Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Chapter 7: A Simple Task

"Try again."

Darth Revan ordered, slowly climbing down from the crashed wreckage of John 117's lifeboat. All of the Sith present scurried about the site, dragging the dead UNSC personnel from the lifeboat and laying them in rows before they moved on to the Covenant bodies, simply throwing them in a pile. The Sith soldier unfortunate enough to have to carry around the portable communications array knelt beside his bulky pack, adjusting the frequency to the emergency channel and calling again to the base. A momentary slip could be forgiven but after half an hour of no contact with the base, Revan would not be so forgiving. Static played over the channel, interrupted by garbled signals from small, scattered units of Sith still active on Halo outside the base. Frowning beneath his mask, Revan took the communicator and switched to the channel designated for Malak's ship.

"Malak wake up."

Revan all but shouted into the comm. On the bridge of the Interceptor, Darth Malak shook his head, resisting the urge to roll his eyes and trying to ignore the odd look Linda was giving him.

"Yes, Revan?"

Malak asked wearily. Through the static, Malak could barely discern Revan's message and made a quick gesture to his communications officer to clean up the signal.

"Revan, I can't hear you. Try tapping your line through the ground base's relay array..."

The signal cleared momentarily for Malak to hear Revan mutter something along the lines of idiot before it was completely cut off. Not knowing what else to do, Malak reached into the Force, searching for Revan's presence and finding it quickly, but also finding something else. A significantly smaller amount of Sith occupying Halo. Opening his eyes, Malak frowned, looking to his ship's Captain.

"Get us back to Halo. Immediately."

The Captain nodded and set about giving the orders while the Interceptor retracted its Rakatan syphon and slowly pulled away from the system's sun. The static over the line with Revan cleared and Malak listened intently, as did everyone else on his bridge.

"Malak I've lost contact with the Command base while on patrol. Sefail is dead, it looks to be from a plasma explosion... I would say its from the fool's own idiocy but enough of him. I've sent Aven to search for Commander Drinn... his patrol went missing around the command base and... I feel the Command base is under attack, or destroyed. I cannot sense the Dark Jedi I left there or any of the men. I can still sense Aven as well as... oh, I'll get to you soon, Jedi. Yes, the Jedi is still here though her aura is distorted at the moment. I've secured a lifeboat from the unknown ship, the pod was filled with bodies from crew who died on impact... From what I can estimate on my own it would have killed any humans who were unshielded from the effects but... Its strange, as though something else was with them, perhaps a droid since it left a very small trail behind in the Force. Whatever it was it killed all of the Covenant in this area by itself."

Malak looked directly at Linda, his eyes taking in her form thoughtfully as he recalled Doctor Halfan's medical report, as well as the incident within the med bay. The ship's engineer was examining the armor the woman was found in and had yet to make any conclusive reports but Malak had an idea of what Revan was looking for.

"Linda... there wouldn't happen to be any others of your kind on that ship?"

Honestly not knowing, Linda said nothing, staring at Malak with an expression the Sith had never seen until he had faced a Mandalorian. It could not be described as a single word. The look held apathy, yet it also held a fierceness behind it that would not sway, there was fire but also ice and the features never shifted, molded as if carved into stone. It was a look a Mandalorian gave to someone that they considered a threat. Calculating and cautious, yet confident in the knowledge of their own skill. It was the look of a warrior.

"I don't know, Sir."

Linda replied, loosening her stance and no longer feeling safe. Malak held Linda's gaze a moment longer, trying to read her thoughts before giving in and nodding as he fought of a niggling sense of fear. Strange that he could still feel afraid after all he saw but the fear was a constant, it fueled the hatred he found himself using more and more. That thought terrified Malak but at the same time, it burned away his feelings and gave him focus. Survival first, then revenge.

"Do you have one of these humans with you, Malak?"

Revan's voice held no emotion as it was heard over the comm. Malak shrugged, even though Revan couldn't see.

"The humans of this galaxy are strange, Revan. Try not to kill any of them."

A small, ironic smile crossed Revan's lips as he looked down on the corpses of the dead UNSC personnel he had found though there was no real emotion behind the gesture, more some morbid reaction to something he found darkly amusing.

"I don't think I'll get the chance..."

