Well, i think the writer's block is slowly starting to go away. Here's the next installment of the story.
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Chapter 13
There was a small sense of familiarity as Revan walked through the deserted halls of the academy. It was almost as if he knew exactly where he needed to go, as if he had walked the same deserted halls years ago. When he had been completely enveloped in the Dark Side’s thrall.
“Come” The word shot out from behind one of the doors off to his side. He searched for the source of the sound, he wanted to be certain before he took any action that might lead to him becoming trapped by assassins. That wouldn’t be of any help to himself or Bastila.
“Well, here goes nothing.” Revan said, as he hit the open switch beside the door. As it silently opened before him, there was nothing except darkness. A small joke entered his head as he stepped into the dim lighting. Soon he was unable to see his hand in front of his face. And yet, he knew exactly where to step, the familiarity of the place seeping into his brain once again.
“So close…” The voice said again, filling his senses with its sound. Up ahead he could see faint lights, a sign of life. He approached it, the lightsaber on his belt remaining in its usual spot. He could sense no threat, but he knew that the situation could change within moments.
The planet core glowed below the walkway, the green gases slowly being lifted up and into the center of the academy. As Revan stepped out of the darkness, he could see a faint black figure standing in the center of all this chaos. Standing there, waiting.
“Hello Revan. It has been a long time.” She said, turning towards him as he approached. Her eyes were hidden beneath her hood, and for a split second, Revan wondered what was under there, watching him.
“That look on your face, you seem to fail at something….Ah, your memories. That is what troubles you. You can see the familiarity of the halls of which you have walked, but you cannot fully remember what you did or why you came here.”
“How do you know?” Revan asked, a small flicker of recognition running through the back of his head.
“There are many things that I know of you. As a mother knows her child, as a tree knows its roots, and as a Master knows her apprentice.” Traya replied, as her voice echoed throughout the core. “You were my crowning
achievement, my greatest legacy, and in turn, my greatest
failure.”
“You left to kill, to destroy the Mandalorians, and you left all that had come before behind. When you returned to the galaxy, ‘evil’ in the Council’s eyes, they were quick to search for someone to blame. And the brunt of that blame fell upon my shoulders. And in turn, I was cast out. Exiled. Betrayed by a Council that I had trusted for years. The irony was not lost on me.”
“So you were exiled because I fell?” Revan inquired, now standing a few feet in front of her. The darkness surrounding her presence was great, and he felt like he could drown in it.
“Fell? No. Opened your eyes, yes. You see, the Jedi would have everyone believe in their simple, deluded view of the galaxy. Black and white, light side, dark side. All faces and names for a single thing. When you embraced the Dark, you became whole. And when your memories were ripped from your body, your entire soul was chained to the Light Side once again. You were deafened, blinded, and defeated. All in a single blow.” Traya replied once again, the sarcastic pity in her voice shining through like a light in the darkness.
“All that I’ve seen of the Dark Side proves you’re wrong. Suffering, pain, blood, the Dark Side reeks of it.”
“Perhaps. You speak in the same tone as your lover.”
“Bastila?”
“Ah yes, the arrogant one. She is much like me in some respects. She had served both ‘sides’ of the Force, and has been betrayed by both.” Reaching into the back of his mind, Revan searched for the bond. He could feel it, as if it was on the tips of his fingers. And then he could feel it slip away. Where-ever Bastila was, he couldn’t feel her presence. Something had gone wrong.
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“You’re only prolonging your death by hiding.” Sion taunted, his activated saber illuminating the entire room. As the light hit the area around her, Bastila could feel her heart beating in her ears. Her shoulders were beginning to ache as she pushed herself further into the area between the box and the wall. She had blocked any out-going Force presences, including the bond with Revan.
“My master was all wrong with her approach. She should have simply killed you. The pain would have been enough to drive him mad. His grief would have turned him. And once he had fallen, he would have never been the same.” Bastila remained silent, trying desperately to not even breathe. Sion was far stronger than her, and already she was exhausted. Moments before she had had Sion on the defensive. Quickly however, the odds had turned against her. And now she found herself hiding, the burn marks on her arms already becoming inflamed with pain. The enemy she now faced wasn’t a man, it was a
monster.
“I’ve heard much about your fall. How easy it was to turn you.” Sion continued, the smell of decaying flesh reaching Bastila’s nostrils. She felt like gagging.
Suddenly the box at her side exploded with a shower of sparks and debris. Above her, Sion stood with his saber ignited and his one good eye glaring down at her.
