of his own. This time Vrook saw an opening and thrust his weapon straight at Quaid's chest. Quaid however sidestepped to avoid it and brought his fist up to connect with the side of Vrook's face. This caught the Master off guard and sent him staggering back. Quaid saw the opportunity and went forward to strike again, but at the last moment Vrook raised his hand and knocked Quaid back with a force-push. The force pushed Quaid back and caused him to land on his back a few feet away.

"Quaid!" Visas shouted. Her grip tightened on her lightsaber, but she did not activate it. She knew Quaid didn't want her involved, but there was no way she would let him die. If it looked liked Quaid would lose this duel, she would step in.

Vrook saw his opening and attempted to capitalize on it. He leapt into the air and brought his lightsaber down on the dazed Jedi. Maybe it was luck, or just intuition, but Quaid rolled away just before Vrook reached the fallen Jedi. While still on the ground, Quaid propped himself up on his hands and swung his legs around to trip Vrook. His gamble succeeded, and Vrook's legs were swept out from under him and he fell to the ground. Quaid quickly got to his feet and used their switched positions to gain the advantage. Vrook got up, but was caught off balance again as Quaid came at him furiously as ever. Vrook was now solidly on the defensive, and his stance began to falter. Finally, Quaid saw an opening and sent a swift kick that landed square on Vrook's gut. The Master doubled over, and Quaid brought his lightsaber up hard enough to knock Vrook's own weapon from his hand. Quaid finished it off by landing another punch on Vrook's jaw that sent him to the ground. Now dazed and disarmed, Vrook lay on the ground and completely under Quaid's mercy. The Exile stood over him with his green blade pointed at him.

"Vrook, it's over," Quaid said sternly. "We're Jedi, Master Vrook! We should not be fighting each other! Especially not when we're surrounded by the Sith!" Vrook stared wordlessly back up at Quaid. For a moment, Visas wasn't sure if Quaid intended to kill him or not, but to her surprise Quaid withdrew his lightsaber.

"Now for one last time, stop this madness!" Quaid said. He paused and glared back at him. "You really have fallen far, Vrook. But you can still come back. I'm not going to end your life. " He deactivated his lightsaber. "If you want to, you can still help us. If not…" He gave one last pitiful look at the Jedi Master and started to walk toward Visas. Both happy and relieved, Visas walked forward to hug him. Vrook, however, had other plans. The Master brought up his hand and brought his lightsaber back to his hand with the force. In a flash, he activated it and leapt at the unaware Jedi.

"Quaid!" Visas shouted. Quaid spun around and activated his lightsaber instinctively. Visas in turn drew out her own yellow blade and ignited it. But Vrook's oncoming blow never came. When he turned around he saw Vrook hovering there in the air. The Jedi Master wreathed and struggled in the blue force field that was suspending him above ground.

The two Jedi looked at each other, shocked, and T3 beeped inquisitively. All three looked behind them, and they saw Saimos's cloaked form standing there with his palm outstretched. His blue eyes were focused squarely on Vrook. The Jedi Master in turn looked at him with a mixture of both fear and shear confusion. The creature however shifted his gaze from Vrook to the others. His expression showed a hint of sadness.

"Forgive me," he said to them. He focused again on group and slowly closed his outstretched hand. Vrook shouted in pain as his body contracted viciously. The Jedi heard a sickening snap as Vrook's neck broke, and his body fell to the ground limp and lifeless. When all was done, Saimos ran over to the two Jedi and T3.

"Are you alright?" he asked them. Both nodded.

"I'm fine. I just…I can't believe Vrook would do something like this," Quaid stammered, still shocked at the whole ordeal.

"From what I remember, Vrook was always overzealous," Visas said. "But even I would not expect him to do this."

"Wait, why are you here, Saimos? Weren't you with the others?" Quaid asked.

Saimos smirked slightly back at them. "You were all taking quite a long time. And I happened to sense something was not right, so I came over."

"Oh. Well, thanks a lot," Quaid replied.

"It was nothing. Besides, I do not think either of you would need the blood of a Jedi Master on your hands, regardless of the reason."

"Thank you, Saimos," Visas said quietly. T3 beeped and whizzed his own expression of gratitude.

"You're welcome." The creature's smile widened and he lifted one of his red lightsabers and pointed at the occurring. "But we can't stay here! Hurry, the battle calls!" All four of them raced off to join the ensuing chaos.


