Chiloon Rift, near the Bubble
The Chiloon Rift was a rather peculiar and hazardous place. Nowhere in the galaxy were there such high concentrations of asteroids. They had proven to be an incredible source of various precious elements. So despite the danger posed to ships by these massive space rocks, all sorts of people had come to mine them. A reality show called Tumbler Tuggers had even been created, around the crew of the Water Bear.
Further adding to the Rift's eccentric nature was a region of space called the Bubble of the Lost. All make and manner of ships, whose crews had either abandoned them or died in them, floated lifeless through this region. And space here had been slowly expanding for ages, thanks to a mysterious, massive monolith, which may or may not have been the Mortis Monolith.
It was just outside this Bubble, that an enormous armada, hundreds of vessels strong, fell out of hyperspace. The Terran cruisers immediately proceeded to fan out into a sort of circular screen, along with the capital vessels of the Galactic Alliance, Empire, and Hapan Consortium. Thousands of fighters poured out of their carriers, and into open space.
Luke could feel the Force all around him. Currents of both the light side and the dark side flowing together and around each other in such beautiful harmony. Along with Jedi pilots who'd been born able to touch the Force, there were many others who'd gained this ability thanks to a drug called Midichlore. And then there were the Terran pilots, in their crystal-like Lightningbird fighters. The Jedi Master could feel that these Terran vessels, especially their cruisers, were actually alive in the Force. It was beautiful, and he knew he, along with the rest of the galaxy, had chosen the right side.
But Luke Skywalker knew something ugly was about to come, intent on violating this beauty. He braced himself for the violence which was soon to come. He could feel the fabric of space screaming as though some giant needle were trying to pierce it. Luke could feel massive buildups of energy within the Terran cruisers, the greatest of which came from the Olympus Mons, waiting to send the demons back to the underworld.
Toshikaru's excitement grew as he felt the veil being torn asunder. He and his people had been waiting patiently for this, for a little over a hundred years, in this small pocket dimension. Though outside this little domain, tens of thousands of years had actually passed.
The many small, naturally occurring tears allowed small and properly shielded vessels to easily travel between between these two dimensions. Toshikaru ensured that were always scientists and other personnel to study this other dimension. As a result, Toshikaru knew how the hazards of the Chiloon Rift limited entry and exit vectors. He knew where the invaders would be when they left hyperspace. Toshikaru smiled as he thought about the safeguard he'd put in place. The invaders thought they were the predator, but they were soon to become the prey.
Luke shuddered as the void of space burst open, having been stretched beyond its capacity. There was a mighty flash of light as the gates of hell were thrown open. The Terran cruisers let loose with great, continuous columns of crimson fire exploding from their bows; the Olympus Mons apparently also sported one such beam weapon at the tips of its two lower wings. The Terran vessels also opened up with individual bursts of energy from turbolaser batteries, as did the galaxy's native Star Destroyers, Mon Calamari cruisers, and Hapan Battle Dragons, among many other types of capital ships.
The dimming orb of light unleashed hellish geysers of orange hatred, as it resolved itself into hundreds of golden monolithic structures. Some were the same size, and had the same basic shape, as that mysterious monolith at the center of the Bubble. Most of them, however, were much smaller, slightly larger than a Carrack-class cruiser. They resembled elongated versions of their larger cousins. These were the oddest looking ships Luke ever seen. And beyond them lay an entire planet.
The deflector shields of the Terran cruisers and the Destroyers' vessels rippled ferociously as the two sides exchanged fire. Luke frowned deeply; something just didn't seem right. This didn't feel like good fighting evil, it felt like good fighting... good. He looked at these Destroyers through the Force. What he found was not some agent of destruction, but a... magnificent glowing beacon. He'd never encountered anything so balanced. Light and dark in perfect harmony. It was pure and good; it was not the horrific evil Luke had faced in that dream. These people were not the monsters Irisia had made them out to be.
