A/N: You can thank the band Disturbed for the title. This song makes for epic fight music. More notes at the end.
Indestructible
Coalition Command Base
Fynta left Aric's bed before sunrise to discuss battle tactics with the soldiers camped nearby. She didn't care what colors they wore so long as their suggestions were sound. Jorgan made an attempt to join her, but Fynta wanted to represent neutrality. If she cornered an Imperial soldier while flanked by a Cathar in Republic armor, they'd be less likely to speak openly. Not to mention the risk of open hostilities. Garza had taught Fynta the value of the political long game, at least.
Fynta felt invigorated. The twinge of pain from the night before kept her focused. In truth, she'd been surprised that her husband had agreed to the request so willingly. A sad smile touched her lips as the first glimmer of dawn peeked through the trees. Fynta had only realized how deeply Cinlat's death affected Aric after they'd settled down to sleep. He'd held her close, stroking her hair as a purr rumbled in his chest. The stubborn shabuir could deny the actuality all he liked, but Fynta found the deep vibration soothingly familiar.
Fynta had muttered her the traditional Prayer of Remembrance into the sheets when exhaustion finally pulled down her emotional defenses. Aric had asked about it while Fynta dressed the next morning. He requested that she repeat it on his behalf once she'd explained its importance. The fact that her husband respected her belief system even though he didn't share it, meant more than Fynta could express.
As the hours dragged on, the sun climbed higher over the horizon, bathing the world in light. By 06:00, Fynta had a working plan. Theory might have been a better word for it, but there was one more person that the major needed to speak with before she was ready to present her proposal to the war council.
Fynta found Kaeto Vaa meditating on a sunny ridge overlooking the encampment. She stopped short of calling out to the Togruta when a second figure came into view. The red skin on the man's back shimmered in the rising sun, and Fynta stood transfixed as Sith and Jedi sat completely motionless together. She recognized him, though only from a distance. However, it hadn't taken long to learn of the Emperor's Wrath.
Darth Kozen took a deep breath and looked over his shoulder. "We have a visitor, Kaeto."
We? Fynta thought, carefully keeping her face passive to hide her thoughts.
The Sith stood, collected his shirt, then pulled it over his head. "I gather that it is not my company she seeks. I will meet you on the battlefield." Kozen tipped his head politely as he strolled down the hill, hands clasped behind his back.
Fynta stared stupidly after the Sith until Kaeto cleared her throat. "Good morning, Major. Your injuries look better." The Jedi winced when Fynta turned towards her. "Or, perhaps it is only the light." Fynta had yet to see a mirror, but more than one soldier had pulled a face when they saw her. If pain was any indicator, she guessed she sported a black eye and swollen jaw.
"Did I interrupt something?" Fynta asked before she could stop herself. There was an air of familiarity between the two Force users that shouldn't exist.
"We were meditating. It is difficult to explain to one who is Force blind, but Darth Kozen provides a unique experience," Kaeto answered, rising more gracefully than a woman her size had any right to.
Fynta couldn't help herself. After everything that had happened since yesterday afternoon, she needed the distraction. "So, you've known each other a while?"
Kaeto nodded as she buckled on the belt containing her duel lightsabers. "Our journeys have been intertwined for some time now." Lavender eyes met Fynta's. "I hope that I can count on your discretion?"
"How discrete are we talking?" Fynta hedged.
Kaeto thought for a moment, then smiled. "The, this goes against everything the Jedi code stands for, level of secrecy."
Fynta's eyebrows rose despite years of training to control her body's reactions. She closed some of the space between them and lowered her voice. "Master Vaa, are you telling me that you're sleeping with a Sith?"
"It's a little more complicated than that," the Togruta answered with a wave of her hand.
Fynta snorted a laugh and crossed her arms. "Isn't it always?" Kaeto chuckled and began pulling on her boots. "That is kind of dangerous though, don't you think? Especially given your history?" Kaeto didn't hide the emotional scars that her line of work had left. She'd freely told Fynta about her encounter with the Emperor, and the disastrous outcome that followed.
Fynta had developed a liking for Master Vaa since their first meeting on Makeb. The woman was decisive, fair, and not afraid of getting her hands dirty. The Togruta had earned Fynta's respect when she refused to recall Havoc during a rescue op simply to bolster her own position. Kaeto had thrown logic out the window in favor of saving lives.