Revan's voice held a truth that was humbling to Linda and she looked to Malak, seeing that he cared very little about the harsh statement of his Lord. Obviously any compassion had been beaten, fought or drilled out of them long ago. Malak's brown eyes shone with some unfathomable emotion before he breathed out slowly. Joking about death was something they all did eventually. Mostly just to live with what they had done.

"Malak something is off about this place... There is something besides the Covenant and these Humans. I can't put my finger on it but I can sense... something..."

The Dark Lord of the Sith's apprentice snapped from his own private musings, rolling his eyes in exasperation. He was really damned tired and didn't precisely care how he responded to Revan's vague premonitions; though... often times those premonitions were painfully accurate.

"Something you say? Do you think you can perhaps be a bit more vague?"

The bridge fell silent as did the comm line and the crew wondered idly if Malak had overstepped his authority. On the other end of the line, Revan had turned his attention to a chasm where a waterfall opened into the artificial ocean. He could overlook Malak's frustrated outburst, for now.

"Malak... keep the ship clear of Halo. Also... is your guest there?"

The seriousness in Revan's voice drew all weariness and rebellion from Malak. Turning to Linda, Malak nodded. Linda knew who wore the pants in that relationship, at least she could tell that Malak wasn't going to be having a coup against Revan anytime soon.

"Petty Officer Linda - 058, Sir."

Revan was silent for some time, absorbing the unfamiliar title.

"...Okay... I'll call you Linda."

Linda didn't really feel like talking but decided a response was in order; the Sith Lord seemed slightly lost at her title as Malak had.

"Very well, Sir."

Revan, frustrated and growing extremely, what the humans of earth would call pissed, Revan glared at the ridge overlooking the valley he was in.

"Hold on, I think we have some guests."

The comm line died and Malak slowly walked forward to the front of the bridge, crossing his arms over his chest and staring through the blackness of space towards Threshold and Basis' distant forms. Tilting his head to the side, Malak's eyes flickered back and forth, seeing through the layers of the Force and seeing an empty pit, devoid of life within Halo. That was likely the anomaly Revan has sensed and Malak was suddenly very glad he was not on Halo's surface. Something about the void was unnerving, almost like looking into a black hole and trying to fathom its sheer, raw power.

"I think I'm going to go blind."

Malak complained, feeling suddenly nauseous. Turning his back to the scene, Malak took in his bridge crew with a critical eye. Military discipline was slipping the longer they were away from their galaxy and with Revan gone, he was in command of the only real Sith Force in this part of the universe. Malak caught Linda's sharp gaze for a moment but the Spartan had shifted so fluidly that Malak had barely caught it. She was studying him like any smart soldier would, but what did that mean for him. Deciding to take a page out of Revan's book, Malak watched as Linda calmly spoke into the comm when Revan finally responded to the hails their communications officer had been sending at standard emergency intervals. No emotion entered Linda's face and Malak's eyes narrowed. For a moment, Linda looked to be concentrating and a flash of green told him he's momentarily locked eyes with her but the Spartan did not fidget in the slightest, maintaining a calm that a Jedi Master would envy. Crossing the bridge back to Linda's side, Malak watched appreciatively but warily as the Spartan tensed slightly, prepared to defend herself at any infraction.

"Revan?"

A scream, almost a cross between an animal's bark and a mechanical wine sounded and Linda narrowed her eyes, concentrating while Malak rose a brow, wondering what the Force that had been.

"What the Bloody Hell does that mean?"

Revan snarled, digging his boot into where his lightsaber had slashed a deep wound against a Covenant Grunt's abdomen. The grunt screamed in pain, repeating its short, bark-like words. Wishing she had an AI, Linda listened to the Grunt speaking its native language before shaking her head.

"A prayer of some kind."

A black and red mask, faceless as the expression on its wearer turned down to look at its victim.
"You understand me, Covenant?"

The Grunt wheezed in pain and Revan reached down, pulling away its methane breather, starving it of breath. He could have simply used the Force to close off the creature's airways but Revan decided a gesture was more threatening, plus he was currently using a massive amount of Force energy to keep the thing from dying. Returning the breather to its face, Revan watched, satisfied as it nodded.

"What do you know?"

