Chapter 51: Dance with a Devil

The ride up the elevator wasn't calming, instead I could feel a tornado swirling around in my chest as emotions, primarily fear, battled to take control. Forcing myself to take a deep breath, forcing those emotions down, deeper and deeper until they are but a wave against a wall. I cannot let fear consume me, that would be the death of me right there. Malek is unlike any sith I've even encountered, even my old master. His ability with a lightsaber is close to unmatched, and his powers in the force would surely have been grown since we last met on the Leviathan.

The humming of the elevator is the only noise I can hear as we rocket upwards towards the deck. My hand drifts to my belt, and gently run my thumb down the side of my hilt, finding a comfort in the cold metal that composes my weapon. It's my main defence against Malek, but not my only, attached along my belt are six thermal detonators, a last resort weapon. An observation deck means a single thing, windows, and assuming the Star Forge has the same defensive system to a breach as a standard spaceship, which gives me 6 seconds. 6 seconds if everything goes to shit, to make the last option. Mutually assured destruction.

"Ready Jason?" asks the only voice I want to hear beside me. I look over at Katarina, the only person who I think I want standing at my side. This red-haired emotional impulsive girl had been my best ally since Tatooine, we've fought side-by-side, I don't know how many times, and is one of the best fighters I've seen in my time.

"Yes" I say simply, staring at the door in front of us "No matter what happens now, I'm ready for it"

Suddenly, much quicker than I'd of liked, the elevator door whirls and opened, revealing the Observation deck. The deck was large with two floors, the second floor a black metal gantry that goes around the room next to the windows, allowing anyone inside to gaze out at the space battle beyond the Forge. But what catches my eyes instantly are the captives. Littered around the room, on both the first and second floor held in shackle-locked mobile prisons, were jedi! I recognise at least one of them, the girl who had spoken to me when I'd first arrived on Dantooine. They have been the victims of a Sith raid. Reaching out with the force, I feel a shiver creeping up my spine. These Jedi weren't alive, nor were they dead, but almost as if they were being held in a state of limbo with nothing but their connection to the force keeping them in this world! How long had Malek kept them tied up in this room like Bantha waiting for the slaughter?

"The pup has returned to the Forge" speaks a metallic voice, a voice that could only belong to a single person, if he could even be considered a man at this point "And he brings along the bitch with him. I truly am amazed how far you've come and even more that you dare to stand against me. Neither of you were a match for me before, and my powers have grown since I was forced to keep you alive…" The man steps forwards, leaping into the air and landing on the gantry, turning and facing us, the dark side swirling around him.

"Darth Malek" I hear Katarina's voice laced with venom and hatred, feeling the girls anger pulsating in the force "We've also gotten stronger since meeting on that ship, and you're going to be no match for us this time…"

"I doubt that very much" he looks at Katarina with a lazy glare, before moving his dark eyes over to me "And how is your leg pup? The original is still somewhere on the Leviathan I think, rotting away like you should have been" I feel my anger burning inside me, letting it burn slowly within my chest.

"You can keep it" I snap at the self-proclaimed dark lord "My new replacement will do just fine" I glance down at my leg which is under my black robes, hidden and shining metal.

"Who have you strung up as décor here?" asks Katarina, glancing around at Malek's prisoners "Friends of yours?" I glare at the girl, though I doubt she sees' it from her position a step in front of me. While I understand dark humour, but maybe she doesn't recognise any of them. It wouldn't be a surprise, after all, she left the Sith academy and found her way to us, she's never had a proper interaction with the Jedi outside of those on the Hawk.

"They are your Jedi friends, most from what remains of the academy on Dantooine after my assault on the planet. I brought them here, to keep them alive, or as alive as they can be in this state…"

"What have you done with them Malek!" I yell feeling my anger roll of me in almost waves as I look at the Jedi girl trapped, lifeless and not even properly alive anymore. Her name, I don't even know her fucking name! I had a few conversations with her, mostly deflecting her questions about myself, but she didn't deserve this, no one did. And around me, there is not one, but over a dozen of them all snared up.