Later, the Jedi accepted when Fynta offered to buy her a drink off the record. The Togruta could swear with the best of them, and Fynta wondered if being a Force sensitive had robbed Kaeto of a more fulfilling life as a soldier. The fact that she was sleeping with a Sith really didn't surprise the major the way it should have, but she didn't want to lose such a powerful ally to the madness of the Dark Side.
Kaeto put a hand on Fynta's shoulder. "No more than sleeping with your second in command, I wager." Fynta offered the Togruta a cheeky grin. That was another reason she liked this particular Jedi. Kaeto had a knack for reading the emotions around her and had picked up on the connections within Havoc fairly quickly. She hadn't used it for her own aims or threatened to report them, simply wished them well before parting ways after the evacuation.
"I imagine you sought me out for more than gossip, though." Kaeto straightened to full height, which was roughly that of Cormac, and crossed her arms.
"You know the Emperor better than most," Fynta began. Given Kaeto's experience, and the fact that she'd been partially responsible for the Emperor's current, bodiless state, Fynta couldn't afford not to pick her brain. "How bad are things if we fail to stop Revan today?"
Kaeto sighed, looking across the valley of soldiers below. Her eyes clouded as if transported somewhere else, somewhere unpleasant. "Genocide, Major," she answered after several, long moments. "He is cruel and insane, fueled by a hatred for all things. If Revan returns him to a corporeal state, the Emperor will not rest until we are all eradicated."
"That's what I needed to know." Fynta's plan would get a lot of good soldiers killed. She needed to be sure that their sacrifice would be worth it. "I'll leave you to prepare. Thank you, Master Vaa." Fynta extended a hand, clasping the other woman's forearm as a fellow warrior. "I look forward to fighting by your side again."
Command Base
"Forward assault team, you are cleared for the offensive." Zolah watched multiple screens while coordinating the various strike teams during the main battle.
Major Wolfe had opted to take a small contingent to the temple to face Revan, while the majority of their soldiers provided a distraction to pull Revan's army away from the main objective. Fynta had made a bold suggestion that morning, and now each strike team consisted of an equal number of Imperial and Republic forces. Darth Nox and Kozen led teams, along with two Jedi. Zolah found the dynamics between the groups strained and deceptively cordial.
A hand settled on Zolah's shoulder, and she turned to find Vector standing behind her. "You watch them more than the others," he commented with a nod towards the screen where Darth Kozen squatted between Kaliyo and the Togruta Jedi Knight.
Zolah answered Vector's open ended question with a nod. "This may sound strange, but I swear there is something going on between those two." She leaned forward to adjust the image of Kozen and the Jedi. "Watch their body language; it is as if they've known one another for years."
Kozen put his lips close to Kaeto's cheek, clearly speaking in hushed tones. She nodded, then slipped through the dense foliage to regroup with her men. Zolah switched to a different soldier's armor cam and narrowed her eyes at the image. Vector joined her for a closer look. "Is that not the Jedi credited with turning Lord Scourge against the Emperor?"
Zolah nodded and switched to another angle that showed the Sith in question. He had been given charge over Solish and Kozen's apprentices to lead a group of special forces to flank the Revenites once the battle began. "Do you think that is the connection," Zolah asked. "Master Kaeto practically gave Darth Kozen his job as the Emperor's Wrath. Perhaps they have crossed blades before."
"Perhaps," Vector agreed. His lack of speech indicated to Zolah that the man considered the suggestion more than he let on. "Who is that?"
Vector reached across Zolah to point to one of the medical staff. A scruffy looking human with a thick mustache who appeared to be attracting a crowd. Zolah smirked when she realized who the man was. "He is one of Master Vaa's companions; her own, personal doctor. If one were to believe the talk about him, he's quite the rogue."
"Yes." Vector frowned at the image. "We expected as much. Hopefully, he will remember his place once the wounded begin to arrive."
Zolah patted her husband's shoulder before he meandered back to his side of the room, to coordinating with the techs again. Yuun clicked a suggestion, one that Zolah was startled to realize that she understood as clearly as if the Gand spoke in Basic, and Vector nodded his assent.
Blaster fire and the unmistakable sound of lightsabers humming into existence pulled Zolah's attention back to the screens. She watched the assault teams advance into the field to surround the Revanite hideout. A weight settled in her gut. This was it; the battle had begun. Be careful, Theron. The singular thought raced through her mind before being quashed in favor of focusing on the task in front of her. Zolah activated her comm, offering one last glance over her shoulder to find Vector doing the same. They shared a knowing look, then Zolah took a deep breath.
"Blue squadron, attack."
