[Fic] Gray Code: Way Of The Sith

[True_Avery]

Here is my entry:

 

Warning:

This story is written with my own version of the Star Wars universe called Gray Code. I bend a lot of rules and put a lot of my own storytelling in, so if you notice a lot of things are abnormal then you are indeed correct.

 

Knights Of The Old Republic

The Gray Code

 

Way Of The Sith

 

"Plans are fragile things, and life often dashes expectations to the ground."

-Kreia

 

Deep in a lost spot of space, a single solar system lay. A single sun. A single planet. Left untouched and undisturbed for millennia, and that would have been wholly unremarkable if not for the thousands of battleships, from Indictor to small fighters, orbiting the small planet of Lehon. All of the ships appeared to be copies of each other, shining gray metal pincers, with sleek laser cannons running along massive plates of durasteel. Among these machines of war, a single held far more importance than any other. Over five miles long, the sleek weapon of war held a people of great importance to the Sith.

 

Darth Revan, Dark Lord of the Sith, walked down a small set of durasteel stairs.. Six feet or more in height, the cloaked lord emerged out of the small craft that had just landed in the docking bay of the Leviathan. Black cloth running smoothly along the metal, Revan descended the steps to the cold docking bay floor. Revan cared not as hundreds of Sith soldiers that were knelt down in their metallic body armor in respect. Their black masks showed as little emotion as the very mask their lord and master wore. Revan walked between the two lines of soldiers, stopping silently in front of two kneeling figures. The battle worn Mandalorian-style mask looked down at the two men, who stood up to report to their master.

 

“Welcome back, Lord Revan.” The man on the left said. He was shorter and smaller built, but his voice held a coldness that could make weaker beings shiver. Admiral Saul Karath wore a gray and black Sith Admiral’s uniform adorned with badges of rank. He placed his hands behind his back in a sign of respect.

 

“What is the status of the fleet, Admiral?” A much colder, emptier voice asked behind the black and red mask. The voice seemed to hold no identity... simply a coldness that filtered through a reverberating, metal mask. The long black eyes slit pierced the eyes of Saul Karath, who gulped a little before answering.

 

“We are awaiting your orders and are prepared to leave the system within three hours of an order to do so.” Saul answered.

 

“Good. And the Star Forge?” Came the cold, empty voice again, Revan moving between the two men and continuing the walk forward. Saul turned and followed, feet behind as the other man walked side by side with Revan.

 

“Currently working at eighty-five percent efficiency, ten percent slower than the last check three weeks ago...” Saul hesitated for a moment, but continued, “...and from what we can tell, the number continues to lower faster the more time passes. We have run the numbers and estimate that within six months, the Forge will be completely unusable... and falling back into stasis.”

 

The three continued to move forward, coming to a large metal door that opened to the hiss of decompression. They moved through the doorway into the main hallways of the Leviathan. There was silence between them.

 

“My Lord?” Saul questioned.

 

“Do you have any theories on why the Star Forge is failing?” Revan asked coolly.

 

“Well... we have a few theories, like the Forge’s advanced age, but, because it uses the sun for power and can self sustain itself... our engineers simply do not have any idea why it is failing at such a rapid rate.” Saul answered, hesitating between facts, as if afraid any one of them could cause his lightning quick demise.

 

The three continued to walk down the cold metal corridors, lower ranked soldiers and engineers walking down the halls, saluting as they passed. "Of course the engineers have no idea what is happening. This is not a matter of mechanics. The Forge is tens of thousands of years more advanced than any modern day technology." Revan let thoughts pass by as they moved through another door, another hallway. "The Forge is losing its attunement to the Force. But, this is happening faster than I could have ever anticipated. Damn it."

 

“Malak.” Revan said to the man walking alongside.

 

“Yes, Master?” Malak replied, looking down at his master with his red/yellow eyes. Malak was slightly taller than his master, but not by much. He wore a skin-tight, deep red-orange body suit draped with black cloth. At his black belt, a silvery lightsaber hilt hung by a strap.

 

“You want to say something?” Revan’s voice asked coolly, the three stepping through a door onto a large cylindrical elevator that went directly up into the higher levels of the Leviathan.

 

“I would indeed.” Malak replied, a slight annoyance in his tone. As usual, it was pointless to try and hide the urge to comment from the Dark Lord of the Sith. Revan still seemed to always know the slightest emotional change in a person. Saul punched in a few numbers on a console and the elevator began to move quickly upwards. "I do not understand why we waste our time on small systems when we are more than capable of ripping apart the core worlds. The Republic is crippled and on the edge of total defeat, and yet we orbit Lehon when Coruscant is ripe for-” Malak went on, but was cut off by Revan.

 

“I continue to explain my reasoning, and yet you continue to ignore all of it. I will say it again: Turning Coruscant into rubble has absolutely no tactical value whatsoever and fits nowhere into my plans. I have been patient with you and the rest of my fleet about this, but my patience can only run so thin. Do I make myself perfectly clear, Apprentice?” Revan asked, a finality in her tone. The voice was cool and collected, yet a distinct feeling of annoyance emanated from the Sith Lord. Malak did not respond, but simply glared at his master.

 

The elevator's console beeped one they reached their floor, came to a noisier stop, and the doors opened quickly in front of them. They emerged and walked through another set of doors into a large room occupied by men working consoles, taking notes, and speaking between each other. The instant Revan, Saul, and Malak entered the room, all stopped, saluted, and went back to work, but doing so with a tense, forced quiet.

 

“Admiral.” Revan said, reaching the end of the metal walkway to stand in front of the pane of glass, looking out into space. A large blue planet took up much of the view, dotted with green islands, with a bright burning sun far away in the background. At Lehon’s sun, one of the greatest marvels of mechanics orbited, creating ship after ship, slower and slower every time. Saul stood straighter, awaiting his order. “I want an update on all the current specs of the Star Forge in front of me as fast as possible. With that, a personal series of specs from each commanding engineer currently-” But Revan was cut off, not by Saul, but by Malak.

 

“What is the point of these damned updates and specs! You and I both know why the Star Forge is failing, but you lack the resolve to face true power!” Malak burst out, his voice filled with annoyance and rage. The outburst caused all the men in the command center to pause as fear ran down their spines

 

“Silence,” Revan said calmly.

 

Malak clenched his fist, veins pulsing angrily at his temples. “You stand there, doing nothing while there are things to be done! The Star Forge needs no engineers, it needs no energy! It needs a ruler! It needs a Sith to take its power, to attune to its core! You stand there doing nothing when we could be using the Star Forge to become more powerful than any being has every imagi-” But this time Malak was cut off, not by a voice... But lack of one. Revan held out an outstretched hand, the hooded mask looking Malak dead in the eyes. Slowly the hold on Malak’s neck got stronger and stronger, while Malak grabbed at his throat and fell to a knee.

 

A low, drawn out sigh came from the mask. “You speak out of place on ideals born of ignorance and greed. I have warned you before about speaking of such things, yet you persist, even after I just warned you... and my patience for you and your thirst for senseless destruction is now on its last leg.” Revan put more pressure on Malak’s neck, feeling the Force flow through the pale gray skin. “I came to this ship to speak to my Admiral about the current state of my navy, not to listen to your unfounded babble and childish tantrums.”

 

Hatred glowed in Malak’s eyes as he stared into his master’s mask. Within seconds, Revan’s control over Malak’s body ceased as Malak quickly gained the willpower to break the hold. He quickly stood, throwing out his own hand and concentrated on Revan’s form. Revan anticipated this, feeling the Force and using superior strength of will to ‘catch’ Malak’s attempt at an attack. The bridge's crew seemed to be temporarily locked in time, frozen as they watched the two most powerful and fearsome of the Sith clash. It was short lived.

 

Revan let out a small sigh and, with a flick of the finger, Malak’s attack backfired and he was sent soaring back almost ten feet onto the bridge's cold durasteel plating. He skid on the metal before being forced into a hard right by his master into a side wall, hitting the metal with a dull thud, falling to the lower deck into the scared crewmen below. Malak let out a painful yell of rage from the deck below, jumping up to his feet. The engineers along the bridge stared from Revan to Malak. Saul looked as if he wanted to comment, but held his tongue in fear it would be ripped from his skull.

 

Revan let out another low sigh. “That was a stupid and foolhardy attempt at absolutely nothing. If you had truly wished to hurt me, truly wished to teach me a lesson, then you would not have allowed your concentration to falter for even the smallest second... and yet you did. Worse yet, you admitted to yourself that I could still overpower you, and thus my will overcame yours.” There seemed to be no annoyance, no anger in Revan’s voice. More of a pitiful tone of disappointment. “You may think you have more answers than me. More resolve and maybe even more power than me... But, you do not believe it. That is why you are the apprentice, and I am your master.”

 

The look of fury on Malak’s face was more terrible than ever, but he did not respond as Revan continued. ”Some would praise your attempt to stand, but doing so when you lack determination and opportunity is the mistake of a padawan... It is disappointing seeing you in such a weak, ignorant state.”