Revan had somehow managed to go through the fight without getting hit once, though he really did not want to press his luck. He was shocked the Sith hadn't brought in heavy artillery yet, but he had a feeling it wouldn't be long before they did. He knew though that they could not defeat the Sith army by themselves. There were just too many of them. If help didn't come, then their chances of victory were slim. He just hoped they could hold out long enough to allow the Republic to get here. What pained him most, though, was that he knew that Bastila was so close to him. She was in one of the buildings somewhere in the closed settlement, but Revan would not be able to reach her until the battle was over. The thought almost literally tore him apart on the inside. And if they didn't win… Well, he wouldn't think about that just yet.

Next to him, Yuthura and Jolee were doing a good job of holding their own. Mission and Atton had taken cover behind some rubble and were firing upon the advancing Sith. HK-47 was standing in the middle of the fray, firing with deadly accuracy while shouting insults and threats at the Sith.

Revan took a glance behind him to see how the others were faring, and saw a welcome sight.

"Quaid!" he shouted. He, Visas, Saimos, and T3 had returned.

"Glad to see me?" the exile asked.

"You have no idea! What took you so long?"

"We ran into some problems. We'll explain later."

"Good, 'cause we really need your help!"

Quaid needed no orders, as he and the rest joined the fray. All of them fought furiously to stem the tide of soldiers that had already broken into the city. The streets had literally erupted in a storm of blaster fire, and Revan had to resist the urge to run and make sure Bastila was okay. He sensed she was alive, but barely. He knew she didn't have long.

A moment later, Revan heard the commander shouting something behind him. From the sound of it, something was wrong. Revan decided to go back and see what it was going on.

"What happened?" Revan asked as he ran up to the commander.

"The Sith have breached the other side of the city! They're now coming in through both sides!"

Revan cursed loudly and tried to formulate a plan in his head.

"I'm going to go over and see what's going on," he said.

"Wait!" he heard Saimos shout from behind him. "Let me go. I can help!"

"Saimos, I need to go over there!" Revan shouted back.

"Then at least let me go with you!"

Revan hesitated for a moment, and finally gave in. "Alright. Come with me!" He ran over to Quaid. "I have to go to the other side. You're in charge while I'm gone! Hold them off and contact me if anything goes wrong."

"Alright, good luck!" Quaid said as he felled a soldier in his path.

Saimos and Revan took off with force-enhanced speed toward the settlement's west wall. Once there, they could tell already the Sith had broken through. Bodies of Sith and militia lay in the streets, and many more lay near the entrance. From the looks of it, the mines had already taken their toll.

Revan and Saimos rushed forward and saw that things were just as chaotic as they were on the other side. From the looks of it though, less Sith were approaching from this side as they were the other.

"Saimos," Revan said. "Your energy barrier, will we able to fire out if you put one up?"

The creature nodded. "Yes. I can put one up, but I will not be able to keep it up for very long."

"No problem. Go for it."

Saimos obeyed and leapt up to the top of a pile of rubble. The wall, or at least what had once been a wall, now lay mostly in shambles with several gaping holes through which soldiers were pouring. Taking a moment to survey, Saimos finally concentrated and extended his hand. Just then, an idea occurred to Saimos and he decided to put it into practice. After a moment of concentrating, a blue energy field appeared in between the settlement and approaching Sith. For a moment, almost everyone paused in confusion. The Sith's blaster bolts were had now halted as they bounced off the energy field. Seeing this, every militiaman on the street took the opportunity to shoot at the Sith without fear of being harmed. Not understanding what was happening some of the Sith fell back and were retreating.

"Everyone, fire!" Revan shouted. The soldiers did so, and their shots went through the energy field at the Sith while the enemy's blaster bolts were stopped. This time however, instead of the bolts just bouncing off, the bolts gathered in the center of the field.

"How are you holding up, Saimos?" Revan shouted after a while.

"I'm fine, but I do not have much longer!"

"Alright, just let me know when you need to drop it!

After a few more moments, Saimos sensed that he was nearing his limit. "Revan, I have to drop it!"

"Alright! Everyone, get under cover, get back!" he shouted as he let the soldiers know that the field was going down. A moment later, Saimos's blue energy field dissipated. As if did so however, all the blaster energy that was being held in the center of the field was released in a gigantic ball and was hurled at the mass of Sith. It struck the ground and erupted in a great explosion that took out many soldiers with it.

