The Imperium War, a Star Wars story Part Two

by Laser921

The second installment of the Imperium War, starting with the mission to Nam Chorios, where a dark secret of the Imperium is discovered. This installment goes to the last year of the war. Please note that WodiQuix is co-author.

Imperium War (Part Two)

Cade Valdarin - Mission to Nam Chorios

Space. Cold, dark, full of wonder and yet full of nothing at the same time. It's been three days since we left Rieekan Station and Luke and I have had a dread feeling ever since leaving. What will we find on Nam Chorios? I look to the picture attached to the inside of my X-wing canopy. A picture of a Zeltron female, Kiara. My fiancée if this war ever ends. "Cade, come in." A loud voice rings in my ear.

"Yes Luke, I'm here." I look over at his X-wing and can see him through the canopy; he's smiling. "I can sense your thoughts you know," he says smirking. "You know, that's probably why people don't trust us fully yet, they are afraid of misuse of power." "Cheer up, just a bit of fun. Besides, Kiara will be fine. She's the Chancellor's aide, no harm will come to her with the security she rates." I nod. "Besides, we're coming up on the planet now."

Nam Chorios. The planet is one big sphere of swirling brown. I look at the stream of words and coordinates on my monitor readout that my R2 unit, Ratchet, is sending me. We can see the storms raging across the surface. "Ratchet is picking up signals from the north continent. We'll start there. I can feel it already, Luke. This place, something dark has happened here." Luke voices agreement and we speed of toward the signals. Then a flash of green fire rips through the sky. "We're hit. Brace for impact!" The sound I hear next is that of metal screeching on rock.

The next thing I hear is Ratchet's beeping. " I'm fine buddy, I'm fine. How are Luke and R2?" He beeps an affirmative. That's good. It looks like we have to trek our way to the facility where the signals were coming from. "Cade, you awake yet?" Says Luke, standing atop a small rocky hill. "We were shot down by surface to air turrets, we've definitely found something here."

After hours of walking and using the Force to lift the droids over obstacles, we come to it. A research station of some sort, but it looks more like a prison. The planet did see use as a penal colony by the Empire so it looks like the prison was converted for research. Luke and I scout the place with macrobinocs when we see a man run out of the front entrance screaming. "Help me!" He yells to no one in particular, before a black-clad figure warps in front of him, slicing through him with a red blade. The black figure walks back inside. "Well Luke, we have a reason to shut this place down. Let's go." And with that we jump down and levitate our droids to us and maneuver our way through the electronic security. What we see when we enter we were not prepared for. . . .

Jevin Corso - New Alderaan, On board the Intrepid

We're in the mess enjoying a nice meal when the alarms blare off. "All ships, we have entered the New Alderaan system, brace for contact." Sullustan Admiral Iphign shouts over the comm. Sid enters the mess as we drop out of hyperspace, the mottled blue fading to black. "So that's New Alderaan, huh? It's not as pretty as the original." I give him a glance and say, "Get to the MAATs, we're going groundside." We both run to the hangar. GR-80s are slowly prepping for takeoff, carrying the brunt of our ground assault forces. The smaller MAATs, a legacy of the LAAT gunships of the Old Republic, are for our smaller, fast moving teams. Sid stands in the bay of the transport, a hot stack of blue milk pancakes on a plate next to him. "Come on, come on, get 'em while they're hot! You only live once!" And with that, we take off. The space around New Alderaan lights up with the engine flares of multiple transports. At the same moment, purple laser fire comes up from the planet. "We got AA incoming!" The pilot shouts as he pulls the transport into emergency maneuvers. "Pilot, get us down there! We got to take that cannon out!" I yell.

. . .

We finally land, after some insane maneuvering. The door slides open and we see the lush green of New Alderaan. The planet is beautiful, almost like the original Alderaan. The only thing marring the scenery is the sight of a massive ground-to-orbit cannon, its' size making it ugly among the greenery. "Ok, we have our objective, let's move it out Forty-Fourth! We have to take Alderaan back. With luck the Fourth fleet will be able to take Onderon as well." We charge forward when chaos ensues. "Sniper fire!" A soldier yells as the green lasers of pulse cannons hit the ground around us. "Take cover, over there!"

"In here, there's cover!" Sergeant Cavanah says as we enter a forested area. "With luck, the trees will block any sniper scopes." "Colonel, what do we do now?" A fresh faced human Private asks me. I haul him off the ground and say, "Son, we finish the mission, for the Republic." An hour or two later, we enter the cannon control center. "Toss smokes." Smoke fills the control room and after a deadly crossfire, the operators are dead. "Sergeant, set those charges, this place is going to be a crater."

"Charges set, get out of here!" We run out to the forest before setting off the charges. In a spectacular flash, the cannon blows up, the whole foundation falling into the gorge it sat on. "Yeah, that's what I'm talking about!" I yell. "Now let's move to the primary spaceport, we take that, our GR-80's can land"...

Nam Chorios - Cade Valdarin

We enter the research facility. It's dark, the lights dimmed. "Well, this is not what I was expecting," Luke remarks. I nod in agreement. We walk on through the darkened hallways, passing living areas, medical bays, even a mess hall with no sign of life. "Luke, this place is deserted. So where did that escapee come from?" "Depressing answer? They're all dead," Luke replies ruefully.

We forge on, coming to a sealed doorway. The scanner will only recognize a certain ID chip. "Let's look through the mess hall, maybe it fell there." After about twenty minutes of scanning the room, we find the chip. It was just sitting on a table, no blood or anything to indicate why it was there. Either its owner forgot about it or it was left on purpose. I collect the chip and insert it into the reader next to the door and wait. After a few seconds, a cool female voice says, "ID code accepted. Welcome Praetor Zhorok." "This is definitely it. If a Praetor was here, something big was going on." The door slides open and what we see is revolting beyond measure.

As soon as the door slides open, we see multiple chambers, single-person prison cells sealed off by force fields, each with a slumped body in it. The occupants range from Human to Rodian, Bith to Bothan, and everything in-between. I feel the discomfort in Luke and he looks around, "By the Force, this is worse than anything the Empire did." "Agreed" I say, "Ratchet, plug into that console over there, see if you can find files about this place and the research done here." Beep! While Ratchet and Artoo plug into the data terminals, Luke and I walk around, observing the cells and seeing if there's anything we can discover through a visual scan. So far it's nothing. The bodies look almost as if they were shocked before death, their veins extremely visible. "Cade, over here!" Luke calls from the far corner of the room. I rush over to see Luke kneeling besides a Mon Calamari male who had escaped confinement only to die on the floor. However, Luke is holding a datapad. "He recorded a message, hoping someone would find it and hear his last words," Luke says remorsefully. "Let's hear it." I say.

All I hear is static for a couple of seconds, the gravelly voice of a Mon Calamari begins, slowly at first, to speak. "Please, if anyone hears this . . . must shut down this . . . Imperium performing . . . trying to use Kyber and Artisian crystals to . . . infuse . . . Force into us. They're trying to make Force sensitive soldiers, instead of waiting to find Force sensitives. Many of my friends have died in agony; I feel I'm about to join them. The Force is truly something we cannot comprehend. I guess some of us just aren't meant to have a connection to it. Please, if anyone sees this, destroy this place, destroy the Imperium. They have something even worse than these Force-sensitive super soldiers. An ancient . . ., capable of . . ." The message fizzles out and the datapad screen goes dark.

Luke puts down the datapad, closing the Calamari's eyelids. "He died trying to save others with this knowledge. Let's make sure his sacrifice isn't in vain." We nod at each other when Ratchet beeps again. "The files are downloaded? Good, let's get explosives from the ships so we can-" when all of a sudden we hear a roar; not a battle roar but rather a scream of intense anger and pain. The noise, and the aura of whatever it is is casting through the Force, makes my hair stand on end. "You feel that, Luke?" "Yeah, a badly warped Force presence. Some of the subjects must've survived and were left here, but to wait for us or because they couldn't be controlled?" At that moment, the plasteel wall in front of us bursts open by way of a telekinetic blast. "Guess we'll have to find out later!" I yell as we ignite our sabers, the green light illuminating the walls. "Ratchet, you and Artoo get to a safe spot and stay there until I contact you!" Luke and I rush toward the muscular figure writhing in agony, a human whose veins are bulging as if being constantly under immense pressure. Bringing up our lightsabers, we slash at the thing. . . .

Wodi "Wishbone" Quix - Briefing Room, aboard the MC80 Voyager

After Amminius and I catch up and have our drink at the mess, we head back toward the briefing room of the Voyager, located just aft of the main bridge. The corridors are bustling with activity; techs headed to different parts of the cruiser, fleet officers on errands, and various types of droids going who knows where. On more than one occasion, Amminius and I have to flatten ourselves against the bulkhead in order to avoid a collision. I have to grab Amminius' shoulder and haul him backward to prevent him from slamming into a Rodian communications officer coming out of a doorway. "Thanks Wishbone!" He grins sheepishly. "Kriff," Amminius remarks, running a hand through his hair, "it's more crowded than a Coruscant pedwalk in midday!" I laugh. "You said it! We'll be lucky if we make it before they close doors!" "Then let's pick up the pace!" "Want to get a face full of Rodian again? This time I might not be so quick to grab you! My reflexes aren't what they used to be!" We both look at each other before bursting out laughing, getting a couple of odd looks from passersby, and continue weaving our way through traffic until we reach the briefing room. The door is still open. Phew! We walk quickly inside to find the room already packed. I look around and spy an opening on one of the middle benches. I point in that direction and we hurry to claim the spot. As soon as we sit down, a two-chime tone sounds, indicating that the briefing is about to begin. Amminius blows out a puff of air through his cheeks. "Just in the nick of time." I hear someone slide into the small space beside Amminius and look to see Otara. She gives us both a smile and an eye roll. "I was beginning to think you two weren't coming," she mutters. "No way," Amminius quietly replies, giving her shoulders a squeeze, "and miss out on this this riveting briefing? Wouldn't dream of being anywhere else!" I chuckle. The room quiets down as the attention shifts to the front, where a large holoprojector sits. A red R5 astromech waits at the projector data port, ready to begin the presentation. I hear multiple pairs of booted feet entering the room and turn to see Admiral Kerex, dressed smartly in his crisply pressed white uniform. Accompanying the admiral are several officers, among them Tav Voren and Lando Calrissian. They walk to the holoprojector and stand behind it. Kerex nods his angular head at those assembled. "Welcome friends," he begins in his bubbly Quarren voice, "I wish I were speaking to all of you on more pleasant circumstances, but unfortunately that is not the case. The Imperium forces have attacked both New Alderaan and Onderon, which, as you may know, those systems contain several critical nexus hyperspace routes leading to key areas of the New Republic." Nods of understanding ripple through the group. "We cannot allow our enemy to possess such resources. A contingent of our fleet is being sent to Alderaan as we speak. R5 if you please?" Kerex gestures at the droid, who activates the holoprojector. Instantly, a magnified image of an impressive walled city appears. Admiral Kerex indicates the holo. "This is Onderon's capital, Iziz. It is the center of life on the planet and home to many key imports and exports valuable to our cause. It is also home to a garrison of our troops, the Twenty-Second Battle Group. According to recent reports, the city has been under attack for the last two weeks." Everyone assembled gasps. I turn to Amminius and Otara, mouthing disbelievingly 'two weeks?' "How is that possible?" An officer seated near me asks. "Wouldn't we have known of such an attack?" Kerex blinks his deep blue eyes and shakes his head, his tentacles rippling. "The Imperium sieged an outpost outside of Iziz, turning on the all-clear signal there and keeping it activated. Any attempts made by our soldiers to shut it down resulted in horrendous casualties. Communications traffic was also monitored. Any message for help, whether it be from a ship, base, or personal comlink would have been quickly intercepted. We received this message at 03:00 yesterday. We determined that it had been sent from one of the outpost's non-monitored hypercomm stations. How the sender managed to enter the outpost to relay this message is unclear." "How many members of the Twenty-Second are left?" I ask, raising my voice to be heard. "The sender of the message put our estimated troop strength at a few hundred." Kerex replies. The Quarren admiral cringes, tapping a key on the side of the holoprojector, and a man's recorded voice plays out. "This is Lieutenant Kyp Pencron." The voice sounds exhausted and terrified. "Twenty-Second Battle Group. We are under attack. The all-clear signal is a lie! They've wiped out most of our main line. Only reserves are left now. They have these . . . things! Twisted lab experiments imbued with . . . Kriff!" In the recording, I hear a door sliding open. Kyp's voice drops to a hoarse whisper. "Please, if you are receiving this message, send help to . . . OH NO! STAY AWAY! AHHHHHHH!" I jump involuntarily at the inhuman shriek playing out. Muffled thuds and cracks follow, a few gargles, and then silence. The recording cuts off with a pop! The whole room is deadly quiet. I stare at Amminius. His eyes are as wide as mine. No one says anything for several minutes. Admiral Kerex lets this newest piece of information sink in. "What . . . what was that?" Asks a visibly shaken X-wing pilot. "We don't know." General Calrissian says, a deep frown on his face. "But one thing's for sure. I don't think we'll be hearing from Kyp Pencron anytime soon." General Tav Voren steps up, taking the lead. "The Imperium have most of Iziz under siege, with only a few blocks left under our control." The Chagrian points to a strobing green section of the hologram. Voren nods at R5, who zooms the hologram out, revealing a vast jungle along one wall. "Now, the only official entrance to Iziz is across this central bridge, here." The bridge strobes blue. "But, we're not going in officially. We are to insert into the Onderon jungle along the western wall of the city. Major Quix and Captain Sinan will lead that force." Amminius and I nod. "There is a drainage system that leads right to the heart of Iziz. You are to lead your forces through the underground tunnels until you reach this point." A section of the tunnel strobes green. "This is directly under the main square of the city. Place detonation charges all throughout. We'll create a cave-in, enveloping much of the Imperium presence there. Myself and General Calrissian will lead the Jumper Corps. Our job is to distract the Imperium forces, leading many of them to the square, where you'll be waiting. The rest of the Ninth Army will take back the city and the surrounding area, bolstering the reserves as well as overseeing the evacuation of citizens to the safe zone." A small area off to the east of the city outlined with a dotted line strobes green. "The Fourth fleet will provide aerial defenses, taking out the Imperium cruisers with Blue and Green Squadron standing by to assist you. We take back Iziz, we take back Onderon!" Tav Voren concludes, nodding his horned head. The holoprojection fades. "Any questions?" An A-wing pilot dressed in green, his helmet resting in his lap raises a hand. Voren nods his way. "Any idea what kind of power they're packing above Onderon?" Admiral Kerex speaks up. "Our scout droid we sent to the Japrael sector has come back with that very information. The Imperium has sent Predator-class and Victory-class Destroyers, as well as five wings of TIE Hunters to blockade Onderon." The pilot nods. "Should be easy enough." A chuckle ripples through the room. I lean over to Otara and Amminius, muttering "I admire his bravery." Both nod. Admiral Kerex raises a three-fingered hand for silence. "We are about to enter our last of a number of randomly calculated hyperspace jumps. Once completed, we will head to Onderon. May the Force be with you. Dismissed!" The lights come back up, and we all get up from our seats. The last part of the recorded message plays over and over in my head. What could have caused that soldier to emit such a cry of fear and anguish? I shudder, figuring I'll find out that bit of information soon enough. "Let's head back to my cabin." I say to Amminius and Otara. "We'll have a group meeting with everyone." "You got it Wishbone!" Amminius says, smiling. "Family reunion!" He looks at me, losing his smile, concern showing in his brown eyes. "You alright?" He whispers, leaning in close so only I can hear. "Shaken is all." I reply. Amminius nods his understanding. Lannik Endel, my second-in-command, makes his way over to us. I nod a greeting. "We're headed back to my quarters for a group meeting. SHARCS and Infiltrators." Endel nods in understanding. "I'll have everyone there in five." He hurries off. I look to my two friends. "Well, here we go again." Otara smiles. She puts a hand on my shoulder. "Drinks on me once we get back!" I laugh, releasing all the built-up tension in my body. It feels great. Amminius laughs. Otara laughs. No matter what happens, we'll all be in it together.

Mission to Nam Chorios - Research facility - Cade Valdarin

"Hrrrk!" Another super soldier screams as it telekinetically flings a heavy crate past us. "More are coming!" Luke says. "We've got to find the control center and destroy this place!" "Agreed!" I yell as I plunge my saber into an advancing soldier's head. "Keep moving!" We run down a long corridor, the sounds of inhuman shrieks echoing down the halls.

"There! It's the control room!" Luke says as the plasteel wall next to him suddenly bursts open, a super soldier knocking him over with a remarkably strong Force push. "Luke!" I turn around as two more land in front of me. Luke's down, saber knocked away as the soldier brandishes his gauntlet cortosis blade. Just as he is about to stab Luke, a serrated kitchen knife lunges through his abdomen. A guttural grunt ensues and the hulking mass falls to its side, dead.

"Well, that could have been bad!" Sid the Sullustan says in a sarcastic tone. He helps Luke up as I decapitate the two soldiers in front of me. "Sid, what in blazes are you doing here?" I ask. He picks up his knife, cleaning the blood off of it. "Well, I felt like ever since the Civil War ended, I haven't seen any action and wanted to get some. I asked Jevin where you were going. Heh, he was tight lipped about it, something about "extremely classified" or something." I smile at the Sullustan. "What about the restaurant?" "Please Cade, I'm a chef. We know how to handle these things. Now, I don't like the looks of these things and this place. I assume you have a plan?"

We hurry on, hearing those shrieks every now and then. "The droids are checking in," Luke says. "Artoo says he found an old Sentinel transport. We can use that to rendezvous with the Fourth on Onderon." We enter the control room looking around. "Okay Sid, Luke, look for the self-destruct, every facility has one somewhere." I say. SHRIEK! Several of the mutant soldiers telekinetically blast through the wall of the room.

"Kriff! Sid, find that destruct, we'll hold them off!" Luke says before force-dashing across the room, taking off an arm and hand of two soldiers. I throw my saber through two more before grabbing the sword and getting into a duel with another soldier using his blade. Luke and I easily cut through the soldiers but they keep coming. One falls, another comes through the ceiling. That one falls and another bursts through the wall. We keep cutting our way through them, having to use Force-enhanced speed and even enhancing our physical strength to punch and kick at them as they come closer and closer.

"Got it!" Sid yells as he throws a meat cleaver, hitting a mutant soldier that I had been grappling with square in the face. "Alright, destruct sequence is activated! Let's get to the hangar!" I yell. We enter the long corridor again. The walls are now echoing loudly with inhuman shrieks. As we run, several mutants try to jump on us but Luke and I are able to Force-push them back, slamming them into the walls. "Get in, get in!" I yell as we enter an archway. As soon as Sid and Luke are through, I reach out with the Force, seizing the walls around the door. The walls begin to groan with the sound of cracking permacrete as the mutants rush down the corridor. Just as they begin launching themselves off the ground, I pull my arms together, causing the walls to rip free of their foundations and slam together, the mutants caught in the middle. The sound from the the two chunks of crumpled wall hitting each other is enough to cause a headache. "Alright," I sigh with effort, "that should hold them, at least for a while. Let's get on the shuttle and get out of here."

We run to the hangar, Ratchet and R2-D2 are next to the Sentinel transport, the loading bay door open. "Come on, get on!" Sid yells as we hear the mass of crumpled metal flung apart. "Strap yourselves in, this will be close!" Luke yells as he takes the pilot's chair, being the best pilot among us, myself being the better swordsman. The shuttle takes off, myself and Sid in the passenger seats as the droids are in the cargo bay. At the same moment, the door to the hangar is blasted open, a horde of mutants behind it. "Blast the doors Luke!" I yell as quick as I can. In a flash of green fire, the large hangar doors are blown apart and we blast off. As soon as we clear the facility, the self-destruct timer hits zero. I look through the rear viewport as the research facility explodes in a spectacular flash of orange mixed with blue from the Force energy of the imbued mutant soldiers. "Good, hopefully that will be the last of those things," Sid sighs with relief. "We can hope Sid. Now we have a date to meet. Ratchet, punch in the coordinates to Onderon. The battle there is a shatterpoint. If it's lost, many others will be as well." The stars outside the cockpit contort to blue lines, and then the mottled blue of hyperspace takes over. "I have a feeling that Onderon and Alderaan will lead to a major event . . . and what I foresee about it is troubling." I murmur as Sid is tweaking with a busted panel on Artoo and Luke is focused on piloting. We're coming Wodi, watch your back.

Mediator battleship Vortex, flagship of the 3rd Fleet - Jevin Corso, New Alderaan

The scene of Alderranian cities grow closer. After the original Alderaan's destruction at the hands of the Empire, the refugees of the planet became homeless, wandering the stars. Some settled on Espirion while most of the others joined us. A few years after the Empire's defeat and the establishment of the New Republic, a massive monetary effort was made to colonize a perfect garden world to match the original Alderaan. What was made was a near perfect imitation of Alderaan and in another few short years, the planet became a jewel in the Mid Rim, trade bustling and its location became a guard to the Inner Rim. The planet's coordinates were a closely guarded secret; no one wanted a repeat of Alderaan's destruction. However, with the advent of the Imperium War, that secrecy was broken and the garden world shattered.

"Colonel Corso!" High Marshal Ponith draws my attention away from a nearby vidscreen overlooking the demolished capital city of Faroe. I turn around to face the veteran warrior. "Marshal Ponith, how can I help you?" I ask. "Aren't there battle plans you should be formulating, we're about to launch the assault?" He gives me a look. "Yes, but there's two things we need to clear up. First, we just received word, the Imperium is taking us hard in the Outer Rim. Rodia has fallen; the dome cities have been demolished to crumpled glass. The Sixty-Seventh Division has been reallocated from there, what's left of it. From what the survivors tell me, some kind of super soldier unit was partly responsible for the fall, plus some Praetors." I sigh, "And the second?" He looks at me, suddenly standing at attention. Raising his voice for the whole flight deck to hear, "Colonel Jevin Corso, in light of exemplary leadership and combat abilities and for your dedication to the ideals of freedom and democracy, I, High Marshal Tor Ponith, hereby promote you to the position of Brigadier General and all the responsibilities therein." The bustle on the deck stops and everyone begins cheering and clapping. I give him a startled look, "A promotion sir? Why now?" He chuckles, "Well, aside from your battle on Rhen Var, the troops need some good things to lighten their moods. We're losing the Outer Rim son. Besides, you've proven yourself countless times over and I want you to eventually succeed High General Iblis as commanding officer of the entire Third Army." I salute, "Thank you sir, it's an honor sir." "At ease. And don't worry, I'll make sure Cade and Wodi are notified of your promotion. Now General, follow me and we will devise a battle plan."

. . .

"Alright, Alpha group, listen up." I say in the briefing room. "This is Faroe, once capital of New Alderaan, now smoking ruins. From what our scout teams have reported, there are civilians still trapped in the city and Imperium forces are moving street by street trying to snuff out any resistance. That's where we come in. Thankfully, we have a section of the elite Jumper Corps here to assist with that. While they work on saving trapped civies, the bulk of the Forty-Fourth will move on the city. Meanwhile, elements of the Forty-Third Division, namely armor and infantry divisions, will create a defensive perimeter around the city. If we take Faroe, we stand a chance. From what we can tell, the Military Command Center for New Alderaan is still intact but is under attack." "Thank you General. Now I know what some of you have heard," Ponith steps in, "about these new super soldiers. I may be older but I have ears still. I have heard the rumors that we cannot win against this foe. They follow the Sith way absolutely and crush anything that does not bow to them. Well I'm here to tell you that stops today. We are the New Republic; we succeeded in toppling one of the most powerful governments in galactic history, we have seen the return of the jedi, and we will defeat this foe!" A roaring HOOYAH sounds in the command room. "Alright then, you all have your assignments, dismissed. Get to your transports and standby." Everyone begins leaving to the hangar. "Oh and General?" I turn, "Yes sir?" "You're to be there, on the ground with your men." "Sir, I'm sorry, I thought I was a general now, don't you want me to coordinate the troops?" He scoffs, "Jevin, I have watched your career from when you were kidnapped by Xander all those years ago. You lead your troops by example; they follow you because you don't ask them anything you wouldn't ask of yourself. They look up to you, Jevin. And I feel your troops would follow you into the gates of Malachor if you asked them to. May the Force be with you." Nodding, we part ways.

Boarding the MAAT, the troops bundled inside look at me with questions in their gazes. They are in their battle uniforms; white chest armor, elbow pads, and knee pads with grey trousers and tunics, as am I. I look at the closest one. "Private, what's your name?" "Emel, sir," the Ishi Tib replies. "Emel, I wouldn't ask you to risk your life unless I'm risking mine. This fight, no this war is as much yours as it is mine. Now let's get some Imperium tails." He nods, as do all of them gathered. And with that, the MAAT takes off, joining hundreds of transports, from MAATS to GR-80s to older, captured Sentinel transports. The battle to retake New Alderaan has begun. . . .

_ Wodi "Wishbone" Quix - Onderon, aboard the MC80 Voyager

"How much junk can you pack for one trip, Wodi?" Our two teams are bustling around the barracks, getting ready to land on Onderon in a couple of hours. Weapons are given a careful scrubbing, packs are loaded with essentials, helmets are fitted with night optics, and banter is exchanged. I look from a grinning Amminius to my bunk, the bottom half of the sheets barely visible due to the amount of "essentials" I had deemed necessary to bring along. I look back to him, shrugging. "Enough to annoy you!" I pick up my scout pistol from the top of the pile and twirl it in the air, catching it and pointing it at him, it's safety engaged, grinning back. Amminius puts his hands up in mock surrender. "Alright, you win this one! Just don't expect me to fish you out of the mud when all your equipment brings you down!" He smirks, making a slow sinking motion with his hand. I laugh, hitting him in the arm. Turning back to my bunk chuckling, I resume packing my items.

Once everyone is finished, we all congregate to the middle of the room. I can feel nervousness as well as excitement buzzing in the air; the normal mix of emotions before its boots on the ground. Standing in my SHARC uniform, my green painted combat helmet tucked under my arm, I run a gloved hand through my hair, checking my wrist chrono. We still have an hour to go. I raise my hand, indicating that I wish to say something. I walk to the center of our group and stand facing them. "This is an important mission," I begin, "and the stakes are pretty high. If Onderon falls, it means those hyperspace routes leading to our heart will be in enemy hands. It means that our loved ones will be put further into harm's way. It means that the enemy will be one step closer to snuffing us out." "Thanks for the uplifting pep talk, Wishbone." Amminius calls, getting a few stifled laughs. I smile at my best friend, rolling my eyes. "I'm not finished yet Sinan." "Take your time, Wishbone!" "Anyway, what I was going to say was that even though we have all the odds stacked against us, I believe firmly that we will be victorious. Onderon will not fall." I see nods of affirmation from my fellow teammates. "I believe this because I know we have the strength, the courage, and the will to ensure success. We've proved many times over that the underdog can take the lead and win!" I raise my hand in the air, forming a fist. "Let's see this to the end! For Onderon! For the Twenty-Second! For the New Republic!"

Everyone cheers, raising their fists, stomping their boots, and clapping furiously. I smile, keeping my fist in the air. Amminius herds everyone in, creating a group hug. We all stand there for a few moments. "Alright," Endel says, "break it up, people. My boots are getting waterlogged!" Everyone laughs, breaking off. I go to sit on my bunk, composing a message to Amara on my datapad. Just as I finish, the comm system of the Voyager crackles to life. "Attention all troops. We are about to exit our last hyperspace jump. Please make your way toward the hangars to your designated landing craft." "Alright!" Amminius holsters his E-11, clapping his hands. "Let's get a move on!" We file out into the hallway, already crowded with soldiers moving to the hangars. "Ooh, great." Malogaan grumbles. "Rush hour!" "Don't you just love it?" Calls Amminius. We make our way through the bustling corridors. Up ahead, I spy a few members of the Jumper Corps, one of them, a green skinned Rodian male, looking very familiar. I smile. "Hey Geelo!" The Rodian looks over his shoulder, scanning the crowd until his large starry eyes see us. He waves, falling back from his fellows to match pace with us.

"Wodi, Amminius. It is good to see you both!" I nod. "You as well." Amminius smiles at the Rodian and whistles, gesturing at Geelo's uniform. "Just look at that fancy getup! Almost makes me wish I had a tank of flammable liquid strapped to my back!" Geelo smirks at him. I smile to myself, rolling my eyes. "So what have you been up to?" Geelo stands a bit straighter. "Well, I've been training. It's a brutal regimen, but it really prepares you." I nod, my thoughts going back to my basic training as a Rebel soldier. It was tough, and physically and mentally demanding, but never brutal. "Do you think we can take back Onderon?" Geelo nods energetically. "Of course we can. And I'm counting on running into plenty of Imperium personnel along the way." The Rodian's starry eyes burn with anger. "They will pay for what they have done to my species." He says, more to himself than us. I shudder, the tone of his voice sending shivers down my spine. Geelo recomposes himself quickly. "I must hurry to the hangar. Lieutenant Underso will want everyone present for final inspection. I'm sure I'll see you planetside." Both Amminius and I nod. "Good luck!" "And to you as well!" Geelo rushes off. Amminius looks to me. "Remind me to never get on his bad side." I nod, watching our Rodian friend catch up to the other members of his unit. "Can you blame him? Think of how you were after Corellia." Amminius looks down, frowning. "I try not to." I put my arm around his shoulder, shaking him back to his old self. "Hey, no matter what happens, we're in it together." "Great." Amminius quickly grins. "That's comforting." I suddenly feel a slight jarring sensation. I look out a nearby bulkhead viewport. We've exited hyperspace. "Better hurry." I advise, indicating the viewport. Amminius laughs. "Always late. Some things never change!" With that, we hurry with the rest of our group towards the hangar, taking the flight of stairs down two at a time. "There's our ride!" Malogaan shouts, gesturing at a matte black GR-80 transport, its ramp lowered. "Better hurry if we want good seats." "We'll be the only ones riding, laserbrain!" Nom Carver says, laughing. "I know that. Just trying to make a joke." Malogaan responds, shrugging. I laugh, motioning towards the waiting transport. "See, Wodi thought it was funny!" "Wodi will laugh at chipping paint!" I grin, shaking my head. "I will not!"

Battle of New Alderaan, Third Army - Brig. General Jevin Corso

"Get inside, now!" I yell. The first few hours after landing on New Alderaan were torture. Everything was fine until the loading doors of the MAAT opened. Then, out of nowhere, a torrent of blaster fire riddled the transport, taking Emel and two others right there. We ran to Faroe, now within running distance, as the fighter wings opened up on the anti-air positions. It was a terrible sight; the beautiful white buildings of Faroe, reminiscent of old Alderaan, now are charred by blasterfire. We made it to the Military Command Center after cutting through several back alleys and now are holed up in the building.