 

Malak stood fully now, his body shaking with fury. “What do you know of determination and opportunity, Revan!? The old Revan would have crushed the Republic just as quickly and easily as the Mandalorians! Your passive-aggressive tactics do nothing more than make the Sith look weak and merciful! You have not become more powerful over time... You have become weaker!”

 

"And what have you done, apprentice?" Revan questioned, fake interest lining the words.

 

"I bombed Telos to dust." Malak said slowly, coldly, his words seeming to fill the bridge. "I have left no survivors, and shown no mercy to the weak scum that make up this Republic. But you leave our enemies alive, show them mercy!"

 

Under the mask Revan’s mouth opened to speak, but stopped short at a feeling. The feeling was strong, and everywhere. A feeling that Revan had not noticed before. It that came from the crew itself, most notably the Leviathan's crew and Saul... It was not fear, but contempt. Of loathing and murder. A unified feeling of hate emanated from the crew all around Revan, and Revan could feel them all looking directly at their Dark Lord. At first it was a low buzzing of dislike, but as Malak spoke the feeling grew more intense, more agreeable with the words of Revan’s apprentice.

 

“You have become weak... merciful... fragile. We Sith are at the edge of total conquest, but you keep us from the victory has been awaiting the Sith for millennia.” Malak went on, walking slowly up the stairs, stopping near the door at the far end of the bridge. “The Star Forge is failing, because you fail to be the hand required. Your leadership is slowly causing everything to fall apart.”

 

Revan chuckled lightly. "You are the weak one. The stupid one. Do you think you are being strong right now? Being 'Sith'? All you are proving to me at this moment is that you lack control over your emotions and weaknesses. Giving into your impulses does not make you a Sith, or even a Jedi. It makes you a damn fool," Revan commented coolly.

 

"Controlling anger, controlling emotion... you spew this Jedi nonsense, holding onto failed beliefs, and still you call yourself Lord of the Sith? You do not deserve this power!" Malak yelled back.

 

“Even if that greed-driven theory is correct... what are you going to do about it, Apprentice? Kill me and take my title? Malak, not even you have the resolve to attempt something that stupid,” Revan said, before raising a hand at Malak and reaching out through the Force.

 

Malak waves his hand strongly though the air, his will dominating. Malak stood impressively unhurt as the metal durasteel panels behind him violently crushed and bent under the strain of Revan’s power. “Now who is the one lacking determination, Revan.” Malak said maliciously, their eyes meeting.

 

Lowering the outstretched arm, Revan and Malak stared at each other for a long minute, the tenseness in the air almost palpable. Then Revan let out a small sound of distaste and turn to look at Saul, who had backed away a few feet in fear. “Admiral Saul Karath.”

 

“Y-yes, my L-lord?” Saul stammered.

 

“Malak is now stripped of all military rank within the Sith Armada, starting now. Any person that follows an order given by him will be sentenced to death immediately. Do I make myself perfectly clear, Admiral?” Revan stated in a deeply threatening tone, as if talking not only Saul, but the entire crew.

 

At first Saul seemed speechless, but quickly recovered. “Y-yes, my Lord.”

 

Revan turned back at Malak, as all crew members on the bridge stared at the former leader. He seemed to be stuck between absolute fury, and surprise that his master would ever strip him of his power. Revan began walking to the door out of the bridge, the black and red armor flowing under each step forward. Malak did nothing but stare in anger and hate as his master walked up to the door and stopped, not bothering to look at Malak.

 

“You have, and always will fail to realize that true power is gained through pen and paper. Through words, and not brute force alone. You may have physical power and a huge ego, but, as I have just shown, they mean nothing. Try and learn something from this for a change.” Revan stated before walking out of the bridge, through the next control room, and onto the elevator. The door closed behind Revan, leaving the bridge silent as a grave as the lift activated and began to descend.

 

"Well that sucked," Revan thought, "That fool is getting to be more of an ignorant bastard by the day... He’s lucky I don’t kill him... Although, his uses are becoming fewer and fewer."

The lift came to stop, the door opening to the Leviathan’s barracks level. Revan stepped out of the lift and started down the corridors, ignoring the saluting soldiers and engineers. "But, I cannot shake the thought that that little show was nothing more than a clever attempt to make me appear weak in front of Saul and the crew. It was too forced... or too rehearsed."

 

Revan’s feet carried on until they stopped at a small, one man door. Revan hit a few numbers on a wall console by the frame, the console light glowing green followed by the hiss of the opening door. The Dark Lord of the Sith walked into a mid sized room, only about ten by ten feet in size, the light instantly turning on at a visitor. Not very cozy, but by now Revan was used to living out life in small rooms. At the opposite side of the room from the door was a standard mirror next to a standard bed mounted to the wall, a small door opposite the bed that led to a bathroom.

 

Revan walked forward to the mirror, reached out with the Force, and pulled out a small drawer sink out from under the mirror with thought alone. Revan stood in front of the mirror, looking at the reflection. The dark armor, the hooded mask looking back. Revan reached up into the hood, grabbed the mask, and pulled. A hiss of air let out of the mask as Revan pulled it off, looking at it shortly before tossing it onto the bed. Revan then lowered the hood to get a better look at the face that now stared back.

 

A young woman’s face reflected back at Revan. The face was stern and mature, and would be quite beautiful if not for the fact that the skin was gray and lifeless, semi-transparent to show the dark veins across her features. Her once mesmerizing, lightning blue eyes were long gone... replaced by terrifying yellow, catlike eyes lined blood red. Where her eyes were once white was now slowly disappearing into creeping blackness. Much of her back length hair was tucked down into the battle-worn armor, onyx black with dead gray appearing at her scalp. It looked like a horrible makeup job, but Revan knew that this was her own reflection staring back at her.

 

“You look like ****.” Revan said to her reflection, chuckling lightly. At least her face was still capable of emotion. She looked down at the sink, lowering her hands under the faucet, turning the knob with her mind. Cold water hit her hands and she picked some up, splashing it onto her face, breathing hard. She lowered her hands to lean on the sink, staring at her face in the mirror once more, turning the sink off with her thoughts.

 

That feeling that she felt on the bridge, between all of the crewmen. The feeling that now surrounded her, coming from all ships surrounding Lehon and beyond. A feeling that put her senses on edge. It was the feeling of betrayal. Revan clenched her jaw, gripping the sink... everything was slowly falling apart, Malak was right. The Star Forge was now failing, and even though she no longer needed it, the fact it was failing meant so much more. A relic of an ancient race. A relic that at one point nearly led to the destruction of the known galaxy... She hated the damn thing, and tactically she no longer needed more ships of any size or shape...

 

The Forge represents infinite ‘power’ to those willing to take that power. It works only for those in tune with the Force willing to command it... But, it also demanded a ruler. In other words, it required someone to attune it to the Negative side of the Force, give themselves to it for mutual ‘benefit’. She knew from the start, from the plans she found on Malachor, that this was a key part in large scale continued use of the Forge and had told no-one about it... But, if her feeling on this was right... Malak knew how it worked, but, he also assumed that she was ignorant to most of the details. "Where I see a temporary factory... he sees his shot at immortality. Ignorant fool."

 

It was in her best interest, in the best interest of the galaxy itself to only use the Star Forge as a temporary means to an end. The Forge could make the army she required for the enemy she knew she had to face... Well... From research, the Forge had a bad habit of making entire armies go incurably insane and destroy to no end. But, the Forge was the moral of the Sith Armada. By allowing the Forge to slowly fall back to sleep, she thought she could give reason for temporary use... But, Malak knew the secret of the Forge and has passed the information through the ranks, which means most of the higher ranking officers in her Armada now know her interests are different from theirs. And all of this happened in less than a damn month.

 

Revan yelled in anger, ripping the sink out of the wall and throwing it at the far wall, where it clanged off onto the floor. Water poured out of the wall, but quickly ceased, Revan seething in anger, staring at the dent in the wall. All her carefully laid out plans... Everything she worked for... It was all coming down around her, and the irony was that her own people were doing it. She might be able to fix it... Just maybe... But, chances were that it was too late to go back now.

 

"I need to think... I need to think... how can I fix this." Revan racked her brain, pulling out idea after idea. More and more thoughts rushed through her head until she could no longer think. She leaned against the wall, running her gloved hand along her dead face. She had no idea how long she stood there, against the wall, thinking of how to get around this. No matter what I do, there is no way I am getting out of this with more than a handful of allies. Any irregular orders I give could cause chaos.

 

She blinked.

 

Images fired through her mind rapidly. Some blurred, some vivid. Snippets of time, of moments, of emotions slept over her as she concentrated on what she was seeing... A Twilek asking for help. The Jedi Council. An old cargo ship that looked oddly familiar. “I'm beginning to wonder if you're capable of trusting-”, “Well, you can stop wondering. I'm-”...“Quest to find the Star Forge may lead you down an all-”... “I convinced the Council that I could use that bond to draw out your memories and lead us to the-" ...

 

Revan blinked again, the images fading, replaced by more anger. She pushed off from the wall, pulled her fist back, and punched the mirror as hard a she could. It cracked, but did not shatter, her fist still in the place she hit. She yelled out in anger, “None of this makes any sense at all!”

