I own nothing. Leave me alone.
Chapter 27: Into the Dark
Revan had left the rest of the crew to get ready inside his own dormitory. Currently, he was the only one there as Quaid, Jolee, and Atton were elsewhere. He gathered his lightsabers and other equipment he was going to need. Then, an idea occurred to him and he went to his bed and pulled out a trunk from underneath. Taking a breath, he opened up the trunk and revealed its familiar contents. Inside the trunk was what appeared to be a white uniform of sorts. The uniform contained everything from gloves, to an armored torso, a hooded cape, and even a mask.
It was his Star Forge robes, the same uniform he had worn during the epic battle on the Star Forge and his fight with Malak. He hadn't worn it since, but had always kept it with him. He figured now was as an appropriate time to where it anyway. The uniform itself was actually almost an exact duplicate of the armor he had worn during his days as a Sith Lord. Only instead of a deep crimson and black, the robe was a dazzling white and gold. It was intimidating, yet also majestic.
Revan quickly, yet carefully donned the white uniform. After putting on the main articles, he slipped on his boots, gloves, and lightsaber belt and fastened the hooded cape around his neck. The only thing really left was the mask, but that could wait until later.
"Looks good on you," said a young voice from behind. Revan turned to see Mission standing there in the doorway bearing a soft smile.
"Hey Mission," Revan said. "Shouldn't you be getting ready?" he asked her. "I'm not going to ask you to stay out of this, cause I know you won't listen to me anyway."
Mission smirked. "Damn right. Because there ain't no way I'm missing this battle."
Revan smirked back at her. "You know, Mission, Saimos was right. One of the things I've always liked about you, kiddo, is that you appear wise beyond your years. I know I've said it before, but it's the truth."
"Thanks, Rev. I wonder when people are gonna stop underestimating me."
She wore a smile, but Revan soon sensed something was wrong. She seemed to be agitated on the inside.
"Mission, is something wrong?" Revan asked her. The young Twi'lek glanced up at him. Her smile quickly changed into a frown.
"Uh…I don't know, Rev…"
"What's the matter? You can tell me?"
Mission shyly took a step forward. "I don't know, this whole thing is just so complicated, Rev. I guess I'm just actually kind of nervous about this. I'm…I'm worried. I'm worried about us. I'm worried about you."
Revan looked at her with concern. "Why?"
Mission's face hardened. "Why should I not? I mean, the Sith are on their way and chances are you're going to have to fight Nihilus by the time this is done. This isn't a small thing, Rev! And I'm worried that something might go wrong. I know I don't show it, but to be honest, I get really scared on the inside every time you get in a fight. I get so worried that one day, you're gonna get in a fight and not come back! And now, you're getting into something huge, and we don't know how things are going to turn out!"
Tears now started welling in her eyes. "I'm scared about this, Revan. I don't want you to get hurt. I…I don't want you to die!"
Without warning, Mission collapsed against Revan and hugged him tightly. Despite being stunned by such a sudden outburst of affection from Mission, Revan wrapped his own arms around her and hugged her back.
"Shh, Mission. It's okay," he whispered.
"I'm scared about this, Revan," she sobbed against his chest. "I don't wanna lose you." Mission pulled back so she was looking at him with tear-stained eyes. "Rev, I know I don't say this often, but you're really important to me. I mean, Big-Z's a great friend and all, but you're different. You're like family to me. You care about me, and you've taken care of me. I mean, ever since you found me on Taris, you've been the big brother that Griff should have been. I love you, Rev. You know, like any sister would love her brother." She fell forward and hugged him again.
"I know, Mission," Revan told her. "I love you like a sister, too. I don't want you to get hurt, either."
"Rev, promise me you'll be okay. Promise me you're not gonna die." she whispered.
Revan looked down at her sadly. "Mission…I can't…I don't know."
"I don't care!" she snapped. "Just promise me."
"Mission, I don't know how this is going to turn out!"
"I don't care!" she repeated. "Just at least say it, then. Just say it once."
Revan sighed in defeat. "Okay. I promise. Now promise me that you'll take care of yourself and we'll call it even."
"Okay. I promise," she replied. "Thanks, Revan." She hugged him briefly one last time.
"Now, you should get ready. We'll be landing soon, and where we're going, it's going to be cold."
Mission pulled back and wiped her tears from her eyes. "Alright. See ya, Rev." She turned and went to the door, took one last look at Revan, bit her lip, and proceeded to her dormitory.