…

"General Corso, are you there? This is Admiral Iphigin, please respond!" I pop my head up to look through a blasted open door, ducking just in time to dodge several potshots taken by Imperium stormtroopers across the way. "Iphign, I'm here! Intel dropped the ball, the Imperium was much more entrenched than we thought!" I take several shots with my X45A rifle, dropping an Imperium sniper off his perch. "I know, the fleet ran into trouble, too. As soon as we had entered orbital positions, Predator Star Destroyers jumped in the system, we are completely cut off and can't escape." I look around, seeing the scared faces of new recruits and the grim, hardened faces of veterans. Looking at a certain group, I say, "Jorgan, Gradlin, Meera, you're coming with me. There should be a surface-to-orbit cannon nearby. If we can lighten the pressure on the Third Fleet, we may be able to pull this off. Meera, an Iridonian female and captain, begins barking out orders for covering fire as the trio make their way to me. "Alright, Iphigin, listen up!" I yell into my wrist comm while donning my blast helmet, the kind worn by Rebel Navy Troopers but with the New Republic Phrik weave, making it extremely durable, "I'm going to take a small team and retake the orbital cannon. We may be able to take out some of their support ships, allowing your Mediators to focus fire on the star destroyers." "I don't know, it sounds risky. But then again, that's what you're known for. Good luck, General."

. . .

"Alright. Three. Two. One. Go!" We dash out of the building, heading for the orbital cannon close by. A hail of fire erupts from the openings of the center as my troops there give us cover fire. All is going well until we get close to the cannon. A deafening roar, no, a shriek, as if someone in unimaginable pain sounds out. Gradlin, a male Cathar, suddenly is thrown into a wall and then something lands on the ground where he was so fast that dust picks up, obscuring the form. Jorgan, being the veteran he is, runs to check on Gradlin while strafing the thing as Meera and I train our rifles on the dust. As it clears, what we see disgusts me. It's a human but he or she looks like their body is under constant pressure, as if they are in constant pain and all of their muscles are tense. It wears stormtrooper armor like Imperium soldiers but in a bigger size. Meera curses in her native tongue and opens fire, getting three direct hits on the monster. It just stands there as the blaster bolts connect with its body, then lets out a roar and charges at Meera, pinning her against the wall of a bombed-out building. "Meera! Hold on!" I yell as I pour fire into the mutant's back. It isn't having any effect. Seeing Jorgan helping a limping Gradlin into the cannon control center, I discard the rifle. I pull out a short sword, the distant laserfire reflecting in the blade. This isn't just any blade but a gift from Cade. The blade has a Phrik weave in it, like my helmet, giving it a much harder edge and greater killing power. I charge forward, sinking the blade into the soldiers back. It howls in pain but doesn't die. Instead, it thrashes about, swinging me with it until I lose my grip, flinging me into the plasteel wall of the command center. The mutant soldier then leaps up, apparently having a jetpack built into its large armor. Meera is choking but okay and gasps, "Sir . . . grenade." Kicking a rifle to me with her flailing boot. The great thing with the X45A is it has an under-barrel grenade launcher, shooting small, cylindrical thermal detonators. They have less kick than normal detonators but are easier to target vital areas with. I glance up as the mutant is hovering in the air, reaching desperately for the blade in its back. Raising the rifle, I look through the scope. The mutant sees me and with another howl, it drops Meera and starts flying toward me. Thinking quickly, I fire off a grenade, hitting the mutant directly in its stomach and causing a blinding explosion. In addition to the explosion from the grenade, there is a blast of blue gas. I sit there panting after the gas dissipates, confused at what I just fought. Then, making me jump, the sword falls blade first next to me in the ground. Pulling it up and collapsing it into its carry position, I walk over to Meera and help her up. "Come on soldier, you've been through worse. We got a job to do." Looking back as we enter the building, I can't help but hope Wodi doesn't run into any of those things. I wish Cade were here right now, we could use a Jedi.

Battle for New Alderaan, Faroe Military Command Center - Brig. General Jevin Corso

We enter the command building after our tussle with the super soldier, finding the building to be deserted and looking like a bombed shelter. Debris is strewn everywhere, dead bodies litter the ground. Meera is the first to call out, "Gradlin, Jorgan, where'd you get too!?" Jorgan is the first to come out, his bushy mustache easy to identify through the haze. "Here sirs. Gradlin is upstairs, working to get the defense systems for the planet back online. It's amazing; a Cathar is a tech expert, you'd expect otherwise." I set Meera down on a chair and move to the window. "Iphign, this is Jevin, we got to the command center, what can you tell us?" Static, then, "Jevin, the command center is revolutionary for any planet. Each world in the Republic has a sophisticated defense network but New Alderaan is by far the most advanced. Alpha Blue, the Republics' black-ops division, installed heavy ion cannons in the moons of Alderaan. These cannons have high-tech tracking systems, they'll tear apart enemy ships while avoiding friendlies." I walk over to the stairs, "Gradlin, get those turrets online, we may be able to assist our naval forces immensely." "Got it!" he yells back.

Several hours later . . .

Meera groans, her wounds still bad. "So, what the heck was that thing? It looked like an Imperium stormtrooper but, well, bulkier. More muscular." "I don't know," I reply." I heard Cade and Luke were investigating something strange on Nam Chorios. Something about strange Force presences, maybe this is it?" "What, you mean now they have Force-powered super soldiers?" Jorgan scoffs, "That's just great, anything these guys don't have?" Gradlin shuffles down the stairs, "Yeah, no Death Star. Good news is the turret system is online again. Shall we observe?" We all move outside the building, taking cover in the rubble of a nearby building. White-blue lights begin to show up in the sky; the ion cannons are blasting away at the Predator-class Star Destroyers.

"General, this is Iphigin, you've done it! The cannons are already tearing apart the Destroyers. All hands, light 'em up! How are things on the ground?" I look at my wrist chrono, "It's time for us to move. All Republic forces near Faroe, this is General Corso, I want this city and planet taken back within the day, move in on the city." All the units within the Forty-Fourth and Forty-Fifth divisions check in. Behind us, we hear the rumbling of tank treads on the ground. Looking back, we see several T4-Bs rolling down, along with several ACC-4 hover tanks, the Thirteenth Armored Brigade. As the sky above us is filling up with the light of red laser blasts and white ion cannon blasts, the city starts to fill up with smoke, laser blasts, rockets, and grenade launchers all sounding off.

After several more hours of intense street-to-street fighting, we make it to the Faroe capital building. The scars of battle are very present on it, several sections bear carbon scoring and others are completely blown out. "Captain Reegar!" I yell out and promptly, a young human male of maybe twenty four years, short cropped black hair, appears. "Sir?" "Listen up son, we need to take this building, the other Divisions on the planet are reporting that the Imperium is falling back, this is their last stronghold planetside so we need to take it. I want you and your Jumpers to get behind enemy lines, we'll take them from both sides and catch them in the crossfire. He gives a crisp salute, then yells some orders to several troopers. Then, with a high-pitched whine, their jump packs come on, and off they go to the bombed away sections of the building. "Alright, let's move! Watch your corners and watch for civilians. Roll out!" I say a quiet prayer of my own, hoping Wodi and Amminius are doing fine on Onderon. "Marshal Ponith, we are moving in on the capitol building now." "Good luck Jevin," Tor replies.

Wodi "Wishbone" Quix - Onderon

After an exchange off our broadside with an Imperial Victory-class cruiser, the Voyager techs clear us for departure. Strapped into my safety harness beside Malogaan and Carver with my TL-50 heavy repeater, I gaze out the forward viewport as our battered GR-80 transport leaves the hangar with our escort, blasting out into the starry vacuum of space. Ahead of us is Onderon. And a blockade of Imperium Predator Destroyers. Starfighters zip by ahead of us, lasers lancing out at one another. A blue trim X-wing scores a hit on a TIE hunter, its quad laser cannons shredding the TIEs left solar wing, sending the fighter careening. The thing explodes in front of us, showering our transport with debris. I can hear each individual scrap of shrapnel hitting our cockpit viewport with little metallic pings. Many of our cruisers have gotten into an exchange position, trading turbolaser fire with the defending Destroyers. Off to our port and starboard, other GR-80 transports come into view, speeding toward Onderon's surface.

I look around the large crew cabin at our two teams. All are strapped in, gazing out viewports, checking the calibration on their blasters, or engaging in conversation. I turn to Nom Carver, saying "How you feeling?" Carver offers me a grin. "All good here, Major. Loaded and ready to go!" I nod, smiling. I next turn to Malogaan. "Feeling good, Malogaan?" Malogaan smiles, hefting his TL-50. "With this baby, I'll be just fine sir!" I grin, clapping him on the shoulder. Outside, Onderon looms closer. "Entering the atmosphere." The voice of the pilot crackles over the comm. "Prepare for a bumpy ride!" I check the strap of my safety restraint, tugging it a little tighter, just in case. "This is where the fun begins!" Says Amminus, sitting a few seats over from me. Our transports break the planetary atmosphere, one by one. Directly ahead of us is the capital city of Iziz. "There it is." Says Gav Pulastra, pointing. "Kriff, is it in bad shape!" He's right. Even from this far out, I can see the extent of the damage. Much of the walled city is smoking, and a few sections are ablaze. "Alright," I begin, "when we tou-" BAM! A transport to our right falls out of the sky, trailing smoke and shrapnel. "Anti-aircraft!" Yells our pilot. A shot from a ground cannon flies past, barely missing us. The transport to our left is not so lucky. "Kriff!" Yells Gav Pulastra, staring out after the doomed GR-80. "We're sitting mynocks here! Where's our escort?"

As if in answer, a trio of Y-wing starfighters roars past us, splitting off from each other to drop their payload. A brilliant plume of fire rises up from the jungle. "This is Epsilon Three. Way's clear!" "Just in time." Remarks Nosh Ker Raisuun. I breathe a sigh of relief. The remaining transports touch down in a jungle clearing a few klicks from Iziz. A bump reverberates through the crew cabin as our GR-80 touches ground. "Ok, here we go!" I yell, unstrapping myself and switching off my TL-50s safety switch. Outside, I can hear the sound of blasterfire against our outer hull as the stormtroopers take shots at our transport. "Everyone ready?" "HOOYAH!" Is the resounding answer. "Boarding ramp descending!" Shouts the pilot. "Good luck out there!" Light pours through the widening crack of the descending ramp. A red blaster bolt shoots through the crack, hitting the upper bulkhead, creating a shower of sparks. "Kriff!" Yells Glam, jumping in surprise. With a THUNK the ramp hits the ground, and we're out, sprinting through the foliage. "Left! Watch your left!" "Laying down heavy fire!" "Grenade out!" We run alongside the bulk of the Ninth Army, pushing up to the capital city.

My boots are kicking up mud and leaves as I sprint with my group, charging the Imperium main line. Leaves and wet branches whip at my face. I'm breathing hard, sweat pouring down my face and neck. I launch my TL-50's secondary fire at a group of stormtroopers taking cover behind a large tree stump. Direct hit! "Nice one, Wishbone!" Calls Amminius, spraying his own weapon at a trooper manning an E-web. The bolts catch the trooper square in the chest plate, throwing him off the tripod-mounted repeating blaster and into the brush. "Thermal out!" Yells Gav Pulastra, hurling a detonator. The thermal lands at the feet of two Imperium troopers. They scramble to get out of the way, but are too late. "We can do this! Push up, push up!" Suddenly the soldier running next to me jerks and falls face first into the mud, his blaster flying out of his hands. Another soldier cries out, a volley of bolts hitting him in the chest, sending him flying backwards. "It's coming from up there!" Malogaan shouts, pointing. I squint my eyes to see . . . three mounted heavy repeater cannons up in the tree branches, spatting laser fire down at us. "Take cover!" I yell. "Troopers up in the trees!" The heavy cannons cut down four more of our soldiers as we duck behind trees, rocks, and fallen logs. One soldier takes a volley to the leg, severing it just below the knee. The man screams in pain, hitting the ground, dropping his weapon. A soldier and I immediately jump out and grab his outstretched arms, dragging the groaning man behind our cover. "It's alright," I soothe him, squeezing his shoulder, "you're gonna be fine, buddy." I gesture for a medic. "Come on, take 'em out!" One of Amminius' soldiers, Aran Nomante, shouts. "We can't hide behind here forever!" The medic finally arrives, and I make my way over to where Nomante and a Ninth scout crouch. "How many men did we lose?" I ask him, shouting to be heard over the din. "Thirteen so far, Major! Five from the E-web fire! And three are hurt too bad to continue!"

I hit the stock of my TL-50 in frustration. We aren't getting anywhere with those troopers suppressing us. As soon as we peek up to try to take out a gunner, a volley of blaster bolts comes our way from another E-web. At that moment, my comlink vibrates, indicating an incoming call. I unhook the device from my belt and press the 'talk' button. "Yes?" "Wishbone! Glad to see you're still with us. Those troopers are sure putting a crimp in our day!" It's Amminius! "You're telling me!" I respond. "Any ideas on how to get past 'em?" "We could always ask them nicely!" "Really?" "Sorry, just trying to lighten the tone. Anyways, we have one smart rocket over here with us with a couple of shots. You have any?" I scan the soldiers taking cover by me. I spy two rockets. Catching the attention of the soldiers carrying them, I gesture for them to come over to me. "I've got two!" "OK. Toss out a few flash bangs and we'll do the same over here." The cannons start up again, sending up a shower of splintered wood and rock. I cover my face, closing my eyes tightly. "OK," I turn to Nomante and the scout, "flashbangs out on three! When they go off, you two," I gesture to the soldiers with the smart rockets, "fire your rockets at the E-webs. We'll provide cover fire!" I get over the unit comlink and relay the plan to the other soldiers pinned down farther away from us. Confirmations come flooding back in. "Got it sir!" "Let's do it!" "Ok!" "Affirmative, Major!" "Copy, Wodi!"

"Ready?" Amminius comes over the comm again. "Ready!" I respond. "Let's do it! On three!" "Got it!" I hold up a gloved hand, counting down with three fingers, holding the comlink to my mouth so Amminius can hear my countdown as well. "Three, two, one . . . Now!" The scout and Nomante hurl their flashbangs, and I hear them go off. POW! "OK! Rockets!" The two soldiers bring up their rockets, aiming through the sights. I bring up my TL-50, perching it on top of our cover, firing randomly at the treeline. I see multiple bolts from the other soldiers doing the same. The rockets go off . . . and hit their marks! Yes! "Yahoo! Good work!" We all get up from our crouched positions and converge in a small clearing, doing a headcount. In total, four soldiers were lost in the flashbang diversion. I make my way to the front of the knot of soldiers and shout to be heard. "Alright, good work everyone. The rest of you are to make your way to the city and meet up with what's left of the Twenty-Second. Others from the Ninth are already on site. My SHARC team and Captain Sinan's Infiltrators will take the route through the sewage system to the city square. Good luck!" The soldiers from the Ninth move off towards Iziz, leaving only SHARCs and Infiltrators in the clearing. "Alright," I say to them, "the drainage grate should be on the lower part of the eastern wall. Let's go!" And with that, we start off through the now silent jungle. Well, silent save for the echoes of explosions and blaster fire in the distance. As we walk, the sky grows progressively darker. Night is approaching. I shudder, thinking of the horrible scream from the briefing. Hopefully, we won't run into anything before we get to the grate. We still have a ways to go.

Battle for New Alderaan, Faroe Capitol Building - Brig. General Jevin Corso

BOOM! A chunk of the wall next to us explodes in a fiery burst. "General!" Meera calls out over the din, "I don't think we can make it, the hallways are too well covered!" I glance around, seeing Meera, Graadlin, and others hunkering down in the smoke. It's been nearly a day since the Republic forces on Alderaan closed on the capitol building and we've barely made it halfway up the skyscraper. "Got it!" I yell, "Tank Commander, I need a missile volley on the building at these coordinates, NOW!" I say through my wrist comm as I select certain areas on the holo map projecting from my dataglove. "Got it General, danger close!"

BOOM. BOOM. BOOM. The walls shake with a fury, the concussion missiles rocking the building. Colonel Gerome Carr, my new second-in-command, looks at me, "You sure about this sir? What if this takes the building down with us?" I look back, "It'll be fine Carr. This building's tougher than it looks." The rocking stops. I stand up, brandishing my X45A rifle, "Captain Reegar, this is Corso, are your Jumpers in position?" "Yes sir, give the word!" We get to the doors of the main atrium. "Now!" And with that, the sound of jetpacks roar, followed by the sound of Atlas Repeater Cannons. "Okay everyone, three, two, one," I say, ending with a nod to Carr, who sets a detonation pack on the door.

The door bursts open in a fiery explosion and we charge in, blasters peppering through the smoke of the explosion. Carr takes down a stormtrooper on a balcony, causing him to fall off the edge and land with a hard crack on the polished marble floor. I aim my rifle at a stormtrooper about to aim at the now exposed Carr, hitting him dead in the faceplate. Graadlin, the massive Cathar, takes a bolt to the arm. I learn that you never want to do that. With a fury as scary as a Wookiee, he charges the trooper that hit him, causing the trooper to drop his rifle in fear. Graadlin grabs him and hauls him out the closest window.

After at least an hour of fighting in the atrium, taking cover, aiming, firing, and repeating, the atrium is cleared. Carr stands, "Atrium cleared, where next sir?" "All that's left is the Governor's Chamber" I say, moving next to the massive ferrocrete door. "We know that these Praetors are the high-ranking members of the Imperium, second only to Pravus. That being said, they must be in charge of high level operations like this." Glancing back at my troops assembled in the atrium, "This is it, we take this guy out, the Imperium forces on the planet will lose leadership." Jorgan stands at the door control, looking at me for the signal. Hefting my rifle; Graadlin his TL-50; Gerome his DH-24 carbine, I give a quick nod. The door slowly opens, adding to our frayed nerves.

The room is completely dark and nobody's there. But all of a sudden . . . "AARRGGHH!" Three of those mutant soldiers jump out at us with incredible speed, blasting from their wrist-blasters as they hop around. Several soldiers are hit, causing us to roll around to cover. Graadlin, with his incredible musculature, actually jumps up and catches one, slamming it to the ground and engaging it in a fist fight. Meera and Gerome take the other, engaging it in hand-to-hand with their standard issue vibroblades. The last is shot down in a hail of blaster bolts followed by a slugthrower shot directly in the stomach. Before long, the three mutants fall. "Ok, that wasn't what I was expecting. You two, grab that thing, we're bringing it back to NRI for analysis." After giving my orders, I hear the all too familiar snap-hiss of a lightsaber. In the dark room shines a single, yellow lightsaber. And this is no simple Sith Acolyte, for her robes are much more intricate, the dark black of the robes completed by the red symbol of the Imperium, a triangle within a circle.

"Greetings General, I am Praetor Skrella. And I am your doom." She says as she Force-dashes into the middle of our group. Before we can act, she slices down two soldiers, their cries of pain quickly end as they die hitting the ground. She moves again, cutting her way through my men. Carr, bless his heart, actually parries her saber with his vibroblade. Carr smirks a little, to Skrella's amusement. She lifts her hand and blast him toward the wall, causing the wall to crack a tad. Graadlin, the big feline, lifts the body of the dead mutant soldier and flings it at Skrella, who just bisects the body in a clean swipe. She lifts her hand as she deflects fire from the others, choking him. Seeing my friend in pain, I grab my vibroblade and rush her, swinging with all my might and, using the close quarters advanced training I received, I actual manage to hold my own. That is, until I miss one parry, letting Skrella slices my leg. It's searing pain but luckily, it's only superficial. But the pain was more than enough to make me fall over. As I glare at her, those violet eyes emotionless, the saber humming, the main window breaks open. A MAAT gunship is there, pointing straight at Skrella. "Now!" I yell with an effort. I roll as far as I can to my right as the rest of the troops jump out of the way. The MAAT, with a clear line of fire, opens up with its blue laser cannons and concussion missiles. In a brilliant flash of color and a scream, Skrella disappears. After the dust clears, all that remains is a blackened lightsaber hilt. Limping over, I grab it, "We need to figure out how many Praetors there are and keep track of how many we take down." Limping over to the window, Graadlin's big arm helping to support me, I wave at the MAAT pilot, who turns the ship and speeds off to the closest city to assist in combat operations there. In the distance, several MC80s can be seen above the planet along with CR90 Corvettes and Nebulon Assault Frigates moving into position. The Republic doesn't believe in orbital bombardment, at most bombarding with ion cannons, but desperate times call for desperate measures.

"Admiral, this is Corso, get a message out, New Alderaan is ours again." "Great to hear General, you okay?" Glancing down at my grey trousers, I see a huge bloody gash where the lightsaber cut my leg. "I'll live, thank the Force. Do me a favor, send a message to Marshal Ponith at the Mid Rim Command Station, we've taken the planet and will leave adequate defense forces to prevent future attack." I look back at my soldiers, bloody scars and burn spots all over them. Smiling at them, "While the Republic is in danger, we will fight to the end to defend her. We're taking our forces to Onderon, Iphigin. If the Imperium is now using these super soldiers," I say as I kick a dead mutant in the arm to make sure it's dead, "then Wodi and the Ninth will need all the backup they can get. We'll retake Onderon if we can, then on to Belkadan per Cade's vision." Hold on Wodi, we're coming and with luck, Cade is too.

New Alderaan - Brig. General Jevin Corso

We've taken New Alderaan. The battle lasted several days but we've done it. After taking Faroe, the Forty-Fourth spread out around the world, taking down stragglers. It was quite a site, Mon Cal cruisers in orbit overhead, launching precise orbital strikes on Imperium targets, T4-B battle tanks rolling over the plains. Before long, the remainder of the Imperium forces surrendered and were taken into custody. As I'm sitting in the capitol building, I receive a distress call, from Wodi nonetheless.

"Come in, any New Republic forces in the area, this is Major Wodi Quix . . . we are on Onderon but the mission has gone awry . . . some type of super soldier . . . pummeling our forces. Send assistance if you can." I stand up, looking around. "General Iblis, do you copy?" "I'm here Corso." "Sir, I'd like to take the Forty-Fourth to Onderon to assist the Ninth Army." The comm's silent, then Garm replies, "Granted, the Third and Fourth Army can manage this sector."

I look to Colonel Carr, "Colonel, recall the Forty-Fourth, we're heading to Onderon." He gives a curt nod and moves off to the communications room. Meera comes up beside me as I grab my rifle from a rack, the pain still sharp in my leg from my encounter with the super soldier causing me to limp slightly. "General, begging your pardon but how are we going to get to Onderon? All of Iphigin's ships are needed in this sector; the Imperium still has a presence on nearby Holstice." I sigh, "Honestly, I hadn't thought that far ahead." With a grimace I sit down on a crate overlooking the main street of Faroe. At that moment, we hear the sonic boom of a large ship exiting hyperspace overhead.

Meera, myself, Graadlin and the others are staring up in awe when my comm crackles, "General Corso, are you down there?" A familiar bubbly Quarren voice sounds. "Admiral Kerex? That's a whaladon of a ship you got there!" He laughs on his end. "I'll explain once you're on board. I'm sending transports down for your division, we've already picked up several others and are headed to Onderon to reinforce Colonel Rimta's Ninth Army."

. . .

After getting onboard the huge ship and navigating my way to the bridge, I find Unath Kerex, Fleet Admiral of the New Republic, looking out the frontal bridge viewport. "Admiral, where did this ship come from? I thought we didn't have any dreadnought-scale vessels.?" He smiles at me, an odd looking thing for a Quarren. "You're right, we didn't. But ever since Jakku, when we had to fight against the Ravager, R&D has been working nonstop to make a compatible ship to fight Super Star Destroyers." We walk over to the ready room, complete with a very large holotable. "Mon Cal engineers and Republic R&D have been working in secret to fulfill our need for a heavy hitting, dreadnought-scale warship. Work was around the clock, and the knowledge that powerful former Imperials were out there, like Rae Sloane and Xander Verush, only confirmed that this ship was needed." He gestures with his arms to encompass the ship, "General Corso, welcome to the Viscount, namesake of the Viscount star defender line. All the technology onboard this ship: computers; offensive weaponry; shields, are all state of the art and much greater than anything onboard an Imperial-class Star Destroyer. Of course, since we haven't captured a Predator yet, we don't know how it'll fare against those." He turns to me, "But we do know the Imperium has several Super Star Destroyers of their own, hidden for fifteen years. Mon Cal Shipyards is hard at work getting the Viscount's sister ships made. There, now that we've made introductions, let's get to Onderon and give the Imperium a good thrashing with our newest ship." Kerex gives the order to jump to lightspeed and the black of space changes to mottled white and blue. . . .

_ Wodi "Wishbone" Quix - jungle, Onderon

The jungle at night time can be a pretty intimidating place. Alien sounds and smells permeate the organic air, and the clouds that pass over Onderon's moon create menacing shadows on the ground. We've been walking for about an hour now, with the most eventful thing that has happened being when a Dalgo, a four-legged creature with a large cranium ridge native to the planet, jumped out of the brush, practically trampling Gav Pulastra. Apparently, our passing had startled it. I can tell you for sure it startled us. After that incident, I had Malogaan take out his handheld life-form scanner. The echoes of blaster fire are getting louder, which means we're closing in on Iziz, or, what's left of it. I look skyward ahead of us to see a large plume of black smoke steadily rising, not dispersing even in the wind. I tap Amminius on the shoulder and point at it. He nods and turns back to the others. "We're almost there. Get your gear ready." As I walk a few more paces forward, a fuzzy outline appears for a brief moment in my peripheral vision by a cluster of purple ferns. I turn my head to look at the spot, but there's nothing there. Must be tired, I think to myself. Or I'm losing it. I shake my head and continue walking. Then I feel a slight rush of air past my right shoulder. My heart skips a beat. Is it one of those horrible creatures? I look up at the trees to see the leaves blowing gently in the breeze. It's the wind. Focus on the objective, I instruct myself. Stop being so paranoid.

"Kriffing thing." I turn to back to see Malogaan hitting the side of his handheld scanner. "What's the problem?" Asks Fin Ulrand, walking next to him. Malogaan glares at the scanner, hitting it again. "This piece of shrapnel. It's glitchy. It keeps saying there's a life-form near us. But when I try to pinpoint it, the thing goes haywire." I frown, holding up my hand for a stop and walking over to him. "Maybe the power source is low, or the signal is scrambled." "Maybe." Malogaan sighs. "Anyways, we should keep moving." "Yeah," says Thrak Gorshun, grinning, "wouldn't want to miss-" His sentence is abruptly cut off as he loses his footing, falling on his back with a loud thud. "Whoa! Slip in some mud?" Asks Tighe Bodalla. Amminius, Bodalla, and I move towards Gorshun. "Hey, you okay th-." I stop mid-sentence as my eyes fall on him. Thrak Gorshun's eyes are blank and staring. A thin trail of blood trickles from his mouth. "He's dead." Bodalla says, disbelievingly. "How? Did he break something important when he fell?" Amminius places a hand on Thrak's chest, looking for a sign of injury. He pulls it away to reveal his glove is slick with blood. "Look here." Amminius says, parting Gorshun's matte black flak jacket and armor, lifting up his undershirt to reveal a bloody hole in the abdomen. "He's been impaled by something." Suddenly from behind us, I hear a gargled cry. I whip around to see Teris Darksword falling to the ground face first, her weapon clattering down beside her. I quickly get to my feet, followed by Amminius and Bodalla. "Get in a defensive circle!" I say loudly. We circle up around the fallen Teris, our weapons scanning the trees. "Looks like your scanner wasn't lying!" I call to Malogaan. "There's definitely something here!" I repress the feeling of stupidity and guilt for not mentioning what I had seen earlier and squint down my barrel, looking for the slightest hint of movement. There! I unleash a torrent of bolts at a fuzzy blur. The blur jumps, and I lose it as a cloud goes over the moon, throwing the surrounding area into momentary darkness. "Can you see anything?" I ask as I look around me, my night vision goggles activated. "No." "I don't see anything, sir." "Nothing." Several seconds of silence pass. "Damn it!" yells Ben Pulastra. "Where are you!?" "Here" A voice responds, close to me. I jump and Ben screams. All of a sudden he's lifted off his feet, being held in the air. "Aggh! Help me!" He yells, his voice cracking. Amminius opens up at the space underneath Ben's flailing body. I see the bolts connect with something. A low groan turning into a snarl comes from the space below Ben. "Continue firing!" I shout. As I say this, I hear a loud sickening crack. Ben stops flailing and hangs limp. "Kriff!" Screams Gav. Ben's body is then hurled at us. It knocks me and Endel to the ground. "Oof!" I roll the body off and jump to my feet, pulling Endel up too. "Go to Iziz! Go, go!" We break the circle and sprint for the walled city, Bodalla and Ulrand carrying Teris Darksword. "What the hell is it?" I run, checking behind me. "No kriffing clue!" shouts Amminius.

We crash through the tree line to see . . . "The wall!" cries Carver in relief. "Go!" Shouts Otara, running next to Amminius and grabbing his arm. Amminius is out of breath and panting hard. I fall back to him and grab his other arm, helping him along to the wall. At the bottom of the structure is a durasteel grate, about as wide as a human being. "Cut it open!" I say to Carver. He produces a fusion cutter and begins to cut a hole in the grating. The rest of us form a protective circle around Carver while he works, weapons primed. "Almost there!" Calls Carver. "Just need to cut this last section." I look through my sights, waiting for that damned blur to show itself again. It appears all right. But not as a blur. "There! Is that . . . a Trandoshan?" Shouts Glam. The lizard rushes at us, its' red eyes only slits, its' clawed hands clutching a pike weapon. The tip is covered in blood. We open up on the beast, slowing it down at it defends itself. "Carver?" I yell back at the wall. "We're through!" Carver yells back. I hear him grunt as he lifts the section he had just cut free. "Get inside!" Yells Amminius, firing his E-11. "Teris goes first!" Bodalla and Ulrand ease Teris Darksword inside the opening. "Ok. She's through! Next" One by one, we retreat into the drainage system grating. Carver and I are the last ones through. Inside, a small tunnel heads off into three separate directions. I turn back to see the Trandoshan nearly on us! "Here!" Carver yells as I help him put the grate back into place. The lizard is just outside the grate now, and we scramble in our small tunnel to get away from the barred opening. I didn't doubt for a second it couldn't rip off the heavy durasteel bars we had struggled to lift back into place. The thing peers at us through the grate with one red slit. Then it speaks. "I will ssee you ssoon, vermin." Then it backs away. Silence, except for our labored breathing. "That . . . was close!" Huffs Nosh Ker Raisuun. The Quarren looks to me with his turquoise eyes. "What do you suppose that was, Major?" I shake my head. "Heck if I know." "Sir!" I turn around to see Bodalla bringing Amminius over to where Teris Darksword lies. "She's fading fast. I applied some medpacks, but I don't think they're doing the job. She needs a proper medic, soon." "Ok." Says Amminius, looking to Otara. "Otara, I need you to go with Bodalla and Ulrand and take Teris to the Fourth's position." Otara nods, her lekku bobbing. "Got it. I'll see them safely there." She leans over and kisses Amminius. "Good luck, everyone." "You too." With that, she disappears with the others down the leftmost tunnel. I turn to everyone that's left, gesturing with my TL-50 down the center tunnel. "Let's go. We have to reach the city square!" I turn back one last time to look at the grate. I shudder, knowing for sure that we would be seeing that lizard again soon. "Hey." I stop and turn to see Amminius placing a hand on my shoulder. "We need to go." I nod, weakly smiling at my friend. "Right. Just promise me one thing." "Hmm?" "Don't go wandering off by yourself. Please." Amminius nods, clapping me on the shoulder lightly. "We're in this together, brother. And that's how it's always gonna be. You're stuck with me." I smile again. "Stuck with me." I look down at my hands to see my right one shaking. "Come on, let's go."