"Wow," Revan gaped. "Didn't know you could do that."

"Neither did I," Saimos said, equally shocked. "I did not know if it would work or not."

"Revan!" Quaid's voice shouted through the communicator. "We might need help. Jolee's been hit."

Revan cursed. "I'm going to have to go back."

"I'll stay here," Saimos told him. "You help the others."


Back at the other side, Yuthura dragged Jolee behind a wall and surveyed him to see how badly he was hurt. The elderly Jedi had sustained a blaster bolt to his side.

"Sithspit. Are you okay?" she asked him.

"For a guy who's just been shot, yeah, I think I'm alright," he said.

Despite the situation, Yuthura chuckled as she pulled out a medpac. "You're one tough old man, anyone ever tell you that?" she said as she treated his wound.

"I still got it," Jolee said with a painful grin. "I'm just not…as young as I once was."

"Jolee!" Quaid shouted as he rushed over. "You okay?"

"I'm fine," Jolee said. "Nothing a little band-aid won't fix."

Quaid smirked but quickly turned his attention to the battle. "Yuthura, take care of him."

"Right."

Quaid rejoined the fight, but found the militia suddenly running away and ducking for cover. Quaid saw what it was as a large armored Sith vehicle erupted onto the streets. On top of it a large turret fired at the people in the streets. The soldiers fired at it, but the bolts did little to damage its armored surface.

Quaid cursed and leapt behind a building as he dodged its oncoming fire. The vehicle drove deeper into the city, taking out soldiers in its wake.

"HK!" Quaid shouted. "Take that thing out!" The droid was already on it. The crimson robot drew what looked like a thermal detonator from its compartment and loaded it into his large rifle.

"Condescending Command: Burn in a fiery death, meatbags!" The droid launched the detonator, and the projectile streaked forward and hit against the side of the vehicle, detonating in a devastating explosion that caused the entire vehicle to burst into flames.

"Way to go, HK!" Quaid shouted. He ran over to Visas and the others. "You okay?" he asked them.

"Yes," Visas answered.

"These guys are like cockroaches! You kill one, and five more pop up!" Mission shouted.

"Quaid!" Revan shouted as he re-appeared. "Where's Jolee? Is he okay?"

"He's fine. Yuthura's taking care of him."

"Guys," Atton shouted. "The Sith seem to be thinning out."

"You mean they're retreating?" Mission asked hopefully.

"I don't know, but they seem to have stopped coming," he replied.

Revan looked around curiously. Surely enough, the Sith did seem to have halted their advance for now. Slowly the noise of battle died down. Just then, Quaid saw Visas tense up noticeably. He quickly rushed over to see what was the matter.

"Visas, are you okay?" he asked.

"He's here," Visas said plainly with a hint of fear in her voice. Surely enough, Quaid sensed an awesome, yet dark presence in the force. Revan sensed it too, and knew it could only mean one thing.

Darth Nihilus had arrived.

"He's coming," Visas said again. "He knows I'm here."

Everyone paused and everything seemed to stop as they felt the evil presence draw closer and closer. Revan felt him, and was amazed. He was indeed as powerful as Visas said he was. Along with this, Revan could sense a deep evil as well as an insatiable hunger.

They waited for what seemed like an eternity. Suddenly they saw two militiamen fall over dead for no apparent reason.

"What the-" Revan began. His sentence was cut short however as he saw a figure emerge from the smoke. There stood Darth Nihilus, new Lord of the Sith.

The Dark Lord had said nothing nor had his weapons drawn, but everyone had their lightsabers drawn and ready to fight. Mission and Atton had their blasters pointed at him.

The Khoonda soldiers raised their weapons and fired at Nihilus. In a flash, the Dark Lord ignited his lightsaber and swung it in an arc that deflected the oncoming shots back at the soldiers, felling them both. More soldiers raised their rifles, but with a wave of his hand, Nihilus pulled the weapons out of their hands with the force and followed it up with a wave of lightning that downed them. HK-47 instinctively fired his rifle at the Dark Lord, but Nihilus deflected that as well, and sent a wave of sparks both him and T3. In a flash, HK-47 and T3 fell over, disabled. The scene fell still again for the moment. The sounds of battle still raged however on the other side of the settlement. Revan couldn't shake the feeling that the Sith were now winning.

