The Coming Darkness

by Usernamesarebad

On the far edges of the galaxy, hidden on the moon of Bakura, lurks an enemy. An enemy who has already destroyed one great civilization, consuming it in darkness. Now, that same all-consuming tide stands poised, ready to reveal itself to a large, foreign, totally unprepared galaxy.

25. Chapter 22: Wait, it Gets Worse!

"I will publish the next chapter on New Year's to celebrate the 1 year anniversary of The Coming Darkness" -Me, Thanksgiving, when I foolishly expected winter break meant free time.

"It is easy to be brave behind a castle wall" -Welsh Proverb

---

Mid-Rim, Dustig Sector, Malastare Orbit, Malastare,

13:19 Hours Senate time, 01:23 Hours Local time, One Day After the Formation of the UNSC/Republic Alliance

Malastare.

The homeworld of the Dugs, a odd species that walked on their oversized arms and hands instead of their legs. Malastare was a Mid-Rim world and a major producer of fuel for star destroyers and cruisers. The CIS had launched an assault on the planet early in the war to claim the valuable world as their own, but the offensive failed when a large Republic fleet jumped in to save it.

That didn't stop the CIS from trying again, the planet was recovering from a major battle which saw its end just days ago. After Luminara Unduli's 41st Legion and the troops under jedi general Stass Allie left the system, a above-average defense fleet was installed to discourage any further attacks.

Over the oddly colored world, a massive Tector-Class Star Destroyer stood as the head of a fleet of 8 cruisers. 5 Venators and 2 Acclamators made up the rest of the fleet.

Aboard the massive Tector, appropriately named the Admonitor, Captain Teren Rogriss watched the planet slowly rotate, completely oblivious to the happenings in the galaxy. To Rogriss, it really was ironic how, despite the happenings and actions of the living beings in the galaxy, suns still rose, planets still rotated, and life continued on, in one form or another.

He sighed. Just a few days ago, the planet was being torn apart by fighting between the Republic and CIS. The victory had lifted the spirits of the crew. With the defeat of the Confederacy here and at several different key worlds, the war seemed to be drawing to a close. Rogriss had attended a cocktail party 2 nights ago, celebrating the possibility of peace just a few months away.

Now, all that was in jeopardy.

The sacrifice of millions, years of blood and sweat and tears. All for nothing, if reports of this parasite were to be believed. Rogriss had read about their capabilities from initial reports. If they didn't get a lid on it soon, the Clone Wars would soon look like a cakewalk.

He let out a deep sigh. At least Malastare was safe at this point. He'd been given control of a relatively large fleet of warships to defend the planet. The fuel reserves on the surface were key to the war effort in space.

"Sir, I'm picking up energy fluctuations!" A trooper manning sensors said."Incoming contacts!"

Rogriss frowned. Kriff...

He watched as several dozen fighter-sized craft pulled out of hyperspace in the distance. From the distance he was at, it looked like most of the new arrivals were yachts and cargo transports.

Still, he wanted to be sure."Scan them."

A technician typed some commands into a computer. A moment later, data started flashing across his screen."Mostly civilian transports, sir."

"I want all hands to battle stations," Rogriss said."Contact our new friends and remind them they are violating a curfew by order of Chancellor Palpatine."

He forced himself to remain calm as the bridge came alive with activity. He took a deep breath. For some reason, this whole parasite thing was getting to him. He watched as the fighter-sized craft screamed toward them like a cloud of angry bees.

"Sir, they're not responding. Should we seal the hangars?" a tech asked.

Rogriss opened his mouth, then shut it quickly. He didn't want the parasite, if this was indeed what it was, to infect his fleet. On the other hand, the planet was probably the target.

But if they left their hangars open, would they be inviting chaos?

"Sir?" The officer asked again.

He shook his head. Neither choice was great, so he'd make a snap one,"No. Scramble all fighters."

Rogriss swallowed as he watched wings of ARC-170s emerge from the hangars and bolt for the approaching fighters. As they met, the lead ARC let loose with his cannons, swallowing the smuggling craft in a ball of flame...

---

Cloud City, Bespin, Industrial District,

20:39 Hours local time, 21:27 Senate time

The sheer ferocity of the strikes combined with the shock of a close friend trying to kill him was nearly enough to end Plo Koon. It took everything he had to block, dodge, and deflect the flurry of strikes coming his way. He backpeddled and gracefully flipped over a downed pillar behind him."Agen, stop!" He shouted,"You've got to-" He blocked several more aggressive strikes from the infected jedi,"Fight it!"

Agen-rather, the face that once belonged to Agen didn't seem to register his pleas. The frozen look of agony was still etched across his face."Do not fear." he gurgled while taking a swipe at Plo's legs,"I am peace. I will bring rest to the weary."

"No!" The Kel Dor shouted, pushing him back with a blast of the Force. The Not-Agen flew into a wall a few feet away, producing a strange squishing sound."Let him go!"

The combat form was still for a moment, as if pondering the suggestion. Plo's hopes began to rise, only to be dashed when it lunged at him again. The Not-Agen let out a deep, watery laugh,"Hahaha! He is one of us now! Two corpses, in one grave!"

Despair began to fill the jedi master. He was doing his best not to hurt the former council member, out of hopes that he could heal him. In hopes Agen could take control again. But the more he tried words, the closer it came to striking it down. He would be forced to kill it. But he had to try once more. He caught a blow meant to cleave him from shoulder to hip, initiating a bladelock,"Agen, listen to me!" He pleaded,"You need to stop-"

He just barely managed to dive away from the tentacles before it hit him. Enraged, Not-Agen was about to lunge onto the jedi master when it was hit in the back by a blaster bolt. The thing turned and deflected a shot from Commander Wolffe. The clone trooper was unleashing a volley of lasers meant to kill the creature,"Come on you kriffin' freak! I'll rip your skull off and shove it down your throat!"

The thing let out a shriek and charged him. Several rounds made it through Not-Agen's sloppy defenses, sending bits of smoldering flesh flying off its shoulder, leg and stomach. The creature simply shrugged it off and kept going. Wolffe realized what was happening and began to backpedal,"General!"

Plo leapt to his feet and charged in to help. The combat form swung its tentacles at Wolffe, who narrowly dodged the strike with a swift roll to the side. Before he could recover, the combat form was on top of him. A blue blade pierced the clone's chest, burning through his armor like paper."Ahhh!" Wolffe cried out in pain as the form retracted the blade from his chest. Wolffe felt like his lung was on fire. His ribs were on fire. His blood felt like it was boiling and ready to burst. His vision began to blur as Koon finally reached the infected Kolar, this time cutting it down without mercy.

His vision began to swim and he collapsed to the ground, holding himself up with his arm. He felt a pair of arms around his chest and the wounded trooper collapsed into it. The last thing he heard before the darkness took him was Plo's voice,"I am so sorry Wolffe."

---

Plo closed his eyes as the clone commander fell into his embrace. This was all his fault. If he hadn't tried so long to save Agen, Wolffe wouldn't be dead. He clutched the trooper in a tight embrace,"I am so sorry Wolffe."

For a brief moment, Plo was still, paying a moment of respect to his friend. He gently laid Wolffe onto the floor and reached to pull his helmet off when something hit him. He could still sense Wolffe's life force. He yanked the clone's helmet off and placed his index and middle finger against his neck.

He was alive.

The ground shook suddenly, reminding the jedi master that he was still in a VERY hot warzone. Still, he couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. He slung Wolffe over his shoulder and stood. If he could get him back to medical in time, he just might have a chance.

Before he left, he went over to Kolar's corpse. The mutated monstrosity that was once his friend hadn't moved since he sliced it in two. Laying gently by its side was the silver hilt of a lightsaber. Plo gently picked it up and hooked it on his belt."I'll watch over it, old friend." He bowed slightly in respect, then turned and ran back the way he came.

---

Cloud City, Bespin, Industrial District,

20:41 Local time, 21:29 Senate time

"Die, worms!"

General Grievous plunged his four lightsabers into the chest of the final combat form with what could best be described as unbridled enthusiasm. The cyborg warrior had taken an instant hatred toward the flood, it was foul filth which had to be eradicated, in his eyes. As soon as the parasite descended upon them, he fought like a raving madman, hacking and slicing the infected to pieces like a child with paper and scissors.

Now that they were all dead, the bloodlust began to wear off. He grudgingly admitted to himself that, while a little intimidating (he would NOT admit any more then that), the flood freaks were rather fun to fight. He stomped on the head of a fallen combat form, splattering the ground with brain matter and satisfying him immensely. He stomped on another head, then another, until he hit metal. He growled at the faceplate of the deactivated commando droid and tossed it to the side.

He suddenly remembered he was still in the middle of hostile territory. What's more, he still had men under his command. Looking around, He saw 1 Magnaguard, 6 clone troopers and a pair of commando droids were still battle ready. His eyes narrowed as he realized just how much havoc the flood had set upon them. Most of the strike force was dead.

Speaking of which, where is the jedi? A thought crossed his mind, perhaps he succumbed to the Flood? A pleasant thought. While he wasn't the worst jedi he'd ever met, he certainly wasn't fond of Plo Koon. If he never saw him again, he would be happy. Of course, if he got to kill him with his own blade, that would be even better.

His pleasant daydream of running the Kel Dor jedi through were interrupted when a burst of movement caught his eye. It was the jedi, carrying a clone on his shoulder. Kriff, just who I wanted to see!

Koon rushed up to him, obviously in a bit of a panic,"We need to fall back, Commander Wolffe's been injured!"

Grievous let out a low growl,"Fall back because of one wounded clone trooper? Nonsense! Just replace him with another copy!"

Plo took a step back and let out a huff of frustration. He should've expected the cyborg not to cooperate."There is only one Commander Wolffe, Genera-"

"I care not for his life!"

"I do!"

Grievous clenched his fists and took a menacing step toward the jedi master,"His death will be pointless if we don't plant those explosives! We must complete the objective no matter the cost!"