 

None of it did. Who in the world was Mission Vao. Why did that freighter keep showing up. Why did conversations seem like she was going back in time. None of it made sense in the slightest bit. Her entire life, precognitions had been clear and mostly obvious, and she always had control over what she saw. It was one of many of her gifts. But, over the past month they had been getting progressively worse. She could swear that she was looking through the eyes another person’s life instead of her own...

 

More images went through her yellow eyes. “We couldn't let you start the victory party without-“...“Suggestion: Perhaps we could dismember the-”...”Promising young man, great destiny. Breath like-”...“Savior, conqueror, hero, villain. You are all of these things, Revan... and yet you are nothing. In the end, you belong to neither the light nor the darkness. You will forever stand alone.”

 

Revan blinked her eyes and turned her head to look at the door. She pulled her hand from the glass, and looked at it with interest, then smirked. "About time", she thought. Revan turned and walked to the door, opening it, and walking out into the corridor, leaving her mask behind. She stood silently just outside her door, staring at the opposite wall, a look of interest and amusement across her features. She cross her arms and spoke as the door behind her closed, “I see that you still have not learned anything at all.”

 

“I have learned more than you could possibly imagine, Revan.” Malak stated. He was standing about ten feet away to her right, blocking the passage, his unlit lightsaber in hand.

 

“Have you really? You seem unable to grasp the basic concept of tactics,” She turned her head to look at Malak with her blackening yellow eyes, “Because, only an fool would do what you are about to do.”

 

“No, Revan. You are the fool. You are the weak link... The final thing between me and the destruction of the Jedi. The ruin of the Republic.” Malak said, gripping his shoto handle.

 

Revan closed her eyes and shook her head. “Don’t do it. Don’t say it.”

 

Malak’s lightsaber ignited, an abnormally long blade extending out of the small handle to glow deep red, the hum running along the empty corridor dangerously. “I hereby claim the title of Dark Lord of the Sith from your failing grasp.” He lifts the saber and points it at Revan, “And my first act as future ruler of the galaxy will be to end your pathetic existence.”

 

"Not unexpected at all, really... But, surprising it took you so long to get up the courage to fight me on my own ship." Revan said

 

"This is my ship now, Revan!" Malak roared.

 

Revan closed and opened her eyes, watching as the red blade swung down and burned through her skull, splitting her head cleanly in two, falling to the ground to the hum of plasma and smell of burning flesh. The images lasted no longer than the blink of an eye...

 

And so she blinked.

 

Malak charged at her, lifted his saber, and swung in the exact way she had just seen. She concentrated on an object on her belt, her golden electrum lightsaber flying into her outstretched hand and igniting crimson, Malak’s saber crashing down on the parry. The blades burned and sparked under the pressure, the lightly blue corridor shining red.

 

“Strong words, Apprentice, but I think we both know that you do not have what it takes to kill me.” Revan said coolly.

 

“I’ve watched you slaughter hundreds of the best before my eyes with ease, but they do not have the advantage I do.” Malak push his blade down harder, testing Revan’s parry. “I grew up with you. Trained with you. Fought beside you. I know your weaknesses better than even you do.”

 

“Show me.” Revan said, pulling her blade back. In less than a second, both had swung their blades at each other. Each parried, bounces their blades, and hit again and again. Revan’s blade spun and cracked elegantly against Malak’s crushing blows, parrying and spinning away, a few yards away from each other. “If that is all you have, than you may as well cut your own head off and save me the trouble.”

 

"You waste your breath. Savor it while it lasts." Malak spit, spinning his saber before coming to a battle stance: Holding his lightsaber over his head firmly, his large muscles bulging under the armor.

 

"Djem So? You plan to attack with brute force alone? Typical." Revan spun her own saber, leaning into a back stance. With her left arm extended and right arm back, holding out her saber, she placed herself firmly into the defensive Soresu form. "Lets just see how long it lasts, shall we?"

 

"On the defensive? Thinking of sparing me? Such weakness is unfitting for even you!" Malak roared, charging and swinging his saber. For the blink of an eye, Revan saw his blade cross through the air to split her in two, but back in reality she used little energy to move her blade into place to meet the hard strike. The corridor rang with the sound of burning plasma as Malak attacked relentlessly, putting all his fury and strength into every hit, pushing his master up the corridors.

 

While Malak's face was contorted with rage, Revan held a comfortable smirk, each blow of crimson plasma being met with a beautiful parry. Unlike the first few blows, none of these lasted longed than a split second, Revan not so much parrying blows as glancing them off to spin into another blow, her armor flowing elegantly with each move. Malak attacked fasted and faster, pushing his master faster and faster through the strangely empty space, their sabers now a blur of red light. After a particularly hard hit, Revan and Malak held a long parry, staring into each other's twisted, cruel eyes. Then they broke the parry, throwing their hands out to push the other. Their attempts met head on, blowing both back a good three yards. Revan skid on the metal with her boots, jumping back to stand at the beginning of a rising corridor that ended at the large doors leading to the lift. Malak fell back, but quickly stood up, staring intently at his master.

 

"Getting tired already?" Revan asked playfully.

 

"You cannot block forever." Malak answered.

 

"And you cannot swing your arms forever. I guess that this will just be a test of stamina and will... So, why don't you change to a more practical form and try again." Revan said.

 

"No need." Malak said casting his arm out, extinguishing his lightsaber. The air cracked and sparked as blue/white lightning flashed through the corridor, directing itself at the Dark Lord. She felt it a second before it occurred, raising her own hand lazily, reaching out with the Force. The majority of the flowing arcs of light stopped short of her hand, twisting and shining into a ball of light. Oddly, the lightning did not brighten the corridor with light, but instead darkened it, casting ominous shadows across the durasteel. The lights on the walls and ceiling flickered as Malak persisted, but after only twelve seconds he had to stop, staring at the unaffected Revan. She shook her head with the same smirk and closed her hand around the ball of flowing lightning.

 

"Seems like you do to me, because I do not see any good outcome for you if you try and beat me with your lacking control over the Force." Revan stated, the glow around her fingers disappearing into crackling sparks.

 

Malak began walking forward, extending both hands. More lightning sprayed from his outstretched fingers at Revan, but this time to less favorable results. Revan swiped her crimson lightsaber through the air, absorbing the first wave of lightning, outstretching her free hand. The lightning stopped coming at her, arcing out of the way into the surrounding metal, Malak's face contorting in concentration as he pushed harder.

 

Revan laughed, short and cold, the space in front of her hand swirling with light, her hand crackling madly in the second before she unleashed her own lightning. It was far more intense than Malak's, pushing his own powers out of the way and forcing itself upon his body, Malak dropping his attack to try and catch the lightning running through his nervous system. He yelled out in pain, the lightning curving around his arms into his chest, more lightning arcing from the metal floor to his flesh. He fell quickly to hit knees, trying his hardest to stop the onslaught of pain.

 

"I would recommend you listen for a change, Malak." Revan laughed, Malak yelling in pain over the deafening roar of energy. Malak seemed to hear, because he suddenly charged, igniting his lightsaber to swing it at Revan's head. The lightning arced around Malak's blade as it swung, Revan spinning her own lightsaber to meet his. The parry held once again, the echo of lightning ringing in the corridors before finally stopping, all quiet except for the searing of plasma.

 

"Before we start, Malak... I am curious as to why my crew is conveniently missing." Revan said.

 

"I ordered them to the top most deck... This is between you, and me." Malak said, pushing hard on his saber to no avail.

 

"Ordered? I see... So, they consider you as more of a leader than me..." Revan said thoughtfully.

 

"Don't you see it Revan? Your armada sees you as a failure, a weakling. They need a strong leader... And I will lead the Sith to conquest and power!" Malak said, still trying to overpower Revan.

 

"I see." Revan flicked her hand, sending Malak back a few feet, swinging skillfully at Malak, who blocked the first two blows, but could not stop the kick to his ribs that sent him further, falling back onto the cold floor . "It appears you have finally outlived your usefulness, Malak." Revan flicked her hand as Malak tried to get back up, sending a jolt of lightning into his chest, sending him back onto the floor. "You want a fight? Well, you now have one. So, get up before I decide to make this quick."

 

Malak jumped up from the ground, charging Revan in full swing. "About time!" He yelled, meeting Revan's blade, quickly jumping over her head to get behind her, swinging again with all his force. Revan anticipated this, however, and after the next parry she went on the attack. Malak tried to get another blow in, but he had to rapidly switch to a more defensive tactic as Revan's blade began to become a blur of hard blows. He swung up, causing just enough pause in Revan's next attack to turn and run up the corridor to the door, waving his hand at the console. He turned the moment he made it to the door just in time to meet another one of Revan's attacks, resulting in him pinned to the door, matching attacks for his life.

 

The door behind Malak opened, causing him to lose his balance. A hard side kick to the gut sent him soaring into the lift. Revan waved her hand, the lift closing behind her, activating the console on the far wall. Malak jumped to his feet, backing away from his master.

