Revan's crew was incredibly jittery as they approached the Hapes Cluster and the incredibly smothering Dark Energy that was Darth Nihl. The amount of Dark Force that emanated from the planet below and the artifacts hiding in their ship was... together, it made the group feel as if their life was draining from their bodies. The lights of the Eagle were dimmer, and the only ones who seemed unaffected were Mara and, to a lesser extent, Revan. "What the kriff is wrong with you three?" she asked. The five stood in the cockpit, preparing to enter the atmosphere of the Throne World of the Hapes Cluster.

Van snarled. "What's wrong with you?!" he snapped. "We just stole from the Senate tower, you moronic –"

"Van," Revan growled, placing his hand on Van's shoulder to calm the man. He felt the oppressive darkness in the air around him, but he was used enough to the feeling that he could stave it off, for the time being. "Now is not the time."

The pilot glared at Revan for a moment, then shook his head and walked off from the cockpit. "Don't mind him," Revan assured, watching his other crewmates intently to make sure they did not go off at the slightest provocation. "He's just... well, he's not used to being around you."

Zros looked sullenly down, but returned her attention to the beeping comm system. "Landing codes cleared. Follow the coordinate pathway to the private landing pad... or be vaporized," the guard warned. The navcomputer beeped; Revan and Zros glanced between each other, suddenly worried about who they were soon going to meet.

"Tel-Zu didn't warn us like that last time," Revan told Zros, who grunted in agreement. "She's scared."

"I wouldn't doubt it. Whoever we're meeting with, whoever helped Zu kill Tenel Ka II, scares her. And almost nothing scares that woman," Mara explained as she transferred control of the Eagle to autopilot. "No one except her 'benefactors.'"

"Because they know?"

"Because they slaughtered thirty of the galaxy's strongest Jedi in one night. Go get ready for the trade," Zros responded without turning from the navcomputer. The machine beeped as the autopilot kicked in and Zros finally turned from her position, stopping Revan as he left. "I know that scares even you."

Revan froze and leered at the woman, who showed no difference in her demeanor. "I know it looks like I don't care about my son, boy, but make no mistake that everything I've done is for that ungrateful child," she said, her mocking, light tone having vanished. "So when you do get in a fight with these... people, don't involve him."

"How long have you known?" Revan asked with clenched fists.

"How long do you think I've known, Theron?" she asked. She smirked and crossed her arms, leaning back into the pilot's seat. Van's seat. "Your underworld friends aren't only your underworld friends."

"I'll have to speak with her about this," Revan said. "And I'm not Theron Fel."

Mara shrugged. "Maybe, maybe not. Regardless, your highness, make sure that my son isn't some Sith target, or I'll gun for you... and be assured that I won't miss like most normal people," she threatened. Revan knew that, somehow, she would be the most dangerous of his enemies if Van died.

"He's my best friend, Mara," Revan assured with narrow eyes. "Be assured that, unlike a Jedi or Sith, I won't think of him as nothing. He's just as dangerous as I am."

"Sure, but are you as dangerous as they are?" Mara asked. She stood up and left the room. "Try not to die, kiddo." She walked out of the room and left Revan to his own stirring thoughts.

SWSWSWSWSW

Revan stood near the three crates containing the Vader's Ash crystal, Nihilus' mask, and the data on the alien ship. Each of the three artifacts was still stuck within its biometric canisters that would cause thermonuclear explosions should the Sith attempt to open them. Revan doubted something as small as technology would stop a powerful Sith Lord, however. He and the others had already agreed that the Sith would be stopped, no matter what. Revan's conversation with Mara had not changed his mind about the possible necessity for the final sacrifice. He had not spoken to Van about the conversation, but was sure that any mention of it would only serve to intensify the pilot's resolve.

"I was wondering when you would show up, Dahling," Mara mocked as Tel-Zu walked onto the landing pad, the location of the money/artifact swap. Zu sneered in response, but otherwise ignored the jab. "Where are your friends?"

"We are present," a voice snapped from the shadows. Three tall, dark figures stalked silently out of the shadows, carrying brutal evil hanging over their shoulders. From behind them stalked the owner of the gravelly, dark voice – the one and only Darth Nihl, Lord of the Sith. The Sith's eyes glided over the four spies as if they were foreign to him. Revan believed that the Sith Lord's arrogant inability to recognize them was due to just that – arrogance. "You would do well not to question us, child."

Mara took a step back upon seeing the supposedly dead Sith Lord. "You're in league with the Sith?" she asked Tel-Zu accusingly. Apparently, there were lines that even she would not cross. "They don't honor agreements." Or not.

