Jedi Insurgency 201

After entering hyperspace, the Millennium Falcon embarked on its voyage along the Nanth'ri Trade Route. Leaving Nar Shaddaa, their destination was coreward bound. 

About five to six days away was the planet, Gyndine. This world, located in the Slice (between the Mid Rim & Inner Rim) was due for a solar eclipse in ten galactic days. To satisfy condition number two in the [Master of Shadow] quest, Corvus had decided to make a stop along the way to Coruscant. Of course, he had explained to the clones that to recover to his full strength, and make this daring rescue, he had to perform some mystic Jedi magic. As for the boys, well, after watching him perform the ‘meditation’ of disabling a mine, planting a mine, leaving the room, etc etc, they were more accepting of his bullshit reasons…that, and they were eager to witness an eclipse too since they were ‘official Jedi Shadows.’ 

Due to this pit stop, they likely wouldn't reach the galactic capital for about 19 to 23 days. 

In the meantime, he was determined to complete the other conditions of the quest as fast as possible. 

Several days had passed, and they were only one day out from Gyndine. During this trip, he had already made some progress chipping away at the quest. To start things off, he had opted to duel his mirrored self. As a System feature, all he had to do was focus on it, and his mind would be transported to another location. It was a dimly lit square room the size of a football field. There were giant waterfall walls on all sides, and a pitch black ceiling that seemed to go on forever. 

Right now, he was at 9/10, but the duels were becoming increasingly difficult. The so-called ‘mirrored selves’ were actually different versions of himself from across his journey. His first opponent was laughably easy, and didn't understand basic saber forms, and was lacking in Force abilities. But as he defeated one shadow after another, the ease with which he had initially found this challenge slowly withered away, and was replaced by a steady solemnity. Previously, he had achieved victory after every bout. Now, he had lost five in a row, and was stuck on that cursed 7/10 for a whole day. When he reached 8/10, he had barely won, spending three days of continuous grinding. Like challenging an unbeatable Boss in a videogame that knew all your moves before you made them, this mirrored opponent had vexed Corvus to no end. The first four were as easy as breathing. Fifth required a bit of paying attention. Six, well that one took half an hour, but he got through it. Seven should've have been easy, but the -25% to stats and abilities was really holding him back. Now that he was on the last duel…it almost felt impossible to progress, making him worry that he wouldn't be able to finish the quest in time for the raid upon Coruscant. 

Additionally, there was some other bad news regarding these duels. Unfortunately for him time did not stop, slow or anything like that. No, instead, to an outsider's perspective, it was like he was in a very deep sleep. Therefore, there was no cheese to be had. He couldn't knock out all the duels from Pause, and complete part one of the quest in a couple of minutes. 

Gathering himself after his latest defeat, Corvus had spent a few minutes within Pause to analyze the fight, and then focused once more on completing the challenge. 

Enter. 

Arriving at that familiar football field sized, square venue, he stared at the familiar figure standing just about twenty paces away from him. 

Same mask, robes, and possessing an eerie, quiet, unreadable aura. Cloaked in shadow, this version of Revan looked something like a character skin in a videogame, but all shaded out, like a locked character. 

A pair of lightsabers snapped to life, and the mimic dramatically flourished his blades. Corvus did the same, and without further delay, they rushed at one another. 

The crash of lightsabers rang like a thunderclap across the void. Sparks burst in violent arcs as they met in a flurry too fast for mortal eyes to keep track of. Anticipating the other’s transitions the battle swiftly transitioned into a grueling slog. 

The mimic fought without hesitation. It pressed forward with ruthless aggression, its crimson blade hammering down in bone-jarring strikes, whilst a azure blade in its offhand stabbed forward. Corvus pivoted, deflecting the smashing overhead to the side, and riposted the stab with one of his own. The tips of their sabers pressed into one another for a fraction of a second, holding one another in place. 

A [Force Push] detonated between them, throwing him backward. Boots skidding across the marble floor, Corvus recomposed himself for the next attack. 

Raising a hand, he channeled his vexation into the red kyber crystal, and lightning exploded from his fingertips. The doppelganger copied his action, arcs of electricity spawning in his hands. 

Twin torrents of blue energy collided midair, crackling into a sphere of writhing plasma that screamed with the weight of their will. The mindscape buckled. Light refracted off the waterfalls, and scenes from his past played on them. Of his promises to the Duggs, clones, Mandalorians, Xizor, Fett, Jax, Yon, and countless others played. It was as if a movie of all his actions was playing in the background, whilst he dueled for his life. 

A massive explosion rocked the chamber, and violent arcs of [Force Lightning] pressed to either side of them. Corvus cut the lightning first, because he knew the shadow would expect him to. 

He surged to the side, from within invisibility. 

The mimic mirrored him.

They vanished in a blur of darkness, only to reemerge as phantoms of death & destruction once they clashed blades. 

To an outside observer, there would have been nothing but streaks of light tearing across the void. They appeared and reappeared atop drifting platforms that floated around the chamber like clouds in the sky. Sabers flashing in blinding sequences, they reappeared and disappeared like ghosts, trying to stab one another in the back. 

The shadow fought with cold detachment, it held no restraint, no mercy. It was the purest expression of Corvus's skill. 