“I grow tired of this. Now your death will be long and painful.” He said, his saber already beginning its long swing down towards Bastila. She rolled out of the way just before the blood red blade was about to come down upon her head. As sparks flew from the wall, Bastila ignited her own blade, and the two began the battle again. The two blades crisscrossed in their dance of fates, with the two colors, yellow and red, striking again and again. It was unclear as to which side would win. All that either of them could see was that only one of them was walking away from this fight.
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“What have you done with her?!” Revan asked, his hand immediately flying to his Jedi weapon. In front of him, Traya grinned. She had been hoping that his actions would be quick and rash, with hardly any thought put into them. So far, her plan had worked exactly to the letter. Her former student was almost fully in her grasp.
“I have done nothing. The Lord of Pain, that’s a different matter. I can imagine that right about now, he’s ripping out her insides.” At that moment, Revan ignited his saber and charged at her in one swift motion. Already anticipating his movements, Traya drew her own saber and its purple blade made contact against Revan’s blue. Revan pulled back, and then tried another attack, which Traya saw instantly, and swiftly moved to block it. Again and again, the pattern repeated itself, until it was clear that no-one was ahead in this fight.
As Revan drew back his saber for another swing, Traya raised her hand and unleashed a deadly blast of lightning towards him. Seeing it just as it was too late, Revan kept a firm grip on his lightsaber as he flew back, finally making contact with one of the pillars that surrounded the core. Through his slightly blurred vision, he could see Traya deactivating her lightsaber as she walked towards him. Someone else had joined her in the few moments that Revan had been a victim to the lightning.
“Ah, how the mighty have fallen. It is such a sad thing to fall, isn’t it Attero?” She said, turning her head towards the young woman that now stood at her side. Her name seemed familiar to Revan in some-way, and her face reminded him of one of the Master’s from the enclave on Dantooine.
“Indeed, Master. It appears that all the stories of the
‘great and mighty’ Revan, were simply that. Only stories.” The other woman replied, moving a few strands of her light brown hair. A few pockets of gray erupted every now and then in her hair. She hadn’t joined the Dark Side fully yet, but she was getting close to it.
“Ah, you recognize her Revan, and yet, you cannot fully place the memory of her face. Allow me to elaborate. This is Darth Attero, but you might know her better as Drala Lamar, your idiotic Master Vrook’s daughter.”
“Daughter?” Revan asked, his vision rapidly clearing.
“Yes. Vrook would rather have destroyed her, but yet, when he was in the position to do so, he failed to seize the opportunity. Another failure of the Jedi.”
“Just wait till I get back up, then I’ll show you a ‘failure of the Jedi’.” Revan replied, struggling to return to his feet. He had slammed into the pillar with a moderate amount of force, and the pain that racked through his body was rightly there. Somewhere, Bastila was battling with a Sith Lord, and she needed his help.
“Look, Lady Attero, his thoughts are not even on the task that he now has on hand. Such shoddy training.” Traya mocked, stepping back as Revan returned to his feet with lightsaber in hand. To her side, Attero grabbed her own saber and ignited it’s orange blade. She had been dying for a chance to test her loyalty to Darth Traya, and now, she would have that and the distinction of having been the one to kill Darth Revan.
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Again the two blades crashed together with a violent explosion of sparks and light, the saber-lock itself being the sole focus of the room. Throughout it, various pillars and wall lay strewn with marks and gouges that only a lightsaber could make. Jumping back, Bastila knew that she couldn’t keep this up forever. Even with the strength coming from the bond, Sion was still too powerful.
“You know you can’t keep this up forever. You’re growing weaker every minute that this duel continues. Sion said, stepping back to better watch his prey. She was strong, he would give her that. But she was not powerful enough to stop the full power of the Dark Side.
“You’re forgetting one thing, Sith Lord.” Bastila responded, sweat coursing down her forehead and down her brow. “I’ll always be better looking than you.”
There was no laugh or acknowledgment in return, only the sound of a lightsaber slicing through the air. Bastila ducked, and quickly tried to parry the move. No luck. Rolling under another assault, she knew that he was right about one thing. She couldn’t keep this up much longer. Throwing out her hand, she watched as the Sith Lord was thrown across the room, finally meeting an opposing wall. Not giving her opponent a moment to recover, Bastila brought down a section of the roof. As the rubble rolled down from the ceiling, Bastila turned away in order to not be met with any stray piece of wreckage. As the dust cleared, she could see nor hear any movement coming from the pile. She had won, but Revan was still somewhere in the Academy. Alone. And probably under-attack.
make moar, moar, MOAR, 