Koon paused for a moment as a flood shriek filled the air. Everyone reached for their weapons and scanned their surroundings for attackers, but they found nothing. Plo narrowed his eyes in thought. Finally, he said,"You're right, but I need to get Commander Wolffe back. I'll take him and a squadron of clone troopers back, while you continue on."

"Fine," Grievous growled, motioning for his team to follow,"Call for backup while your running back to safety. We might need it."

---

Venator-Class,"Justice" Vassek Orbit,

23:50 Hours Senate time, 19:31 Local time,

A pair of starfighters came screaming into the devastated hangar, landing rather roughly on the first open spot they could find. Ahsoka Tano hopped out of her starfighter alongside her master, who landed a few meters away.

She knew it was going to be bad, but man, these flood creatures had made a mess. The fighters they rode in on looked like they came to a stop by plowing into lines of inactive ARC-170s, which in turn piled up with the V-wings and LAAT gunships. The hangar looked more like a junkyard, a jungle of smoking metal debris.

Strangely, it was rather quiet. Ahsoka had been fighting long enough to know that likely meant trouble. She jogged over to her master, who seemed to be checking on his astromech droid, R2-D2."Ready to go explore some wilderness?"

Anakin smirked,"Of course. Aren't I always?"

"Not when you wake up." Ahsoka teased,"Then you just kinda want to sleep."

"Hey!" The older jedi retorted,"At least I don't consider a Republic hangar to be the wilderness!" He finished his work on the droid, who beeped happily in response. Pulling his lightsaber off his belt, he started off toward the mess of fighters."Come on Snips!"

Ahsoka huffed and did as she was told. She followed Anakin as he leapt on top of the twisted remains of a V-wing, then slid down the side onto a open patch of floor.

Most of the ships were still smoking from the crash. She also noticed that, other then a smattering of sickly-green bodyparts, the room was absent of corpses. She felt a bit of a shiver go down her spine. I guess we know what happened to them.

Crawling through a gap created by two ARC-170s, they found themselves at the hangar door. The normally shut blast doors had been rather grotesquely twisted or ripped open. The door was still smoldering from apparent blaster fire, and the lights on the other side were flickering off and on. Had it not been so real, Ahsoka would've laughed at the rather stereotypical horror-movie entrance.

Anakin motioned for her to follow and lead the way into the hallway. While covered in scorchmarks and blood, the room was once again strangely empty. Ahsoka noticed a side door up ahead had been pried open, much like the main entrance to the hangar.

"Stay close." Anakin said, a frown creasing his face,"I don't like this."

Ahsoka didn't either. Had this been a more normal situation, she might start a friendly competition to see who could get down the hallway first. This time, the appeal just wasn't there. Perhaps it was the lighting, or the strange rotting smell coming from the vents.

She crinkled her nose. Eww, it smells like something died up-

The prickling in the back of her mind gave her just enough time to ignite her lightsaber as a trio of infected clone troopers emerged from a side door. Ahsoka's jaw dropped and her eyes widened in horror at the sight. The clones, still wearing the white and blue armor of the 501st, had been deformed into mutated monsters. No. Nononononono-

The combat forms let out a spine-chilling shriek and charged the two jedi. Anakin was the first to jump into action, using the Force to throw a crate into the farthest combat form while lunging at the nearest. He sliced off its tentacle and its head, then moved on to the next one.

He didn't realize a decapitation wouldn't slow down a flood combat form. Ahsoka heard herself scream as it pulled a blaster pistol on his exposed back, and lunged at it with her two blades. She sliced off its second arm right before it pulled the trigger, then she sliced its legs off. The torso fell to the ground, and she was confident it was finally dead. She just about died from shock when a small creature leapt from the chest cavity and lunged toward her. She fell into the splits, and the infection form sailed harmlessly over her head, hitting her green blade and falling in two.

What the flying kriff was that?! Ahsoka hopped to her feet and cut down the second combat form as Anakin took down the one in the back, which had shrugged off the crate and kept charging. He cut its tentacles off, then cleaved it in two, then cut it apart once more at the chest.

Against her years of training, Ahsoka felt a thrill of fear and horror creep in. Those troopers were her men, they'd fought together on numerous occasions. Kriff, she might've known some of them-

No, don't think about that, she thought to herself. She stepped over the corpse and joined her master, making a point of not looking at the dead troopers. Anakin was the picture of calm on the outside, but she could tell he was rattled too by his widened eyes. He glanced at Ahsoka and gave her a once-over,"You ok Ahsoka?"

The Togrutan swallowed and nodded,"Ye-yeah, just a little disturbed."

He nodded slowly, his shock of brown hair bobbing with his head,"I- I understand." He was silent for a moment, then straightened,"Lets get to the bridge. We can meet up with the crew there."

Ahsoka wanted to ask what if the crew's dead? But she knew that wouldn't do any good. Taking a quick peek at the nearest combat form, she shivered and followed Skywalker down the hallway.

As they made their way through the ship, she was struck by the fact they hadn't come across any clone troopers. Or bodies. Or anything. The ship was eerily silent. It was like the flood had already taken this part of the ship, and were pushi-

Nope, Ahsoka mentally said, new subject.

What was it that veterans always said? Its to quiet. That's what happens before an ambush. She huffed, trying to convince herself she was just annoyed and not scared. Regardless, she had to stay on her toes if they were to avoid any nasty surprises.

"The lift should be just ahead," Anakin said, jogging ahead of her,"Once we get there-"

Clang! The metal grating above his head fell, bopping him on the head. A moment later, infection forms were pouring out of the vent. Anakin yelped in surprise and dived out of the way, while Ahsoka leapt forward with her twin blades and began dicing her way through the little monsters. The infection forms lunged at her from different heights and angles, which nearly overwhelmed her defenses. Thankfully, Anakin was there to help cut the little creeps into pieces.

"Shab!" Anakin shouted, kicking a half-infection form into the wall. Splat!"I'm really starting to hate these things!" He let out a deep breath, and turned to her,"You still ok?"

She nodded,"I'm with you though. Fighting tinnies is much better."

"I swear," Anakin growled,"If these things jump out and attack me one more..." A chorus of flood shrieks and moans filled the air in the distance, accompanied by the sounds of shouting and blaster shots,"Time..."

They both turned, lightsabers ready, toward the sound. Suddenly, a group of very normal-looking technicians and mechanics came sprinting around the corner, shouting. A trio of clone troopers and a flurry of blaster bolts followed them. The troopers were firing back at an unseen assailant. One trooper took a shot to the chest and collapsed, while the others retreated down the hallway.

The wounded trooper sat up on his elbow and raised his blaster pistol to fire back at the flood. A wave of infection forms came into view, and the trooper turned the blaster on himself.

Before he could pull the trigger, a long tentacle appeared and wrapped itself around his wrist, wrenching away the blaster. The clone cried out in pain and terror, kicking at the infection forms which quickly overwhelmed him. The two surviving troopers tried to kill the infection forms (or perhaps the trooper, Ahsoka couldn't tell), but it was no use. A single parasite made its way through the flurry of blaster bolts and began digging into his chest. The trooper screamed and spasmed as his already-damaged body was mutated into one of them.

The surviving troopers shouted in rage and terror, increasing their rate of fire as the flood began to bore down on them. Ahsoka rushed forward and began deflecting shots back at the flood."Fall back to the hangar!" The troopers shouted.

Ahsoka agreed. Anakin seemed to hesitate, then decided that, perhaps, evacuating would be the best choice at this point.

The Flood broke ranks and charged the jedi, still half-heartedly firing blaster bolts at them. While the jedi deflected the shots rather easily, things got messy when the parasite closed the gap. Ahsoka rolled under a lightning-fast strike from a combat form, then leapt into the air and sliced it to bits. Anakin cut through several infection forms, a combat form, then used the Force to throw a carrier form back into its comrades. The bloated creature burst, crushing several nearby infection forms with the force of the blast wave and releasing a dozen more to take their places.

Suddenly, a massive tank form was barreling toward him. The creature swung its claw at the jedi knight, who expertly dived out of the way and cut it off. Roaring with rage, the tank form simply barreled into him with the full force of its weight.

"Master!" Ahsoka tried to watch him as he flew smack dab into a wall, but another combat form demanded her attention. Rather then dodging the flood tentacles, she lunged at him with her shoto, impaling the infection form burrowed into his chest. The creature twitched, then sank to the ground, dead.

She spotted something that looked like a droideka made of biomass roll by her. She was about to shrug it off when it bounced into the air, uncurled and lashed out at her with its long, whiplike arms. Ahsoka did a hasty corkscrew flip to avoid its grab, her lekku smacking into her face as she did so. She landed, ready to kill the gremlin, but the Abomination's attention was elsewhere. Apparently, one of the troopers wasn't as nimble as her. The Abomination grabbed him and chucked him down the hallway into the gaggle of retreating technicians, knocking them to the ground. It then grabbed the final trooper and, to her horror, threw him into the horde of flood monsters.

"NO!" She tried to grab him with the Force, but another combat form forced her to roll out of the way instead. The trooper's cries were silenced by the roar of flood shrieks and moans as he disappeared into the wave.

Ahsoka leapt over and killed the infection forms trying to overwhelm the dazed Skywalker before he could recover. Had things been going well, she would've said,"Now we're even." But fighting the flood was a completely draining and horrifying experience. Instead, she settled for a,"You okay?"

Anakin, who was still obviously dizzy, nodded and clambered to his feet,"Yup, let's get-"

"Down!" She leapt out of the way as a technician came flying through the air toward them. Anakin was a little too slow to react, and the poor tech caught him as he was rising, knocking him to the ground again. The tech kept going and slammed into the wall, hitting with a sickening crack! Like a horde of ants, the infection forms leapt onto him and began the transformation process.

Desperate, Ahsoka released a massive Force push, throwing the wave of parasites back down the hallway. She then spins and slices off the end of the Abomination's tentacle, which was about to grab her leg. At that moment, Anakin leapt to his feet, and the two jedi charged the Abomination together.

