I apologise for the delay on this one, it took a while to think of an equivalent for the Excalibur arc. So I would like to present you with this short two part section.

Rights go to Mataras, Sundown17, Reki Kawahara and Bioware!

Enjoy!


Chapter 29: The Shadow of Revan


The date was December twenty-third, in the year of 2025. An entire year had passed since SAO was finished, and ten months since the efforts of Mataras, Kirito, Angel, Silica and a number of friends old and new dived in to free the remaining three hundred players trapped in Old Republic Online from their comatose condition.

The VR world had almost died that day, but thanks to, ironically, the man who started SAO in the first place, the genre pulled through. ORO was reborn, and Aincrad returned from the grave in all it's digital glory.

"Don't you find it strange that when we land on Aincrad Station, our items from ORO get dropped into a locked storage until we lift off again?" Marcus asked, he was reading a chapter of Michael's Book called 'The Red Swordsman'. "The force would make things much easier, and don't get me started on blasters."

"But wouldn't that make Aincrad, the world of swords seem too easy?" Kazuto asked.

"A vote went around before Aincrad's launch for that exact reason, and the result was against use of the Force and Blasters," Michael finished, eating a slice of toast. The three brothers had gotten together with their sisters for breakfast one morning.

Kazuto scrolled down his tablet, and took a sip of his morning juice. "Holy crap guys!" He shouted, standing in shock.

"What did Thinker put in this time?" Marcus asked.

"And is it any good?" Michael added.

"Don't say that about Thinker, the man's a genius," Sayuri said, walking in followed by Suguha and Emma, who seemed to be bouncing with joy.

"Marc! They added it!" She yelled.

"You're kidding!" Marcus practically snatched the tablet from his brother in black, eyes skimming over the article, then they lit up in excitement.

"What is it?" Michael asked, curious.

"One of our favourite events from the old game was added as a quest," Marcus said, showing the boy in red.

"'The Enemy Within'? Never heard of it," He asked.

"Not spoiling anything, but you'll see why I loved this mission by the time it's over," Marcus grinned.

"Who's going? Flashpoints are eight-man missions," Kazuto asked. "I'm still looking for the Crossguard Lightsaber design so I can't go."

"Asuna will wanna go with him, maybe Sugu too," Sayuri noted. The Kirigaya girl nodded.

"So, Me, Michael, Sayuri and Emma for certain, Keiko and Sarah, Ryoutaru and … one more…" Marcus paused, in thought.

"Any of Wyvern Inferno free?" Sayuri asked.

"No, Dan told me they had found the location of the Mask of Revan," Michael said.

"Rika? Kilran? Recon? Andrew?" Emma asked.

"No, she annoys me. No, he's busy doing business on Tatooine. No, he's a squeaky kid who won't take a hint about Suguha, and I think I saw him trying to hit on Emma a few weeks ago. No, he's working tonight," Michael said, ticking those names off.

"What about Dusken? He proved useful in the Star Forge," Kazuto suggested.

"The former suitor right? I think he'd work well, I want to see how he acts around my sister, Emma, you want to handle him? I'll get Sarah and Keiko, Michael, you call handle Klein?" Marcus nodded, he hadn't ignored Michael's comment about Recon, but planned on handling it another time.

Emma took the tablet and walked away, Marcus pulled out his phone and texted Keiko, then called Sarah.


Klein laughed as he finished a mug of booze, everyone had met in the Forged Alliance base on Yavin IV, they were waiting for Angel, Melody and Sachi to come down from the station, sitting in a small neutral bar.

"Hey Klein, you off for New Years'?" Ion asked, leaning against the wall.

"You bet, even if I wanted to work, and I don't, there's no shipments this time of year," Klein smirked. "You know what my cheap-ass boss said? 'Be thankful you got a boss that gives you two weeks off for New Years' bragging about it like he was doing us a favour."

He then pointed at the Jedi in white, "Speaking of which, cause I'm here for you, mind giving me a hand finding Nok Drayen's fortune?" He asked.

