The timing could not have been more perfect. Moments after departing from the hidden academy, a fleet of Sith Warships dropped out of hyperspace just beyond Telos's atmosphere, bound for the dying planet. After sending out a call out for immediate assistance from the Republic, the Telosian security force dispatched as many fighters as they could muster, though Exile could tell from just a simple glance through the cockpit viewport that it wasn't going to be enough. She used the ensuing chaos in space to board the largest ship of the fleet, identified on their console as the Ravenger. Exile spent hours running through the maze of halls cutting down troopers, with Visas Marr bringing up the rear. Despite arguments from both she and Atton, the Miraluka still insisted on coming, speaking out with such passion that not even Exile could ignore.
Drawing ever closer to the bridge, Exile was greeted with a couple of welcome faces after turning the corner: A group of Mandalorians, with Mandalore himself at the front. They decided since their objectives were basically the same, they might as well work together, a feeling Exile had long forgotten. It took them less then an hour to get all the proton cores set and active, which left only one thing to do.
The door to the Ravenger's bridge slid open with a quiet swoosh, and Exile and crew went in, weapons in hand and ready to strike. The bridge was to simply put, a long room with large viewports scattered all about the walls, giving them a fantastic view of the battle being waged beyond. The floor broke into three separate walkways with people in the crevasses of them, lazily typing on a console in front of them with a gaunt look on their faces.
As they strode down the center walkway, Exile noticed Mandalore throwing glances down at the people, and gripping the handle of his rife tighter with each one.
She reached out to them. "They won't interfere." Exile summarized, never breaking stride and sensing his tension ebb somewhat.
The three stopped in unison upon reaching the end. His back was to them and by what she could tell, his arms were folded. They could all see a bit of his reflection in the dusty viewport he stared out of. He took noticed of them moments later, seeing them in the window and turning to face them. Nihilus stood almost two heads taller then any of them. And any part of his body was hidden behind the long, full dark robe and mask. If Exile looked close enough, she could see the outline of a pair of eyes inside the mask, though it was impossible to determine what species it belonged to.
That one. . . Exile recalled Kreia saying after her first run-in with Kavar. is an abomination. A mistake no one took responsibility for or bothered to correct, and now the galaxy is paying for it. His hunger is endless, and to an extent, so is his power. Nothing will keep him from what he desires most. Nothing.
His head turned to Visas almost immediately. He pointed a long finger at her and said something short in an exotic language Exile couldn't begin to decipher. "Betrayed you?" The other woman asked, supposedly repeating his words. She shook her head. "No. I simply found another master." Visas gestured at Exile. "One with more strength then even you can't fathom."
Nihilus turned to Exile, and despite her cool, confident exterior, a cold shiver ran down her back. He raised an arm, but instead of just a finger, lightning shot out from his entire hand. Exile snapped her eyes shut and concentrated on the blast, condensing it down until it was thin enough to hit only the top of her chest. The glass-like mold absorbed the electricity into itself in seconds like a conductor.
She looked up and grinned. But after hear a cricking sound, Exile looked back down and saw the mold had a crack in its center. The crack quickly grew and expanded, separating into different paths and forming a spider-web pattern. It held for a moment before shattering, she watching helplessly as the tiny fragments fell to the floor.
The supposedly 'indestructible glass-like material' had just been destroyed with a single attack.
Exile looked back up slowly, and somehow she knew that behind that mask, whatever it was, he was smiling. She caught a glimpse of a wicked looking lightsaber hilt with a curve at its end before Nihilus was in the air, igniting the crimson blade and coming down on her. Her own scarlet blade came to life with a loud Snap-hiss, but it was too late.
Only Visas's timely intervention saved her from certain death. Though she doubted that that was the Miraluka's first thought when she let loose. Exile took a moment to observe the fight, and was astounded.
Visas fought with a hate, a burning anger that words could not describe. Her purple blade was a blur, striking at all fronts as she let out roar after roar. Mandalore was even helping with his repeater, but it was all for not. Nihilus was everywhere at once, blocking every attack and blaster bolt with a powerful grace. Clenching her teeth, Exile leapt, using the Force to extend her jump and land on the east walkway, just behind the Sith Lord.
It took a second, but once he was in range, she thrust the scarlet blade up and forward, poised for his head. But like her, he leapt up, landing on the edge of the west walkway. Leaving her, Mandalore, and heavily panting Visas. Exile could sense the Miraluka gathering her strength, but needed more time. Mandalore was already ahead of her, firing his rifle with such ferocity that his arms shook from the recoil alone. Exile joined in his assault with Force-Lightning, directing it straight at him with her free hand.
The shots reach him long before the lightning did. In a tremendous feat, Nihilus blocked every bolt his free hand alone, with no trace of the attack left behind except smoke on his glove. Then chucked his saber at her, the spinning blade absorbing the lightning and swinging around to her in less time then it took to blink. Exile threw up her saber in time to block the floating saber, just as it arced around and returned to its masters waiting hand.
Another bolt zinged past him, leaving a small burnt hole in the Sith Lord's cloak just under his arm. Nihilus hesitated for a moment before reaching out and slamming the Mandalorian into the steel floor, over, and over, and over again. Exile stopped him, but he was long gone.
She turned, and Nihilus leapt high, his image reflecting in the overhead viewport. Exile reached out to stop him, but was beaten to the punch by Visas. She slammed herself into her former master in mid-air like an angry pinball, knocking both of them off course and away for each other. Nihilus landed evenly back on the west walkway, now perfectly aligned with Exile, while Visas slammed into a hull panel inches from a large sheet of glass. But she never reached the ground. Exile whipped around and saw Nihilus extending an arm toward the Miraluka, taking her in his grasp and throwing her against the steel panel a dozen times in the span of three heartbeats. Then finally released her.