Taking several deep breathed, the Grunt merely let out a long, pained wheeze. Revan slowly lifted his boot from the Grunt's wound and then lowered it, grinding his heel slowly. The sound was horrible but Revan had tortured many beings in his time and a survivor of a failed Covenant attack on his small unit was having no pull on the Dark Lord's conscience. If anything, Revan felt disgust at the creature's weakness.

"Do. I. Need. To. Repeat. Myself."

Each word was enunciated by Revan grinding his heel left and then right and Linda felt some primal part of her mind want to smirk at the Grunt's pain. She had seen what Grunts would do to captured humans firsthand and in her opinion it was getting off easily. Looking a little pale, Malak cleared his throat.

"Revan, perhaps-"

"Silence."

Was the immediate response and Malak's mouth closed as the bald former Jedi Knight looked to his side, away from the comm and to Linda as she concentrated on the Grunt's words.

"Just a soldier."

Linda muttered, narrowing her eyes.

"He keeps repeating Demons."

Revan, rolled his eyes, knowing he wouldn't get anything else out of the Grunt.

"Then I suppose we're done here."

Lifting the Grunt easily, Revan tore off the creature's methane breather, throwing its wounded, dying and tortured form on top of the pile of dead Covenant.

"Give them a proper burial then."

Revan spat, watching as fuel and then a flame was set to the Covenant bodies. Whether the high pitched wail coming from the blazing pile of corpses was the sound of flesh and metal melting or the Grunt screaming, Revan neither knew nor cared. Turning on his heel, Revan narrowed his eyes at the bodies of the UNSC personnel.

"Load these into our transport... We should give them back to their people if we want to make a good impression."

Sarcasm dripped from Revan's words but the task was carried out. If nothing else, Revan wanted their equipment and bodies analyzed to prove that they indeed were human. The soldiers worked in complete silence. No jokes or complaints were heard and they moved with the efficiency of machines. Mulling over the situation, Revan decided it would be best that he worked alone on Halo's surface. Adding more dead bodies to his already depleted force would merely attract carrion and he was much harder to detect when alone.

"Prepare the transport. You're to go to the Interceptor and deliver my report to Malak. I will stay here and attempt to find whoever survived the base's destruction..."

The pilot bowed and left while Revan turned his gaze to the smoldering pile of Covenant, a small sensation stabbing at his chest that he couldn't identify, nor wished to.

Bastila Shan slowly opened her eyes, blinking wearily against the dull pain that throbbed between her ears. Groaning, the Padawan rolled to her side and slowly raised the top portion of her body, closing her eyes to prevent any further nausea.

"Welcome back, Jedi."

In too much discomfort to snap back, Bastila slowly opened her eyes to see a red-skinned Twi'lek in a cell across from her.

"Indeed."

Bastila muttered, sliding back against the violet-blue wall of her cell. Confused for a moment, Bastila slowly recalled the images of the Covenant and the sensation of death she felt before losing consciousness completely. Blanching, Bastila focused on the task at hand, using the Force to clear her mind.

"Ah, so that bump on the head didn't make you completely useless."

Glaring at the Twi'lek, Bastila scowled.

"May I ask why you're speaking to me?"
The Padawan snapped, her gray eyes flashing in anger. Aven Sek'tai's eyes gleamed at the challenge and a wicked smile crossed her features.

"Your actions led to the destruction of the Revenge. A hundred thousand Sith are dead because of you. Does that make you feel powerful?"

Bastila looked completely confused for a moment before the memory of a wave of death in the Force struck her pain-fogged mind.

"It was the actions of the Sith that placed me in that situation..."

The Padawan said slowly, secretly appalled at the sheer amount of death that she may have been responsible for. Aven looked slightly disappointed and turned her eyes to the Covenant Elites guarding them. Her patrol had happened across a group of Elites and Grunts that were clad in solid black and the Covenant had seemed more interested in capturing her and her soldiers than killing them. A fact which she smirked at, recalling how many were slain before they were simply overrun. Aven smiled viciously as an Elite passed her cell, baring her teeth at the creature. The Elite, though well trained, shied away from the cell, having heard tales of the creature's power from the survivors of their special forces unit.
"Demons."