 

"Choose the place in which you die, Apprentice." Revan said coolly, running her gloved hand along the back of her head, pulling out her long black hair from the armor. Under the lighting of the lift her hair shone with an unnerving beauty, framing her gray face, flowing down to her mid back with unnatural elegance. "It would be pitiful to die in the lift of a battleship." Malak spun his saber and assumed an offensive stance, but Revan growled in annoyance and anger, her face no longer holding her smirk. "I said CHOOSE!" She yelled, throwing her hand up and feeling through the Force. Malak tried to stop her, but was again thrown back by his master, hitting the console hard with his back. It beeped and buzzed, the lift jerking, and then slowly moving downwards. "See, that wasn't so hard now was it?"

 

Malak stood up, walking forward to swing his lightsaber, but was sent quickly back to the ground by a burst of lightning, blocking the blue arcs with his crimson blade. "Now now, we don't want to get ahead of ourselves do we?" Revan said, amusement in her voice, but her face showing contempt for her apprentice. Seconds later, the door behind Revan opened and an empty corridor lay beyond. Malak pushed up and out of the storm, going on the offensive. Revan blocked his blows, backing quickly out of the lift, spinning and jumping back out of the way of the long plasma sword. "Still swinging mindlessly I see." Revan let a blow glance off, bouncing off another, ending in a high parry. Malak let one hand off his saber and attempted to punch her away, but she caught the fist, gripping it hard as she then surged lightning up his arm. "You always did have a difficult time adapting to new situations."

 

The lightning stopped as Malak called out to the Force for aid, both their arms occupied with pushing the other off. Revan, through means Malak knew not, could still overpower him with brute strength even know he knew he had larger muscles. "You... You cannot... over power me, Revan!" Malak said, straining his body. Their eyes met, staring into each other. Revan's blackening, catlike red/yellow eyes meeting Malak's empty graying blue eyes. "You... are... nothing!"

 

Revan pushed off, both regaining balance, both striking equally hard again with their sabers, holding for a moment. This time Malak pushed off, going on the offensive. He struck again and again, putting more care and effort into his form. But, Revan still held a firm defense, being pushed back down the corridor. After a good twenty feet, Revan jumped back, turned and ran down the corridor with unnatural speed. Malak gave chase, but even with help from the Force could not match the speed of his master. He sensed her power though, and turned corner after corner, running to keep up. Malak turned right sharply into another corridor, only to be met with the swing of a crimson lightsaber. He ducked and rolled along the floor, spinning to parry another blow from Revan. Revan pushed hard down this final hall, giving him no chance to make a counter offensive until they met a large blast door. Malak waved his hand in between a parry, opening the blast door through the Force before being Force pushed through the threshold.

 

They entered a huge room, maybe sixty or more feet high, and even longer across. On the far end was a transparent field looking out into deep space, but this was hard to see past the large stacks of large cargo crates and boxes. A docking bay being used for storage. Malak jumped back to his feet, ready for another attack, but none came. He watched as Revan seemingly ignored him, walking into the middle of the docking bay in a clearing where no storage lay.

 

“This seems like a fair enough place for you to die.” Revan said simply, looking around the room.

 

Malak followed, boots causing an echo in the large room, his cloak and armor flowing as he walked. “Stop playing with me! I know this is nowhere near your true level of power, Revan!” Malak yelled, his voice echoing all around them.

 

Revan did not bother to turn around and look at him as she stared at the crates. “About time you said something of some sense and logic, Malak. Of course I am playing with you. I’ll play with you as long as you continue to fight like a damn child.”

 

“I am the only one fighting. You continue to rely on your passive aggressive tactics to get you through everything. I know you... And I know you have had plenty of opportunity to harm me, but you refuse. You will not kill me, so I will kill you.” He spun his shoto handle in his hand, dropping back into a new stance.

 

Revan turned around to look at Malak, crossing her armored arms and sneering at his form. “You are going to fight me with Juyo? You are either incredibly stupid or incredibly desperate.”

 

“I can could crush you with any form, but I think doing so with your own form would have that wonderful taste of irony.” Malak said.

 

“You have neither the discipline nor the physical stamina to fight me like this. All you do is attack me with brute force and mediocre tactics, hoping that will be enough...” Revan sighed, shaking her head. She uncrossed her arms, reaching up with a hand and undoing a strap on her neck. “It appears common sense no longer applies to your range of thought... Knowing enough people like you has taught me that action puts a real dent into your ego.” She placed both hands on her shoulders and unlocked the straps holding her cloak, flowing to the ground. “So, if you want to fight me truly so badly, then I shall grant your final wish.” With a quick jerk of her hands she undid the buckles on the sides of her chest armor, crossing her arms quickly to unbuckle her forearm plating.

 

"Enough talk!" Malak roared, sweeping his hand through the air in a long, slow motion. A thin pipe flew through the air, guided by the Force, directly at the spot Revan was standing. She concentrated, then jumped, doing a flip in the air nearly twenty feet up. The pipe soared into a cargo container, piercing the thin metal and passing all the way through it. As Revan finished her mid-air flip, Malak guided a large durasteel box into the air to hit her mid-air. She saw the box coming before it hit, pulling her arms into the armor and falling away a second before the large metal square smashed into the blood red armor, flying into another stacked cargo container with a loud bang. Malak looked around for the Sith Lord, but saw nothing. Heard nothing but the hum of the ship. "Come out, Revan!"

 

"Why?" Revan's voice asked curiously in his ear. He turned around quickly, but saw nobody. "I like it fine where I am now, and I think you like being alive. So, It seems that our best interests lay in talking."

 

"You are delaying, like you always have." Malak growled into the air.

 

"No, I take my time to think out a situation and run over all of my possible choices before starting a battle. You, on the other hand, run blindly into the fray and hope that your luck and skill get you through it." Revan's voice still spoke as if behind him, but every time Malak turned around he was met with thin air.

[True_Avery]

We both know there is no such thing as luck." Malak said, feeling foolish as he apparently talked to no one.

 

"Now who is holding onto petty religious beliefs?" Revan said in a deeply amused tone, waiting for her apprentice's response.

 

"The Dark Side flows through me, and I embrace it fully. You, Revan, mock the face of power by keeping it as an ally and not a servant, as it should." Malak spat to the air.

 

"Heheh, Your 'Dark Side' is nothing but your pitiful religious beliefs blinding you from true unity. Your 'Dark Side' destroys you, ages you, eats you... Your own beliefs, in the end, will be that which destroys you." Revan said, laughing coldly as a finish.

 

"I saw opportunity and embraced power. I have already won, Revan." Malak said, a note of self pride lining his tone.

 

"On the other hand, the Force isn't destroying you fast enough for my tastes... So, I'll just have to take matters into my own hands, huh?" Revan's voice came clearly and more pronounced behind Malak, and he turned rapidly to meet his master. Too late. She was posed, already pushing her attack. He activated his lightsaber, white crimson erupting from his hilt, but his reflexes were not fast enough to stop the boot from connecting hard with his chest. Malak stumbled back and tried to re-gain his balance, but Revan came rushing in with an expertly performed punch to his gut, Malak leaning into the punch directly into an armored knee to the face. Malak reeled, only to be hit with a quick succession of chops to his arms and a powerful back kick to his chest, sending him onto his back to skid along the durasteel floor.

 

Malak quickly looked up to see his master standing calmly, about ten feet away. His body ached. He put weight on his arms, onto to be met with pain in his muscles, doing his best to ignore the sensations as he got to his feet. He spun his lightsaber and fell back into Form Seven, Juyo.

 

“Impressive. I tried to hit a number of pressure points along your body, but you managed to slow my attacks enough for minimum damage.” Revan explained lazily. She was no longer in her blood red ceremonial armor, but in an under suit that appeared to itself be made for combat. Her black hair flowed elegantly down her back, donned with a sleeveless athletes tank top that went up to her mid neck, made of a form fitting, flexible, black material that was much stronger than it looked. Her pants looked less casual: Black, plated blood red with metal armor that went to her light boots. On her right thigh a small scratched up, faded dark yellow pistol lay, lock in a black metal holster.

 

“Pain is nothing I welcome pain!” Malak yelled back.

 

“Pain, yes. Numbness in your muscles and tendons... Not so much. Unfortunately, you do actually still require those to duel effectively. But, now that you know that I was after your weaker points, it will be pointless to attack them again.” Revan said. “Although, the next few minutes are going to be less of a duel and more of your final lesson.” She raised her hands, both covered with a long, leather-like, fingered glove that went up to her mid shoulders. She individually pulled at her fingers, making a series of small cracks echo around the large room.

 

“Shut up and a pull your sword!” Malak roared, letting the pain fuel his lust to rip his master in two.

 

“Pull my sword?” Revan lowered her hands and looked down as her golden, shimmering lightsaber hanging from her small belt before looking back up at Malak. “No.”

 

“No?” Malak said, loathing and slight curiosity lacing his words.

 

“No. I’m going to beat the **** out of you with everybody but my saber. Why should I let you die on your terms? Seems to ruin the point of teaching you a lesson before you die!” Revan laughed, grinning somewhat madly at Malak, her black and yellow/red eyes shimmering in the Leviathan’s lights.

 

“I’m... TIRED OF THIS!” Malak jumped from his location, straight forward, calling upon the Force to push his faster. He stamped his foot on the ground and swung at his master’s calm, and collective form.

