A/N: Sorry for the late update; spent the last two days in the car driving from Oklahoma to Ohio (with cats!). Woo. Here's a short chapter before I pass out-

Chapter 20

Admiral Ackbar - Imperial Space

"Admiral, gravity well!" She'd only made it three steps onto the bridge and was being flooded by updates, requests for orders, and alarm sirens blaring. "We've been pulled out early."

"The Second?" she demanded. "Is Admiral Klauskin still with us?"

The same bridge officer responded sharply. "Yes ma'am, ninety-seven degrees port."

"Someone get me a chart and tell me where we are; sensor station, what have we got?"

"Single fleet, irregular formation. Unrecognized transponder designations. Interdictor at twelve degrees, two hundred klicks."

Someone else jumped into the conversation. "They're Chiss, they've got the irregular design."

Niathal frowned; something didn't add up. It made sense for Reige to want to keep the fighting away from Bastion, since capturing the capital would be the surest way for the Galactic Alliance to force the Remnant to bow to their demands. But why send the Ascendancy's forces to pin them down first, rather than coming themselves. Unless the chiss had some strange sense of honor about who declared war on who… in any case, it mattered little, it was far too small a force to have a standing chance against both the Supreme Fleet and the bulk of the Second that were the first to advance on Imperial space; the First wouldn't be far behind, and the Fourth another handful of hours after that.

Or perhaps…

"Admiral, more ships incoming- vector suggests Bastion as point of origin."

There were the Imperials. The Imperials with her Third Fleet.

"Get me a line to the Ocean as quickly as possible."

The communications crew went to work, and the Mon Cal admiral clenched a fist with her rubbery hand. This was not Reige's fight, he could surrender his mutinied forces and stand down- and be dealt with later in a military tribunal, Imperial and diplomatic standing be damned. But as long as he insisted on standing beside these interfering, scheming aliens from the Unknown Regions…

She had no choice but to consider him an enemy and a threat.

X-X-X-X

The Hand

There was a discernible period where the Supreme and Second Fleets clearly fought to recover their bearings after the unexpected way in which they were yanked from hyperspace. Cem glanced wryly over at Thrawn. "Two fleets against us, Reige, Nhylatich, and Aristocra Tsel'oru'nuruodo- that seems pretty winnable. Well," he reconsidered, "until the First and Fourth show up that is. What do we know of their statuses?"

"We can expect Admiral Ratobo with the First in a matter of two, perhaps three hours. The Fourth, at last check, was being recalled from the Vivenda Sector- seven, eight hours at least." He paused and tilted his head pensively as he started out over the distant assembled fleets who were, even now, plotting the best way to destroy them. "What will Darklighter do though?" Thrawn murmured to himself. "He could well be the tipping point of this engagement."

"Especially if the allegiances of my brother and sister-in-law, and their squadrons, are tied to his own."

The chiss glanced over at Cem. "You are in a difficult position right now, Captain Fel. The possibility of pitting your forces against your own family…"

"It is not the first time a Fel has faced that unpleasant reality," Cem countered evenly. "When the very galaxy as we know it is endangered, however… we do what we must." He turned to stare out the viewport at the amassing GA fleets. "The question is," he murmured, "do we do it in vain?"

"Faith, Master Fel; trust in others to do their parts."

Hazel eyes flickered over to meet red ones. "A great deal still stands on chance. We haven't heard from Leyla in over thirty hours now."

"She will come through."

An ensign at the sensor station stood and called, "Sir! Ships emerging from hyperspace on a point two-six entry vector."

"That'll be Reige," Cem said softly. "Nhylatich and the Ascendancy advance fleet won't be far behind. What do you think?" he asked sardonically. "Do we hail them, or just hope that they realize we're on their side when we don't start shooting at them?"

Thrawn smiled in a remarkably predator-like way. "Actually, if I'm not much mistaken, we'll do neither."

"Oh?"

"Sir," the same sensor officer called, "we're being hailed by the Ocean."