The Elite spat, moving away and watching the other humans interact with one another. It was strange, watching them act as Shanghielle did from time to time between battles but the Elite threw the thought out of his mind. Humans and all that sided with them were demons, savages and barbarians that defiled their sacred Covenant with their mere existence. Soon the Holy Prophets would send an envoy to purify the demons and then the human's leader would reveal the location of the place the humans called Earth. Truly this Earth was some sort of hell, a spawning ground of demons and evil. Glancing back at the red-skinned demon, the Elite stood taller and reminded himself he was in service of the prophets and that his faith would protect him.

In her cell, Commander Aven Sek'tai could hear all of the Elite's thoughts and she played her part well. Fear and respect were all and good but having something terrified of you was always better. Mandalorians, she could respect but still kill. If placed against Revan, whom she was truly terrified of, Aven knew she would make a mistake and due, brutally should it ever come to that. Fear was always so much better.

"Must you smile like that."

Bastila Shan groaned, truly chilled by the malicious look on the Twi'lek's face. In truth she had personally known the former Jedi and to see her so twisted, so warped from what she had been was unsettling.

"Just entertaining myself."

The Sith Commander muttered, her black eyes focusing on Bastila Shan and noting the differences in her former comrade since the last time they had seen one another. Bastila was still no more than an adolescent, though she was extremely healthy by Republic and Jedi standards she was still horribly out of shape by the Sith's current standards. Aven slowly rolled her shoulders, loosening her aching muscles. The Elites had not been gentle capturing her and she could feel a stab of agony with each breath she took in. Survival and intimidation was foremost in Aven's mind but for a moment, she had a lingering sense of pity for Bastila. Pity that the Padawan would soon be introduced to force even the Mandalorians could not stop.

Darth Revan knelt and slowly collected a small thermal detonator from the belt of a dead Sith soldier. Staring through the scorched crater that had once housed thousands of Sith soldiers, Revan concentrated on his presence within the Force, keeping it nearly invisible to any around him. To the normal human or Covenant, Revan would have looked to be no more than a shadow amongst some boulders, or a wisp of dust in the air. With measured breaths and calm, Revan moved swiftly and silently through the narrow passageways towards the shaft of violet light that marked the Truth and Reconciliation's gravity lift. The appearance of massive, orange-skinned creatures nearly completely encased in a blue metal armor that carried massive shields left Revan no delusions. While he could kill them both with ease, it was likely all Hell would break loose when the Covenant around them saw what was happening and after taking in the efficiency if not the military prowess of the Elites, Revan had no interests in an immediately direct confrontation.

The Dark Lord was merely at the Covenant ship to collect Aven, perhaps a Sith soldier or two and then kill the Jedi responsible for this entire mess. There was no emotion to accompany this thought, no lust for revenge or any anticipation of the fear that would welcome him. Revan merely saw it as a task to be completed, he had to if he wished to get anything done and not simply collapse into a weeping, broken miserable wretch of a man. Everything was a task, everyone had a job, it was like when he had build HK-47 to hunt down and destroy Mandalore, or should he say anyone who would try to rebuild the Mandalorian's threat to his plans. Each soldier, each Dark Jedi, each droid and each ship was a part of this machine and if one failed and could not be replaced or bypassed, the entire machine would fail and his plan would fail.

Uncertainty weighed in Revan's heart. So far from all he knew, so far from his own home, or at least what he considered home, it was always there. Could he find the Forerunner's great weapon, could it even be wielded against his foes or would its terrible power simply consume him as Malachor V nearly had. Drawing in a steady breath, Revan paused as a Covenant Elite clad in white armor glanced suspiciously at where he was crouched. Revan would have been annoyed at his own weakness to stay hidden rather quickly had he not seen that the Elite was looking past him. Echoes, sounding like distant thunder and roars echoed through the canyons surrounding the damaged Covenant Capitol ship and Revan saw his opportunity as he broke into a sprint, leaping into the violet plume of light and a sense of weightlessness overcame him, pulling him gently upwards to the bottom of the Covenant ship. An invisible barrier of light flickered briefly and Revan felt the weightlessness leave him as he found himself standing on a column of solid light. Moving slowly as to not alert the Covenant stationed in the loading bay, Revan moved to a quiet corner, waiting for his unexpected but most welcome distraction to enter the picture.