The Ravager, Nihilus' flagship, slowed down as it came out of hyperspace. There in front of them lay Dantooine, the former Jedi sanctuary. From the bridge of his ship, Nihilus beheld it with unseen eyes. Behind the Sith Lord stood the corpse-like form of Darth Sion.
"My lord, we've tracked Revan's ship. They're entering Dantooine's atmosphere now," Sion said to him.
"Take a squad and follow them. Send the rest of the forces to attack the Khoonda settlement. Do not stop until every one of them lies dead, but bring the creature back to me alive."
"What about Revan?" Sion asked him. Nihilus let out an eerie hiss.
"I will break him."
Revan soon found himself back in the cockpit, hood up and mask on. Atton surprisingly hadn't bothered to ask him about his change of clothes, he was so busy with other things. The rest of the crew, except Saimos, were buckled up in the main hold. The creature stood in the cockpit with the other two. For whatever reason, he was wearing a black, hooded cloak with the hood drawn over his head. Revan figured he probably wanted something to help mask his appearance, just in case they were seen.
"Well, it's a good thing you sent that distress signal to the Republic fleet, because this planet's going to turn into a war zone in no time," Atton remarked as he steered the Ebon Hawk.
Revan nodded from the co-pilot's seat. "Let it down smoothly, we're going to need this thing intact."
"Don't I always?" Atton smirked.
"We're landing this thing in the northern polar region."
"Don't worry, I know."
"Saimos, we're going to need your help finding this thing, because I sure as hell don't know where it is."
"That I can help you with," it replied. "But first we have to get lower."
The Ebon Hawk screamed through the atmosphere, the ship heating up from the friction. The vessel descended and soon the landing thrusters kicked in to slow its speed. The ship passed through a thick layer of clouds, and finally they beheld a great, white landscape. It really was actually quite magnificent. Everything shown in a brilliant white; with towering mountains jutting out from the landscape. From their height, even they looked small, but they rapidly grew in size as they descended.
'So this is where it's been hidden. All these years it's been here, and nobody's known,' Revan thought to himself.
"See a place to land?" Atton asked Revan. Revan was having problems finding anything.
"Head over there," Saimos ordered them while pointing.
"What's that?" Atton asked.
"Just do it and keep going straight. Trust me."
Atton shrugged and did as he was told. The mountains below them started growing taller and more numerous.
"There," Saimos ordered. Below them was what appeared to be a plateau connected to the mountain range. "Land it there."
Not questioning him, Atton guided the Hawk over and slowly lowered it. The landing thrusters kicked in, the landing gear lowered, and soon the ship landed on the snow-packed ground with a soft thud.
"Alright, let's go," Revan said from underneath his mask. All three of them stepped out and into the main hold, where the crew was waiting.
"Alright, guys," Revan informed them. "We gotta go out and find this machine, wherever it is. However, we've got only one landspeeder, and that can only fit so many. Saimos has to come along as you probably know, so I can only take three others. Quaid, Visas, I want you to come with me." He paused and smirked at Mission's eager expression. "Mission, you can come with me, too."
"Objection: Master, I feel I must express resentment at not being able to travel with you. As a highly sophisticated protocol droid,-"
"Don't worry, HK. You and the rest will stay here and guard the ship. If anybody tries to enter, you have my full permission to blast them."
"Exclamatory: Oh, thank you, master!"
"The rest of you stay here and guard the ship with HK," Revan ordered. "Yuthura, Jolee, Atton, if anything happens, contact me immediately. Understood?" They all nodded. "Good. Let's go. Atton, please lower the entry ramp."
He did as he was told, and the five of them boarded the landspeeder. Within moments, the landspeeder pulled out of the Hawk and onto the snowy landscape. It was definitely cold, as they'd expected. The wind howled and flakes of snow swirled in the invisible current. Revan looked around him, but all he could see was rocks. He tried to remember the cave he had seen in the vision and what it had looked like.
"Where to, Saimos?" he asked.
The creature raised his hand and pointed straight ahead. Revan followed his lead, and the vehicle sped forward.
"Man, this place is…cold!" Mission muttered from the back seat while shivering. It was indeed like that. The wind made it worse, as it made the cold air pierce through their outer garments. Thankfully for Revan, he was fully robed and his mask kept the snow and wind from hitting his face.
"Be thankful that you know what cold feels like," Saimos reminded her from the front, with a faint smirk.
