DXUN, 40 YEARS ABE:
A heavy red blow crashed down at Leia's head. She twisted sideways as best she could without moving her left arm and batted the blade away with her lightsaber.
Revan spun in a swirl of black fabric and feinted towards her side; Leia flicked her blade to turn the insincere attack and had her guard back up in time to block the sharper backswing.
"Not bad, little Jedi," Revan observed coolly. "You've been trained well."
"I'll pass your review along to my instructors," Leia replied sarcastically. "I'm sure they'll be flattered by the assessment, you being such an expert on- " Her eyes widened in sudden shock. "Han!" she shouted.
Han jerked out of his dazed focus and tried to lurch to his feet, but was stopped by a sudden stab of pain in his side. He sagged back down and stared up at her in horror. "Leia, what - ?"
"The kids," Leia breathed, automatically parrying Revan's blows with an absent detachment. "They're okay. They made it."
Han's haggard face split into a smile. "Yeah?" he said, his voice soft with relief and affection before hardening back to his usual sardonic drawl as he continued. "That's great, sweetheart. Now kick this pretender's ass and let's blow this dead world and go congratulate them in person."
"Pretender?" Revan said, glancing towards Han with evident amusement. "You still do not believe that I am indeed Revan?"
"No offense," Han retorted in a tone that said very much the opposite, "but no. You're just another jumped-up wannabe knock-off Vader in a long series of fools in black capes." He knew he didn't look particularly intimidating sitting hunched-over on the ground, clutching at his aches, panting from what were probably several cracked ribs, but that didn't mean he was intimidated by this so-called Revan either. Leia would win the fight, Chewie would dig them out of the rubble, he and Leia would scold Han all the way back to Norulac, and by the time he got out of his bacta bath his kids would be close enough to hug. Then they'd just have to whistle-up the fleet and go whip the Empire - again. "We dealt with them, and we'll deal with you."
"Vader?" Revan's laugh sounded taken-aback. "You jest."
Han opened his mouth to retort, but Revan suddenly threw an arm out towards him and locked an invisible grip around his throat that jerked Han up off the floor and left him dangling in the air, clutching at the nonexistent fingers that were choking the life out of him.
"I can jest too," Revan purred. "See?"
Leia lunged sideways at the Dark Lord in a deadly blur of blue light. Revan pivoted to avoid the blow, but lost several inches of cape to the narrow miss. Han dropped back to the ground, clutching his throat and gasping as Revan's focus slipped back to Leia.
"Not amused?" Revan said lightly.
Leia would surely have had something biting to say in response, but she had moved both her position and her concentration in the process of making her attack. The ceiling gave an ominous rumble and several blocks actually sank a few centimeters before Leia frantically thrust her Force-grip up harder to hold them in place.
Revan did not wait for her to stabilize the ruins over all their heads but unleashed a furious attack of swift, sharp blows against Leia's now faltering defense. The unstable stones overhead had been loosed from their tentative balance and now teetered on the verge of imminent collapse; her own battle stance had been hopelessly compromised by the moment of inattention; and Revan's quick swings gave her no chance to reestablish her footing or her focus.
One foot skidded across the uneven floor and she had to fall back several centimeters to compensate. The walls creaked and the ceiling groaned. Revan pressed forward, seemingly unaware of - or simply unconcerned by - the wobbling stone overhead and the trickle of dust that poured down every time Leia moved.
Leia found herself wondering if the Dark Lord was too caught-up in the bloodlust of the Dark Side to realize that the collapse of the ruins threatened them as well...or if Revan had simply lived long enough to no longer fear death the way mere mortals did.
Could this indeed be the lost Jedi of legend? And if so, how was she supposed to defeat them?