Honestly, I didn't think that I would manage to finish it before the year's end and in fact, I didn't XD. But I'm late only 10 minutes, so... forgive me XD. Happy new year, guys, and enjoy the last chapter of 'Price of the Sacrifice'.
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Chapter 49
"Admiral! Admiral!" one of the Lieutenants shouted.
"What is it?" Dodonna asked, focused on the hologram that displayed the battle.
"We managed to break through the Sith blockade. Their fleet seemed to disengage. More and more of their cruisers are jumping into hyperspace."
"What?"
"We started to break through their defenses. Then, their starfighters began retreating towards their capital ships and those started to jump into hyperspace."
"Do we know their destination?" Admiral asked, studying the hologram closer. In fact, some of their enemy's ships indeed disappeared in the hyperspace.
"No, Admiral."
"Send part of our fleet back to the Core Worlds!" Dodonna ordered. "This may be their plan to use our attack to conquer the Republic."
"Right away, Admiral."
"What's happening, Master?" she asked Vandar who was standing right next to her, observing the hologram of the battle.
"Bastila is no longer supporting the Sith with her Battle Meditation" he observed, stroking his nonexistent beard.
"Can it be?"
"Admiral!"
"What is it, Lieutenant?"
"There is a ship coming out from the Star Forge. It's sending the request to land in our hangars."
"Show me this" she ordered, coming closer to the Lieutenant. The man zoomed in the area on the hologram on which the ship could be seen. Admiral Dodonna blinked twice, not believing what she saw.
"That's the Ebon Hawk," she observed. "Allow them to land" she ordered.
"Right away, Admiral."
"My Lord, the fleet is disengaging, as you commanded" Noma Sommos reported through the communicator. "I'm asking for permission to speak freely, My Lord."
"Permission granted, Admiral" Revan replied, making his way further into the Command Center.
"I must speak my objections. Without the cruisers, we won't be able to protect ourselves from the Republic assault. The Star Forge's artillery won't be enough to take down their flagships. Without the blockade from the Interdictor-class cruisers, their ships will crawl around us and shot us down from the orbit."
"Don't worry, Admiral" Revan replied. "I have it covered. Focus on preparing the Star Forge to make the jump into hyperspace. Leave the Republic fleet to me."
"Of course, My Lord. Admiral Sommos out" Admiral replied, cutting off the connection.
Soon, Revan found himself in front of the elevator that would take him straight to the Viewing Platform. He cut down the soldiers and the Dark Jedi who were standing in his way. He sensed Malak's presence approaching. Revan stopped in his tracks, literally few meters before the elevator. He turned around.
"Revan" Malak acknowledged him. The former Dark Lord ignited both of his lightsabers.
"It's good to see you alive, Carth" Admiral Dodonna greeted the pilot when the, now smaller, crew left the Ebon Hawk. "Bastila" she acknowledged the young woman. When the redeemed Padawan stepped out from the loading ramp, two soldiers ran up to her immediately, carrying handcuffs. "With your permission, My Lady," she said in a mocking tone. "Cuff her up and lead her to the detention block" Dodonna ordered to the two soldiers.
Bastila was too shocked to do anything. She could only comply. Her eyes glazed over and her lower lip trembled when she felt the cold metal on her wrists. Her fear only deepened when a neural disruptor was locked around her neck. The nightmare from the past week seemed to return.
"What's the meaning of this?!" Carth asked outraged. The two soldiers began to lead Bastila away from the Ebon Hawk. She looked behind, pleading for help with her eyes. She couldn't force a single word from her throat.
"Know your place, Carth" Dodonna replied. "Bastila is guilty of confederating with Malak and his Sith Empire. And a treason is punished with death. She should be grateful that she wasn't executed just yet, but the Jedi Masters insisted on judging her on their own."
"Just because of one act she's branded a traitor?!" Mission interfered, fully outraged. "And all her past deeds have already been forgotten? From what I know, she helped you win quite a few battles in this war with that Battle Meditation of hers. And the fact that she's the one who captured Darth Revan himself doesn't matter anymore?!"
"Be careful, child" Dodonna warned her, pointing her finger at the Twi'lek girl. "You might have aided the Jedi in finding the Star Forge, but you're not a part of the Republic military. Which is why I suggest you mark your words or you shall regret your behavior."
"What? Are you going to lock me up, Mrs. High-and-Mighty?"
"Mission, calm down" Carth tried to ease her mind. She brushed off his hand angrily.
"No!" she objected. "This isn't fair! You can't judge someone by only one mistake!"
"That mistake cost us seven ships and few thousand men today!" Admiral Dodonna countered, stamping her leg, signalizing that the discussion was over. "Many of those who died had their families that are still waiting for them. Do you want to be the one to deliver them the news about the deaths of their beloved ones? I'm intrigued if then you would be so mouthy as well. I think not. Lieutenant" she addressed one of the soldiers who was standing next to her. "Show our guests their quarters. I'm sure they deserved a compensation for their heroic deeds in the war. I must return to the bridge."