"Seriously man? That mission takes forever to finish, and the reward isn't all that great," Ion frowned.

"Yeah, but a smuggler like me has to make some sort of dough," Klein pointed out.

"What happened to that honourable Samurai code you followed?" Mataras asked from where he was standing next to Litrosh's Varactyl form.

"That code belongs in a world of swords, like Aincrad, but since there's no Katana shaped lightsabers, I went with this for the heck of it," The bandana head retorted.

"I bet Liz would like to put her Armstech skill to the test making a Katana for you," Silica said, stroking Pina's fur.

"Maybe I'll put in a request once we're done here," Klein smirked.

A shuttle came down from the station in orbit, Angel, Sachi and Melody walked off the ramp, the former two carrying backpacks.

"We're back!" The youngest of the three cried, approaching the table.

"What's up? You get lost or something?" Dusken asked, from where he sat a small distance from the party.

"Nah, just finding out where we needed to go," Angel said, placing her bag on the bench and handing out Kolto packs.

"Hey Dusken, why are you over here by yourself?" Sachi asked the ballistic rifle user.

"Her brother makes me nervous," he admitted, glancing at Ion.

"I think I understand," Sachi smiled. "But don't worry, Ion rarely gets angry, but when he did, it wasn't long before he was back to normal."

"Right, everyone stocked up?" Ion asked. Nods came from the group, "Alright then, let's get this started."

Sachi was wearing a blue and silver version of the Satele Shan set, a long silver hilt was on her belt, with an emitter on one end. The outfit she wore consisted of a blue sleeveless tunic with shoulder guards, silver lines flowed down the front and back, gauntlets and a black pair of thin pants, which Mataras had questioned about.

Klein was wearing a red shirt under a white shirt, a belt with two holsters sat around him, and was wearing blue leather pants and black boots. His trademark bandana was sitting on his forehead, marked with the four diamond shaped diamond that was Furinkazin's crest. Two duplicates of a small holdout pistol called 'Flashy' were in the holsters, both cared for heavily by the smuggler.

The rest were each wearing the same gear they wore during the Star Forge raid. Dusken put his main knife back on his bandolier. "Where are we to go then?" He asked.

"I contacted Argo, she said something about 'heading through a large stone arch guarded by one from the two sides', whatever that means," Angel said.

"Ion, you know this quest like the back of your hand, you lead the way," Mataras glanced at his brother.

"Good idea, let's move," Ion nodded.


Ion and Melody led them through an archway, with a Republic and Imperial Trooper on either side, "Who knew Republic and Imperial Forces could work together?" Sachi asked, as they passed a Jedi and Sith talking like they had known each other for a long time.

"Well, the enemy force is more difficult than one force alone can handle, so the two forces have forged an alliance," Ion said.

A command center like area had been set up ahead, and the two army's generals were standing at an end each, Jedi Grandmaster Satele Shan at one end, and Darth Marr, high member of the Dark Council.

"Because of the actions performed by you noble heroes, our forces are eager to work together," Satele started, as Ion stood at the table.

"Right now, Republic and Empire troops are beginning the diversionary assault, we have taken the Revanite forces completely by surprise," Marr added. As he said this, he pointed to beyond the base, where fleets of shuttles and fighter craft were flying out over the jungle.

"What's our next move then?" Ion asked.

"Now that we have Revan's forces occupied, it's up to a small strike team to slip through enemy lines on a shuttle and interrupt Revan's quest," Satele told them.

"Revan?" Mataras asked. "'I am no Jedi nor Sith'?"

"That's right, he will no doubt be readying himself for his so called quest to defeat the Emperor who locked him into an eternal slumber in the first place," Darth Marr informed them.

"Then I say we move out and take him down before he can finish his mission," Klein grinned.

"Agreed, there's a shuttle that will take you as close as we can to Revan's base, the top of the temple," Satele nodded.

"We'll head out immediately," Darth Marr finished. "For the Galaxy, Republic and Empire alike!"