"A difference between my predecessors and myself," Nihl explained. He raised one hand and a crew of gray and black armored troopers marched from the shadows, each of the four carrying a different metallic briefcase. "Unmarked credits, five billion total."

Zros' eyes widened, then she crossed her arms. "Hand 'em over and you get your antiques," she commanded. Nihl laughed at the woman's bravado, but still ordered the credits to move first. Zros began to walk away, saying to the crew, "Give him what he came here for."

Revan immediately drew his saber and slipped the mask – once hidden within the back of his vest – onto his face. His saber collided with a ball of Force in Nihl's hand almost immediately, and the Sith Lord laughed joyfully. He had been expecting this. "I was wondering when you would finally attack, Theron Fel," the Sith taunted. He pushed the Gray Jedi away with the energy of the Force and saber concentrated in his hand. Revan flipped through the air before landing and skidding across the landing pad. He stopped perilously close to the edge. Nihl shrugged his cloak from his shoulders and proceeded to draw his blade. Revan watched as Zros sat down, out of harm's way, to watch her child and his friends fight off the Sith.

To his men, Nihl said, "Remember your orders." He walked towards Revan as the soldiers began to attack Van, who was hiding behind cover, and the three other Sith split their attention between Ana and Rhen. Nihl returned his attention to Revan, and the two began to sprint at each other. As their blades clashed, lightning and thunder would resound through the sky. Revan barely registered the raindrops that began to collide with the bodies of all present, so focused was he on his fight.

"It has been long since we saw each other, boy," Nihl said as he lazily deflected one of Revan's incoming blows. "Though, it seems as if you are a weakling compared to then. The power within you is broken. Because of your friends, because of the Triumvirate."

"Shut up!" Revan snapped, turning the blocked attack into a spinning assault. Every blow was deflected by the Sith with decreasing amounts of effort, as if it was just a game to the Dark Lord. "I'm strong enough to defeat you!"

Nihl laughed and grabbed Revan's wrist as the saber rushed towards him. He lifted Revan into the air and threw the younger man's body like a rag doll into the hull of the Eagle. Revan snarled in pain as he crashed into the ship and then to the ground, but forced himself to his feet. "You can't really believe that, can you?" Nihl asked, unleashing a blast of Force Lightning at Revan, who narrowly dodged the deadly energy. "I felt your power from across a galaxy when you tried to claim revenge – to claim justice against the Moff. Not an echo of your power – I felt it all."

Revan fired off a telekinetic blast at the Sith, but the blow was redirected with a flick of Nihl's wrist. "Where is the duelist who defeated me on Coruscant, Theron Fel?"

"I'm not Theron Fel! I am Revan!" the young man snapped back. He spun through the air, his saber colliding with Nihl's and driving the Sith back. The screens of the Mask seemed to flicker for a moment, but Revan passed it off as the flash of the sabers colliding.

"How very Sith of you, Boy," Nihl returned. He dragged the blade of his saber across Revan's before flicking his wrist and sending the intricately designed weapon into the air. He grabbed the deactivated blade with the Force and summoned it back to his hand. The white saber ignited suddenly in the Sith's hand and he began to swipe the red and white blades at the narrowly dodging Revan. "Giving up your name – your identity – for a greater existence would be admirable and freeing. But for those liars in the Triumvirate? You are a disgrace to your namesake."

Revan ducked beneath the next swipe of the red saber and slammed the palm of his hand into the Sith Lord's elbow. Nihl grunted in pain as the elbow snapped from the force, and his red saber fell into Revan's outstretched hand. The duel then began in earnest. "It would seem I underestimated you yet again, Theron," Nihl said as the two circled. His right arm dangled uselessly at his side. "Even as weak as you are, you are a true opponent. A worthy apprentice."

"I would never be your apprentice, Nihl," Revan countered before grabbing the ring at the base of the saber and swinging the weapon in a wide arc. Nihl blocked the powerful blow, redirecting the force behind the saber upward. Revan spun with the blade and flipped through the air; rebounding off of the Eagle, Revan flew at Nihl once again. Nihl brought the white saber up and the two engaged in a saber lock that shoved the Sith backwards. "I will not fall."

"Revan might not, but Theron will," Nihl remarked. He shoved as hard as he could, grunting with the effort, and Revan stumbled backwards. "You are on the brink, even now, Boy." With that, the duel continued.

SWSWSWSWSW

As soon as the duel had begun, Ana had been singled out by one of the Sith. Horns stuck out from the dark hood, and a red-orange lightsaber struck against her twin blades with a ferocity she had not fully expected. "So you are the Moff's child," a man's voice snarled from beneath the hood. "Aren't you a little short to be a stormtrooper?"