Beneath the Truth and Reconciliation, Spartan 117 calmly reloaded his MA-5B assault rifle and moved swiftly through the mass of Covenant dead. Several Marines followed the Master chief and the Spartan, while appreciative of their help could not help but wish to the days of Blue Team and his other Spartans. The Marines were good, but they were simply not Spartans and it was impossible for them to understand his small signals that the Spartans had learned and perfected as a unit. Overcoming the urge to sigh, John stopped, resisting the urge to gesture for the marines behind him to do the same and simply threw a grenade from his satchel around the bend their pathway took. The sound of a Jackal screeching as well as several Grunts crying out was quickly squashed by the loud whoomp of the grenade and John calmly stepped around the corner, his MA-5B spraying single shots into the surviving Covenant as he passed. By the time the UNSC soldiers had reached the Covenant cruiser, John had been forced to call in reinforcements as the Covenant poured a good chunk of their crew out to defend the ship.

Darth Revan watched with morbid fascination as stream after stream of Covenant soldiers, first the grunts and then the Jackals and then the Elites filtered through the multiple doors to the loading bay. Seeing his opportunity, Revan moved through one of the opened doorways and sidestepped to avoid a pair of hulking Covenant Hunters as they marched past, unconcerned of the Grunts they nearly, and had Revan's eyes and his mask's sensors not been playing tricks on him, did crush. Part of Revan, long buried was fascinated by the cultural hierarchy of the alien race but the larger part of Revan merely wanted them out of his way. Waiting and filing away his seething rage for when it would be needed most, Revan continued his stealthy approach towards the ship's prison cells.

The Marines and the single Spartan had a much rougher time of penetrating the Truth and Reconciliation's defenses, having instead to fight through it with brute, deadly force. Plasma weapons, grenades and machine guns fired back and forth, spraying death to all those that stood in its path.

Darth Revan was having a much easier time than John 117 finding the prison cell of the Covenant cruiser. Instead of having to check behind every door and fight every foe, Revan merely had to follow the trail the Force set out before him. The Elites as well as most of the humans in the room seemed to be startled as the doors to the prison block opened and closed, seemingly on their own accord. The air seemed to be shadowed before it slowly formed and all in the room except for Aven Sek'tai blinked in absolute shock.

"Hello there."

Revan smirked beneath his mask, sliding into a defensive stance as he took his saber in his right hand, lowering his form and reaching out with his left hand, motioning for the Elites within the room to attack him. The four Covenant Elites gawked at Revan, frozen for several moments before instincts and training took over and they all drew their plasma swords, seemingly as one. The Elites did not flinch as Revan's crimson blade snapped to life and they rushed forward, all thoughts of safety abandoned in their rage that a demon dare to defile their ship.

Captain Keyes looked at the man as if he were insane. Who in their right mind would directly challenge four Covenant Elites? These weren't just regular Elites either, these all wore the red armor of Covenant veterans. Either way, this insane man was a dead one and Captain Keyes decided to watch the man's death when something finally came into his quick, but still foggy mind.

"Darth Revan, I presume?"

Keyes asked to the cell beside his. Bastila Shan's wide gray eyes stared at Revan in absolute horror she shakily answered.

"Y-yes, Captain. Y- you are correct."

Aven watched impassively, showing no weakness as she stood with her arms crossed. The fight would be short but only the Sith and the single Jedi present would know precisely how short.
"Honorless dog!"
One of the Elites shouted as an invisible barrier stopped him in place for a moment before sending him backwards at a blinding speed into the adjacent wall to the cell block. The other three Elites were already upon Revan by then and the Dark Lord's saber rose, slicing into each of their plasma blades as they descended and shorting out the systems used to keep the plasma fields stable. The three plasma swords shorted out, smoking with heat as the three Elites backed away, though not by choice. A powerful wave of Force energy, dark and focused burst from Revan, sending all of the Elites flying backwards. With slow, measured steps, Revan moved towards the first Elite that had attacked him and as the Elite rose, side-stepped its thrust with its plasma sword and drove his saber into its chest.

"The honor was mine."