_ Cade Valdarin - Onderon, aboard a Sentinel-class shuttle

"Here we are, we've reached Onderon." Luke says with Artoo and Ratchet, designation R2-A6, beeping over at the sensor station. "Looks like the battle is in full swing. Look up there." He points, "That must be Admiral Teradon's ship, the one with the huge New Republic symbols on the hull." Artoo beeps out a worried tone. "What is it?" I ask. My journeys with Ratchet have given me a slight understanding of droid speak. Luke goes over to the station, "Looks like Iziz is in big trouble. I'm seeing Imperium land forces converging on the city."

He walks back to the pilot station, looking back to see me in deep thought. "You know, you shouldn't try hiding things, not from me at least." I look at him sharply, "Are you reading my mind old man?" He gives me a look, "I'm only fifteen years older than you, that hardly makes me an old man. Besides, we're both Jedi. Well, Jedi and grey Jedi, if you want to get technical. You and I share a mental bond remember?" I sit down and pat Ratchet on his dome. "I don't know, just something I sensed just now. I felt a Force presence. Not like those of those mutant soldiers but one of a fully-trained Force user. And it wasn't a warrior for the Light side." He gives me a quizzical look, "I thought you didn't believe in the Light side and Dark side?" I give Luke a stern look. "I believe in the Light side and Dark side, all grey Jedi do, or did I guess. Until I train more at least. I just see them differently than you do." He nods, clearly interested. "Traditional Jedi and Sith believe the Force has two distinct sides, Light and Dark. And that certain abilities draw you to one side or the other." "My belief, I say, "is that it is the intention of the wielder; it's how you use them that determines your allegiance." Luke replies, smirking good-naturedly, "Sounds almost convenient." I give him another look, knowing what he might be implying, "Hey, I still fight for peace, for justice, and for the light. There can be no good without evil, but evil must not be allowed to flourish. Emotion, yet peace. Ignorance, yet knowledge. Passion, yet serenity. Chaos, yet harmony. Death yet the Force."

"The code of the Grey. My family bloodline has yielded Jedi since the Hundred Years Darkness, thousands of years ago. Of course not directly. It was uncles to nephews to cousins. Until my grandfather secretly sired a son. Who married my mother, who also was a Jedi." "I see," Luke replies. "It's a very interesting viewpoint and from what I've seen, it works for you. I've never seen you fight with hatred or anger, at least to a point it overwhelms you-" A voice comes over our intercom, cutting Luke off. "Unidentified Sentinel shuttle, this is the NRS Allegiant, you have entered New Republic protected space and a warzone. State your business." "NRS Allegiant, this is Luke Skywalker, authentication Bravo Epsilon Five-Five-One. Cade Valdarin is with me as well." A moment of silence as the codes are checked. "Authentication checks out. Welcome Commander Skywalker. How may we assist?" I look to him. "For now," Luke says, "I just want you and Admiral Teradon to focus on the space battle. Our last communication with General Corso indicates that Fleet Admiral Kerex is on the way with a new ship. As for us, we are heading to the surface." "Understood, good luck sirs." And with that, Luke takes the shuttle into orbit.

As soon as the clouds clear way, we see a desperate, pitted battlefield, spreading out in all directions. Blaster bolts are flying across the ground going in all directions. There are crashed troop transports and gunships all over with more flying to hot zones in the battle. "Take us to the city, the majority of the Ninth is fighting in the jungle. Besides, if I know Wodi, he'll take his SHARCs to Iziz," I say as Luke nods in agreement.

An hour later we come within eyesight of Iziz and I start in shock. The great walls of the city Iziz, walls that have protected the city from the dangerous wilderness for generations, have been nearly shattered. Laser blasts are flying all over the city. Many of the buildings are in ruins. "There, take us in!" I say, pointing to an intact landing pad. But as we fly in, the alarm klaxon goes off. "Incoming missile, taking evasive action!" Luke yells as he pulls us into a spinning maneuver. But we are in a Sentinel troop transport; not exactly an X-wing. Before long, the engine is hit, rocking the ship, and we begin a sharp descent downward towards the fastly approaching tarmac below. "Hang on!" I yell as Luke and I tighten our crash webbing and project Force fields around the droids. "Here it comes!"

BOOM! . . .

Cade Valdarin - Iziz Commercial Spaceport, Crashed shuttle

All is black, my head is throbbing. The last thing I remember is shouting "Hang on!" and then nothing. The first thing that I hear is the nervous chattering of astromech droids. With a jolt, I wake myself up. "Uhh, Ratchet, Artoo, you still with us?" Both chirp a shaky affirmative. Looking around I gauge how hard we hit the ground. Everything is busted. Panels are dangling from the ceiling, pilot chairs are flipped over; not a pretty sight. Sitting up a little straighter I yell, "Sid, you okay back there?" to the cargo hold. "Fine!" comes a muffled yell back.

Looking back to the droids, I ask, "What about Luke, have you seen him?" Both tweet a negative. Sighing I lean back. "Great, I might've just gotten one of the biggest heroes in the galaxy killed. Oh if only Sonya Ravenclaw were here." At these words, a muffled voice comes out from under me, "Oh, now who's Sonya? A new lady friend?" Shifting over to the left, I lift the rubble and out comes Luke, his hair all tousled and clothes covered with dust. "What happened to Kiara, the Zeltron woman. I thought you two were happy?" "Kiara and I are still together, yes; she's administrative aide to the new Chancellor, Krellik. Sonya is a friend," I say with emphasis, "that I met a few years back. Remember when we were investigating that rumor of a Force-user on Arkanis? Well I met her there." He reaches into the survival packs we brought and grabs two nutrient bars. "So what's she do?" He asks between eating his bar. "Think of a young Han Solo, like how Han was when you met him, only female. Now what she does instead of spice smuggling is smuggle artifacts: rare, priceless artifacts and pieces of art. And also, like Han, she's a terrific pilot and one heck of a gunslinger." Luke looks at me, "So what happened between you that you are now friends?" I shrug, "I saved her from some not-so-happy customers. She felt extremely grateful and gave me a favor to call in. That was three years ago." "I see," says Luke. "Hopefully you won't need to call on the favor yet. Now let's try to get out of this mess."

"No, no, no!" Exclaims Sid, walking in with flatcakes ladling his arms. "That is no proper breakfast, have these. They're a new recipe using spices from Hosnian Prime." They hit the spot. The aroma eases away the pain of the crash. We finish up our meal in record time then get ready to move. "Ok," Luke says, " If I remember right, we landed in the middle of the spaceport." He ignites his lightsaber and cuts through the side of the shuttle and into blinding sunlight. We jump out to see the city on fire, ships littering the skies above us, and blaster flashes throughout the jungles outside the walls.

We begin walking when I remember another bit of information. "Wait, Wodi is in the city." Luke looks at me, "You're sure?" Nodding I start heading back toward where I feel his presence. A snarl, a guttural sound, stops me. Luke and I draw our sabers, the green color illuminating his black tunic and my brown robes. Sid pulls out the meat cleaver. A form materializes on the concrete. A tall humanoid, a dark brown Trandoshan, in the black robes of a Dark sider. "I bid you greetings." It says in its serpent-like voice. "I am Darth Ferus, the Shadow Hand of Darth Pravus, Dark Lord of the Sith and Emperor of the Imperium." He tilts his bright orange predator eyes to me, "And he bids you welcome, Cade Valdarin. He can't wait to finally meet you again." I smirk, "The feeling's mutual. Now why don't you tell him to meet me face to face?" Ferus chuckles, a dark sounding laugh, "All in time. For now, I am to test you and see how strong you've become." And after that, he pulls out a double-bladed lightsaber, igniting it so its blood red colors illuminates the ground around him. Luke looks at him, "You realize it's three on one pal?" Ferus smiles a toothy grin and three super soldiers fly in on jetpacks, zooming past me to attack Sid and Luke, who are drawn away dodging and swinging their respective weapons when they can. "Well, it's just you and me Ferus." His reptilian eyes narrow and a cold smile comes across his scaly face, "I've always wanted to fight a grey Jedi, one who doesn't hold back based on sanctimonious beliefs." We charge at each other, the green and red blades crossing each other diagonally. A few more parries, thrusts, and leaps and we land on the lower platform. Charging at me again, I side-step Ferus and charge up a Force blast with my left hand. I blast Ferus, but he holds his own hand up. Shutting off the lightsaber, I add my right hand to the blast, adding much more power to it and knocking Ferus through a grate and into the Iziz sewer system. Looking back to see Sid and Luke handling their own battles, I leap through the now busted grate. I wince at the smell and the thought that Force knows what is touching my boots, igniting the lightsaber again. This Ferus seems to be like the other Praetors I've met so far; he has some special talent in the Force. Xellius seems very adept at escaping, namely teleporting. Ferus' talent seems to be stealth, no surprise given he's a Trandoshan. I keep sloshing through the muck, following his Force presence when it disappears. What? How is that possible, unless his stealth skills are that advanced. Makes sense given that he is the right hand of Xander Verush, who is the undisputed Dark Lord of the Sith. However, at that moment, I hear the sounds of battle, a more conventional battle, with blasters and grenades. Then I hear Wodi's faint voice shout something followed by the horrible shrieks of super soldiers. I guess Ferus will have to wait for later. I run off towards the sound, hoping I'm not too late . . .

_ Wodi "Wishbone" Quix - Iziz drainage system, Onderon

We move into the center tunnel single file, hunching down to avoid scraping our packs and helmets against the duracrete ceiling. I head in second after Amminius, bringing my TL-50 in close to my body. I wrinkle my nose at the stench and try not to focus on the wet sounds my boots are making sloshing through the grime. I hear more sloshes behind me as the others enter. Up ahead is darkness. I put on my night vision goggles, looking past Amminius further into the tunnel. Nothing. I shake off my mild annoyance and activate my helmet's mic. "Everyone good back there?" "All good here, major." "Yes sir." "Affirmative." I nod. Above us, I can hear the faint sounds of blaster fire and explosions. After a few minutes of making our way through the tunnel, the walls and ceiling begin to widen. I internally sigh in relief. Finally, my back was killing me! "Tunnel's widening," calls back Amminius, letting the others know. "That's good to hear," Says Nosh Ker Raisuun, his voice echoing slightly, "I don't think I can take much more of this!"

We eventually come to an area large enough to stand up in, a room of sorts, with four points of entry. I remove my pack, leaning my TL-50 against the duracrete wall, and stretch out my back while the others emerge. "How far are we into the city?" Asks Carver, once everyone is out, looking to me. "We should be pretty close to the square." I take out my personal holoprojector and activate it, bathing the space in a soft blue light as the image of the network of tunnels appears. I point to a section of tunnel. "Well, we just passed this point he-." A sound makes me stop. The hair rises on the back of my neck. "Did you hear that?" I ask. Amminius looks to me, confused. "Hear . . . what?" He smiles, placing a gloved hand on my shoulder. "You sure you're alright, Wishbone?" I glare at him and motion with my hand for complete silence. We stand there, unmoving, our ears straining to hear. SLOSH. SLOSH. SLOSH. "There." I whisper. I see Amminius' eyes widen. He brings up his E-11. I snatch my TL-50 from its resting place against the wall. "Maybe it's just debris falling from the street grates." Whispers Malogaan nervously. "Yeah, sure." Glam whispers back. "Debris that sounds like footsteps."

Something else becomes quickly apparent. "Sounds like, whatever it is, there isn't only just one." Gav Pulastra whispers hoarsely. I peer into the tunnel behind of us, my goggles activated. I can't see anything! I grit my teeth. I flip them up and peer into the tunnel again, staring into the inky blackness. A pair of pale eyes stare back at me, unblinking. I jump about a meter into the air. "Gah!" Everyone whirls around, reacting to my cry. Too late. The pair of eyes rockets from the tunnel, and what those eyes are attached to is like something out of a child's nightmare. It's a human. But like no human I've ever seen. It's skin is deathly pale, with bulging black veins. Its muscular arms are covered in small, thin scars. It wears black, form-fitting armor on the chest, abdomen, and upper legs. And it's rushing at me. "Look out!" I hear someone yell. My brain locks up, and I find myself unable to lift a finger. Next thing I know I'm knocked to the ground, with the thing on my chest, pinning my arms to the duracrete. I stare into the soulless eyes, a pale color with floating flecks of black particles in the whites and the irises. It gets in closer to me and it . . . smiles. A grotesque grin. It reaches into a sheath and draws a vibroblade. Suddenly, I see several pairs of hands grab hold of the creature, wrenching it off me. The thing is writhing, trying to break free. "Wodi!" A faint voice calls. My ears are ringing. I shake my head. "Wodi! You alright?"

Amminius comes into my peripheral vision, his outstretched hand grabbing mine, yanking me to my feet. "You OK, Wishbone? We need you here!" We run over to where Glam, Carver, Raisuun, and Malogaan struggle to hold down the creature. "Argh. Hold it!" Amminus and I join in, grabbing hold of the writhing form. Suddenly, we're all thrown back against the wall. "Oof!" The human form gets to its feet, its hand pulsating with blue energy. "Uh, anyone know that it could use the Force?" "Fire on it!" We open up on the thing. It screams, an ear piercing sound, and furiously leaps at the nearest of our group, Toma Farelle. "Kriff!" She doesn't stand a chance. Her wails are mercifully cut short when the creature crushes her larynx. I blast the creature in the head, downing it for good. "Sir!" Carver screams, pointing. "There's more!" I look to the tunnels ahead and to the side to see more creatures fast approaching. I unclip a thermal, hurling it at a knot of figures emerging. "Go! Run!" Gesturing wildly at the only tunnel not occupied by demons. I unleash a torrent of bolts with my TL-50, charging up my secondary fire and launching it. Two of the figures, a disfigured Mon Calamari and another human, lurch to a halt and crash to the floor, multiple blaster holes burned right through them. I have no time to celebrate my victory, as more are coming. Luckily, the tunnel we charge into is big enough to stand up in.

"So I guess the city square is a no go?" Amminus yells, running next to me. "No!" I yell back. "We can't abandon the mission now! The others are counting on us!" "I don't know if you haven't noticed," Amminius shouts, gesturing behind himself, "but we're currently being pursued by a horde of Force using soldiers!" As if to prove his point, a guttural shriek echoes through the tunnel. "I'm working on it!" "Malogaan! Trip mine!" "You got it, Wodi!" Malogaan yells back. A few seconds later, I hear an explosion and look back to see a portion of the duracrete tunnel caving in. Yes! "That won't hold 'em for long! Another trip mine, go!" "Wodi, I only got two more!" Malogaan warns. I take out my comlink and frantically yell a message: "Come in, any New Republic forces in the area, this is Major Wodi Quix! We are on Onderon but the mission has gone awry. Some type of super soldier is pummeling our forces. Lots of 'em! Send assistance if you

can to these coordinates!" Amminius looks at me, shouting, "Think that got through!" "I hope so," I yell to him, "or else there'll be not much left to assist!"

Brig. General Jevin Corso - Onboard the Viscount

15 ABE

"Entering the Onderon System now!" the navigation officer says over the intercom. We stand aboard the Viscount, the first ship of the Viscount Star Defender program. Sitting at the command chair is Fleet Admiral Unath Kerex. "Good, all hands to stations," he orders authoritatively. The sensor officer then emits a startled gasp. I look at him, worry on my face. Kerex stands up on edge, "Lieutenant, report." We walk over to the sensor station to see what exactly had him spooked. When we see the displays showing the orbit around Onderon, we understand. In the days since the battle started, Imperium and Republic ships had poured in, and as the mottled white turns back to star lines, eventually to black, we see that all hell has broken loose.

In the space around Onderon are dozens of Predator-class Star Destroyers, along with at least hundreds of smaller support vessels and thousands of TIE Hunters in between them. The Ninth Fleet, under Admiral Torov, has taken the fight to the Imperium at point-blank range. It's like Endor all over again. To the right off the viewport, we see an MC80 and Nebulon-B floating only a slight distance above a Predator, laser fire pounding all three ships' hulls. In the middle is one of the most intense dogfights I've seen. From what I can tell, it's mostly T-65B X-wings and A-wings. But I can see from the sensor station that the Ninth brought some B-wing Mark IIs and the newer T-70 X-wings. I look to Kerex, "Admiral, we need to get in there!" He nods resolutely. "Time to debut the Viscount. All forward, batteries may fire when ready."

The ship begins creeping forward and the space in front of the viewport lights up as thousands of turbolaser cannons and ion cannons began firing at their targets. The ship is extremely impressive: a Victory Star Destroyer creeps toward us, all of its fire directed at us. But it stands no chance, after a hail of fire from our cannons, the ship breaks in half. Kerex resumes his position looking out the viewport, giving orders to the various captains of the fleet as the Fleet Admiral supersedes even the Admiral of a given fleet. "CAG, launch wings Alpha, Beta, and Gamma!" and with the faint sound of ion engines kicking off, we see several waves of X-wings, B-wings, and A-wings launch. "General, I believe Major Quix's team will need assistance on the ground." I nod and give orders to the the commanders of the Forty-Fourth Division to get to their transports.

The hangar decks are a flurry of activity, what with ships incoming for in-field repairs. Even the small deck at the back of the ship, one which actually builds ships to send into the fight, is overtaxed. I spot Colonel Carr in his ever-spotless battle armor, donning his blast helmet. "Carr, I want your team hitting the Commercial Spaceport. We've got activity down there and I want you to find out what." He acknowledges and runs off. I give several other majors their orders then walk over to a Multiple Altitude Assault Transport, one that has been personalized with a custom paint job. I look to a lieutenant standing next to it in the full body specialized armor of the SHARCs, "Gavin, how are we looking?" Gavin salutes and replies, "General, it's a mess down there. Major Quix's team hasn't responded to our hails and the rest of the ground forces are too busy to do search and rescue." I smile and pat him on the shoulder, "Then we get the fun part." He grins at me. "Aye, sir!"

After a harrowing trip through the space between the Viscount and Onderon, we finally touch down at Wodi's last location, next to a sewer grate. Gavin and his SHARCs fan out and secure the area in record time; I'm proud to say they are indeed professional soldiers. After he gives me the acknowledgement that we aren't in immediate danger, I pull up a comlink, "Major Quix this is General Corso, please respond." No answer. I repeat myself again, and again. Nothing but static. "Well Gavin, we're getting our feet wet. I brandish my X45A rifle, he his RT-80 heavy blaster rifle. It's slow going at first; the stench is powerful and the slosh slows our movement. We keep the slow pace until we hear an all too familiar shriek. "Kriff, let's move it, SHARCs!"

_ Wodi "Wishbone" Quix - Iziz drainage system, Onderon

My lungs are on fire! I'm panting hard, guck sploshing up to coat my pant legs as my filthy boots pound through the refuse at the bottom of the drainage tunnel. I chance a look behind me to see everyone else hoofing it just as hard. Another shriek echoes through the duracrete tunnel, the sound making me flinch involuntarily. "Those things just won't quit!" Yells Amminius, running next to me, keeping pace. "Maybe if we stop and ask them nicely . . ." I grin despite the situation. "I don't think they're prone to that sort of sentiment!" "Wodi!" Carver shouts, his voice raspy. "Those things are going to catch up to us pretty soon! What's our plan?"

"Place another trip mine!" Amminius shouts back. I hear the familiar clunk as the mine attaches to the wall. "Wodi, you got anything?" I rack my brains for an idea, anything to help us out and buy some more time. My thoughts are interrupted when I hear rapid footsteps approaching from the bend several meters in front of us. "Kriff," I groan. Amminius hears it too. He shakes his helmeted head, repeating my sentiments. "Kriff." They're boxing us in. That's just what we need!" I nod, slowing down slightly until I come to a complete stop. "What's up?" Glam asks. "Why'd we stop?" "They're coming from in front of us." I say, gesturing with my TL-50. "Blast it!" Rasps Endel. "Those creeps may not look it, but they're actually intelligent. What do we do now?" I look ahead to the bend again, then behind us, and then up, desperate for a plan. Up. An idea hits.

"Malogaan, you have any proximity charges on hand?" "Sure, Wodi." He replies, quickly unstrapping his pack. "What's your thinking?" I point to the duracrete ceiling of the tunnel. "We're going through the roof." "Good thinking, Wishbone!" Amminius grins. "But we'll need to be fast!" Malogaan tosses me two charges and I catch them, jumping up to place both on a durasteel strip running the width of the ceiling. "OK," I say to the others, "here we go. Stand back!" We all flatten ourselves against the wall as I take aim with my blaster. BOOM! The explosion kicks up dust as chunks of duracrete rain down from the newly created hole in the ceiling, splashing into the refuse below. "Ok!" I yell, gesturing towards the hole. "Let's get out of here!" Amminius and I are about to give Raisuun a leg up when a form charges from around the bend in front of us. "Here they come!" Endel yells. "Look out!" I fire my TL-50 at the charging figure, hoping to suppress it. A lightsaber ignites with a snap-hiss, batting the bolts aside. A green lightsaber. "Wodi, it's me! Hold your fire!" "Cade!" I yell, my voice cracking with relief. "Kriff am I glad to see you!" "Likewise," the young Jedi replies, "now how about getting out of here!" He gestures with his saber at the hole in the ceiling, bits of duracrete still falling. "I'll give you a hand." Just as Raisuun safely climbs through the hole, I see the first of the pursuing super soldiers running full force at us, the thing's pale eyes burning, its mouth grinning. Here we go. "Incoming!"

General Jevin Corso - Iziz Sewage System, Onderon

"Gavin, what do you see?" I yell down the dark tunnel. Silence. "Nothing General, they aren't here. There's a hole cut through the ceiling." I sigh, that must mean Cade or Luke caught up to them. I comm Kerex aboard the Viscount. "Admiral, good news is Cade and Wodi are alive, bad is that Iziz is now almost completely overrun. Those super soldiers are tearing our forces to shreds. Silence. "Understood. Jevin, I need an honest answer, is Onderon lost?" I look at Gavin. Seeing the young man's hardened resolve spurs my own. "No Unath, we can turn this around." I shut off the wrist comm. Donning jetpacks, we shoot through the ceiling, landing in the center of the Iziz Commercial Starport. I glance around, seeing a crashed Sentinel transport on the starpad. We glance around and find a trail of bodies leading toward the Iziz palace. The bodies range from a small Chandra-Fan soldier to the massive, veiny body of an Imperium super soldier with a saber gash across the faceplate. Junno, a Mandalorian and a bit of a smart-aleck, remarks, "I think they went this way." "OK, let's get to the palace. One way or another, Onderon's fate will be decided there." We begin the long haul to the palace, the sounds of intense fighting ringing through the city. In the distance, we can see AT-ATs marching through the jungle, trees on fire, and MAAT and U-wing gunships zooming overhead.

. . .

Several hours later, we are at the stairs of the palace, the beautiful mosaic walls now covered with carbon scoring and craters from missiles. Gavin starts up the long staircase when we hear, "General! General Corso wait!" I turn around, X45A primed in my hand to see a Rodian flying erratically through the sky, his jetpack obviously damaged. "Geelo! Get down here before your pack gives out!" Landing, Gavin helps the Rodian take his jetpack off. "Geelo, it's good to see a friendly face here. Where's Wodi and Cade?" Geelo shakes his head agitatedly. "We fought here, but those super soldiers just kept coming. Wodi ordered a retreat back to the jungle, to find a gunship and get offworld but Cade argued against it." "Geelo, did Cade or Luke say why they needed to go to the palace?" He shakes his head again and snorts, "Heck if I know. These Jedi, I don't get how Republic Intelligence dealt with them, they "feel" things we don't. Cade just said that there was someone here he needed to face, and that was it." I nod, looking around. All of a sudden, we hear a sharp whining through the sky and see a U-wing careening out of control, engines on fire, heading straight for the palace wall. Gavin is the first to move. "Incoming, move it!" BOOM! The dust clears and I see that all of us are still here. Looking behind me, I see the crash created a huge, gaping hole in the palace wall. "Well Gavin, we have our entrance now, let's go." However, as we start entering the gap, blaster fire rings out of the building. A bolt catches me in the knee while Gavin takes one on his armored shoulder pad. Another soldier of our group, however, Junno, is caught dead in the face, the poor kid collapsing dead on the stairs. I hustle to the part of the wall still there, Gavin to the other. "Sir, this is bad! They're entrenched in a good defensible position and it looks like they are sitting on an ammunition dump!" Gavin shouts over the sounds of gunfire. We trade some blaster fire then duck in cover again. "Any suggestions!" I yell. Geelo pipes up, "I have my MPL, still has some rounds in it!" I move for him and after a second of careful aiming, he launches three grenades into the palace atrium, the grenades landing by the ammo stockpiles. The resulting detonation evaporates the super soldiers and Imperium stormtroopers that were pinning us down. We move in and inspect the area. "OK, let's find Wodi and Cade, get whatever the Jedi feel they need, and leave." I move toward the elevator when I hear the all too familiar snap-hiss of a lightsaber and glance up to see two green blades reflected in the ceiling, followed by the shine of a blood red lightsaber and hearing the snarl of a Trandoshan amongst the sounds of blasterfire. Gavin shouts, "We know where they are, let's get up there!" And we charge up the cracked stairs, hoping to get there fast enough to turn the tide. . . .

_ Wodi "Wishbone" Quix - Iziz Commercial Spaceport, Onderon

Zing! Another volley of bolts whizzes above my head as I take cover again behind a broken pillar, covering my face with my TL-50 as bits of duracrete rain down from the point of impact. I pop back up a few moments later, squeezing off a burst shot at the sender, an upright Imperium soldier not in cover. The bolts catch the trooper squarely in the armored chest, causing him to stagger backwards before tumbling over the edge of the upper balcony, bits of his chest armor still on the carbon scored floor. "Nice shot!" Amminius says crouching next to me, clapping me on the shoulder. He unclips a thermal from his utility belt, arms it, and with a grunt, hurls it with all his might at a block of duracrete debris where several Imperium troopers crouch. Boom! Amminus grins. "Blowing up stuff never gets old!" I nod, smiling. I look to my left and right to see the other members of our team also in cover several meters away, trading fire with stormtroopers on the balcony and the ground floor. "You know that ammo dump on the ground floor could pose a problem!" Amminius yells in between shots from his E-11. "I know!" I yell back, hurling a detonator at a trooper rushing between two durasteel crates."But we can't do anything about it now! Those karks aren't going to let us get down there! As long as we don't let them scurry off towards the square with it, we're good!"

"It's a shame we couldn't punch a hole in the Imperium lines through the underground drainage tunnel! I would've loved to see the look on those goons' faces when the ground collapsed, bringing them down with it!" Amminius says, glancing my way."We still can!" I reply. "This is just a side trip!" Amminius suddenly ducks down, putting a hand to his comlink earpiece. He nods a few times, and then breaks out in a grin. A moment later he whoops with joy and relief, pumping a fist in the air. "Otara just commed," he says, looking up. "Her, Teris and the others are all safe at the medic's station! Teris is in a bacta session." I smile. "That's good to hear! It sure took them awhile to get to friendly forces." I squeeze off a few more shots and down three more troopers before I hear the chirp of my comlink over the din. "Hey Wodi?" Carver's voice crackles over my comm. "This is all good fun, but what are we doing here? The Imperium presence is two klicks north, at the city center. These guys are just clean-up crew to take out any stragglers! And besides, our guys need all the help they can get!" I bring up my wrist comm to my mouth, pressing a key, trying to put down my mild annoyance. "Cade and Luke said this spot was important, so that's why we're here!" "Yeah, but what if they're wrong?" I chuckle. "Jedi are never wrong!" I respond. "They have a knack for sensing the future." "Oh yeah, can they sense my future-" His words are cut off by a loud explosion. "Whoa!" Amminius cries out. The whole palace shakes. Dust rains from above. I turn to see sunlight pouring through a section of wall below us, the smoldering wreckage of a blue-trim U-wing transport visible on the outside. Seeing it reminded me again of the mess of trouble we were in. I again suppress the annoyance at our current location and resume firing. "It looks like the troopers below have some trouble outside," Glam reports. "A lot of them are moving towards that hole, firing at whoever's outside!" A few minutes later, another explosion rocks the palace, this one much more forceful. I brace myself. Amminius falls to his knees. "Well, looks like we don't have to worry about that ammo dump anymore!" Endel says over the group comm. No kidding. I chance a look down to see a huge blackened crater through the thick smoke in the palace floor where the ammo dump, and the troopers, used to be.

"You still good over there, Cade?" I say over my comm. No answer. "Cade? You good?" I repeat, fighting the growing panic in my chest. "He's here," comes the eventual response. I then hear the snap-hiss of lightsabers activating. Oh no. "Great," Amminius shouts sarcastically. "It's our scaly friend again!"

Wodi "Wishbone" Quix - Iziz Commercial Spaceport, Onderon

Sure enough, I spot our Trandoshan adversary, grasping a crimson blade. Even from this distance, I can see his fiery eyes burning with malice and blood lust. "Company!" Hollers Aran Nomante over the comm. "Focus fire!" I order. We pour fire at the Trandoshan, but the thing bats our bolts away with ease. He barely even acknowledges our presence. His eyes are locked solely on his true targets: Luke and Cade. Suddenly behind the Trandoshan, a hole is smashed through the duracrete wall, and the outline of the troop bay of a Sentinel shuttle appears, its hatch doors already opening. Stormtroopers pour out from inside, blasters up and firing. "Bloah!" Amminius yells. "We've got incoming!" "Give it to 'em!" I shout, firing my TL-50 at the oncoming troopers, sending a few sprawling. "This situation is getting seriously out of hand!" Yells Malogaan. With a snarl, the dark Trandoshan leaps up to the above platform where Luke and Cade are. I hear the clash of lightsabers, humming and crackling. "Major, behind us!" Shouts Gav Pulastra over my comm. "Watch your fire, friendlies moving up the stairs!" I hear behind me. I turn with relief and a huge smile to see Jevin, Geelo, and another SHARC team charge up the stairs, led by lieutenant Gavin Skyes. "Fan out!" Gavin instructs his team. He, Jevin, and Geelo run to kneel by Amminius and I while the others run off to reinforce the others.