Cem shot Thrawn a look that clearly told him to quell the smugly knowing expression on his face. "What do they want?"

"To speak with you, sir."

Frowning heavily, Cem looked between the ensign and Thrawn twice. "Me?"

The chiss ensign was understandably confused by his commander's puzzlement; but he, of course, did not know of the complex dynamic of his commander's history as an anonymous shadow-child. And for the Ocean to request him by name…

"What did you do?" Cem asked Thrawn steadily as they strode towards the communications station.

"Did you not wonder why I insisted all those months ago that you disappear without a word to either your family or to your fleet?"

That gave the captain pause, and he turned to regard the clone, comprehension dawning on his face. "You knew Reige would put the pieces together, especially after my father turned up. You were counting on my family investigating my disappearance."

"True; though I cannot speak for Admiral Reige and was placing my trust in my old colleague, rather, to ensure that his successor was on the right path."

The sergeant stationed at the communications console stood and made way for his commander to accept the incoming transmission. Cem tapped the control board twice and the visage of Admiral Vitor Reige materialized, compressed into two-dimensional format, on the screen at his eye-level. "Admiral," Cem acknowledged.

Reige had a faint smile on his lips as he nodded. "I'm afraid you have me at a disadvantage, Master Fel. You departed Imperial service as a commander, but I suspect you have since risen in the ranks?"

"Captain will suffice," Cem returned wryly. "Sir, you are greatly outnumbered; even with the additions of the Home Fleet and the Advance Guard, you will be hard-pressed to hold your own against the combined firepower of the GA Defense Fleet."

"And your force, Captain Fel? Where do you stand in this conflict?"

Cem smiled tightly. "This conflict is a mere proxy to our true war, Admiral. But it is with you that we stand."

"I am relieved to hear it. Now if you'll excuse me," he added drily, "proper decorum obliges me to open channels with Cha regarding a diplomatic solution to our differences."

Nodding, Cem held up a hand. "It is an admirable endeavor, but if you have not already guessed, Admiral Niathal does not act of her own volition in these events. Your entreaties will come to naught, but I urge you to open the discussion regardless; it is time now that will determine all of our fates today, Admiral."

"How much of it do you need?"

"About eight hours," Cem said grimly. "It is my belief that, once those eight hours are up, we will possess a bargaining chip to forestall the present hostilities, if not end them outright. In the meantime, however… this will come to a fight, Admiral."

"So be it. Reige out."

X-X-X-X

The Ocean

"Cha. I understand you've acquired an even more impressive title since our last acquaintance."

The Mon Cal was not amused. Her bulbous eyes flickered in annoyance, clearly visible even over the holoscreen to the Ocean's bridge. "Admiral Reige," she acknowledged him coolly, "you also serve simultaneous roles as head of state and military commander. I believe this puts us in a unique position to resolve our differences without resorting to violence."

Reige smiled thinly and stroked his chin thoughtfully. "I should think violence to be wholly unnecessary to resolve our differences; or perhaps the chasm dividing us is not nearly so great in my view as it is in yours. You are in Imperial Space; the Empire is no longer under jurisdiction of the Galactic Alliance; therefore, you are trespassing. Should you depart at once, we might open channels to discuss our continued peaceful coexistence, with or without the Alliance to bind us together politically."

Niathal's voice emerged like a gravelly hiss. "You forget that you have absconded with a fleet of that Alliance, Reige."

"The majority of the Third is supplied and crewed by the Empire," he reminded her.

"Then you break your word?" she demanded. "That you would freely release the minority- several thousand crew, pilots, and officers, by my calculation- back to Alliance space?"

The Imperial admiral blinked in surprise and frowned lightly at her. "My dear Admiral Niathal, everyone who wanted to return has returned. What am I to do if a number of my people refused to quit the service of the Third? Or perhaps you propose to prosecute them all for treason, if and when you get your hands on them again?"

"I will see them all discharged dishonorably, at the very least," she assured him in a low growl. "As to your first request- you are harboring enemies of the Galactic Alliance within your borders, Admiral."

