(Authors notes: hope you enjoy this new chapter, it has a homage to a brilliant fan made movie on YouTube called old republic rescue mission to get to the scene faster try watch?v=3KOZN6PdybM, I advise any fan of the old republic games and Revan in particular, to check it out. The guy who plays Revan in it is exactly how I would expect Revan to act in an actual movie of the games, he sounds like how Revan would sound and whilst I have added my own bits to the scene here and there a lot of it was inspired by that and I take my hat off to the people who did it.
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(Stenos)
Revan walked down the ramp of the ship with Niks, Jarrik and Melkor. He had left HK and Rikka on the ship to keep an eye Yuthara and her three recruits as well as their now broken prisoner. Stenos was the best planet close to Korriban to set down and find a small ship or shuttle they could purpose for his plan for their prisoner to go forward, it was primary used by criminals and pirates of various factions. It was also one of the few underworld planets not controlled by the Hutts, which was very much to their benefit considering what had happened back on Tatooine.
"Jarrik, I want you and Melkor to go into the market and find us the cheapest small ship or shuttle you can" he ordered as he turned to his comrades. "I have already transferred one of the many accounts to your data chip, pay what you have to, but remember all this ship or shuttle has to do is make to Malak's fleet" he informed them. "It and its passenger will not be coming back" he stated thankful he had mediated and refocused his force aura before he had settled in for a rest or he doubted he would be so clear headed.
It had been needed especially considering his use of mind crush, it was a dark, insidious power that could corrupt anyone who used it without realising the consequences of what they were doing or how to purify their aura after the fact. The records he had found in one of the tombs of Korriban when they had first landed on the planet back before the end of the war with the Mandalorians had shown him how dangerous using mind crush could be, but for this part of his plan he had deemed it necessary.
The former assassin would take the package he had ensured to keep after killing Bandon and deliver it straight to Malak in front of all his bridge crew and whatever else was in attendance, Malak's rage and hatred would be spiked beyond measure. He would not be surprised if he killed half or even all those on the bridge, that might even include Karath, but he hoped not as he knew Carth truly wanted to face the man who had betrayed not just the Republic but also their home planet Telos and been responsible for the death of his wife and the abduction of his son. A son they still did not know if he had been affected by his time on Korriban, hopefully for the man's sake his son could be saved.
"Understood General, hopefully we will not be too long" Melkor responded with a nod of his head before he and Jarrik both took off after making sure they had their weapons, their data chips with the account details the general had given them and a backpack with supplies just in case they ran into anything unexpected that kept from returning quickly enough.
"Niks, you get back on board and close the ramp up I am going to take a short look around as something feels slightly off in the force to me" Revan said turning to the last of his men. "I'd rather not risk our ship been stolen even if there are more of us inside to defend it" he added as he looked around the forest area that surrounded the landing area, they had touched down in.
"You sure you do not want me to come along general?" Niks inquired not exactly happy with his leader going off on his own even if he was well capable of looking after himself and had done this many times before.
"I am, this does not feel dangerous like what we just faced on Korriban" Revan responded. "It just feels off, might be someone is at least watching us that might be hostile or just plain curious and I'd rather know which" he told him before putting his mask on and strolling off into the forest down the path that Jarrik and Melkor had gone but split off straight into the forest.
Niks watched the general walk off and noted he truly did not look worried and thus took him at his word and walked back up the ramp and closed it, hopefully it turned out to be nothing and if it was something hostile, he was sure the general could deal with it and if he could not handle it, he would call for help.
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(Leviathan Class Battleship Revenge)
Bastila was training with Jarael with the others watching from the side including Meetra Surik, she had to admit the Arkanian offshoot was damn good with a lightsaber even if he was not her natural weapon of choice. Zayne had offered up his own for Jarael to use in the match, every opponent faced had a different way of fighting and none fought the same no matter their training. Each had a certain style, and Jarael's moves with the lightsaber whilst showing she had no formal training with it were fast, energetic and in the right circumstances deadly. Her own style was vastly different as she was used to utilising the reach of the double-bladed variant of the lightsaber, although for this match she was sticking to using just one of the blades. That required her to change her defensive and attacking stance, that had given Jarael a more even chance against her.
Jarael circled her looking for a way to cut through her defence, she had to admit Bastila was skilled and far more skilled than most she had fought including previous Jedi during her time on the run with Zayne. But she has realised that the woman was used to using both blades on her lightsaber but for this sparring match she was only using the one, that forced her to use a different technique in her fight and that was possibly her way in. She struck left and as Bastila went to counter her move, she spun right and shot her blade downwards towards her legs, Bastila realised her error and quickly jumped backwards but Jarael followed her and thrust her blade out before Bastila could regain her footing and defensive posture. The match was over, and Jarael stopped the blade inches from Bastila's chest, Bastila grinned and nodded accepting the defeat.