"Kriff!" I say, grinning at them. "Am I glad to see you guys!" "Likewise," Jevin says, bringing up his X45A. "But let's save the tearful 'thank you' until after, ok?" "Fair enough, Blastzone! How'd you find us anyway?" "Natural talent! And the fact that Gavin used your suit locator may have helped too!" He replies, smiling. "Ah." I say, feeling foolish. Geelo launches a volley of explosives with his MPL-57, braced against his shoulder. "Ba-boom!" The Rodian yells as the grenades go off, blowing away four troopers. "Nice!" Yells Gavin, spraying bolts from his RT-80 heavy blaster. He pauses to throw a sonic imploder, the blast causing a number of troopers to stagger and fall. "Showoff!" Yells Amminius, grinning. "How're things looking on the outside?" I ask Jevin, almost afraid to hear the answer. Jevin compresses his lips into a thin line. "Not good. Those super soldiers are doing a number on our forces, and our U-wings are getting shot out of the sky like mynocks by those AT-ATs. Aurek Squadron is being deployed to deal with them." I look at him. "Tell me honestly, are we going to lose Onderon?" Jevin is silent for a moment. He fires a few shots with his X45 and ducks back down again. "We're still in this." He says, conviction present in his voice. I nod, his conviction giving me hope. Amminius nods too. "We can do this!" "Besides," Jevin says, a smile spreading across his face. "We've got a new asset on our side." Gavin nods at Jevins' words. With a final burst from his RT-80, the last Imperium trooper topples to the ground. Amminius looks to me, his expression confused. "What asset?" He mouths. I shrug. "Good work everyone!" Jevin says loudly. Slowly, we all congregate at the center of the balcony. I suddenly hear a shout from above us followed by more clashing of sabers. I look up. "Sounds like they need help!" Says Nosh Ker Raisuun. The Quarren hefts his DLT-19, looking to the rest of us. "Let's go!" Jevin shouts, gesturing up with his rifle. We don jump packs and rocket upwards, landing on the above balcony.

Luke and Cade are engaged with their Trandoshan foe, sparks flying from their locked lightsabers. They maneuver and jump with skill, matching and countering the blows from their attacker. As soon as the scaly jumps free of a duel with Luke, we unleash a torrent of bolts at the Trandoshan. He goes on the defensive, his saber a spinning whirlwind of red. Bolts begin to fly back at us. "Watch it!" Amminius cautions. A bolt catches a nearby SHARC soldier in the seam of his armor. The man lets out a pained gasp and topples to the balcony floor. I unhook a thermal and lob it at the feet of the Trandoshan. He leaps away just as it goes off, and Cade and Luke attack again. They are locked in another duel when a huge explosion rocks the entire palace, throwing many of us off our feet. The Trandoshan looks out through the hole in the wall and snarls, his eyes ablaze. He detaches his blade from Cade and Luke's and acrobatically jumps to land just a few meters away from all of us. He then speaks. "Ssso, you have a new toy. No matter. It will not sssave your precious Republic. Your annihilation is inevitable. The Imperium will crush you!" He smiles a toothy reptilian grin and . . . disappears. "Whoa!" I yell. A few other soldiers let out surprised gasps. "Where'd he go?" Cade and Luke walk over to us, both looking a little tired. "It doesn't matter." Cade says. "Ferus is a coward, just like Pravus. His only purpose here was to test my skills." "Ferus?" Amminus echoes. "Yes," Luke answers. "You just met Darth Ferus, shadow hand of the Imperium and second hand to Pravus himself." "Hmm," I say, grinning, "what a swell guy. I'll bet his disappearing trick makes a killing at parties." Everyone laughs. Another explosion rocks the palace, again coming from outside. "What is that?" Asks Glam. "Is that our 'asset?'" Chimes in Amminius. Jevin grins."Come see for yourself." Geelo looks to us. "Hold onto your helmets!"

We make our way down until we stand outside, bathed in Onderon sunlight. "Gentle beings," Jevin says with a flourish of his hand, "I give you our asset, the Viscount!" I stare up at the sky in pure awe. It's a ship. A massive ship. "Manufactured by Mon Calamari Shipyards." Gavin says proudly. "Isn't she a beauty? And she's our ticket to winning Onderon!" A barrage of lasers arc from the Viscount, tearing apart a nearby Star Destroyer. "Alright, show's over!" Jevin says, all business. "Let's make our way to the city square. It's time to end this!" I look to Cade and he smiles. "Come on," I shout, "let's give our guys a hand!" With that we rush off towards the center of Iziz, ready and now able to turn the tide.

Belkadan, Imperium Shuttle Tyrant - Grand Moff Utres Daigen

16 ABE, several weeks later

The stars revert to normal, the effect of exiting hyperspace. Utres Daigen, the only Grand Moff of the Imperium, simply because of its current size, is aboard a Tyrant-class shuttle. The world he left is Malastare. Over the past three months, a protracted battle had been waged there for its precious fuel resources, enough to fuel at least two Imperium fleets! And they won! But his heart is also saddened by the fact they lost Onderon. The jewel of the Mid Rim was close to theirs but it appears the New Republic has a new toy, a Mon Cala ship nearly as big as a Super Star Destroyer. At least we have a few of our own Super Star Destroyers, he thinks. Especially the Insidious, named for Pravus' lord and Sith master, Palpatine, or his alter ego Darth Sidious. That ship is the pride of the Imperium; advanced technology, a hybrid of both Imperium and Sith tech, along with advanced, matte black stealth armor, makes it extremely powerful. At the thought of that he smiles to himself. To think, nearly fourteen years ago, he was a Colonel and commanding officer of the Imperial Storm Commandos. He was a soldier for the Empire. Following the disastrous Battle of Jakku, foolishly handled by Admiral Rax, he was rudderless. No Empire and no leader.

After the battle he had gone wandering and more importantly, into hiding. Over the months that followed, Utres had heard tales on the holovids of New Republic teams, hunting down former Imperials and trying them for war crimes. Now most, if not all, of the Imperials were given life sentences. The death penalty, it seemed, was something the Republic was hesitant to do but there were some. It was saved for only the most heinous war crimes committed. And he would have been one of them. The Storm Commandos were the elite hand of the Empire, along with the SCAR troopers. And he was the leader of the Commandos; what crimes hadn't he committed in the name of the Empire? But one day everything changed. They found the cantina he had holed up in on Nar Shaddaa, or so he thought, but the man who came through that door that day was...

"Moff Daigen, we have arrived," the crisp voice of the pilot says over the comm, shaking Daigen out of his thoughts. The world in front of them is much more green and vibrant than the one he left. Malastare was a brown-gray world, with very sparse plant life, making it unappealing from space. He wishes he could have traded place with Lord-General Saizen, who led an Imperium force to take Kashyyyk . . . but remembering that the unit was crushed by a combined Wookiee/Mandalorian Protector force, with Saizen being killed aboard the Relentless, he thinks better. No, this world was Belkadan, a planet deep in the Outer Rim. This world was a vibrant green and blue marble, its tropical climate easy to see from space. The world is a major foodstuffs supplier to worlds in the Outer Rim, which is part of why they took the world. Cripple supply lines, and you cripple morale, Lord-Emperor Verush, or Darth Pravus, had told him.

With a hiss the boarding ramp lowers and he steps down into a storm. It's raining, hard. But the rain can't dull the pride he has when he sees two Imperium stormtroopers standing guard on either side of the ramp. Their armor is visually identical to that of Imperial stormtroopers with two major differences. Like the New Republic in its fifth year, the Imperium, founded deep in Wild Space, found major caches of resources that, due to the nature of Wild Space, were virtually untapped. The armor, like the New Republic soldier, is plastoid yes, but with a weave of cortosis, as opposed to Phrik for the New Republic, giving it much greater durability under fire. The second difference is the color scheme. Their armor is white, like the troopers of old, but with red markings, as well as the symbol of the Imperium. Again, he flashes back to years before . . .

The door to the cantina bursts open after the sounds of struggle outside. Daigen, a broke former Storm Commando, fears that the Rebels, or "Republic" as they call themselves, have found him. But instead, in walks a man with short, black hair. Spiked up in the front. His eyes are a watery blue and across his face, diagonally from left temple to right lower cheek, a nasty scar that looks like a vibroblade cut across his face. He wears ebon black armor, almost reminiscent of the Royal Guard...and it hits him. He has served with this man, years before. The Shadow Guard, he nearly mouths the words as he stares in awe. Suddenly, the figure raises his hand and all the patrons in the cantina fall fast asleep, or dead, it matters not.

The man comes to him. "Utres Daigen, former commander of the Storm Commandos?" Daigen nods shyly, unsure what this is. "My name is Xander Verush. I am the Dark Lord of the Sith, Darth Pravus. I have a proposition for you, one I believe you can't refuse."

Back to the present

"An empire formed within an empire," he says, seeing the red emblem of the Imperium on the stormtroopers' left chest plate. As Pravus had been a loyal follower of Palpatine, his left hand, he chose to modify the symbol of the old Empire. The emblem is the old Empire symbol, but a triangle is inside the circle, symbolizing what the Imperium began as, an empire within an empire, formed from the crumbling remains of one to become the new. The stormtroopers offer a crisp salute that Daigen returns, their e-15 rifles hanging at their side. He continues on to the Belkadan-Ruuria Food Transport Co. Center, or what is now the capital of the Imperium on this world. As he walks, he thinks to himself. He is continually amazed at their progress, even fifteen years after the Imperium's creation. Pravus had convinced large swaths of former Imperials of his righteousness to rule. Those who had seen him in action and use the Force, like Daigen had, acknowledged him as the Heir of Palpatine, the Scion of the Empire, and the Dark Lord of the Sith. In a few short years, Darth Pravus had managed to attract many former Imperials, a good deal being like himself, former special ops; storm commandos, SCAR troopers, even some Inquisitors in there too. He also drew in people from Wild Space itself. There were and are many sith cults out there and many, upon seeing Pravus' power, flocked to the Imperium, bolstering both its military and civilian population. Now out of these sith cults, the most powerful Sith adepts were chosen, by Pravus, to become lords of the Sith.

Unlike Palpatine, who firmly believed the rule of two and was wary of too many Force wielders, Pravus believed in a different path. His was the Rule of Few. A small number of powerful Sith lords, all under the uncontested will of a Dark Lord. Thus, his ruling circle is himself, his apprentice the Trandoshan, Darth Ferus, and eight others to make ten. Seven of these ten are powerful adepts from the multiple sith cults that joined the Imperium's banner; Pravus completed their training and named them Lords. The three other "Praetors" as he called them, were former Inquisitors. Also unlike Palpatine, who kept the Inquisitors weak by not fully training them, Pravus trained them to their full potential, thus making his Ruling circle. Now Xander Verush was no fool, he knows the allure of power corrupts even loyal followers. So through the Force, he exerts his will through them, ensuring their loyalty. And he has crushed a few to make examples to their successors what defying Darth Pravus means.

As for Daigen himself, he is Grand Moff of the Imperium. This position, unlike under the Empire, has much more power. The Imperium is rapidly gaining ground in their war with the Republic, and a weapon, lost thousands of years ago but found by Darth Pravus, will bring them to dominance. Grand Moff Utres Daigen comes to the doors of the complex, here his blood chills. The power of the Sith is awesome, it has created his Imperium and he is proud of it, but is still scared by that power as well. Standing guard at the doors are not more stormtroopers but rather, the Sith Acolytes. You see, for in Pravus' Rule of Few, there can only be a handful of powerful Sith, lest they fight amongst themselves and destroy themselves from the inside, as the old Sith Empire did. However, one cannot ignore the combat advantages when one has jedi or sith on their side. So to that end, Pravus has taken force-sensitives from amongst the Imperiums citizens and has them trained, ever so slightly, in the Force and heavily in lightsaber combat. Already, Daigen has seen the Acolytes in action. The Phrik weave armor of the New Republic soldier does protect them, somewhat, from the blade but they definitely have a hard time fighting this mobile, close-quarters foe. They still give him the chills...

Garbed in dark grey pants and tunics, wearing ebon black armor over that, and finally a large black hood that covers most of their face, these acolytes are downright creepy at night. Daigen walks up to the doors. One of them, a human female, just looks at him with dark brown eyes. The other, the shorter one, is a Rodian, obvious by his bulbous eyes. The Imperium has done away with the foolish xenophobia of the Rodian says, in his accented Basic, "Darth Pravus has been expecting you, Grand Moff." Daigen just nods and enters as they open the doors. Inside, the hallways are darkly lit. He walks on.

Halfway through the complex, he hears it. That moaning and shrieking that he still has yet to grow accustomed to. Ever since his pilgrimage to Moraband, Pravus has created these . . . things. These super soldiers. They are incredibly powerful yes, but the process to make them is, well, horrifying to think of. Through Sith alchemy, the being is irreversibly changed, they lose their mind, their body becomes feral, and they become enslaved to his will, being absolutely loyal to death. He suppresses a grimace. He was utterly loyal to Xander Verush. The Shadow Guard of the Old Empire. This man nearly single handedly created the Imperium from nothing, drawing in thousands upon thousands of disillusioned Imperials and giving them purpose. If he had to do things he didn't like, he would deal with it. The power of the Sith brought him to Darth Pravus, saved his wife, Lena, and had given them the Praetors. The Imperium had flourished under the guidance of the Sith and now they had powerful Predator-class star destroyers, powerful E-15 rifles, updated and modified Imperial tech, thanks to the hybridization of ancient sith and modern technology. Xander Verush saved the Empire, there is no doubt about that. Of course there are other legacies; the First Order, the Graal Hegemony, and several others. Daigen can't help but wonder why Pravus doesn't just take them all into his Imperium. With that much power, the Republic would be crushed.

He enters the room that has been appropriated as the throne room. There, seated upon a high back, black stone chair, is Darth Pravus, Dark Lord of the Sith and Xander Verush, Lord Emperor of the Imperium. His eyes are closed, sleeping? Daigen starts to turn when he hears Pravus' voice. "Ah my dear friend Utres, back from Malastare? Tell me how the front is going?" Daigen turns to him, standing at crisp attention. "My lord-emperor, we have secured Malastare and the surrounding system. Even now, the massive fuel reserves are being used to bolster our fleets in the Mid Rim." Pravus nods, as if an impatient child. Just like Palpatine, he foresees events and then doesn't act surprised when they happen how he saw them. "And, pray tell me, what of Onderon?" He asks." Daigen fidgets, he hates bringing bad news. "My emperor, we lost Onderon. Our forces were close to winning the battle but Lord Ferus was forced to retreat." Pravus gives him that wicked smile again, "So, Valdarin has finally stepped up to play hero of the Republic, so be it. Kashyyyk was lost as well but all is as I have foreseen. Soon, an armada will come here, to Belkadan. The Republic will win this battle, they must. We must let them become overconfident. And when that overconfidence is ripe, we will show them just how powerful my Imperium is." Daigen nods. He knows what Pravus means. Several years ago, Pravus ventured into the black void of dark space after his pilgrimage to Moraband. What happened on that planet, he does not know. Ferus, the Trandoshan, told him once. He absorbed the spirit of a long dead Sith, Kronus. One of the first, an instigator in the Hundred Years Darkness, the schism that created the Sith in the first place. After gaining the knowledge and power of this old specter, he journeyed to Dark Space. What he brought back with him both filled him with vigor and chilled his bones.

Gorukar, it is called. Black Star, in the ancient Sith tongue. This ancient space station was created by Kronus and the other Dark Jedi during the Hundred Years Darkness. The mighty Death Stars, which while technological marvels, they were crude in nature. Gorukar, on the other hand, did not destroy planets. Rather, it harnessed the Force from a planet. The Force being created by living things, this act of draining the Force destroyed all life on a planet, leaving a hole in the Force. This is useful against force-users as it affects them on a different scale. Unfortunately, Kronus, the creator, was killed by the Jedi before he could unleash the weapon. Ironically, he was killed by an Argus Valdarin, the ancestor of the young jedi Cade Valdarin. Argus and the other jedi at the time did not find Gorukar as Kronus had already hidden it before his death and took the secret with him to the netherworld of the Force. And soon, very soon, the Imperium will use it to crush both Cade Valdarin, the mortal enemy of Darth Pravus, and the Republic which destroyed both Palpatine and the beloved Empire.

Daigen clears his throat. "Lord-Emperor, I did have a question." Pravus nods, "Of course my dear Moff, ask away." Daigen is visibly nervous, he did not fear retribution from Pravus like he did Vader. Darth Pravus is different; cooler, calmer, collected. Instead of unbridled rage, it is focused. "My lord, I was wondering . . . there are many surviving fragments of the Old Empire. The First Order, the Graal Hegemony, even the Black Nova pirate gang. Why do we not pull these assets into our fold. With their strength we could easily crush the Republic?" And this, Daigen tells, angers Pravus. He closes his eyes and Daigen can feel the dark power this man has, he is as strong if not stronger than even Palpatine. Pravus opens his eyes and they are pure black; a normal sith, in the depth of the dark side, has yellow eyes. Pravus, with essentially two force presences in him, two minds, although his thoughts are his own and all that power, has ebon black eyes that forever haunt Daigen. And when Pravus speaks, it's as if he is speaking with the power of the Force behind his voice. "We do not need them. The First Order is weak; Snoke is a fool to disregard the power of the Force and restrict the Order's use of it. The Graal Hegemony is a sham, led by a man who was once a captain, now calling himself High Admiral. The Black Nova is honorless, having forgotten themselves and given in to piracy. No Grand Moff Daigen, we do not need them. I am the heir of Palpatine and the Sith, I am the scion of the Old Empire. I will crush the Republic. And then I will destroy those who do not submit to my rule. This is my destiny as laid out by Palpatine." His eyes go back to their normal sith yellow. Daigen shudders and salutes; the Imperium salute is to kneel, and put your right fist on the left side of your chest. "Of course Lord-Emperor, what is your will?" Pravus pulls up a galaxy holomap, "You will leave this planet, as I said the force Valdarin will no doubt send to come here will win. They will keep winning until we unveil Gorukar. And then the Republic will learn its place, that the Empire did not die but grew stronger. And Valdarin, Skywalker, and all who follow the foolish Jedi ways will learn the true strength of the Sith. You and I will return to Xauvis where we will plan for the eventual battle at Atrisia. There, I have foreseen, the Republic will believe itself on the verge of victory. And there, we will show them how wrong they are." Daigen and Pravus journey back to the Tyrant. Before boarding, Pravus turns and before him comes one of the Praetors. A Talz, of all things. Darth Beerus, or Jehavin. Like all of the Praetors, he has a unique ability and blade. His is the ability to use someone's fear or doubt to cloak himself and become nigh invisible. As for the blade, he uses a strange crossguard blade. He kneels, speaking his strange language. "Rise" Pravus says, "You will remain here, Lord Jehavin. Wait for Valdarin to come with his precious forces. You will fight and you will lose. I have foreseen this. It is necessary. Do you understand?" The great Talz nods. It amazes Daigen how the Praetors are so loyal that they will willingly give their lives for the cause of the Imperium and Darth Pravus. As they board the shuttle, Daigen can't help but smile at the thought of crushing the New Republic, the people who destroyed his life years ago.

Mytaranor System, Kashyyyk - Cade Valdarin, onboard the Viscount

I look outside one of the many viewports on the Viscount at the destruction that took place here. Not two weeks ago, there was a massive battle for Kashyyyk. The planet has both strategic and symbolic importance to the Republic. Home of the hero Chewbacca, the planet was a major supporter of the Republic, and so on. Thus, a massive force was created to repel the Imperium here. That force was comprised of the Republic Sixth Fleet, the Wookiee Defense Force, and the Mandalorian Protectors under Gerik Ordo. The battle was a long, protracted one but mostly in space, although there was some ground combat. The battle was won though and now I look at the remains of the Predator Star Destroyer, Relentless, flagship of a Lord-General Saizen. The skeletal remains drift there in space. I can't help but feel responsible for all this death. Years ago, on Endor, I had the chance to destroy Xander Verush. I didn't and he escaped, created the Imperium, and now is waging a galactic war that will possibly cause more damage than the Empire ever did.

Two Protectors jog past, snapping me out of my thoughts and I see a familiar face coming toward me. "Well well, if it isn't little Cade!" Wodi Quix says. He is practically beaming. Coming back from a promotion ceremony. Jevin Corso, due to his efforts on Onderon and Malastare, had been promoted to General. Jevin turned around and promoted Wodi, Amminius, and Geelo. Wodi is now a Colonel and is the acting commander of the SHARCs. Amminius is now a Major and high ranking officer in the Infiltrators. Geelo was promoted to a Brigadier General and now is one of the three generals for the Third Army, the command structure going Geelo, then Jevin, then High General Garm Bel Iblis. The ceremony was quite big, even High Marshal Tor Ponith was there. The Bothan was getting up there in years but still looked tough enough to take on every soldier there in hand-to-hand.

"So," Wodi says beaming, "how's it feel? The big 24?" My birthday came up recently and I had hoped to avoid any notice but I failed. Aunt Mothma, having much prestige in the Republic for her role as the first Chancellor, arranged a large party for me . . . onboard the Viscount! I roll my eyes at Wodi, "Fine, I guess. I just wish it was under happier circumstances." Wodi nods and joins me in gazing out the viewport. We watch in silence as several ships drop out of hyperspace. They are the ships of the Protectors, Dreadnaught heavy cruisers. They join formation with several of our MC80s. Alongside them come several of the brand new Nadiri Mark Two Starhawks. The ships are like their predecessors, the Mark One, in that they are New Republic ships built solely for combat. Next to them are the massive Wookiee capital ships, complete with Wroshyr wood trimming along the hull.

Wodi glances at me, seeing the discomfort I'm trying not to show. "Cade, what's the matter? You're not your usual self." I shake my head, "It's the Senate. I just came back from Chandrila, visiting Aunt Mothma." He asks, "How is she?" "Good, all things considered. The chancellorship took a toll of course on her health but she's doing good." He sighs, "That's good to hear. So why is the Senate bothering you?" My turn to sigh. "Did you know there's already talk of disarmament following the war?" Wodi grunts, "Yeah, it's been going through the ranks. They think the end of the war is near don't they. No, this isn't over by a long shot. Who's calling for it?" I look at him, "You know who. Senator Lanever Villecham. I agree peace is an admirable goal. I'm a Jedi, I fight for peace. But I'm a Grey Jedi, we know that there can be no good without evil. To disarm the government that could be the road to peace in a galaxy where evil exists is folly." Wodi grimaces, then shoves me a little, "Knock off with the philosophical stuff, buddy." I grab his arm and look him in the eyes. "Wodi, there's a favor I need to ask." Ever his sarcastic self, he says, "Cade, this is a weird way to propose," but he stops when he sees how serious I am.

And here, I remember the vision I had the night before, of stormtroopers slaughtering civilians on a desert world, of red beams of energy destroying a star system, the absence of myself and Luke from the visions . . . "Wodi, I had a vision, a premonition of the possible future. And it was not good." He is listening intently, clearly picking up on the seriousness in my tone. "I don't know how, I don't know why, but some time off in the future something happens. Darkness was creeping back into the galaxy but I couldn't see why. All I could see was that evil was coming back and Luke and I were gone. There weren't even Jedi around!" Wodi stares intently, "Well, maybe you and Luke just never had time to train any?" I look at him, incredulous, "Wodi, the galaxy needs the Jedi. It's what we plan to do once Pravus and the Imperium are taken care of. So something can happen in the future that prevents that . . . or ends that dream. Here's where the favor comes in." We walk a little bit to one the the meditation rooms; the Viscount Star Defenders are equipped with these rooms mostly to help calm frayed nerves of navy personnel but I have found they work to a Jedi's purposes as well. "Wodi, have you heard of the planet Tython?" He scratches at a stubble of a beard, "Deep Core right?" I nod, "You've got it. The planet is strong in the Force, with its abundance of life. However, there are few settlers there. It's remote, hard to navigate to." "Ok, but why do you ask?" Wodi says. "Wodi, in that possible future I saw, something . . . happens to either Luke or me. Either we die or go away. My request is this. I want you to use your access as head of the SHARCs to erase Tython from all Republic registries; make the planet non-existent. If something does happen and Luke and I leave, that will be where I go. The life force there will cloak me and I can keep an eye on the galaxy without interruption. Promise me Wodi." He stares at me, somewhat dumbfounded but then grabs my arm resolutely, "I promise you Cade. You can count on me." He lets go and we see Luke coming down the hall with two Wookies flanking him. On the left is Chewbacca, hero of the Rebellion. On the right is a younger Wookiee, almost a century younger than Chewbacca. This is Salurra, or Sal, the Wookiee I saved on Bespin years ago and who in turn pledged a life debt to me and now is one of my best friends and bodyguard. You can tell he's younger due to the fact he's shorter and that there is a circle of black fur on his chest while the rest is a light brown. Clearing his throat again, Wodi says, raising his voice so Luke can hear, "Cade, enough with this depressing business. I've always wondered, who is stronger between you two . . . "

General Jevin Corso - Kashyyyk's orbit, onboard the Viscount, flagship of the Republic Navy

I walk down the sterile white hallway, looking out of the viewports. To think nearly a year ago the Republic had been demilitarized and not ready for a war. And now, the Republic was a force to be reckoned with. I see three of the newly made Mark II Starhawks, the hulls gleaming with the shine of newly made vessels. "General!" I hear behind me. I turn to see the Bothan, High Marshal Tor Ponith, walking my way. "Marshal Ponith! How can I help you, how was the hololink with Coruscant." He slows down and matches my pace.

Sighing he remarks, "Not good Jevin. These blasted fools in the Senate are getting to me. We knew the Centrists and Populists were bad news but Chancellor Mothma was always able to rein them in. After her term ended though, no one has been able to make them work together. Blast, the only thing making the Senate work together right now is the "Imperium War" they're calling it." He shakes his head, the years of his service showing in gray patches in his fur, "Did you know there's already a committee to process demilitarization once the war ends?" I stop, looking at him, "How can they think the war will be over soon. The Imperium is spread out and possibly more dangerous than the Empire!" He sighs again, "I know. And Senator Villecham is the one calling for it. The fool." We continue on towards the hangars. "Marshal, Tor, there's something more, what is it?" He puts a hand on my shoulder, "Jevin my boy, it's this war. I have been serving the Alliance, the Republic, for two decades. I'm old and tired. I joined the Rebellion as a commando in the Bothan Spynet and was made a captain. I saw the Rebellion from its earliest days to become the New Republic. But there comes a time when one tires of war and death." Shaking my head I say, "But Tor, you are one of the greatest military minds the Republic has, we would have lost this war if not for you."

He shakes his mane again, "Corso, you know the position of High Marshal is a wartime rank only. Besides, I've been grooming High General Iblis as a replacement. If another intergalactic war breaks out, Republic Command would be smart to vote him as the next High Marshal. Maybe it'll be you someday! As for me, I'm thinking of going into politics." I look at him, dumbfounded. "Marshal, you hate politics." "I know, but someone has to rein in the foolery."

"So, thinking of going for the chancellorship?" Tor shakes his head, "Oh no. I'm thinking a military advisor position, to help make sure the Republic has the defenses it needs to stay safe. Enough about that though. The military will be fine, there are plenty of fine officers; you, Tav Voren, Garm, Wodi. All of you are the finest of the Republic and you make me proud."

We continue walking until I see two tall Wookiees. The one on the right is the mighty Chewbacca, war hero of the Rebellion. The one on the left is the younger but just as mighty Wookiee Berserker, Salurra, friend and bodyguard to Cade Valdarin. With them is Colonel Wodi Quix. As we come around the bend, we hear Wodi say, "Enough with this depressing business. I've always wondered, who is stronger between you two?" He stops when he sees me and Tor and salutes. "General, High Marshal." "At ease Colonel," says Tor. "Please continue," I say to Wodi. "I'm plenty curious myself." We all look at Cade. He squirms a little, "Well the point is Luke and I are a team, a pair to fight against the dark side. But in terms of strength in the Force? That's Luke hands down; he's the son of the Chosen One. Out of the two of us, I am the better duelist." Luke butts in, "And he's nearly as strong as me with the Force."

We all walk on toward the hangar deck. "So, Marshal, what's the plan with Belkadan?" Tor clears his throat, "Well, we have a dilemma. Mon Calamari is under siege. General Voren and Admiral Rogen are currently holding the planet and Mon Calamari Shipyards but we've all seen how deadly the Imperium is. To that end, we are sending a portion of the Third Fleet there." He pulls out a holocube that enlarges to show the planet Belkadan. "As for the battle here, you'll be transferring to the ship Guardian. We want to gain surprise here so the Viscount won't be present at first. Jevin, once their orbital defenses are down, you'll get groundside with the use of U-wing and MAAT gunships; focus on retaking the capital city and the Belkadan-Ruuria company headquarters."

Wodi interjects, "What about me and the SHARCs?" Tor gives him a smirk, "Colonel, you and Gerik will take a SHARC unit and infiltrate this vessel here," he points to a needle shaped Star Destroyer on the projection. "This ship, according to our recon drones, is serving as a communications ship for the Imperium. We take it out, we throw them in disarray for a while. As for Cade and Skywalker, well, you two are Jedi. You aren't military so go where you please I guess." We all enter the hangar and stop short. The hangar, a huge cavernous room, is filled with beings. Soldiers of the Republic in their gleaming armor, Wookiee warriors of the Defense Force, and Mandalorians of the Protectors are all gathered. We even see Gerik Ordo, commandant of the Protectors and practically Mandalore, twirling his dual DT-39 pistols. Tor ushers us to a spots alongside the Republic personnel and takes a podium, beginning a motivational speech before the Combined Fleets jump to Belkadan.

Onboard the Guardian - General Jevin Corso

High Marshal Tor Ponith finishes his speech. It rouses everyone in the hangar with cheers. "Alright, Wodi, Cade, Gerik, Salurra, over here," I yell over the raucous. We gather around a holotable showing the space around Belkadan. "NRI agents have reported back. There's a problem." Highlighting a large red blip, "This is a Super Star Destroyer. What's worse is it wasn't showing up on scanners because of one thing, it has highly experimental stealth armor." The image materializes into a picture of an immense, matte black SSD. Cade, looking as if spooked by a ghost, suddenly chips in, "Insidious." "What is Cade, the ship?" Wodi asks. "No, Insidious, that's the name of the ship. Think about it, who is the one person that Xander Verush respected more than himself? Palpatine, or Sidious." I regard Cade, "If that's the case, then it's the Imperium's flagship, which'll complicate things. But to the matter at hand."

Clicking an icon on the holotable, an image of a smaller, normal star destroyer comes up. "This is the Wasp. It's acting as a communications hub for the Imperium forces here. Wodi, Salurra, and Gerik will lead a boarding party to take the ship and knock it out; hopefully this will cause some confusion, giving us an edge. Cade, you and Luke are free to do whatever, you aren't military." Luke speaks up, "We'll head to the surface with the troops, there are internment camps there and the citizens of this world are prisoners." "Good, one last thing." I look at Cade, "I have a present for you, young jedi." Turning around, I hit a switch on the holotable and a bulkhead door slides back, revealing a sleek starfighter, with a cockpit like a T-70 x-wing but with bent wings, causing it to look like an E.

"This is a gift from Incom-Freitek, Cade, in recognition for saving their world a few months back. They call it the Vanguard, due to its speed, heavy armor and shields, and impressive weaponry. They requested it be given to you." Cade walks toward the ship, examining it with his droid Ratchet. He turns, a grin on his face, "I like it." "Good, then might I suggest a name for your group, Task Force Vanguard. We all agree and tense up for the situation we are about to enter.

Several hours later . . .