"Brr…maybe after we get out of here," she replied. Quaid and Visas briefly exchanged a smile.
The landspeeder sped along and the path soon grew narrow, but it was only a short while before Saimos ordered them to stop. They were now at the foot of a the mountain range. In the snow, it was difficult to make out anything.
"Go left," Saimos told them. Revan obeyed and steered the vehicle in that direction.
Not long after, Saimos ordered them to stop. "Here is where we get out." All of them piled out one after the other. Before he left, Revan pulled out a sack from the seat and took it with him. Saimos again pointed with his hand. "There. Follow."
The creature lead them up to the mountain's base. Every one of them felt an air of tension mounting as they neared. And there, Revan finally saw it. It was the same place he had seen in his vision before this had all started. It was just as he remembered. At the very base of the mountain was an opening. It was an opening to a cave, long forgotten by the Jedi. The entrance was mostly blocked by snow, and but from what Revan could tell they would be able to clear it out.
All five of them approached it and stared in awe, with Saimos leading the way. He led them on, his black cloak flicking in the wind like a cape. At last, they arrived at the entrance. It was dark on the inside and impossible to see anything.
"Alright, guys," Revan addressed them. "Saimos and I are going in. Mission will come with me. Quaid, Visas, I want you to guard the outside."
"Will do, Revan," Quaid answered.
"Alright. We're going to need to clear this snow away…" before Revan could finish, he heard a faint rumbling behind him. He turned around to find the snow already cleared away from the entrance. In front of it stood Saimos with his palm outstretched.
"Um, thanks, Saimos," Revan said.
"No problem, 'Rev,'" Saimos said, quoting Mission's nickname for him.
"Heh. Alright, let's go, guys. Saimos, we're right behind you." Saimos walked forward with Mission and Revan close behind. Within seconds, the three of them stepped out of the snow and into the darkness.
The cave was cold, but dry. Revan pulled out a glow-stick and struck it to illuminate their surroundings in a faint yellow glow. Saimos motioned for them to follow and walked forward.
"It was by pure chance my father found this," Saimos told them. "He was investigating this cave on an expedition, hoping to find traces of any civilizations that existed before the Republic. It was only natural that he would return here to protect his machine."
The tunnel got slightly narrower and lower, and Revan and Mission had to stoop slightly to go on. Neither of them knew how long they walked, but it wasn't long before the light from the entrance disappeared and the only light came from Revan's glow-stick. The path they walked descended, and they walked deeper and deeper into the mountain. They had to keep close to avoid accidentally walking into one of the tunnels that branched off from their path.
"My father was a fool," Saimos went on. "A genius, but a fool. He was just too blinded by his ambition to know the threat his experiments were." He paused briefly to examine his dark surroundings. "Not much further now.
"Great, cause my back is starting to cramp," Mission huffed.
The path they were walking leveled off, and up ahead they could see a light. The tunnel veered sharply to the left, and whatever room the light was coming from was hidden.
"Woah," Mission muttered. "Creepy."
"Yes," Saimos agreed, though Mission couldn't tell if it was sarcasm or not. "Quickly," he ordered them.
With hearts racing, they followed Saimos close behind. They came closer, and the light grew brighter. Finally, they came to the corner and turned left, and stepped into the bright room.
Both Revan's and Mission's jaws dropped. The cavern was large and high. Stalactites hung from the ceiling, and stalagmites studded the floor here and there. Against the wall of the huge cavern was the machine that Saimos had talked about so many times. Revan didn't expect it to be that big!
The machine was hard to describe in words. Attached to the ceiling was a large metal frame laced with wires. Studded into the frame were brightly glowing crystals, which were giving the room its light. The circular metal frame tapered as it got lower, creating a funnel-like shape. The crystals glowed a bright white, and circled the frame at regular intervals. At the bottom of the frame in the center of it all was a huge crystal that actually seemed to be floating in the air by itself! Though upon closer inspection, Revan could tell it was actually made up of several smaller crystals. The entire mechanism emanated a soft hum, and the crystals actually seemed to warm the room. The huge frame that stood above the ground seemed to be attached to computer consoles that lined the wall. The consoles were ancient, using technology that came from 1,000 years ago. They all were faded, having not been used in such a long time. Below the frame on the ground, right beneath the one huge crystal, was what appeared to be a metallic table.
