It's such a quiet thing..to fall Part 2

Thump...thump .... thump....

The war drums beat out a slow, steady rhythm, joined by the weapons the Mandalorian warriors banged on the marble flooring of the temple set in the side of the largest mountain on Malachor V. All their commanders and leaders were there, to stand witness to the battle about to unfold.

Mandalore himself stood in the center of the huge, gaping main chamber. His armor was not shined, but left caked with the dust and burn marks of battle. It was a show of contempt among his people towards his opponent in this battle, an honor duel. However, it was a challenge as Mandalore he could not refuse. He dare not, he would lose face among his followers who would see it as cowardice. Something he could not afford at this point, as the war had been steadily turning against him since these Jedi entered the battles.

He reached up a hand to stroke the salt and pepper moustache and goatee that decorated his blunt face, taking a moment to consider his opponent as he waited for his arrival. He had reached the age where a mandalorian actually began to show his age by graying mostly because he took the time to consider his rivals before entering battle. A trait some of his brethren may consider cowardly, but Mandalore didnt let that stop him. He had come too far to let anything stop him. Not the Sith that convinced him to begin this war to further their own manipulitive ends. Not the fact that his aging body had begun to rely on stims in order to carry him through the battles so his followers wouldn't see that the old wolf was weakening. And certainly not some upstart Jedi who had the audacity to challenge him to a duel, using his own people's battle codes against him.

The problem was that there was painful little to know about this Jedi Revan, who had appeared out of seemingly nowhere just over three years ago and entered the war with his companion, Jedi Malak. The fact that the man was a strategic genius became appearent quickly, which accounted for his lightspeed rise through the ranks until he basically commanded all of the Republic fleet. Before that time, nothing was known about him. Hellfire, one didn't even know what the man looked like thanks to the battle mask that covered his features after he was rumored to have been horribly scarred in a lightsaber battle.

But not after today, Mandalore promised himself. Today he would unmask the great Jedi Revan, and have his head decorating a spike on his command ship. This Revan had been a thorn in his side for too long now, and humiliated him in front of his troops for the last time. Mandalore had had enough, and decided to turn the heat up on this Jedi mystic and teach him what war was really all about.

That was why, when the battle in the jungles of Onderon had turned in his favor against a retinue of jedi and scouts that were reconning the mandalorian forts there, he had ordered that Jedi general brought to him personally. Mandalore had been suprised at first that this General Tal was a woman, a young and rather pretty woman at that, but he knew that would work to his favor. When he had finished with her, he sent her back to Revan with his regards, a broken and brutalized woman. Appearently, that struck home and got Revan's attention. Soon after, he had received the challenge from Revan to meet him here in an honor duel. One on one combat to the death, the fate of the war resting on the outcome.

A silence fell suddenly on the room as the Republic envoy arrived through the main hall doors. Barely a handful of soldiers in full republic armor, a suprisingly small showing despite the weight that hinged on the outcome of this battle. No banners, no trumpeting, not even an attempt at a show of strength. The soldiers marched quietly in, stepping to the side as the entered the hall to form a guard through which two other figures walked.

Mandalore knew them instantly, although he had never had occasion to meet either one. One was a tall man, his leanly muscled form simply radiating a quiet fury, who was dressed in the flowing robes of a Jedi Knight. His skull, cleanly shaven except for a long, jet black braid that fell down his spine from the back of his head, was decorated with strange red tattoo-like markings. Dark, sullen eyes swept the room with an icy calm that sent a chill down Mandalore's spine when they came to rest on him. His lip curled back in a contemptuous sneer, but otherwise he remained silent.

It was his companion, however, that gave the mandalorian leader a suprise. The head of the figure that stood beside Jedi Malak barely reached the taller man's shoulder. The infamous black and red armor and flowing cape appeared to conceal a small man of diminutive build. The entire black metal hooded face mask that had sent fear through his troops was small enough that Mandalore could crush it in one of his huge hands, as if it belonged to a mandalorian child. A low chuckle came from Mandalore as a sense of relief swept through him upon seeing his opponent-to-be.

