Shifting the Balance

by Aetherprime

Certain gods have broken the rules. In response a new force is added to an already chaotic galaxy by the big boys upstairs, and in doing so they give the Inquisition some very, very, big problems.

Disclaimer: All characters and settings are the property of their respective owners.

Looking down at the many sparkling dots bouncing around the insides of his command console, Seraphim second class Jeboral started his fourth dimensional review and audit for the day. The first three audits had been routine. Dimensional power levels normal and all pantheons and beings of power obeying the rules, with only a few infractions of the rules needing to be dealt with. Nothing major fortunately, replacing pantheons and major gods was always a headache and required all reports to be done in triplicate and sent to the Deific Enforcement and Corrections Department.

Pulling up the basic data and the list of special rules unique to that universe, Jeboral slumped in defeat at the data. It was a doubler dimension and a chaos doubler dimension at that. Doubler were some of the worst. Essentially two different dimensional planes that counted as one dimension. Each with a different set of spiritual and physical rules that needed to be considered. But as they were considered one dimensional entity the rules could bleed over into each other depending on the situation, beings, and power levels involved. It made auditing it a slow exercise in frustration. Rather liking unraveling a ball of twine while the strings were constantly merging and dividing from each other. That one of the dimensional planes was extremely chaotic and therefore antagonistic to the other dimensional plane complicated things even more.

Slowly working his way through the data, Jeboral began to frown. Something was wrong with the data. At first and even second glance the data looked good and all the numbers checked out. Any discrepancies could easily be attributed to the nature of the dimension itself. Going back to the beginning, he started going deeper into the raw data then an audit strictly called for. Amid the soul distribution statistics and the power level input output graphs he found the pattern. It was well hidden and if he was even a little less of an experienced angelic auditor he would have missed it completely. It was simply luck that he, the second most experienced auditor in the department, had gotten this particular dimension.

Four of the gods were more powerful then they should be. Their outlier projects showed more soul energy then could be accounted for and consequently influencing the dimensional balance in their direction. They were extremely subtle about it, routing the extra power directly to certain projects and bypassing their own power reserves so that it would not show up as their power. The projects themselves were individually nothing major and easily overlooked, but taken all together were significantly slanting the playing field in their favor.

Alerting his boss that he had found a potential problem, Jeboral began laborious work of tracing the power flows back to their source. It was frustrating job, all the soul graphs and other power sources balanced out correctly. All the irregularities would seamlessly blend into accepted divergences and rule exceptions when traced backwards. The angelic auditor finally caught the brake he was looking for when he examined a minor project dedicated to advancing the merging of the two dimensional planes. Specifically the negation of one of the energy fields that kept the two dimensions apart. The project was far more effective it it should have been. The mortal souls powering it had an unusually strong resonance to the living energy field. However that was impossible for the native souls were locked out of that resonance type. There was only one possibility, the souls were foreign to that dimension.

Quickly switching data screens to the dimensional boundary and exceptions displays, Jeboral began a detailed analysis. And there it was, the extra souls and power was being drained from another dimension. Again the method was subtle and hidden from view but obvious if one knew what to look for. Draining power and souls from one discrete dimension to another without permission and overview from someone of at least lieutenant Seraphim level was not just a against the dimensional rules, but against the RULES.

Tracing the souls back to their original dimension yielded another surprise. The dimension was not unduly effected by the loss of souls and energy. It had in fact accelerated the energy creation process in order to compensate. The energy field that the natives called the Force, had also strengthened and matured faster then originally projected to deal with the sudden drain in dimensional and spiritual energy. A side effect being more sapient beings were in tune with the Force then before.

After completing a detailed analysis of the power shunt and its effects on both dimensions, Jeboral had the beginnings of a plan. It was sneaky and more importantly would not be angelpower intensive, and if it succeeded would chastise the four rule breakers. Getting up he switched off his universal console and went to pitched his plan to the bosses.

"An unorthodox plan, very unorthodox." Jeboral's superior said after listening to the Seraphim's proposal. "If it works it would significantly reduce the problems in both dimensions and more importantly it would only require a very small amount of direct interference on our part. I'll sign off on it. However I expect you to handle this one personally, and keep me informed on all developments. Make sure it is very clear that this is strictly volunteer, I have no wish to get on the wrong side of the Free Will Rule. I'll inform the Diefic Enforcement and Corrections Department and handles things on that end."

"Yes sir, I'll begin immediately." Jeboral said respectfully nodding.

"Good, and for the love of the Boss, don't let this cascade into a two dimensional restart." The head of the auditing department half ordered, have pleaded.

Wincing at the thought, the angel nodded. A two dimensional restart would by a nightmare of luciferian proportions, and put them behind schedule for at least three millennia.