 

Revan, a second beforehand, saw Malak’s lightsaber swing and cut her in half at the waist. She blinked and laughed as she saw Malak charge her, already knowing every move he was going to make, thought he was going to make, and even considered making. She lazily let spun out of the way, the strike missing her by less than inch. Malak moved his hand to swing again, but Revan was already on the ground, sweeping her foot under him to knock him over. He easily jumped over it, but, just as his feet hit the ground he was met by a spinning kick to the chest as Revan jumped to her feet. Malak tried to spin his lightsaber and cut her leg off, but it came either too late or too early. He could not figure out which.

 

Malak staggered back, gaining his balance and stabbing his sword into the air Revan has been a second before. He tried to pull back quickly, but hesitated when Revan pushed her soulder into his cheek, followed by a quick and incredibly strong punch to his chest. Air left his body as he gasped in pain, but could not manage any sounds but a gurgle as Revan threw a forward chop into his neck. Malak gagged, trying his best to push out this new pain, using the Force to jump back a few yards to avoid another punishing blow. He did not understand what was going on as his body begged for breath. He did not understand why he could not sense her movements, let one keep up with them.

 

“Wha... wha... why c-can’t I st-stop yoow?” Malak gagged out, his neck feeling swollen and bruised.

 

“Simply put, you do not have the ability, neither physical or mental. Should I explain it to you?” Revan said, amused as Malak tried to reply, but fell into a fit of coughs. “Good. Well, for starters, I am guessing you are having trouble pinpointing my location, and even harder time pinpointing my moves.”

 

“B-bitsshh” Malak tried to curse, waving his arm at a nearby crate. It lifted and soured through the air at Revan, but quickly stopped dead and fell to the ground; Revan stopping it lazily to continue talking.

 

“It is subtle technique that can takes years and years to perfect, and most masters are never able to master it to the degree I have.” Revan chuckled before continuing, tossing another crate thrown at her out of the way and talking over Malak’s coughing. “I am masking myself from your senses, even your ability to feel through the Force. You are blind to everything outside your basic five senses. Fun, huh?”

 

“I-Imposs-sible” Malak said, gaining control over is body and standing firm once again.

 

“Not impossible. Just hard. Not my fault you never took the time to learn anything subtle in your training.” Revan laughed coldly, continuing on with a tone similar to that of a teacher explaining a problem to her student. “Secondly, I know advanced forms of martial arts, advanced melee forms, and am simply faster and stronger than you. You rely completely on your stamina and muscle, and look where that gets you?”

 

“St-stronger...? Y-you delude yourself, R-Revan.” Malak chuckled, a red bruise forming on his cheek, blood trickling from his smirking lips.

 

“Heheh... You are always so arrogant. You may think otherwise, but you know absolutely nothing about me, Malak.” Revan chuckled a little, brushing her bangs out of her eyes. “My final point is that I am simply a lot faster than you are. A lot faster. You could try and block me, but I know for a fact that your reflexes are not on par with mine. And because of that, calling out to the Force for help is useless. You may know my attacks are coming, but you have no physical way to stop me... And as long as I am masking my presence, you cannot use the Force against me without placing all of your concentration into it. So...” Revan extended a hand out to her side, a metal pipe, only about three feet in length, flew into her hand. “Would you like to die slow and painfully, or slow and painfully?”

 

In the time Revan took to talk, Malak gained control of his breath and suppressed his body’s messages of pain. “So, after all of that wasted time, you are going to attack me with a pipe? How very amu-” Malak tried to comment, but stopped short. Revan charged him and he concentrated, swinging his blade. He did not quite know what happened next, but he felt Revan behind him, then the sound of metal clanging on flesh and bone, followed by searing, blinding pain from his0 back and head. Malak fell to his knees, yelling, but that only made his throat hurt more. He jumped to his feet and turned around to be met with a jab at his gut. He staggered back, spinning his blade and striking at Revan. He hit the pipe at the middle, but she spun out of the way of the blade. Now spinning with two foot and a half pipe pieces in her hand, she brought the metal down on his exposed back quicker than he could react, two muffled clangs echoing around the docking bay.

 

Malak roared in anger, kicking back and managing to hit her in the chest with his boot. She stumbled back with the kick, absorbing the impact as well as dodging Malak’s swing as he spun around to aim at her head. She smirked, dodging Malak’s saber as it seared through the air, inches from her flesh every swing. She even managed to keep the blade away from her hair as she gracefully spun, ducked, jumped, and dodged each incoming attack. Malak lifted his blade and brought it down with force, but Revan saw the attack. She moved in, bringing her pipe’s together in an ‘X’ shape to catch not the blade, but Malak’s wrist, followed by a hard knee to his tender gut, kicking him off. She spun and extended her arm, attempt to smash the metal into his temple, but Malak spun his saber at the last second, cutting the pipe in half. He tried for another strike, but she aimed another attack, this one missing by centimeters. Malak, deciding this was too dangerous at the moment, jumped back, then called upon the Force. He jumped back over a dozen yards, over a cargo container, disappearing into the mass of shapes.

 

“He’s getting more confident... Interesting.” Revan thought to herself.

 

“You playing copy cat? Typical. Never could think of anything original.” She waited for a response, but when none came she laughed, cold and loud so that it would echo through all corner’s of the bay. “Are you actually trying to mask your presence? If you hope hiding will save you, then you are deeply, deeply mistaken.” Revan threw the pipe onto the ground, raising her gloved hands and holding them out to all the cargo in the bay. She felt for every item she could, feeling the Force flow through the metals and plastics. With each item she locked onto, her mind lost more and more concentration, but...

 

Luckily, she had enough concentration to power a small army.

 

Massive cargo containers, small arms boxes, pipes, and other materials slowly raised an inch into the air. Then another inch. And another. Over a hundred pieces of cargo of different shapes and sizes were now in her complete control. She slowly brought her hands closer and closer together and with a deafening roar of scraping metal, hundreds of containers smashed and hit each other, traveling to the middle of the room. Anything not strong enough was crushed under tons of durasteel. Revan laughed again, moving her hands quickly to the left, the debris smashing into the left wall. A magnificent sight with the view of space behind the barrier at the far end of the room. She moved her arms to the right, the cargo following her control. She then threw out her arms, and containers flew in every direction, some hitting the wall, hitting each other, and even passing through the barrier into outer space. The sound echoes throughout the entire ship, reverberating off every wall in the Leviathan’s mass of hallways. As the sound slowly dissipated, all that was left of the neatly stacked cargo was a cluster of twisted metal, the dock's light’s flickering dangerously in the aftermath.

 

“You still alive, Malak? It would be a shame to have you die when I am not anywhere close to being done with you.” Revan yelled out into the rubble. She got the answer she needed. Up until now, Malak had been doing a fair job of masking himself, but the comment had gotten him angry just long enough for him to break his concentration. Revan broke out into a sprint, running at the rubble, leaping with help from the Force onto an overturned cargo container. She waved her arm, a small, two foot pipe flying into her waiting grasp. And so she waited for opportunity.

 

Revan felt, then jumped, hitting the side a vertical cargo container and bouncing off into the air. She threw her leg forward, hitting a figure square in the back that had just leaped from the debris. Malak flipped through the air, landing on the top of another cargo container, spinning around to meet Revan. She landed on the other side of the container, but neither wasted time talking; charging each other again. Malak swung his saber, but missed. Revan spun her pipe and tried hit his exposed arm, but he dodged as well. They viciously tried to hit each other, but each proved too fast for anything solid to land. In a final move, Malak flipped back, charging upon landing, aiming a sweeping strike at his master's head. Revan saw the attack coming, concentrating on the container below them. Just as Malak swung, she snapped her fingers, the container lifting suddenly, throwing Malak's balance and strike off by inches.

 

Seeing Malak exposed once again, she spun her pipe and made three precise hits to Malak before he regained his footing: One into his rubs, another knocking his right saber wrist out of the way, and a final hard jab into the base of his right shoulder. Malak yelled in pain, but threw a front kick to hit Revan in the chest. She caught it, but Malak instantly jumped with his free foot and attempted to kick her in the head. She tried to twist his ankle the opposite way in an effort to break it, but he had the Force keeping his body ridged. At the last second, she raised her arm up for a side block, catching the kick, but sending her over the edge of the container onto the floor. She landed, then jumped directly back up onto the top of the container. Malak was not there this time.

 

"Looks like you are finally taking this seriously. Curious as to why it took so long." Revan said, more to herself than Malak.

 

From behind her, the sound of screeching metal could be heard. She turned around and immediately put all her concentration in front of her, extending her hands. She caught the huge cargo container a foot from her face, but could not drop it. Malak was pushing it at her with all the power he could muster. Fighting was a waste of time, so Revan moved her arms to the right, throwing the container onto the twisted metal. However, she could not recover fast enough to stop Malak's next attack. The Force surrounded her, tossing her like a doll off the container, carrying her nearly thirty feet. She gained control and fell, landing only ten feet from the wall opposite the barrier wall into space. This half of the room was relatively clear of debris.