Revan called, turning and meeting a charging Elite head on. Captain Keyes watched in fascination and disbelief as the man extended his left hand, which had yet to even touch his energy sword's hilt and capture the Elite's hand. Revan was forced back into a wall under the sheer strength of the Elite but the Force protected his body from the impact and his hand, unlike most human's would have been, remained unbroken. Tightening his hold and shifting it ever so slightly, Revan watched the Elite's face contort as its mandibles clicked incessantly. Twisting and using the Elite's forward momentum more than his own strength, a loud snap as heard as the Elite's wrist broke and it howled in pain and rage. The how died as Revan's saber arced in the air, slicing through the Elite's shoulder and down into its heart. Even as the Elite died another had grabbed Revan, throwing the Dark Lord across the room to save its comrade. Revan's form sailed through the air, twisting under its own power and landing in a crouch as his cloak flowed behind him. Shaking his left hand, Revan licked his lips as he appraised the two Elites that remained. One had taken its fallen comrades sword while the other was much closer to him, its teeth bared between its mandibled jaw.

"I don't suppose you'd want to talk about this?"

Revan asked in an almost too fine accent. He'd almost sounded like a stodgy Senator and Bastila would have laughed if she weren't so terrified and appalled by his strength. It was almost like seeing her companions die again like they had trying to capture Revan. The utter calm of Revan, the mockery that existed in his confidence if not his words and the complete and total lack of feelings that came from him. Not even excitement or, surprisingly anger. The Elite merely growled in response to Revan's question.

"So be it."

Revan charged, dropping low and shooting to the side as he ducked under the Elite's punch and then sliced its body in half below its arms. A small mercy as it would die almost instantly instead of slowly as it would have had he taken it along the waist. In truth, Revan respected the lack of fear the Elite's showed. There was fear, yes but also an acceptance that they were dying an honorable death and that, if nothing else, Revan could respect. The final Elite stood tall, fearless and brave and savoring the fight to come. Throwing aside the plasma sword the Elite bellowed and charged, earning a smirk from Revan as he did the same with his lightsaber. The two forms, one of a red-clad elite and the other a black and red blur met in the center of the room, one striking with vicious and deadly force and the other, a blur as it avoided each strike. Revan thought of tiring the Elite down and then striking but time was most definitely of the essence and the Dark Lord caught the Elite's left arm, stepping below its outraged counterattack and behind it, pressing his back against the Elite's as he grasped the other arm and pulled with all his physical strength. Crouching half way through the motion, Revan felt almost detached as the Elite lost its footing, stumbled backwards against its own power and dropped on its head, dazed. Leaving the Elite alive, Revan stood, calling his lightsaber to his hand and then lowering it to the Elite's back.

"Turn, your shouldn't die with your face in the ground."

The Elite lashed out with its foot, catching Revan and knocking the Dark Lord aside. Spinning in place, the Elite pulled a plasma grenade from its belt and activated it, rushing to Revan and smashing the grenade into the Dark Lord's mask. The attack cost the Elite, however as it had impaled itself on Revan's lightsaber to do so but it died in satisfaction, knowing its enemy would soon follow it and not to the paradise that awaited him.

Revan immediately grabbed the grenade, ignoring the burning of his hand and tossed it to the other side of the room as it exploded into a brilliant blue-white light. Flexing his hand opened and closed, Revan stared at the charred skin through his burnt gloves, glaring at it before he pushed the pain and anger aside, turning to Bastila Shan's cell. Slowly, with measured steps meant to intimidate, Revan stalked towards the cell until his mask was mere inches from the glowing energy field entrapping the Jedi. The Dark Lord of the Sith's head tilted ever so slightly to the side as he studied the Jedi that had caused him so much trouble in such a small amount of time. The fear, he breathed in as if it were air, the indignation he laughed at to himself, amused and the lack of resignation he frowned at. So she was stubborn, with his luck she'd be opinionated as well and tell him in no pleasant terms how flawed his methods of killing her were.

Recognition started through Revan's features before it was crushed beneath the tide of angry Revan had been saving in wanting to deal with this particular nuisance. It wasn't the face, not the eyes that he recognized. It wasn't the fire of challenge he saw her gray depths or her superior stare when she gazed at him with disdain. It was the simple braid tucked behind her right ear that told Revan all he needed to of the Jedi before him. The Jedi would only be fool enough to send one and only one Padawan directly against him and it was amusing slightly to Revan that a Padawan would succeed where many Masters and others had failed in completely and totally driving him to distraction.

"You're dead."