"The Forge holds them here, not dead yet, yet not with the Force…Here I can harness what little life they have left, absorb it into myself…" he says, a coldness detachment echoing in his metallic voice. His hands slide over onto his belt, drawing two lightsabers and spinning them around in his hands. The same style he used back on the Leviathan, a style he's never used during the war prior, meaning he may be rusty. He seemed capable to hold us off and exploiting our weaknesses, not taking advantage of the fight. If we fight this properly, we will be able to kill him.

"I'm going to kill you Malek!" Katarina yells, igniting her weapon and spinning the double-sided blade in her hands expertly, a violent look burning in her eyes, a look that would send most men running. Her anger blazing within her, an anger I can feel echoing in the force around us. I grip my blades hilt, spinning it in my hand before my finger presses its button, my red blade igniting in my hand.

The current Dark Lord leaps forwards, both his blades burning red as he lands on our level, charging forwards with his red cape billowing behind him. Katarina sprints forwards ahead of me, leaping forwards and crashing into Malek, their blades humming and dancing around each other, crashing as Katarina aggressively swinging at him. I start running forwards, right as Katarina gets kicked backwards, stumbling back as I run ahead of her, taking a large underarmed swing, to which Malek spins the blade in his hand, deflecting my attack. Spinning the hilt in my palm, and attacking him from my right side. Malek rotates his blade on his left hand, blocking my attack and at the same time, using the blade in his right hand to swing at my chest. Throwing my left hand up, a snatch his wrist tightly in my hand, feeling his strength behind his swing, but managing to hold his strike. I pull my right hand back, and take another swing at the Dark Lord, which was promptly blocked. Keeping a strong grip on his wrist, I throw a glance over my shoulder, risking to see Katarina charging in.

That's when I feel a wave of pain smashing into my chest, my grip on Malek's wrist slipping as I'm thrown backwards, crashing backwards against the ground, glaring up at Malek spotting his right palm opened, a single finger gripping onto his blade, the force echoing around as Katarina leaps back into action. The girl fights like a wraith, a blur of red as her weapon clashes against Maleks, who spins the blades in his hands to deflect her continues unrelenting attacks. The Dark Lord was silent, while Katarina lets her emotions known, yells of how she was planning on taking him apart and decorating the halls of the Forge with his insides.

Despite the pain biting throughout my back, I force myself up onto my feet, spinning the blade in my hand over. A tang of fear fires through me, fear of failure. After all, it wasn't every day when you fight for the fate of the galaxy. Gripping my blade tightly, I charge in, hacking away only to find Malek's second blade meeting me, while his right hand deflects Katarina's constant attacks!

"How persistant, the pair of you!" Malek finally speaks, and even through his metallic voice, I hear what I want to, struggle. He may be a Dark Lord, but there is only so long he can hold out from us. We outnumber him, meaning we should be able to tire him out. "I should have killed you before on that ship!" With a roar, he uses the force to push both of us backwards. I quickly manage to keep my footing, while Katarina barely stumbles backwards.

"Shame you didn't" I feel a bead of sweat trick down my face towards my eye and quickly use my elbow to wipe it away.

"Getting tired already? We've barely begun" If this cyborg still had a mouth, I'm certain he'd smile.

"We outnumber you two to one, and we both know Revan is coming to kill you if we fail. The way I see it, Dark Lord, you're on borrowed time. You'll be tired and let your guard down"

"Is that what you think?" I feel a shiver race down my spine seeing his cold eyes look over at one of the Jedi, the girl who'd I'd spoken to all those months ago, and I feel my anger bubbling up once again "Did Revan ever teach you about this place? Doubtful, all he ever saw was an infinite fleet to conquer the galaxy, and endless supply of weapons to conquer the galaxy"

"The force, the Dark Side, flows through here. This station flows with It" I reply "It's more than just a factory, even an infinite factory, doesn't possess this level of force flowing through it"

"You're quite right. The power that flows through this place is more than just a simple factory. The darkness that flows through this place is more than simply the Dark side, and its power can be harvested. The Jedi you see around you are kept in stasis, not dead, yet not alive, all because of the power of the Forge" He raises his left hand, flicking his wrist down, all the while his lightsaber glows in his hand, and as he does, a burning fiery red stream launches forwards. Force Drain! The power he used on me back on the Leviathan! I brace myself for impact, clutching my eyes and holding my breath. But it never hit me.