Ana snarled at her attacker and aimed a kick at the Sith's center mass. The Sith moved past her kick and barely bowed beneath the incoming saber in time. The orange blade slashed through the Sith's hood. The Sith rolled forward and eventually came to his feet as the rain began to fall from the sky. The black cloth fell away to reveal a red Chagrian adorned with intricate, dark black tattoos that gave his face a look of eternal rage. The rage filled glare plastered to his face did not detract from the look, either. With the rage, however, was also a look of appreciation. "Ah, you are stronger than I expected, Little Moff," the Sith said. He grasped the hilt of his blade tight with one hand as his other drifted into his robes to pull out a twin for the blade. He quickly ignited the violet saber, holding in a backhand that opposed the other saber's forehand stance. "It has been many years since an opponent deserved the opportunity to die at the hands of my own form of Jar'Kai. You should be honored you will die at the hands of a true master, Little Moff."

"Don't count on it," Ana retorted before firing off a volley of silver lasers from her saber, the energy of which was deflected by the Chagrian. The volley was merely a distraction, however, and her twin backhand sabers were soon engaged in a saber lock with the Chagrian's, her sabers crossed in front of her body to create a stronger magnetic resistance.

"Ah, it would appear I deeply underestimated you, Little Moff," the Chagrian said, his voice equal parts admiration and exertion. "You are also a very unique wielder of Jar'Kai. When I kill you, I will make an effort to learn your style and abilities – my master demands only the best of the Wyyrlok line." The lock was quickly disengaged, and the two Jar'Kai masters were flung away from each other.

From the corner of her eye, Ana could see that Revan had lost his saber and was quickly losing ground to Nihl. The two blades were arcing through the space where Revan had been only seconds earlier, shredding the clothing that dragged behind him. Ana felt her muscles tense as she desired to help him, but struggled to stop herself. Revan was strong – stronger than her, and stronger than Nihl. If anything, she would only get in the way in such a battle. She had to deal with the task at hand. She returned her attention to the Chagrian Sith and sprinted towards him, savagely swinging her saber at Darth Wyyrlok's horned head.

SWSWSWSWSW

Rhen was spinning his custom saber in his left hand, behind his body but ready to attack the two sith advancing towards him. One, a Cathar male, and the other, Twi'lek female, were incredibly skilled duelists, but Rhen knew he would eventually defeat the two of them. His saber flashed forward, one of the two blades colliding with both of his opponents' crimson sabers. The two Sith sneered at him and began with the customary Jedi bashing that any self respecting Sith in the galaxy would engage in during a duel with a Jedi. Rhen merely ignored the insults, mostly unoriginal ones that he had heard in stories from his grandfather decades earlier. "Could the two of you maybe try something a little less cliché?" the Jedi asked as he brought his rapidly spinning viridian blades round his body and into brief contact with his opponents'. He moved through the attack into another sweeping spin that nicked the arm of his Cathar opponent, who roared in pain. Unlike his peers, Rhen's style of dueling was not centered on powerful attacks, but attacks with such speed that almost no Jedi or Sith could hope to dodge the movements. It would take many hits, but both of his enemies would slowly become sloppy with ever increasing pain and eventually leave themselves open to more... significant blows.

A shallow cut to the neck of the Twi'lek, a long burn across the shin of the Cathar. The wounds continued to grow in both number and severity on both of Rhen's opponents. Both of the Sith were suddenly quiet, the angry, mocking banter gone. "What's the matter?" Rhen asked as the tip of his saber nicked the pinky toe off of the Sith Twi'lek. The Sith nearly fell to the ground in pain as her digit was burned away to nothing, but somehow held her ground. "Is this 'Weak, insufferable Jedi' annoying you?" The saber spun around his body again, burning through the wrist tendons of the Cathar's off hand. The pain that resulted from this attack left the Sith wide open, and the viridian blades soon helicoptered through his other elbow, disarming the Cathar. Rhen leaped into the air, spinning and delivering a sharp, Force enhanced kick to the chest of the Cathar. The feline-like alien screamed as he was sent flying off of the landing pad and to his doom.

Rhen turned his attention, then, to the Twi'lek Sith. "May I have this dance?" he asked before spinning his blade even faster. The twin blades of energy began to cause a terrifying hum that drew utter horror to the face of the Sith. She thought very realistically about turning and running from the Jedi. Before she could act, however, Rhen's blades had slashed through her midsection. Her torso split horizontally and the Sith's body fell, dead, to the ground, followed soon by her legs.

SWSWSWSWSW

Van had been the first to take his opponents out, despite being outnumbered the worst. He didn't have to deal with silly things like Force Lightning or reflexes fast enough to catch a ship going hyperspace between two pieces of wood. All he had to deal with was how poorly trained the elite Sith troopers were compared to him. Mara smiled as she watched the young man – her son – take out the last of the Sith troopers. She had her money, and her son was alive. The other kid had kept his promise, it seemed.