"Of course, Admiral."
"Well done, Revan. I was certain that defenses of the Star Forge would destroy you. But I see there is more of your former self than I expected" Malak said, igniting his own red lightsaber. "You are stronger than I thought. Stronger than you ever were during your reign as the Dark Lord. I did not think that was possible" he admitted.
"You're still making a mistake of underestimating me, Malak. Just as you did after Telos IV" Revan replied, watching carefully each move of his opponent. "And just like after Telos IV, I'll have to teach you a lesson."
"Once you were stronger than me, Revan" Malak admitted. "But as your apprentice, I surpassed you. The Master must always be stronger than the apprentice. That is why I betrayed you. You'd be a far greater asset to me than even Bastila and her Battle Meditation! If only I could control you" Malak added, steadily approaching his former best friend. Revan huffed at that.
"You couldn't even control your last apprentice. Despite everything you've done to her, despite all the lies you've poisoned her mind with, you failed to keep control over her. What makes you think you could control me? And for all you've done to her, I'll make you pay with your blood."
"We shall see about that, Revan" Malak replied.
Closing the distance between them, Malak jumped at Revan, clashing their lightsabers together. The empty corridor was filled with the noises of two blades colliding. The duel turned out to be more even than either of them expected. Malak's incredible physic granted him blows that were powerful and heavy, forcing Revan to use both of his lightsabers for a defense. He, on the other hand, was capable of delivering his own strikes every now and then that were precise and deadly if they hit their target.
Their duel moved towards the corridor which Revan just abandoned, furthering away from the elevator. Outside the window, the starfighters were being produced – the Star Forge continuing on its production of the fleet.
"I must say I didn't expect to see you on the Star Forge again, Revan," Malak said between the blows. "As well as I haven't expected Noma Sommos to betray me so easily. Once I'm done with you, I'll deal with her treachery. Then, I'll move my armada further into the Republic and I'll crush them once and for all. Then, I shall retake Bastila and punish her for her betrayal as well."
"You have to kill me first" Revan countered, blocking another slice and attempting to cut Malak in the arm. His former apprentice managed to deflect it.
Malak kicked Revan in the face, causing him to stumble backward. Creating a hole in the window nearby, Malak jumped through it, landing on the starfighter that took him at the higher level. Revan was shortly behind him. He caught up with his opponent, landing on the same starfighter. Once again, they engaged in a combat.
They exchanged blows after blows until they reached the level on which the Viewing Platform was located. After a failed attempt to push Revan out from the starfighter, Malak jumped backward, returning to the place from which he had a clear view of the battle outside the Star Forge. The Republic fleet was approaching them.
"You are a fool Revan" Malak said, blocking the blows of his opponent. "All you ever saw in the Star Forge was a massive factory that could be used only to crush the Republic. While in fact, the Star Forge is more like a living being. It feeds on the anger and the Dark Side."
"You think I don't know it" Revan countered, dashing away to avoid being cut in half. "You think I don't know what the Star Forge is truly capable of?"
"If you knew then you're even a bigger fool than I thought!"
The two engaged in a duel again. Revan bowed down to avoid yet another Malak's slice. He straightened up quickly and delivered his own blow before his opponent could react. His former best friend stumbled backward as he failed to block that attack. Instinctively, he brought his free hand to the spot where Revan's lightsaber hit him. Yet he didn't feel any pain.
Just as a year before, Malak lost his jaw to Revan's cut. His metallic prosthesis fell to the floor with a loud thump. Malak's eyes filled with hatred as he was humiliated by Revan again.
He roared in anger and charged at his opponent, aiming for decapitating him in one swift strike. He failed at accomplishing that as Revan managed to block his attacks with ease.
Adopting a different tactic, Malak pushed Revan with the Force, sending him at the far end of the Viewing Platform. Revan managed to regain his stance while still being in the air. He landed on the metal floor with grace, reigniting his lightsabers.
Malak used the fact that Revan was far from him and attempted to crush him with the durasteel containers that were standing in different spots of the Viewing Platform. The former Dark Lord dashed away from the first missile and jumped over the next one. Intercepting it with the Force, Revan sent it back at his opponent. Malak jumped away, avoiding it with ease.
Reigniting his lightsaber, Malak jumped back to his former apprentice. Their blades clashed for a hundredth time that day. The two proceeded to exchange blows after blows, aiming for breaking each other's defenses. The Star Forge shook violently when the Republic fleet began to fire at it.
"My Lord, the enemy's fleet charged at us. They are targeting our main orbital stabilizers!" Admiral Sommos reported; fear as clear as day in her voice. Revan pushed Malak back with the Force, changing the channel in his communicator.