"Nihilus," Revan growled. The Sith lord stared back at Revan through his skull-like mask.

"Darth Revan," he droned. "Finally we meet. It is a good thing I did not destroy this settlement immediately, or else I would not have drawn you out."

'So that's why he didn't send more forces here,' Revan thought as he came to the realization. Around them, the battle picked up again as more Sith started streaming into the settlement to clash with the militia once more.

"I see you're here as well," Nihilus said again. At first Revan thought he referred to Visas, but as he looked behind him he saw Saimos standing there, glaring at the Sith Lord. "But don't worry. You'll be mine soon enough."

"Never," Saimos hissed.

"You have no choice here," Nihilus growled. He turned to the rest. "And now, you will all pay for all the misery you have caused me. Especially you." This time, Revan knew he was referring to Visas.

"You betrayed me, Visas," he continued. "And for that, you must be punished."

Quaid stepped up to Visas's side. "You'll have to get through me first."

Revan stepped forward as well. "And me."

Nihilus merely stared back at them with unseen eyes. "As you wish." Suddenly, everyone there, even Saimos, fell to their knees. Revan gripped his head as a current of extreme pain rushed though his body. In addition to that, he started to feel dizzy and light-headed, as if Nihilus was draining his energy.

Tears of pain and sadness ran down Visas's cheeks. "Please," she begged. "Don't harm them them. Kill me, if you must. I'm the one who betrayed you. But don't hurt them…"

Nihilus didn't answer. He instead approached Visas and knelt down to grab her throat. After wrapping his hand around her neck, he pulled up harshly and drew her to his masked face.

"Don't worry, Visas," Nihilus growled as his grip on her throat tightened, cutting off her air. "Their deaths won't be painful…at least, not as painful as yours."

Quaid somehow was able to regain enough of his stamina to get up off his feet and lunge at the Dark Lord. Nihilus however, merely raised his hand and sent Quaid flying hard against the wall. Quaid collapsed against the ground and his lightsaber rolled out of his hands.

"Quaid!" Visas choked.

The momentary distraction was enough for Saimos to fight through Nihilus's grip. The creature leapt up and closed in on, who dropped Visas and raised his lightsaber to block Saimos's strike. Saimos leapt back and sent a bolt of lightning at Nihilus, but even his usually-lethal energy was parried and absorbed by the Dark Lord. It almost seemed as if he merely fed off Saimos's lightning! Deciding maybe lightning was not the way to go, Saimos closed in again and went back to his lightsabers. The two dueled for a moment before Nihilus sent Saimos flying against the wall. Nihilus extended his hand, and a bright orange beam surrounded by sparks of lightning erupted from it and struck the downed creature. Momentarily dazed, Saimos winced as he felt energy being rapidly drained from his body. In that moment, he knew Nihilus was feeding off him. He concentrated with all his might as struggled to resist Nihilus's pull.

"Why did you escape?" Nihilus asked him. "You only delayed the inevitable."

Revan finally had enough. Nihilus's grip on him had lessened, allowing him to regain his head. He gripped his two lightsabers and rushed the Dark Lord. Nihilus was forced to let his hold on Saimos go and divert his attention to Revan. The former Dark Lord brought his lightsabers down on Nihilus, who blocked both of them. With lightning reflexes, Revan brought back one of them and quickly thrust it into Nihilus's gut.

He heard the Dark Lord grunt in pain, but he did not fall. Momentarily dumbfounded, Revan was caught off guard as Nihilus sent him flying back with a force-push. The Dark Lord shrugged it off as if it was merely a scratch.

'Maybe Visas was right about the whole 'one whom no being can kill' thing,' Revan thought. But he would not let Nihilus gain a foothold on him. He had a strong feeling Nihilus would not be able to drain his energy as long as Revan kept him from being able to concentrate.

Revan brought his legs down and rolled to prevent himself from landing on his back. Not giving Nihilus a second, Revan sent a wave of lightning in his direction. Nihilus blocked it with his red lightsaber, but this gave Revan time to close in on him. The Jedi leapt at Nihilus and started striking furiously at him with his lightsabers. Nihilus however parried, and in a second the two became locked in combat. Both of them fought with lightning reflexes and for a moment became almost a blur of white and black.