"They said you were good with a lightsaber, and they were right" she admitted to the other woman. "Your adventures with Zayne and your need to utilize the weapon truly did you well, you are fast and sharp" she stated. "You realised my weakness was my preferred method of using both blades of my doubled bladed lightsaber and not just the one and used that to win" she concluded.
"Most of the Jedi we ended up fighting were only using the one bladed variant of the lightsaber but when we did encounter the doubled bladed variant, I noticed it required a different style of utilizing it and that changing my own style of attack could help" Jarael responded as she moved over to get a drink of water and accept a hug from Zayne.
She tried to forget her confrontation with Chantique, Demagol and Exar Kun's double bladed lightsaber, it was one of her worst memories which had brought her to her lowest ebb ever until Zayne had arrived to help her and reveal the truth having seen through Chantique's lies. That he had believed them even for a short time had hurt her badly, but his return and genuine regret had helped smooth things between them and then reuniting her with her parents had instantly washed away any lingering hurt. His revelation about the truth of her supposed force ability been the work of Demagol who had not realised he had the ability himself the whole time, with the help of Rohlan they had exposed this fact before a fight had broken out between Demagol and Chantique that ended as quickly as it began because of Zayne's unique force ability and left both dead.
That had been the end of her and Zayne's amazing run having exposed the covenant and its actions, including the padawan massacre and broken the crucible slaving operation and so much more. Their lives had constantly been on the line alongside those of their companions including Gryph and Rohlan, they had lost people along the way such as Camper which still saddened her but at the end her life was all the better for having met Zayne. She would not change anything; she had grown as a person as had Zayne.
Zayne retrieved his lightsaber from her and moved to the centre with Meetra for his own sparring match, he knew he was nowhere on par with Meetra Surik not by a long shot but during his time on the run his skills with a lightsaber had grown far beyond the meagre skills he had processed before his friends had been killed by their own masters and he had been framed for it. So, he should be able to hold out for a while and give her a good fight, he shifted his stance and waited, Meetra was curious how Zayne would fight as she had heard plenty about his adventures on the run during the war, but she had of course seen nothing of his true skill since he had arrived at the fleet.
They each moved at the same time only for Zayne to jump and spin over her to land behind, he spun and brought his lightsaber up to hit her back. To counter his impressive opening move she rolled sideways and produced her own lightsaber just catching his in a blocking move. Both grinned knowing that depending on how one opened a fight it could end just as quickly should one not be quicker enough to counter your opponent's moves, they moved backwards and then attacked again in quick swings left and right each trying to get a feel of the other's style and find a counter. They moved back and forth jumping and rolling as they tried to force the other on the defensive, Zayne watched as Meetra came at him again and using his unique connection to the force, he altered the odds of her move succeeding and countered slipping his blade past her defence and ending with it just a few seconds away from piercing her chest.
"Force, how did you do that?" Meetra asked as she stepped away and shut down her blade.
"Whilst I will never have the strongest connection to the force whilst on the run, I did discover I had a unique ability to alter probabilities and odds, in fact when I am around over's force abilities do not seem to work exactly right if I focus on them" Zayne inquired as he shut down his own blade and gave her a grin. "I decided to use that unique ability to alter odds of your last move succeeding" he added as he walked to the bench and accepted the drink of water from Jarael and took a deep gulp from it.
"I have never heard of any ability like this before" Meetra mused as she joined them having enjoyed the sparring, they had all done whilst waiting Revan and his team to return.
"As I said it is very unique, most of my masters never knew what to make of my connection to the force which is why most of them wrote me off as Jedi even Lucien before he led the padawan massacre" Zayne responded with a sigh still missing his friends who had died that day due to the paranoia of Lucien and his fellow Jedi who were all seers and believed one of them would bring back the Sith. "That ability came in real handy near of the end of our adventures against the crucible, two lightsabres one single bladed the other double and the bad guy hoped to summon the single bladed one but with me around he ended up grabbed the double bladed one and both blades extended killing him and the other enemy we were fighting" he told them with a grimace which was shared by Jarael as he remembered that last fight.
He did not like thinking of Chantique and Demagol as that had been the one brief time, he had doubted Jarael thanks to Chantique's lies, and it had needed cost Jarael her life. He had rushed back to her when he realised the truth and saw through the deception, with Rohlan's help he had adverted disaster although it had cost both Chantique and Demagol their lives, but they had chosen their path in darkness and paid the price as far as he was concerned.