Which left Exile to deal with Nihilus. Gripping the hilt in her hand, she leapt at him.
The two collided in mid-air just over the center walkway, blades whirling until their feet touched ground. As they struck, blocked, stabbed and parried, Exile's Mandalorian training took over as she relied less and less on the Force to evade the Sith Lord's attacks. But even her finely tuned athletic body couldn't match Nihilus's speed.
The robed figure lashed out, throwing a small barrage of Lightning at her. And like hours before, Exile reached out and absorbed the blast with her hand, but this time her entire arm left was left numb for a moments span. Now, it was her turn. She hurled all the energy from Nihilus's attack and more right back at him, but the Sith Lord reached out and countered with his own. Energy gathered in-between them, and after Nihilus released his lightsaber but kept it aloft next to him, Exile followed in suite, now with both arms at her disposal. The power built as each poured everything they could muster into their attack.
Around them, the air began to swirl into itself, warping into a dome that encased them, but neither paid heed to it. That is, until they realized they were no longer on the Ravenger.
The only way to describe it was 'mesmerizing'. It was a white void, empty and endless. Their hovering sabers no longer hummed, or even threw off light. In fact, all Exile could hear was her slow breathes, and the muffled panting from Nihilus. She took that as a good sign. Sweat formed on her forehead as she grit her teeth together and furrowed her brow to try and hold the connection.
But to her surprise, Nihilus stepped back calmly and lowered his arms. After hesitating, she did too. The two stared at the other for who knows how long, while still their breathing was only thing heard. Finally, Nihilus spoke.
It all came out as deep, undertone growls, but Exile was astounded none the less. For she could understand him. For a moment, he paused, pointing at her before continuing. He clenched his hand in as he finished with a short grumble. Exile's gaze shifted down to her feet, as her tongue stuck to the roof of her mouth like it did every time she was lost in thought. At last, she looked back up.
"You are no god," Exile said, her voice echoing into the distance. "you are not even a man. You're just a creature, too afraid of its own hunger to stand up to it. How dose it feel? Dose it gnaw at you like a parasite from within? Or is it simply there?" Exile got no response. She mentally sighed. "Very well, then. You want my power?" She raised her arms up high and inclined her head up. "Come and get it."
Nihilus unleashed scream just after the words were uttered, like a hungry animal's and threw himself at her. But Exile brought her arms together in a thunderous clap that released a large wave of dark energy, tearing through the Sith Lord's body until only a few shreds of dark cloth remained.
She stood there for a long moment, nearly gawking in disbelief as the pieces of cloth floated away into the void. Exile soon took notice of the lightsaber still hovering next to where the creature once stood. After grabbing her own, she called the other saber to her hand, shutting down both blades after it slapped into her palm.
Then, it all came crashing down on her.
Waves of indescribable pain surged through her, going from her feet to her head in seconds, with Exile unable to do anything but fall to her knees and grit her teeth together in an attempt to block out the pain. Around her the white void began to dissipate, fading away only to be replaced with a purple veil. And even that didn't last. The fog suddenly lashed out, and now Exile saw she was back on the Ravenger's bridge, passing through the hull and shattering every viewport around them.
The creases operator's were sucked out first, with few actually screaming before falling into the battle beyond. Mandalore and Visas were next, pulled out without a fight. And Exile would have been next, had she not thrown up a bubble around her. Utterly alone, with only a thin layer of energy prevented her from joining her allies' fates. And fatigue was setting in.
An engine's whine caused Exile to look up and see just beyond the ever-growing hole before her, was the Ebon Hawk. Its exit ramp lowered, revealing a suited up being holding onto the side, and she didn't need the Force to know it was Atton.
He reached out to her, gently pushing his way into the bubble without popping it and grasping her entire body. Then slowly began to pull her in, at a most . . . accusing angle. Around her, horrible battle was raged, narrowly avoiding passing fighters and lasers as large as she was, while Exile, the woman who'd taken down both a Jedi Master and a Sith Lord all in one day was being pulled to safety hind-end first.
At least Atton only grabbed her leg when she was close enough, letting her float back behind and bring the ramp back up. It took a moment for gravity and life support to kick back on, but still Exile held the bubble a moment before letting it go and falling back onto the cool floor. She glanced up and saw Atton already had his helmet off and comnlink in hand.
"Alright, tin can, get us out of here." He said into the device. Exile assumed it was T-3 on the other end. She was mildly shocked to hear HK-47's cold, metallic response.
"Aggravated Query: The battle is only now getting exiting, apprentice meatbag. Why should we depart? Allow me to attend to the onboard turret, and teach these meatbags a final lesson in marksmanship before termination."
Atton clenched his teeth. "I don't care, droid," He growled. "Just get us going."
"Consenting Response: Oh, very well, meatbag." Under them, the ship rumbled, and minutes later, they went into hyperspace.
Exile was panting on the floor, her hair a mess and waiting for her energy to return to her. "Get over it." She heard a voice say, looking up to see Atton with a grin, then extend his hand to her. She reluctantly took it, though still had to cling heavily to the wall in order to move around.
"Plot a course for Malachor V," Exile hissed, making her way across the main area toward her quarters. "Take no detours, and divert power from the engines to the hyperdrive if you have too." She got to the doorway when Atton asked it.
"Where's Visas?"
Exile didn't look back. "She didn't make it." Something hit the deck, hard, and assumed it was Atton. She took a slow breath. "Get over it." Exile said, reaching her room and shutting the door behind her.