Reva stepped forward.
She tried not to acknowledge the purge troopers surrounding her.
Once she reached the center of the training platform, she looked up at Darth Vader, who quietly watched her with his arms crossed.
The Grand Inquisitor met her in the center of the platform.
"Are you prepared, Reva?"
Reva hesitated.
The Grand Inquisitor narrowed his eyes.
"Answer truthfully."
Taking a nervous gulp, Reva answered truthfully.
"No."
The Grand Inquisitor smirked.
"Good."
The troopers took aim with their rifles.
The Grand Inquisitor drew his lightsaber and activated the blades.
Pushing her fear aside, Reva drew hers as well.
With that, Vader spoke.
"Begin."
Reva's blades met the Grand Inquisitor's as the troopers fired on her. She blocked a few of his strikes while dodging the blasts being fired at her. But after parrying one of his uppercuts, she was stunned from behind. Falling to her knees, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath as she steadily returned to her feet.
Once her opponents resumed their positions, Vader spoke.
"Again."
The Grand Inquisitor struck at Reva's midsection while the troopers fired. Reva blocked the first few strikes as well as a blast aimed at her head. But once the Grand Inquisitor cut her shin, she cried out in pain and was hit by another blast. She took slightly longer to recover as she held the wound on her leg. As she tried to stand, the Grand Inquisitor kicked her injured leg, causing her to fall back down.
"Are you weak?"
Resisting the urge to yell a profanity, she breathed deeply and stood once more, her lightsaber bared for combat.
Vader spoke.
"Again."
A block, a dodge, and a stun.
"Again."
A dodge, a parry, a block, and a stun.
"Again."
Two blocks, a parry, three blocks, and a stun.
"Again."
A parry, four blocks, and a stun.
"Again."
Three dodges, a parry, and a stun.
"Again."
Five blocks, four parries, a dodge, and a stun.
"Again."
Hours later, Reva was drenched in sweat, holding her stomach, and sore all over.
The Grand Inquisitor stood like a statue.
As her opponents resumed their positions yet again, Reva stared up at Vader. She tried to look at his eyes behind his dark, angular mask, but couldn't gauge any kind of expression. She saw only a monster. A phantom silently mocking her from the sidelines. Bemusedly watching as she fell to her feet in pain over and over and over.
For a brief moment, she considered just giving up and walking away. She could start over. Get a new name. A new home. A new and better life. She could leave everything behind and finally find happiness. She could be normal.
But then, she remembered his eyes.
The way he coldly stared as he cut them down.
As he stabbed her.
As he continued on his way through the temple like it was nothing.
Struggling to stand, she looked back up at Vader and saw those same eyes behind his mask.
The Grand Inquisitor repeated himself.
"Are…you…weak?"
Then, Reva screamed.
Her adrenaline kicking in, she leapt at the Grand Inquisitor and overwhelmed him, swiping and slashing wildly at him while blocking every blast from the troopers with quick precision. The bout lasted a full five minutes before the Grand Inquisitor's blade finally scraped her stomach, dropping her to her feet permanently.
As her opponents waited for her to stand again, Vader spoke once more.
"Enough."
Surprised, the Grand Inquisitor turned to face his master.
"That is enough for now."
The Dark Lord shifted his gaze to Reva.
"You have proven yourself."
Unable to even speak due to the pain, Reva briskly nodded in response.
With that, the Grand Inquisitor stood over her with his lightsaber and pointed one of the blades toward her. He hovered the blade over her right shoulder, and then her left. And after deactivating the blades and returning his lightsaber to its holster, the Grand Inquisitor spoke to Reva with a tinge of pride in his voice.
"Welcome, Third Sister."
...
As they approached Tatooine, Reva sparred with the Fifth Brother while the Grand Inquisitor watched. Having been with the Inquisitorius for nearly a decade, she had honed her skills to near perfection. Brash yet efficient, she had become one of the most vicious Jedi hunters in the Emperor's service. Four surviving Jedi had died upon her blades. Now, she was hoping for a fifth.
The Fifth Brother growled as he locked sabers with her.
"Control you temper, Reva."
Reva smirked.
"I thought anger was a useful weapon."
Swipe, dodge, parry, lock.
"A weapon is only useful in careful hands."
"We won't find the Jedi by being careful."
Stab, swipe, stab, lock.
"You won't find the Jedi by being reckless!"
"Because you've done such a good job?!"
Swipe, stab, swipe, lock.
"I have nine Jedi under my belt. You have four. Because you lack the ability to wait!"
Reva swiped once more, but forgot to let the Fifth Brother change his stance. As such, he blocked her and cut her across the leg. Reva shouted in pain and fell to her knees.
The Fifth Brother stood over her.
"If you want to survive...you must know when to attack..."
He deactivated his lightsaber and offered her his hand.
"..and when to relent."
Humbled, Reva took his hand and allowed him to pull her to her feet. She then took a medical stim from one of her pockets and injected the fluid into her leg. As the ship continued through hyperspace, the Fifth Brother taunted her one last time.
"You won't always have someone there to catch you, Third Sister. Mind your footing or you will fall back in the gutter where we found you."
...
With the wound burning in her chest, Reva pulled herself across the ground. Vader had been arrogant enough to leave her dying on Jabiim without finishing her off. She had survived this once. She would do so again. Her adrenaline kicking in, she pushed through the pain and searched for a bacta tank.
She knew her time was limited. She could feel herself losing blood. Her body had begun shutting down. She was losing her her composure. She began to hyperventilate. Her vision became clouded. She thought she would pass out.
But then, she stopped herself.
Letting go of her adrenaline, she closed her eyes and took a moment to breathe.
She thought back to the days she had spent with her friends. Their rambunctious sparring sessions, the games they would play throughout the temple, the pranks they would pull on the older Jedi. Their whispers. Their laughter. Their smiles.
Soon, she felt her heartbeat slowing.
The ringing in her ears stopped.
She opened her eyes and saw clearly ahead.
Then, in the next room over, she saw a bacta tank. Empty and still operational. With the last of her strength, she crawled to the tank, slipped on the breath mask, climbed inside, and allowed herself to heal.
And once she had fully recovered, she knew exactly where she would go and what she would do.
She would find a ship, return to Tatooine, and kill the boy who Kenobi and Organa were so desperate to hide from Vader.
She knew who he was.
She knew how important he was to Vader.
At long last, she had found a way to hurt the monster who had hurt her for so long.
And now, all of that training would finally pay off.