"Jedi..Revan..?" Mandalore chortled, gesturing towards the small figure and glancing around to see if his men were as amused as he was. He saw the same look of suprise on the faces of his gathered warriors that he himself felt.

"Mandalore." the voice crackled from the mask's speaker, almost robotic sounding in the flat,calm tone of that voice. The voice was higher then he imagined, soft and lacking in a man's depth. Was this Revan merely a boy, or perhaps he was a eunuch? Mandalore wondered, his lip curling up in disgust at the idea. He had known of course, of the jedi's rumored chastity but would they go so far?

"Is this some jest?" Mandalore demanded with a sneer. His eyes turned to Malak, who was watching him with as much interest as he might watch an insect crawling on the ground. "This...kath runt is the famed Jedi Revan?"

When Malak remained silent, Mandalore turned to the give a confused shrug to his gathered warriors. "Where is the rest of him?"

A roar of laughter broke out, echoing throughout the great chamber. The republic soldiers could be seen shifting uneasily in their stances, but the two jedi knights showed no reaction at all.

"You received my challenge." Revan stated flatly, taking a step forward of Malak, who held his position.

"You received my 'message' then." Mandalore responded, his teeth showing in a sharklike grin. "I trust General Tal is recovering from the hospitality shown to her by me and my men."

If Revan was affected by this, he made no show of it. Not even a flinch. "As the challenged party, it is your right to choose the weapons to be used in the battle. "

"Ahhh yes...the infamous Jedi calm." Mandalore mocked. "I had thought it a myth, seeing how quickly your little general broke under my gentle persuasion. Perhaps that was because she was just a woman, and until then, one unknown to men."

A hiss of anger broke from Malak at that, his hands forming into fists at his side. But he held his place, hatred seething in his eyes as he glared holes through the mandalorian leader. Mandalore smiled to himself at that, seeing the Jedi rise to the bait. If he could keep them off center,make them angry and rash, it would be to his advantage in the fight. "I see..perhaps she was your woman, Jedi Malak? Or was she yours?"

He turned back to Revan, who still radiated an eerie, almost lifeless calm. "Oh my mistake. I had forgotten that you jedi forgo such passions. You believe you are above such things, or perhaps it is truly because you are less then men. Do they castrate you at an early age? That would explain your height, little man."

Another roar of laughter shook the halls. Mandalore delighted in it, letting loose a deep, rumbling guffaw. "You see, your reputation would have you much taller Jedi Revan. I was expecting a giant of a man, a warrior of true battle worth.."

"I await your answer, Mandalore." Revan stated flatly, assuming a pose of calm composure.

"Not some half grown kath runt in ill fitting armor!" Mandalore finished, ignorning Revan's words." Go home child! A mandalorian vibroblade stands taller then you!"

"Yet, by the battle code of the mandalorians, even a child may issue the challenge of an honor duel."Revan countered without so much as raising his soft voice. Silence fell on the room as the laughter died."As Mandalore, you are honor bound to accept all challenges from an opponent, or forfeit your right to lead."

Mandalore all but hissed through clenched teeth at that, a wild animal being backed into a corner."Who are you to dare flaunt the honor code of the Mandalorian people in my face? You are nothing but..."

"I AM your adversary." Revan cut him off, the voice issuing from behind the mask taking on an air of command that drew the attention of every being in the room. "One who has met your troops in countless battles, who has fought honorably and respected your fallen. I am your foe, and as such I am within rights by the mandalorian code to issue my challenge."

Tension grew thick in the air as the mandalorian warriors shifted in their places, all eyes falling on their leader to see what he would do now. Finally a voice cut the silence, coming from behind Mandalore and off to the side. A deep, gruff voice. "Jedi Revan is right, Mandalore. The challenge has been issued in accordance to the code."

"Hold your tongue, Ordo!" Mandalore ordered, his head snapping around to fix a death glare on a large, armored man in the back with a huge, cannon like rifle resting on one massive shoulder. Even hidden behind the battle helm and targeting visor, one could tell the man met his leader's glare evenly."Do not step out of place by thinking to school me in our time honored traditions! I know my duties!"