Atton, Mission, Yuthura, and Jolee were finally recovering from their daze.

"Quick, we gotta help Revan!" Mission shouted.

"Sure, no problem," Atton said half-sarcastically. The four of them charged, but Nihilus had already sensed them coming. The Sith Lord blocked another one of Revan's blows and sent him flying back again. He quickly turned to the others charging at him and flicked his wrist. The four of them instantly became trapped in a stasis field and froze in place.

Revan however was not to be beaten, and leapt back at Nihilus full-force once again. He couldn't allow Nihilus a second of breathing room. Not as long as he was alive. Nihilus meanwhile grew frustrated that they had lasted this long. He had underestimated Revan. But that was no matter. He knew he would win.

Still weak, Visas crawled over to Quaid's side. The Exile still lay there limp, but she knew he was still alive. She reached out and picked him up in he arms and saw that he was bleeding from the back of his head. His eyes were half-closed and glazed over, and his face was a blank expression.

"Quaid, are you okay? Can you hear me?" she asked worriedly. He didn't answer. Visas brought him close to her face and pressed her head close to his. She reached around with her hand and placed it over the wound on his head. Concentrating, she felt the force flow from her gloved hands and wash over him. Slowly the wound closed up and stopped bleeding. A few seconds later, Quaid stirred and his eyelids snapped open.

"Quaid…" Visas whispered, relieved that he was okay.

"That hurt," he said frankly.

Visas managed a slight grin even with all that was happening. "Are you alright?"

"I'll be fine," he said. Without saying a word, he pulled Visas into a tight hug and planted a quick kiss on her lips. "Thanks," he said while smiling. Visas took his hand and helped him up. The two looked over at the ensuing duel. Revan and Nihilus were locked in a fierce duel, but at the moment they seemed to be evenly matched. They weren't sure if Revan was actually holding his own or if Nihilus was merely toying with him.

Having recovered from having his energy drained, the weakened Saimos approached Quaid and Visas.

"Are you alright?" he asked them. Both nodded weakly. "Visas, he's too powerful," Saimos explained. "Remember our plan: you need to find some way to interrupt his connection to the force."

"I will try," Visas said. "But I'll need help."

"We'll need to distract him," Quaid said. "At least long enough for Visas to break through."

"I'm up to it if you are," Saimos said. The Exile nodded back.

"Visas, we're going in."

"Be careful," she shouted as they left. With that, she concentrated and went to work.

Nihilus looked over to see Saimos and Quaid charging at him. With Revan dueling him, he didn't have enough time to send out another force-wave at them. Instead, he ignited his second lightsaber and brought it up to fight them off. What started out as one-on-one soon became three-on-one, but Nihilus still managed to hold his own. Growing frustrated however, he force-leapt into the air away from the three of them. He landed a good distance away on his feet, still in his combat stance. Right after he landed however, he felt something inside his head. A presence was trying to intrude on his mind. It was Visas! He looked and saw her standing away from the battle, looking as though she was concentrating on something. Growing more furious, Nihilus now decided to end this once and for all. He didn't have time to think though as Revan, Quaid, and Saimos descended on him like a pack of wolves.

This only prompted Nihilus to fight back with even more fury. Before anyone knew what happened, a wave of some strange purplish energy erupted out of Nihilus and struck the three of them. The force of it sent all three of them back and they landed hard on the ground. All three of them felt like they were on fire, or something close to the feeling. It was the same feeling of pain they felt the first time, only worse. Not only that, but whatever Nihilus had done had left all of them dazed and barely aware of what was happening.

With them out of the way, Nihilus set his sights on Visas. Upon seeing her fallen comrades, she had broken her concentration. She had no time to speak however, as Nihilus constricted her neck with a strong force-choke. Visas instinctively raised her hands to her throat, but it did no good. She felt her airflow be cut off yet again as Nihilus tightened his grip on her. The dark lord approached her until he stood directly over her like a black monument of death.

"You little fool," Nihilus growled. He raised Visas into the air with the force until she was eye level with him. "You thought you could defeat me? Nothing can defeat me. And now…you will die. But first..." he pointed his lightsaber at Quaid's prostrate form. "You will watch him die."

In that moment, Visas felt that same terrible feeling of hopelessness, the same she felt when Katarr had been destroyed. Around her she could see the Sith continuing to pour in like an endless river. The Khoonda militia were now all-but spent, and it wouldn't be long before the Sith overran the settlement completely.