Unfortunately, the Flood Abomination forms aren't exactly known for being stupid. It curled into a ball and rolled toward them, rolling up a wall and lashing out at Anakin's ankles. This time, the Chosen One was ready, he sliced the tentacle with his blade. He then used the Force to throw the Abomination into its comrades.

Suddenly, the ship began to shake violently, knocking the lights out and throwing Ahsoka into a wall. She felt her head and Montrals smack very painfully into the wall, knocking the air out of her lungs. Anakin rushed over and knelt beside his padawan as the lights began to flicker back on,"Ahsoka! You ok?"

Ahsoka coughed violently and nodded,"Yep, I'll be ok!"

"Generals, come on!" The final clone shouted desperately as he fired down the hallway at the advancing flood,"We have to go now!"

Both jedi decided they agreed completely with his suggestion. They leapt to their feet and set off on a dead sprint down the hallway. The few techs still alive were already around the corner, while the final trooper was at the very end of the hallway, laying down covering fire for the two jedi.

Ahsoka wondered briefly if this was how she was going to die, running from some parasite and struck in the back by a blaster bolt. The short, 30 some-odd meter run became one of the longest of her life. She gritted her teeth in determination, come on...

The ship rocked again and she was thrown off her feet again. This time, she hit the wall, followed by Anakin and the clone trooper on top of her. Ahsoka let out a grunt, but the trooper grabbed her waist and pulled her to her feet while Anakin deflected the hail of laserfire headed for them with a wall of blue.

As they began the final sprint for the hangar, Skywalker's comlink beeped. He snatched it with his free hand and activated it while running. It was Kix. The normally calm trooper sounded frantic as he answered,"Sir! The Mandalorians and Sang- aliens are firing on the ship!"

"WHAT?!" Anakin shouted.

"You need to get off immediately!" He shouted,"We're coming in to pick you up with an LAAT!"

Good ol' Kix, Ahsoka thought. I wish there was a way I could thank him for this.

Anakin nodded,"Good, cause we're gonna need it!" A tech in front of them cried out as a blaster bolt hit him in the back. Ashoka desperately wanted to stop and help, but they didn't have the time. I'm so sorry.

As she turned into the hangar, the ship rocked so violently Ahsoka was afraid the ship was coming apart. Thankfully, it wasn't, it just threw her and the clones into a downed ARC-170. Anakin, however, was thrown into the pile of wreckage."Master!" Ahsoka screamed.

A moment later, she heard his voice reply,"I'll be okay Snips! Go!"

She looked up and saw the LAAT come screaming into the hangar. It was the most beautiful sight she'd every seen. The clones manning the ball turrets fired emerald lasers at unseen foes behind them, while the gunship came to a hovering stop beside them. The doors slid open, and several troopers, including Slasher and Kix appeared. Kix was motioning frantically toward them,"Come on!"

Ahsoka rolled onto her feet and sprinted over to the transport. The two techs couldn't jump high enough to climb on, so she used the Force to propel one into the cabin while the other trooper hoisted the other into the arms of Kix. The clone then grabbed her and lifted her into the LAAT. Ahsoka reached out and grabbed the trooper's hand, pulling him up.

Her heart sank as an Abomination appeared, grabbing the trooper by the ankles and pulling before he was fully in. The trooper cried out as he felt himself being pulled, the LAAT lifting off and flying toward the hangar doors."Let me go commander!" He shouted,"I'm too heavy!"

"No!" Ahsoka grabbed onto his hand and gripped with everything she had, using the Force to supplement her size. The Abomination was simply to strong. She felt herself sliding toward the edge.

Suddenly, a pair of strong hands grabbed her waist."Hold on!" Slasher shouted, pulling with everything he had while Kix leaned out and pulled the dangling trooper up."Hold on Vod! We got you!"

For a second, Ahsoka wondered if they were going to fail: The LAAT doors were sliding shut. Then, the tension suddenly broke and they all went flying into the cabin of the LAAT.

She breathed a sigh of relief as she felt the pile of clone troopers on top of her. They made it. The clones groaned and rolled off of her, allowing her to sit up. They made-

A mess. The Abomination was in the LAAT. The parasite had wrapped its tentacles around the pilot's neck, flinging him out of the chair and into the wall with a crack! The troopers began to open up on the Abomination, which dodged most of the shots and grabbed another trooper, slamming him into Kix.

Ahsoka lunged at the monster, swinging her lightsabers in an attempt to score a hit. The Abomination avoided several hits, but Ahsoka finally got a shallow hit on its torso. The thing gurgled in response and wrapped its tentacles around her torso, but not before she plunged her lightsabers into its hea- headlike orange growths. She twisted, blending its insides and finally killing it.

Panting, she turned her lightsabers off and slumped to the ground. Kix crawled to his feet and went to check on the pilot, while Slasher knelt beside Ahsoka,"You doing ok?"

She nodded. She was seeing stars dance across her vision, but it would pass soon enough. Another trooper came to her side, she recognized him as the clone that nearly didn't make it. The trooper pulled his helmet off, revealing short, buzzed hair with a,"501" tatooed to his right temple."Thank you, commander. I, uh, owe you my life."

She smiled warmly at him,"Hey, you did some pretty noble things out there. If you hadn't helped me up first, I would've been the one dangling from a Republic Gunship."

The trooper smiled,"I suppose that could be true. But you have my thanks regardless."

Ahsoka narrowed her eyes, racking her brain for his name."Your Drake, right? Recon specialist?"

Drake's eyebrows shot up, before his expression turned warm,"Why yes. I'm... I didn't know you knew my name."

Ahsoka shrugged, then turned to Slasher,"What's the situation?"

The trooper grimaced,"Well, I was going to answer the question for General Skywalker, but-"

"Anakin!" Ahsoka ripped her comlink off her utility belt and activated it,"Master! Are you ok?"

There was a pause, before his familiar voice replied,"I made it Ahsoka. I managed to get in my starfighter before the ship blew." He paused for a long moment,"There were a lot of men that didn't have my luck."

Ahsoka lowered her head, her Lekku drooping slightly. Slasher and Drake nodded grimly."I don't know what they were thinking firing on our own ship," Anakin growled,"But I'm not going to just let this slide."

---

Eriadu, Mid-Atmosphere

11:38 Hours local time, 22:41 Hours Senate time

While Eriadu itself has always been a jungle world, the lower atmosphere manifests with a strange orange tint. Unfortunately, with little in terms of environmental laws and restrictions, the planet was being industrialized at an increasingly faster rate, leaving a constant reminder to the people below what they are doing to their world.

The current conflict, however, was not to be blamed on the native humans. Flashes of light and heat dotted the sky as Republic craft exchanged fire with flood infected vessels. The massive Acclamators and Venators, alongside the rather-intimidating Sangheili Assault-Carrier Shadow of Intent, stood as silent reminders of the dire situation,while also shining as beacons of hope to the common citizen and warrior on the ground alike.

A arrowhead-shaped Acclamator-class frigate descended through the sky, its massive engines producing blue thrust which resembled the color of an untainted Eriadan atmosphere. The warship's point laser defense systems were working on all cylinders, firing fingers of energy into the sky around it. Its accuracy was proven time and again as many flood ships disappeared under the fire. However, there were always more ready to take their fallen's places.

Republic ARC-170s and V-Wings weaved their way around the frigate, tailing or fleeing from flood fighters and creating the appearance of flies buzzing around a larger object. A handful of Sangheili Seraphs and Banshees made their presence known by picking off unsuspecting flood ships, but they were few as most were already committed elsewhere.

Besides, the Acclamator had a single objective, one that wouldn't take long to complete.

As the massive frigate reached a short distance from the surface, its main engines faded to a near stop. The hangar doors, which had been spewing fighters like a nest of hornets, now released hundreds of LAATs. Some were carrying vehicles, while most were carrying infantry. The flood, recognizing the landing craft for what they were, shifted their attention to the gunships. Several emerging LAATs were engulfed in lasers which proceeded a fiery explosion, blacking the hull of the Acclamator and the spirits of the troopers about to leave the safety of the hangar.

Below them, the lead LAAT sped straight toward a marked objective on the highway below. At this point, one could make out the explosions of a firefight and the massive vehicles making up a Republic column. The LAATs all slightly adjusted their bearing, forming a crude circle around their allies below.

As they approached, the flood began to fire from the ground, red and green and blue lasers skimming and blackening the white hulls. Some 50 ball turrets responded with emerald-green lasers, literally cutting down the monsters below.

The convoy was in bad shape: The smoking wreckage of a Juggernaut lay in two massive pieces. The remains had been surrounded by a thin wall of clone troopers, many of which seemed to be injured. Destroyed AT-RT and AT-AP walkers were strewn about, while another AT-AP was under the control of the flood. Its massive main cannon fired at an IFT-X, swallowing the smaller repulsorlift tank in a brilliant explosion.

The contaminated walker's victory was short lived: a surviving AT-TE replied with its heavy turret. The blue laser hammered the walker and sent it to the ground, which disappeared in its own explosion as it hit the ground.

Suddenly, a massive flood creature leapt onto the front of the AT-TE. The heavy walker lurched from the impact as the creature dug into its hull with its feet. Lacking a face, the Infestor instead bore a half-dozen maroon tentacles, one of which skewered the operator of the heavy turret on top. A massive red sac hanging down from its neck inflated and burst without warning, sending infection forms all over the vehicle. The crafty little monsters found their way through the holes the thing punched in the hull to the driver, ambushing him before he could regain his bearings and fight. The flood spores slipped into the different compartments of the vehicle, rapidly covering the entire tank in flood biomass.

Before the transformation process could be completed, however, the doomed AT-TE disappeared in a sudden, bright ball of light. The rockets on the LAAT gunships weren't designed to destroy Republic walkers, but concentrated fire from several dozen LAATs was enough to destroy just about any land vehicle the galaxy could field.

The LAATs began to land, cementing the circle around the battered convoy. A massive flood root erupted from the ground and grabbed one unlucky transport, flinging it across the field and straight into another landing gunship. The clone troopers offloading began concentrating their fire on the behemoth, but the tentacle simply shrugged off small arms fire. It slammed down onto the nearest LAAT, crushing it and knocking the nearby troopers off their feet.

