-1Chapter 7: Testing, Attention Please…

It was near the depression, a day later that a small, insignificant, Korriban Sawblade Beetle scuttled down the edge of the pit of sand. It was blindly looking for a smaller being which it could oppress and hopefully devour, when, a mutilated hand with bitten nails and patched skin, swooped down and scooped it up. The hand pinched it in-between the few fingers that remained and the oppressor watched the insect's legs desperately kicked. Another moment of torture before the beast flung the beetle in it's mouth and chewed it to oblivion.

The sun was burning down the side of the sky, leaving the impression of red on an already red planet. Though the thing had hardly an eye left to see with, it's features were now intent upon a black silhouette climbing and picking through the rocks in the gorge below it.

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Revan felt as though something were standing behind him. It was a feeling that had followed him ever since Ji-Anne had given him the warning. Revan kicked a rock out of his way. Whatever feelings of oppression and impending doom he had felt faraway on Coruscant, had been doubled now. If only he had not brought Bastila with him… How could he have let her talk her way into this? Why had he felt it would be okay or that it was a good idea? Revan's fist clenched. Never had being his constant companion been a safe occupation. It was not the place for his loved one.

Revan jerked his saber into his hand and spun, nearly igniting it. Nothing was behind him. Just the wind or perhaps another Hssiss.

Continuing up the slope his mind returned to his mission. His tomb. The fact that he had a base of operations on Korriban had never escaped him, but the thought of arranging to be buried here made his eyelids twitch. It was interesting that after all the hunting he had done across an entire edge of a galaxy, it occurred to him now, while climbing around in an unending crack on Korriban's surface, that he might not want to be privy to his entire history. The jeering thought that Vandar could've been right and that he might somehow later regret it, haunted him.

But he had come this far. To back out now would be ridiculous. The stakes might've been high but the alternative was not reassuring either.

Revan looked back over his shoulder. He was sure of it, something was there. He palmed his saber nonchalantly and in an instant, ignited it and stabbed directly behind him. A great gurgling hiss expelled as a Hssiss materialized. It slumped forward in death. Revan stared at the carcass. Somehow it didn't relieve the tension he had felt. Something was still out there. A "pilgrim", she had said. Traveled millions of light-years just to assassinate him. After scanning the cliffs, Revan swallowed and continued climbing.

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After another hour and a half's hike, he could see a structure lining the end of what seemed to be the world. The depression had veered away some miles back and all that was left was this vague pyramid structure that could be perceived in front of the stars far ahead.

A foul breeze had been blowing hot dust into Revan's eyes for the last mile. But when he heard a hissing from behind, he felt that it was not more dust colliding with stones on a cliff face. It sounded unreal and drier than dust.

Revan stilled his nerves and continued climbing. The structure was less than a couple hundred steps away, a mere matter of minutes. An unnerving observation was how Revan noticed his pace increasing seemingly independently of his will. It was though his feet knew more of his current situation than he did and if they were to be believed...then things weren't going so well. He found himself in a full-blown run.

Steps…stone steps. Revan nearly tripped over the first. Squinting his excellent eyes, he could see a trail of steps snaking up to the structure. The structure, now more clearly in view, was a step pyramid with various indistinct stone statues standing guard over the black door-less entrance.

Watching his footing, Revan began his ascent. But the more he crept forward, the more he could feel his skin crawl and his courage sap. The very breath of his body was stolen. He could feel triumphant blasts of irony sounding like trumpets, Terror rumbled and poured from the tomb like some Requiem Chorale. The many carved figures and statues came into view, indeed, they seemed to be kneeling in fake honor and jeered at him like he was some common court jester. He nervously walked the path to the entrance. In his mind, he knew the idea that he caused this abomination would haunt him every night of his life. 'My hands are trembling!' He thought. 'I cannot breathe.'

He could feel each step weaken him and he could sense a great blazing presence waiting to attack at his weakness. He felt it stalk just at the edge of perception as if testing the boundaries at which it could remain unspotted. Every pore of his being could feel it snarl at him like a giant hidden rancor. Doubt poured in as this force focused on him.

Perhaps it was only fantasy, some driven nightmare that was founded in the planet that consumed him. But he could not shake the feeling, could not break that predatory gaze from the darkness. It made him into prey. It made Lord Revan of the Sith fear. He heard the crunch of ground behind him. The sound of old dirt collapsing beneath a foot. He would fight. He would lose. Revan despaired his life.