Going back to his cubicle Jeboral carefully examined physical and temporal location of the conduit that was stealing souls and energy. This would be tricky, he could not simply grab anyone and ask them to join his little adventure, certain souls were pivotal to that dimension's development and timeline and had to be left alone. Even after they were dead they could not be touched. So he could not approach some of the more obvious candidates like Yoda, the Skywalkers, or the Solos, and there was no way he was asking Palpatine, even if he was available. However that still left a large pool of talented individuals. Going through the three hundred years that the soul conduit was affecting, and he could consequently recruit from, gave him a small pool of people who could be effective leaders. Some more shuffling and he had the command staff. The rest easily fell into place. There was no shortage of people willing to volunteer for a heavenly sanctioned mission. Heck, he was able to recruit over eight hundred thousand skilled individuals from the Alderaan casualties alone. He got another two hundred thousand Mon Calamari, and four hundred thousand Wookiees who were eager to join up as well. Ships and supplies were also easily snatched from the timeline at the moment of their complete destruction and restored to peak readiness.

That left only two things, the convincing of the leaders to lead this little group, and the recruitment of a proper mix and number of force users. Deciding to leave the the force users to last, Jeboral grabbed the personal files of his chosen commanders and went recruiting. This would require a personal touch. First on the list and the person he hoped would be supreme commander of the fleet. A man with over eighty years of naval experience and one of the most respected officers of his era. The former defacto ruler of the Imperial Remnant, High Admiral Pellaeon.

Admiral Pelleaon did not know what came after death, but a rather tired human with wings offering him a job as lord commander of some sort of expeditionary fleet to another dimension, was definitely not something he had expected. After listening to the angels pitch, the steel eyed Admiral agreed. He had defended the Empire for his entire life and if he could continue to protect his home galaxy by leading an expedition to another dimension, he was happy to join.

Jeboral quickly reviewed the file for his next recruit. Admiral Pellaeon would make an excellent lord admiral but he simply did not have the pure brilliance needed to take on the challenges and occasional primarch ahead of him. For that he would need support. Someone who could instantly understand the strengths and weaknesses of an opponent, make lightening fast decisions on the fly, and turn all of that into an effective battle strategy in the blink of an eye. Someone who could adapt to any situation and could lead a small inferior force against a legion of battle hardened fanatics and not only survive, but crush them. The fleet needed Grand Admiral Thrawn.

Jeboral sagged once he was alone again. Thrawn had agreed to join but his questions had been pointed and unending. Jeboral made a mental note to offer the blue skinned red eyed Chiss a place in the auditing department if the opportunity ever presented itself. Straitening up Jeboral readied himself two down and the hardest individuals to convince still to go.

Jeboral sighed as he reappeared at his command consul. He had done it, all his first choices for the top positions had agreed and were busily recruiting their own command staffs from Jeboral's master list of available souls. Bail Organa and General Cracken had been hard sells but eventually agreed to join. Personally Jeboral was not sure if his bosses new exactly what they had unleashed in allowing Cracken to recruit his own intelligence agency from the finest personnel in roughly three hundred years of galactic history, and he had no intention of telling them.

Surprisingly the force users had been some of the easiest to recruit, apparently being one with the universe got really boring after a while. Corran Horn and Cilghal had things well in hand. Several of the volunteers had been a surprise, but after a quick availability check, which they passed, they had joined the fleet. Apparently being dead had taught certain jedi masters a few things about the light and dark sides of the force and their proper relationship. Jeboral hoped so, because the force of their soon to be new home did not have the hundreds of thousands of years of use and development that they were used to.

All that was left to do was to give them what information he was allowed to on their destination and tell them their overall objectives… he had forgotten something. What was it? Oh right, he should probably introduce the leaders to each other, before he dropped them into another dimension. Oh well, easily fixed. He would throw a small get together as part of the final briefing.

Grand Admiral Thrawn considered himself a master of dealing with the unexpected. One did not conquer a significant part of the Unkown Regions, starting what was for all practical purposes his own hidden empire, and become the only nonhuman Grand Admiral of the Empire without being able to adapt rapidly. However this situation was so far beyond unexpected it was surreal. Admiral Pellaeon, General Cracken, Jedi Master Corran Horn, Jedi Master Cilghal, Bail Organa, and Talon Karrde, Thrawn himself were calmly sharing a table as they were briefed by an angel about their soon to be new home.

Jeboral was only able to give them a very basic overview of the major factions of the galaxy and more detailed explanation of the warp and the four gods of Chaos. Their mission was very open ended. Apparently their job was to combat Necrons, Tyranids, and Chaos, while fostering life in the galaxy. Jedi would be focusing on both strengthening the force and using the force to strengthen the separation between the the warp and the material world. The angel refused to give them any details or technological specifications, stating that it was against the rules.

"So what your saying is that you are going to drop us in blind and that we have to figure everything out for ourselves." Pellaeon summed up in drily.

"Exactly." Jeboral stated pleased that they understood. "In this case people and materials are easily obtained but any knowledge other then the brief overview that I just gave would be an exception that other beings could take advantage of. The only thing I can tell you is that if you act swiftly you will have an opportunity to find a dependable ally to help you. So good luck and try not to let your souls get eaten by warp beings." Jeboral said in an upbeat tone. Not giving any of them a chance to answer the angel teleported them to the biggest ship in the fleet. Checking over the fleet to make sure everything was accounted for, he let them have two days to get themselves organized and then sent the entire expedition on its way. Returning to his office Jeboral made a mental note to look in on them in a month or two before pulling up the next dimensional audit awaiting review.