"That," Saimos said pointing at it, "Is the very platform I was born on. That crystal was the first thing I ever saw…" his voice trailed off in awe. "How strange it feels to see this again."
"Wow…" Mission said while taking in the scene. "Wish I had a camera."
"Those smaller crystals you see lining the frame pull in the force and transfer it to the large, floating crystal in the center. That is where the energy is held. When enough energy is gathered, it can be released in a large, single burst. Of course, this won't bring anything to life. The receptor of this must be very carefully and specifically crafted, as I am. The crystals you see on me are what help hold the force in."
"Amazing. So this is where it all happened," Revan remarked. "I didn't think this could ever be pulled off, except in fantasy. I guess I was wrong."
Saimos looked back at him and smirked as he approached the metal table. "I am living proof of that, as you already know." He turned and looked up at the huge machine. "Unfortunately, this thing cannot go on. We must destroy this thing now."
"Well, I can help with that," Revan told him. He opened up the bag he was carrying and took out a small electrical object. "These are permeacrate detonators. Small, but powerful. We can set them up here and set a timer on them to detonate. Just a few of these should bring the whole cavern down."
"Wait!" Saimos cautioned him. "First, I must see something." The cloaked creature raised its hand toward the huge floating crystal and squinted its eyes in concentration. After a few seconds of this, it lowered its hand and looked over at Revan.
"It is as I feared. This crystal will have to be drained."
"What?" Revan replied.
"You see Revan, this machine has been active for 1,000 years. Of course, the crystals weren't gathering energy all that time, but the amount of time allowed the central crystal to be charged to full capacity. If we were to detonate this now, then the energy this crystal is holding would be released, and the surge would be quite devastating. We need to drain this crystal before we destroy it."
"But Saimos, we don't have much time!" Revan said.
"I know, but this has to be done, otherwise we might perish in the blast as well! It will not take long. I know how it is done. You can save us some time by setting up those devices."
Revan didn't protest, and he immediately set about his task, with Mission helping him. Meanwhile, Saimos went over to one of the control panels and activated the console. Revan was surprised it could still activate after all these years, especially considering the technology was 1,000 years old. While he was setting up the bombs, he heard the machine start to emanate a droning mechanical whir. He glanced up at the large central crystal and saw that it seemed to be radiating some sort of energy. Wisps of whitish light were now pouring off of it in streams. Finally, Revan and Mission set up the last detonator, and Revan went over to check the progress.
"How much longer?" he asked.
"Only a little bit," Saimos replied. Not a minute after he said this, the whirring died down. "There, it is finished. I told you it would not take long," it smirked. Revan glanced at the large, central crystal again and noticed it was no longer glowing. It was still hovering, but it no longer gave off light, and the room was now darker for it.
"Alright, I'm going to set the destruction sequence now. I figure 20 minutes should be more than enough time to get out of this cave and away from the site."
"Sounds fine to me," Mission agreed.
Revan pressed a few buttons on his remote activator, and a countdown appeared on the display.
"Alright. Let's go," he told them. The trio headed swiftly out of the cavern and into the tunnel. As they made their way up, Revan's communicator beeped.
"Revan, this is Quaid. Are you there? Are you done yet?" His voice sounded panicked.
"I'm here, and we're heading up right now. What's happening?" Revan replied.
"Good, because you need to get up here now."
"What? What's wrong?"
"It's the Sith! They've just gotten here! They must have followed our ship here or something, because I just saw their ships land not to far off."
"Alright, Quaid, we're on our way," Revan replied. "Come on! We gotta move it!" he told the other two. In no time, the three were literally dashing up the tunnel toward the exit, Saimos still leading the way.
After what seemed like ages, they finally caught glimpse of daylight and the cave's exit. The three rushed up the tunnel and finally out into daylight.
"Glad to see you guys, because you just made it in time for the party," Quaid said as soon as they came out.
"Oh, sithspit," Revan said as he a mass Sith marching toward them! Most of what he saw were foot soldiers in silver uniforms. Near the front of the formation were the black-robed forms of dark Jedi. Leading the entire pack was a familiar corpse-like human. Darth Sion.
"Crud. There's gotta be over a hundred of them," Quaid muttered.
"So be it. I do not fear them," Visas whispered as she drew her lightsaber.
"5 against one hundred. I like the odds," Mission remarked.