Corvus, meanwhile, was harnessing his understanding of Light & Dark to enhance himself. Although he felt his stats were lower than this phantom, he was keeping up due to his connection with his kyber crystal, and his understanding of the Force. The shadow was supremely skilled, but ultimately, it was static, whilst Corvus possessed a mind, and the will to use it! 

As the duel intensified, a blade grazed his shoulder, causing pain as real as any true wound. He answered back with a brutal Force-enhanced kick that cracked the shadow’s guard and sent it crashing through a memory shard depicting the Jedi ruins on Kamino. Kina Ha's image appeared on the waterfall, and smiled. 

“Do not forget who you are.” The ancient Jedi spoke, her ethereal, fairy-like voice thrummed through the Force. 

The mimic rose, and began to [Shadow Hop] towards him to close the distance. 

Corvus said nothing, and reached behind him, deflecting a saber that suddenly spawned in behind his back. Taking a knee, he felt the scorching heat of plasma pass over his head, then, with a backwards thrust, he stabbed at the mimic's knees, only to meet empty air. 

[Shadow Hopping] onto a floating platform, he shoved it downward with a telekinetic flick of his hand. The rectangular-shaped platform came roaring down. 

The impact drove the mimic through another layer of fractured memories. This one was replaying the battle he had with the Anzat, of the pain he had felt when he had incinerated half of his own skin with thermal detonators. The pain of that memory was directly transferred onto the shadow, inflicting some incredibly serious damage. 

Leaking a wispy gaseous black substance, the mimic roared, thrusting both palms upward. A telekinetic shockwave burst outward, and the platform was tossed his way. 

Corvus jumped to another platform. This one depicted him unmasked, during the night of Order 66. The night when he had arrived in Star Wars. The night when he had forged that mask, and stepped on the path of becoming Revan! 

The mimic stepped onto the same platform opposite him. For a heartbeat, they were still. Then the shadow changed.

Its mask cracked. Its form flickered between Jedi and Sith, its robes shifted from brown to black, blades shifting to red, blue, black, white, and back again.

“Balance is a lie.” The mimic declared, stabbing forth with an unfathomable momentum. 

Corvus felt as if he was stunlocked by the memories of that night. By the lies he had told Jax in the name of survival. He barely swiped the oncoming attack aside, feeling sluggish. 

“Revan is dead.” The shadow cruelly uttered, locking sabers with him, and pressing down from a position of strength. 

Corvus shook his head, swept the mimic's legs out from under him, and [Force Pushed] him to the edge of the platform. 

“A false messiah. A symbol of hate. You are more Sith than anyone else.” 

The memory playing showed him slaughtering thousands, the horror stricken echoes of countless clones screaming into the void hit him deep in the pits of his soul. 

Taking a knee, he felt the metaphysical weight of his mimic's words press down upon him. The four waterfall walls shuddered, and the mindscape threatened to be undone as the challenge was once again on the verge of failure. Corvus closed his eyes, and began to meditate, much like Qui-Gon Jinn had during his duel against Maul. 

Corvus deactivated his lightsabers, and did not allow the negativity to impact his morale. The chamber seemed to pulse in rhythm with his heartbeat, and various positive scenes played around him. 

Of Jax receiving new arms, the return of water to Tatooine, and the toxic waste of Eriadu being cleaned out. Countless small, positive interactions with civilians, and clones alike turned the dark, foreboding chamber light. The pitch black, ominous, endless ceiling flooded with white light, and the shadow began to hiss like butter on a frying pan. 

The mimic, however, did not stop in its charge. 

At the final instant, when he was about to be struck, Corvus did not evade the attack, but instead welcomed this amalgamation of all his darker emotions with open arms. He stepped into the strike with a smile, and turning his back, ignited his lightsaber, and thrust it through both himself, and the shadow at the same time. 

An intense burning sensation made his heart shudder, and he coughed up blood. However, the mimic had faltered in its step, and its weapons clattered to the floor. 

Corvus felt the wisps of gaseous shadow coalesce around him, and enter his breath. 

The Force surged, and the waterfalls fell silent. Unity of light and dark flowed together in controlled harmony, and a rainbow sprang into being over his head. 

Cracks splintered across the mimic's body like broken shards of glass. It tried to strike again, but its movements slowed, and it embraced him from behind instead. 

With one final pulse of will, Corvus shattered it. The mimic dissolved into drifting motes of starlight, and gathered at his feet. Looking down, his shadow was once more where it belonged. 

Silence returned to the void, and orbs of pure darkness-the size of bowling balls-slowly rose from the floor, disappearing into the endless white light above. 

Corvus stood alone in the infinite expanse, breathing steadily, accepting all that he was. The battle had been fast, brutal, and merciless, but he had emerged victorious, learning more about himself, his fighting style, and how he operated. This gauntlet of duels had taught him where he was weak, and where he needed to improve. 

‘Perhaps it is time I visited the old man in the holocron.’ He thought to himself, eager to learn new lightsaber forms, and glimpse the wisdom of others. 

Exit. 

As soon as he was about to leave the mindscape, a mask of Revan floated upon the reflection of a distant wall. 

“Soon.” The mask pulsed in the Force, and then he was kicked out, falling into a deep slumber.