The seven leaders appeared on a massive bridge in a flash of light. Much to the surprise of the nearby crew, who crisply saluted realizing exactly who the new arrivals were. The bridge itself was in the Imperial style and clearly belonged to a dreadnaught or super star destroyer sized vessel.

"Lord Admiral Pellaeon, welcome aboard the Eclipse II." A lantern jawed officer said hurrying over to greet his new superiors. "It is good to see you again sir."

"And you Captain Ardiff." Pelleaon answered seeing his old friend again. "I'm sure you know my fellow council members." Gesturing to the six famous or infamous individuals with him.

"I certainly do sir." The captain replied. "Welcome to the Eclipse II, it is a true pleasure to have all of you aboard. If you would please follow me, the ready room is this way."

"What is the status of the fleet, Captain? And what is the fleet composition? Jeboral sent us here before we could ask." Bail Organa inquired as the council each took a seat around the briefing table.

"The fleet is a bit of a mess sir." Captain Ardiff said as he began pulling up fleet data on the holoprojector built into the center of the table. "The fleet itself is quite large. Jeboral apparently grabbed the best of everything he could find, restored it to mint condition, fully equipped and provisioned it, and then dropped crew aboard. Our two most critical problems are the crew itself, and the nonexistence of the chain of command. The first will be solved with time, everyone is highly motivated and fully trained in some useful field, however they are new to the ships themselves. It will take time for people to learn their way around. Until we do some shake down drills and get everyone fully integrated, we will not be working at optimum proficiency." The Captain reported with a small grimace. He was a perfectionist at heart and hated not being fully prepared. "The crew itself is a very odd mix. I have crewmen from across a three hundred year period and from both sides of every major conflict in that time. There are some tensions but I foresee no serious problems."

"The second problem is more serious. The chain of command is essentially nonexistent. Each ship has a designated crew, officers, and captain but there is no designated squadrons or admirals. All we were told, was to wait for orders from the council. As it is, coordinating any sort of fleet action is impossible due to the lack of command structure."

Pellaeon nodded frowning. "Building a proper command structure will have to be first priority. What is the composition of the fleet?"

Ardiff grinned and pulled up another set of data that set the jaws of the ruling council dropping. "That is the good news. We are currently sitting in the middle of the greatest concentration of naval firepower I have ever seen. We are aboard the Eclipse II, the former command ship of the reborn emperor Palpatine. It is seventeen and half kilometers long, armed with a coaxial superlaser, and an almost ludicrous number of more conventional weapons. It was been restored to prime condition and every hold and cargo bay is stuffed with supplies. We also have a full compliment of star fighters, a mix of x-wings, a-wings, tie-defenders, tie-avengers, e-wings, k-wings, skipspray blastboats, and the short range defenders. It is a very eclectic mix and it is the same throughout the fleet. We also have a full complement of transports, assault shuttles, and various other designs. Its seems that Jeboral simply grabbed the best starfighters he could find and deposited them by squadron in the fighter bays. The crew is still finding and reporting new ships and other odds and ends." The captain paused to observe the shock expressions of his superiors. Even admiral Thrawn and general Cracken, both notoriously hard to read, were visibly stunned.

"And the rest of the fleet?" Talon Karrde asked recovering first.

"As of a half hour ago the fleet consisted of two Viscount class star dreadnaughts, four Mediator class star cruisers, the twelve thousand eight hundred meter long SSD Megador, five Tector II's, a five kilometer long star destroyer based off the Tector design, and various Mon Calamari cruisers. Those are the biggest vessels in the fleet. We also have a substantial number of Nebula class and Pellaeon class star destroyers, with a sprinkling of other types as well. Below them are a whole mess of cruisers, mostly Majestic class, but with a variety of others, frigates and other escorts. All of them are the most advanced classes Jeboral could find. We also have several interdictor cruisers and three interdictor star destroyers. The angel also grabbed a whole mess of Warrior class gunships." The captain paused to let his audience digest and make sense of the massive fleet they had been given. "We also have a support fleet. Consisting of Hajen class fleet tenders, modular task force cruisers, and an advanced freighter type called a Solo class combat freighter. There is also an unknown number of medium transports and other non combat ships. I have not been able to get an accurate count, things are rather confusing among the support fleet. However I have been able to confirm the existence of several Super Transports, unknown cargo, and the factory ship Arc Hammer."

"The Arc Hammer?" Cracken interrupted. "The home of the darktrooper project and destroyed by Kyle Katarn?"

Ardiff nodded. "The same. I talked with the captain and he reported that the ship and production facilities are fully operational and two platoons of darktrooper droids are ready for deployment."

"What are our ground combat capabilities?" Thrawn inquired.