The Forgotten Terrace
Jorgan followed Fynta up the ramp and into the crumbling temple. The sun had given way to rain, slicking the stone floor that lay open to an unnaturally dark sky. Torches had been lit, and even though it was mid-morning, the flames threw eerie shadows over the sharp angles of the ruins.
Aric and Fynta had done something that they'd both sworn never to do: they'd said goodbye. Jorgan fell asleep holding his wife, cheek pressed against her hair, savoring every moment. Cinlat's absence served as a stark reminder of how quickly those moments could end, and how precious they would be in the long run. After she returned from speaking with the gathered warriors, Fynta pulled Jorgan somewhere quiet. He swore to watch her back until the end, and she'd replied in kind.
Verin walked on the other side of the major, his beskad spinning in figure eights while he murmured the Mandalorian prayer of remembrance over and over. Balic flanked Jorgan, unable to meet Verin's eyes, while Vik brought up the rear. The Cathar did a quick check on the rest of their group via his HUD. Elara bustled about shouting orders and preparing the triage area. Yuun worked shoulder to shoulder with Zolah and Vector in an effort to coordinate the massive strike that had begun before their shuttle left base.
Fynta sent the largest force into the field as a distraction, while they snuck around the back. The plan had worked, but casualty reports were pouring in. Had it not been for Verin's last minute, and largely unauthorized, call to Shae Vizla, Jorgan worried that they might not have had the numbers. However, the Mandalorians threw themselves into battle with the reckless abandon that one would expect from such fierce warriors.
True to their word, Fynta and Verin wore their armor without helmets. A notion that skira could not be completed unless their adversary looked into their eyes. It was reserved for the lowest of war criminals in their culture, and for once, Aric didn't bother protesting.
Havoc squad stopped on the outer ring of a ceremonial circle. A man stood in the middle, his cloak and hood soaked by the rain. Fynta motioned for her team to hang back while she ventured closer. Only Verin followed.
"Revan." Her voice rang across the emptiness, loud in the lull before the storm.
The man didn't turn, but when he spoke, a chill crawled its way up Jorgan's spine. The voice didn't sound human, it sounded evil. "Your entire army barely managed to drive me back. Do you think you'll be able to face me without them?"
"No soldier fights alone," Fynta responded. On signal, Theron Shan, Darth Marr, Lana, and Master Satele crested the stairs. They spread out, Havoc advancing to take up positions to encircle the target. Shae Vizla had demanded a chance for the kill of the century as payment for the use of her clan, and stood between Marr and Lana. It hadn't taken long for the Wookie to join them as well, ignoring Fynta's order to remain with the ship. While Fynta kept her eyes on the target, Jorgan noted the subtle rise and fall of her shoulders as she sighed.
"Bring as many fools as you like," Revan wheezed. He turned towards them, slow and deliberate. His clothing hung in tatters, while the scarred and dented mask hid his face, the black and red mimicking blood flowing through shadow. This was not the polished Jedi they'd rescued from the Maelstrom prison. "You won't stop what must be done!"
The storm picked up pace, wind roaring from the east to snap at robes and hair alike. Fynta raised her hand and gave the attack order.
Lightning split the sky, surrounding Revan. Jorgan ran for a better sniping position and saw Lana. She hovered half a meter off the floor, eyes glowing like fire as electricity arced from her fingertips into the ground. Jorgan realized that it wasn't coming down, but shooting upwards to envelope the man. He found his spot and put Revan in his crosshairs.
Once the lightning cleared, Darth Marr burst forth, raining a storm of strikes against the ancient Jedi. His speed impressed Fynta enough that she paused, entranced by the spectacle. Her attention snapped back to the fray when Jakarro rocketed backwards, slamming into Shae, before finally hitting the ground. "Shab, Havoc, fire everything you've got," she ordered and opened up on full auto.
Fynta fired clip after clip, all of her explosives, until she'd been reduced to taking single shots so that her weapon didn't overheat. This fight had already gone on too long. Suddenly, her feet were no longer on the ground, and she hurtled away from her target. She hit one of the ruined pillars and slid down as Darth Marr landed beside her.
The major scrambled to her feet in time to see Revan spin and push his hands towards Vik and Jakarro. Once more, the Wookie had been tossed out of the arena. "He is strong in the Force," Marr rasped, rolling his shoulder and reactivating his blade.
Fynta glanced at the big Sith and raised her weapon again. "Then we need to be stronger."