As though some spell had been broken, Luke suddenly found himself alarmed at how quickly he'd come to trust Irisia. And he'd come to... love her far more quickly than he had with any other woman.
Terran and allied fighters surged forward toward... Luke didn't know who, or what, these so called Destroyers were anymore. Golden, dagger like fighters began appearing among the 'Destroyers' capital vessels. Luke and his son, Ben, also his wingmate, led Twin Suns squadron onward. Luke could feel a growing sense of worry from Ben, and his niece, Jaina, who led Flaming Swords squadron. It matched his own feelings. These people, in their golden ships, were not the enemy. But did that mean the Terrans were the enemy? What he'd felt in the Force from the Terrans, what he'd felt from Irisia, was a bit different but just as pure and good as what he'd felt from the 'Destroyers'.
Luke felt as though his heart had climbed its way up into his throat, upon realizing what needed to be done, and he hated himself for it. He had to betray the woman he had come to love. A woman whose love was beginning to heal him, from wounds he hadn't fully realized he still had. He commed the Turk Brand. "Bwua'tu, these 'Destroyers' aren't the enemy," he said, his voice threatening to break into a trillion pieces, along with his heart. "The Terrans have deceived us."
"Are you saying we should-"
"Join... the Destroyers?" Luke interrupted, feeling the Force shrieking at him like a TIE fighter. "Yes," he groaned, his soul eviscerating itself. He somehow knew neither Irisia nor any of the other Terrans would relent from their vendetta against this other species. What these Terrans were trying to do was genocide, and Luke Skywalker would not stand for it!
Admiral Bwua'tu sighed. "I trust your judgment, Luke. I'll inform the rest of my fleet." The Bothan's tone made it clear he knew Luke was doing this at great cost. "But if the Imps and Hapans aren't on board-"
"I know, Force blast it!" Luke snapped. "If they're not on board with this, it's gonna get real messy. But we can't stand by and watch these Terrans commit genocide."
"Very well. I'm sorry, Luke." With that, the comm. went dead.
Luke felt Darth Krayt nudging him in the Force, with a sense of... approval. It made Luke feel even worse about what he'd just done to Irisia; that was probably part of Krayt's intent. But it also made it clear that the Sith and Lecersen's Imperial extremists would assist the Alliance. Moff Gatterweld would have to bring his moderate Empire over, or risk expanding the rift with Lecersen's radicals. And given the great debt the Hapes Consortium owed Gatterweld after he helped them end their civil war with the Freedom Federation, they would have to go along with him.
Almost as the one, the native vessels diverted their fire from the 'Destroyers'' golden monoliths to crystalline Terran vessels. The latter's deflector shields began to vibrate even more angrily as their new enemies proceeded to assault them. The Terran ships returned the insult, quickly beginning to render the native ships into flaming hunks of slag. Native fighters and Terran Lightningbirds began to turn on another, resulting in frequent detonations on both sides; Luke could feel pilots and, to his surprise, Lightningbirds dying.
The Destroyers took advantage of their partial respite, and surged forward. They began to spread out, into a sort of bowl-shape, to surround their... prey. Beautiful orange sunsets began to eat away at the Terran armada, like digestive juices. Swarms of the Destroyers' golden fighters, resembling an elongated pyramid at the bow, and a regular one at the aft, with a pair of forward swept wings, began to flit about, exchanging fire with the Lightningbirds. The Force began to writhe in agony as people who'd found balance between the light and dark sides began to murder each other. This wasn't right. But Luke just didn't see a right choice. He'd have to settle for the less wrong one; the less unforgivable sin.
As Luke and Ben began dualing with a pair Lightningbirds, Luke caught a glimpse of a massive, elongated orb rippling with orange fire. He saw the Terran war cruiser within breaking near the middle, and bleeding fire and people out into the void of space. And then the vessel's besieged deflector shield abandoned its charge. Luke felt sick as the ship, and the people within, died. He had never hated himself more. And he knew when Irisia died that he'd hate himself even more.