"Numerically speaking, substantial." The captain replied. "However the ground forces are in an even worse state of confusion then the navy. We have over a hundred thousand troops here on the Eclipse alone, however all the officers are scrambling to organize and hammer out some sort of command structure. Until that happens they will essentially ineffective as a fighting force. It is the same on all the troop transports that I have information on. The marines and stormtroopers are also disorganized, though due to there smaller size and superior training they will most likely be the first to organize themselves into an effective fighting force. Currently the only deployable force aboard the Eclipse are several small teams of special forces and even they do not know who to report too."

Corran grimaced. "If Jeboral recruited from as wide a pool for soldiers as he did for the naval personnel then the army is going to need both a command structure and a shakedown period before they can be considered deployable. That needs to be addressed immediately."

The rest of the council nodded in agreement. They soon had a basic list of things needing to be done. After some discussion the work was broken down into areas of responsibility. Pellaeon and Thrawn would focus on organizing the navy and establishing an effective chain of command. Talan Karrde would concentrate on organizing and getting an inventory of the support and cargo ships. General Cracken would focus on all the intelligence personnel and special forces scattered throughout the fleet. Jedi Master Horn and Cilghal would deal with the force users, which Ardiff knew were scattered throughout the fleet but did not have any information on. Lastly, Bail Organa would attempt to get some level of control over the army and marine units with help as needed from the other council members, and any diplomatic personnel in the fleet.

First, however they needed to let people know that there was in fact someone in charge of this madhouse of a fleet. The simplest way turned out to be a briefing by holoprojector to the entire fleet. Introducing themselves and passing on what limited information Jeboral had given them about their destination.

Things got really hectic after that. Horn and Cilghal went to the Endor's Triumph, one of the Viscount class dreadnaughts, were all the jedi were gathering. Talon Karrde quickly disappeared into the support fleet, determined to bring order and an inventory out of the chaos. Bail Organa transferred to the other Viscount class dreadnaught, the Alderaan's Resolve, and began putting his talents learned during the clone war and instigating the Rebellion to good use.

Pellaeon focused on organizing the star destroyers and other capital ships into effective squadrons and battle groups. Part of the problem was the sheer experience of most of the captains, several of whom had been commodores and admirals back home. Numerous holoconferences, and large amount of sweet talking and a little bullying later, he had a rough command structure worked out. Several of the more experienced and well known officers Pellaeon promoted on the spot to temporary vice admiral and put them in charge of various battle squadrons.

Thrawn transferred over to the Megodor and concentrated on the remaining ships. He organized the cruisers, frigates, and escorts into rough formations and with approval of Pellaeon began ordering patrols around the perimeter of the fleet. Not that there was any danger. The navigation equipment refused to give them a location and everyone's best guess was that they were in some sort of staging ground or pocket dimension. However being prepared was a motto dear to every commanders heart and it was good practice.

A solid twenty four hours of work later and things were beginning to come together. All the ships were assigned groups with a designated commodore, all answering to Lord Admiral Pellaeon and his second in command Grand Admiral Thrawn. The next step was assign some of the smaller ships as escorts to the star destroyers and other larger ships, to form effective combat formations and deployable battle groups.

The army was still a mess. There was at least an identifiable command structure on each ship. However that was it. Seniority was all but useless in this case and the only thing all the generals agreed on was the Bail Organa, now known as Chief Marshal Organa, was in overall command. The title had actually began as a joke about Organa laying down the law amongst a mob like group of officers and the title had stuck.

Masters Corran Horn and Cilghal had arrived to one of the oddest collection of individuals either had ever seen. The Jedi had taken over a large ballroom like hold and some enterprising crew members had set up a very basic buffet. The there were hundreds of force users in the room, all standing around talking with friends and throwing suspicious glances at others. It strongly reminded Corran of a schoolyard with each clique staking out their own space. The first and largest group of force users were those Corran privately labeled classical jedi. These were mostly jedi who had been members of the order before the great jedi purge by Palpatine. They had staked out a part of the far wall across from the buffet table.

The second group was far more eccentric and ragtag looking, and almost the as large as the classical jedi. It consisted of post Endor jedi, a number of grey and even dark jedi, Jensaari, and other force adepts including a handful of imperial knights. The group was centered around Master Katarn, who was as usual carrying a small armory on his back, and Anakin Solo. They were concentrated around the far end of the buffet table. At the nearest end of the table was the third and smallest group. Numbering about two hundred, they were wearing antique armor and speaking an old variant of Basic. Most striking about them was a full third of them were dressed in Sith armor. They were centered around an elder human with long silver hair, who carried himself like a king.

The three groups formed a rough equilateral triangle with the buffet table as one of the sides. In the middle was a vast chilly no man's land. The classical jedi were clearly suspicious of the other two groups and especially their more dark leaning members. The second group, mentally dubbed the oddballs by Corran, were generally ignoring the classical jedi and observing the third group. The third group was looking at the classical jedi with a strange mixture of curiosity and belligerence, and the oddballs with just plain curiosity. Corran mentally dubbed them the oldsters.

Throwing a look of resignation at Cilghal who rolled her eyes in exasperation at the school yard behavior in front of them, the two masters walked calmly into the empty space between the three groups.