Opening my eyes, I see the Drain firing from Malek…Into the Jedi girl! He's draining her power, what little energy she has left. I can feel it, the Forge forces her to stay alive, and now, Malek is draining her! Lashing out with the rage, I raise my left hand and fire Lightning. Malek spins his left hand, ending his Drain and deflecting my burst.

"I can feel the anger raging within you runt" Malek says coldly "Anger that I would do such a thing to a Jedi…"

"That you would do such a thing to anything Malek…" I reply right as, without warning, Katarina charges in. She had been silent this whole time, and with both mine and Malek's focus on the Jedi, she'd walked around, striking Malek from behind. I feel my heart leap into my throat, right at Katarina goes to strike, Malek glanced in her direction. My blood turns to ice. He knows!

I open my mouth to yell, to scream, to do anything to warn Katarina, but it was too late. Katarina swung her blade at Malek's head, that one moment was there, next it wasn't. He moved with unnatural speed, speed enhanced by the Force, and now swings his own blades at Katarina. The red-haired girl reacts, jerking her head out the way of his attack, only for Malek's boot to collide with it. The result was instantaneous. Katarina's eyes vanish as her body crashes into the ground, rolling over once and parking her on the other side of the room, tucked up under the gantry, out cold. I take a deep breath and Malek's cold dead eyes return to me. While he could kill Katarina right now, I'm certain of it, he doesn't. Why? Why, just like that time on the Leviathan. He could have killed Katarina and myself then also, so why hasn't he done it this time?

"What are you going to boy? You couldn't beat me when you had this girls help. Now you're alone with me in my Forge….You have no chance"

I glare at the dark lord. Indeed he is powerful, more than me perhaps….

"You're willing to kill everything to prove yourself aren't you Malek?" I ask, slipping my left hand onto the back of my belt, and gripping a bulge tightly. I didn't want it to come to this….

"I will kill everyone who dares challenge me pup, and you and your friend are the first" he takes a step forward, clearly wanting one last thing from me. Death.

"And I'm willing to die to prove myself!" I yell, detaching the bulge and throwing it with all my strength. The bulge spins out of my hand, launching towards the observatory window. It was a mini-pack, one you attach onto your belt and typically fill with food. It crashes into the window, barely denting it, before falling to the gantry, harmless. Malek's metallic laughter soon follows.

"Was that your last ditch move? To damage the glass and kill us both? Your pack barely dented the glass you fool!"

I never got a chance to reply. Because at that second, with all their glory, the Thermal Detonators exploded. The observatory rocked from the force, forcing Malek and myself to stumble, right as I look up, and see the glass shattered. Alarms sound as the sound that fills many with fear, fills me with calm. The sound of oxygen being sucked out. I see it in Malek's eyes, those cold eyes. Fear, burning brightly. I grab onto the prison-holder, the one of the Jedi girl, and hold on for life. Malek, stuck in the middle of the observatory, had nothing to hold, and started flying backwards. I throw a glance to Katarina, only to find relief. From her position under the gantry, she was being pulled up slightly, but wouldn't fall out. That fate would great Malek alone.

The Dark Lord of the Sith reached out forwards, grasping at nothing, before he went flying backwards, towards the open window! I feel my heart leap, this was it! Right as Malek was about to pass through the window, I smile.

The shutters slammed down with a loud bang, and Darth Malek, Dark Lord of the Sith Empire, crashed into them, landing on his hands and knees on the gantry.