"Useful and so unheard of I am sure it can not be anticipated by anyone facing you" Bastila shot back as they all headed out of the training room to return to their quarters.
"It has indeed saved my life quite a bit especially near the end of the Mandalorian war when I was conscripted into the fight" Zayne agreed. "Maybe it can help us end this war when we face Malak if we are lucky" he added as he grasped Jarael's hand in his.
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(Stenos)
Revan circled through the forest listening closely to the sounds around him, something was clearly off here. He could feel it in the force, but what it was exactly was not something he could figure out. A sudden twig snapping behind him made him spin, to his surprise he found a female Jedi stood a dozen metres behind him alongside a guardian and that had to be what he was, considering his protective stance of the Jedi. He did not recognise the Jedi although she did bare a small resemblance to Bastila in the facial features, he wondered what a Jedi was doing on this kind of planet so close to Korriban.
"Revan" the Jedi said in surprise and in that one sentence she gave away the fact she had not known he still lived, hence that meant she had not been in contact with the council in sometime. "Not one step more" she warned.
Of course, unable to help himself he stepped forward before speaking. "I am not here for you Jedi, in fact no Jedi at this moment in time is my enemy" he stated clearly.
She did not believe him by the look on her face. "Come with me Revan peacefully, surrender yourself and I am sure the council will show you mercy, and take in your past actions into consideration" she told him making him grin under his mask. "You may be given a chance to reform" she added which only made him smile even more even if she could not see it.
She was clearly a very prideful Jedi and like many Jedi even Bastila and Meetra before the council had betrayed them, had total belief in the goodness and righteousness of the council. A foolish and short-sighted view, that she still had such a view even though she clearly had been on assignment for some time was troubling. Was she blind to the horrors that went on in the wider galaxy, or had she wilfully ignored them as some Jedi do like those who had supported Atris's coup?
"I bear Knowledge of the council's justice and view of mercy, and I am a standing testament to their reform" he said almost bitterly as their actions in trying to wipe his mind had not left him just put aside in light of the wider conflict and he had already faced the council and had a brief talk about their actions and he knew they would have another in time. "I am doing what is necessary to end this conflict for good let me pass Jedi" he told her.
"This is a conflict you started Revan" the Jedi shot back heatedly. "So many dead and for what power" she spat.
"How little you know Jedi, how limited is your view" Revan responded with a shake of his head. "Power has never been my goal, if you had talked to your council of late you would know the truth that there is a peace between them, the Republic and the remaining Revanchists as we all seek the destruction of Malak and his Sith" he informed her.
The female Jedi frowned at his answer wondering how he had known she had not been in contact with the council in sometime, her mission had been given to her by master Vrook and he had instructed her to only break communication silence when she had located her goal which was a dangerous criminal guilty of several murders on Corustant before escaping. She had tracked him here after many months, finding Revan here of all places when she had heard rumours, he had been killed was not what she had expected but she would do her duty and try and bring him in as well as the murderer she was hunting.
"No, you will face the council, or you will die here" she finally said having made her choice on what to do and although she had just threatened his life, she had no real intention of killing him just wounding him enough to be captured. She was confident in her and her guardian's ability to do this, especially as Revan was on his own.
Revan shook his head annoyed at the Jedi's overconfidence before reaching down and grasping one of his lightsabers and removing it from his belt, igniting it he decided this Jedi needed a lesson and he would give it to her. He had not intention of killing her, just making a point. The Jedi activated her own double bladed lightsaber took a deep breath as her guardian dropped into a combat stance, Revan started forward and she quickly moved to meet him. Their blades clashed in several wild slashes but no matter how much strength she put into her attacks she found Revan was easily able to counter them, he was not even moving fast to do it either he was just that good with a lightsaber.
"Embracing the dark side is not the answer" she said as she strained against Revan's own blade.
Revan chuckled loud enough for her to hear him. "So good that you think so Jedi" he replied as he shot backwards and brought his lightsaber up in a wild strike which she was forced to jump backwards from to counter with one of her own blades. "Do not presume to tell me my path when you walk yours blind" he growled as their blades again met in the air and she strained to keep his back from her face.
Again, they separated, and their blades clashed in a wild dance as they circled one another, as she backed away to take a breather her guardian rushed forward with his own viroblades and tried to strike Revan, but he easily sidestepped the attack and force pushed her guardian into a tree. She quickly reengaged Revan and their blades swung at each other at a faster pace, but as she tried to sideswipe him, he blocked her and force her lightsaber to the ground.