Visas felt a combination of anger, despair, and regret boil within her all at once. She could not let them lose now. Not when they had gotten so close! Her mind raced and almost without thinking, she reached for her lightsaber. With reflexes faster than even Nihilus, she ignited her golden blade and thrust it into Nihilus's chest. Caught off guard, Nihilus let out another groan of pain and doubled over. Visas attempted to capitalize on this, and she struck again. This time Nihilus was ready, and blocked her. Soon, Visas and Nihilus became locked in a duel that was old as the Sith itself: that between apprentice and Master.

Visas knew that Nihilus could not drain her life-force as he could the others. But that didn't mean he couldn't kill her. He would just have a harder time doing so. Visas fought with all her strength, but Nihilus had her out-matched. Seeing an opening, Nihilus thrust his lightsaber at her and pierced her side. Visas let out a cry of pain and fell to her knees. Now helpless, she could do little as Nihilus sent a wave of force-lightning at her. Visas cried out as the unbearable pain coursed through her body. Nihilus paused, but only for a moment as he sent another current through her body. Visas suddenly felt like every nerve in her body was on fire. She could only lay there and wreath as Nihilus mercilessly tortured her.

Even though he was still dazed, Quaid could hear Visas's screams of agony and almost broke out in tears at the thought of not being able to help her. Saimos too had to fight off the feeling of despair as he realized how perilously close to failure they were. If they failed, then he would be doomed to be a weapon for the Sith, and then the unbearable thought dawned on him that he would be responsible for the death of the entire Jedi order. And Revan…had now almost gone to the brink of insanity. The fact that they were so close to failure, and that Bastila was so close, ripped him apart. If he failed here, he would fail the Jedi. He would fail the Republic. And he would fail Bastila. With all the will power he could muster, Revan called on the force and struggled to fight through the pain that coursed through his body.

Just as Visas thought she couldn't take any more pain, she heard a sudden noise rip through the atmosphere. Visas's gaze shifted upward and she could feel a new presence on the scene – a benevolent presence. Revan glanced upward and he saw a welcome sight that made his heart leap – hundreds of Republic dropships were now descending from the atmosphere. Help had come!

Visas could feel the anger now radiating off of Nihilus. The Sith Lord meanwhile turned and looked down at her hatefully.

"You fool. You think this means you have won? They're only more souls for me to consume! It's a pity you had to betray me, otherwise you might have shared in my victory."

Visas gritted her teeth and summoned up enough breath to utter one sentence:

"Go to hell."

Nihilus's paused for a moment, then sent another wave of lightning over the helpless former-apprentice. Finally summoning up enough of his strength, Quaid leapt off the ground and charged at Nihilus. The Dark Lord however saw him coming and merely sent him flying back with another bolt of lightning. Quaid landed on his back once again, in even more pain than before. Revan in turn got up but Nihilus merely did the same before he could even approach.

Nihilus was not finished, though. This time, he went for his technique that he had already used on Saimos: life-drain. A bright orange beam surrounded by lighting darted forth and struck Revan. Revan cried out as he felt both pain and his energy being drained. He tried to resist, but after everything he was finding it incredibly difficult.

Nihilus paused and drew in a breath. His shift in focus however was enough to allow Visas to regain her mind. With nothing else left to do, she tried to concentrate once more on the bond between her and Nihilus.

"You fool," Nihilus droned. "You had your chance. You may have been the Dark Lord once, but your time is over. Do you hear me? It is over!" He struck at Revan again. "This is my hour!" he hissed. He sent another beam at the fallen Jedi and former Sith Lord.

Revan could feel his consciousness beginning to fade. He felt both his mind and energy being drained away. A single tear rolled down his masked face as all hope seemed to vanish.

'I'm sorry, Bastila. I tried,' he thought as he felt his life force slipping away.


Back in the Khoonda hospital, the doctors watched in desperation as Bastila's life signs faded. The Jedi was now dying, and it would only be a matter of time before the Sith overran the hospital as well. They could only sit there and stare as Bastila's heartbeat slowed down. The Jedi opened her eyes and uttered one last word.

"Revan…" she whispered, and her heartbeat slowed down to a halt.