 

She felt Malak's presence out in the rubble, but then a vision crossed her mind in the blink of an eye. A lightsaber hit her shoulder from behind, burying itself into her body, finally cutting her clean in half. Her upper half hit the floor, and she looked up to see Malak looking down at her. She blinked her eyes and the vision stopped. Instantaneously she spun, fell on her back, and kicked up. Malak did not expect her to sense his surprise attack and fell on her legs. She flipped, kicking Malak over her, using the Force to further push him away from herself. He landed some fifteen feet away at the edge of the rubble.

[True_Avery]

Revan flipped onto her feet, Malak jumping to his feet as well. Revan smirked and reached down to her thigh, pulling her pistol with unnatural speed and aiming it directly at Malak, using her advanced sight plus Force ability to find her target and firing within only a second after moving for it. Bang. Bang. Bang. The loud, thunderous cracks filled the dock. Malak spun his saber to the right, to the left, and back to the right, smacking each shot with his lightsaber. The third shot grazed off his crimson plasma blade, cutting through his right cheek, ripping through it like a sword. The bullet hit the rubble behind him with a metallic crack; The same crack the other two shots made as they hit the mass of twisted metal and containers. As the gun exploded four more times, Malak realized in that split second that Revan was not firing blaster bolts... She was firing metal bullets at him. He had a split second to react before he was dead, concentrating on the air in front of him. Malak felt the bullets hit the air and veer off course, feeling two pass his waste, and one pass his head. The last just barely missing his head, but, still grazing his ear, taking a small piece with it. He kept concentrating, even after Revan lowered the gun.

 

"Half way decent. You foolishly blocked the first three with your saber, almost killing yourself in the process... Less than an inch off from a lethal blow. Least you got smart and pushed the last four out of the way." Revan said, half complimentary; half disappointed.

 

"Using a gun? How ignorant of you." Malak spat back.

 

"Ignorant? I believe it is you who are ignorant of what almost just killed you." Revan kept her smirk, placing her empty gun back in it's holster. "Phrik bullets. Each would cost roughly five thousand credits. Practically impossible to damage with energy weapons, thus they simply graze off of lightsabers. As you have just seen, most saber users have no idea what hits them until they look down and see a bullet hole in their chest.”

 

“I know that! Don’t speak down to me like a child!” Malak roared back, blood oozing out of his cheek wound and mouth.

 

“Oh, because I assumed you didn’t know. Seeing as you now are missing a piece of your cheek, it was hard for me to remember that you do in fact know about my gun. I am soooo deeeeeply sorry for hurting your feelings, Malak.” Revan mused, chuckling some as she looked at Malak’s bleeding face. “Not so much about hurting your body though. How is that arm of yours doing?”

 

Malak, anger blinding him from all else, charged at Revan, crossing nearly twenty feet in a second. Revan lost her pipe in the rubble, but no longer cared about beating around the bush. She summoned her gold electrum saber, the streamline hilt flying from her belt into her hand, igniting into a crimson blade to block Malak’s own. They spun into each other, and away from each, creating a haunting dance of crimson light in the devastated room. Each moved flowed like water into the next. One dancer dancing with strength and power, the other with elegance and finesse.

 

Their blades locked, crimson plasma sparking violently at the point of contact, filling the room with a terrible hissing sound. “Stop using the standard attacks and use the unorthodox." Revan sighed, holding the parry with Malak. “It is pathetic how easy this is.”

 

“You talk too much, Revan.” Malak said, pulling his saber back and throwing another two attack, both of which Revan blocked with ease.

 

“I’m bored with this. Talking is the only entertainment I can get out of this child’s play.” Revan replied.

 

“Then I will be glad to finish this for you!” Malak roared, pulling his saber back and swinging it up at Revan’s neck.

 

Revan lazily raised her hand, stopping the blade with Force alone. Malak tried to pull his saber back, but she had it locked in place. “Sorry, but this is my show. It ends when I say it ends. And... Well, now that I am bored, I feel no need to continue this.” Revan pushed the blade back and jumped back, spinning her blade in her hand as she fell into a pose.

 

Malak, tried to fall back into a new form, but barely moved a muscle before she charged. Revan put her own form into play: A combination of Echani martial arts, advanced Ataru maneuvers, with Juyo strikes and mentality. Malak tried to block, but barely felt the first parry before she had flipped over him. He had to block twice as she flew through the air, turning to parry the next moves. Revan’s moves became a blur, Malak no longer able to see her blade’s sweeps. Her saber seemed to hit his sword multiple times per second, his eyes seeing double as he tried to follow her body’s movements. Revan stopped momentarily, spinning her saber like a saw blade in her palm, hitting his saber another three times to put him off balance. She spun and kicked his chest, jumping forward and side kicking each of his hands, followed by roundhouse to his saber hand. The crimson hilt died out as it flew out of his hand, moving her fingers and lightly concentrating to throw the hilt to the wall behind her. Malak threw his arm forward to Force push her out of the way, but she lazily caught the attack and flung his body back with the twitch of a finger, hitting the durasteel floor about ten feet away

 

“The unorthodox is hard to predict. It is hard to follow when looking for specific things. All your life you have fought people using the standard attacks and standard beliefs, and that has worked up until now.” Revan said, sighing in disappointment. Malak waved his arm, a pipe lifting up and firing at Revan’s head, aiming to kill. The pipe stopped a foot from her head, spun ninety degrees, and fired at Malak. He swung his arm and it hit the durasteel floor. “Fun. Lets see how long you can keep this up without a saber.” Revan said, chuckling lightly. She twitched her finger, metal screeching as over a dozen pipe shot out of the rubble straight at Malak. He turned and concentrated wildly, but only half the pipes stopped and fell to the ground. He pushed a few others out of the way, letting them hit the wall behind him, one hitting him in the arm with force. Her yelled in rage, reaching and catching the last one in his hand.

 

“Impressive, but ultimately pointless.” Revan said, raising her lightsaberless hand. White and blue lightning sprayed out of her gloved hand, hitting the pipe Malak was holding in his hand. It instantly traveled down the pipe and surrounded his body. He crumpled to the ground, dropped the pipe, raising his hand to capture the lightning, but to no avail. The lightning simply traveled up his arm, burning into his flesh. He yelled in pain, the lightning burning through all parts of his body. Unstoppable, ceaseless pain. He could not tell when the lightning stopped, as the pain stayed constant, but the deafening roar of electricity had stopped seconds before. All of the aches and pains in his body came back all at once. He felt the swelling in his chest, arms, and neck. He could not help but cough loudly, blood oozing freely from his mouth and cheek.

 

“I-I don’t g-get it,” Malak gasped out, “Wh-why can’t I b-beat you?”

 

“Why?” Revan yawned lazily, turning off her lightsaber and moving her onyx black bangs out of her yellow eyes. “Because, Malak. You love me.”

 

Malak seemed temporality stunned by the response, struggling to response. “No, I d-don’t.”

 

“Uh, yes. You do.” Revan said, her voice somewhere between amusement and pity. “You have been obsessed with me since we were five.”

 

“Lies!” Malak roared, coughing violently as pain shot through his neck.

 

“It is obvious, Malak. As kids, you followed me around everywhere. Everywhere. The only peace I had on Coruscant from you was my small room and the time I spent sneaking out of the Temple. Anything I do, you try to do. Anywhere I go, you try to follow.” Revan sighed, shaking her head. “You followed me out of Coruscant into Knight training, followed me into the Mandalorian War, and followed me to the Star Forge. But, this goes beyond childhood obsession. You love me, Malak. You always have. And that is why you cannot beat me.”

 

“I hate you!” Malak roared again from the ground.

 

“Indeed you do. You want me to die. But, you also love me. Conflicting interests, so you cannot concentrate.” Revan crossed her arms, looking down at Malak’s shivering, bleeding form. “I have seen you kill some of the greatest lightsaber duelists of our time. Rip through them like they were padawans. You have gone far beyond my expectations of you in battle; Taking battle after battle through some rather brilliant tactics. You have mastered abilities within the Force that many Force-users cannot even begin to understand... But, you fight me with none of that.”

 

“I-I fight to kill you. I fight you like anything that gets in my way.” Malak spat out.

 

“Then why have you not been able to harm me yet? You are a bruised, beaten, bleeding mess and I have not even broken a sweat. We have practiced with each other with far more intensity than this pathetic duel. No... You are not fighting me with your full strength. You are arguing with yourself as you fight me. One part of you wants to kill me, another wants to keep me alive.” Revan explained.

 

“And why in the galaxy would I want that?” Malak asked.

 

“Because, you have never experienced life without me thus far.” Revan said simply. “You have followed me around your entire life. You have no real free will of your own. You may want to kill me, but you cannot bring yourself to it. You went into this fight unprepared, and now you are going to die due to your foolishness.”

 

“You-” Malak began.

 

“What? Surprised? What, you think that since I know that you have a childish obsession with me that I would stop fighting you? Sorry, Malak, but the feeling is not mutual.” Revan raised her arm, lightning firing out from her hand. Malak yelled in agony, unable to stop the pain flowing through his body. She stopped the flow, chuckling lightly. “Unlike you, I blocked out such pathetic emotions when I was a pre-teen. They distract from reality and weaken you. I wish I could ask you to stop this and fight me seriously, but that is not going to happen... And now that you are not going to kill me, I am going to have to kill you.”