The republic shuttle took off the moment everyone was settled, Ion was stood by the door, holding one of the handlebars above them, "I feel like I should warn you, this is going to be a few guards, then Revan himself, which is a ridiculously long boss fight, if it's anything like it was back then," He said.

"So the focus of this is the combat between our team and the protagonist of the first Old Republic title?" Mataras asked.

"Pretty much," Melody nodded.

"I approve of this fight," The Red Swordsman grinned.

"Ion, Revan uses lightsabers, what do you think our odds are?" Silica asked.

"Well, in the solo version, it was a ragtag group of Jedi, Sith and freelancers of both sides, all in all? I think we have a good chance," Ion said.

"We have three Jedi, two smugglers, one Trooper, a sniper and one bounty hunter," Dusken said. "Sounds about right if you ask me."

The shuttle suddenly hit the ground, and the ramp lowered. The little force charged up the hill, coming into a small straggling bunch of Revanite troops.

Mataras charged one of the force users, engaging in a quick melee before disarming him, and decapitating him.

Dusken hit two of their foes, one being a former imperial medic and another being a former republic soldier. Both collapsed with a hole in their heads.

Melody tossed one of her favourite sticky bombs, which exploded on the chest of another force user.

Ion finished the last, by grabbing the Imperial guard officer with the force and throwing his lightsaber through his chest.

This all happened in ten seconds, for some parties, that was a record, for the old Moonlit Black Cats, it meant they were off their game.

"Anyone hurt?" Asked Sachi.

"That sith knockoff clipped me a few times, HP at ninety percent," Mataras reported.

Sachi closed her eyes and focused on the force, sealing the wounds on Mataras' right side and restoring his health.

"Alright, let's move on, our opponent awaits!" Ion called, and the team of eight continued.


"Revan! Cease what you're doing!" Ion yelled, as they entered the temple courtyard, Revan was waiting for them, a pair of lightsabers at his waist.

"No! I have waited for countless years to exact my revenge against the Emperor that imprisoned me, I refuse to wait any longer!" Revan bellowed.

There was the sounds of engines whirring above them, multiple shuttles hovered, dropping ropes for troops, and several faces arrived too.

Satele and Theron Shan both leapt off a Republic shuttle, while Darth Marr and Lana Beniko calmly fell off the ramp, a large Wookiee with a droid head strapped to his furry chest rushed up the steps with a bowcaster in his arms.

As if that wasn't enough, a female figure in Mandalorian armour landed next to Angel, making those around her double take at the sight of the two. "Shae Visla?" Asked the protocol droid head.

"Heard the fight to end all fights was going down. What kind of Mando would I be if I ignored this?" She replied under her helmet, but Ion could tell there was probably a grin on her face.

"Revan, you are outnumbered, surrender now and we can let you go back to the Foundry in peace," Satele called.

"My own flesh and blood oppose me, don't you all see I am trying to free the galaxy!" Revan said.

"How do you plan to do that? The Emperor doesn't have a physical form, he's the Dark Side incarnate!" Marr snapped.

"And besides, we've been sensing a presence that is similar to Revan, but uncorrupted by the Dark Side of the force," Satele continued.

"So who are you?" Ion finished.

Revan answered by reaching his hands to his face, and removing the fabled mask that he was known for.

The face looked like he had gone under plastic surgery, since there were so many scars on it.

"I am Revan! Jedi, nor Sith! And I will not be denied my quest!" Revan bellowed. He replaced the mask, then his hands summoned his weapons to them, and they activated, one being his signature purple one, and the other being a red one.

At that, four HP bars appeared next to him, and Revan appeared above him. "It's on! Listen to Litrosh and Pina guys! Ready?" Ion asked.

"YEAH!" Echoed the group.


Ion: Yeah, this is a rather short chapter, sorry about that.

Mataras: It doesn't matter, but bring on the next chapter!

Klein: I think that Ion already finished the next one too.

Melody: In fact, it's already up!

Sachi: In that case, we'd better finish up here and get on to the next one!

Next time: A Light in the Darkness!