Visas concentrated as hard as she could. Nihilus was distracted by his torturing of Revan, but she knew she didn't have long before he would notice. Struggling, she searched as she felt herself enter into Nihilus's mind. She searched and concentrated. She looked into him, searching for his connection to the force.

And found it.

Suddenly Nihilus stopped as he felt Visas intruding into his mind again. He snapped around to deal with her, but it was too late. The Dark Lord suddenly felt his world stop as Visas severed his connection to the force. Suddenly it felt like every one of his senses shut off, and he felt all his strength leave him.

With Nihilus no longer torturing him, Revan's sight slowly faded back as his energy slowly returned. He opened his eyes to see Nihilius on his knees, clutching his head and yelling in agony as if he was in pain.

"Revan, I've done it! Strike now!" Visas cried weakly.

Calling upon the force and summoning the last of his energy, Revan rose to his feet, ignited his lightsaber, and charged Nihilus. In a single motion, Revan raised his lightsaber and thrust it straight into the heart of the Dark Lord. Nihilus let out an inhuman cry that made Revan cover his ears. Suddenly, a dazzling display of red energy erupted out of his body as all the souls he had consumed were released at once. The Dark Lord continued to scream as all his power fled from him. With one final blast of red light, the last of Nihilus's energy was freed, and the Sith Lord collapsed over, lifeless.

Suddenly, Revan, Quaid, Saimos, and Visas felt their pain leave their bodies. Revan felt new life come into him as Nihilus's hold on him was finally broken. With him dead, Nihilus's stasis field over the others finally dissipated. Mission, Atton, Yuthura, and Jolee all snapped out of their trance and looked around in utter confusion. All their jaws dropped at once when they saw Nihilus lying dead on the ground.

"Wha-what'd we miss?" Mission asked dumbfounded.

Revan managed a slight chuckle as he rose to his feet. He helped Visas up, who promptly ran over to Quaid's side.

"Are you okay?" she asked anxiously. The exile weakly nodded as he was held for the second time that battle in Visas's arms.

"Is he…?" Quaid started as he saw Nihilus.

"Yes," Visas said and pulled the Exile into a tight embrace. She buried her head in his shoulder and felt fresh tears fall down her face. "I love you, Quaid. I love you so much…"

"I love you too," he said back quietly, and met her lips in another kiss. After a few seconds Visas pulled back and looked over at Nihilus's crumpled form. Silently she got up and approached it. Quaid was confused for a moment, but realized what she was doing when he saw her kneel down and pull up Nihilus's mask. From where he was he couldn't see, but after a moment Visas pulled the mask back down and came back to him.

"What did you see?" Quaid asked her.

"I saw a man. Nothing more," she answered.

By this time, the Republic forces had arrived and were pouring into the city. With their Lord no longer alive, the Sith could do nothing to stop them. Up in the skies over Dantooine, the Republic and Sith fleets battled, but for the Sith it was a doomed battle as they were both outnumbered and without a leader. Admiral Onasi watched in satisfaction as the Sith fleet was slowly eradicated.

Revan walked over to Saimos who had also recovered from the battle. The two of them looked at each other for a moment before finally shaking hands warmly.

"Now, that wasn't so hard, was it?" Saimos said.

Revan actually laughed at the creature's jest and found himself smiling back. "Well, maybe just a little," he replied.

Revan was caught off guard for a moment as Mission tackled him and caught him in a bone-breaking embrace.

"We won Revan! We won!" she cried happily.

Revan smiled and hugged her back. Mission broke the embrace and to Saimos's shock, went over and hugged him tightly. All of Revan's crew smiled as hugs and congratulations were passed amongst them.

But the celebration was short-lived however as Revan remembered his one last task.

"Saimos…" he called over to him.

The creature instantly knew what he meant, and nodded. "Alright."

"We have to go," Revan told the others. Everyone knew what he meant, and his crew followed closely.

Revan knew the way to the hospital, and ran straight for it with no regard to anything happening around him as he ran.

"Just remember," Saimos reminded him as he ran, "you'll have to destroy my body once it's done."

"Alright. We're going to miss you, Saimos. Thanks for everything. We'll never forget you."

Saimos nodded, and smiled faintly. "And I'll never forget you all. Thank you."


At last, the crew arrived at the hospital. Revan didn't stop, and burst through the doors, still running. Spotting a medic, Revan ran up to him and stopped him.