"They are your enemies only because you have so declared them."

"They are our enemies because they committed an act of war; an act of war, struck in the very heart of the GA, Reige."

"If you believe it, you are truly a fool, Cha. The Ascendancy does not engage in political subterfuge so far from home."

A strange look flitted through Niathal's bulbous eyes before the nictitating membranes flickered uneasily- it was a fast reaction, easily overlooked… but Reige catalogued it for further consideration. "Chief Essada would beg to differ," she spoke quietly but firmly. "And despite whatever you may believe, two chiss- two chiss Jedi, no less- were arrested in the attempt to flee the scene of the assassination… and subsequently escaped from the Jedi temple."

"The Jedi," Reige murmured thoughtfully. "And where do they find themselves in this little escapade of yours, Cha?"

"They will support the Alliance that supports them," she growled back.

Reige smirked knowingly. "You don't sound too sure of that, Admiral. Perhaps your hasty war is not sitting quite right with the defenders of peace and justice." He cocked his head. "Perhaps you mean to charge them with treason as well?"

Now he was just goading her and a look at her dark face was enough to let him know that she realized it. "I think we have nothing more to discuss, Reige. I again urge you to reconsider your alliance with these murderous subverters. Our conflict does not lie with the Remnant."

At an almost unnoticeable signal from the admiral's hand, Captain Verinsky turned to the comm station and murmured in low tones to the chief tech, who quickly did as told, emitting a quick hypercomm signal towards the center of Imperial space.

Reige shook his head sadly. "Then I am sorry, Cha. Your principles say you must act against those you believe to have wronged you; mine dictate that I uphold the alliances to which I have sworn myself and those under my command." His eyes flickered once over to the captain, who nodded quickly. "I hope you do not take our reluctance to engage against you as a sign that we will not be decisive in doing so."

With a quick motion, the transmission was cut off; a look around confirmed that, for the duration of their conversation, Fel's forces had not been idle and, indeed, were positioning themselves for optimum access along Niathal's starboard flank. That was ideal, given that the half of the Home Fleet being pulled away from Bastion and Commander Spa'rein's forces would revert somewhere between her aft and port sides, near the far flank of the Second Fleet. He idly wondered whether Fel had a clear idea of where their reinforcements would be originating and, consequently, where they would be reverting. Then he decided that he simply didn't care at the moment.

He had an ally who appeared to be about ten steps further ahead on the chaos that was transpiring across the galaxy- and for now, that was far better than nothing.

And, in what looked in the viewport to be something of a coordinated dance, fighters began to drop from hangar bays throughout the four assembled fleets, and Fel closed the distance between his forces and Niathal's- flashes of red and green light lit the darkness of surrounding space, and smaller flares suggested that the smaller snubfighters were already beginning to exchange fire. Finally, within a minute and with a flicker of pseudomotion, Nhylatich and Spa'rein reverted.

A four-way war- the Galactic Alliance against the Ascendancy, the Empire, and the Empire of the Hand- had just begun.

X-X-X-X

Dark Wanderer – Ascendancy Advance Fleet Flagship

Aristocra Tsel'oru'nuruodo stared blankly at Commander Spa'rein for close to a half a minute, before he remembered that they were in the midst of a fledgling battle here. "They are who?"

Looking warily apologetic, the commander answered succinctly, though the confusion was evident in his own voice as well. "Admiral Reige says they are under the banner of the Empire of the Hand, Aristocra; under the command of a Fel- Cem Fel."

"There is no 'Cem' Fel," the older chiss hissed. "The only surviving male child of Soontir Fel is…" he trailed away and looked off to the side, at nothing in particular, just deep in thought for another several seconds. Then, most surprisingly of all to the commander… he chuckled lowly and shook his head.

"Sir?"

"He has a shadow-son." He spoke slowly, a hint of wonder to his voice. "Soontir Fel raised a shadow-child. Surely it is the only plausible explanation." A hint of respect crept into his voice. "Perhaps he was more chiss than I ever credited him for."

X-X-X-X