We hear the commander of the Star Destroyer Guardian over the comm, it's Rear Admiral Wedge Antilles, a hero of the Rebellion and New Republic. "All ships, prepare to enter combat zone." The fighters in the hangar all whine up with the sounds of engines and repulsorlifts coming on. The ground shudders as the massive ship reverts to realspace. revealing through the force field a massive battle in space. Out there in the distance ,we see the massive Insidious completely vaporize an MC80 cruiser before entering hyperspace. Salurra rumbles something and Gerik says, "Agreed, hairball. That's not retreating, they know something we don't." Wedge comes over again, "All fighter wings, launch!" and the space around the Guardian and several other capital ships suddenly buzz with fighters and bombers, from the new T-70 X-wings to the powerful B-wing to the fast and nimble A-wing. I give Cade a nod and enter my own transport, a GR-80 troop transport. Donning a headset, I hear Cade say in a crisp voice, "Attention Task Force Vanguard, this is Vanguard One. Let's get in there." "Vanguard One, this is lead, we're all set, see you on the ground after we hit the ship." "Oya!" a gruff Mandalorian yells. A Wookiee growls an affirmative. Cade's new E-wing lifts off and zooms away, followed by Luke in his X-wing and other X and B-wings, Blue and Blade squadrons, and head toward the green planet of Belkadan while three MAATS, one carrying Wodi, Gerik, and Salurra, lift off and head off into space towards the Wasp with three GR75s and a heavy fighter escort covering them. While my own transport heads toward the surface to reinforce Cade, I can't help but smile. Even though this is a war and war is terrible, the New Republic is finally the strong, democratic force it was meant to be. Equally powerful diplomatically and militarily, and this battle will prove it. I open up the comm, "To all Coalition forces, may the Force be with us."

Wodi "Wishbone" Quix - Belkadan, Outer Rim Territories

16 ABE

I tighten my helmet chin strap with one gloved hand while gazing out the forward viewport of our MAAT at the massive wedge-shaped Destroyer hanging in space ahead of us. Despite seeing these durasteel monoliths on numerous occasions during the Civil War, they still evoke a cold feeling of dread mixed with blind panic in me. The thing is enormous, blotting out the surrounding star field, its dark hull silhouetted by turbolaser fire as it engages our forces. "Looks like the fleet has their attention." Nom Carver says seated next to me, gripping his safety harness. "Let's hope our cruisers can keep 'em occupied long enough for us to do our job." "Getting inside won't be the hard part." Replies Gav Pulastra, opposite Carver. "Blending in once we're inside will be the hard part." I mentally force myself to look away from the capital ship. "Are you kidding me?" I say, cracking a smile and turning away from the viewport to look at everyone seated in the transport's troop bay. Nine commandos, including myself, decked out in stealth armor, a Mandalorian gunslinger, rocket pack and all, and a large Wookiee. "We'll blend right in!" Lannik Endel reaches over, clapping me lightly on the armored shoulder. "I hope you've been practicing your snobbish Core Worlds accent, sir, you're gonna need it once we're in!" His quip brings a round of chuckles and stifled laughter from everyone aboard, including our pilot, who turns back from his controls to look at us saying "I hope you laser-brains know what you're getting yourselves into!" "Trust me," Jax Malogaan replies, adjusting the calibration on his DLT-19, "we get into this stuff every day. We're experts!"

More laughter. Gerik Ordo turns his helmeted head and regards me for a second. "Just try not to get in my shabla way this time, Wodi." I can tell by the tone of his gruff voice that he's joking. "Hey," I reply, shrugging, "what happened on Kashyyyk wasn't my-" Ordo cuts me off, chuckling and thumbing me a rude gesture. "Sure it wasn't, you di'kut!" I shake my head and activate the holoprojector in the middle of the floor space, bathing the compartment and its occupants in blue. The projected image is an interior map of the Star Destroyer Wasp. Touching another button on the console, a lower section of hallway and a hangar flash green. "Alright," I say, looking to everyone, "just to recap everything that was mentioned in briefing, this is the route we are to take once we're inside. It's a maintenance hallway that branches off from one of the lower hangars. Our former Imperial sources can confirm that these maintenance corridors are seldom busy. Only a few guards, droids, and engineer personnel are stationed there at one time, and they cycle in shifts every four hours." Everyone nods. I scroll the holoprojection to the left, showing the same highlighted tunnel. "We follow this corridor until we reach this set of turbolift doors." The indicated turbolift strobes green. "We ride up the lift to floor three, where we will exit and breach the communications center here." I touch the communications room, which flashes green. "We knock it out using sonic charges," the comm room strobes a bright orange color, "and then we proceed to exfil here," I point to an adjacent hallway, which is labeled exfil in green letters. "Everyone good?" Nods all around. "Good, then let's get this done. The others are counting on us." I deactivate the holoprojector and get up from my seat to talk to the pilot.

"How's our escort?" I ask him once I reach the cockpit. The pilot looks to me and displays a thumbs up. "All good sir. We've just about reached our checkpoint. Fighter wings will bail out, followed by the GR-75s." I nod my understanding. "Excellent. How are our shields doing?" "Still at one hundred percent sir. I've been cycling them so as to not overheat the generators. The Imps haven't spotted us yet. They're still too focused on our cruisers." I smile. "Perfect." An automated ping sounds throughout the cockpit and crew area. "Checkpoint reached." The pilot informs us over the intercom. On cue, our fighter escort performs a wide turn past our MAAT and begin heading back to their designated cruisers. The two GR-75s soon follow. "And then there was one," Mutters the pilot. I pat him on shoulder and head back into the crew compartment, where the others are already getting prepped. "One minute till infiltration," our pilot's voice crackles over the comm after several seconds of silence, "I hope you moofers don't miss." "Don't worry." Ordo responds. "We won't." The other SHARCs and I activate our visors, which slide shut over our helmets. Salurra dons an oxygen mask and portable tank, slinging his heavy bowcaster over his hairy shoulder. The hiss of recycled air sounds throughout the cabin. A light near the aft of our MAAT strobes. We all head that way. "Aft doors opening." Our pilot says. "Good luck!" I feel the tug of space as the doors hiss open, revealing an unobstructed view of stars. "Pretty." Remarks Nosh Ker Raisuun. I look to Endel, who stands next to me. We nod together. "Alright SHARCs," I say over my helmet comm system, "fall out!" And with that, we jump out and embrace the cold vacuum, heading towards the lower hangar of our target.

General Jevin Corso - Belkadan

16 ABE

"All ships, focus fire on the Victory now!" I shout over the comm. It's only been an hour since the Guardian jumped into the system. I hope Wodi and his crew are alright, the last I saw was their MAAT heading towards the Wasp. I can't help but feel like I'm neglecting Cade and Luke. They headed straight towards the surface, something about the Force feeling "murky" on the planet. But they're Jedi, I shouldn't worry so much, they can handle themselves. As for me, I'm also heading planetside with General Voren but not to where the jedi are going, toward the Belkadan/Ruuria Foodstuffs factory, verified by NRI as a production site for the aptly-named Imperium Juggernauts or the Imperium super soldiers.

Voren crosses the deck of the GR-75, offering words of comfort to the young men and women, which for many this is the first real action in the war. "Jevin," the Chagrian says, "How do we look? Wodi and his assault team just reported in, they breached the Destroyer and are now working their way up." I pull up a holomap from my wrist device, "We land here. Our objective is to draw off forces from the factory, thus letting the Jedi and Gavin's strike team destroy it, hopefully knocking out a good deal of their Juggernauts." He smirks at me, "Reminds me of Jakku, sitting in a cramped troop transport as we try to make it planetside."

. . .

"One minute to groundside," the pilot's voice comes over the comm. "All right troops, get ready. Now when those doors open, run for cover, then return fire, I don't need any heroes today, just soldiers!" I bark. "Jevin, Tav, this is Bel Iblis, may the Force be with you both. Marshal Ponith and I are attacking nearby Ruuria and we'll try to keep them from sending reinforcements to the battle. Bel Iblis out." "Acknowledged!" Tav looks at me, "You know, scuttlebutt says Tor Ponith is grooming Garm to become the next High Marshal of the Republic." I laugh, "Who better than Garm Bel Iblis?" He nods, returning the laugh. In the next few minutes, the transport vibrates with the sounds of landing struts touching the ground.

The doors open and after blinding light comes red bolts. I take a hit on my chest armor, the Phrik weave in it causing the blast to easily deflect off the armor but still delivering some force. Hefting my X45A rifle, I yell, "Roll em out!" and Tav, myself, and the rest rush for the cover of a crashed Nebulon B frigate. "Jevin this is Wedge. We're going to try to lay down some orbital strikes to soften their forces, danger close!"

The next thing I see is blinding green light from the sky and then a massive cloud of dust raised from the earth.

Cade Valdarin - Surface of Belkadan

16 ABE

The one of a kind E-wing glides easily through the atmosphere. Incom Freitek created it as a gift for me when we saved Fresia, the homeworld of Incom, a few months back. To my right is Red Five, Luke's X-wing. He's flying as my wingmate and behind us, two fully-loaded GR-80 transports, filled with SHARCS under the command of Lieutenant Gavin Skyes, Wodi's protege. As we descend further towards the surface, I can't help but feel worry about Wodi, Gerik, Jevin, Salurra. All of them are the greatest friends a guy could ask for and yet here they are, throwing themselves into the fire. We had all fought in the Civil War and I thought after Jakku, things would be better. Then my mind drifts to Kiara, a Zeltron female, aide to the Chancellor, and my lover. I promised her I would marry after this war, after I dealt with my failure to stop Xander Verush when I had the chance but that's starting to seem farther and farther away.

You know I can feel your thoughts right? Luke's voice comes in my mind. Luke and I share unique bond. Even with fifteen years between us, I being twenty-four and he thirty-nine, we are the closest friends and allies. Our bond is that of Master-Apprentice, Apprentice-Master, best friends, rivals, and brothers-in-arms. This allows the bond to be so powerful, we can telepathically communicate. What, don't tell me you don't have anyone special Skyguy? Luke smirks through his cockpit, Well, there is my nephew Ben, and Han, Leia, and Chewie, so I guess we both have someone, I smile. Even in the midst of a war that is shaping up to be more destructive than the civil war, we still find good things to cling to.

"Vanguard Lead, this is Vanguard One, we have made it planetside, repeat, we are boots on the ground and-" Static. "Stang, the Wasp is still blocking any Republic comms in the system." I touch the E-wing down and see Luke land next to me, his loyal astromech R2-D2 already hopping out of his socket. I land and my astromech, Ratchet, follows suite. Then the large transports come in flying fast and low to avoid anti-air. As soon as the loading bay doors open, out comes Gavin Skyes, a younger SHARC but definitely worthy of the position. Even though he's young, he has proven himself to be Wodi's equal in terms of combat and leadership ability. In fact, I think Wodi is grooming him as a potential replacement as commanding officer of the SHARCS. Next to him is Aleeta Krall, a Rutian Twi'lek who, despite her alluring features, is just as likely to blast you in the eyes for staring. "So, we're here, now what?" Gavin asks, hefting his bowcaster, a gift from the Wookiees for the defense of Kashyyyk."Well," I say, "we get in, place the charges, kill whichever Praetor is in charge of this place, and go. Simple." Gavin smiles. Luke on the other hand, looks sick. Aleeta looks concerned. Like many of the newer members of the New Republic military, she grew up on stories and legends about people like Luke, me, Jevin, and Wodi. "Master Skywalker are you alright?" "I'm fine," he puts a hand up. "It's just this place. The Dark Side is strong here." "I sense a strong presence," I say. "Xander?" Luke asks. "No, it's not him, he's multitudes stronger than this one but it is still powerful. Must be a Praetor. Let's get in this nightmare factory and end its evil."

Cade Valdarin - Belkadan, inside former Belkadan/Rurria FoodCo Factory

16 ABE

"Incoming!" Gavin yells as a thermal det is tossed into the room. We vacate to escape the explosion. Ever since we entered the former factory, we discovered horror after horror. The factory was re-purposed by the Imperium into a factory for the creation of the now called "Sith Juggernaut." Luke and I were nearly knocked unconscious by the dark energy here and the pain and agony of those being turned. Hiss! A saber turns on and Luke saber rushes into the hallway I jumped into. "Cade, we have a problem!" "I know we do!" I yell back as I deflect three bolts back into several Imperium troopers. "We have to find the Praetor in charge here, then we can leave!"

Gavin and Aleeta rush into the hall with the five remaining SHARCS out of a full complement of twelve plus Gavin and Aleeta. Gavin is panting hard, "Jedi, we need to do something and now!" The Twi'lek turns, "Way ahead of you sir," in her hands a control pad for detpacks. Gavin smirks, "I ever tell you I love it when you do that?" "Maybe once or twice," she coyly smiles back. "Blow it," I say and the next noise we hear after Gavin closes the blast door is a deafening thud. "Ok, if I know anything about how the Imperium designs their buildings, the throne room is in the middle of the building, not the highest level. Let's move while we can."

Several hours later . . .

Gavin holds up a hand, open palm, the universal signal for stop. He charges up his bowcaster and unleashes a full payload of five explosive blasts into the room, taking out two troopers and three Juggernauts in one fell swoop. Then Aleeta tosses a smoke grenade in the mix, letting Luke and I wade in and ignite our sabers, the emerald green shining in the gray smoke. Swoosh swoosh. A devastating cross-weave of the green sabers and the room is clear. As the smokes clears, we see we are in the throne room but no Praetor in sight. "This is the throne room. Guess we just missed the party." Gavin sighs. All of a sudden, I feel a tugging sensation through the Force. I look at Luke, he replies, "I felt it too, the Praetor is on the roof, calling us." I turn to Gavin, who being a year younger than I, has become like a brother. "Gavin, you and the rest of the team plant the detpacks where we planned. Luke and I will handle the Praetor and then we're getting out of here." "Got it, and may the Force be with you two."

Crack! Crack! Lightning flashes all around and thunder booms as we step onto the roof. It's an open area, with a landing pad designed for a small transport. Standing there, its head covered in a black cowl, is a Sith Praetor. The figure lifts up its hands and pushes the hood back, revealing itself to a Talz, of all things. It begins to speak in its odd language. I stand there puzzled; I know many languages but Talzzi has never been a strong point. Luke, however, understands. "He says his name is Jehavin, or Darth Beerus. His master bids us welcome." We both shake our heads in disappointment. "You know Pravus is just using you right!" I yell as the rain begins to pick up. "You are a pawn!" The towering Talz responds back in his strange language. "Fine, if you won't see reason, then we have no choice." The black ground shines iridescent as Luke and I ignite our sabers, the green blades sizzling as raindrops hit the blades. Darth Beerus' own saber ignites, a strange looking blade. A crossblade actually, if our studies over the years into the ancient history of the Jedi and Sith were accurate. A design from the great battle of Malachor in fact. "You go left I go right?" Luke asks in his sarcastic voice, "Or you go right I go left?" I just reply, "Yes," and we Force-charge at Jehavin, blades weaving through the rain and sizzling as we parry and thrust over and over. Jehavin telekinetically grips me and slams me into the wall as Luke jumps and tries an overhead slash at the head. He dodges and kicks Luke in the back of the leg. I jump back up and send a concentrated telekinetic blast of concussive energy at the giant Talz, staggering him. Luke launches another that pushes him into the wall.

He gets up quickly and launches at us, beginning another round of parries and cuts. After what seems like hours but is, in reality, only about twenty minutes or so of constant back and forths, parries and small cuts here and there, the fighting stops. Luke, myself, and Jehavin are all tired, blood gushing from cuts we each received from a glancing blow; a part of Luke's tunic was burned off thanks to the saber of Darth Beerus. "Well, what now?" I yell but it comes out as an exasperated sigh. "It's two against one, sooner or later, you'll lose and then you die. That's all you'll get belonging to the Dark Side. It's not too late to renounce Pravus and his Imperium. You can use the Force for good and.." The Talz speaks again, the tone of his beeping voice needs no interpretation. This thing is so loyal to Pravus it is willing to die for him. I begin to tap into a wellspring of anger. Anger for Pravus, for what he's done with the knowledge he gained from long dead Sith secrets. Unlike Luke, the more traditional Jedi, I don't fear using my anger because I know I can control it. I launch a flurry a saber strikes against the Talz, my use of the Juyo form taking him by surprise. Luke comes in from behind, forcing the Talz to defend on two fronts. After forcing him to the edge of the roof, he blasts Luke with a torrent of lightning, sending him flying toward the other side. He begins to turn his hand toward me and in a split second, I launch my own torrent. For a while the air becomes acrid as the lightning crackles and burns. Finally, I let go of the force lightning, mentally preparing a Tutaminis shield to absorb the lighting from Beerus' attack. The lightning cascades over me as I zoom toward the white alien. Right before I bring my emerald blade across his neck, the big Talz closes its eyes. The next smell is the acrid odor of cauterized flesh and of death. Luke comes back from where he landed. "Cade, I ever tell you you are one heck of a fighter? We start up a new Jedi order, you are definitely becoming the new Battlemaster." I chuckled without mirth. "He was willing to die for Pravus and he didn't need to." Luke claps me on the shoulder, "Don't let it worry you too much. Pravus, most likely like all the other tyrants, is mind controlling these Praetors, keeping their loyalty, etc etc." We start to leave the roof as a deafening explosion sounds across the sky. Looking up, we see an explosion right where the Wasp was. "They did it, they actually did it!" Luke exclaims in wonder. I on the other hand, am more frantic. I can't feel Wodi or Gerik or Sal in the Force; it's like something is blocking their presence. If they were dead, we would feel it. "Wodi, Gerik, Sal, please respond!" I yell into the wrist-mounted communicator. "Repeat, Vanguard Lead respond!" Nothing but static. I begin to comm Ratchet to bring the E-wing, now dubbed the Vanguard, to the roof when all of a sudden several escape pods hit the ground at the foot of the palace.

We jump down, using the Force to slow our descent. The rain begins to clear as we enter the landing site, a cliff overlooking a river. Gavin and his team show up momentarily, Gavin ordering his men to pry open the escape pod doors. After some prying and even blasting of the doors, they finally break open, revealing some very cramped passengers. "Thank the stars you guys are alright!" I exclaim. Wodi is the first to come out, looking ragged and extremely tired. "We barely got off that ship, they were everywhere." I see a blaster burn on his shoulder. Noticing my concern he shrugs his other one, "We're fine Cade, thanks to Gerik's gunplay and Salurra's muscle." We begin to call in for evac when that dark murky presence crops up again. It's coming from behind. As we all turn at the sounds of approaching footsteps, I feel a blast of lightning knock me off my feet and the last thing I see is all of our combined team on the ground, alive but smoking from the lightning hit. Just before I lose consciousness, I see something I hoped to never see again. The visage of a black royal guard helmet, a long flowing black cape, a crimson red saber. It can only be one person; Xander Verush, former Shadow Guard of the Empire, Palpatine's Voice, and now Emperor and Dark Lord of the Imperium. As he removes his helmet to show his short, spiky black hair and yellow eyes, the last thing I see is that huge diagonal scar running from his left temple to right jaw. He begins to laugh as I fade out of consciousness . . .

Wodi "Wishbone" Quix - Belkadan, Outer Rim Territories

16 ABE

"Seven meters to the lower hangar." I relay to my team through my mic, the amplified sound of my voice mixing with the hiss of recycled air through breathing tubes in the closed confines of my helmet. "Reduce thrust on your repulsor packs." "Copy, Colonel." Nom Carver's voice comes back crackling with interference. "This is where the fun begins." Mutters Dax Olesa, his tone suggesting humorous sarcasm. As we near closer to the opening of the hangar, a bright rectangular opening at odds with the dark hull of the destroyer, I can feel the pull of its artificial gravity. It's strong. On my interactive HUD, I monitor the other members of my team, checking the diagnostics of their individual suits, small icons in the upper right corner of my peripheral vision. Each suit is outlined in green, indicating no problems. So far, so good. I begin kicking my legs, the action propelling me slowly closer to the hangar opening. "Here we g- AGGH!" Jori Carver starts to say when he lets out a shriek, the noise ringing loudly in my ears. "Jori, what's wrong?" I ask, quickly flipping back to his suit, now outlined in red and flashing. I don't need to. A second later, Jori rockets forward past me, the repulsor pack on his back trailing sparks and escaping fuel. "Pack's malfunctioning!" Jori yells, his voice cracking in panic. "I have no control!"He continues his careening path, his acceleration quickened by the force of gravity. A second later, his body slams full force into the side of the Wasp's durasteel hull. "Jori!" I yell. I can hear the other members of my team cry out as well. I furiously kick my legs, attempting to get to our fallen companion. Gerik Ordo gets their first and slowly maneuvers Jori around. His limbs are completely limp, and his helmeted head lolls to one side. The Mandalorian announces the obvious truth, turning his helmeted head to look at me. "He's dead. Broken neck. I'm sorry, ner'vod." "Stang!" Curses Lannik Endel. Nosh Ker Raisuun emits an expletive in his own tongue. Salurra lets out a growl.

I close my eyes, sadness welling up inside me. Jori Carver was only just two weeks out of trials, eager to prove himself. And to go out like he did . . . I shake my head, attempting to clear it, forcing myself to focus. There would be time to mourn for him later. "We need to keep moving." I say looking around to everyone. "We can't do anything for him now." Everyone else nods. Ordo gently pushes Jori's body away and we continue for a short distance until we reach the glowing opening. I grip the lip of the hangar with one gloved hand, holding up the other one, palm facing out to my team. Stop. Wait. The others sit tight as Ordo, Salurra, and Endel come forward, gripping the lip of the hangar as well. Together, we carefully peer over the edge and look into the opening. A lone shuttle is docked in the middle of the hangar. I take out a small long-range scanner. I hear the click of Ordo's periscope rangefinder as he brings it over his visor, scanning the cavernous interior. After a few moments, he gives a thumbs up. "I'm not getting any activity in there. But that doesn't mean that there isn't anyone home." I nod. "My scanner isn't picking up anything either." Salurra lets out a growl ending in a question. "No," I reply, "the scanner doesn't detect droids. So if there are any in there, we'll have to deal with them quick before they alert any troopers." The Wookiee nods his shaggy head. "OK," I turn back to everyone else, "the hangar looks clear, but stay on your guard. Malogaan, keep your EMP charges ready in case we run into any tinnies." Malogaan nods, putting a gloved hand to his belt pouch. As a group we carefully maneuver ourselves into the hangar. The effects of its artificial gravity are instantaneous. We made it. I flip up my visor to get my first whiff of non-recycled air. It's far from sweet, smelling slightly of engine fuel and grease, but I'll take it. With weapons at the ready, we quickly make our way to the rear of the hangar, taking cover behind large crates and other pieces of equipment where we can. I'm about to step out to move to the next piece of cover, a tall yellow and black-painted crane when Gav Pulastra grabs my arm. "Look," he says, pointing with one finger. I look more closely and spy a black R6 astromech unit slowly moving on its treads near the base of the crane. I motion for Malogaan to come forward. I point to the droid and he nods, bringing from his belt pouch a small silver sphere. I watch as he carefully rolls the EMP device toward the droid. It lands next to one of the droid's treads. With a slight pop, the device goes off, shorting out the astromech, stopping it dead in its tracks.

I pat Malogaan on the shoulder and we all move forward. "Let's get this guy set up." I whisper. Dax Olesa maneuvers forward and places a small cam on the droid's domed head, nearly invisible to the naked eye. After this is completed, he checks a small readout on his wrist. "Signal's live," Olesa says. "If anyone walks through the hangar, we'll know about it." I nod. We proceed further into the hangar, drawing closer to the large, imposing dark shuttle, its boarding ramp raised and probably locked. "I don't like the looks of that thing." I whisper to Ordo. The Mandalorian nods. "Neither do I." He pats his holsters, where his twin DT-39 Mark Two pistols rest. I put a hand on his gauntleted wrist. Our group takes cover behind a large unmarked crate next to the shuttle. I gesture with two fingers at the shuttle. "It may have scan dampeners," I whisper once everyone is gathered close, "so there might be someone or something aboard that our handheld didn't pick up." "What should we do?" Nom Carver asks, shifting his rifle in his hands. All eyes look to me. I think for a moment. "It's tricky," I eventually say. "We're already on the clock, and we can't afford to be on this tub any longer than necessary. But if there are techs and troops aboard that shuttle, we don't want them telling whoever's in charge about us." Nods all around. "I say we board it and take out whoever may be inside," Dax Olesa says, "It'll be one less group of enemies we have to deal with later." Nosh Ker Raisuun nods in agreement. "It's better to be sure than to regret it later." More nods. "Alright, let's do it." I say, gesturing to the shuttle's boarding ramp. I take out a specialized tool similar to a fusion cutter. Activating it, I trace the outline of the ramp. With a slight click, the ramp slowly descends. Nom and Gav catch it and slowly ease the ramp to the rest of the way to the deck. I point to Ordo, Salurra, Malogaan, and myself, twirling my arm, ending in a fist up the ramp. Those I pointed to nod in understanding. I look to the rest and make a fanning out motion with my arm. Quietly, Ordo, Salurra, Malogaan, and myself move up the ramp. It's dark inside. But not so dark that my vision is obstructed. The shuttle looks completely empty.

We split up and move through the interior. It's oddly chilling inside. Using a low-light flashlight, I sweep each room I enter. A small galley, quarters, refresher. All empty. I meet back up in the main quarters with the others. I shake my head. Nothing. The others do likewise. We exit the shuttle. Nom and Gav come back, easing the boarding ramp back up. "She's clean," I say to our group. "Let's keep moving." With that, we move to the rear of the hangar, and I put the shuttle's presence in the back of my mind as unimportant. We reach a hallway at the back leading further into the ship. "This is the hallway," I confirm. We stop outside the hallway and I take out my holoprojector, taking one more look at the plan. "Now we just need to get to the turbolift." We start moving into the hallway when a set of blast doors at the far end hiss open. Two Imperium troopers walk out. They stop walking as they sight us. It seems that time stands still. One raises a hand to point to us. I react instantaneously, my mind not even aware that I have brought up and fired my rifle. An instant later, the pointing trooper is knocked back against the closed door, a sizzling hole in his plastoid chest armor, his weapon clattering to the floor. The second trooper raises his blaster, but soon joins his comrade, in a heap on the ground. I look to Ordo, who lowers the muzzle of his thankfully silenced DT-39. Without saying a word, we make a move toward the two corpses, dragging them away from the blast doors and into a side room. "Well that was entertaining," Ordo remarks dryly after our task is complete and the door is closed. I nod, smiling. We join the others who stand waiting at the designated turbolift. Carver presses the "call turbolift" button. A few moments later the turbolift arrives, its doors sliding open to reveal an empty drab interior. "All aboard," Endel says, herding everyone inside. The doors slide shut, and we begin our descent into the bowels of the Wasp.

Wodi "Wishbone" Quix - Belkadan, Outer Rim Territories

16 ABE

"Level two, lower hangar Eighty-Four G," the cool automated male voice of the turbolift, with a hint of a Core accent, notifies its passengers, us. One more level to go. I pull out my modified DH-17 from its holster and check the charge. Satisfied, I re-holster the weapon. Instead of continuing its ascent to our destination, though, the lift stops, and its doors begin to open, painfully slow, ready to admit more passengers. Uh oh. "Not good," Endel whispers hoarsely. Waiting on the other side of the lift is a communications officer in a white tunic, his nose buried in a datapad. Behind him wait two engineers clad in black, who both gasp at the sight of us. The officer looks up from his 'pad at the sound and emits a small gasp of his own, his eyes widening. "Oops," I chuckle aloud, breaking the silence, "wrong level." Instantly, our party jumps the surprised crewmen, yanking them inside the waiting turbolift. A few punches later, all three lie on the floor, knocked out cold. The doors have already slid shut. The steady hum of the turbolift starts up again. Behind me, I hear someone nudge one of the engineers with their boot. "Hopefully, nobody was expecting these guys," Gav Pulastra says quietly.

Several seconds pass in silence. Then abruptly, our turbolift screeches to a halt. "Whoa!" Dax Olesa cries out, falling to the lift floor with a thud. I brace my hand against the wall to keep from joining him. Malogaan holds onto my arm firmly to balance himself. "What happened?" The interior lights of our turbolift flicker several times before going out completely. "Looks like our fly-boys knocked out something critical," Nom Carver remarks. "Looks like," I agree. I rummage in one of my pants pockets and bring out a small flashlight, flicking it on to illuminate our darkened lift. Several other flashlights wink to life. I maneuver my way through to the front of the turbolift, careful to step over our recent guests, to examine the control panel mounted next to one of the doors. Usually flashing, its buttons are dark. Even the one the authorities say you're supposed to press in case of an emergency isn't lit. I suppress memories of stories where beings had gotten stuck on turbolifts and were unable to be rescued for hours. Already I was beginning to feel hot. Get a grip, Quix. I take a moment to think. "Someone hand me a fusioncutter," I say, gesturing back with a gloved hand. A second later, I feel the weight of the familiar cutting tool in my palm. "We're getting out the old-fashioned way." Depressing the button, the flame jumping to life, I begin to cut a large hole into the side of the turbolift. "You really need to work on your craftsmanship," Ordo remarks sarcastically, looking over my shoulder at my progress. I roll my eyes at his remark and continue my work. Once I'm finished, Ordo, Raisuun, and I heave the loose piece of durasteel out into the open shaft, sending it falling.

"Lemme have a look outside," I say to the group. "There's got to be a maintenance tunnel we can use to get up to the third level." "I'll accompany you," Ordo offers. Carefully, we move up onto the roof of our lift to survey our surroundings. Sure enough, about two and a half meters up, I spy the opening of a maintenance tunnel. Just out of reach. I relay my findings to everyone else inside. Salurra grunts. "Good idea," I say, "you can offer us a boost up to the shaft." Salurra soon joins us on the roof, lowering his hairy arms to allow me to put my boots in his meshed hands. With no effort on his part, the Wookiee lifts me up to the level of the tunnel. Grabbing the lip, I hoist myself inside. "Looks clear!" I yell down. In response, I turn to see Endel's head and upper torso come into view. "Good thing we have Sal with us," he remarks as I help him in. I look back down to see the other members of our group climbing out. I give them a thumbs up and duck back in. With a nod, Endel and I move through the low-ceilinged tunnel toward the area marked with a 'three' in Aurebesh.

. . .

The last being to exit the maintenance tunnel is Salurra. I had already instructed the others to secure a perimeter in the small hallway we came out on. Now back together, we move as one down the hallway toward the heavy set of blast doors where our target waits: the communications room. Just outside the doors, I stop, taking out my handheld scanner, adjusting the calibration. With a sweeping motion, I move it across the length of the wall and door. The screen remains dark. No life-forms detected. I refine it to detect droids. Again, the screen is dark. Weird. "This is it," I say. We enter the large room to find two whole walls taken up by data terminals. Various other pieces of important looking communications equipment stand in the center of the room. "It'd be a shame if any of this stuff was damaged," Ordo remarks chuckling. "Let's get to work," I say, clipping my blaster to my utility belt, "our cruisers and ground troops need to be able to coordinate with one another." Methodically, we move through the room, attaching sonic charges to terminals. I'm about to attach one of my final charges when I hear a gurgling sound. It echoes through the room, seeming to sound from everywhere. I stop dead in my tracks, my hairs on my neck rising. I know that sound. Onderon. I'm about to shout a warning when I'm jumped from behind. I hear the others cry out in fear. Blasters are fired. Two screams of agony. I struggle to break free from many strong hands grasping at me. I get a fist to the side of my head. My vision goes fuzzy. I'm getting turned every which way. On the floor lies Dax Olesa and Nom Pulastra, their eyes blank, sizable chunks missing from their necks and other limbs. Before I succumb to blackness, I hear a cold voice come over the Destroyer's intercom, colder than the chill on Hoth. "Bring them to me."