Cormac didn't have eyes on anyone other than Revan. The man tossed people around like toys, but each one came back for more. As soon as Shae Vizla's feet hit the ground, she ducked behind Cormac to reload while he sprayed the area with his cannon. He'd never met anyone this hard to kill. Maybe there was something to all that Force nonsense after all. Regardless, he owed the bastard for what he'd done to Cinlat. She was a better warrior than you, Balic thought angrily, but he wasn't sure if the reprimand was directed at Revan, or himself.
Cormac caught sight of Theron dodging from pillar to pillar and vaguely wondered what the SIS agent was searching for. The thought vanished when Vizla tackled Cormac to the ground as the boulder behind him exploded into dust. He nodded his thanks and opened fire again, grateful that Elara was safe back at the base.
"This man needs fluids immediately!" Elara wiped her brow as she tried to stop the bleeding on the Imperial soldier's gut wound. He'd been too close to the blast and shards of droid had ripped through his armor and organs.
"We're running low, sir! We need to ration," one of the medics answered as he carried the tail end of a stretcher past. Elara didn't care whose side he came from; it didn't make the man any less correct. They had taken heavy casualties, and she needed to start battle triaging. One through three for levels of injury; zeros for those unexpected to survive.
"Sedate him so that he isn't in pain," Elara ordered the frazzled nurse at her side. The young woman nodded, and Elara moved across the battlefield. The triage tent had filled to capacity almost immediately, forcing her and other medical staff to bring supplies to the wounded. She'd left Doc, a skilled doctor, though not quite to her tastes, in command while she led the medics that qualified onto the battlefield.
Elara followed the pleading of a Republic Commando. He had suffered severe burns to over ninety percent of his exposed skin. A large portion of his maxilla was exposed, and his right eye was nothing but an empty socket. The rest of his face appeared to be no more than bone and cartilage. Another round exploded near their position, and Elara used her body to cover him. When she leaned back to check his vitals, a weight settled in her gut. She'd found him too late.
Generally speaking, Verin prided himself on his melee skills. However, that last hit had hurt more than it should, and Darth Marr and Jakarro made getting at Revan difficult anyway. So, he settled for hurling stones. His HUD flashed a warning that he was about to shoot his last miniature rocket, and the flamethrower had sputtered out long ago.
Verin did a quick POV check while he crouched behind a pillar to reload. Fynta faced Revan, he could see the tips of her boots at the bottom of the screen and Theron running towards her. She shifted enough to convince Verin that she was alive. Jorgan had taken up a new vantage since the last time Verin checked, his long rifle firing at controlled intervals. Elara's view was by far the most gruesome; revealing the charred face of a soldier. When she stood, her POV pivoted to show a battlefield littered with corpses. Meanwhile, Cormac shadowed Vizla as if she was the only real thing left in the galaxy. Verin wanted to give the man a supportive word, but he'd remained silent each time they'd been near one another.
Verin felt the urge to check on his aliit constantly. He'd missed Cinlat's moment of death, he couldn't miss theirs. He needed them within sight at all times, as if they would cease to exist if he took his eyes off them. "I'm not giving up, Cin." Verin spun around the pillar to open fire on Revan again. He managed to get off two shots when something hit him hard enough to knock the wind out of him. His back slammed into the far wall, and he slumped to the floor. I'm getting too old for this osik.
Fynta felt someone haul her upright by her armpits and pull her behind a pillar. That last hit had left her head spinning, and it took a couple of seconds for her vision to clear enough to recognize Theron. He leaned around her to fire a few more bolts into the center of the room, then pulled her thigh plate off and jammed an injector into her leg. Fynta hadn't even realized she was hurting until the meds started coursing through her system.
"Together, Beniko!" Master Satele called from the right.
Fynta scrambled to her feet and came around in time to see Lana and Satele lift their arms. Purple lightning engulfed Revan, more brilliant this time. The floor came apart beneath his feet, tossing the masked Jedi into the air and slamming him to the ground again. Fynta watched as Satele raised her hands higher and what was left of the ceiling began to collapse, burying Revan under the rubble.
Everything grew quiet except for the heavy breathing of nearly a dozen people. They were all used up. If Revan got up again, there was nothing they could do about it.
"It—can't be."
Fynta allowed herself a brief moment of optimism. He sounded human; he sounded defeated.
Her hope evaporated when the sky roared with laughter. It crept into her mind, robbing her of any thought other than anguish. The next thing Fynta knew, she and everyone around her were on the ground, too tired to get back up. What's happening?
