Star Wars
The Hyperion Journeys
The Last Battle
By
Christopher Cleveland
Prologue
Crassus meditated, enjoying his new body and enjoying the powers that Lord Imperius' body allowed him. Never before had he thought it possible to learn how to drain life and Force energy from somebody, much less a planet. But when he used the power to drain Nox of her existence, banishing her soul to the void of oblivion in so doing, he was emboldened. He knew that if he could use her Force energy to buy this body three hundred years, who knew how much time he could buy if he consumed an entire planet. Filled with artifacts, Force-sensitive people, non Force-sensitive souls, life energies, even Nogatan would do just fine especially with its Dark Side connection.
So it was that he contemplated the inner workings of his host body's powers and abilities, deciphering how he may combine them with the ones he brought to the table. He soon discovered a slight nook in the performance of Vitiate's rituals that consumed Nathema and Ziost. For whatever reason, he always needed time to effectively consume a planet when he could've just relied on the power of the artifacts he kept within Nathema in order to accelerate the process. Crassus, under the guise of Lord Imperius, wasn't going to make that mistake nor was he about to let his grandson ruin everything.
In his prime, Hyperion could've made for a great Sith warrior and was making all the right choices. Even when he served General Nobunaga, following Crassus' temporary defeat at the hands of the boy's cousin, Hyperion had been a hell of an adherent to the Dark Side's ways. But ever since accepting the mission that Dantius charged him, and living in exile on Ando Prime, the man had become weak. In fact, Crassus was beginning to wonder if his grandson would become a liability to his plans for the greater galaxy. It would certainly seem that way, given his increasing uncertainty about embracing the heritage that once characterized his youth.
Now, he was armed with the greatest arsenal of any Sith Lord and yet here he was, squandering those talents in remorse for the deeds of his youth. Instead, he should have been wearing his so-called sins like a badge of pride on his chest and relishing the notoriety they gave him rather than lamenting that he had the notoriety at all. Fortunately, Hyperion would have a chance to prove himself once and for all by helping him complete the mission to Nogatan. Once Crassus had consumed the life energies of the planet and its Dark Side energy, he would spend the millennia rebuilding the Sith with some of the best aspects of Algethiius that they may be impregnable against the Republic. He almost lamented the fact that Hyperion was no longer a suitable candidate for transferring his essence, having been a close genetic match of his in his former human body.
But this new body was an improvement in every way from superior physical strength to immensely longer lifespans. The only thing Crassus had to fear now was the failure of the ceremony to consume life on Nogatan. So far as Crassus could tell, the only weakness that there was only one way in which the ceremony could go wrong that Hyperion could be responsible for. If he did it, not even the extra life essence gathered from Lady Nox would help him survive it.
Chapter One
Not long after comming Dantius about the location of Crassus' aspiration to perform the ceremony on Nogatan, Hyperion began working on a way Crassus could be beaten once it began. He figured his best chance would be to wait until his grandfather had initiated the ceremony and entrenched himself into it but had thus far only found one way. If he let his grandfather begin by consuming the artifacts he intended to use in the ceremony, he needed only disrupt his concentration for a mere moment. Once that was done, the power that Crassus had gathered would turn on him, ripping his soul apart and scattering the pieces across oblivion that he may never rise again.
It was the only way to kill him for certain as Crassus would have no time to perform the ritual of essence transfer, had disconnected himself from Hyperion, and his newfound power would be utterly consumed before his soul was torn apart. His body would be reduced to ash along with the robes, leaving only his lightsaber to tell the story of his sad attempt to cheat death forevermore if Hyperion succeeded. The only trouble Hyperion had was finding anything about the potential backlash the ceremony may hold if it was somehow botched. Would the tearing also pulling apart anyone in close proximity to Crassus when the ceremony was botched.