Wodi "Wishbone" Quix - Belkadan, Outer Rim Territories

16 ABE

Uggh. I feel as if I've been hit by an airspeeder full throttle. The side of my head, not to mention my whole body, is throbbing, but I can't remember why. Where am I? I can hear several pairs of voices, sort of muffled, against the ringing backdrop in my ears. I keep my eyelids shut and my head bowed, not wanting whoever they were to know that I had come to. I can feel several pairs of strong hands grasping my forearms. I am aware that I am kneeling on the floor. Groggily, I try to discern who's talking. No good. My brain is still moving too slowly. I try to recall what had happened, mentally forcing myself to concentrate. A few seconds later, the fuzz clears, and it all comes rushing back. The ambush in the comm room. All those things. Nom and Dax dead on the ground. "Welcome back," the cold voice, the one from the intercom says, close to me, interrupting my thoughts. I don't open my eyes. For some reason, I recognize that voice. Who does it belong to? "Oh come now," the voice continues, a little lighter, chastising, "you're fooling no one with your act. What do you hope to gain by pretending? Now open your eyes! Let the light in." My eyelids open involuntarily and my head is forced upward, although I feel no hand on my chin. I let out a gasp as pain shoots through my temples. I fight the pain, taking in my new surroundings.

We're still on the star destroyer, that much is clear. The bridge, if my knowledge of these metal monsters is correct. Next to me on either side, I see the other members of my group, looking battered as hell. Flanking each member are two of those creatures, their pale skin and bulging black veins as disgusting as ever, clad in black form-fitting armor. On the end, I see Salurra, being held by eight creatures. He must have proved to be quite the captive. Gurgling from behind me tells me there are more of the things. Opposite me, amidst a complement of stormtroopers and naval crewmen, stands a figure clad in black ebon armor and cape, his dark helmet sporting intricate carvings, the long hilt of a lightsaber hanging from his utility belt. A Sith Praetor. I squint my eyes at him, the spark of recognition growing brighter in my mind. "Yes," the Praetor replies, "we have met before. Rhen Var." Hearing the name of the planet I had encountered him on finally lets the name surface in my mind. "Sheratan," I say hoarsely. "Praetor Sheratan." The helmeted head nods. "Yes, that is my name. I am glad that I have not been forgotten." A few inches from me, I hear someone start to whimper. Sheratan glances that way. "Do not be afraid Jax Malogaan of Alderaan. There is so much left to fear in the galaxy for you to waste it all now." He walks forward and kneels in front of the whimpering Malogaan. I can hear him cry out as Sheratan touches him. He must be wounded. "Tell me," Sheratan purrs, his voice like a sand panther, "what is it you fear most?" I see him get right up close to Malogaan. And then the screaming starts. Malogaan howls in terror, his shrieks echoing through the cavernous bridge. They hammer against my ear drums, forcing me to close my eyes. "Stop it!" I yell at the Praetor. My cries are lost.

An eternity later it seems, Malogaan's shrieks die off. He crumples to the floor, blood trickling from his parted lips. His eyes stare glassily at nothing. "You karking monster!" I yell at the Praetor, my blood boiling. "What'd you do to him?" Sheratan moves over to me and kneels, gripping my chin tightly in his hand. "I entered his mind and manipulated it to my liking. Just like I will do to all of you. Fear is such a powerful tool, when used as it should be. It was quite amusing, don't you think?" I'm shaking in anger. Amusing? I manage to spit out three words: "Go to hell!" A few others echo my sentiment. Sheratan gets to his feet, laughing mirthlessly. "Your statement is flattering, but I'm afraid it is not I who will be passing into the beyond today." He walks to the large viewport of the bridge, the stormtroopers parting to allow him passage, and gestures at the battle raging outside. "Your friends, in their ships and on the surface, are who you should direct your statement to." "Why?" I ask, my anger giving way partly to confusion. Sheratan shakes his head, as if the matter is too unimportant. He walks casually back to our group, inspecting a speck of dried blood on his glove. "Really, the bridge of a relic as renowned as a Star Destroyer shouldn't be tainted by the presences of non-humans. Why, just the mere thought of their filth has commanders of the Empire turning over in their graves." The next instant, he rushes forward so fast that I can barely see him, igniting his crimson blade and stabbing it into the chest of Nosh Ker Raisuun. The Quarren lets out a gasp and then falls to the floor, a smoking hole in his chest. I hear several members of my group gasp. My mind locks, unable to come up with a response. Sheratan deactivates his blade and walks slowly down the line of us until he reaches where Salurra kneels. "This one here is attached to Cade Valdarin. I shall make a coat of his hide and present it to my master."

BOOM! A gigantic explosion rocks the bridge of the Destroyer. Many stormtroopers fall to the ground, losing their balance. Sheratan stabilizes himself. Were those our charges? I think to myself. "Sir," a tech officer yells frantically, "our engines and stabilizers have been critically damaged by Republic batteries!" Another explosion rocks the ship. Outside the bridge viewport, I see the outline of a B-wing fighter, coming in for a strafing run. "Brace!" Sheratan shouts. I look to Endel a few feet from me. His eyes burn with intensity. It's time to leave. With a scream, I wrench free of my captors, grabbing a blaster that had skidded my way. Just then, the B-wing unleashes its payload. Bodies fly. I hear a mighty roar and look to see Salurra fling his guards across the room, some in several pieces. We attack the recovering stormtroopers and creatures stationed behind us, grabbing weapons and firing. In the chaos, I lose sight of Sheratan. "Get off the bridge," I yell to the others. Ordo gets behind me, his back against mine, firing wildly, attempting to clear a path. I grunt as a blaster bolt hits me in the shoulder. I barely feel it, my adrenaline pumping hard into my system. Several minutes later, we're sprinting full force down a hallway leading away from the bridge, cutting down any Imperium troopers in our way. "I'm guessing our exit transport is a no-go?" Wheezes Nom Carver, keeping pace with me. "Right," I confirm. "Then how are we getting out of here?" I stop at a door and open it to reveal, "Escape pods!" Yells Gav Pulastra. "Get in!" I shout to the remainder of our group. I clamber inside one as the others do likewise. It's cramped, but at this point, I don't even care. Pieces of the destroyer are falling to the deck with loud clatters. Fires blaze unchecked. Bodies of fallen crew lie sprawled everywhere. I close the hatch of our pod on the doomed vessel and hit the release, and with a loud SHOOM our pod begins its descent toward the planet of Belkadan.

Cade Valdarin - Belkadan, Outer Rim Territories

16 ABE

I suddenly jerk awake. The last thing I remember is prying the escape pod door off and hauling Wodi out. A small reunion ensued, embraces and handshakes, congratulations on a job well done. And then I remember why I blacked out. He was there, Xander Verush. Xander, or by his Sith name, Darth Pravus, was there. I heard his devilish cackle and then lost consciousness as lightning cascaded over me. Suddenly, I see Luke Skywalker face down next to me, alive but still unconscious. I start searching frantically looking around for Wodi and the others, where could they be?

"Oh don't worry," says an evil, all too familiar voice. "Your friends are fine," says Xander, pointing to a shuttle headed into orbit." He turns around, the Belkadan sun shining on his ebon black armor, reminiscent of the old Royal Guard armor with a flowing black cape and red and black helmet similar to a Mandalorian. Suddenly, Luke wakes up, reaching for his saber when both of us feel a strong telekinetic grasp seize our arms. "Now, now, let's not ruin this little reunion shall we?"

Luke is the first to speak, "Why? Why do all this?" Xander gives him a sardonic look. "Please Jedi, try to think. Have you never wondered how that day was supposed to happen all those years ago above the Sanctuary Moon?" We look at each other, I say, "We don't deal in what-ifs." Xander gives a sigh, "Of course you don't. Why do all this, you ask? Why create an interstellar Empire, gather Sith Lords, and attack your Republic. Let's think about that. Because you two stole my destiny." He begins to pace back and forth. "What was to happen that day, young Skywalker, was you would take Vader's place at Palpatine's side. Then, I would kill you and finally take my rightful place at Palpatine's side, no longer hiding in Vader's shadow. In time, I would take my place both as Emperor and Dark Lord of the Sith, ensuring that strong leadership was maintained." Here, Xander pauses, giving me a death stare, "But we all know the Force can make events play out very differently. You caused Vader to become weak and embrace good again and kill my master and then, this eight year old boy managed to stop me in my tracks. Such power in the Force from a child, I did not think it was possible.

Here, I begin to move ever so slightly, trying to angle myself for a leap at Pravus. But almost as if he has some unique clairvoyance, Xander turns to me and holds up a finger and boom, I'm forcibly pushed back down. "Na ah, we aren't done yet." Suddenly Luke gets a puzzled look on his face, "Your power, why does it feel so warped?" Again, Xander walks to the edge of the cliff, "I'm glad you asked. Tell me, you two have done your homework about the ancient Jedi, yes?" We both nod. "Good, then I won't need to explain the nuances. Long ago, as you know, there was no Sith Order, there was only the Jedi. One lone Jedi, however, rebelled against the edicts of the Order, feeling that the Force was much more than a shield to protect the weak and innocent but a weapon for the strong to rule. His rebellion eventually led to the Hundred Years Darkness, the great schism that created that Sith Order and was the starting point for the never-ending war between the two factions." My turn to speak, "Enough! If you are going to kill us just do it!" Xander makes a tisk noise. "The history lesson has much to do with the current situation. Now where was I . . . ah yes, following a century of conflict, the Jedi and Republic rallied, decimating the Sith armies and forcing them into exile. You know the rest of the story, the Dark Jedi found Moraband, homeworld of the Sith species, eventually creating the Sith Order and beginning millennia of war with the Jedi and Republic who banished their ancestors." "So," Luke interrupts him, "you created your little Imperium to relive history?" At this Xander sends a jolt of lightning at Luke, "My Imperium is far more powerful than the Sith ever were, even more powerful than the Empire. During one of the many smaller wars that were part of the Sith Wars, a powerful Lord and scientist rose to power. This Sith was named Kronus. Kronus was more intelligent than his fellow Sith: he knew that the power to destroy worlds, even whole star systems, was insignificant next to the power of the Force." Here, he pauses for dramatic effect. "If you recall, during these wars, the Sith had many super weapons with kyber crystals at their heart. Kronus had an idea: the Force is created by life and touches all living things. So, what would happen if you drained all the Force energy from a world?" He stops, looking at me as if he wants me to reach the conclusion for him. Realization dawns on me, "Take the Force away from a world . . . and you drain all life from that world." "Precisely," Xander remarks, "what better way to fight a Force-wielding enemy than by taking away their power?"

"That's impossible!" says Luke. "If the Sith had a weapon like that, they would have won and we would all be slaves right now." "Correct, if the Jedi had not stopped them." Xander looks at me again, "In fact, it was Argus Valdarin who defeated Kronus and prevented this weapon from destroying the Republic. And now, that very same weapon will be used to destroy his descendant.

"But that doesn't explain why your power feels so strange." Luke says again. And here, Xander utters a sinister chuckle and closes his eyes. We grimace at this for we feel a surge of warped power, twisted Force energy so strong it visibly affects us. He opens his eyes. Unlike the normal Sith, whose eyes are yellow from exposure to the Dark Side, Xander's are pure black, his skin taking on a charcoal gray color. His voice sounds as if the full power of the Force is behind it. "The Jedi weren't the only ones to learn how to remain after death." . . .

Cade Valdarin - Belkadan

16 ABE

"The Jedi weren't the only ones to learn how to remain after death." Xander says, his black voids of eyes staring directly at us. "You see, Kronus, and Argus in fact, were of a different breed. While mainstream Jedi and Sith see the Force in a polarized view, Kronus and Argus were the first of the Grey theory of the Force; the thought that it is not the Force that is good or evil but rather how you use it. This theory is what allowed them to retain consciousness after death." The telekinetic grip on us lessens and we stand, still feeling the forceful presence of Xander's new power.

All of a sudden, two black armored figures appear alongside Darth Pravus. They wear ebon black armor and wear demonic masks, almost like they emulate Pravus. Pravus turns, "Behold, two of my finest Praetors, Xellius and Sheratan. I trained them myself. Before me, they were just leaders of Sith cults. Now they are among the most powerful warriors in the galaxy; the Imperium's future." He turns to the figure on the left. "Sheratan, go to Gorukar and await my command." The figure kneels and crosses his right arm across his chest, "Yes, Lord Emperor. Today will be a day long remembered by the galaxy." And like that he disappears.

"Gorukar? What is that?" Luke asks. Xander utters that maniacal laugh again. I chip in, "Gorukar . . . Black Star." He turns to me and gives me a quizzical look, "I'm impressed, you have studied some of the Sith language. Yes, Gorukar is the terrible weapon Kronus created, the weapon which will allow me to ascend to my rightful place as Emperor of this galaxy. I will do what Sidious failed to; your worlds will burn, your people will lose hope, and your leaders will beg for death before the end." At this he speaks into a wrist comm in his armored gauntlet and says one word, obviously in the Sith tongue, "Charak!"

Luke and I sense a massive disturbance in the Force. We look up to see the silhouette of a massive space station enter orbit, like nothing we've ever seen before. The alien shape is of strange blue hue and looks alive, clearly designed to inspire fear and dread in the Sith's opponents. Xander turns to the other Praetor, Xellius, the one who always seems to escape justice. "Xellius, return to the Insidious and take a fleet to Minos Korva, begin your assault." "Yes Lord Emperor, as you will it." The shadow of Gorukar looms over us now and suddenly my comm link crackles to life. "This is General Corso to all Coalition forces, execute Evac Order Alpha! Repeat, get off-planet now!"

The sky lights up a bright blue color as a beam lances put from Gorukar at a Republic ship, one of the formidable Starhawks. The beam hits it and it explodes in a brilliant flash of orange and blue lightning. Xander laughs again, "Gorukar does not only drain the Force but can discharge it as well in a destructive form, as you have seen." Admiral Antilles comes over the comm, "All Republic forces, evac the Belkadan system, head for the rendezvous!" "It won't help them" Xander says. "Soon, with my new power and the power of Gorukar, your Republic will fall." After this he raises a hand, palm faced skyward. We can't see it but we feel him generate a force field around us. What can he be doing? "Noroch!" He says again in the Sith Tongue. And from Gorukar's giant emitter on the bottom of the station, a giant pillar of energy shoots down toward the planet, the beam the color of Force lightning. It hits Belkadan and creates a spectacular blue dust cloud on impact. But that is not the worst of it. We see a wave emanating from the impact site, heading out in a 360 degree wave, hugging the terrain of the planet. "Do not worry, you are quite safe from the effects because I will it." Darth Pravus says. Luke and I visibly recoil; the wave is draining the Force as it goes, instantly killing all living things from sentient beings to plants and trees as it passes them. So much death, so much of the Force just . . . gone. No wonder this weapon could have wiped out the Jedi. We see that the Imperium forces are not affected. Kronus, and by proxy, Xander, must have a way to shield himself and his forces from Gorukar. "Stop this!" I scream through the now massive headache I have. Xander just smiles his wicked smile, those black eyes betraying no emotion. A few more minutes and the wave completes the circumference of the planet. From what I can see, a good deal of the Coalition forces made it off world, but there was still at least one-third of the assault force groundside. All that death . . . Another massive shape arrives in orbit, this one I've seen before, the Insidious, flagship of the Imperium. It begins pouring purple turbolaser fire into Coalition ships.

The comm comes to life with frantic distress messages and orders for retreat. "I'm afraid I have to cut our reunion short. I will not kill you, yet. You still have a large part to play in this Valdarin; our destinies are intertwined. However, I will show you just how doomed your precious Republic is." He lowers his hand, the force field disappearing. Suddenly, the pain and anguish and ultimately, the void left in the Force by Gorukar floods our senses, knocking Luke and I unconscious. The last thing I hear is strange, I hear a voice telling me to go to Tython but it isn't Xander's voice. Who can it be? My vision goes black.

The next thing I see is the sterile white of a med bay.

Cade Valdarin - Belkadan

16 ABE

Several days later . . .

I awake in the sterile white room of a med bay. A Star Destroyer by the look of it. The last thing I remember is feeling the pain of the loss of all life and Force energy on the planet and losing consciousness. I get out of bed and walk to the transparisteel window. Even though we are far from Belkadan now, I can still feel the void that the station created. I begin to ponder just how the ancient Jedi fought that thing, how did Argus Valdarin defeat it and its creator?

"Ah good, you're finally awake," says a familiar voice. I turn and see Jevin standing there, his battle armor completely singed by blaster fire. "Good to see you up kid, you had us all worried." He joins me overlooking the stars. "How bad was it?" I ask even though I know the answer. "Not good. A little over two-thirds of Coalition forces were able to get offworld but still, that's one-third of an army large enough to take several worlds gone in the blink of an eye. What the kriff was that thing?" I exhale a sigh of exhaustion. "That was Gorukar, or the Black Star. An ancient Sith weapon developed by one of the more powerful Dark Lords of the Sith and it nearly conquered the Jedi in the ancient wars." Jevin thoughtfully strokes his beard, "Well I'll be, talk about the past haunting you. What about Xander? I was on a shuttle when we saw him capture you; I saw his eyes . . . looked like a demon out of the old stories." I turn to face the older man, noticing for the first time how much he has kept himself in shape despite being near twenty years older than me. Even as a General he's able to maintain his physique. "Jevin, Xander has . . . taken the essence of Gorukar's creator. He's, for lack of a better word, taken the power and knowledge of Kronus, the ancient Sith Lord whose specter lived on after his death millennia ago." "Ah, so Force mumbo jumbo?" Jevin says in his characteristically sarcastic way, causing me to chuckle a little. I glance over to the other bed, where Luke still remains out cold.

"We've met up with Admiral Kerex's battlegroup and are headed to Malastare. The world has become a strategic strong point to keeping the Imperium out of the Mid Rim." We walk out of the med bay towards the bridge. As we walk, I see New Republic naval personnel rushing everywhere, a heightened sense of alert present in everyone. Jevin, as if seeing what I'm seeing says, "After the battle, the Senate finally realized the full extent of the threat the Imperium poses. The Populists finally agreed to work with the Centrists; the Galactic Concordance has been repealed, temporarily at least. Recruitment drives are at an all-time high, the training academies all across Republic territory are working in overdrive to get the best people to us, and contracts have been signed with all the highest arms, tech, and ship manufacturers. It was a bad way to finally get the Republic to see the danger but now we are committed. Either we'll die or they will."

We reach the bridge, where Admiral Antilles, Fleet Admiral Kerex, and High Marshal Tor Ponith are gathered around a holo-projection of a galactic map, no doubt talking strategy and fleet/troop movements. I overhear Kerex and Ponith talk about how they are going to retire after this war, they're both too old for this. They all stop when they see me. "Cade, you're awake!" Tor exclaims, his fur ruffling slightly as he says it. I walk up to the map, "Is this getting as bad as I think?" "Yes, it is," Antilles says, "but with the Republic entering full war status, hopefully we'll start to push them back. Just because they have an ancient weapon of mass destruction doesn't mean we have to roll over and die." I nod my head and turn to see Luke enter the tactical room. "Good, Luke's here. There is something I want to tell you all." I say. "The massacre at Belkadan made me realize the necessity of this . . . I'm leaving the Republic for a while." Silence, the command staff in front of me stares at me, some with mouths agape. "Leave?" Kerex says in his bubbly voice, "why would you leave, especially now?" I look at him then at Jevin and finally to Kerex's second in command, Illa Nari, a female Mirialan, who by the sounds of it will be the next Fleet Admiral of the Republic. "I need to do this. I need to find a way to destroy Gorukar; you saw what it did to our ships and army. We need every advantage we can get and where I'm going, there's ancient knowledge stored away, and maybe I can find how it was stopped the first time." Jevin scoffs, "That's a lot of maybes Cade, what if you're wrong?" I smirk at him, "Jevin I thought you would have learned by now, I'm never wrong." Tor's turn to chime in, "Enough General Corso. Cade isn't military. We can't order him to do anything. And if it means finding a way to stop Gorukar, I'm all for it. You do what you need to, Master Valdarin, and we'll make sure there is still a New Republic for you to come back to." Jevin shakes his head, muttering a Corellian provocative while I shake Tor's furry hand. "Thank you Tor, I won't let you, any of you, down." The command staff is dismissed and all leave except for Luke, who is giving me a critical eye. I look away from him. "You know you can't hide anything from me Cade. Our telepathic link lets me hear your thoughts and I know there's something you are very skeptical on, spill it."

"Walk with me." I say. We begin walking towards the hangar. "Tell me, you've heard of Tython right?" Luke draws a breath, recalling old knowledge he had acquired. "Tython is one of the lost worlds; very few references to the world are left." "Yes," I say, "it's also possibly the birthplace of the Jedi Order, as is Ossus, Jedha, and the mysterious world Ahch-To." We reach the hangar bay. It's a bustling hive of activity. I see transports and fighters that had been in the space around Belkadan undergo repairs, the mechanics working overtime to get these fighters repaired. We take the elevator down to the deck and walk to my personal ship, the one-of-a-kind E-Wing that Incom-FreiTek gifted to me. "So you think you will find some kind of ancient archive there?" Luke asks.

"No. You want to know how Argus Valdarin defeated Kronus, who was empowered by the stolen Force energy, and stopped Gorukar? He did something that only two other Force-users in the history of the galaxy had achieved." I stop and turn to face Luke, letting him see the seriousness in my eyes. "He achieved oneness with the Force while living, becoming a pure manifestation of Force energy and becoming exponentially more powerful in the process. Luke nods in agreement. Before the war started, we had gone on separate pilgrimages to find ancient Jedi lore, he heard of these legends before. "But why Tython, specifically?" He asks. "Because," I reply, "Argus' resting place is there. Not physically, of course, like most Jedi of his time the secret to becoming one with the Force after death was not a secret. I believe I can commune with his spirit and train with him, learning how to achieve oneness." Luke lets out a whistle, "That's going far on what may be a lark, but you're right, it is necessary, there's no other choice." I grab his forearm, "Luke, while I'm gone I need you to make sure the Republic is strong." He returns the embrace, "Of course but it's not just me they need. I don't know if you have noticed but we have become heroes to the New Republic. I overheard Wodi and several others while we were in the medbay. They called us "The Last Knights" saying how the citizens see us as heroes.

The last lights of a light gone out; we are symbols Cade, symbols of hope and valor so you better come back more powerful and with some trick up your sleeves."

We release each other's forearms and he backs up as I enter the E-wing, callsign Vanguard. "Ratchet, you all set back there?" I ask my R2 unit. He beeps in acknowledgement. We lift off, the last I see of Luke is him waving and telepathically he tells me, May the Force be with you brother. The last thing I see before entering hyperspace for the Deep Core is several ships entering the fleet buildup: Nadiri Starhawks, MC80s, and even a Mediator-class battlecruiser. I have high hopes for the Republic. Now that the true threat has been realized, the Republic will enter full war status and devote itself to the protection of its people and the defeat of the Imperium.

May the Force be with us all . . .

Seven Months Later

Cade Valdarin - Fondor Station, in orbit of Fondor

17 ABE

"All right, security check confirmed. Welcome aboard Fondor Station," the bright-eyed Ensign says, a young human boy with shoulder-length blonde hair. "I've notified the command staff you're here. They'll be with you when they can." "Thank you," I say. "Come on Ratchet, we'll wait for Jevin in the observation deck. "Oh one last thing Master Jedi" the boy says in haste. I turn back to him, "Call me Cade, titles make my skin crawl. What is it?" He gets an embarrassed look on his face, "Well, it's good knowing you're back to fight, Last Knight. I was one of the rescued prisoners from Belkadan. Knowing you and Master Skywalker are in this fight, well it's comforting. Have a pleasant stay sir." He walks off to a newly arrived transport. Ratchet and I move to the observation deck overlooking the massive orbital dockyards of Fondor.

I've been here many times before but every time, the size of the shipyards always surprises me. They are big. No, massive in size, rivaling those of Kuat or Mon Calamari. The Republic, since having entered full war status, has changed doctrines. The Republic has designated battlegroups; tactical units that number in hundreds of ships, thousands of soldiers and fleet personnel. These battle groups each have a headquarters planet; a strategic location in the Core, Mid Rim, Colonies, etc. Fondor happens to be the headquarters of the Fourth Battlegroup, the Republic's largest and most powerful battlegroup. It also has seen the most success as it is personally commanded by Fleet Admiral Kerex and High Marshal Ponith. Granted, they command the whole fleet and army, respectively, but personally command the Fourth battlegroup. "Alert, enemy presence reported on Akiva," an intercom says. I check my wrist chrono; Jevin and the others should show up soon. Just then I see ships drop out of hyperspace. And what I see surprises me.

I see a Viscount Star Defender drop into realspace. And it's not the Viscount? The Republic must have been busy to get a second ship of the massive, powerful, and expensive ships off the production line. Alongside it are several Nebulon-B frigates and several hatchet-headed battleships; the Nadiri Starhawk Mark Two. Between the capital ships is what looks like swarms of flying insects; hundreds and hundreds of starfighters fill the space between ships. They join the marshalling area around the bigger Star Defender, Viscount,floating near the docks. "All right, jets up in ten, let's move," I hear a distinctly Coruscanti accent say and a troupe of ebon-black armored troopers jog past me, the red visors giving me a little chill. I feel a familiar presence from one and say out loud, "Skyes?" The armored figure stops, looks me over, and pulls his helmet off, and I see the blonde hair and piercing blue eyes of Gavin Skyes, a man who, being a year younger than me at twenty-four, looks older thanks to war. "Cade, you're back!" He exclaims as he hugs me. "Oh man, I wish we had more time, my unit is moving out soon to Akiva." I laugh, "Don't worry, plenty of time for that later," gesturing to his armor, "so what's all this then?" He makes an embarrassed look, like when someone is praising someone else, "Deputy Director Clarke's idea, a new special forces unit trained for boarding operations. After the Battle of Belkadan and Colonel Quix's mission to board a Destroyer, Command felt a unit specially trained on zero-g and shipboard action was needed, hence the Rancor Assault Troopers." He looks behind him and dons his helmet, its red visor hiding his eyes, "Got to run, we'll catch when I'm back!" He runs off to the loading area.

"Ah, so you have met the Rancors and seen the Starhawk Mk IIs," a female human voice says. I smile, knowing that voice. I turn around and see the familiar raven-colored hair at the height of my chest. I look down and see the familiar face of Sonya Ravenclaw. Sonya reminds me of a younger Han Solo, before his Rebellion days. An able pilot with a YT-2400 transport, a talented pistol jockey, and skirting the law, she is also a smuggler. Only instead of contraband and spice, she is a treasure hunter, sometimes hunting lost lore on some forgotten planet, sometimes breaking into museums to steal treasure for the highest bidder. "Sonya, great to see you" I give her a gentle hug. We used to have a romance but that passed and we resolved to be friends only. "How's the treasure hunting business, I imagine the war has affected it greatly." We begin to walk towards the command area of the station. "Oh, it has. I'm not running treasure hunts anymore. I was actually asked by your friend Tor Ponith to assist the Republic." I turn to her and give her a look, "What? He knew I was an expert pilot with the Phoenix and the Republic needs a good pilot to get past blockades, deliver supplies to besieged soldiers . . . you don't approve?" I shake my head, "No it's not . . .I mean I don't-" She shushes me and places a finger on my lips. "Cade darling, we called it off and now the only woman you need to protect is Kiara. Speaking of, how is the Zeltron beauty?" I remove her finger, "She's busy, being the Chancellor's aide during war, it's constant busy work but she likes it." The door hisses open. "So tell me, what all has changed since I left?" She pulls me over to another observation window, this one overlooking the huge fleet that makes up the Fourth Battlegroup's naval complement.

"Well, ever since the Belkadan massacre, the Republic has been focusing completely on the war. Starship production is at an all-time high, the training academies are working overtime, and as you saw, new specforce types are being authorized." I point out at a ship in the buildup, "Tell me about those Mk II Starhawks." "Well those are a new ship; Republic Command realized the need for a semi inexpensive but powerful warship. The Mk II is just like the Mk I, made from disassembled ships, both Imperial and Imperium. They also were made in conjunction between Nadiri Dockyards, Sorusuub, and Mon Cal Shipyards. As such, it has upgraded armor, shields, and weapon systems, the ship is a beast meant for combat."

She turns and looks at me with a discerning eye, "So tell me, what happened to you?" "What do you mean?" She blushes a little here, "Well, I mean . . . you look like, I don't know, different. You seem calmer, at peace even." I smile here. "I've been training rigorously for the past seven months on Tython. I trained under the guidance of my ancestors' spirit." She nods her head, "Yes, Jevin told me the story, it's amazing and creepy at the same time. So did you learn how to achieve this 'oneness'?" "Sadly, no," I reply, "I came close but was unable to. But Argus assured me that when the time comes, I will be able to achieve oneness, the same as he did during the Scourge of Malachor. But I have increased my power and am ready to fight again."

She smirks, "So Tython . . . any good treasure there?" I shake my head, "Yes but it is not for you, it's the heritage of the Jedi. I even learned where the Grey Jedi subsect came from. Argus Valdarin, one day during the Ancient Wars, was shot down over the planet Atollon. There he met the enigmatic being Bendu, who claims to represent the "middle" aspect of the Force." We gaze out the window again at the two massive Viscount Star Defenders when I hear an all too familiar voice cry out, "Well, if it isn't little Cade all grown up!" I turn to see Jevin Corso at the other side of the room, with the more diminutive Bothan, Tor Ponith, to his left, the Corellian High General Garm Bel Iblis behind him, and the Quarren, Unath Kerex to his right. Jevin comes up and tousles my hair; he has always seen and treated me like a little brother, ever since Mon Mothma formally became my guardian. "So," Jevin says, "let's hear all about your training on Tython and tell us everything." I begin to recount the tales of my arduous training in the mountains and forests of Tython. As I'm telling them my tale, I notice two other Generals enter the room, along with a familiar face, the Infiltrator, Amminius Sinan.