Nearby, Commander Bly scowled fiercely at the massive appendage. If it wanted to play rough, fine, they would play rough."I want AT rockets on that thing yesterday!" He shouted over the comms,"Move it troopers!"

He ducked behind the tree he was using for cover as a blaster bolt came waaay to close for comfort. A moment later, several rockets screamed through the air, smacking into the oversized flood root and engulfing its base in a fiery explosion. The root went limp and tumbled like a tree towards a squad of advancing troopers. Unfortunately, they didn't notice the root was tumbling toward them until it was nearly on top of them.

Before they were flattened, however, an unseen force threw them out of harm's way. Bly poked his head up to see Aayla Secura making her way across toward the downed root, motioning for the troops to advance. Bly vaulted over his tree and sprinted across the open field, sliding to a stop behind the smoldering root."Nice save general!" He shouted.

Aayla was too focused on the battle to hear him. She leapt on top of the root and began batting away blaster bolts. Typical jedi, he smirked to himself, always making themselves the center of attention. Bly knew that, as a jedi, she possessed abilities clone troopers could only imagine. He'd seen them many times. He had also requested she stop drawing fire to herself when it was unnecessary. Like now.

Aayla, however, had always smiled and thanked him for his concern. She'd always say something about trusting the force and the abilities of the 327th to back her up. Originally, Bly thought she was just young and reckless, that it would pass in due time.

Three years in, she was still doing it. At first, it made him angry, thinking it was just typical jedi arrogance. But as he got to know her on a deeper level, he realized she wasn't doing it because she thought she was better. She was trying to protect her men by drawing the enemy's attention and ire.

Bly had grown to respect her for that. But still, there were times he wanted to grab her and pull her behind cover.

As blaster fire began to die down, Bly broke cover and began advancing with his brothers. The survivors of the convoy were doing the same, trapping the remaining flood in the crossfire. While every trooper had to watch their fire very carefully, they were doing a efficient job clearing out the rest of the parasite.

On the other side of the field, Bly spotted a jedi wielding a green lightsaber. His face fell into a scowl as he recognized who it was, but he didn't say anything. This could be... interesting. For a change, Bly was glad to be in the 327th Star Corps.

As the last combat form fell, He jogged over to his jedi general, who was walking briskly through the knee-high brush toward the other jedi. When they were a few feet away, Aayla smiled broadly and dipped her head in respect,"Master. Its been awhile."

Quinlan, who was usually in a gruff mood, smiled back,"It has, Aayla. By the Force, you've grown!"

The Rutian Twi'lek seemed to blush, reaching up to twirl her lekku,"I'm 29, master. Not some teenaged padawan."

"Ah-ah-ah," Vos said, closing the gap and embracing her,"You'll always be my student, no matter how old you get."

The two clone commanders watched, brow raised under their helmets. Then, Bly cleared his throat and turned to the other clone,"Jax. Good to see you in one piece."

Jax nodded,"Likewise, Bly. You guys just saved our shebs back there." He felt himself shiver involuntarily,"Never thought I'd say it, but kriff, do I miss fighting clankers."

"Understatement of the year Vod," Bly retorted,"If this turns out to be just a bad dream, I think I'm going to stop complaining about fighting the same old tinnies day in, day out."

"Commanders!" They both turned to the accented voice."Come here."

Bly sighed, hoisting his blaster,"Well, guess their little reunion is over."

"Yeah," Jax agreed,"I'll bet General Vos' already kissed Secura."

The commander of the 327th nearly tripped over a rock,"Eh, excuse me?" He turned to face Jax,"Last I checked, they're jedi."

"Yeah, and one of them is Quinlan Vos."

"She's his former padawan, di'kut." Bly growled.

"And he's half crazy vod." Jax snorted,"He'd hit on master Yoda if he was into that type of thing."

He just shook his head,"You're nuts Jax. I hope."

The two commanders halted in front of the two jedi, like the conversation never happened. Bly smiled under his helmet to himself, somedays, I love being a clone trooper. They both snapped crisp salutes,"Sir."

Aayla flung her lekku behind her shoulder, a gesture Bly knew meant she was already short on patience about something."Bly, I'm going ahead with several companies of troopers into the city to reinforce the Sangheili already fighting there. I need you to stay behind with everyone else to escort general Vos and his men."

Bly fidgeted uncomfortably. He preferred being alongside his men, and he certainly preferred to keep distance from Quinlan Vos. Still, he wasn't exactly going to disobey an order,"Er, yes sir." He paused,"Are you sure I should stay? I trust commander Jax with the men, and the heavy fighting will be in Eriadu City."

Aayla pursed her lips knowingly for a minute. Then, she shook her head,"Sorry commander, but the few men left in the convoy are injured and exhausted. They'll need a strong escort, and you know the 327th far better then commander Jax."

The clone commander nodded slowly,"Very well sir. Good luck out there."

She smiled,"May the Force be with you, commander." Then, she spun and went back to the gunships.

---

As the door to the LAAT slid shut, Aayla pulled her communicator off her belt. After a few seconds of static, the image of a Sangheili warrior came up. The alien was braced against the counter, apparently trying not to fall over. Judging by his armor, he was a lower-ranking officer. Aayla narrowed her eyes,"Are you Field Master Zahran?"

The Sangheili shook his massive head,"The Field Master is occupied. Would you like me to pass a message?"

She nodded,"Please tell him Aayla Secura says she's dropping into the city with several companies of troopers."

---

Eriadu City, Qelmar Highway, Northeastern District,

11:35 Hours Local time, 22:38 Hours Local time

Eriadu was a mid-rim world; its cities were not like those of Coruscant, where practically every citizen owned an airspeeder and speeder traffic was nonexistent. Being less developed, Eriadu city and basically every other settlement on the planet had a road and highway system developed for citizens who used the older method of transportation.

The highways on in Eriadu City were the finest and largest on the planet. Given the city's location, it acted as a hub for other large cities on the planet, such as Phelar. Large overpasses wound their way over the smaller side roads of the city below, much like human infrastructure on earth had been doing for 600 years.

The roads exiting the city were now almost completely blocked, the fruits of a mass exodus without warning. The Type-46 Spectre transports had to wind their way through the dead speeders and, the farther they moved, the less, crowds of civilians fleeing the flood.

Thankfully, the Sangheili had selected a location not smack dab in the way of the exodus. Otherwise, the pilot would be forced to run over civilians just to get to the Forward Operating Base.

Fieldmaster Vien 'Zahran rode on the side of the second Spectre, ignoring the gawking civilians who tried to harass him for information whenever the pilot had to slow down. So far, the trip to the hotel had been uneventful. On the ground, at least. Even now, he could look up and observe the fighters still dogging it out over the city, bright balls of flame and metal constantly appearing where dots of color once were like fireworks.

As of right now, the Republic and Sangheili had superior numbers and skill in space. He couldn't know how long that would last. But he'd take advantage of it while he still could.

Suddenly, the Type-46 skidded to a stop, followed by what sounded like a commotion in front of them. Vien's mandibles contracted in annoyance, imagining a civilian with a twisted ankle or something else rather trivial holding up the convoy. He pointed to the Sangheili in bright blue armor manning the turret,"You, minor! What is all the commotion about?"

The elite immediately dismounted and marched wordlessly to the front of the convoy. The Fieldmaster snorted in an emotion a distant cousin to amusement. The Sangheili was young, and obviously a little intimidated by him. That is fine, the youth will learn.

Suddenly, the Sangheili came back and mounted the turret,"An alien child tripped, the family simply needed to collect him before they moved on." He casually flicked a mandible,"Odd beings, these worlds seem to shelter."

Vien grunted,"The same can be spoken of for this entire galaxy. Let's move on."

The Spectre lurched from its docile position, and soon they were making steady progress again. It would only be a minute or so before they reached the command center. Vien could see the gleaming high-rise structure that was the former hotel. The words for the neon sign,"DAK'S SUITE," were grey and dead now, the windows contrasted, taking the light from the sun and reflecting back as gold.

Suddenly, one of the Sangheili shouted,"6'oclock!" Vien turned around and saw a flaming yacht steadily descending toward the road, a V-wing trailing it and peppering the ground with lasers. As the yacht approached them, the V-wing stopped firing and pulled up, avoiding a lethal blast from another V-wing and leaving the transport to its own devices.

"Incoming!" The trio of Spectres all let loose with their turrets. The blue plasma dotted the silvery hull with black marks, but did little to slow its descent. Vien braced for impact as it flew overhead and slammed into the highway. The ground shook and all three Spectres veered to a stop, Vien's side turned away from the wreckage.

Vien hopped off and bounded around the side of the Spectre. He raised his fist in the air,"Get the civilians away, and burn that ship to a crisp!"

Three turrets and a hail of grenades immediately responded to the,'burn' order. Vien shook his head. It was, of course, more fun to destroy the ship. While the technicians and minors were having their fun, Vien's bodyguards appeared at his side, while a Sangheili Zealot began hastily clearing the road of civilians.

Suddenly, a shrill flood scream came from the ship, and a chorus of civilian screams followed. A trio of pure forms crawled out from the wreckage and morphed into ranged forms. The turret gunners immediately switched fire to accommodate this new threat, while a squad of combat forms leapt from holes in the hull of the ship.

"Destroy the parasites!" Zahran roared,"Do not let them spread at all costs!"

Thankfully, the ship didn't seem to be very occupied. Two of the ranged forms were dead, their smoking corpses sliding to the pavement while the three surviving combat forms went different directions. The Zealot ignited his lightsaber and charged the one heading for the civilians. The combat form noticed and made a gurgling sound, then clumsily raised its blaster and opened up. The Zealot's shields flared brilliantly, but his sword came down like the wrath of a 350 pound alien warrior and dissected the parasite in two.

The creature fell into two parts, dead. At least, the host was, while the infection form lunged at the Zealot, dripping blood and flood juices. The Zealot caught it in one four-fingered hand and crushed it, bellowing a cry of victory.