"The force existed long before the Jedi and the Sith divided it into light and dark…it will exist long after all these empires have gone and even the Jedi and Sith are no more" he told her.
He grabbed her from behind as he spoke and flung her to the ground even as her guardian again attack only this time without his weapon which he had lost in the long grass surrounding them, she watched as her guardian struggled with Revan both seemed evenly matched but then Revan got the better of him and swept his legs out from under him. He held his lightsaber to her guardian's throat, then he turned to pin her in place even though she could not see his eyes.
"You cannot hold me to the Jedi's rules" he stated. "I have grown beyond them, seen there is more to serving the force than their narrow code" he explained.
"Is that how you justify hundreds of deaths using the Sith ways to cut innocent people down" she spat back incensed he was trying to make her doubt the Jedi code.
Revan scoffed at her ignorance. "And what of your precious Jedi?" he asked already suspecting what she would say in response.
"We use the force for good" the female Jedi stated lifting her head up high as if proud of her statement and total belief it was true, her response did not disappoint him.
Revan brought his blade up and pointed it at her. "Define good" he prompted her.
This angered her and she again activated her lightsaber and prepared to fight once more, Revan just stood there and waited for her to make her next move.
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(Leviathan)
Admiral Karath stood on the bridge listening to the horrific cries of the team who had descended onto Korriban to check why the outpost had gone dark, the screams pierced right through him, and it was clear to all those who were close by to hear it as well. Whatever had happened on Korriban, it had clearly not ended and the team who had been sent down were been slaughtered. Only brief cries about spirits and the dark side had made it through the comms before the static and screams had taken over, he swallowed heavily as he realised, he would have to deliver this news to Malak, and he would not be pleased. Just then he sensed a change on the bridge, and he looked up from the comm station to find Malak had returned to the bridge, he nervously wondered what he could possible say that would not end with his death.
"What news of Korriban Admiral" Malak growled having had to kill two other challengers in the last two hours, both had paid the price for overestimating their chances against him, both had suffered before he had killed them.
"I am afraid my lord that the team we sent down to the planet are dead" Karath responded preparing himself to run should it be necessary. "We got garbled bits of what they find, something to do with spirits and the dark side before it turned to nothing but static and screams, screams that ran right through us all who saw the transmission" he informed the man noting how his eyes turned even redder than before.
"Replay the transmission" Malak ordered having a dark suspicion what had happened to turn the planet silent.
"Yes, my lord" Karath before indicating the tech at the comms station do just that.
They all listened to the transmission although there was no picture, whatever had happened had ensured there was no visual record. However, the sound of what happened was enough to chill them all, bar Malak whose gaze turned darker and darker as he listened picking up the faintest sounds of more words to describe what was going on than the others did. It was exactly what he had suspected, the ancient Sith spirits had killed everyone on the planet in both the academy and the space port. He was certain his apprentice was among the dead, his plan to kill Revan and capture Shan nothing but a dream, only one person could have gotten the ancient spirits to do this and that was Revan himself. Bandon had failed to stop Revan even entering the tombs, more than likely believing going into them would weaken him never imagining it could allow the man to turn the whole planet against them.
Karath saw the change in Malak's expression and fled the bridge even as Malak drew his lightsaber and began to slaughter the bridge crew in his rage, men and women screamed as their hands or legs were cut from their bodies. One or two of them managed to escape along side Karath as they were closest to the door, Malak continued his rampage beheading three more of the bridge crew as they coward near the ship's controls. Finally, after several minutes he began to calm himself if only briefly, growling under his breath he realised his loss of control had cost him several underlings although he noted Karath was not among them. He snorted at that, grudgingly admitting the admiral had good survival instincts. Revan was proving even more of a problem than he had originally thought him capable of been, worse he could not find him or his retched followers. But he would find them in time, or they would come to him when they came for the star forge. He would have his revenge; he would bring the so-called lord of revenge to his knees and make him scream for mercy before he ended him.
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(Stenos)
After another brief clash of blades Revan and the female Jedi and her guardian had once more moved back to circle one another, both watched the other closely. The Jedi had begun to feel the first signs of nervousness that she could not win this fight, even with two against one odds.
"This is why the Jedi will never achieve peace" Revan finally spoke breaking the silence. "They refuse to see that there is no light or dark, only the force in its entirety" he stated as they continued to circle one another although the guardian had moved to the side hoping to catch him off guard. "You are a fool to listen to your masters as they tell you there is only one way to serve the force" he said as he glanced from the guardian and back to her. "You must be prepared…or the next Sith you face may be your last" he told her.