"Where's Bastila?" he asked quickly.

The medic paused and stuttered. "Revan, I-I'm sorry. She's-"

Revan tore off his mask and grabbed the medic by his uniform. "NO! Nobody's dead here until I say so! Do you understand? Now where is she?!"

The frightened medic quickly answered. "She's in the west wing – room 105!"

Revan released the medic and ran off in the direction of Bastila's room. It seemed like forever to him until they finally reached the room in which she was being held. Revan's eyes scanned the room and fell upon Bastila's pale form. He rushed to her side and saw that she was limp and wasn't breathing, but Revan wasn't about to give up. He could feel some traces of her remaining through their bond.

"Saimos, give her the juice," he said. The creature didn't reply. He rushed over to Bastila's side. Maybe it was his lack of protest, or the way he did it wordlessly, but Revan couldn't fight off the feeling of guilt and hurt that overcame him as he watched Saimos go to his doom.

Saimos lowered his hands and pressed them over Bastila's heart. After a second of silence, the room was lit up as sparks of white lightning erupted from where Saimos's hands connected with Bastila's body. Revan watched as Bastila's body twitched and vibrated from the shock. Then, in the midst of it all, her eyes snapped open and her chest started rising and falling. Her heart rate monitor to the side started beeping again rapidly. At last, the energy dissipated, and Saimos collapsed to the ground, lifeless. The once bright-blue crystals that adorned his body were now a lifeless gray.

Bastila looked up and the first thing she saw was Revan standing over her with an expression of pure amazement on his face. Without saying a word she leaned up and pulled Revan down into a suffocating embrace, and Revan hugged her back just as fiercely and gently rocked her back and forth. For a while, neither of them said a word as they held each other, tears of joy streaming down both their faces. After a long time, they finally broke apart and looked at each other. All her color had been restored, and her beautiful eyes had returned to their deep ocean blue color. Revan raised a hand and tenderly ran it along her cheek.

"Hey princess," he whispered. She smiled at him and pulled him into a loving kiss. They broke apart once again, and Revan smiled at her through his tears.

"I thought I'd lost you," he said. She smiled back at him and buried her head in his shoulder.

"I love you, Revan," she said simply. Finally her eyes caught sight of the creature, and she pulled back.

"Revan, is that the…?" she asked.

"Yes," he answered her. Bastila nodded and silently stared in awe at the (mostly) dead creature on the floor. Slowly she shifted her view from the creature to look around the rest of the room. Her spirit lifted even more when she saw several familiar faces staring back at her. Mission, Atton, Jolee, Yuthura, and Quaid were all there, smiling back at her. And she saw something else that made her heart leap.

"Visas? Is it really you?" she asked shocked.

Visas nodded and smiled back at her. "Hello, Bastila."

Bastila couldn't stop her jaw from dropping as she looked at her childhood friend for the first time in many, many years. This was all almost too much for her to take in at once, and she blurted out a question almost without thinking.

"What happened?" she asked.

Revan smirked and scratched the back of his head. "Long story."

Bastila looked once again at the creature on the floor. "He's dead?"

Revan nodded. "Well, mostly. We're going to have to destroy his body." He lowered his head. "There was no other way…it was the only way to bring you back," he explained.

Bastila nodded sadly.

"It's too bad," Mission said quietly. "He really was a good guy."


Whew! That chap long enough for you? Once again, sorry it took so long to update. Life's been busy. Just to remind you, this is NOT the end, there's one chapter left after this. There's still stuff to wrap up, especially between Revan and Bastila, if you know what I mean. (wink) It should be up fairly soon, hopefully within a couple days. But I hope you guys enjoyed this chaotic and very loooong chapter. I especially hope the ending duel was worth it, seeing as it took me a while to write. I wanted to make sure Nihilus wasn't a walk in the park to beat, like in the game. grumbles (Talk about a waste of a good character) In the meantime, drop in a review and let me know what you thought!

Just for clarification, while I'm sure some of you would have liked it be Quaid or Visas who finished Vrook off, I had Saimos do it for a reason. He was already going to die, and it would have caused problems if either Quaid or Visas had the blood of a Jedi Master on their hands, especially if they wanted to get back into the order. So I had Saimos take the fall for them, so to speak. And just so you know, HK and T3 are NOT dead, just disabled. They're just too loveable to kill off, you know. :)