The remaining flood, two combat forms and a ranged form, continued to shoot, overloading the shields of a turret gunner and knocking him from his perch. The incapacitated Sangheili slid to the ground beside Zahran, while the combat forms leapt high in the air toward the Fieldmaster.

"Face your death filth!" Zahran ignited his blade in near-sync with his bodyguards and lunged at the combat form. The first monster landed hard on the top of the nearest Spectre, swinging its tentacle arm with a crack and connecting with the jaw of the Sangheili manning the turret. Zahran leapt over his falling comrade and dove toward the combat form, catching its blow with his blade. He then cut its left leg off from the knee, then drove his blade into its chest. He spat on the dying parasite and shoved it off his blade, allowing it to tumble to the ground below.

He turned and saw his two bodyguards had already made quick work of the final combat form. The body had been chopped into several extra pieces for good measure."Burn the bodies. I want teams searching the nearby areas in case of loose spores."

After a satisfactory,"Right away Fieldmaster!" He returned to his seat on the Spectre. Panicked civilians continued to flow by him, although now that they understood he was a friend, they seemed a little more relaxed (and chatty, although he once again ignored their attempts at communication). They gave the dead Sangheili a wide berth until the technicians retrieved the body and put it on the fire with a chant of respect to the young dead warrior.

---

The slightly-battered convoy pulled into the hotel parking pads a few minutes later. The area was already being hastily fortified by the handful of Sangheili that had proceeded them. Turrets, circular ground shields, and a pair of shade turrets had already been set up along the courtyard and steps, while a pair of phantoms and several ghosts were sitting on the parking spaces.

As the convoy pulled to a stop, Zahran and the other passengers disembarked. The technicians hurried in with a case of equipment in each hand, leaving Zahran and his escort to themselves. Another Sangheili, a red armored major, noticed the presence of brass approached them with a salute,"Greetings, Fieldmaster. The command center is being set up inside, let me show you."

Inside, the first room was a large reception room, with a front desk kiosk, lounge, breakfast bar, and holotables. The Sangheili led them to the stairway, suggesting they avoid the elevators, and brought them to the second story. After a few more turns, they came out at a large room Zahran imagined was used for parties and the like. It was rather large, large enough to hold everything they would need. One side of the room was covered in the gold-reflecting glass encasing the front side of the building, but casting a gentle blue glow on the room. Several lounge chairs and tables had been pushed aside to make room for Sangheili computers and machinery, most notably a large, circular projector like the one on the Shadow of Intent (although how they got it in, Zahran had no idea. At the end of the room was a small pool or big hot tub, he wasn't sure which.

The projector already displayed the entire city before them in 3-D, as well as limited data on the space battle above. Several majors were leaning on the projector, arguing amongst themselves on the situation.

"Here, you will be able to find all the information you need to lead us to victory, Fieldmaster. Best of luck!" The Major saluted and hurried away to his responsibilities.

Zahran approached the table with lumbering footsteps, alerting the majors to his presence. The lower ranking Sangheili all saluted."We have much to do. Warriors, I want all new information of the ground situation on this planet thus far."

"Right away Fieldmaster!" Several technicians began typing furiously on their terminals. On the edge of the projector, several screens and lists came up with the different information.

The city itself was split in two by a large river, running from the southwest to the eastern edge of the city. The southern half of the city was mostly reserved for residential areas, with a water-purification plant on the edge of the river to the southwest. On the southern edge of the river, near the center of the city, was Eriadu City spaceport.

Directly across the water from the spaceport was city hall, as well as the business district. Most of the city's hospitals were north of the business district for some reason.

"Hmm..." Zahran thought,"Knowing the parasite, they will attempt to infiltrate the populated areas. And if they've gained enough intelligence, factories and plants will be targeted. I want kig-yar squads by the river's edge. Mgalekgolo pairs accompanying them. Is there not an underground system under the city?"

Several Majors exchanged glances with each other."We... don't know Fieldmaster."

"Then find out." He growled.

Exercising patience for a few moments yielded fruit."There appears to be a bullet-train system," a tech said, still typing away on his terminal,"as well as the city sewers."

Zahran clenched his fists. There was no way the Flood was going to overlook that."I need demolition squads ready to sweep part of them and destroy it from the inside. It's too dangerous if accessed by the flood."

"Right away Fieldmaster!"

Zahran tilted his head back and sighed. This was a mess. He knew it was going to be, fighting the parasite always was, but he'd never faced so many of them.

He heard someone rush in and turned to face their new guest. It was Vul Soran. The legendary blademaster was breathing heavily,"Fieldmaster, apologies for interrupting, but you may want to be down at the landing point. Fleetmaster Vadum says he is about to send down the main force."

---

A minute later, he was heading up the steep entrance ramp, the second Spectre in a convoy of 3 along with a pair of Ghosts escorting. The battle above seemed to be clearing slightly, and if he was correct, most of the ships still in play were Sangheili vessels.

Hopefully, that meant they were winning the battle.

Suddenly, he was being hailed on through the built in communicator in his battle armor. It was Soran again,"Fieldmaster, our warriors are reporting a sharp uptick in airborne parasite forms. They have switched tactics and are picking off individual squads with swarm ambushes."

A low growl escaped his throat,"Clever beasts. they are learning. Pull back when swarms approach, then surround the parasite and burn them." He paused for a moment,"I need marksmen and snipers to pick off as many as they can before the swarms group together. Hunters are strong enough to repel their attacks for a while, let them lead."

"Commander,"Soran said slowly, a hint of worry in his voice,"They are using the buildings as cover. They lie in wait for a smaller group of warriors to pass by, then spring from the windows and descend upon them. By the time they see the swarms approaching, its too late."

Zahran felt his temper flare. Not at his associates, but at the parasite."Then by all means, burn the buildings down. Every last one of them in the area."

"As you will, Fieldmaster." Vul sounded rather pleased with the idea."Also, I should bring to your attention the civilian hospitals in the northern section of the city are being assaulted. The area was saturated with non-combatants. The Flood emerged from the sewers around 3 minutes ago, and are infecting the locals as we speak."

"I want bombers to obliterate it all." Zahran said sternly,"We don't have time to risk anything for a few civilians." His firm expression slowly melted into a more contemplative one,"We cannot allow the flood to advance any more. Otherwise we will lose this world anyways! What of the squads sent to the area? That area should have been sealed off!"

"I am not sure. But it sounds like they simply didn't reach the are-."His words slowly trailed off,"Do you hear that?"

Zahran paused to listen. Over the hum of the engines, the distant rumbling of battle, and the explosions of the dogfight above, it sounded like the roar of a waterfall. He looked around as the sound grew in intensity, and spotted an acclamator in high atmosphere broken into pieces, presumably by heavy turbolaser and plasma fire. While most of the ship had been obliterated, a single piece some 75 meters in diameter fell through the air in the direction of the hotel. Little trails of fire were visible, even from a distance, as the artificial asteroid hurled toward the ground.

"By the Forerunners..." Zahran wondered aloud,"Brace yourselves!"

BOOM!

Even from the distance he was at, the sheer power of the impact staggered the experienced warrior. Zahran felt his teeth rattle and the Spectre sway as the shockwave startled the driver. The impact itself was obscured by several city blocks, but he was sure that it was massive. He could imagine a cloud several stories high forming.

After the ringing subsided, he heard a voice."Fieldmaster," The driver shouted,"Orders?"

He shook his head in a futile attempt to clear his ears. It was a little like getting water stuck in your ears, but you couldn't really get it out."Was that ship infected?"

"There is no way to know without sending scouts."

Zahran closed his eyes in frustration. Must everything go wrong?"We can't risk it. Seal off the area as much as possible, and destroy anything close."

"That may be difficult, Fieldmaster." One of his bodyguards said,"The impact was probably near the Forward Base of Operations in the hu-alien hotel."

"What's the strength of the force at the base?"

The bodyguard shrugged,"It depends on how far away the impact was, and who survived. As far as I was aware, a small garrison of mostly Sangheili had already been deployed."

Zahran nodded solemnly,"Warn them of the possible dangers and to be ready for anything. That's all we can do at this point."

---

The sudden increase in dropship activity told Zahran they were near the drop zone a minute or so before the large field came into view. What was once a community park had been transformed into a massive landing zone for Sangheili military equipment and a refugee camp for civilians. Dozens of Spirit and Phantom transports ferried in reinforcements ranging from squads of Grunts to entire Wraith tanks. Some would head straight to the battlefield, already given orders, while others would move to a staging area until they were given an assignment.

He'd seen it all before in previous campaigns. What wasn't used to seeing was the horde of civilians, corralled together like a herd of animals. Some compassionate Sangheili had seen it fit to provide them with some rations and water while they waited for a ride off the surface. As a dropship would offload its cargo, it would then land for the non-combatants to load on board.

As they turned onto the road leading to the activity, he felt the familiar buzzing in his ear, indicating a call,"Fieldmaster, did you survive the impact?"

"Indeed I have, Soran." Zahran boomed."Unfortunately for the flood."

A chuckle, "It does me well to hear your voice, commander." Soran stated as his voice turned unpleasant,"I was contacted by one of the jedi, Secura. She says she's dropping into the city with several hundred clone troopers."

"Good," The Spectre came to a halt and he slid off,all support we can get is welcomed."

There was a pause on the other end."If you say so, Fieldmaster." Soran replied with a hint of bitterness,"I would not trust them so quickly if I were you."

Zahran sighed,"I don't, but we have more important things to be concerned of." He glanced up from the communicator at a pair of Phantoms that flew overhead. The hum of the transports faded gradually until they came to a stop some 50 meters away. The lifts activated and several dozen Sangheili descended.

"One more thing, commander." The Blademaster's voice had switched again,"Fleetmaster Vadum says he is going to commit a Scarab to the city. He just needs to know when to drop it in." A pause,"Apparently, the battle for orbit has went rather well, other then the loss of a clone cruiser."

The Fieldmaster's reptilian eyes widened slightly, Finally, some good news."Good. We may need it sooner than we thought, the flood are advancing all over incredibly quickly. A scarab will be useful in the coming hell."