If so, how much time did Hyperion have to vacate the chamber of Crassus' choice before it consumed him as well. These were the kinds of practical questions that Hyperion wished he could ask his brother, given that the Jedi would possess the story about how Lord Nihilus was killed and what had happened when his power burst outward. Had the Lord of Hunger tried to consume his murderers when he knew he was going to die and if so, how much had he taken out of Meetra Surik and her companions before that happened? This was the moment when he was willing to admit that his brother had been the better academian between the two of them and Menelaus had been showing he could be even better than that. The boy had been the smarter brain between the two of them and Hyperion didn't realize how much he missed him until he thought about his time with him on Ando Prime.
Crassus liked to think of these times as weakness but protecting Menelaus had been a source of strength for Hyperion. It was the case when they fought the Brothers Bane of Dromund Kaas, it had been the case when Hyperion came to rescue him from Clyde Rev, and when he fought and defeated Seth. Thinking of that made Hyperion realize that there was ample reason that Morgana had relied on her love of her sibling to fuel her revenge against Hyperion, fuel the travel and resources she had devoted to trying to destroy him. Granted, her vengeance had cost the Sith dearly where Hyperion's charge had set him free from the guilt of his youth but he was surprised to find himself sympathizing with her.
She had been, after all, Patricia's protector when their parents weren't around and likened herself to being a third parent despite the two of them being twin sisters. But he soon lamented thinking about Morgana when, as he was looking over the books he had procured about Sith ceremonies, a vision was produced across his psyche from the Force itself. In the vision, he was walking down a hallway that resembled the throne room of his homeworld of Algethiius but it was torn down by the ravages of war. More, Hyperion's parents, brother, adopted son, and even his old associates lied dead including the sons of Verrin that he had trained to be Emperor's Hands. Jadus was amongst the company as was the entire rest of the Dark Council besides Morgana who was nowhere to be found.
Hyperion kept walking down the hallway to the throne and when he arrived, he decided to take a seat where he knew his grandfather had once sat down when he ruled Algethiius. Fires were burning uncontrollably around the bodies and soldiers of numerous banners lied down beside the bodies that he had already seen on the way over to the throne room chair. As he sat down, he suddenly felt the heat of a lightsaber slice through his back, burn through his body, and poke out his chest to reveal a crimson blade. While the life left his vision's ethereal shell, he heard what sounded like the laughter of the woman the Empire had known as Darth Minshuto before Hyperion killed her. "Mo... Morgana," Hyperion whispered in a croaking voice before the vision ended, not revealing whether or not he would've died.
His return to consciousness saw him on the floor, bathed in sweat and the books strewn about the table he had been using for research. "What... what the hell happened there?" he asked himself, huffing shallow breaths to recover from what he'd seen. He knew he'd had a vision but he couldn't recognize what it meant for himself, no idea how Morgana factored into his life now that she was dead. Then again, Patricia had set in a chain of events that led to "Lady Minshuto" nearly destroying the remnants of the Sith Empire when she committed suicide, following Hyperion's rape of her. So he couldn't dismiss the possibility that somehow, Morgana's death had set in motion a chain of events that would likely be the most significant in Hyperion's long life.
He put the books away then decided that when it was time to make his move against Cronus, he would outline a strategy based on the information. Meantime, he let the librarians take the books so that they could be packed for the trip to the final destination of the remaining Sith forces. For Hyperion already knew that once Crassus had consumed the planet of Nogatan, he had another destination on which he intended to rebuild the Sith until they could be invincible against further incursions with the Republic. Time was of the essence and Dantius was going to have to destroy as much of the Sith as he possibly could, however he could when he arrived. Which gave Hyperion an idea, something he traditionally wouldn't suggest of Dantius for the simple reason that it would be criminal under normal circumstances.
Coding the signal so that the techs couldn't read it, he sent a one-way transmission to Dantius. "If you know any paramilitary forces, hire them out and have them join the fleet. Offer to set them up for life if they survive the conflict but make sure they understand they'll be allowed to use any means necessary to stop the Sith, provided the task is completed. I doubt you'll be allowed enough Republic forces to do the job with ease if you want to keep this expedition a secret," he said. For all their sakes, he hoped the comm reached Dantius before the Sith took off for Nogatan or else things were going to get difficult, if not impossible.