"T3, now!" he exclaimed, addressing the droid that was remaining in the Temple on Rakata Prime. He hoped that he would hear him.
"Admiral Dodonna, we've hit their main orbital stabilizers!" commander of the Green Squadron reported. Forn sighed with relief.
"Everyone pull back" she ordered. "I don't want to lose any more ships when that space station goes down." She turned off the communicator. "We did it, Vandar. The Sith are ruptured!" she told the small Jedi Master who was standing next to her.
"We did indeed, Admiral" he replied absentmindedly. Hurry up, Revan, he added in his mind, knowing that he wouldn't hear him.
On the Viewing Platform, the duel continued on. The Star Forge was shaking more and more as the Republic fleet was bombarding it. Come on, T3, don't fail me now, Revan begged in his thoughts while keeping on attacking and blocking Malak's attacks.
"Your brilliant plan failed, Revan," Malak said with a hint of mockery in his voice. "Even if you kill me now, you will go down with the Star Forge!"
"We'll see about that."
"That's it" Admiral Sommos snapped. "Officer, I order the immediate evacuation. Head for the escape pods and all the ships that are in the hangars!"
"No, Admiral" Fox interjected, pointing his rifle at her to emphasize his words. "Stay where you are."
"Are you an idiot?" she snapped at him, turning around to face him. "This whole station is going to blow up and we will perish with it if we don't act now. We must evacuate!"
"I'm not an idiot, I'm a loyal soldier who's doing as he was told to" Fox replied, taking a better aim at Admiral. "And I recommend you to do the same or you'll go down sooner than the Star Forge."
This worked on Noma who sat back down in her seat, clenching her teeth.
"What's the status of our shields?"
"Down to twenty-eight percent" Officer reported.
"The hyperdrive?"
"Ready in seventy-five percent."
"I only hope that Lord Revan knows what he's doing" she muttered under her breath.
"Concentrate all firepower on those stabilizers!" Dodonna ordered. "Their shields should break down soon."
"Right away, Admiral."
It was then that something unexpected happened. Suddenly, all the electricity on the ship went down; the emergency power supply came to life, surrounding everything in an orange light. The Hammerhead-class cruiser shook lightly.
"What happened?" Dodonna asked, surprised. She looked frantically around as if searching for an answer. The Intel Officers around her were checking on the ship's status.
"We don't know, Admiral" one of them reported. "Our main power conduit just went down. It seems that the same thing happened with all the other ships."
"What about our artillery?"
"Disabled, Admiral. And… we seem to be losing the orbital velocity. Our engines are dropping power."
"Pull back our ships immediately!" Dodonna ordered. "If we lose the orbital velocity…"
"Then we're going to either crush against the Star Forge or burn on the star beneath us" the Officer finished for her.
"Admiral Sommos, their ships have lost all their power!" Lieutenant reported, not believing what he saw at the hologram.
"What?" Noma asked just as surprised as the man who gave the report. "How that happened?"
"We're working on it" Lieutenant replied, pressing numerous buttons on the keyboard. "It seems that… It seems that the disruptor field was enabled" he reported after a while.
"But this can only be done manually from the planet" Admiral countered.
"Apparently, that's what happened, Admiral."
They both felt it. The sudden silence and calmness outside the Star Forge. The Republic fleet has stopped its assault. Revan smirked beneath his mask.
"Here's an information for you, Malak," he said, resuming his attacks. "The Star Forge is not going down. I'm reclaiming it."
His opponent roared in anger and charged at him with a doubled ferocity. Revan clenched his teeth, focusing on protecting himself from the powerful blows. Using the tactic with which he defeated Bastila in the Temple, Revan turned off his lightsabers and rolled to the side, causing Malak to hit an empty space. The Dark Lord lost his footing and stumbled forward. His former best friend used the fact that his opponent was distracted and sent the Force Lightning, directing it at his back.
Malak screamed in pain as the Lightning pierced through his armor and made the contact with his skin. Some of the Lightning that was attracted by the metal device on Malak's collar made its way towards his neck, damaging for good his speech synthesizer.
The Dark Lord turned around – his eyes were filled with even more hatred. Now, he was unable of creating any sound at all. He charged at his opponent once again, clashing his crimson lightsaber with Revan's blue and red ones.
Gathering his hatred, Malak sent a Force Wave in Revan's direction, once again sending him a few meters backward. His former best friend didn't lose his footing. He glided on the metal floor, neglecting Malak's futile attempt on catching him by surprise.
Revan accelerated his moves with the Force and charged at his enemy again. This time, he was the one leading the assault, delivering swift and precise strikes at different parts of Malak's body, attempting to harm him somehow. Malak was able to block his strikes, but not without breaking a sweat. After cutting off his prosthesis, the Dark Lord of the Sith was forced to breathe through nose, what was rather difficult in the middle of combat. But he kept on fighting, refusing to give Revan the upper hand.