---

Keldabe-Class,"Retribution" Hangar 8

00:12 Hours Senate time, 19:53 Local time

The hangar of the Retribution seemed to vibrate as a thermal detonator exploded in a display of flame, consuming a mob of infection forms scurrying toward the advancing Mandalorians. The few remaining flood let out a collective shriek and continued to exchange fire with the armored warriors and the lightsaber-wielding Zabrak leading them.

Maul felt a bead of sweat slide down the side of his face as he executed a smooth flip to avoid a shard of bone fired at him from a ranged form. He inwardly cursed his enemies and their tactics. It hadn't taken long to realize that blocking biomass with a lightsaber only produced a searing-hot splatter of flood guts that could pass through a lightsaber blade, provided it didn't burn up. He could still feel the sting where the splash hit him several minutes before. It hurt like kriff, but he wasn't willing to drop out of a battle for a little pain.

He later found out he was actually lucky. Unfortunate warriors who were hit in the gaps of their armor usually turned within a minute of being hit. The projectiles apparently were covered in flood cells, perfectly capable of hijacking a host once it was introduced to the bloodstream. After he was forced to cut down a pair of infected Mandalorians, he ordered his men to stick to cover and watch their teammates if they were hit. He'd been tempted to just order anyone hit to be shot immediately, but the loyalty the troops shared with each other was strong. He didn't want to test it at such a crucial moment.

Thankfully, they were winning the battle anyway. The quick response and superior fighting skills of the Death Watch had been enough to contain the infection a single stray shuttle caused when it brought the parasite on board. If they could just clear out this hangar, he would have total control of a flood-free ship again.

Diving behind a small stairway, he stretched his hands out called upon the Force. A stationary fighter suddenly went flying across the hangar, crushing most of the remaining parasites with one swoop. The troops cheered and emerged from their hiding places, bombarding the last combat forms with colorful laser fire.

Maul stood cautiously, exposing himself and raising his blade defensively. Another thing he had learned the hard way: The parasite could be very clever. And he wasn't ready to join his brother in death yet.

Savage...

He shoved memories of his brother back down. It had been very hard not exposing Darth Sidious to the Jedi Council as soon as he landed on Coruscant. Sidious was a monster, and he would pay for killing Savage.

But he would have his revenge on his former master, not the jedi. He would be the one to end Sidious' miserable existence, if the parasite didn't get him first.

Maul wasn't a fool, however, and he knew the manipulative Sith Lord would try to take him out to keep his identity a secret. Hence, Maul told Luminara who he was when he released her, with strict instructions to tell Yoda and no one else. Unduli had been very skeptical such a trusted man could be a traitor, but a short conversation about Sidious' manipulations and plans had been enough to convince her.

Hopefully, Mace Windu and the rest of the fools on the Council wouldn't learn the truth. They would go straight at his former master, tearing the Republic and their alliance apart. Maul hated Sidious, but he wouldn't sacrifice everything to the parasite for the sake of revenge.

He stepped over the body of a tank form and quickly dissected it into several dozen pieces. His troops were doing the same, except with clean blaster shots to the infection form and declarations of,"For Mandalore!" Or,"For Death Watch!"

Maul shook his head. The zeal they showed could be amusing or very aggravating, depending on the situation.

After dicing up another corpse, he casually glanced out the hangar doors and his eyes widened in surprise.

A Republic cruiser was taking heavy fire from the Sangheili cruisers and bombers. For some reason, the Venator didn't bother to return fire, even as explosions rocked its hull and the ship began to break apart.

He grabbed his communicator and activated it. A moment later, shipmaster Valtamare' materialized. He looked tense, and from the glare he gaze Maul, it appeared he didn't really want to be disturbed."Yes?" He grunted in his distinct alien accent.

Maul suppressed a huff of annoyance,"Explain to me why you are firing on our-" he spat out the next word,"ally's ship?!"

"The parasite has boarded the Republic cruiser." Valtamare explained matter-of-factly,"Seeing how the crew appears to be unable to gain control of the ship, we are wiping out the infection before it spreads."

Interesting. These Sangheili weren't afraid to get things done."Did you clear it with the jedi?" He asked.

The shipmaster tensed up again, as if getting ready to go on the defensive,"We informed the crew of the Resolute. They were adamant we do not, but since the jedi were absent, I made the call to eliminate the contaminated ship." He paused,"We did, however, hold off long enough for a rescue team to pick up the jedi on board the ship."

Maul wasn't so sure what he thought of that.

Valtamare gave him a grim, appraising look,"You seem to be rather tranquil. Have you contained the parasite?"

"We have eradicated the flood from the ship." Maul snapped,"Do not fire on us unless you wish to be fired upon."

"Excellent, warrior." The shipmaster said, still reserved and stone-faced,"The flood assault seems to be waning. Once the two jedi return to their cruiser, we will confer on our next course of action." He gave him a nod, then the transmission ended.

---

Poseidon-Class,"Barbarossa" Bespin, lower atmosphere, 300 meters above Cloud City,

20:52 Local time, 21:40 Senate time

The innocuous Poseidon-Class was a rather new edition to the UNSC navy. Introduced at the tail-end of the human Covenant war, the captains in service of earth had already been given several years of practice with the light carrier in service. Sleek and rather modern-looking, the Poseidon could perhaps pass as a large passenger ferry for one of the larger space transport corporations spread throughout UNSC space.

The Barbarossa itself had been christened just a few short months ago, and assigned to the recently-promoted captain Hanako Ito. Ito had quickly learned the ins and outs of the ship, and quickly built a reputation as a competent commander and a good leader for the crew. It was rather obvious that, if chasing after Covenant break-off groups didn't prematurely end her life, captain Ito would be rising in the ranks of the navy.

The Barbarossa still looked nearly new. Despite the fact it had seen a couple of battles, such as its most recent engagement over Shola, the ship appeared new and green, just like its captain.

Looks could be deceiving.

The light carrier was definitely not built with ship-to-ship combat in mind though. Other ships, such as the Republic Venators, were given the privilege of the heavy work while the Barbarossa would support the fleet as needed.

This battle was no exception. The colorful sky of Bespin was filled with the massive outlines of warships. The flood had given up on its near-frantic assault on the cruisers with shuttles (or more likely, had simply ran out of craft), granting the Republic, CIS, and UNSC fighters the freedom to strafe the city with constant barrages. Opportunities were, unfortunately, rather sparse. The lion's share of the city was covered, and most of the engagements were concealed from the eyes of the pilots above.

That wasn't to say things were peaceful in the skies. The flood had succeeded in boarding a pair of acclamators, a venator and a munificent frigate in the chaos. Now, the acclamators and munificent were exchanging heavy fire with the remainder of the fleet, while the venator stood at a standstill as the crew desperately fought in the hallways of the cruiser for control of the warship.

Massive turbolaser batteries slammed into the hull of Grievous' flagship, the Invisible Hand. The shields appeared and flashed vividly across the length of the huge cruiser, valiantly attempting and succeeding to protect the hull from the bombardment while its own heavy turbolasers pounded the nearest infected acclamator. The contaminated ship's shields held under the heavy fire, but just barely.

BOOM!

The crack of the MAC cannon in atmosphere was deafening. The massive MAC round sliced through the air at a speed the naked eye could not follow, slamming into the infected cruiser and passing clean through. The acclamator's hull was suddenly wracked with explosions before breaking apart into several massive pieces.

Several thousand meters away, Hanako Ito allowed a smile to crease her face. The MAC cannon on captain Jackson's Halberd-Class destroyer was proving very effective against this galaxy's technology. And if there was one thing Jackson loved, it was using the big gun. The man struggled to contain the almost-childlike glee whenever he had the chance to use it.

Ito herself didn't fully understand its appeal. Explosions and big guns just weren't her thing. Well, it was whenever it was pounding through a flood-infested cruiser as it was now, but on a normal day, she was content to do more precise work with her light carrier.

Speaking of precise work, the Barbarossa propelled itself slowly over a large structure in Cloud City. Ito gave the clearance, and 12 ODST drop pods released, plummeting down toward the city below.

Ito just hoped the drop pods wouldn't punch through the floating city and keep going. She'd been assured by several techs who studied this type of thing that a drop was safe. She just really didn't want to drop troops to their deaths for nothing.

As the pods continued the short descent to the ground below, they weaved their way past a pair of vulture droids headed to engage the ARC-170s emerging from the infected cruisers. Thankfully, they didn't collide, or the consequences would be lethal.

SLAM SLAM SLAM SLAM!

The doors popped off the pods mechanically, slamming into the metal roof with a loud clanging sound. Moments later, the infection forms that were coming to investigate popped and disappeared under sub-machine gun fire.

8 Orbital Drop Shock Troopers and 4 Mjolnir-clad Spartans emerged from the pods. The separate squads immediately set up a secure perimeter, then they fell in behind the Master Chief and Blue team as they led the way through a gap in the roof and into the city.

The Chief glanced through the hole and frowned. The drop to the ground was nothing for his team with their armor, but the ODSTs would have to be careful not to hurt themselves when they fell. He motioned for his team to follow and dropped into the dim room below. The ODSTs followed one at a time, Fred generously catching them and breaking their fall.

Pop! Pop! Pop! Chief raised his battle rifle to see three combat forms collapsing to the ground, dead. Apparently, the monsters happened to wander into the room and right into the sights of Kelly.

"Hmm, not bad." Cortana observed.

John didn't comment on her observation and activated his communicator."Jedi Master Plo Koon, this is Spartan-117, come in."

After a moment of static, a rather mechanic voice came across the communicator,"This is Plo Koon. Requesting medevac ASAP at this location." Cortana helpfully activated a waypoint, which appeared as a blue arrow in the distance.

"Sir, sit tight. We're on our way." With that, John raised his rifle and led the way down a set of stairs as another distant boom echoed from somewhere far away.