 

Malak stood up, fear and anger etched all over his features. He outstretched his hand and called for his saber. It flew through the air, but Revan activated her lightsaber and spun it elegantly through the air. The hilt landed in Malak’s hand, Malak assuming his battle stance and activated his saber. But, this time, no crimson blade erupted to aid him. He looked at his hand; At his lightsaber. The top had been cut clean off, melted metal burning orange at the end. He looked up at Revan, but his mind was too lost to catch up with her next move.

 

Revan charged him, jumping and landing on his body, grabbing his arms and pushing them back. Their eyes met for a split second before Revan raised her lips up to Malak’s head. “You know nothing about me.” She said softly, then opened her mouth and bit down on the front of his neck. She bit down as hard as she could, Malak trying to scream. His voice was blocked by blood filling his throat and mouth. Revan let go, kicking off and landing feet away, throwing her arms out. The Force surrounded Malak, flinging him back a number of yards, hitting the ground and rolling along the durasteel, blood oozing freely onto the floor.

 

Malak desperately concentrated, using the Force to close up the open blood vessels. Slowly, the bleeding stopped, but as it did his mind became fogged and dizzy. He looked up at Revan, who spat blood onto the ground, wiping the blood from her mouth. Her black lined, yellow eyes seemed to burn into his mind to no end.

 

“Use the unorthodox... Even with those vessels closed, you don’t have much longer to fight before you pass out. After that, only a matter of time before you die of blood loss or lack of blood to your brain. Shall we see how long we can make this last?” Revan said, her voice no longer holding that sneer, or the amusement. It was cold and bitter. Unforgiving and full of pity. “Or, would you like to die right here?”

 

Malak got to his feet, his front soaked in his own blood. He tossed his broken lightsaber to the ground, lifting his arms to Revan. His body was pulsing with pure hatred for her. He wanted her to die. Wanted to see her in pain. His finger’s sparked, and he summoned all the concentration left within. Lightning burst from his hands, roaring into Revan’s outstretched hand. Malak pushed harder, and harder, but Revan simply concentrated all of his effort into a shining ball floating in her hand.

 

“Enough.” Revan said, twitching her finger. Malak fell onto his back, quickly trying to get back to his feet, but falling back down in exhaustion. “You are now only shortening your now short lifespan. Try to enjoy it as much as you can.”

 

“Yooo knoo noting oov powah...” Malak breathed out, blood dripping from his mouth as he spoke.

 

Revan chuckled lightly. “Malak, you don’t even know the tip of the iceberg. I know far more about the Force than any living being, simply because I am the only one that looks at it unbiased. I do not see power. I do not see peace. I see the Force.” Revan forced her hand holding the lightning sphere into a position to snap her fingers, the energy concentrating in the space between her index and thumb. Force sparked between her fingers as she held her hand out. “You better run, Malak.” Revan said maliciously.

 

Malak crawled to his feet and stumbled the first few steps, but then broke out into a run at a doorway behind him. It opened on his command, crawling through into a hallway. Revan laughed and looked to the debris, twitching her finger. Her cloak came rushing out between two cargo containers into her hand. She shook out the wrinkles, throwing it over her back, snapping it around her neck

 

"Yes, run little Malak. Give in to your fear and instincts." Revan sad quietly to herself, pulling the hood over her head.

 

Malak Stumbled down the lit hallways, the light hurting his eyes as the world slowly got more unfocused. He reached the end of a hallway and looked back behind him, only to see Revan slowly following him, crossed arms, face hidden in darkness. He looked around desperately, waving his hand at a console. About five feet down the hall, between Malak and Revan, a blast door slammed shut, locking loudly. He stopped, leaning against a durasteel wall to catch his breath and concentrate on staying alive. Just as he began throwing plans around in his head, he heard a terrible creaking sound coming from the door. He turned his head to stare in awe as the foot thick blast doors bent into themselves, causing minor explosions and short circuits in the surrounding walls. In one mighty bang, the blast doors were ripped from their frame and tossed aside.

 

Revan walked into the newly opened hallway, looking around for Malak. He had already started running again, but she knew exactly where he was and at his current pace it would not take long to corner him. As she walked down the hallways, she noted that these hallways were leading her closer and closer to the back; Leading to the engines. As she turned another corner, she found the end of the line. Malak was at a door, leaning against it and vomiting a great deal of blood onto the floor. He turned quickly to meet Revan, but she had already waved her hand at the console, and then him. The door he was standing beside slid open, and the Force surrounded him, forcing him back onto metal grating.

 

Malak got to his feet and stumbled along the new area of the ship. This was where the engines lay, and the main haven for many engineers if he had not ordered them off of this floor. Dark red light was everywhere, along with smoke and steam. The constant hum of the engines surrounded him. It was so hot here that the moment he entered he broke out into a harder sweat, dripping down his chin with blood and grease. He stumbled along the grating, holding onto bars as he went, on either side of him being a drop off to the lower levels. More grating below; More grating above. Malak had not made it ten feet before he felt himself thrown over the edge, falling down nearly twenty feet onto his back. The grating made a reverberating, clanging sound as he hit, steam and dull red light blocking his vision. He slowly got to his feet, but saw a dark figure some ten feet away. There was a snap of lightning, and then a jet of white arcs shot down the railing at him. He turned and ran, the lightning biting his back and burning the flesh on the back of his head. Malak reached the end of the railing, but did not make it far after that.

 

Revan watched him run, extinguishing her Force lightning and moving her finger. Malak’s body flew to the left, out of her sight. She continued down the railing, looking to her left at the end. It led to a small maintenance corridor, lit with dull, dark-red light. Droplets of blood shined on the dark ground, leading her way to Malak. Revan walked down the corridor quietly, taking a few turns until finally she was met with a room that looked more like an expanded corridor. A dead end. And at the end of this room was Malak, staring back at her, dried blood covering his gashed neck and cheek. He said nothing, but she smirked anyway.

 

“End of the line, Malak.” Revan said.

 

“Not... the... e-end. Not... e-even... c-close.” Malak breathed out, each word causing him tremendous pain.

 

“I don’t know, I’d say you are about to die. That seems like the end of the line for anybody.” Revan commented, speaking from under her black hood.

 

“Killing... me... wo-won’t s-save you. You are dead anyway!” Malak said, laughing. Blood oozed from his mouth and neck, but he no longer seemed to care. “No matter what you do now... You are dead!”

 

“I am curious. How do you intent to kill me when you are dead?” Revan said.

 

“Not me... The Sith. Your armada hates you... Revan. Whether I die or not... eventually someone else will take my place... Maybe some poison in your food, or a stray nuke on a ground mission, or maybe even an assault of overwhelming odds... This armada will eventually replace you...” Each breath was a struggle to him, each word agony. But, he could care less. “It is too late, Revan. You have lost.”

 

“Do you think me stupid? I have been aware of your corruption of my armada for some time now. You are their symbol. The strongest of them. They want you as their leader. But... Once you are dead, that eliminates that problem. I kill you, and I prove that I can be just as cruel and ‘evil’ as they want me to be.” Revan chuckled. “And I doubt this was your plan in the first place. You may be trying to act it off, but you really saw this plan ending up with you, yah know, alive.”

 

“I may die... But, at least I get to... Take you with me.” Malak forced out.

 

“Oh, how romantic!” Revan exclaimed. “The tragedy of a man and a woman, fighting for power and their misunderstood love! Their conquest to bring order to the galaxy goes awry, forcing the two to dire battle against each other! In the end, they both die in each other’s arms, wishing that things could have been different!” Revan laughed coldly as she finished.

 

Malak grinned an insane grin, chuckling madly at Revan’s words. “That’s right, Revan. Laugh at your death! Enjoy what is left of it, as you have very little time!” He laughed harder, a sick and twisted laugh. “I worked your armada like puppets, feeding them the Sith teachings. Feeding them information about the Forge. Feeding them information about you! Right under your nose, I took everything you have from under you. Even if I die, you have still lost it all... I still win!”

 

Revan raised her hand, lightning shooting out at Malak. It hit him dead on, but it did not seem to phase him. He just kept on laughing madly. Nothing else in the world mattered to him anymore.

 

“I am getting really tired of hearing your voice. I think the first thing I’ll chop off is your head...” Revan said quietly, her crimson lightsaber igniting in her hand.

 

“IT IS OVER, REVAN!” Malak yelled madly, raising his hand. Blue/white lightning burst from his fingertips, traveling through the air at Revan. Revan merely looked at the bolts of energy and they stopped in their tracks feet from her. She sighed and jumped forward, snapping her finger’s as she went. Malak’s vision was blinded by white light, the entire room spinning with dark side energy. He called upon the Force, pushing the lightning away from his body. “KILL ME, REVAN! I’LL BE WAITING FOR YOU!”

 

All sound seem to stop in the room at once, and Revan’s hooded figure appeared directly in front of Malak, her body low to the ground and her saber poised for attack.

 

“Goodbye... Old friend.” Revan’s voice said quietly.