Revan stated, raising his damaged left hand and using the Force to collapse the field. The eerie calm in the Dark Lord's voice as well as the hint of certainty stirred feelings of terror in Bastila, though she hid them well. Slowly meeting Revan's mask with her own steely gaze, Bastila held it as if daring him to even think of striking against her. Revan's lightsaber remained active in his hand and the Dark Lord studied his opponent, waiting for her to try to defend herself. Growing impatient, Bastila lowered herself into a hand to hand stance that she couldn't even hope would counter whatever Revan threw at her and she glared defiantly back at him, waiting before she spoke.

"I seem to still be alive, Lord Revan."

Beneath his mask, Revan's eyes twitched with some long suppressed nervous impulse. From across the cell block, Aven Sek'tai watched the scene unfolding with a flicker of pity. Turning to look at the cell beside Bastila's the Sith Commander could see the human's leader, or so she surmised trying to see what was going on. Making a noise to gain the man's attention, Aven nodded to Revan mouthing something to the UNSC Captain. Aven could feel the rage boiling in Revan but she could also see the logic in having more allies. She could also see that Revan was hesitating, likely in that same knowledge.

"Sanctuary."

Captain Keyes' voice called over the sound of Revan's steady breathing and the hum of his lightsaber. Revan's rage boiled at the interruption as he took a step back to glare sidelong at Captain Keyes.

"I beg your pardon?"

Revan asked in a dark tone, his voice refined as all Core accents but holding a rougher edge to it than most.

"She is under the protection of the United Nations Space Command and as such any attacks upon her by you or any other force would be viewed as an act of war."

When the hell did anyone around him grow a spine, Revan wondered idly as he waved his hand, restraining Bastila in place and then turned his full attention to Captain Keyes. Keyes resisted the urge to take a step back as the dark figure slowly moved in front of him and he kept his gaze locked in the small slit on the Dark Lord's mask where behind a transparisteel shield, Revan's furious golden eyes glared at the interloper. Something cold wrapped its fingers around his mind and Captain Keyes staggered, blinking in surprise at the intrusion of his mind. The image of his daughter flashed across his eyes before the demonic mask of Darth Revan blocked his sight.

"I see..."

Revan stated, not mentioning the Captain's daughter. Malak would be all for an alliance and peace but Revan was not Malak. Looking back over to Bastila, Revan rose his hand, watching the Padawan's eyes flashed in child-like terror for only a split second as the pressure against her body increased before it molded into an expressionless mask. Nodding to himself, Revan released his hold on Bastila, watching the Jedi stagger before she looked up at him with a fresh glare, promising the most vile of tortures.

"The same applies for any member of the Sith Empire, my good Captain. The Jedi Padawan Bastila Shan is in your protection and that of your people but be assured... I am not a politician and this... arrangement is only temporary."

The Dark Lord glared at Bastila and then with a single sweep of his hand had reactivated her cell's barrier and deactivated all those that held the Sith. Captain Keyes' brow furrowed as Revan made as if to leave and Bastila finally gained her voice. Had Revan known in detail of Commander Sefail's fate they would already be at war. As it was, Revan had better things to do.

"Aren't you going to free us?"

Bastila asked in a bitter tone. Revan felt a flutter of emotion and recognized it as amusement.

"I don't recall you asking... nor do I recall forming an alliance with the UNSC or the Jedi Order. I am merely here to free my soldiers and then leave."

Aven Sek'tai felt part of her wanting to laugh at the expressions of the humans around her. They looked shocked, appalled and pissed off.

"Y- Y you! Ohhh! You are by far, by far the most arrogant megalomaniac I have ever been forced to look upon. How dare you Revan. If you expect me to beg you, you are far mistaken. I shall never kneel to you."

Halfway into the rant, Revan half expected Bastila to stamp her foot like a child in tantrum and before he could retort with a cynical response, one of the UNSC soldiers spoke.

"Hey, I'll beg for you. I don't want to end up Grunt chow."

He couldn't help it, despite how dire their situation was, Revan felt something growing in him from the pit of his stomach, burning past all the rage and anger and pain that was there and a choked sound emerged from Revan. It took a moment, as it repeated itself and the Dark Lord's frame trembled with the pent up emotion before it exploded into the room with a boisterous ring. For the first time in a long, long time, Darth Revan laughed genuinely. Malak had been right, the humans of this galaxy were strange, strange but amusing.

Author's Note: Writer's block had again been overcome... for the time being...