Like a blasts of thunder, lightsabers were drawn. Revan turned to hear the hum of an approaching blade. He made to parry, but the blade was not there. The lightsaber was extinguished and it occurred to Revan that it had been a feint. The crackling of a lightsaber igniting sounded behind him. He knelt and performed the Soresu parry eight, Hedatei, the arrow parry. Blade contact was made, but the offending blade vanished there afterward and one that had been positioned at Revan's head ignited. Revan spun around from his kneeled position to receive the blow in his shoulder. Singeing searing pain, and the feeling of crisping flesh. Revan still had not clearly seen his attacker. The thing had always been in the black of shadows.

Revan flipped backward and raised his hand to the sky, lightening issued and lit the canyon. It was a thing of shredded flesh and robes. It's infernal hands were missing various fingers, its face missing an eye. It's hair was a thin spider web gray. It's skin was black mottled with gray. It's top lip had been torn away leaving a clear view of it's sharp carnivorous teeth. The one eye it had left was pooled with dried blood, so that it was a mystery how such a thing could even see. It seemed something that had been long dead and rotten and had been sung alive.

Revan reached out into the force to grab at it, but recoiled in shock at what he found staring back at him through the force. He staggered back as if blinded. He could not use the force against such a thing. It's appearance was far more unlovable through the force than when consumed by bare eyes. He found that he could not stand the sight of it.

It's mouth made a chattering motion, as if chewing something particularly hard to eat. When the lightening faded to leave the canyon back into darkness, he heard a weak wispy laugh.

Lightsabers spawned out of the darkness in a random rapid assault that would not end. They would attack in swinging slices and thrust only to disappear and reappear elsewhere. Revan used all his skill to keep himself alive but still refrained from attacking through the force. Above all else he could not glimpse the thing again. He would rather dodge lightsabers the night through, even though Tràkata was not a form he had ever combated before. Even Kreia had never taught him how to deal with such sublime blows as ones to disappear.

He continued to leap and bound from rock to rock, barely missing appearing blades. He felt a pain in his side and wanted more than anything he had ever wanted in his life, to lay down and gasp for breath. Overtime, he felt the force take over from his muscles and propel him. The Ataru form slid on him like a glove, but it was only slight relief. The assault had been going on for what seemed like hours and the blades wouldn't stop. He had gained five wounds since his wound to the shoulder. In his mind, he knew that if it continued much longer he would not have muscles to dodge with.

Revan sparred on with the darkness. The thing bared forward and chased Revan among the rocks and precipices. It never seemed to tire, as if it never had a limit to it's stamina, whereas Revan's leaps dodges and parries began to show sloppiness and fatigue. His blade work was slower and his actions were no longer curt and accurate but large and clumsy.

Revan leaped behind a large bolder hoping a for a few seconds rest, but the bolder slit apart as a saber zippered through it. Revan somersaulted backward and found that to his back was the edge of a cliff. A cliff so severe that he doubted he could find the bottom even if it hadn't been pitch black.

Revan leaned back, letting two swings come short and slipped to the right to dodge a stab. Revan could see small trace glows of light from beyond the canyon, when suddenly a dim red glow flooded the canyon. He felt it coat him and it felt so good he wanted to fall to the ground and cry. It was a Korriban sunrise. He could see his attacker was ahead of him, skirting the edge of the cliff. Two withdrawn sabers, one in each hand. He could sense a small modicum of unease in it's hideous form. It's camouflage was gone, and the thing was exposed. Revan shuddered, it looked even worse in the light. Revan flipped over it's head with the sun to his back. He struck the edge of the cliff with a bolt of lightening and then initiated a Jung Ma spin, causing the wretched thing to tip off balance as the ledge it was standing on, collapsed. It's arms waved as it fell backwards. It wasn't long before it passed from sight.

Revan's hands raced to cover the gaping wound he accumulated in the fight as he fell to the ground. Tears of relief and exhaustion blurred his vision and the relaxing of his muscles only seemed to make them ache all the more.

One thought entered into his head before he blacked out. That thing, whatever it was, was whatever was waiting for him at the edge of the galaxy. Some old ragged form of an alien species that they had trained all that time so far from sight. In essence, Revan felt it was safe to say, that whatever it was, it was a true Sith.