It was too much and again the Jedi attacked lashing out with his lightsaber swinging it as fast as she could, trying to use both blades to overpower Revan's defence. As Revan came at her she ducked his attack, once his back was to her she lashed out with the force and hit him with a force wind that sent slightly off balance and allowed her to actually summon his blade from his hand which she quickly handed to her guardian. Instead of seeming panicked by the loss of his weapon, Revan calmly withdrew a second lightsaber from his belt and ignited it to show the blade was purple.
"I am not Sith" he declared. "You are blind to what stands in front of you because you will not listen, or truly hear the force speaking to you" he told her.
This time both the Jedi and her guardian attacked trying to overwhelm with power attacks and the fact both were armed with lightsabers, but Revan countered each blow as if they were moving slowly. His form and defence were unbreakable, he sent her guardian to the ground as he slammed his elbow into his face as he defended against his attacks, he then spun to catch the Jedi's next two attacks which were shift kicks with her legs hoping to take him by surprise, but he easily countered them and then grabbed the hilt of her lightsaber and slammed it into her face stunning her and she fell to the ground. He again spun to catch the incoming attack from her guardian as he jumped at Revan and brought his stolen blade down on him, Revan caught the attack with his own and then again slammed his elbow into his face and then swept his legs out from him.
He brought his lightsaber down to end the threat of the guardian by wounding his legs, but the man caught the attack with his own blade and then slipped past to spin around Revan allowing him to jump on his back and try and smother his ability to fight. The Jedi regained her footing and moved to attack, but again and to her surprise Revan countered each blow she tried to land and kept slamming her guardian against the tree he was positioned in front of until he was able to throw her guardian back to the ground. He then summoned his stolen lightsaber and used it to slice the man's legs just enough to wound him and keep him out of the wound but not do permanent damage. Angered the Jedi rushed forward to attack but over balanced herself and allowed Revan to slam his elbow into her gut shocking her and allowing him to push her to the ground, the pain in her side and gut was more than she had felt before.
"There is no power a Sith holds that a Jedi cannot chose to wield if he or she has the power and the will to control it, the will to step between light and dark and embrace the whole of the force as one" Revan told her as he stared down at her. "You must be strong enough in the force in its entirety" he added before he unleashed a wave of force lighting on her guardian making him scream in pain.
"NO" the Jedi cried out trying to crawl to where Revan stood over her guardian, she tried to swipe his legs with her lightsaber, but he easily caught the blow and sent her lightsaber flying.
"I do what is necessary, show me your mastery of the force…Jedi" he taunted her as he looked down at her before he unleashed another wave of force lightning on her guardian only this time stronger.
She watched still trying to crawl forward as her guardian screamed and withered in pain, even as Revan screamed at her to show him her power. Her anger spiking, she pushed herself to her knees and somehow summoned the will and the power to cast her own force lighting, she did not think about the consequences of what she was doing she acted to save her guardian. Revan spun even as the attack struck his shoulder and caught the rest of it with his lightsaber, and then sent it straight into the ground. Winded and in shock the Jedi collapsed onto her back and stared at Revan, her mind going crazy as to why he had not killed her or her guardian. It was almost like he was trying to teach her, to make her realise something, something he believed completely. He retrieved her lightsaber and moved back to where she lay, he held it out to her, and she hesitantly took it off him.
"The force does not control you, young one. You saved your guardian by using something you thought was abhorrent, but your motives are still aligned with the Jedi code" Revan told her as he knelt to face her and removed his mask to show his face which unlike what she expected looked normal with nothing marking him as a Sith not even the red eyes she had read about. "I do not seek to corrupt you Jedi, just expand your mind on the true nature of the force, we are not enemies, and we seek the same goal" he informed her. "Contact the council and they will fill you in on what has happened whilst you have been operating in the dark, I think you will find much has changed" he continued as he stood and replaced his mark and began to walk away as she stared at her guardian who gave her a thank you for saving his life. "Consider my words Jedi and hopefully when we next meet you will be a true Jedi" she heard Revan say as he vanished back into the forest.
"What do we do Regina?" her guardian inquired as he slowly pulled himself over to her.
"What can we do Enrik but contact the council and see if anything of what Revan said was true" Regina replied. "If not, we can at least let them know Revan is alive" she said as she stood up and helped Enrik to his feet knowing they had a long walk to their shuttle.
"And if he was telling the truth?" Enrik again inquired.
"I don't know, he was not trying to kill us that is a fact, even two against one we had no chance of beating him" Regina told him. "No, he was trying to prove a point to me, maybe the council can give me guidance on this" she told him as they headed off.
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