 

She pushed up and swung the blade. Time seemed to slow down. Malak leaned back to avoid the strike aimed directly for his neck, but this time the hit would not miss. Revan saw every moment pass in slow motion as her crimson saber got closer and closer to his blood drenched neck. But then something unexpected happened.

 

All at once she could see time stop, her blade inches from Malak’s neck. Her vision was blinded by flashing images, visions traveling rapidly through her mind. It was as if the Force was screaming into her mind, trying to convey to her something. Then her visions slowed, and the clearest pictures she had seen in months opened up to her.

 

“The Jedi do not believe in killing their prisoners. No one deserves execution, no matter what their crimes.” Explained Bastila, a look of crossed pride and uncertainty in her features.

 

“They say the Force can do terrible things to a mind. It can wipe away your memories and destroy your very identity.” Said a man that Revan barely recognized. He looked like a republic soldier, and she knew him as a former friend of Saul Karath

 

“With Revan dead...“ Began Master Vandar, but he was cut off by Vrook.

 

“Are you sure that Revan is truly dead? What if we were to undertake this one and the dark lord should return?” Said Vrook in his usual harsh tone.

 

Words faded away, replaced with images of aliens... Malak bombing Taris... the Leviathan... that cargo freighter... and then finally, one last vision.

 

“It is over, Revan.” Bastia’s voice rang out. Revan turned her head and saw red light and an explosion taking her...

 

All was dark. There was nothing. Then the visions began again, but these felt much different.

 

She saw herself looking down at the beheaded Malak, and then the visions flipped around randomly, voices filling in the spaces.

 

"I need an apprentice to aid me." Revan heard herself say.

 

"I don't get it... Why me?" Bastila asked nervously, fear and curiosity filling her words.

 

"Because you have more potential than anybody else out there. Hidden potential," Revan, again, heard herself say defiantly. "We are very similar, you and I. We were both born unique... special." This vision blotted out, and a new one took its place.

 

"The Sith Civil War keeps raging, and if this continues the Republic will crumble," Vrook explained to the council.

 

"How can we stop this?" Lonna asked

 

"I... do not know. They should be destroying each other in the war," Vrook answered, sighing deeply.

 

"Sith against Sith... Yet neither side seems to be losing ships, and their battles are destroying far more then even the Mandalorians," Zez-Kai Ell stated.

 

A vision flashed over this one, Revan looking on as hundreds of turbo cannon lasers from pincer shaped battleships smashed into her own ship. She stood there, in shock, as the ship's hull fell to pieces. She looked on at the battleship right in front of her, doing the most damage... Bastila and Saul Karath were up there, looking down at her as they killed her. The floor under her exploded into flames, unable to think as her body disappeared from existence.

 

"First Malak, then Revan, and now Bastila. The Sith destroy their own relentlessly, devouring everything else in the process," Atris said angrily.

 

"That is the way of the Sith." Said Vandar.

 

Revan understood now. She was now at what she called a Force Crossroad: A point in time in which a decision must be made that can lead to two incredibly different outcomes, and she could sometimes see large impacts upon the future. These came to her at unusual times, but she never told any of her previous masters about this phenomenon except for one. To them, time and the will of the Force was constant, unchangeable... but she knew quite clearly that the future was forged of small and large decisions... and her decision would forever change the fate of the galaxy

 

She chose her future.

 

Revan saw her blade at Malak’s neck, but it was too close to pull away. The swing was going to connect. The Force rang through her consciousness, thousands of images flying through her mind as she put every last bit of her concentration into Malak’s body.

 

The attack was done.

 

Time seemed to return back to normal speed, and she stood quite still, looking down at Malak’s writhing body. Just before the blade had hit, she had Force pushed Malak back just enough that he would avoided the brunt of the attack. Avoided was not the right word though...

 

Malak writhed in agony on the ground, holding onto his face... or what remained of it. His entire lower jaw was now gone, along with a large portion of his neck. No blood was seeping out, as the entire wound was cauterized by the plasma beam. He seemed to be screaming, as air was coming out from what was left of his vocal cord in rapid bursts... It was a horrible gurgling sound, liquids dripping from the small hole. He looked around desperately and saw his jaw laying on the ground a few feet away.

 

“You... you... BASTARD!” Revan screamed, kicking Malak as hard as she could in the ribs, feeling a few crack under the blow. “You damn bastard!” She kicked him again and again, but nothing could vent how angry she was right now. She ripped her hood off and stared down at her former apprentice, livid. She reached out her hand at Malak’s body and closed her fist, feeling his bones break one by one. His arms, then his legs, and finally his fingers. No sound or movement of the body could express the pain Malak felt in his body.

 

She could not kill him. The Force... The future depended on him being alive. But that did not stop her from causing him as much pain as physically possible.

 

She ripped her arm away from him and walked absentmindedly around the room, wanting to scream out loud. What she had just seen and understood was a nightmare. What she guessed what was going to happen to her. There was not any possible way for her plans to be any more destroyed then they already were. She heard Malak’s pained gurgles behind her and turned, thinking of the most painful thing to do to him. She saw his jaw laying on the floor. Revan walked over to it and made sure he was watching as she pressed her boot against the disembodied flesh.

 

“You got off lucky... and now I have to accept the fact I need you alive.” Her voice was ice cold, filled with malice and utter contempt for the man laying in front of her. She had never, ever hated something more than she hated this man. Not anything. “But allow this to be a battle scar to stay as a reminder for the rest of your pathetic life.” She pressed her boot down as hard as she could, crunching Malak’s jaw into a bloody pulp right in front of his eyes, which widened in horror. After one last look at him, she turned and walked away, Malak’s consciousness slowly fading.

 

Revan pulled a small, thick disk off of her belt and pressed a series of buttons. Seconds later, Saul Karath’s form appeared as a hologram, floating on the disk in front of her.

 

“Yes, my Lord?” Saul asked nervously.

 

“Send a med team down to the engine room immediately, barracks level maintenance corridor. Malak needs attention or he will be dead within the hour.” Revan said, and before Saul could respond she turned the com unit off. Her anger still surged, her heart beating hard under the stress. The walls around her creaked dangerously as her emotions caused the Force to behavior erratically, a few of the red light exploding under pressure.

 

"Malak..." She said, not bothering to turn around. . "Know that I spared you not out of mercy, but out of necessity. I have always kept you around for necessity. I used you just like I used everybody else in this damn galaxy to get where I am now. So, maybe if you survive the next few hours you can reorganize you emotions and realize you are responsible for your own fate. You always have. And then maybe... Just maybe, you can one day fight me again at your full strength so that I may crush you again."

 

She walked out of the room, down the corridor, leaving Malak to lay in agony alone.

 

“I have a long list of things to prepare for...” Revan thought to herself.

[Sabretooth]

Forgive me for not reading through it, but are multi-post stories legal? And if they are, how did you do it? I thought the stories went into invisibility mode upon creation. I is confused!

[Jae Onasi]

Yes, multi-post stories are legal--her story was too long to fit into one post. True_Avery explained her situation to me ahead of time, and I allowed her to post the thread in CEC in order to add the extra posts to complete the story just before the deadline. Then I moved it to TJC. She had taken the initiative to contact me ahead of time to explain the problem, and we worked out a solution that stayed within the confines of the rules.

 

This story is as 'legal' as the others.

[Emperor Devon]

Excellently (albeit lengthly) written entry, Ave. Although it could use a lot of polishing in regards to grammar and various other minor details, (too many to go into considering the story's length) it does far from obscure the rest of it. Revan's character was portrayed very well, and the fight sequences, while tedious at times, were enjoyable and you gave Revan the first legitimate reason I've seen in any similar fics for letting Malak live. It's something of a two-edged sword, though; despite having ample reason to spare him, having Revan able to predict her demise seemed a little over the top. Palpatine had no idea he'd be defeated at Endor, and he was at least as good a seer as Revan. (Revan being slightly overpowered is the other criticism I have of this; even with Malak being reasonably ineffective against her I still felt she beat him too soundly.)

 

Again, those details aside I enjoyed this greatly. I particularly liked the banter between Revan and Malak during their duel; all very in-character especially at the end.

 

9.7/10

[Bee Hoon]

This was *very* long, as I'm sure you're well aware:P As ED said, there's minor polishing to be done, but no biggies. I felt that although the fight sequences were interesting, they were too drawn out. The characters were well-portrayed, although Revan did get rather emotional at times (annoyed, usually:P) despite her self-proclaimed detachment. Revan would not have known Bastila at the time... Not her name at any rate, but that's just nitpicking. Quite enjoyable but too long for my tastes:P Nevertheless, good job.

[mur'phon]

Great work, you made my school day a lot nicer. Some polishing needs doing, you use Revan a bit too often instead of she. I don't mind the lenght, though the fighting, while wery well written, where too long for my tastes.

Overal 9/10

[igyman]

A very long and very good story. If it didn't have those grammar issues, it would have been perfect. However, it's still very very good.

[Writer]

I am blown away. Once I started reading, I just couldn't stop. Your Revan is truly terrifying, Malak is exactly as I'd always pictured him, and I... well, I just can't effectively explain how well written this is. You have my vote.