"Fuck!" I hear the words exit my mouth "Fucking shit!" releasing the prison-holder, I watch as fear grabs my heart and squeezes it. My last ditch move…failed completely. I look over at the Jedi girl, trapped. Poor thing must be close to death, but unable to make the final step. All of the Jedi here must be…I glance at her holder, and smirk. Maybe before I die. I can do one last act.

"Come and face me. Your trick have failed you, your last efforts are gone. Now, you will face me, and die by my hand!" Malek's robotic voice echoes as I look up. Over the last minute, the Dark Lord had made his way from the gantry where he landed, to the centre of his observation deck, a single blade in his right hand, having deactivated, or lost, his other. I let out a huffed laugh, standing up, Lightsaber in my right hand. Taking a step towards him, I'm feel the fear vanishing. I am not afraid to die anymore, it seems. I just wish I didn't.

"Here I am Malek…." I raise my arms, deactiving my lightsaber before letting my arms slap against my sides, defenceless. I can't beat Malek, in raw power he crushes me.

"Willing to die finally boy. But I won't give you the death you desire…now, you will watch as I extract the life of the Jedi, and realize all you've done, all your attempts to weaken me before your master arrives, have been for naught"

Raising his left hand at the female Jedi ensnared, he calls upon the darkness to drain her of her energy. The red beam leaps from his palm, seeking her body and crashing into her chest, only to sputter out and die upon contact. Malek tries this again, only for the same result.

"Having trouble extracting her energy?" I finally speak up "You know Malek, you shouldn't have linked the Forges life support system through all of them at the same time. It created a network field keeping them alive"

"What did you do?! What have you done to them!" he demands, fury and rage emerging onto the Dark Lords face, a look I will treasure for as long as I'm alive.

"I disabled the local life support field Malek. All these Jedi you captured are dead, I released them from their null-life. They won't be your…!" My final victory was cut shot as Malek, his rage burning in the Force itself, punches me across the face. I lose my balance, crashing onto the floor with pain racing through my face. I feel Malek's hand on my neck, being forced onto my feet.

"Your death will be agony for what you have done! You will beg for death when I am finished with you!" Malek raises his lightsaber, and I close my eyes. I don't want to see the killing blow coming, I just wish I could know what happens after my death.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you" A voice burns into my ears. I feel Malek look over my shoulder, but I don't need to. There is a single person who owns that voice, only one person in this galaxy who wants to stop Malek more than I do. Revan.

"Well, you've arrived at a person time my former master. Your pet and his bitch paid me a visit, and I'm just about to exterminate them both. Would you care to help?"

Revan lets out a soft laugh "As tempting as that it, I need them both alive Malek. Let him go. Let's settle this one-on-one, master against apprentice, like we should have done a year ago"

Malek goes silent, but I open my eyes, seeing Malek's face in my own, right as I'm spun around, and see Jax. Standing on the ramp, he is wearing robes as black as midnight, a burning red lightsaber in his hand. Where he got a red blade, I've got no idea. I feel Malek's right hand leave my neck, and a cold realization hits me.

'He's gunna either kill me'

Right as a wave of pain crashes into my head, throbbing as I collapse forwards, crashing into the ground.

Pain. My head hurts. With each heartbeat, I can feel the back of my head throbbing. Opening my eyes, I see the observatory of the Star Forge, and in the middle, Malek and Revan. The pair of them were engaged in a deadly dance. Both armed with a single blade, they swung at each other with anger and rage, their emotions burning through the Force around them. Dragging myself to my feet, I look over to the gantry, and see Katarina, still on the ground. I slowly force myself over to her, pulling my body with just my arms. Looking down at the girl, I see the calmness on her face, despite how she was taken down. There isn't any bleeding thankfully, but the blow she took must have hurt. That and, under her eyes, her fair skin is darkened in circles, a lack of sleep I suspect. I probably have them also, moving my hand under my eye, I feel the dry skin with small dumbs over it. Yep, not enough sleep. On the ground next to her, her lightsaber. Reaching out, I take the handle in my hand. The hilt is heavier than my own, and rougher, less elegant and more brutal in design, the weapon of a warrior who will spill their enemies blood. I look around for my own blade, and quickly spot it in the hands of Revan. In the time I had crawled to Katarina, he'd picked up my weapon and was fighting two-handed style, being aggressive and forcing Malek back. I stand up, and with Katarina's weapon in hand, charge, igniting the blade and swinging it at the Dark Lord.