"So I say again, Mandalore, leader of the Mandalorian tribes," Revan's voice echoed eerily in the silence."I await your answer."

Mandalore swept the room with his gaze, seeing the uneasy shifting of his men and knew there would be no other way out. No matter, he thought to himself, we will see how calm this boy remains when I start removing his limbs. He turned to his armor bearer, nodding curtly. The young warrior stepped forward, carrying the helm of Mandalore to his leader.

"Very well, pup." Mandalore sneered, taking the helmet and placing it over his head. He snapped at another standing near by, who came forward carrying his massive, curved warblade. "If you so eagerly seek your death, I will give it to you willingly."

"Excellent."Revan agreed amiably, a hint of dark humor creeping into his voice.

Another mandalorian stepped forward, carrying another warsword. It was smaller in size then Mandalore's own, but of the same curved style. Revan took it with a slight bow of his head, holding it up and testing its weight. The light gleamed off the razor edge of the blade.

"Then let it be recorded this day, that Mandalore, leader of the tribes, has agreed to meet Jedi Revan in an honor match to the death." A mandalorian scribe stepped forward, standing between the two combatants. "Jedi Revan, do you understand the terms and rules of this battle?"

"The combatants face each other in full witness of the leaders of the tribes." Revan intoned, slipping the cloak from his small shoulders and folding it neatly before stepping back to hand it over to Malak." Neither opponent, once entering the circle, may leave before the death of the other."

"If you try to run before I'm finished with you little Jedi.."Mandalore growled, twirling his massive blade menacingly."Every man in this crowd is honor bound to cut you down like the cowardly dog you are."

Revan moved forward, an almost dance like grace to his steps, back into the circle."Don't worry, Mandalore." the words flowed like silk from behind the mask."I have no intention of leaving this circle without your head."

Mandalore felt a moment's pause at the assurance in the other man's tone, then brushed it aside. "And none of your Jedi mind tricks, either." he warned."If you show such dishonor, my men will open fire and cut you and your troops down like wheat before the harvester."

"If I need anything other then this blade to defeat the likes of you," Revan countered."Then I deserve to be shot in the back."

"Both opponents have shown full understanding of the code." the scribe called out to the crowd. "What say you then, men of Mandalore?"

"To arms!" the crowd shouted in response as one voice.

"So be it." said the scribe with a bow. "May the gods bear witness to this battle, and honor prevail."

The scribe hurried out of the way, barely reaching the circle's edge before Mandalore attacked, a great warcry erupting from his throat as his massive blade swung down towards Revan's head. But the Jedi merely side stepped the blow, bringing his blade up and using the blunt edge to give the mandalorian leader a smart rap across the buttocks, causing him to give a yelp. Sparks flew as the huge warblade hit the marble floor, sending dust and chips into the air.

Enraged, Mandalore brought his blade up to cut through the air sideways in a half spin. Revan ducked under the blade, but came up just as Mandalore's foot came in for a kick to the stomach. Revan managed to jump back, and instead of full contact, the foot grazed his stomach but the force still managed to knock him back several feet. Revan dropped to one knee, and barely got his blade up in time to catch Mandalore's as it came slashing down towards his head. Revan tilted his blade slightly, and the huge warsword slid off of his, then he gave a quick twist to send the blade outward so the blow didn't continue down into his shoulder.

Mandalore kicked out again, sending Revan backwards with a foot to the chest. The nimble jedi turned the fall into a roll, coming up on his feet several feet away, circling his opponent more warily then before.

"What's the matter, little man?" Mandalore taunted." Finding the battle a bit harder to fight without your cheap Jedi tricks? Not man enough for the job, are you?"

A soft laugh erupted from within the mask. "Ahhh yes. Bravado." Revan replied."Always the last resort of fools and cowards."

"A fool am I?"Mandalore snarled. "Worm! I will have your head to decorate my bedpost today."

Mandalore gave a roar and rushed in again, bringing his blade upwards and across in a slash towards the smaller man's thighs. Revan met his blade with his own, twisting it to spin the larger blade off to the side. A quick flick of his wrist, and the razor edge of the smaller blade slashed across Mandalores forearm, drawing blood. The mandalorian leader gave a cry of suprise as Revan danced out of the way, coming up behind the larger man. Another quick slash and the red line of blood ran down the back of Mandalore's upper arm.