Cade Valdarin - Fondor Station

17 ABE

"Sinan!" I exclaim and walk toward him, holding my hand out to shake hands. Instead, he bear hugs me, "Great to see you again, kid." He lets go and clears his throat. "Jedi Knight Cade Valdarin, allow me to introduce you to High General Hiram Drayson, Director of Special Forces, and Flag General Vanessa Clarke, Deputy Director of Special Forces. They have a mission for you." I give him a bemused look and walk back toward to viewport, seeing one of the captured SSDs joining the naval complement of the Fourth Battlegroup. "Well whatever it is, it must be big since you're gathering such a big fleet. What is it?" Amminius gestures for Drayson to come forth, the older man has all the distinctions of a Core-born man and his accent is thick. "First off, may I say welcome back Master Jedi, you've become quite a hero to the Republic." He holds his hand out his hand, "Command table, authorization Drayson Alpha 4," and a holo-table emerges from the floor, a holomap of the galaxy projects out of it. On the map are massive colored areas; areas where either side is dominant or a heavily contested zone. He points to an area in the part of the map that represents the Outer Rim. "For the last few months, the Imperium has been licking us good. After Belkadan, the win-tempo has gone up for them. Rhen Var, Nervast, and more have been lost." I look at him and he lets out a deep sigh, "The Imperium has used Gorukar on two more worlds, Cade. On Tatooine and on Axxila." I ask him, "Why those worlds? Tatooine has little strategic value and Axxila was an Imperial supporter even after the Battle of Jakku?" Shrugging, Drayson replies, "Who knows with Darth Pravus at the helm. Intel feels that Tatooine was more of symbolic attack; many of the galaxy's heroes have come from there. As for Axxila, we think it was more of a punishment, an attack against those who switched loyalties." I remember the losses at Belkadan were massive. "How bad was it?" He points to a button on the table and a statistics report comes up. "Tatooine was always sparsely populated so the loss of life there wasn't catastrophic. Axxila was worse; it's always been a 'Coruscant of the Outer Rim'. We had advanced warning and a fleet of Republic and freelance personnel managed to evacuate a majority of flora, fauna, and sentients, but still a third of Axxila's population was decimated." I feel the pain in his voice; he was there and saw the decimation of life. He looks up, "Cade I hope you have a plan. Did you learn how to destroy that thing and stop Pravus?" I shake my head no, "Unfortunately I didn't. But I'm confident that when the time is right, I will achieve oneness and stop them both." "One can hope. For now, we need your help on a crucial mission."

Again, he touches the holomap and it goes back to a galaxy map mode. "As I said, the Republic has been losing more than winning; The Imperium is pushing on all sides. We know that they are based in Wild Space. Unfortunately, we don't know anything about the area of space; no one does as it's uncharted." Here he gestures to Amminius. "Thanks to Major Sinan's Infiltrator team here, we managed to find this planet," he highlights a world on the map. "This is Terminus, a planet on the edge of Republic space and sees traffic from known space, the Unknown Regions, and Wild Space. As such it is a major nexus of trade. More to the point is this:" the map zooms in, showing large shipyards and Predator Destroyers.

"The mission we want you to aid Major Sinan with is infiltrating this shipyard complex, steal information vital to the war effort and, if possible, destroy it and help a portion of the Fourth take Terminus for the Republic." I shake my head, "Seems awfully risky and possibly rewarding. But why do you need me?" Now Jevin comes over and slaps me on the shoulder, "Come on Cade, you can't tell me you haven't seen it! You and Skyguy have become heroes, no, legends to the people of the Republic. A major victory, in Imperium territory, by a champion of the New Republic . . . I can't think of a more symbolic victory to raise morale. That and the fact that you are an incredibly powerful fighter and the mission will definitely benefit."

It is a good chance to boost the morale of the Republic and Coalition forces and a chance for me to increase my powers further. "I'll do it." I say and Amminius tosses an ornate knife in his hands, no doubt a gift from Gerik Ordo, "This'll be fun," he says with a grin.

Sinan and I enter the hangar where Coalition forces are prepping for battle at Terminus. I see Protectors, Wookiees, and . . . Espirions? I look to Amminius. "They joined a few months ago," he explains, "lending their Defense Forces to the Republic war effort." We walk over to a transport, a heavily modified and upgraded UT-62D transport, modified for stealth, complete with matte black sensor scrambling paint, electronic countermeasures, and the works. Onboard is Amminius' partner; the Infiltrator units are always in pairs. There's also a second unit as well as some of these new Rancor Assault Troopers. One of the ebon-black armored figures holds an arm out, "Welcome aboard sirs," a female voice says through vocalizers. I sense her presence, a Togruta. "Captain Navi at your service, we're your backup in case things get rough." We give our acknowledgements and the loading doors seal shut. Amminius puts a finger to his ear piece, "Tower, this is Echo Team, we are ready for launch." The message comes back, "Echo team, this is Marshal Ponith, you are go for launch. The rest of the fleet will jump in as soon as the orbital defenses are shut down and we'll get troops to support you as fast as we can. "Understood, may the Force be with us." I say into my wrist comm.

The U-wing enters the black of space, passing along the enormous, tadpole-like shapes of the Viscount and her sister ship, the Vigilance, and at least a dozen Starhawks blink into hyperspace, jumping to their rallying point to wait for the success of our mission. Amminius slides the Mandalorian knife into a custom-made sheath on his Infiltrator FlexArmor, "This'll be a riot Cade, I can't wait."

Cade Valdarin - Outskirts of the Terminus System

Shuttle Echo-7

17 ABE

"Here we are," the pilot says over the comm. Amminius, Navi, and I look out the viewport at the planet. It is almost like Coruscant in a way; a city world. You can see the hive of activity beneath the cloud layer, skycar after skycar zooming to and fro. The space around the planet is even more hectic. The Imperium shipyard, designated Target Alpha, is massive. At present, there are at least three Predators in drydock with at least a dozen more patrolling space around the shipyards. And what's this? There are fighters of a new design on patrol as well. Amminius logs information on his wrist device and checks his NRI-created Needler rifle, a gun that instead of bolts or slugs, fires needle projectiles made of a strong metallic compound that are silent and can puncture most personal armors.

"Well," Amminius says looking up from his wrist computer, "this is bad." Navi shakes her head, the movement causing her head tails to sway a little. "What is it?" I ask, peering at the device. "If the Battle Estimation Computer that R/D developed is accurate, any head-on battle here would be costly; we need to find a way to even the odds before sending in the cavalry." Looking to the pilot, he orders, "Take us in and activate all stealth and counter-detection measures." "Amm , there's a new fighter model out there." I say while putting on my zero-g armor, courtesy of Captain Navi and her Rancor Troopers. "Yeah I know, looks like a mean one, but I'd bet on our T-70s." He stops to look at me as I don the ebon-black armor. "What?" I ask him. "Oh nothing, I'm just remembering that little boy who helped us on Endor. "You've grown up into such a responsible young man and a terrific warrior. I'm proud of you Cade." I blush, "Thanks Amminius." The intercom comes on, "We're nearing the target, ETA five minutes." Navi and her Rancors finish suiting up. X45As click with the sound of full charges. "All right, take us in nice and slow." Amminius says, brandishing his Needler Carbine.

Five minutes later . . .

The bays of the stealth-oriented U-wing open, revealing the vast star-riddled black of space. "Countermeasures active. Go, go, go!" The pilot says. Navi is the first through the door; the other Rancors follow suit, then Amm and his Chiss partner, and then me. We all gather near a bulkhead, looking to Amminius to get us in. Thanks to his being an Infiltrator, elite agents of N.R.I, he has access to some pretty nifty tech. "Guess knocking is out of the question," he says, pulling out a circular device that he attaches to the metal. A few lights turn on and then the airlock opens. "And we are go for entry. Ensign, get to a safe spot and wait for my signal." "Roger," the black U-wing then silently goes off towards the asteroid belt. We step inside; the walls are sterile grey, typical of the old Empire. The Infiltrators check their wrist units for life signs. "All clear," the Chiss says. "Ok, here's the plan," Navi says. "My Rancors and I, we're Bravo team. We'll go take out station defenses and communication, that way when the rest of the fleet gets here, they won't get jumped. Major Sinan, you two will be Echo Team, set charges in the docks. We need to prevent them from reinforcing their fleet. Master Valdarin, you do what you need to." Navi says before she and the ebon-black armored Rancor Troopers slink off down the left hallway. Amminius dons his recon helmet and he and his partner go right towards the drydocks. I reach out in the Force and feel a slight tug. There's a Praetor in charge here, one of the weaker ones by the feel of it. I unhook my saber and head of in the direction of the presence.

Amminius Sinan – Terminus, Outer Rim Territories

17 ABE

Our cloaked UT-62D takes us in towards the target nice and slow, weaving in and out slightly, just in case high frequency sensor probes are lurking out in the star field. I whistle softly, marveling at the sight. Intel was right. Terminus is a busy place. And not in the good way. It definitely wasn't this busy when our guys stumbled on the shipyard there a few months back. I wonder how all the traders and other beings have kept quiet about it. Terminus sits at the intersection of the Corellian Trade Spine and the Hydian Way; a major socioeconomic center. Probably under pain of death, or something much worse. Maybe the planet's inhabitants are barred from leaving. We silently pass underneath a flight wing of TIEs in formation, no doubt on patrol for would-be troublemakers. I smirk, giving the unsuspecting crafts a little wave out the viewport as they fly over us. I return my attention to the station, where three Predator Mark II-class SDs sit in dry dock. Several more patrol the station perimeter and the planet below, mixed in with a couple of older Praetor Mark II Battlecruisers.

As the station draws nearer, I begin donning my specialized suit, good for up to half an hour in the vacuum of space. Navi's Rancor Assault Troopers do the same, checking the charges on their X45As. Cade suits up as well, his space suit an ebon-black color, like mine and the others. I look to my partner, a blue-skinned Chiss named Zuze'atuli'lotthir, or Zeatuli, for short, and grin. "I see you're up to date in the latest of fashions! I hear that the bloated Imperial pilot look is all the rage on Coruscant." He grins back. "Not too shabby looking yourself, sir!" One of the Rancor troopers lets out a chuckle. The other Infiltrator fireteam, commanded by Eeth Brangwin, laughs. "It won't win any beauty pageants, but it's functional," Captain Navi remarks, slipping on her helmet. "You'd think NRI would have some credits to spare on making it look nice," I comment to the others, getting chuckles all around. Zeatuli rolls his crimson eyes. I shove him good-naturedly and continue to get ready, slinging my GE-26N, an updated version of the Alliance Needler Carbine, over my shoulder by its strap. I toss my vibroblade once, an ornate hunting blade given to me by Gerik Ordo, before sheathing it near my shoulder on my FlexArmor. Zeatuli hefts a dangerous looking Merr-Sonn Munitions SWS-1013 Projectile Launcher. Just in case we need some extra firepower. Or half the shipyard destroyed. But that comes later. Wordlessly, we line up in two rows in front of the bay doors. I quickly check over my rifle one last time. With a whir, the bay doors open, revealing an unobstructed view of the starscape. "Pretty," one of the Rancor trooper's comments.

"Countermeasures are active," the pilot informs us. "Go, go, go!" With that, we fall out towards the station, Navi and her guys taking the lead. Zero-g always feels weird, even after training in it for months. We use our thruster packs to maneuver and gather near an outside bulkhead. "Guess knocking is out of the question, with this being a stealth mission and all," I comment, my voice sounding loud through my helmets' speakers, removing from a utility pouch a circular security bypass device, planting it on the bulkhead hatch. The device beeps and whirs, its lights going from red to green. System bypassed. We're in. "And we are go for entry," I comment aloud. "Ensign, get to a safe spot and wait for my signal." "Roger," the pilot responds, and the UT-62D silently slips away, heading for an orbiting asteroid belt. He'll be safer there than here.

Zeatuli and I put our shoulders against the hatch and push until the door opens. We gather inside the outer airlock. Brangwin's fireteam closes and seals the hatch. "A bit drab in here," he comments, "but then again, this is the Imperium we're dealing with here." The gray interior reminds me of a Star Destroyer. Brangwin's team and I check our life form scanners mounted on our wrist gauntlets for activity on the other side of the hatch. Nothing. "All clear," Zeatuli reports. Captain Navi takes charge. "Ok, here's the plan," she relays in a hushed tone, "My Rancor's and I, we're Bravo team. We'll go take out station defenses and communication. That way when the rest of the fleet gets here, they won't get jumped. Major Sinan, you and Brangwin will be Echo Team. Set charges in the docks. We need to prevent them from reinforcing their fleet. Master Valdarin, you do what you need to." Brangwin and I nod in understanding, as does Cade. We carefully unseal and open the last airlock, emerging into a wide empty hallway. Navi and her men go left, and Brangwin, his partner, Zeatuli, and I go right. I look back to see Cade standing motionless for a moment before heading off to follow Navi. I raise a hand in a silent good luck. He nods and does the same. "Let's go crash a party," I say, un-slinging my needler carbine.

We move stealthily down the drab, viewport-less hallway towards the drydock, constantly on the alert for security personnel or troopers. Several minutes pass without a disturbance. We emerge from another side room we had checked and continue down the main corridor. "Maybe they're all on a caf break," Brangwin's partner comments quietly. "That's probably it," I affirm, looking around. The silence is giving me the shivers. Are there Sith Juggernauts here? Those disgusting monstrosities engineered by the Imperium. Eventually, we reach the end of the corridor and come to a heavy blast door. Intel says that this door leads to an overseer platform above the drydocks. We stop outside and scan for lifeforms. Our reading shows us that there are at least twenty beings on the other side. This'll have to be quick. We don't want them alerting anyone. I signal the others with my hand, and then press the button to open the door. As soon as the doors part, we're inside and firing our silenced blasters with expert precision. I take down two troopers with my needler, the metallic compound rounds piercing their armor easily. I hear the slightly muffled whoomp of Zeatuli's SWS going off. It all happens within thirty seconds. All enemy personnel are down. We move their bodies into a maintenance closet and proceed to the turbolift that will take us down to the dry dock.

. . .

With a metallic thunk the last charge is set. I twist the lever on the top to set the detonation time. Phew. "This explosion will be truly magnificent!" Brangwin says with a grin. "Oh yeah," I agree, "not even magnetic tape will fix these boys when we're done." I raise my wrist commlink to my mouth. "Bravo Team, this is Echo Team. Objective complete. Charges are set to go off in twenty standard minutes, or whenever I feel like pressing the remote. Heading to the rendezvous." I turn to the others. "Let's make ourselves scarce!" We move along a small catwalk underneath the drydocks, the giant frames of the Destroyers looming above us. Our entire time here, we only ran into slight resistance from security and other personnel. I hope the others are alright.

Cade Valdarin - Terminus System, Imperium Shipyard: Target Alpha

17 ABE

Six hours later . . .

The journey to the pinnacle of the station has been eerily silent. There hasn't been a soul the whole way here. One would think security forces would be here, at least dockworkers. That can only mean one thing, that this whole thing was bait. Pravus let the Infiltrators find this place; he wanted us to come here. But why, if the data here can point to a weakness in the Imperium, why would he want us to find it? In order to be a challenging opponent? I stand outside a heavy durasteel door. On the other side, I sense a Praetor, a Dathomirian I think. She's one of the weaker ones but like all Praetors, a seasoned warrior who no doubt has some hidden strength. I gather the Force around me and unleash it on the door, blasting it off its hinges into the room. I walk into the resulting dust cloud and hear the hissing of several Juggernauts.

There she stands. Like all other Praetors, she wears armor that mimics that of her master, Darth Pravus. Her armor is more of a deep red and purple than black; the mask looks like it mimics a Reek creature. "My master bids you welcome, I am Praetor Sheva." The woman says with an icy voice. I decide to forego the theatrics, "Let me make this simple: you lay down your weapon, you live. If you fight, I will kill you." She utters a mirthless chuckle. "Oh, Lord Pravus did say you aren't the typical Jedi." She backs up, letting the three Juggernauts shield her from view. Then she says the Sith word for attack, "Charak!" They lunge at me, howling their feral howls. To an ordinary soldier, this may be cause for panic, but not for a seasoned warrior of the Force. I hold up my hand, palm open to the threat, and reach out with the Force. Telekinetically seizing all three of their throats, I slam them hard into the permacrete floor, the helmets cracking open with the force of the blow. Sheva begins to pull her lightsaber out. "You can still surrender Sheva. I can sense your apprehension. You're scared, scared that you've been sacrificed like a pawn in a game of dejarik." That last comment got her attention. Like all "dark" Force users, she gives in to her anger. Unlike the more experienced ones, however, she gives in with wild abandon, letting the rage blind her. She telegraphs her attacks. She lunges at me, parries, and then riposte. She comes at me again and again I parry the blow. We go back and forth exchanging blows, the electronics in the room getting cut to pieces by the duel. Finally, I lose patience. I launch a powerful barrage of Juyo-inspired strikes, the form fitting well with my belief that the "Dark" side is not of the Force but of sentient beings' creation.

Finally, it ends when I swing the blade hard right, she blocks but the strength of the blow, enhanced by the Force, bats her saber away to the wall. I swing my emerald blade back left to swipe diagonally from the right shoulder to the hip. It's a clean cut; the lightsaber leaves cauterized flesh at the shoulder. She lets out a death rattle and falls to the ground. I look down at the slumped body, shaking my head. Such a waste, Pravus will pay for this. He has these Praetors and Acolytes all worshipping him and willing to die for him. "Amminius, this is Cade. I'm done here. What's your status?" Nothing but white noise is the response. "Blast," I say out loud. That's when I hear it or to be more accurate, feel it. I look out the command viewport of the "late" Praetors' office, a large rose-red blossom of an explosion. "Jedi, come in! This is Captain Navi, we've set our charges here, moving to rendezvous site, have you heard from the Major?" I start for the door, "No Navi, I can't raise him on the comm. I'll meet you there." I attach my saber to my belt and take off down the hall, using the Force to augment my speed.

Several hours later . . .

I finally get to the rendezvous site and see the mess that has happened. Navi and her Rancors are being overrun, using shipping crates for cover. I enter the hangar on the second floor, overlooking the scene. I see the trooper in charge, his maroon-black armor and black cape a sharp contrast to the sterile gray walls, barking orders. Zwoom. I activate the blade and make the long leap down, straight into the middle of the Imperium troopers and begin to swing my blade left and right. An arm cut here, a leg cut there, even a decapitation. However I see the problem, we're like fish in a barrel in this hangar. "Navi, we can't keep this up!" I yell after cutting through a trooper's melee weapon. "I know!" She responds, after pelting a trooper with fire from her carbine. My danger sense flares and I turn around. A Juggernaut has launched himself at me and I bring up the blade almost too late, but just then, a Cortosis composite needle strikes it dead in the face. I look to my left to see Amminius, his partner, and the two other Infiltrators exit a maintenance shaft, Needlers drawn. Amminius sees me there and they jump, I use the Force to slow their descent and they join us behind the crates. "We have to go now! Pilot, we need a pickup!" The acknowledgement comes back and soon enough, the black U-wing comes up to force field. As the updated U-wing was made with certain thoughts in mind, it has a device to breach force fields and shields with its forward mandibles. The pilot sets down, "Alright, ride's here and we've got to go before the Fourth Battlegroup shows up!" Amminius, being the commanding officer here, orders everyone in. I stand in front of the transport, blade swinging back and forth deflecting bolts from a renewed assault.

I see down the hallway a large group of security forces charging at us. The U-wing starts taking heavy fire on the hull, the pilot yelling obscenities about his baby getting hit. The incoming fire is getting too great for me to deflect and I feel some bolts singe my legs and arms. Navi, still in cover behind the crates looks at me and Amm, "You guys get out of here and we'll hold them off long enough for you to get out of here!" "That's a no go Captain, we are all leaving!" Amminius yells over the din, firing off several more needles. She fires a few more bolts and flings a grenade at the charging onslaught, "We won't make it! You have to get that data to Republic Command! We die in the name of the Republic." She and her Rancors charge up to the door, putting up a spectacular fight. The transport takes off and the last we see of the Rancors is Juggernauts swarming over them, impaling them with vibroblades. "May the Force guide them in the afterlife" I quietly say. Amminius is less reverent and punches the door, "Emperor's black bones, we could have saved them! We could have-" Zeatuli cuts him off by placing a hand on his shoulder, both knowing there was nothing that could have been done. It was either them or the data; the ruthless calculus of war. "Amm, you know there was nothing that could be done, all things are done by the will of the Force. Their sacrifice will not be in vain." "Fleet incoming," the pilot says over the comm and we look out the viewport to see a massive fleet drop out of hyperspace; dozens of Mk II Starhawks, Nebulon-Bs, CR-99s, thousands of X-wings, A-wings, and B-wings, and Mon Cal Cruisers, at the head of the fleet is the massive Viscount, flagship of Admiral Kerex and the New Republic Navy. "Major, did you get the data?" Kerex's voice comes over the comm, "Yes sir, we got it, heading to dock now." Amminius replies. Just then we feel the shockwaves emanate from the shipyards and we turn to see massive explosions rip through the station. I hear High Marshal Ponith begin ordering troop transports to the surface, the Starhawks taking their positions overhead and beginning to take on the Predator-class Star Destroyers that were on patrol. Amminius places a hand on my shoulder, "We've done good kid, Operation Wookiee's Fist was a success and the Republic has a foothold in Imperium territory now. We have a chance." The black of space gives way to the metallic walls of a hangar on the Viscount. As we exit the transport to upload the data, we see the massive space battle unfold through the force field. The New Republic finally has taken some Imperium territory for a change. The last thing Amminius says is, "This data will change the pace of the war. It implicates the other Remnants in aiding the Imperium and also, we believe, it has the location of the Imperium's capital. But it'll take time to decrypt. But we've done good kid."

Cade Valdarin - Fondor, headquarters of the Fourth Battlegroup

Four months later, near the end of 17 ABE . . .

I exit the transport, wearing robes inspired by my father, a Jedi swordsman. The robes resemble the traditional style on the tunic but ends at the waist, with a drape going down, partially covering the right leg . The only difference is I changed the color to black underneath while the primary color is grey, to show my commitment and faith in the Grey Force. "Alright, you're clear to enter sir," the private says after completing a security scan. "Welcome back Master Valdarin, High Marshal Ponith is expecting you." I thank him and head on my way. For the past month I've been involved in heavy fighting on the resource-rich lava world of Minos Korva, a planet vital to the Republic's ship builders. I find the command center and enter, immediately feeling a sense of depression, of spiraling courage. I look across the room to see the ever-familiar Bothan, Tor Ponith. The man is a mentor of mine, having been a father-like figure since I was a boy and raised by my aunt, Mon Mothma, after my Jedi parents were killed by Vader. He is currently reviewing a tactical holo when I walk over to him. "Tor, what's wrong?" He sighs, "I should've known I can't hide anything from you my boy. It's this war, I'm old confound it! I've been fighting for near over two decades you know. I'm thinking I'll retire after this war. If we win that is." I shake my head, "Retire, you, the perpetual military man? Come on Tor, you are the father of the New Republic Army; you oversaw a weak military become a large, flexible, and powerful fighting force that is on par with any of the great military powers of galactic history, you can't just leave your legacy." He gestures me over to the viewport, "Ok, maybe not retire completely. I'm thinking of joining politics." This causes me to lift an eyebrow at him. He laughs, "Not a senator or chancellor or anything but a military aide to the Chancellor. I don't know if you've noticed but the Populists are gaining majority in the Senate and you know their stance. They believe in weaker central government and a weaker military and we all know how that has gone. Just look at the Old Republic right before the Clone Wars, they had no armed force to deal with the Separatist Crisis, or a year and a half ago, when Darth Pravus began his attacks, the army was barely able to keep up." I nod in understanding.

"So wait, what brought this thought on, something has you down, I can sense it." I tell him. He shudders, "It's Kashyyyk, Cade." I straighten up, "What happened, tell me Sal is okay, what about the Defense Force?" He places a furry hand on my shoulder, "Don't worry son, the Wookiee Defense Force is fine. But the rest of the Wookiees . . . Pravus attacked Kashyyyk with Gorukar. And I've seen Kashyyyk many times Cade, a lush green marble with beautiful beaches and rich forests. But after Gorukar attacked, it was horrible. The waters were still, dead Wookiees and animals on the ground, the majestic Wroshyr trees dead . . ." I look at him in horror, "Tell me some of them made it off-world in time." "Yes, they did, thanks to a civilian group calling themselves the Smugglers Alliance we got two-thirds of the sentient population off-world, along with a good deal of animal life as well as flora and fauna samples. The Wookiees are natural gardeners so once they find a new colony world, hopefully they can rebuild a semblance of Kashyyyk. Poor Wodi, he was on the frontlines of Kashyyyk before we had to retreat off-world, and he went back to the surface after the attack, even though the after-effects of Gorukar are severely debilitating to non-Force-sensitives, not to mention deadly to Force-sensitives. He's been taking it hard so if he seems agitated, don't take it personally."

I sense a very familiar presence enter the room and turn to see Jevin Corso in his dress uniform, the rank insignia not showing Lieutenant General but Flag General, the mid-tier rank. "Jevin, you've been promoted!" I exclaim. He gives me a bear hug, "You know it kid, I guess Command has finally realized my tactical brilliance," he says smirking at Tor. Jevin and I were in the major battle for Minos Korva and it was his unorthodox strategies that won the day. "So, Marshal Ponith, what's this I hear about retirement?" Tor chuckles, "Easy boyo, the next High Marshal will be Garm, you're after him and besides, you-" he is cut off by the sound of alarm klaxons. Wodi rushes into the command center, "Marshal, you need to see this." He inputs a code on the holo map and a threat projection comes up. Tor's aide, a female Dathomirian, exclaims, "It's the threat satellite system. There's a massive force heading for the Core Worlds."

Tor turns to me; his military face is on, "Cade, threat assessment. Let's say Darth Pravus uses Gorukar on the Core Worlds, what would we be looking at?" I shrug, "Best case, he just gains a lot of Force energy and becomes more powerful. Worst case, he becomes near invincible, able to crush fleets and armies in a thought, destroy whole worlds in the blink of an eye." Shaking his head, Tor punches a code onto the holo, this code affects a direct communication to the Chancellor. A blue holo pops up of a Soccoran male, Chancellor Hassan. "Chancellor, sir, a massive Imperium force has broken through all our blockades and heading for the Core. On the recommendation of Master Valdarin and Skywalker here, I recommend we send a force to their likely target: Atrisia." The Chancellor agrees and states he will communicate with the leaders of the Coalition; with Choral, Chieftain of the Wookiee Defense Force, with Gerik Ordo, Commandant of the Mandalorian Protectors, and with Respin, General of the Espirion Navy. Luke lays a hand on my shoulder, "The Force will have to be with us now, if Pravus takes any Force energy from the Core…well it's the most populated area of the galaxy, even a fraction of the energy would make him immensely powerful." Tor looks up from briefing his subordinates and looks to Flag Generals Jevin Corso and Tav Voren, both the executive officers under their respective High Generals for the Fourth and Second Battle groups. "You two, come with me, the Fourth and Second are going to Atrisia. Cade, Luke, meet us in the hangar when you're ready, the Rapid Assault Force is already mobilizing, it'll take a while for the full force to get there but we need defenders there now."

. . .

We get to the hangar and I see an eye-opening site. Hundreds of people are gathered there: Mandalorians, Wookiees, New Republic Soldiers, Espirion naval personnel . . . and at the middle of it all is High Marshal Tor Ponith, supreme commander of the New Republic Army. Unath Kerex, Fleet Admiral and supreme commander of the Navy is there as well. "Soldiers of the New Republic, members of the Coalition, listen up. Not too long ago, we detected a massive Imperium force heading to the Core World of Atrisia. Now according to our Jedi friend, Cade Valdarin, if Gorukar attacks Atrisia, that means the end of the New Republic and the return of tyranny and oppression." He makes a gesture behind him as a massive shape exits hyperspace. It's not the Viscount, flagship of the New Republic fleet, but it's a Super Star Destroyer. "This is the former SSD, Ravanok, sister ship of the Ravager. Now she is the Salvation and she'll be leading this assault. Your commanders have all been given their orders, report to them for your individual assignments. Now let's move out!" There's a loud chorus of cheers and roars. We all begin to board our respective ships, most of the Republic personnel board the Salvation and the Starhawks but some join Mandalorian forces or the Wookiees and Espirions. As it turns out, Jevin, Wodi, and I board a Wookiee Assault Cruiser. "Well, together again at last." Wodi says, his hand trembling, it must be his post-traumatic stress acting out, seeing all these Wookiees, but he seems to be working through it. "Too long if you ask me, Colonel," says Jevin. As Flag General of the Fourth Battle Group, Jevin is one of the overall commanders of this assault force, being under only Kerex, Ponith, and Bel Iblis. We walk into Choral, Chieftain of the Defense Force, and Salurra. "Sal!" I yell, the massive carpet giving me a bear hug. The group laughs. I cross my arms and say the blessing of May the Force be with us. The Coalition Fleet jumps to hyperspace to fight the war on the homefront.

Flag General Jevin Corso - Atrisia

17 ABE

Six hours into the Battle of Atrisia

Well, the situation at Atrisia de-escalated quickly. It started when the fleet dropped out of hyperspace; the Imperium force was massive and surrounded the planet. The Atrisian Assault Corps is a competent force and has won many battles against larger foes but the Imperium is relentless. The good news, Gorukar isn't here. The bad news is the Imperium's flagship, the Insidious, is. That SSD has been pounding the Coalition fleet; already several ships were vaporized by its long range guns. Gerik and his Protectors have been taking the brunt of the battle, acting as vanguards while the NR forces fight their way planetside. I see Cade standing there with his eyes closed.

I touch his arm, "Cade, you alright?" With his eyes still closed, he says in a hushed whisper, "He's here." Luke nods his head, "Pravus is on the surface and is calling us through the Force, and he's challenging us." I nod my head.

Choral walks over to us and hands me a holo-device. "Thanks Choral, let's see what the plan is." Wodi comes over from the viewport, "Better have a good plan boss, it's a mess out there and the Insidious is tearing our forces to shreds." I place the device on the floor and out pops a hologram, life size, of High Marshal Tor Ponith and Fleet Admiral Kerex. This battle should be a good one; two of the greatest tacticians in the Republic are here, plus the legendary Choral and the fearless Gerik Ordo. Static. "General Corso, do you read me?" "I read you Marshal, what's the plan?" More static and white noise, "We need boots on the ground; Jevin, you're going to lead a ground assault. You and the Forty-First Battalion will take the Atrisian Palace. We need to save the Atrisian Emperor." Cade steps up, "Sir, that's also where Darth Pravus is." Tor nods, "Then the palace is the focus of our attack. The rest of the assault force is coming, along with the Salvation; the fleet will focus on the Insidious while the Thirty-Second Guard Division and Twenty-Seventh Armored Cavalry will join your forces planetside." I look to Cade, "I really hope you can do your "oneness" thing here, we are going to need it." "I'm ready," he says with a fierce gaze.

. . .

We stand in the hangar, several Wookiee snubfighters around us, intricately crafted ships with Wroshyr wood finishing, and the last of the Wroshyr wood until the Wookiees find a new world and grow more trees or they reseed Kashyyyk and rebuild their world. Wodi and his SHARCs finish gearing up and he slaps a fresh power pack into a Z7 rotary gun and a sling of detonators over his shoulder, "You sure you up for this, old man? It's been awhile since you've been in the field." Wodi is the only soldier under my command who can talk to me like that, we've been through a lot together. "Don't worry, Wishbone. I'm always ready for a fight." Gavin Skyes walks over to us, his black Rancor Assault Armor gleaming under the lights, "Hah, "Blastzone" is back!" I shake his hand, "Lieutenant, I'm expecting you to take down some ships today." Gavin smiles and puts his helmet on, heading to a boarding shuttle, designed to cut through starship hulls and insert the troopers into the ship. We enter our own transport, a GR-80 troop transport.