Fynta's blood turned to ice as the sky deepened to black. Then, the laughter spoke. "The deaths you've caused. The war you've fueled. It is all mine." Revan screamed, tearing through the rubble like a madman, raking bloody furrows down his face. The words resonated so intensely in Fynta's chest that she thought her ribs would crack. "The galaxy is mine. It's time I claimed it once more." A blinding light shot from the temple's roof and exploded in the upper atmosphere. The world went from pitch black to brilliant white in an instant, searing her eyes. Just as quickly, it vanished.
Fynta took a strangled breath. Her vision cleared, and her body remembered how to move. The major climbed back onto unsteady legs, coughing a few times before she could get the words out. "Sound off. Any injuries?"
"We're fine," Theron answered, helping his mother back to her feet.
Lana and Marr stood side by side, faces angled towards the sky. "It was him," Lana's said, her voice barely a whisper.
Marr nodded. "The Emperor." Those two words in his baritone voice sent a shiver through Fynta.
"How is that possible? We stopped Revan, didn't we?" Cormac asked, and Fynta realized she didn't have eyes on all her troops yet.
"He did not assume a physical form or possess a body, and he left as soon as he appeared." Marr shook his head, a hint of anger bleeding through. "It doesn't make sense."
"Still packs a hell of a punch, though," Vik added, walking back into the circle shaking his head. Jakarro began kicking over the rubble where Revan had collapsed, forgotten in the wake of the Emperor's grand entrance. That made Jorgan and Verin that she hadn't heard from yet. Fynta surveyed the ruins. The temple was a mess, and the Emperor's reemergence had destroyed what little had been standing. Now, it was just a staging arena.
"Looks like we weren't the only survivors." Theron nodded towards the hooded figure that Jakarro lifted by the nape of the neck. "What do we do with him?" The Wookie gave the man a violent shake and rumbled about vengeance. His tone softened when Verin stalked forward, his face a mask of calm.
The bounty hunter held Cinlat's ripper in his hand. No one moved to stop him as he pressed the blaster to Reven's temple and pulled the trigger. The body jerked out of Jarkarro's grasp to crumple to the floor with a disturbing slap. "Skira," Verin repeated. His deep blue eyes, so much like her own, found Fynta and he nodded. "K'oyacyi, vod'ika." It was Verin's way of saying goodbye. He didn't plan to stick around for the after party.
As the bounty hunter turned on his heel, Theron started after him. "What the—"
Fynta snagged Theron by the jacket. "It's better this way. Revan was a mad dog that needed to be put down, not rehabilitated. Three hundred years is long enough." Jakarro nodded his agreement and crossed his arms, giving the body a solid kick.
"What about the Force ghost you met in the cave, the one who told you how to defeat that Revan in the first place?" Theron waved his arm in erratic circles in the direction of the corpse as his temper reached boiling. This was one area they'd never agreed on. Fynta's job was to neutralize threats; Theron's was to acquire them.
Fynta shrugged. She couldn't care less what happened to the good half of Revan, no matter how helpful he'd been. This moon was crawling with Force ghosts, so it wasn't like the guy would get lonely. "Jorgan, do you read?" She ignored Theron's protests in favor of locating her husband.
Rubble shifted to Fynta's left, and the Cathar pushed himself up, staggered, then dropped back to one knee. She closed the gap at a jog and found him sitting amongst the stones, shaking his head as if he couldn't quite get the world to situate the way it should. "Are you alright?" She squatted beside him and lifted the helmet off. His pupils were larger than she'd have liked.
"Yeah, I think so." It was a huge relief to hear Aric's voice, even if he sounded dazed. He blinked a couple of times before focusing on Fynta's face. "Head hurts like hell, what did I miss?"
"It's over, mate." Cormac appeared out of nowhere to help Fynta get Jorgan clear of the debris. She slipped on the wet stone, and if it hadn't been for the big man to take his weight, she and Aric would have both ended up on the ground again.
Jakarro offered to take Fynta's spot to aid in getting the Cathar back to the dropship. Fynta accepted, then glanced once more at the corpse that had caused them all so much trouble. Revan may be dead, but now the emperor was loose, and they still had to sort through the mess back at the main camp. The day was far from won.
A/N: Yes, I'm aware that this is not how the story went, but by now, you all should be used to my penchant for going off canon. To be honest, I simply couldn't come up with a single reason why Fynta or Verin would let Revan live. Neither believe in redemption, and he'd personally wronged them both. After much debate, I realized that the only outcome was for either Revan to die, or them. Since I plan to take them through KotFE, it couldn't be them. ;)