The room was poorly lit. Most of the lights were out, so the only illumination came from the hole in the roof and the occasional bulb or vending machine that hadn't been knocked out. Gentle shadows danced across the floor and walls as a pile of burning debris flickered orange. John finished his descent and led the way past some sort of reception desk. Apparently, they dropped into a business of some sort, judging by the furniture scattered across the room.

The door slid open, revealing another dim hallway which the Spartan II plunged into without a second thought. The sounds of distant gunfire and flood shrieks were only drowned out by the occasional snap of a live electric wire or the crackle of dying fires dotting the room. The floor itself was covered in trash, debris and blood but, of course, no bodies.

They continued on for another minute without incident. Every hallway and staircase was in roughly the same condition, devastated and abandoned as if a horde of raiders had come through and pillaged the area, leaving a ghost town in its wake.

As they turned the corner, John checked the waypoint again. 344 meters left to go. Assuming they didn't run into any interference, they could reach that point in-

A sudden noise caused him to spin around and raise his rifle. He saw a large flood root shoot out of a vent and lunge at Kelly. The Spartan's reactions were far quicker then the root, however, and she simply rolled out the way of its swipe. She yanked her grenade launcher off her back and fired a round into the vent. The hissing noise was drowned out as the root swung at her again, but its attack was cut short by the sound of an explosion in the vent. The root fell to the ground, dead.

Kelly kicked the root to make sure it wasn't going to move again, then did a quick scan of the room,"All clear."

John stared at the root for a second, before addressing the entire group,"Watch the vents. The flood could be hiding in any of these little nooks and crannies."

---

"HOLD YOUR FIRE!"

John held his fist up just as the clone troopers raised their blaster rifles and pointed it at him."Don't shoot, we're friendlies." The clones stiffened slightly as the rest of Blue team and several ODSTs appeared, but did as they were told.

John spotted Koon near the back, carrying what appeared to be the corpse of a clone commander. He marched up to the jedi and gave him a salute,"Sir, Spartan-117. We're here to get you out of here." He heard the clone troopers and ODSTs talking cautiously to each other behind him.

Koon let out a huff through his breathing mask,"I am glad you are here, Spartan. My commander needs immediate medical attention. We need to get him to a medical facility immediately."

John glanced behind him to see a ODST approaching them. A small red cross emblazoned her right shoulder pauldron,"Corporal Selena Ramirez," she introduced herself,"Lay him down over there, I'll take a look at him and see if I can patch him up a little."

Koon stiffened and shook his head,"No, he is in very bad shape. We need to get him to a proper facility now."

"Sir" she said,"He may not survive the trip if he is bleeding out. I need to take a look at him." She took another step forward and peered at the limp clone.

"He's still alive." Koon explained,"I can sense his life force."

Ramirez tilted her head, but her visor concealed her expression."Right. Now lay him down so I can get a good look at him." The jedi hesitated, so she added,"Trust me. This isn't my first time treating someone."

Reluctantly, Koon gently laid Wolffe down on the floor by the wall. Ramirez knelt down beside him and started pulling at his helmet. Koon knelt down and took the helmet off, revealing the pale, scarred face of commander Wolffe. His fake eye gleamed as a small fire flickered nearby, casting an eerie glow up at the medic. The other eye was tightly shut.

Ramirez put her middle and index fingers to his neck. A faint pulse. Good. I guess he wasn't wrong-

She was suddenly yanked out of the way by Plo as a blaster bolt skimmed through the air where her head was a second ago. Before the bolt even hit the wall, the sound of gunfire erupted and drowned out the screech of blasters and the flood shrieks.

The jedi master ignited his lightsaber and raised it defensively as the 4 Spartans pounded the horde of approaching flood forms with gunfire. The clones and ODSTs spread out and opened up as well, before one ODST was hit in the back by a blue blaster bolt.

Chief and Kelly spun around and saw another mob of flood charging them, firing wildly in their direction. He fell into a kneeling stance and began pulling the trigger as fast as he could. Between his incredible accuracy, reflexes, and the fact that the sheer number of parasites formed a wall, it was easy to make sure every round hit a target.

"Spread out and find cover!" He shouted, rolling behind a overturned table as his shields flared. He could now hear a chorus of unnatural screams from the flood, nearly drowning out the frantic shouting coming from the panicked clones and ODSTs. He poked his head up and continued to fire at the approaching flood as fast as he could.

Clang! A vent grating hit him on the head. He rolled out of the way as flood infection forms fell where he was a moment ago. With a battle rifle and magnum his two choices, he pulled a grenade from his belt and tossed it at the point they were dropping down onto. He leapt away, shouting,"Fire in the hole!"

Boom!

The ground shook from the force of the explosion. Chief shook his head to clear it and saw nothing remained of the flood except for a blackened crater on the floor and green-ish biomass splat on the walls.

He heard an ODST swear loudly,"They're coming from the roof!"

He raised his rifle and saw another vent had opened, this one right above the line of ODSTs and Spartans. The infection forms were swarming over a screaming ODST like a horde of ants, before a spray of submachine gun fire tore through their soft bodies. Fred charged and closed the distance to almost nothing, then swept the dead infection forms off the trooper with his arm. Before John could order it, Kelly fired a grenade up into the vent, another loud explosion coming moments later.

So far, so good, he thought. He changed the magazine in his battle rifle in the blink of an eye and continued pouring rounds down at the approaching horde. Despite their best efforts, the flood was still closing in, and several clones and ODSTs were down.

As he ducked down to let his nearly-depleted shields recharge, he heard a loud crash against a nearby door. Great. Another crash."Nine o'clock!"

A moment later, the door was down and a tank form charged into a retreating pair of clone troopers. The clones shouted in surprise as one was cut in half at the waist by a swipe of the tank form's claw, while the other was batted away like a rag doll.

Ok, this is getting bad.

The Spartans focused fire on the tank form. A moment later, a well-placed shot from Linda's sniper rifle punched through what was apparently the right place, and the behemoth collapsed.

Right as a pair of flood roots shot out of a pair of vents on the wall. The first one lashed out at Plo, who deftly cut it in two with his lightsaber. The second wrapped itself around the waist of an ODST. The trooper screamed in terror as the root suddenly retreated toward the vent. A nearby clone trooper dropped his rifle and grabbed the ODST right before he disappeared for good into the vents. The root yanked violently on its prize, but the clone didn't let go, using his lower half to keep the tentacle from pulling the ODST into the vents. The Drop Trooper's squad realized what was happening and leapt from their places, surrounding the clone with a human shield as he played a game of tug-of-war with the parasite. A moment later, before the root could overpower him, Fred rushed over and grabbed on, adding his considerable might to the struggle.

Meanwhile, a trio of Abominations appear from the ever-approaching wall of flood and charged the survivors. The first two were shot to pieces on their approach by Linda, John and Kelly, while the third managed to unfurl and lash out at the Chief. John easily rolled out of the way while Kelly pulled her knife and lunged onto the monsters back. She plunged the blade into its orange, bulbous head and began carving it up at an incredible speed. The creature let out a shriek then crashed to the ground, dead.

As she rolled off of the now-actually dead corpse, a small, metal sphere flew through the air toward their position. Before the thermal detonator could land and take lives, it stopped midair and went back the way it came. Plo directed it straight toward the combat form which decided to throw it. The grenade exploded, consuming nearby flood in a ball of flame.

Suddenly, Plo felt something slam into his gut. He tried to block it, but the projectile was simply too fast and slipped by his defenses. Coughing, he fell to the ground while the fight continued to rage on.

At this point, the flood begin to reach the survivors. While most of the larger forms were killed on the approach, dozens of infection forms slipped by and began lunging for the nearest trooper. Fred, who had successfully rescued the ODST from the vent, snapped around and began spraying the wave of flood with submachine gun fire. The ODSTs and Clone troopers began to form a perimeter, pulling their knives out and desperately hacking at the infection forms while the other three Spartans continued to hold the larger forms at bay. Koon, who managed to make it to his feet, began hacking away at the little monsters.

John could feel himself tensing as the net continued to close."Cortana, options?"

"Not much," the AI said rather frantically,"Just keep shooting!"

Suddenly, the roof on one side began to shake and dust fell from the ceiling. John noticed Koon was standing with both arms outstretched, apparently using his powers. A crack appeared in the ceiling, and suddenly, it collapsed, crushing the flood below it and cutting the rest off.

Now with only one side to worry about, John spun around and began emptying his magazine at the wave of flood, which, at least to him, seemed to be waning. The surviving clones and ODSTs continued to hack away with Koon, who was given the grim duty of cutting down troopers as they turned. Linda continued to pound away with her sniper rifle, taking out any flood with weapons first. Fred ejected the magazine from his SMG and inserted a fresh one while Kelly fired her assault rifle at the waves of parasites.

Slowly, the horde of flood began to dwindle. John and Kelly lobbed a pair of grenades, blowing up a large chunk of the remaining parasites. Fred and the line of troopers finished off the last of the infection forms as the roar of gunfire began to recede. A moment later, the hall was silent, filled only with the groans of wounded troopers.

John immediately took in the status of their group. Several clones and 3 ODSTs were dead, while several more and the jedi were wounded. His team, of course, were fine. He spotted Ramirez kneeling down beside Wolffe, who was laying very still.

The medic was busy wrapping a bandage around her arm. She glanced up at the Chief when he approached,"How's the clone?"

Ramirez looked back down at her arm, tying the bloodstained bandage in place."He passed during the firefight."

He heard the jedi sigh sadly through his breathing mask. Koon limped over to the deceased Wolffe and put a hand on his shoulder. He hung his head and whispered,"I'm so, so sorry my friend."

John did a quick check of their surroundings, then knelt beside Koon,"Sir, we can't do anything for him. Lets get you out of here."

Koon was still for a second, then shook his head,"No."

"Excuse me?"

The jedi turned to face him,"Spartan, General Grievous is still in the facility, planting the explosives we were tasked with. We should retrieve him before evacuating."

John set his jaw, then did a quick check on his motion tracker. Nothing other then friendlies."Sir, you and several of our men aren't in shape to keep going."

Koon was silent for a moment then nodded,"You are correct. But we still need to make sure Grievous gets out. I'll head back with the wounded and some of the Spartans while you continue on."