Clearing his throat loudly to get everyone's attention and nodding to several familiar faces amongst the oddballs, Corran introduced himself and Cilghal. Then gave a short speech that basically summoned up what everyone already knew. Cilghal then took over and outlined what was going on with the fleet, which got nods of approval from the silverhaired leader of the oldsters, and the other more military minded individuals.

As Cilghal finished up, Corran mentally prepared himself, this was going to be the interesting part. "Fellow force users, our destination will be completely foreign to us. Jeboral mentioned during his briefing of the council that he force itself is going to be different then what we are used too." Shock ran through the audience at his words. This had not be mentioned before. "He said the force was more turbulent and primal then what we are used to. We must also remember that the force is also damaged in a way. According the Jeboral the force is one of the main constants separating the materium and the immaterium. However due to events the materium and immaterium have fused together in certain places rupturing the force itself." Corran paused as soft discussion filled the rooms. Several of the more advanced master level force users looked grim.

"Knowing this," Corran continued. "We cannot make assumptions or predict what our own connection to the force will be or how it will effect both it and us. We might gain powers or loose powers or nothing might change at all. However our mission is simple but staggeringly large. We must find a way to assist the force itself in healing the damage it has sustained and simultaneously combat a exceptionally hostile galaxy in an effort to establish a place for ourselves and hopefully preserve life and civilization from ending." Corran shook his head in wonder. "I cant honestly believe I just said that. But that is the job nevertheless and we have to figure out a way to accomplish it."

Several hours of introductions and discussions later everyone was far more relaxed, and a general sense of unity was beginning to creep into the atmosphere. Jeboral had been sneaky in his recruitment. The armored group, or oldsters, were the souls that had been trapped on Ruusan for thousands of years until Kyle Katarn released them. As their souls had never technically died or merged with the force, Jeboral had been able to recruit them. Their silver haired leader was Jedi Lord Hoth and the Sith with his group were his former enemies. Apparently being trapped together for thousands of years with really nothing to do but talk could make even the worst of enemies into amiable companions.

By the end of the day things had coalesced into a definite pattern. Jedi Lord Hoth, and his two seconds, Jedi Master Tal and the male Twi'lek Kopecz, who led the Sith contingent, represented their people. Master Katarn, Anakin Solo, Imperial Knight Ganner Krieg, and the Saarai-kaar of the Jensaari, represented the both the new age jedi and the various non jedi traditions. The classical jedi were represented by Master Windu, the Nautilian Master Kit Fisto, and the Wookie Master Tyvokka. These ten along with Corran and Cilghal formed an informal high council. By the end of the day the only thing that had really been agreed on was that they would begin an intense period of lightsaber and combat training for all force users. It really was the only thing they could do until they actually got to their new home and found out how exactly the force worked.

Exactly two days after the the ruling council had appeared on the bridge of the Eclipse, the entire fleet simply appeared in deepspace; giving every sensor officer in the fleet a very nasty surprise. Admiral Pellaeon ordered full sensor sweeps, while the navigation and sensors department worked frantically to compile as much information about their unknown position as possible.

They were on the outer edge of a spiral arm of a medium sized galaxy. Ordering a batch of probe droids to scout out the nearest star systems, Admiral Pellaeon silently admitted to himself that the fleet was not ready. There was still to much confusion in the new chain of command and Karrde was still trying to compile an inventory of the transport fleet. They needed more time to organize and prepare.

Leaving the bridge crew to their work the Admiral joined the rest of the ruling council for a meeting. The council had really started coming together and Pellaeon mentally complimented Jeboral on his selections. Each person had skills and an outlook that was unique and fit well into the overall group.

"Master Horn due you wish to start?" Admiral Pellaeon inquired as soon as everyone had arrived.

Corran nodded. "The force here is extremely odd. However most of our abilities are useable. One thing that has changed is that we are sensing things in and through the force that we have never sensed before, also the force is." Corran paused for a moment. "Well, its more violent. Its like the difference between a pure breed pet and a tough mongrel that you find on the street. They are the same species but other then that almost completely different in temperament and personality." The Jedi Master shook his head in equal parts bafflement and wonder. "Its been quite a shock to us all, and some of our more conservative members are not at all happy. The light and dark side exist but not in the same way we are used to, trying to use one without the other is almost impossible. On the upside however we theorize that force users as a whole will remain more balanced and I doubt that we have to worry about the reemergence of the Sith. It would be as impossible for them to channel only the dark side as it is for us to channel only the light."

Cilghal nodded in agreement. "We will need more time to experiment and come to terms with this new force. We have had only a few hours of time to adjust."

"Time is something we all need." Thrawn observed in his usual calm analytical manner. "However we also are in desperate need of intelligence and we must keep in mind that we only have a limited amount of supplies and fuel. We must obtain resources and infrastructure if we wish to truly establish ourselves here."

There was general agreement on this point. Plans were discussed and decisions made. Several hours later four groups of smaller ships split off from the fleet and followed the probes toward the nearest stars. Each exploration group was centered around a modular task force cruiser configured for exploration. The heavy punch was supplied by three majestic heavy cruisers backed by a defender carrier. With them was two Corona class frigates, the successors of the venerable Nebulon-B frigate, and four Warrior gunships. Each exploration force included several jedi as well. Such a force would be considered ridiculously overpowered for a simple exploration mission back home, but the Ruling Council did not want to take any chances and had the ships to spare.