The advancing Sith finally stopped when they were only about 100 feet away from Revan and his companions. Revan, Quaid, and Visas all had their lightsabers ignited, and Mission stood there with her blaster pointed at the crowd. Saimos merely stood silent and still.
"Well well. We meet again," said Sion mockingly. "What a nice surprise."
"Too bad we can't say the same to you. And here I thought we'd gotten rid of you on Nar-Shadaa," Revan said coldly.
Sion laughed. "You should do better next time. Not as if you could kill me anyway. But I'm not here to talk. I want what you stole from me." He raised his hand and pointed at Saimos.
"You can forget it," Quaid spat back.
"You don't have a choice here, 'exile'," Sion mocked. "That creature is ours. Surrender it now, and we'll kill you off quickly."
"Go to hell, Sion. Saimos is staying with us," Revan replied. "And I'd hate to break it to you, but that mountain is rigged with explosives. It will blow in 15 minutes. If we aren't away from here, it could trigger an avalanche and we'll all perish."
"So the machine is in that mountain? How unfortunate. Not that we need it intact. The creature is all we need. All we have to do is extract its memories." He paused. "And Saimos?" the Sith lord asked. "You gave the creature a name? How touching. You make it seem almost human."
"He has more humanity than you, Sion," Visas hissed.
Sion shifted his glance to Visas. "How adorable. The lowly traitor has the nerve to talk down to me. You are worthless, Visas. You served Nihilus well, but your time has passed. Now you'll only die with these poor Jedi fools. What, did you hope to redeem yourself by siding with them? After all the people you've killed, you think merely switching sides will change that? You're a killer, Visas. Nothing more."
"Don't you EVER say that to her!" Quaid shouted hatefully. "I know her. You and the Sith only wanted to turn her into a mindless killing instrument. You tried to destroy what she was, but you couldn't. She's not like you, Sion - she's good at heart. And nothing you do or say can change that."
"You know nothing," Sion said.
"He speaks the truth," Visas said coldly. "I forgot who I was when I was with you. I thought that I could never go back to the way I was. But I was wrong. And now that I am free of you, I see that. I have a new purpose now. This is who I am. And I would die before going back to your side."
"That can easily be arranged," Sion said. "But this has gone on long enough." He turned back to Saimos. "I don't know what you hoped to achieve by escaping, but you've only delayed the inevitable. You might as well accept your fate."
"Do you want to know what I wanted Sion?" Saimos spoke for the first time. He spoke loudly and forcefully. "I wanted to exist. I wanted a normal life! I wanted a chance to be happy, to have what everyone else has. But that can never be mine. Everything I have ever wanted has been barred from me because of what I am. Ever since my creation I have lead a tortured existence. So I decided to do as much good as one such as me can do, the only thing I can do. And that is undoing the horrible mistake my own creator made 1,000 years ago, and above all seeing that you never have the opportunity to capitalize on it!"
Saimos did something unexpected and stepped forward away from the group. It's hooded cape flicked and fluttered in the strong wind, making him even more imposing than before.
"You want me, Sion? Then take me. Take me if you dare."
"Saimos, don't-" Revan protested. The creature turned back and motioned for him to stay.
"Don't worry, Revan. Let me handle this," it told him softly. "Don't exhaust yourselves just yet."
"I've had enough!" Sion shouted. "Kill them," he ordered.
The mass of Sith soldiers all raised their blaster rifles. Saimos did nothing accept raise his flat palm to the crowd.
"Guys…?" Mission said nervously.
The Sith soldiers aimed their rifles and fired! Mission ducked instinctively, and the three Jedi raised their lightsabers to deflect the barrage of blaster bolts.
But it never came.
The four of them gaped at the spectacle before them. Saimos stood there motionless, his arm still raised. The Sith were all firing their rifles, but the blaster bolts never made it to them. Instead, they all bounced harmless off what looked like a huge energy field between Saimos and the Sith crowd. The Sith kept firing, but not a single shot made it through. After a while of futile attempts, the soldiers stopped firing, confused and unsure of what to do.
"Okay, you have some skill," Sion muttered. "What are you stopping for, you fools?" he shouted angrily. The soldiers paused nervously for a moment, then fired again.
Just like the first time, the shots hit Saimos's energy barrier. This time, however, instead of the field absorbing them, this time it deflected the blaster bolts back onto the Sith. The deadly shots darted back and struck, wiping out a bunch of soldiers in a matter of seconds.