The Master Chief felt himself tense up. He wasn't amused that this jedi, who technically wasn't his superior, was trying to split his team up. On the other hand, he could see his reasoning. He stood up and glanced around the room for the sergeants,"Squad leaders, report!"

The first ODST, who's FOF tag said Justin Hill, approached him with assault rifle in hand,"Sir, Mendez in down. Flood got him. The rest of us are good to go."

The second sergeant's FOF tag wasn't showing up. It took John a moment to realize what happened. He wasn't going to report."Who's left in second squad?"

"I am," Ramirez said, busily working to stop the blood gushing from Koon's side.

"Right here sir," another voice called out.

John thought for a moment, examining the soldiers before him. He glanced at the 3 clones still standing. One was carrying a wounded friend, one was patching up his leg, while the final one was standing guard."Alright, Fred, Linda, escort the jedi, the clones, and the wounded ODSTs back, while the rest of us continue on."

"Sir," Ramirez called out,"You'll need a medic if you're going to keep moving. Permission to come with you?"

John gave the ODST a once-over, sizing her up. Other then the shot she took to her arm, she seemed alright."Fine. General Koon, where will we find Grievous?"

---

Paris-Class,"Arctic" Joint Occupation zone #23-81-4

Arctic Command Bridge

A trio of massive holes opened in the very fabric of space itself. A moment later, 3 warships, 2 UNSC and 1 Sangheili, emerged and came to a standstill. The journey took well over a day, but they were now the first beings to make the journey and back between the two massive galaxies in untold millennia.

Captain Howell Rockford was struggling not to squirm with anticipation. The news of another populated galaxy, far more vast and diverse then their own would be one for the history books. What's more, he imagined the intel he had gathered would earn him a promotion in the Office of Naval Intelligence.

Rockford had always wanted to see how high he could go in the organization. This would be his chance, his front door. Soon, the UNSC and Galactic Republic would send diplomats to establish relations, and merchant vessels would begin to ferry their goods between the two galaxies. Or, if things went awry, they would send warships.

It really felt good to return home.

First thing was first: He and the other human captain would return to the nearest colony and pass their information to the military/ONI, so they could begin planning how they wanted this thing to look. The Sangheili Light Cruiser,"Fire of Sangheilios" would return to their worlds and do the same.

Perhaps he could arrange to lead the first fleet out to the new galaxy. Rtas would need backup, if things were going badly...

---

Coruscant, Senate District, Coruscant News Network Headquarters, Pre-Interview Meeting Room,

07:58 Hours Senate time

"Chancellor Palpatine, Master Windu, we go live in 5 minutes. Please follow me."

Windu and Palpatine slowly rose from their seats,"Thank you my dear," Palpatine said in his fatherly voice, before turning to Yoda and Kit Fisto, the only other jedi council members present on the planet,"And thank you for meeting with me on such short notice master jedi."

"Our pleasure, it was." Yoda replied,"Although, wish we could discuss more positive news, I do."

The Chancellor nodded with a pensive expression,"Indeed." He turned back to the young television aide, who immediately began to lead them through the hallways of Coruscant News Network to the broadcast room.

Palpatine found his thoughts wondering to the meeting with the jedi council members. The sudden appearance of this parasite, the,"flood" had absolutely wrecked his future plans. Several worlds were even now being ravaged by the parasite, becoming battlegrounds in which they seemed to always be losing ground. Bespin, Eriadu, and Vassek had all been under siege for nearly a day now. Takodana, Cerea, Rattatak and numerous smaller worlds had already all but fallen. And now, they were receiving reports that Malastare and Sullust were under attack. The sheer speed of which the parasite was traveling was terrifying, unnerving even to him.

He could feel the tense, fearful atmosphere in the hallways. Even among news broadcasters, dread seemed to permeate the air. It was even worse among the citizens. Coruscant in particular hadn't taken the announcement of the flood well. As panic spread, riots began to grip many of Coruscant's thousands of levels, and morale among the citizens were at an all time low.

Even the three jedi council members had seemed on edge to him. As they began to exchange reports from the front lines, he could understand just why they were so downtrodden. For the first time in years, everything Palpatine had worked for was in danger of crumbling.

The situation really was dire.

But that didn't mean he was just going to sit and watch everything fall apart around him. No, he would do everything in his power to fight off this parasite.

He actually managed to convince Mace Windu to hold a short interview with him to assure the population that, while the situation was serious, they had everything under control. Everything would be okay, and the parasite would be eradicated.

"Hello Chancellor, Master Jedi." A human male anchor bubbled, extending his hand,"It will be my honor to interview you today!"

Fool. Of course he'd get the only news broadcaster in the entire galaxy so stupidly caught up in a big story that he's not taking the situation seriously. Now he'd have to deal with the over-exhuberant moron for an entire half hour. Maybe he could pawn him off on Windu, who's icy stare had already put a dampen on the man's enthusiasm.

He followed the aide over to a fancy table with a clear countertop. Mace was seated on the right, Palpatine in the center, while the news anchor was on the left. The closest to the window, Palpatine noted longingly.

The idle, nervous chatter amongst the technicians slowly faded away as the timer to broadcast ticked down."Live in 30," a tech said.

Mace leaned in close and whispered,"Chancellor, I assume you would like to do the initial address?"

Not really."Of course." He schooled his expression into a solemn one as the time counted down. 5. 4. 3. 2. 1.

"Good morning Coruscant!" The broadcaster beside him gushed as Palpatine was once again filled with the urge to throw the man out the window,"This is Arvin Roscal, bringing you the latest news with Coruscant News Network!"

"But first, I am joined by two special guests," he gestured grandly at the two men beside him,"Chancellor Palpatine, leader of our glorious Republic, and Master of the Jedi Order, Mace Windu!"

Palpatine nodded a thanks to the man, then met the camera with his eyes."Greetings, fellow citizens," he began solemnly,"I wish I was here to address a more positive topic, but sadly, our Republic is gripped with unrest and anarchy. News of this parasite, this,"flood" has caused unnecessary panic among many of our fellow citizens. Please, let me assure you, the panic is unnecessary. In times of trouble such as this, violence and anarchy is not the answer. We will defeat this threat as one, standing in unity with our brethren across the galaxy. Please, listen to your local authorities. If your home is on the frontlines, support our troops however you can. Do not use your imagination and talents to create problems. Instead, do your best to solve them. Help your fellow citizens as they need it, and rest assured victory and peace is on the way."

"Now, I yield to Jedi Master Mace Windu, who will be explaining the current situation across the galaxy, and how the military and jedi order are working tirelessly to protect, defend, and uphold the Republic against this threat."

Mace nodded, his expression a little softer then it normally was,"Greetings. As Master of the Jedi Order, I can assure you we are doing everything we can to eliminate this parasite. As we speak, jedi and clone troopers are fighting alongside the new arrivals to protect you and your families from the Flood."

"So far, we have successfully contained the infection to a handful of outer rim and mid rim worlds." Mace explained,"While it is proving difficult to cleanse these worlds of the infection, you have nothing to worry about if you do not live on or near an infected world."

"Do not be afraid."

Palpatine gave Windu a confused glance. Mace simply returned the gesture, obviously a little surprised,"Yes, there is no reason to be afraid Chancellor."

"I am peace. I am salvation!"

The techs offscreen began to murmur amongst themselves nervously as Mace and Sheev glanced around the room, searching for the voice interrupting the broadcast."Mr. Roscal, was that you?" The Chancellor asked.

The anchor shook his head.

Mace turned back to the camera,"Well then, I suggest-"

A female technician let out a piercing scream.

Palpatine could see the screen facing them, displaying what the viewers saw during the interview. Except, it was no longer them, but what appeared to be massive, fungi like growths across the surface of a planet. It rose and fell as the camera view panned across its surface, tentacles waving in the air and humanlike forms molded and absorbed into its skin. Bodies contorted into unnatural positions, faces etched in expressions of terror were easily visible under the surface of the skin. Green mist rose from the maze of biomass and bulbous growths.

The camera panned up slowly, revealing the growth stretched as far as the eye could see.

A massive, snakelike head rose from the ground. It too seemed to be created from flesh and bone and partially absorbed bodies of once sentient beings. It opened its mouth to reveal a tongue covered in partially absorbed victims, all moaning or crying out in pain as they tried in vain to claw out of its mouth. Their lower halves of their torsos were absorbed into the creature, so any attempt to escape was in vain.

The creature was terrifying. An abomination, to put it lightly.

Then, the gravemind spoke, its deep, rumbling voice echoing throughout the room,

"Do not fear. I bring peace. I bring unity.

Resistance if futile, I will not be stopped,

all will join the fold, whether peacefully or not,

The Flood has risen again, our chorus fills the night,

Like water we ebb and flow, with no end in sight!

Our numbers are infinite, we grow as I speak,

We are the young and the old, the strong and the weak,

All life will soon fall, all will join the fold,

Far or close, all worlds will come into our hold!

The gravemind laughed, a deep, bone chilling laugh. Palpatine shivered. The gravemind continued,

"All life is in my hand,
The prudent, the foolish,
All who dwell in the land,
Their days are numbered,
Till the last sunrise,
Till the battle is over,
Till the galaxy dies!"

The picture faded slowly, the laugh of the gravemind slowly faded into the view of the newsroom again.

If the room was tense before, it was chaos now. Many of the workers collapsed, screaming and crying. Even the obnoxious news anchor was ashen, eyes wide with fear.

Palpatine and Mace were speechless themselves. And, while they wouldn't admit it, rattled by the broadcast. Sheev was the first to regain his composure and stood,"Please, ladies and gentlemen, calm down!" His plea went unheard in the room.

It was the same across the rest of the galaxy. Palpatine's soothing words and Mace's reassurances melted away as trillions of viewers watched the gravemind's proclamation. Terror gripped the galaxy like a python holding onto its prey. And it wasn't about to let go.

---

No promises when the next update will be, given how busy this year has been for me. Although, if you enjoy the story, I find reviews make me write faster...