"I suppose I should be flattered that you want my head for a bedpost decoration." Revan mused. "From what General Tal says, there is nothing else of interest in your bedchamber."

Mandalore snarled, a pained grimace turning into a sneer. "She wouldn't know..she was too busy crying and begging for mercy."

"Ah well. I suppose that's the only reaction you ever get from a woman." Revan countered, twirling his blade in imitation of how Mandalore had done at the beginning of the battle." At your age, I suppose you rely on stimulants for that as well, eh?"

"Dog!!" Mandalore screamed, closing again with a flurry of strikes.

"Ah confirmation." Revan mocked, countering the strikes as he backpedalled across the floor from the hirsuite, swearing, sweating man."I do so love knowing when I've hit the proverbial nail on the head, as it were."

The battle continued, Mandalore attacking again and again as Revan's lithe form seemed to but dance away from the attacks.Every now and then, Revan's blade would slip past Mandalore's defenses, scoring a light hit that was more of an annoyance then anything life threatening. The battle began to wear on Mandalore, who was tiring quickly as the stimulants wore off, and the realization set in that Revan was merely toying with him all this time.

Mandalore managed to score a hit at last, his blade catching the jedi across the belly just under the armor plates and leaving a slash through the material. Red droplets of blood began to drip, crimson against the black fabric. "Haaaa..."Mandalore hissed, smiling broadly."Now I smell your blood, little man. I think I'll drink a chalice of it when I relax after removing that chattering head from your spry little shoulders."

"I'm suprised you can smell anything but your own stench." Revan returned." It's been making my eyes water for quite some time now."

"Funny little man, very funny." Mandalore hissed. "Let's see how funny you are with your entrails on the ground at your feet!"

The two combatants closed once more, locking blades. Mandalore was the stronger of the two men, his arm muscles bulging with effort as his blade inched closer and closer to Revan's throat as they struggled against each other. A grunting laugh came from the mandalorian's helmet as his blade lowered more. "Now...boy...death is coming for you." he hissed. "Did you truly think yourself a better man then me on the battlefield?"

"Oh Mandalore.." Revan's voice took on a soft, sultry purr as that mask drew close to the other man's helmet."You truly are a fool"

Suddenly, the resistance against Mandalore's warblade disappeared. Caught off guard, he stumbled forward from the weight of his blade. Revan's blade slipped down from his as the nimble Jedi ducked. A sudden sharp pain, and Mandalore gurgled with suprise. He looked down to see the edge of Revan's sword embedded in his gut, crimson blood welling around the blade then spraying out as Revan ripped the blade free.

Mandalore's blade fell from his hand as he stared down at his opened flesh. His helmet raised up to watch Revan stand back up and step back.

One small black gloved hand reached up and grabbed the edge of the masked helmet Revan wore, pulling it off and free. A sudden flash of golden red glinted in the temple lighting as long waves of hair fell free and down Revan's back. Mandalore's eyes widened as he took in the delicate features. Chiseled cheekbones, aristocratic nose, the soft full rose hued lips of a woman. A jawline, set with determination and carved like some goddess out of marble. And the eyes... large, luminous eyes of a dark forest green. Eyes that watched him without a flicker of remorse, cold and empty as the depths of a bottomless ocean.

"Y-you're....a..." Mandalore gurgled, blood bubbling up into his throat with the effort.

Silence fell on the hall, after a collective gasp from the gathered mandalorians.

"A woman.." Revan responded, a cold, haughty tone to her words."Yes Mandalore. Just a woman. Like the one you brutalized and raped like the honorless dog you are."

"N-no..." Mandalore shook his head, falling to his knees."This...cant..b-be.."

"Oh Mandalore, you mustn't die just yet.."Revan purred in a solicitous tone."I haven't finished with you. "

"Revan." Malak spoke up for the first time, his voice as sullen and deep as his gaze."Let me finish this."

A sneer crossed her beautiful features as she let her gaze flick over to her companion. "This is mine. I've earned it. Back off."