It the time it took me to blink, Malek had not only side-stepped, but raised his left hand, and fired a deadly wave for Force Lightning at me. I quickly raise my lightsaber to block it, but it overran my weapon and pain erupts on my arms and face, forcing me to look away or risk going blind. The lightning continues to assault me, lashing my arms, my face, my chest, while I bite down on my teeth. I wouldn't give him the satisfaction of hearing me in pain. When suddenly, the lightning stops. I feel my muscles tensing before releasing, and collapse against the cold metal surface of the Forge, panting for air as I stare at the scene before me. Dark Malek on his knees, with Revan standing above him.

"You…were the one that started us on this dark path. I followed you, trusted in you, trusted in our quest for power" Malek says, but his voice is, different, missing its arrogance. Maybe he finally sees his defeat.

"I was the one who started us down the dark path, but you allowed it to consume you. Those two Sith, they have also started down the dark path, and yet, they are not controlled by power. They are the future of the Sith order, the future I had hoped for us"

"I suppose, you speak the truth. I alone must accept responsibility for my fate. I wished to be the Dark Lord of the Sith, ruler of a strong people…But I see, that fate is not for me, never for me…." And Lord Malek collapses onto the floor of the observatory, never to get up.

"Jason! A-are you ok?" Revan's voice invades my ears as he runs over, kneeling down to me. I smile weakly up at my master.

"I'll be fine. What about you, and Bastilia? What was all that about?" I ask, throwing a glance over at Katarina. While I didn't see any blood before, that doesn't mean she's out of danger…

"It's a long story, but we'll worry about that later…" standing up, he rushes over to Katarina, lifting her unconscious body over his, giving her a piggy-back almost, and heading towards the elevator, before looking back over at me "Jason…?"

"It's all over isn't it?" I hear the dullness in the voice. Despite Malek's death, I didn't feel the satiation I should, that I thought I would seeing him dead on the ground. There was no feeling, just cold emptiness where I thought excitement would be. "The past year, everything we've been working towards, it's, over"

"Not what you were expecting?" Despite the question, he said it like a statement, as if he knew he was right.

"I expected to feel, excited. But there's nothing" I say, taking a deep breath "But I suppose, we go on don't we?"

"Yes we do. Now get up"

The journey back to the Hawk was uneventful. Using the elevator I had used to get to the observatory, we followed the route past the Sith Commander Center, through the gantry pathways back into the hanger. At some point, Carth had called all Republic forces in retreat, and we met the hanger hosting nearly 20 Republic Soldiers and a handful of Jedi. The survivors of the assault of the Star Forge. The survivors are filtered onto the Republic dropships, while Revan drags Katarina and myself back into the Hawk.

Collapsing on a seat in the main hold, I close my eyes as pain rocks all through my body. The Adrenaline of combat had been driving me forwards, and now in the safety of the Ebon Hawk, I feel the fatigue in my bones weighing my down. Sucking in what air I can, my vision starts to darken as a shudder races through my head, causing a wave of nausea to crash into me. Being forced to lie down, I feel something press into my shoulder as my eyelids start to come down. I see a blur of blue and a muffled yell as my vision falls dark once again, with one thought left.

It's all over now, isn't it?

Author notes:

Hey everyone

I do firstly want to say sorry for the huge delay in uploading, I've started university which had eaten up a lot of my time, additionally I've actually started planning my own novel (Not fanfiction) which has also taken up a large majority of my creativity activity. However despite this, I have finished the final chapter and even have a plan for Kotor 2 and additionally going into the arch beyond that, so hopefully you all will stay with me through it. It'll take me time, but thank you all for staying with me for this long, it means so much to me. As one of my friends knows (who also reads this), I get far too excited whenever I get an email stating I had a new follower or favourite.