"Get it!" Sion shouted to the dark Jedi flanking him on both sides. The black-robed Sith raised their lightsabers and charged the motionless creature. With a flick of his hand, Saimos sent out a force-wave so power it sent all of them flying back, as well as most of the soldiers. Even Sion was picked up off his feet and hurled by the sudden wave.
"We don't have much time!" Revan told the rest. "If those bombs trigger an avalanche, we'll all be buried!"
"Very well! Go!" Saimos shouted.
Saimos, Revan, Quaid, and Visas charged the crippled mass of Sith. Mission led the rear to work her magic with a blaster.
Saimos stretched out his hand, and this time a powerful bolt of force-lightning erupted, striking five soldiers at once, sending them all to the ground. Revan set about dueling two dark Jedi, while Quaid and Visas handled two of their own. Two of the dark Jedi tried to get at Saimos with their lightsabers, but the creature leapt straight in the air out of the way. In a bizarre twist of fate, the two Sith ended up killing each other with their own lightsaber blows. Seeing this, Saimos, picked up the two lightsabers and ignited both of them. The creature started flashing and twirling the two crimson beams as if it had been an expert in it his hold life.
A group of soldiers fired a volley at him, which he easily blocked and reflected back onto them with his lightsabers. In a matter of seconds, Saimos became a virtual whirlwind of crimson flashes as he cut down soldier after soldier in his path while Revan and the others occupied themselves with the dark Jedi.
An enraged Sion picked himself up and hurled himself at the creature. There was no way he would fail this. He couldn't fail this. He attempted to strike at Saimos from behind, but the creature blocked his oncoming blow without even looking, spun around, and sent Sion flying away with another force-wave. Sion attempted to get up, but was only met with another force-push from Saimos that sent him rolling further away. Now to the point of almost blind rage, Sion let out a furious roar.
Saimos leapt over to the Sith Lord and lashed out with his lightsabers, which Sion only blocked narrowly. Sion and Saimos quickly became locked in a furious duel. The Sith Lord fought with all his fury, but found his blows easily parried by Saimos. Seeing an opening, the creature slashed out at Sion and made a wide slash across the Sith Lord's chest. He followed this up with a swift kick to the gut, which knocked Sion to the ground yet another time.
This time, Sion only grinned evilly at the creature as he stood up, and the large wound closed and healed itself within seconds.
"You fool. You may be strong, but you won't win. I can't die."
Saimos grinned back at him. "Are you sure about that, Sion? Tell me, how does it feel to know that everything you do is only because Nihilus has you in his pocket?"
Sion's grin quickly faded into an expression of hatred. "I have found more power than any Jedi could ever hope to achieve. I have-"
"The only power you have is what Nihilus gave you! Your soul belongs to him. That is the only source of your power. But it doesn't matter."
"I cannot die!" Sion yelled. "No matter how many times you kill me-"
"Rise up a hundred times, and I will strike you down a hundred times. You forget Sion, I do not tire, either. And if I do not finish you off, one of them certainly will. Because we both know you do not have the will for it! Is that right?"
Saimos was suddenly cut off when a blaster bolt struck him from behind. The creature let out a quick yelp of pain. The momentary distraction was enough for Sion to send a wave of lightning in his direction. Saimos did not have time to block it, and was sent back.
Mission saw this and quickly downed the remaining soldier with a shot from her blaster. Having downed his two opponents, Revan rushed over to the downed creature, followed soon by Quaid and Visas. The trio of Jedi stood by his side as the creature quickly stood up. Sion saw this and realized that he was now alone. It was just he against five. His entire squad had been defeated by a mere handful of Jedi. He was too stunned for words. Suddenly, he felt weak…
"It's over, Sion," Revan said. "Give up."
"Never. I will not lose."
"You cannot win, Sion. You know this," Quaid said.
"This is the way of the dark side, Sion. All things end in death," Visas added.
"You thought you had power, Sion," Saimos told him. "But it was all just an illusion. You know this now, don't you?"
"There is nothing you can do now, Sion. It's over," Revan said coolly.
"I can't lose…I am too powerful," Sion said half-heartedly.
"Your spirit is weakening, Sion," Saimos said. "You can feel it. Your body is starting to lose hold."
"Do you understand now?" Visas asked him. "You were strong for a time, but that time is done. This can only end in defeat for you."
"NO!" the Sith Lord roared. He leapt madly at the group, aiming straight for Visas.
"Visas!" Quaid cried.