"N-no...no!" Mandalore's voice wavered with fear as she stepped closer, hearing the chilling brutality in her soft voice."Mercy.."

"A cry for mercy?" Revan asked, her tone mocking."From a mandalorian?"

Her blade flashed, piercing through his groin as he screamed out in pain."Did you give Sephir mercy? You yourself said she begged for it."

"P-please..I'm sorry..." Mandalore begged, his voice sobbing behind the helmet."P-please..."

"That was for Sephir."she hissed, yanking the blade free. Mandalore screamed in pain, falling down onto his hands and knees and curling up into a fetal position on the floor.

Revan reached down and grabbed the helmet of Mandalore, yanking it free off the head of the fallen leader. "You ...you filthy, pitiful coward.." she hissed at him."You dont deserve the honor of this helmet."

"I yield."the man at her feet clawed at her boots, looking up at her with a look of hope in his eyes. "Master Jedi...I yield. S-spare my life..please..I dont want to die."

A look of uncertainty passed over those chiseled features, and the hand holding the blade trembled for a moment. Pain clouded her dark green eyes, as if in rememberance of an almost forgotten sorrow. He could see something inside her struggle, and for a moment hope blossomed in his heart. Then the coldness returned, as if a sheet of ice passed over the soul inside those eyes, freezing everything in its path and leaving it cold and empty.

"Neither did my brother, when you hacked him to pieces on Dxun." her voice took on the same eerie calm that had spoken from behind the steel mask before. "This...this is for Delmar Kasra."

His eyes widened as her blade raised over her head, then closed just before the sudden sharp pain hit. Blackness fell, and Mandalore knew no more.

There was a moment of resistance, then a thud as the blade cut through. The sudden stop as the blade hit the floor seemed to snap her out of the dark dream that she was living in. Sarrin Kasra, known to all there but one as Revan, looked down at the decapitated head that lay at her feet. Looked and saw the eyes of Mandalore staring up at her lifelessly, the mouth stretched open in a silent, eternal scream.

Looked and saw the puddle of blood she stood in, spilling out of the neck of the headless body, the mangled hunk of spine sticking out of the oozing, bloody flesh like a ghostly tree limb. Looked at her handiwork.

She stumbled back a step, the warblade and helmet falling from trembling fingers. Her hands raised up slowly to face level, and she turned them over and over, looking at the intricate designs the quickly drying blood that covered her hands was making. A sob escaped her lips, turning to an almost laugh as she realized it was over. She won. The war was over, and the man who had raped her best friend, the man who had brutally killed her brother, lay dead at her feet.

Dead at her hands...her blood covered hands...just as she had promised her father. Her father..she could go home now, tell him it was over. Tell him she had regained her honor, avenged the fallen..he would welcome her home, hold her to his breast, tell her how proud he was of her.

Proud she had killed her brother's murderer, even when he sobbed at her feet and begged for mercy. Killed a helpless, injured man, but no...it was justified. He was a murderer, responsible for the death of millions.

She had done what she had sworn to do.

"Revan."

She didn't answer his call at first, staring at the blood on her hands. Malak's hands took her shoulders, turning her to face him and shaking her gently.

"Revan."

"It's....over." she stated, looking up into her old friend's eyes.

"Not yet."Malak amended, staring into her eyes meaningfully.

She shook her head, trying to shake off the fog that crowded her mind. No, it wasn't over yet. There was more to do. But she had defeated the mandalorians. She had won the war, saved the Republic from the mandalorians yes. But there was more to do.

She glanced down at her hands again, watching the tendrils of darkness swirling up around her body through her aura. Like a tar pit, she could feel its icy cold touch, feel its inexorable pull as she sunk into its depths farther. Some part of her mind still told her she should fight it, but she knew she couldnt. She was tired, so tired of fighting...she just wanted to sink into the dark emptiness and sleep. Sleep forever in that icy, dark emptiness.

"Revan?" Malak intoned again, more of a command then an actual question. Her eyes focused on his, a hint of yellow light glinting in their dark green depths as a smile stole over her lips.

"Come my friend." she commanded." We do indeed have much yet to do."