Mara stood up and pressed a button on her wrist-based communicator. There was a single beep as her ship engaged its autopilot and rushed towards its owner and master. Mara was ready to spend her five billion creds, and even had a few ideas on what to do with them. She had heard you could buy a private planetoid with a billion credits – that sounded like a nice enough idea. She turned her attention back to her son as her ship materialized on the horizon and froze. Nihl's broken arm was outstretched towards the young man and a cloud of orange began to materialize in his hand.

Without fully understanding exactly what she was doing, Mara Zros, the most selfish mother in the galaxy, was running full speed towards her son. As the orange cloud began to arc through the air towards Van, Mara's mind drifted back towards the first time she had seen her son. An infant, a cute, fat as kriff baby that she had never really appreciated. Not in the way he deserved. Now, at the last meeting, as the orange light collided with her body and pain rushed through every nerve... Now, Mara Zros thought that she had finally done something her son could be proud of.

SWSWSWSWSW

Revan had rushed forward to try and stop Nihl's attack on Van, but he was not fast enough. The light had arced through the air, and he was sure that his friend was soon to be dead. A bitter memory of yet another failure in Revan's life. Yet, the soldier had survived. The light had stolen not his life, but the life of another. Mara Zros was soon laying, dying, on the water soaked landing pad.

Nihl grinned as the bone fragments in his arm snapped back into place, the life force of the Kiffar smuggler rushing through his body. "Thank you for your services, but you are no longer required," the Sith said. He dropped Revan's saber and summoned his own back to his hand. Despite Revan's attempts to hold onto the weapon, it flew from his hand and into the Sith Lord's outstretched arm.

"Retreat," Nihl called over to his Chagrian apprentice. The Sith's twin sabers deactivated and he ran off as his master had commanded. Revan's eyes darted between Nihl, and Van holding his mother's dying body.

"Enjoy your victory and credits, Theron Fel," Nihl said, drawing Revan's attention back towards his hulking form. "For next we meet, you will be Sith."

With that, Nihl turned and jumped away with the power of the Force. Revan summoned his saber to his hand and remained where he was, surrounded by the artifacts, for a split second. He waited for a moment to see if the Sith would return, if this was a trap, but it was not. Soon, he had deactivated his saber and removed his mask. He joined Van, Ana, and Rhen near the dying body of Mara Zros.

"Don't look so down, Vannie," Mara groaned to her son. Her breathing had become erratic and her skin pale as paper. She grimaced through a laugh. "You weren't a total failure."

"Why did you do that?" Van asked, ignoring his mother's words. Revan wasn't sure if it was rain or tears streaming down the man's face.

"You know –" Mara's voice caught and pain flashed across her features. "You know why, Vannie."

Van smiled sadly. "Couldn't have your rep ruined by me dying, huh?"

"Well, there is that," Zros agreed, a twinkle of laughter in her eyes. "But, come on, Vannie. You know that I... I..." Mara's head fell to the durasteel.

Van felt hollow for a moment, then he stood up and turned his attention to the still petrified Tel-Zu Ka. She had been frozen in fear ever since the battle had broken out on her private landing pad. She looked as if she had wet herself, though that may have also been the rain. Revan thought, for a moment, that Van was going to kill her. "This is your fault," Van told the frozen noble. His hand hovered near the blaster at his hip. "You had to kriffing help the Sith. The SITH!" Zu jumped back a little, surprised at the force, the rage, behind this normal young man's voice.

"You're going to kill me, aren't you?" Zu asked, resigning herself to her fate.

Van's blaster was up and smoking before anyone else could react. A single blue bolt of light had flown from the tip and collided with the traitorous head of state, short circuiting her nervous system and stunning her into unconsciousness. "The thought crossed my mind," he said. "But Mom always did say, 'Never kill the client, even if they double cross you. It's bad for my reputation.'"

Van turned around and collected two of the cases containing the artifacts. "You guys get the trash, will you?" he asked of the Hapan ruler. "I'll... I'll see to Mom." Then he walked up the ramp and into the Crimson Eagle. The three Force users watched the young man leave, each having some knowledge of the pain he had just endured, and each knowing that he was very close to murdering Tel-Zu even still. Revan and Rhen collected the woman, and dragged her into the ship as a prisoner to hand over to the Triumvirate.

As they did so, Revan couldn't help but think about the mere fact that they had won. Two Sith Lords had died and a squad of elite Sith troopers. They may have missed Nihl, but they still had all three artifacts and had hurt the Sith, at least somewhat.

So why did Revan feel so scared that they had lost?