Jedi Knight Theomis Rehl, a tall dark haired man with a hawk like nose and strait posture, stood quietly in the back of the Lucky Jack's exploration coordination center, as the crew worked calmly and steadily in front of him. He could feel his companion, Knight Zekk, lightly meditating, no doubt trying become more familiar with the new force. Everything seemed to be in order. The Lucky Jack's crew was highly professional and efficient, and everything was running to schedule.

Pulling his concentration inward Rehl embraced the force and simply held it. It was the most basic of force techniques taught, to the very young and often mastered before the younglings could read properly. The force was the same and so very different. The force was more alive here. Instead of the rushing feeling, like water being poured into a container, that he was so familiar with. Here the force embraced him with a sensation more like the growling purr of a large hunting cat, and like a predator, the force itself had a sense of barely contained power and alertness to it that was simply nonexistent back home. Rehl was deeply worried about how this new force would change his basic combat abilities. As a master armorer and jedi knight who had served under Pernicar and volunteered to follow Lord Hoth in his final assault against the Sith Lord Kaan, Rehl was a skilled and experienced warrior who had known exactly what he could and could not do. Not knowing his own abilities was extremely irritating to the ancient jedi.

The jedi knight continued to meditate and practice with the force as the Lucky Jack made another hyperspace jump to the edge of its target star system. As they reverted to realspace, the two jedi stiffened. Something was here and the force did not like it. The force did not like it at all.

"Sir! Sensor contacts, six unkown ships orbiting the fifth planet. Also reading significant orbital debris and... weapons fire! The sporadic weapons fire from the planet's surface." The sensor chief reported.

"Give me a full sensor sweep and order all hyperspace capable fighters to launch! I want details on those ships and whatever you got on the planet!" The Captain ordered all but sprinting over to the sensor section with the two jedi right behind him.

"Unable to scan the ships. They are using unknown masking technology. The planet is inhabited with signs of significant industry. Also reading the remains of several ships and space stations in orbit. Contacts one through four are breaking orbit on an intercept course. We've been spotted Sir. Masking effect is increasing, have trouble holding the contacts Sir." The chief said his hands dancing across the sensor controls as he tried to penetrate the the unknown ships masking.

"Whatever those ships are captain the force does not like them." Rehl stated staring at the jagged edged knife like form of one of the incoming ships.

"The force wants whatever those beings are gone." Knight Zekk agreed. Those ships felt like black boils in the force. Like cancer in a body, the force wanted it gone but was unable to get rid of it.

"Sir reading significant signs of fighting around several population centers, and significant orbit to ground shuttle activity. It looks like a raid Sir." The chief reported as the computers continued to analyze and refine the sensor readings.

The Captain, who was also Commodore of the exploration flotilla, nodded. "Very well, order the heavy cruisers and the gunships to engage the incoming ships. Inform the Fleet of our situation and request reinforcements. Order the frigates to provide fire support for the cruisers. Launch all fighter craft."

"Message from the fleet. Grand Admiral Thrawn is en route with reinforcements. ETA is twenty three minutes sir." Communications stated.

The Captain nodded. "Good. Order all ships to reduce speed. We need to draw out this engagement as long as possible. Have the k-wings and two A-wing squadrons hide in cruiser's sensor shadow, I want them to be a surprise." He ordered, as Zekk headed for his personal x-wing. Rehl stayed, he was not yet familiar with the modern fighters and could be of more use here.

Sub Archon T'feyir of the Weeping Knife Kabal, scowled at the sensor readings of the unknown ships that dare to interrupt their slave raid. The ship were completely unknown and had no recognizable markings. A new species then. The dark eldar grinned in anticipation. it had been a long time since a new species had been discovered and a new slave race would be a brilliant coupe for the Weeping Knife, and himself. "All ships to engage and disable. Prepare boarding parties. I want slaves!"

The Dark Eldar were the first to engage launching a salvo of long range torpedoes as they swept in to engage the flank, in a classic hit and fade, while the torpedoes sowed chaos in the center of the enemies fleet. Things quickly went wrong for both sides.

Eldar torpedoes were in comparison to all the other major races, fast, agile, and at a mere twenty five meters long, extremely small. To the point defense gunners who were used to targeting tie-Interceptors and A-wings which were both smaller and agile, it was a turkey shoot. Only one torpedo hit and detonated against the carrier's shields dropping them by fifteen percent.

It was Alliance's turn, salvos of turbolaser fire headed towards the incoming ships and almost completely missed. The advanced stealth and holomasking fields of the Dark Eldar ships keeping them from harm.

Targeting the frigate Glorious Sun, the Dark Eldar ships fired lance batteries as they cut across the right side of the Alliance formation. The cruiser's shield withstood the first two salvos but collapsed under the third. Armor exploded as the bright lances of plasma savaged the frigate's side, blasting armor and weapons to slag and opening several decks to space.