There was a flash of yellow and red, and before they knew it, Sion lay on the snow in two halves. This time, however, he did not get up. The Sith Lord looked up weakly one last time, and collapsed lifeless. Visas stood over him with her lightsaber drawn, a look of slight shock on her face.
"Is he…?" Mission asked.
"No time. We only have two minutes left!" Revan shouted. The five of them dashed off to the landspeeder that was still parked where they had left it. They wasted no time in getting in, and soon the vehicle was speeding away from the mountain. Not long after, they heard a loud explosion echo from the mountain. Shortly after, they heard a loud rumble as a wall of snow started falling down the mountain. The bombs had triggered an avalanche as Revan had expected.
The snow fell rapidly and in thick sheets. The falling mound of ice collapsed against the ground and piled up high, covering the entrance of the cave completely. That cave would not, if ever, be entered again for a very long time.
"It's done," Quaid whispered.
"But it is not over," Saimos corrected.
"Saimos, you got shot! Are you alright?" Mission asked with concern.
"I'm fine. You forget, I'm not human," he told her while grinning.
"Revan! Are you there?" Yuthura's voice rang over the communicator.
"I'm here, Yuthura, and we're on our way. What's wrong?"
"Good, because the Sith have found us! They're attacking the ship!"
"WHAT?"
"They're ground troops just arrived just now. We're trying to hold them back, but we'll need help."
"Alright. We're on our way."
Revan's sped up the speeder even more, and in a short while the Ebon Hawk came into view. Clustered around the ship were the dark forms of Sith soldiers and dark Jedi. The ship's turret was firing at the crowd of soldiers. Outside the entry ramp could be seen HK-47, Yuthura, and Jolee.
"Condescending Command: Eat hot, red, photonic death, spineless meatbags!"
The speeder came to a stop a short distance behind the soldiers. Noticing this, some of the Sith turned around and started firing on the vehicle. The five of them wasted no time in getting out, and soon they were charging the Sith, with Revan leading the way.
The Jedi easily deflected their blaster bolts back into the crowd. Revan whirled his blue and violet lightsabers in a dance of death, cutting down soldier after soldier. Quaid, Visas, and Saimos all followed his example.
Saimos ignited his two crimson blades and charged a group of soldiers. His presence, coupled with dark hooded cloak and crimson sabers, made him even more menacing then he already was. The armored soldiers fired a barrage of red bolts his way, but he easily deflected them back onto the soldiers, killing them all at once. In their place more came at him. Then, Saimos did something never seen before. He drew his lightsabers back and threw both of them, at the same time, at the charging wave of soldiers. The lightsabers, like deadly boomerangs, spun around and struck two of the charging soldiers. The sabers then bounced off in opposite directions and took out three more soldiers each. In one blow, eight soldiers now lay dead. The red blades came back at Saimos and he caught them both effortlessly. He turned to find yet more soldiers attempting to catch him off guard. This time, Saimos went straight for his lethal lightning. The bright bolts struck the five of them, downing all of them at once.
In a matter of minutes, all the Sith lay dead. The crew of the Ebon Hawk gathered outside the entry ramp.
"Wow, remind me never to get on your bad side," Revan said to Saimos jokingly.
"Complimentary Statement: That was indeed a very impressing display of combat. Your skills at meatbag elimination are very admirable!"
This only seemed to make Saimos nervous, being that he took no joy in taking the lives of others.
"How did it go? Did you find it?" Yuthura asked. They all nodded.
"We found it and destroyed it. We ran into the Sith back there too, so that delayed us a little bit," Revan explained. "Sion was there, too."
"Sion? What happened?"
"We don't have to worry about him, anymore. He's gone," Visas said.
"But how did he die?" Mission asked. "I mean, not that I mind, but every other time we tried to kill him he just got up again."
"Because he gave up," Saimos interjected. Everyone stared at him.
"But I thought you said his soul was bound to Nihilus?" Revan asked.
"That is true. But while his spirit was controlled by Nihilus, it was his own will that allowed him to keep going. Back there, he lost the one thing that was keeping him going – his own will to live. When we all spoke to him, we destroyed the very foundation of his beliefs. He died because he lost hope. Pity, that is among the worst ways to die," Saimos said sadly.
All of them nodded in agreement.
"Well, we must go," Revan ordered. "This isn't over yet. We have to get to Dantooine."
All of them boarded the Ship. A short while later, the thrusters ignited, the ship rose into the atmosphere, and blasted its way toward Khoonda.