Revan grabbed with the Force one of the containers that were standing at the wall and sent it flying at Malak. This way, he managed to attract his former best friend's attention for the time he needed to finish him off. When the Dark Lord was deflecting the object sent to him, Revan jumped over him, landing behind his back. Before Malak could turn around, Revan pierced both his legs with the lightsabers. He wouldn't guarantee him a quick death. He certainly didn't deserve that.
Malak would have undoubtedly screamed in pain if the speech synthesizer wasn't destroyed. He fell to his knees; the blood was sipping out from his legs. His lightsaber rolled away from his grasp.
"You didn't think I would give you a quick death, did you?" Revan asked, not hoping for a reply. "You didn't deserve that. I treated you too lightly after your disobedience on Telos IV. I shall treat you now accordingly to all of your betrayals!"
With that, he unleashed another storm of Force Lightning at the man who used to be his best friend. This time it was far more powerful, though. Malak was shaking violently on the floor, suffering under Revan's wrath. At some point, even his skeleton was visible for a split second.
Revan stopped when the smoke started to rise from the Dark Lord's body. Malak was unable to move.
"You thought I wasn't strong enough" Revan commented, coming to him. His voice was filled with hatred. "I'll gladly show you just how mistaken you were," he said, gripping Malak with his hands. He held firmly his head, sending another, yet a little weaker Force Lightning that was now seriously damaging his brain. Escalating his physical strength with the Force, he threw Malak at the far end of the Viewing Platform. His bones cracked loudly when his back hit the metal barriers. His body collapsed limply on the floor.
"You surely took pleasure from torturing Bastila," Revan said, closing the distance between them. "I'll gladly pay you back!" he hissed, bringing his lightsaber down to cut off Malak's hand. He sensed the pain from his former best friend, yet he ignored it. Nothing would make him show Malak any hint of mercy.
Revan ripped out a piece of the metal barrier that was standing right behind Malak. In a powerful thrust, he dove it right into his body, piercing his lung, just as he did to him back on Leviathan.
It was then that Malak looked at him. Yet his gaze was different. It wasn't filled with hatred anymore – the best evidence for that were his eyes – no longer gold but blue. For the first time in his life, Revan saw tears in his former best friend's eyes. And behind those tears was hidden one message – an apology. Even if he couldn't speak, Malak was indeed sorry. For what, Revan didn't know. But he saw it there.
In an act of mercy, which he wouldn't muster up if he didn't receive that look, Revan decapitated Malak in a one swift cut, separating his head from his body. His head rolled around on the floor. Revan didn't pay it much attention. He walked away, leaving Malak's body pierced to the wall behind him.
"Admiral Sommos," he said through the communicator. "What's the status of the battle outside?"
"The Republic fleet is disengaging" Noma reported back. "All their electricity was destroyed by the disruptor field. I guess it was your plan all along?"
"It was indeed, Admiral" Revan replied. "Now, enable the stealth generators and jump into hyperspace. The war with the Republic is over." He turned off his communicator and hid it in his pocket. He walked up the stairs, straight to the window of the Viewing Platform, passing by Malak's body. He would get rid of it soon. I'm sorry, Bastila, he told through their Bond before the Star Forge left the Lehon System, disappearing in the hyperspace.
I'm sorry, Bastila, she heard in her head. She was sitting in one of the cells in the detention block on board of the Republic ship. She chuckled humorlessly when the irony of the situation caught up with her.
A perfect twentieth birthday gift.
The End
Woah, guys, this is the end, I hope you enjoyed it. I apologize for all my mistakes and some stupidities that happened in this story but, as I said, I'm a beginner when it comes to writing. I promise that I'll try to do better in the next stories. I really hope that more of you will write a comment now that the story is over. At this point, I want to thank all of you who reviewed, especially to JourneyRocks13 and Aggiefan15 because they were those who left most of the reviews. Their words of encouragement kept pushing me on through the past year and I'm really counting on their support when I will be writing the sequel. But I also thank all others, that is Kirito1993, god of all, Nariem, josephguy217, SurprisinglyStillActive, alertpoet91, THEKILLER742, andrei666999666, Sehri, Akshka, Reaperghostrider, davyrockett100, inferno1897, HistoricalPJOFan, RevanFanatic, , Maul, God'sMan316, sabrac1, Revan009, Serdancos (yes, I've made the effort to write down all of those who commented XD) and all the guests who left anonymous reviews as well. Thanks for 50000 views, a positive feedback, and the criticism as well and I really hope to see all of you, and hopefully someone else, in the sequel that will be entitled 'The Tragedy of Revan' and will come out, most probably, on the next weekend. See you, guys!