Dark Eldar finished their pass and looped around the backside of the formation. Intent on destroying the engines and leaving the ships easy pickings. The Alliance ships still unable effectively target the masked ships changed tactics and started spraying the entire area with low power shots. The majority missed but the few that hit gave away jagged ships positions, which drew more fire from quick reacting gunners. Stung but not wounded, the enemy ships hurled glowing purple lances of pure power at rapidly turning heavy cruisers. Collapsing one cruisers shield's entirely and heavily depleting the shields of the other two. Seeing a chance to finish a major part of the enemy fleet the Dark Eldar moved in for the kill all weapons firing.

The battle was not going well. The Glorious Sun was effectively out of combat and they were about to loose one of the three heavy cruisers.

"Go active with every sensor we got! Bring the Warriors around and flank the bastards!" Roared the Captain as the Lucky Jack shook from another hit. "Their going after the Bloody Moon, All starfighters begin close range attack runs! See if they can get passed that damn masking!"

Rehl watched as the fighters swarmed the incoming ships. A squadron of x-wings sprayed the area with laser fire and then vectored in on the temporarily revealed enemy and launched a full barrage of photon torpedoes. Most of the torpedoes missed but quarter of them hit detonating against the ships void shields. Which allowed a nearby cruiser and the remaining frigate to rake the ship with streams of turbolaser fire. Two of the gunships vectored in on the now visible dark eldar frigate and let loose with every weapon they had, as a second squadron of x-wings made their own attack run on the frigate's engines. The frigate's void shields and masking field collapsed and a full wing of starfighters swarmed the vulnerable ship, firing volleys of concussion and photon torpedoes. Quickly chewing through the frigate's light armor the last torpedo barrage detonated inside the ship itself, eviscerating the frigate.

The alliance vessels payed a heavy price for that victory with the carrier and a heavy cruiser being critical damaged and the Lucky Jack losing its shields as the dark eldar focused their fire the alliance ship. Cutting across the bow the frigates loosed a swarm of boarding craft before vectoring away as the remaining heavy cruiser fired heavy turbolaser volleys that mostly missed but did drive the dark eldar ships away from the defenseless cruiser. A full third of the boarding pods were shot down by either the point-defense guns or nearby fighters, but the rest got through.

"Sir! The enemy is attempting to board! Enemy troops reported on levels five, seven, and 10!"Lucky Jack's first officer reported from the security station.

"Send additional troops to secure engineering, environmental control, and the bridge. All remaining personal to engage the enemy! How long until reinforcement?" The captain roared as the sensors reported enemy frigates releasing another swarm of drop pods at a disabled majestic cruiser and taking more turbolaser hits in response.

"twelve minutes to reinforcement. Marines are engaging the enemy on levels five and seven. Enemy has broken through to level eleven and heading towards the bridge." The officer reported as four squads of marines in full stormtrooper armor arrived and began setting up defenses, including a portable E-web repeating blaster.

"I'll see what I can do about the boarding party." Rehl said heading for the door as he felt the enemy approach through the force.

"Charlie squad go with the jedi." The marine lieutenant in charge of the bridge defenses barked. Ten of the marines immediately fell in behind the jedi as he exited the bridge. Behind them the blast doors lowered sealing off the bridge.

"Ready marines. The enemy is close." Rehl warned activating his glowing green lightsaber. "Grenade." Rehl demanded as the troops found what cover they could.

Lifting the tossed thermal detonator with the force, Rehl floated it to the sharp bend in the corridor that hid the approaching enemy from sight. Mentally holding down the dead mans switch the jedi waited. "Sergeant fire some shots down the corridor."

The squad leader, who quickly realized what the jedi was doing, began firing blaster bolts down the corridor, forcing the dark eldar troops to stop and bunch up. Rehl flicked the thermal detonator around the corner and released the switch, vaporizing almost a dozen dark eldar troops. Ducking into the partial cover of a doorway to give the marines behind him a clear field of fire. Rehl mentally prepped force push and waited for the assault. It was not long in coming.

Black figures darted around the corner with inhuman speed, their splinter rifles spitting jagged shards of crystallized neurotoxin at the defenders. The stormtroopers opened up with their blaster carbines, filling the corridor with red bolts and cutting down the attackers. More took their place as one stormtrooper's armor cracked under multiple hits allowing the potent neurotoxin to spread through his body paralyzing him instantly. The screaming horde of dark eldar charged dodging blaster bolts and firing their weapons. As lead warrior reached the half way point Rehl blasted them back with a force push, throwing the leading troops into the ones behind. The marines poured blaster fire into the momentarily slowed enemy causing the entire front rank and many of the next to fall with smoking holes in their armor.

The dark eldar were at a disadvantage. The cramped corridors severely limited their maneuverability and the marines' full body armor protected them from toxins and gases that would normally be effective against anything short of a fully armored adeptus astartes. However they were far faster then the humans and the blaster bolts were slow enough that the more advanced dark eldar could dodge them. Under the covering fire of several splinter rifles a full dozen wychs in gleaming black armor lined with jagged spikes and wielding monomolecular blades raced forward dodging blaster bolts. Three were hit but the other nine charge into the defenders.