"We are go in five, four, three, two, one. Lift off." I step on top of a crate, using Salurra as a balance. "Alright, listen up! Today we fight not only for Atrisia but for the New Republic itself. Never before have we seen an enemy like the Imperium but never before have they seen soldiers like you. I would be honored to fight beside any of you anytime or anywhere. With you on our side, and the Jedi, we will win this battle and this war. Long live the New Republic!" A rousing HOOYAH sounds on the deck, Salurra gives a mighty roar and our guest of honor, the mighty Chewbacca, lends his voice to the roar, making us all feel like we are invincible.

The transport makes its way towards the ancient Core World which, according to Cade, is permeated with the Force so it's strange why Pravus didn't bring Gorukar here. But I'll take whatever good news I can get. I slap on my chest armor and strap my blast helmet on, loading a fresh power pack into my X45A rifle. Looking out the blast-protected window, we see the silhouette of the Insidious pass us by, the purple colored laser fire from it lighting the black of space. The ship, like all of the Imperium vessels, is a hybrid of technology, a marriage of reverse-engineered Sith tech and Imperial tech, the hybrid being something much more powerful. Even the Resurgent-class ship plan that was found during the raid at Terminus a while back wasn't as powerful. Speaking of the data, ever since we discovered that the other Remnants; the First Order, Graal Hegemony, and Black Nova Pirates, were helping the Imperium on the sidelines, they have now began openly fighting us. A swarm of Black Nova ships swoop by on an intercept course for our ship. "This is Blade Leader, we've got your back!" A trio of B-wing fighters blast their way through the ships, leaving nothing but fused metal in their wake.

A few more tense minutes and the shuttle touches down on the surface of Atrisia. Already we can see the damage the Imperium has caused; buildings in smoking ruins and charred grass, bodies lying on the ground. Everywhere, U-wings are touching down, disembarking troops as they land. From another GR-80 come several of the new T5-B tanks, heavy battle tanks that are even a match for the advanced AT-AHT the Imperium uses. Wodi cheers, "That is what I am talking about! Finally, we get to bring in the heavy hitters!" I see Cade again looking like a stoic Jedi in his Grey robes, looking like he's lost in thought. "Cade. Cade?" He looks at me, "I'm ready to fight Pravus. But I will warn you all, Darth Pravus has reached a level of power that not even Sidious had reached; if I can't stop him, it will fall to Luke, if Luke can't, you're screwed." We all begin marching toward the Atrisian capital and palace, some of us hitching rides on top of the T5-B tank. In the distance the sounds of a tense ground war begin, explosions visible here and there. A flight of Mandalorian fighters swoop by and out of one of them, Protectors jetpack toward our army, led by a green and black clad warrior, Gerik Ordo. This will be a defining moment for the New Republic in this war.

Wodi "Wishbone" Quix – Atrisia, Core Worlds

17 ABE

Day Two of Atrisian campaign

"Brace!" A high intensity mortar round goes off near a blackened duraplast building on a street corner a few meters from our entrenched position, sending chunks of pulverized duraplast flying in all directions, pelting us with white dust, mixing with the haze. I throw myself to the hard ground, covering my head with my arms, my ears ringing. A few guys from the Twenty-Seventh are sent careening. "Come on, shake it off! Get back in it!" Blaster bolts whizz through the air, striking all manner of objects, creating even more dust and smoke. Several find their mark. "Soldier down! Get a combat medic here! Deploy that FX-7 med droid!" Fighters shoot by above us, a trio of X-wings by the sounds of their thrusters, firing their laser cannons at an escaping wing of TIEs. A few seconds later, I hear the tortured whine of a damaged TIE engine followed by the noise and heat of an explosion. Mark down. I duck down, reload a fresh power pack into my blaster and continue firing.

After our miracle landing on Atrisia, given the size of the Imperium fleet stationed there, not much has improved. We've been holding this position, barely, for at least two days against a relentless Imperium defense. Our casualty numbers are rising by the hour, and as far as I can tell, we haven't even run into Pravus or any of his Dark Side cronies. I've heard further down the line that things aren't going as well. Many of our heavy tanks were taken out even before they reached their targets, and our starfighter wings are dwindling. I haven't heard from Jevin or his guys since the attack started.

A battered lieutenant makes his way down the line over to me and touches my arm, bringing his mouth close to my ear, his beard stubble tickling slightly. "Sir, Imperium forces are still holding at blocks three, eight, ten, twelve, and nineteen. Reinforcements are pouring into the junctions at one and fifteen. We can't get past their heavy cannons and blaze a way to the palace. Our guys are being cut down left and right! The T5-B tanks are having quite a time with the walkers, and our Mandalorian friends aren't having much luck either. They're reporting many casualties." He winces as a blaster bolt sails by particularly close to his helmeted head. "Kriff!" "Any good news?" I shout, lining my sights up on an Imperium stormtrooper not in cover. BAM! "Corso and his troops are making their way towards our position to reinforce us. They've captured and held several city blocks, but can't break through to the palace either." "When do you think they'll get here?" Asks Nom Carver, ducking down beside me, breathing hard, his face and uniform caked in dust. "Not sure," the lieutenant replies, "but if they don't get here soon, there'll be nothing left to reinforce!"

A detonator blast throws several of our guys off their feet screaming, arms and legs flailing. The lieutenant hurries off towards them, a portable medkit in his hand. Carver and I make way as two soldiers quickly maneuver a portable hover-gurney with a badly wounded man strapped to it. I avert my eyes. "Come on, push harder!" "Aagh!" I trade fire with a stormtrooper, sending him crashing to the ground in a heap. His comrades take pot shots at me, but they too are quickly eliminated. "Get those mortar launchers up here!" Three men to my right are sent flying backwards, smoking holes in their chests, from an unseen E-web cannon up in a shattered window. "Watch that turret," I yell, arming and lobbing a thermal at the trooper manning it. More of our guys are cut down by blaster fire. "The right flank is on the verge of collapsing! We need reinforcements!" I duck down again, checking my chrono impatiently. Where is Jevin?

Cade Valdarin - Atrisia

17 ABE

Three days later

"Heads up!" I hear a soldier yell as an AT-AT lumbers into view. "Jevin, we need to move!" I yell. The grizzled vet grunts as he pulls a vibroknife out of a Juggernaut, "I know, let's move out" The soldiers begin filing into the trenches to avoid laser fire, all the while mortars are hitting left and right. I see Luke jump towards our position, back from his scouting trip to the palace. Jevin replaces the clip on his X45A, "What have you got, Skyguy?" He deflects a laser away from Jevin, "You want the bad news or the worse news first?" The three of us make the end of the column, going into the trench, the occasionally T5-B tank rolling over the trench, slowly moving to the front to provide heavy fire support.

"What's the worse news?" Jevin says, having to cup his hands to be heard over the treads of the tank overhead. "Well, we may be doomed" Luke yells back, "As I left, Pravus exited the Palace, and I think he's coming this way!" I hear Jevin make an audible sigh, "What's the bad news?" Luke chuckles a little, "The bad news is the palace is being torn apart by the fighting." We keep moving in the trench when we hear the sharp whine of a TIE fighter losing control. I look up and see one of the new TIE Stalkers falling towards us, the engines shot out behind it. I lift my hand and grab the falling wreckage with the Force. Unfortunately, it has too much velocity to stop and so Luke raises a hand, telekinetically pushing the troops in front of us forward. The wreckage smacks the ground in a fantastic explosion of fire, refuse, and dirt.

Jevin's aide-de-camp, Major Barkley, jumps over the wreckage, coming over to us. "Sir," he yells as the thumping sound of the MPTL's launching their torpedoes sounds. "The division is in position, but Colonel Quix and the SHARCs are slowly losing ground." Barkley pulls Jevin up after being knocked down by the impact. "Good, get the snipers in position and tell Colonel Avis to get her troops ready for close-quarters combat, we're getting in close." Barkley nods and runs off toward the top of the hill overlooking Wodi's position. We round the bend and see the snipers setting up, their pulse cannons set on durasteel tripods set into the ground for stability and some pulling out slug throwers. A bit down the hill, we see the soldiers attaching vibro-bayonets to their rifles or drawing vibroswords. Jevin gets to the hill in and gives targets to the snipers while giving Avis a hand signal that she repeats to her group. Suddenly, the troops hop the trench wall rushing towards the SHARCs' dwindling line while green pulses from the snipers flash around us. Several soldiers fall to Imperium blasters, a Rodian next to me takes a bolt to the face, instantly falling towards the ground. Overhead, we can vaguely the silhouette of the renamed SSD Salvation going broadside with the Insidious, the sounds of the turbolasers can be heard faintly over the sounds of the ground battle. The Viscount, under Kerex's command, is leading the charge against the Orbital Defense Stations that the Imperium manage to take control of. I hope Admiral Antilles can either keep the Insidious engaged or take her out.

Jevin throws his knife towards an oncoming Juggernaut, so expertly thrown it hits it dead in the face, the vibrations of the knife chewing through the armor. I deflect several blasts back to their sources while hopping into the trench Wodi is in. I can feel the tension of the troops, the adrenaline rushing through all of them as the intensity of the fight continues. Wodi unleashes a full clip with his Z7 rotary and then turns, "Glad you could stop by Blastzone!" Jevin nudges in next to him, taking aim with his rifle and blasting a Sith Acolyte in between the eyes. "Wodi, we've got to move! Pravus is coming here, to our position. We need to fall back!" I jump down next to them, sheathing the lightsaber, "No, if we let Pravus win here, he has a foothold in the Core; if Gorukar is used in the Core, then Pravus becomes even more powerful." Jevin gives me a look that screams he hates losing people but agrees. He pulls his wrist up, activating the comlink on his wrist device, "Blade Wing, we need a bombing run at these coordinates!" A few seconds later, the roar of B-wings and Y-wings fill our eardrums and we see the flight group screaming towards the ground. Next we hear Captain Avon say, "Danger close, repeat danger close!" and the fighters let loose their proton bombs, the blue orbs almost gracefully falling towards the advancing line of Imperium troops, their black armor glistening in the sun. The bombs hit dead center of their line and we hear a whirlwind of fury.

In the distance, we can see a troupe of Protectors and Berserkers advancing into the palace grounds; the absence of Pravus must have taken away some of its defenders. I can faintly see Gerik engage three Juggernauts in combat with his Beskad and easily dispatching them. If only he was Force-sensitive, he'd make a terrific Blademaster. I also see Salurra, his bowcaster firing almost non-stop as he slams into trooper after trooper. Good, if they can make a hole in the palace defenders, we can dig in. The bombs kicked up a cloud of smoke and the soldiers at the front of the defensive line jump the wall. One of them, a bald human with a singed chest plate, looks back to us and yells, "Come on!" before a blood red saber strikes right through his abdomen. Suddenly two sinisterly armored figures appear through the smoke, one in dark blue-back armor with a demonic face mask and the other in steel gray armor with a more somber mask.

And then Luke and I feel it; that gnawing headache, that queasy feeling we felt when Pravus was nearby. And the smoke clears and we see him unmasked; his armor taking clear inspiration from Vader. His skin is charcoal gray and his eyes as black as night. Pravus has tapped into the stolen Force energy that Gorukar has taken. Deactivating the saber, the soldier begins to fall forward, still gasping for breath. However, midfall, Pravus flicks a finger and the body goes flying off into the distance. When he speaks, it's a gravely sound, like the weight of the Force is behind it. "Finally, you have come. And you have increased your power, very good." He slightly nods to the left and right, "Lord Sheratan, Lord Xellius, take them." The two armored figures warp, using their distinct Force power and disappearing in a blink of an eye. We activate our lightsabers and warn everyone to stay back. It's hard to sense where they are. The good news is Pravus seems content to stay back and watch his students at work. Luke swings the green blade swiftly behind him, catching the red blade of Sheratan and preventing what would have been a decapitating strike for me. I raise a hand and blast force energy, knocking Xellius out of his warp. And an incredible duel ensues between Luke and Sheratan while I march towards Xellius, blade held low in the Juyo ready stance, held loosely and pointed towards the ground, ready to launch a ferocious offensive and to bring the blade up swiftly in a quick defense. I feel Xellius reach out to the Force again and he warps directly at me, blade held high. A quick move of the blade and I parry the blow, redirecting his momentum to the right. "You cannot win, Jedi," he says through his distorted voice. "It's sad Xellius. You can't see that you and all of the Praetors are pawns in his game." He laughs as he launches a flurry of strikes that I manage to block. "That does not matter. We fight for Pravus because he is the way to a true, ordered galaxy." A strange belief that an all-powerful Sith Lord, a follower the Dark Side who uses his power not to protect and guide but to lord over others, is what is best for the galaxy. I launch my own flurry of strikes, using the ancient technique of Battle Mind, learned from my training on Tython, to constantly rejuvenate my stamina and remove the stress and fatigue of a continued duel. He slowly is losing ground.

Luke's duel with Sheratan is much less intense. Xellius is the higher Praetor after all, being the leading Praetor besides Ferus. I see Luke duck and roll out of the way of the red saber and turn to launch a force blast at his opponent which is easily dodged. Sheratan warps again. But he doesn't go towards Luke, instead, he appears right next to Wodi. Luke starts to run towards him, hoping to block the blow but is too late. The red blade swings and slices through Wodi's left leg, severing it from the knee down. He lets out a howl of pain, a howl that makes me furious. I bat Xellius' saber to the right and launch a telekinetic blast at him, a blast so powerful that a non-Force user would have been sent careening into the distance. I hear a voice in my head, "Inner peace, find the medium of your emotions." The voice belongs to my ancestor, Argus Valdarin, one of the only three Jedi to have experienced oneness with the Force while living and who taught me for six months on Tython. I can feel something from within, a power like no other that's rising to the surface. I turn and look at Sheratan and launch myself with a boost of Force energy towards him, only to feel a strong pull against me. I strain to turn my head and see Darth Pravus holding his hand out slightly and making a "tsk tsk" sound. Suddenly the hand moves and I go flying into the dirt near where Xellius landed. I glance up and see the two at it again in their duel, the green and red making and intricate mesh of color as the blades dance; Luke just can't seem to break his defense. But then something happens that it seems near impossible. A blaster volley rings out and hits Sheratan in the vulnerable spot of his armor under the shoulder; somehow, despite massive pain and shock, Wodi managed to upright himself and shoot his Z7. Sheratan stops cold, dropping the saber out of pain and surprise. Luke doesn't hesitate; he brings the blade into a horizontal sweep that cleaves Sheratan's head from his shoulders, the armored body falling to the ground. Meanwhile, I'm locked in a ferocious duel with Xellius, the fight going back and forth. He launches straightforward strikes at me that I manage to block and finally he swings his saber straight down from overhead; I move my blade to act as if I mean to parry the blow but when the blades almost connect, I deactivate the saber and side step quickly to maneuver behind Xellius. The move shocks him, the momentum of his swing causes him to be unable to quickly maneuver out of it and as soon as I end up behind him, I press the black metal hilt to the center of his back, activating the emerald green blade. He gasps and then falls silent and I pull the saber out, letting the armored body hit the ground. "Good, good," Pravus says in that eerie voice, before launching a red fan of lightning at Luke and the others.

Wodi "Wishbone" Quix – Atrisia, Core Worlds

17 ABE

Blast it, Jevin. We can't hold here forever! The Imperium, desperate to break our lines, have started throwing Sith Acolytes and Juggernauts at us. I dive to the ground as a volley of blaster bolts sails over my head, getting a face full of pulverized duracrete, trying to suppress my growing frustration. The air is thick with the throat rasping smell of discharged blasters, sweat, and singed flesh. Two soldiers from the Twenty-Seventh to my left get back up, bracing their rifle stocks against their armored shoulders. It's the last thing they do. Both are cut down near instantly in a storm of red. "Man down! Man down!" A soldier manning a blaster turret takes a volley to the head and slumps over, his head banging into the turret's durasteel frame. Three mortar men further down the line are sent sailing, their shells and weapons detonating, incinerating nearby troops in a white-hot fireball. A female soldier lets out a scream as she's jumped by two charging Juggernauts. Other soldiers attempt to pull them off, but they too are soon pounced upon. The tormented shrieks ring in my ears. I redirect my fire to take the creatures out. Blasted things! A combat medic rushes over to their position, kneeling to tend to a mauled soldier writhing on the ground. One of our guys arms and tries to toss a detonator. A second later, a blackened hole is singed clean through his blast helmet, melting the plastoid alloy. The grenade drops to the ground, still armed, near the dead man's boots. My eyes go wide. Kriff! "Grenade!" I shout, diving to the dirt covering my face with my hands. I hear the grunts of soldiers around me doing the same. BOOM! I'm pelted with pieces of stinging shrapnel. Stang that was close. I get back up and resume firing. "Where the kriff are our reinforcements? We can't hold out much longer!"

Suddenly, a green laser flies through the air, hitting a stormtrooper in the faceplate, sending his helmeted head snapping back. What the? More green bolts hit their mark, and more stormtroopers and juggernauts bite the dust. "Where's that coming from?" Shouts Nom Carver, looking to me. "Behind us," a soldier nearby yells excitedly, gesturing with his blaster. "It's the reinforcements! Corso's arrived!" I look behind me, and a wave of relief and joy crashes over me. Jevin's division rushes toward our position, their rifles up and firing, cutting down our opposition. Some fall to laserfire, hitting the ground hard. The rest jump into our trench, filling in the gaps the Imperium troops had created, many brandishing vibroswords and bayonets. A familiar soldier quickly maneuvers his way next to me, his X45A blaster rifle gripped tight in his gloved hands, his face caked with mud. I unload a volley with my rotary, ducking back down to grin at Jevin. "Glad you could stop by Blastzone!" Jevin nods, bringing up his rifle to take out a charging Sith Acolyte. "Clean hit," I compliment him, giving him covering fire as he reloads. Jevin grabs my forearm and squeezes, hard. "Wodi, we've got to move! Pravus is coming here, to our position! We need to fall back!" I freeze, my mind locking. Cade jumps into our trench, joining me and Jevin, his grey robes singed and dirty, batting away bolts with his lightsaber. He deactivates his weapon and clips it to his utility belt, leaning in close so he can be heard over the din. Nearby, I see Luke and Salurra jump into the trench as well.

"No," Cade says, shaking his head, "if we let Pravus win here, he has a foothold in the Core. If Gorukar is used in the Core, then Pravus becomes even more powerful!" "Then what are we supposed to do?" I shout, gesturing with my hand at the chaos around us. "We can't stand up to this onslaught!" As if to prove my point, a nearby soldier cries out, falling to the dirt, his helmet flying off his head, his weapon landing near Cade's boot. Jevin echoes my sentiment, giving Cade withering glare. Then, to my surprise, he nods to Cade. He agrees with him? "Blade Wing," Jevin says, bringing up his wrist mounted comlink, "we need a bombing run at these coordinates." He rattles off our position on the grid. I look at him incredulously. He shrugs, smirking slightly. "Copy ground. Marking your position. Make sure you don't gaze up too much in awe and go blind!" Soon, we hear the roar of ion engines as a combined flight of B-wings and Y-wings screams toward the target area. "Danger close!" One of Jevin's captains, a woman named Avon, bellows. "Danger close!" I cover my ears and brace myself. The fighters unleash their payload, proton bombs, and streak away, the onboard gunners providing covering fire. A second later, a wall of heat and noise washes over us, completely obliterating the advancing Imperium line. "Yahoo!" "Yeah!" "Go get 'em boys!" "Targets eliminated!" The proton bombs have kicked up a thick cloud of gray smoke and dust, but I can already see several stormtroopers attempting to push forward. "Come on! Let's get 'em!" As one, the soldiers at the front of our defensive line jump up and over our trench, rallying. "Come on," one man turns back to shout at us, brandishing his blaster rifle.

I watch as a crimson lightsaber blade erupts from the man's armored abdomen. He stops, dropping his weapon, a mixture of pain and confusion on his face. Out of the smoke step two armored and masked figures, one in steel gray armor, the other in blue, both holding lightsabers at their sides. Praetors. And one of them I know all too well. My mouth goes dry. Our charging line stops dead in their tracks, the dust still settling from their thundering footsteps. A third figure, also in armor, steps out of the smoke, cape billowing, gripping the hilt of the saber that is through the body of the unfortunate soldier. "Pravus," I hear Cade whisper softly, slowly unhooking his lightsaber. A cold sensation washes over the battlefield. I'm sure everyone can feel it. Dread tickles the back of my spine, running up and down. I feel clammy. My mouth feels like Tatooine. I resist the urge to vomit. Pravus looks strange, as if he's bathed himself in the ashes from a fire. That's how gray his skin is. His soulless black eyes burn with an intensity I haven't seen before. No one moves but Pravus, who regards the soldier he has skewered with his dark gaze. My mind flashes back to Tatooine, where I first encountered Pravus, seeming a lifetime ago. With a hiss, he deactivates his weapon, making the soldier start to fall forward. Before the guy can fall flat on his face, Pravus lifts a hand, stopping the soldier's forward momentum before telekinetically tossing aside the dying man. Then he speaks, his voice sounding gravely and ominous. "Finally," he says, gesturing to all of us with a grand sweep of his gloved hand, "you have come. And you have increased in power. Very good." He nods to his two cronies, gesturing to us with the hilt of his lightsaber. "Lord Sheratan, Lord Xellius, take them."

And then they're on us. Sheratan and Xellius disappear from Pravus' side, but it's not too hard to figure out where they are. Screams of agony and surprise ring out as our advance force out of the trenches is hacked to pieces with strokes of crimson and magenta. Legs, arms, and heads fly. It all happens in a random blur. Too late for us to save them. My stomach churns at each new scream. Luke and Cade activate their lightsabers, the blades humming as they take their respective stances. "Stay back, unless you want to find yourself in several pieces." Luke warns us. Cade issues his own warning. "You don't need to tell us twice," Lannik Endel says near me with a mixture of fear and awe, his rifle hanging at his side. A few agonizing seconds later, both Sith blades deactivate, and silence follows. There's a stretch of open ground where our troops had previously occupied. I have no doubt that the two Praetors lie there, waiting for the opportune moment to strike. Luke and Cade stand ready, blades up, scanning the surrounding area intently. Vzzzm! Suddenly, both Luke and Cade are locked in combat, with Luke fighting Sheratan, and Cade fighting Xellius. The rest of us stand dumbfounded, watching the scene unfold. Cade is an expert swordsman, excelling in both offense and defense, steadily wearing down his opponent with his speed and power. I whistle in appreciation. What I wouldn't give to learn some of those. Then blaster fire begins to come toward us, knocking down a few of our soldiers. Looks like the Imperium forces are mounting another attack. "Fire!" While I unload on the enemy with my Z7 rotary, I keep an eye on Cade and Luke. Both Jedi are holding their own, despite the Praetors attempts to put them off balance with their disappearing and reappearing. It appears Cade has been given the more skilled opponent. Lucky him. I blast a stormtrooper in the chest and lay down suppressing fire as Jevin lobs a sonic imploder. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Luke roll out of the way as Sheratan disappears, and reappears, only not next to Luke. I cry out in shock as Sheratan appears directly next to me, his crimson blade reflected in his dark mask. And then my leg bursts into white hot tendrils of pain. I scream, dropping my weapon and stumbling to the ground, my vision narrowing. My ears start to ring. Loud. Through the pain and noise I hear Cade and several soldiers cry out in shock and anger, although it appears distant, from far away. I look up to my attacker to see Sheratan hurtling away from me uncontrollably. Jevin and Endel are at my side, supporting my weight, shouting words of encouragement, that everything will be fine, but I barely feel their hands or hear their voices. My eyes are locked on something else. On someone else. Sheratan. He's fighting Luke, hammering him with attack after attack. My mind is beginning to go fuzzy. Slowly, I drag myself to the edge of our trench, hauling my Z7 along, the effort nearly sending me into unconsciousness through the pain. My mind clearing just enough to aim my heavy blaster, I depress the trigger. I stay upright for a few more seconds, watching Sheratan halt in his tracks, his saber falling from his gloved hand before I fall backwards onto the dirt, my vision going completely black and my body succumbing to the white fire.

Cade Valdarin - Atrisia

17 ABE

Right before he hits the ground, Xellius warps away. He must have been about to teleport as I killed him. But he isn't the focus anymore. I turn my attention to Pravus; his visage is terrible, the charcoal grey skin and black eyes. "Well well, it seems you have increased your skills" he says. I begin marching toward him, green blade humming. He raises his voice, "Corso, keep your soldiers back, this fight is between me and Valdarin." I don't know if Jevin if registered the command, his focus torn between laying down heavy fire and moving Wodi. Poor Wodi, hopefully he doesn't bleed out, I see a medic desperately applying a bacta band to the stump where his leg used to be. "Ok Pravus, you and me, the fate of the galaxy at stake!" I say as I raise my blade in salute. He returns the salute and then smirks and says, "You cannot win, you know."

And he rushes at me with such tremendous speed I barely have time to react. Our blades lock, sparks flying. He growls with anticipation at the fight. I duck and weave as the blades dance through the air. All around me, blaster bolts sail overhead. I see Jevin and Avon hauling Wodi toward the back of the defensive line as Wookiee berserkers begin to file into the trench, massive ryyk blades gleaming with the sunlight. Parry, thrust, riposte, parry, and spin away. The duel feels like it is taking hours but in reality only minutes. I hear the voice again in my head. "Find your inner peace, calm your emotions. Only then will you experience oneness."

We continue our duel, spinning and weaving our blades, when I feel a sharp pain in my leg. Pravus managed to cut my thigh, not deep enough to reach the bone but just enough to cause a superficial wound that burns like no other. I use the Force to shut out the pain, using the ancient technique of Battlemind and focusing solely on Pravus. I can feel the darkness radiating from him, the power of the tainted energy he has taken feeling like a nasty headache at the back of my mind. I manage to inflict several small cuts of my own against Pravus but the blows do nothing to slow him down.

"Back up!" I hear Jevin order. "Fall back, we're losing too much ground!" The Republic forces begin to fall back, while laying down an impressive amount of fire. Suddenly Pravus lands a hard hit on my saber, causing me to lose my footing. He seizes the opportunity and blasts my saber away with a force push. Then he kicks me in the ankle, causing me to fall to me knee. Again, I hear the voice of my ancestor, Argus, in my head. Pravus maneuvers for an impaling strike but as soon as the blood red blade almost reaches my chest, I grab the saber; I literally grab it, using the ancient energy absorbing technique of Tutaminis. So this is what oneness feels like; I feel like a blind man seeing for the first time. The power is intoxicating and wonderful, yet terrible and disturbing at the same time. I look up to see Pravus with a look on his face that shows both astonishment and annoyance. He sheathes the blade, launching a fan of force lightning at me. This I absorb too, simply holding a hand up towards the lightning.

Behind us, the tide has turned.

The Protectors forward line has reached Jevin's people and their combined firepower is too much for the Imperium troopers. Pravus spins away from me. "Good. Good, you have grown powerful. But you have not reached your full potential. I will not kill you yet. I sense your part in this war is not yet over, grow your power and continue your training. Soon, our paths will meet again and this war will be decided." He begins to turn, "But I will leave you with a parting gift." He raises a wrist, speaking into a comm, "Admiral Falen, move into position." Then he teleports, disappearing in the blink of an eye as the Insidious overhead begins to move. Then the SSD jumps into hyperspace, leaving a handful of Predator Star Destroyers in orbit. Four of them converge on a location and begin maneuvering for a base delta zero. Jevin hauls Wodi onto a nearby speeder. "Cade we need to move now! Those ships are prepping to bombard this position!" The soldiers are running away as fast as they can but they won't make it in time. "We have too many wounded, we can't get out of position in time!" I hear him yell.

When the time comes, you will achieve oneness. I close my eyes and just stand there, raising my hand. "Cade, what are you doing?" Wodi manages to yell despite the massive shock he is in. I picture the Star Destroyers in orbit, hulls glistening with the light of the system's star. Kerex and his Viscount Star Defender are too far away to intervene. Suddenly green fire rains from the Destroyers, hurling towards the planet. I reach out with the Force and begin to absorb the energy. My body immediately begins to ache; the power beginning to overload my senses. Even though the strikes are not aimed all at the same spot, I use the Force to make the lasers all come towards me, saving the troops behind me. I feel my body nearly begin to give out so I release the absorbed energy into a massive telekinetic burst. The blast is so powerful that the ground around me becomes a crater. The burst hits the star destroyers, hitting them with such force that they roll over as if made of tissue paper. I seize them with a force grip and hurl them into the nearby star, the destroyers melting upon impact.

My arms drop to my side, my body is shouting in pain. Jevin runs up to my side along with Luke, "You all right kid? That was amazing! And the Imperium forces on the planet are in full retreat, we did it!" Luke is more concerned, "Cade, you okay?" I can't even respond the pain hurts so much. Before I know it, all turns black and I feel my body slam onto the ground.

Several days later . . .

I wake up with a jolt to a strange sight. I open my eyes to see a majestic forest, a clear sky with a purple tint. I look down and instead of the gray battle-worn robes, I'm wearing the traditional tan robes. "Welcome, young Valdarin," an echoey voice says. The image of Argus' spirit materializes in front of me. "We're on Tython," I say incredulously, "but that can't be right, I'm on Atrisia." Argus nods as we begin to walk towards Mount Veldan, into which the Second Jedi Temple was created. The temple was a major base of operations for the Jedi during the ancient Sith wars. "I'm not really here, I'm dreaming." I say. Argus takes a seat on an ornate stone bench overlooking the entrance to the temple. "I brought you here to tell you that a great moment is upon you. Soon, you will reach a power that very few others have ever known and even fewer have held. And with that power will come great temptation. You must hold true to yourself when that time comes. Soon, your war will end. You and Pravus are the shatter points; the fate of your nations and the fate of the galaxy will rest upon the victor." I look at the ghostly image, "Is there anything else you can teach me, ancestor?" "No, I have taught you all I can. Now it is up to you. Trust in your training, but more importantly, trust in yourself and in your friends. Now, wake up."

My eyes flash open to see an ornately decorated room. A stately hospital room, I must be in the Atrisian palace, I see portraits of Atrisian life on the walls. I hear the clicking of a metal prosthesis on hitting a stone floor. A familiar face pops through the doorway. "Cade, you're awake!" Wodi exclaims. "Wodi, I'm so sorry about what happened." He shakes his head, "None of that Cade, I knew the risks when I signed on all those years ago. Besides, this won't keep me out of the action, I've already calibrated it for maximum combat capability. But let's talk about you. Was that your "oneness"?" I smile a little, "Yes, it was. Uncontrolled, but it was. And I can only get stronger from here on out." He nods his head in understanding.

"So, you ready to get back out there?" I get out of bed, seeing the Atrisian gifts that were placed at the foot of the bed. The people must have given them as thanks for saving their world. "As luck would have it, I am. Sometime soon Wodi, this war will come to a head. And it boils down to me and Pravus; one of us wins, one dies and the war will be decided by that."