Up in the cockpit, an alarm sounded.
"Great. Watch out Revan, we're being followed," Atton said.
"Sith fighters inbound," Revan said from the right seat. "Six of them."
"Well, we got to do something, or this Hawk's going to-" Atton didn't finish, for Revan was already out of his seat and dashing for the turret.
Revan wasted no time in getting there. He climbed the ladder and manned the controls. Following the turret's radar, he spotted the six black fighters on their tail.
"Alright. Say hello to my little friend," Revan seethed. He called upon the force and narrowed his eyes in concentration. The Jedi fired a volley of shots at the group of fighters. Luckily enough, he managed to hit one, but the rest flew out of the way. The fighters broke formation and started coming at the Ebon Hawk in different directions. Revan tracked one trying to flying over the ship. The fighter made a turn in an attempt to come at the ship head on. As soon as it did, however, Revan saw an opportunity. After missing twice, he managed to clip the ship on his third attempt. The blast hit the side of the fighter, and it spiraled out of control.
Now there were four left. After a moment of searching, Revan saw one ship coming down on top of the Ebon Hawk. The ship fired and hit the Ebon Hawk. The shield was up, but the shock rattled the ship and momentarily threw Revan off. The fighter pulled back and flew off behind the Ebon Hawk. With Jedi speed, Revan regained his bearing, took aim, and hit the ship with a single blast as it retreated. Revan heard a sound off to his left, and he saw a fighter come out from underneath the ship. Revan wasted no time in firing at it as it flew above the Hawk. He followed the fighter with his eyes and kept up the pressure, but it continued to evade him. Then, the other two fighters appeared launched another attack. Revan spun around to face the two fighters coming at him side-by-side. He pulled the trigger again and managed to hit the one on the left.
Now there were two left. Revan kept track of the other fighter and gave it no room for a safe getaway. He kept pulling the trigger and unleashing red bolts on the enemy. The ship rattled again as the Hawk took more blaster bolts to its shield. Revan cursed and spun around to see the other fighter pulling up and away from the Hawk. Pausing momentarily, Revan focused, called on the force, took aim, and fired. The bolt streaked forward, and the fighter flew right into it. There was only one left. Trouble was, Revan couldn't see it. It must have been underneath the ship. Everything went silent for a moment. Finally, Revan spotted it come out from behind a cloud. The fighter came at the Hawk while unleashing a stream of red blasts. Revan focused so as to not lose his aim. He called upon the force again, and fired a wave of his own at the oncoming ship. At last, one of these bolts hit home, and the fighter exploded.
Revan gave a grin of satisfaction and climbed out of the Ebon Hawk's turret. He ran back to the cockpit, and was greeted by the cheers of the crew as he passed. As he neared the cockpit, he heard Atton called him yet again.
"Revan! Hey, Revan! You'd better come here." Revan cursed again and hurried up to see what was the matter.
"What? What now?" Revan asked. This day just seemed to keep getting better and better.
"It's Khoonda. I just picked up a distress signal from them," Atton told him.
"What? What's wrong?" Revan asked. He already had a pretty good idea what was wrong.
"It's the Sith. They've arrived there. Khoonda's under attack!"
For just a moment, time stopped for Revan. The Sith were there. And so was Bastila. She was in danger.
Atton needed no order. He pushed a lever on the control panel, and the Ebon Hawk streaked forward at top speed.
I know this chapter was long. It was definitely the longest yet. Not much more now, maybe only two or three chapters to go! If all goes right, I should finally have this finished by the end of the month! I hope the actions scenes were good. (Saimos hogged the spotlight, but I wanted to show what he was capable of since I really didn't show enough before This being the end, there are going to be a lot of them! Oh, and just for explanation, in case you hadn't noticed, Saimos is referred to as 'it' and 'he' in the story. While he's artificial and technically had no gender, he has some of his creator's mind in him, who was a guy. This makes him more of a male character. Not that important, but I just thought I'd explain.
And yes, I admit, I stole a line off the Witch King (one of my favorite characters from LoTR) for Nihilus' line. And Revan's line in the turret was from 'Scarface'. XP Sorry, but I love both movies.
As always, keep leaving those reviews. Anonymous reviews are accepted, and any opinions, criticisms, questions, are all welcome. Thanks to all those who have been reviewing so far and thus convincing me to get up off my lazy butt and write.