The two lead marines were dead in an instant. The incredibly sharp alien blades going right through the stormtrooper armor with little resistance. Rehl flowed into the charging wychs lightsaber blurring as he bisected his first opponent while ducking under a horizontal cut from another. Using the force to enhance his speed, the jedi sidestepped a strike from a third wych before slashing at the neck of the dark eldar who had just tried to behead him. The wych seeing the neck strike brought his sword up in a deflecting block that was intended to redirected the sword over the eldar's head, allowing him to strike at the jedi's unprotected torso. The lightsaber cut straight through the monomolecular blade and neatly beheaded the surprised wych.

The wych's charge had stalled, grabbing a concussion grenade the sergeant threw it at the dark eldar providing covering fire, as the remaining marines concentrated fire on the wychs. Jedi Rehld pressed his weapon's advantage killing three eldar and force pushing another down the corridor. The remaining wychs quickly fell but took another two marines with them.

The defenders were down to half their original number and would not be able to hold their position against another charge. The splinter fire slackened for a moment before the the remaining dark eldar charged screaming battle cries. The jedi pulled on the force and shaped it into his most deadly ability. Emerald green tendrils of lightning flickered around his hand before lancing out at the charging warriors. Concentrating on the technique Rehl force the green lightning to spread out to as many enemy as possible. The moment the energy began to burn into the leading dark eldar the force itself stilled as if surprised and then began pushing even more energy into the technique. Rehl almost lost control as the emerald lightning quadrupled in size and struck down every dark eldar in the corridor. Releasing the technique Rehl's eyes widened in horror. The force was continuing to power the technique. The feral aspect of the force had found a way to scratch its dark eldar itch and did not want to stop. The emerald lightning continued to grow as the power surged through the jedi's body. Rehl focused every ounce of his considerable will on the power flowing through him. Slowly he first stopped the increase and then began forcing the power flowing through him to decrease. The worst part was he had to fight the force every step of the way. It did not want to let go.

He was doing the opposite of everything he had been taught as a jedi. Instead of embracing the force he had to force it away. It was like trying to stop a wookie intent of bear hugging him to death. However Rehl had fought against some of the mightiest Sith and prevailed, his will was forged into an unbreakable rod by dozens of battles across as many worlds. Slowly the amount of the power flowing through him lessened as he isolated himself from the force. The green lightning grew less intense before disappearing entirely as Rehl choked off the last flows of power coursing through him.

The jedi almost collapsed then and there. Forcing himself to stay upright the knight observed what the force had done. Piles of dark armored aliens were strewn throughout the corridor many of them steaming from the emerald lightning that had killed them.

The five remaining marines inspected the fallen looking for survivors. Not that they were expecting any, but it was procedure.

"Are you alright Sir?" The sergeant asked, shaking the jedi out of his daze.

"I'm fine sergeant. I can't sense any more enemies on this level. Casualties?" Rehl replied.

"Five down sir. Four dead and trooper Ader is completely paralyzed, some form of toxin. Never seen anything like it before. Need to get him to a medbay stat, sir," The sergeant reported. Two marines preppimg the wounded soldier for movement as the other two stood guard.

Rehl nodded, "Take him and secure the medbay until relieved," he ordered. "I'm returning to the bridge." Saluting the sergeant led his halved squad away, as the jedi hurried back to the bridge.

The naval battle was almost over the last dark eldar ship was retreating back towards the planet. The alliance were content to let them go. Over half the expedition was critically damaged with half of the ships fighting against boarding parties. The turning point had been when Knight Zekk had led the fighter squadrons in a vicious assault against the fast moving enemy frigates. Using the force to aim the knight was able to manually target his torpedoes and the rest of the fighters behind him simply fire along the same path. They had surprised two of the frigates with the tactic and almost got the third before it had hightailed back to the planet.

As Rehl entered the bridge the reinforcements arrived flashing out of hyperspace. In the lead was Admiral Thrawn in the Megador flanked on either side by the Brutal Strike and Red Dawn. Both escorts were five thousand meters in length, were originally part of the reborn emperor's fleet and were destroyed during the death of the planet Byss. After them came two dozen star destroyers escorted by heavy cruisers and frigates with two squadrons of warrior gunships on each flank of the formation.

All the ships with boarding parties aboard quickly received reinforcements and all the ships were quickly secured. As soon as all alliance ships were secured Thrawn ordered the fleet to advance and secure the planet's orbit. As they drew closer to the planet more and more signs of intense ground fighting appeared. The dark eldar forces were concentrating their attack on seven cities. Two had fallen but the other five were still holding out, if only barely. The defenders were putting up an furious fight and were taking advantage of their extensive fortifications to hold the dark eldar off and give the cities time to evacuate away from the fighting.

Ordering a dozen ships to pursue the two dark eldar frigates, who had decided to withdraw rather then fight a losing battle, Thrawn ordered three divisions to deploy. The Alliance was about to face their first ground battle.