A/N: First things first... Today (15/02/14) marks one year since I completed "HALO: The Terran-Republic Affair." While the 27th of this month will also mark one whole year since this one was first published and I am happy that there are those of you who followed me from the very start. High fives for all of you.

Now in this chapter I am bringing another element of the CBMI, which was first mentioned months ago but never got thye face time I wanted them to get. But that is all I am giving you, you are just going to have to read the chapter to see what else I have in here.

To "Narc626": No it is not, I just did that to make things interesting.

To "Cooler": No you thought wrong.

To "BrutusSilentium" : -takes your trophy- thank you :)

To "Dark Lord of Ori" : You try writing a story that is still in progress after a year it was started, see how easy it is.

And to the one "guest" who asked... -Gets a bull horn- : FOR THE LAST F #%&*G TIME, THE FLOOD NOR MASTER CHIEF WILL NOT... I SAY AGAIN... NOT BE IN THE STORY! if you have a problem with that then don't read mine or better yet, write your own fic the way want it to be! That's what I did anyway and if you ain't down with that... I got two words for ya! SUCK IT!

Now that my Monster Mean Bean fueled rant it over with, on to the story...

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( A Tale of Hearts... )

"My fellow citizens of the Galactic Empire, two hours ago our city was disturbed by the most horrific of crimes. As the old Senate Building was bombed and destroyed by individuals that only seek to bring about the destructing of our glorious civilization." The Emperor Palapatine began to say, as he stood behind a podium and began to address the population of his empire.

It was just hours ago that the entire Imperial Senate was wiped out by a series of bombings that had completely destroyed the old Senate Building in which they had assembled. The reason for this assembly, which was supported by the Emperor himself, was to vote on a new motion st seek a permanent cease fire with the CIS and Terran governments. But what was supposed to be a historic day for the Empire turned into one of tragedy, as the Imperial Senate now rested under thousands of tonnes of rubble.

Now the Emperor was in the process of informing his people about this horrific attack on the capital, and he could not have been any happier. For the bombings were not committed by an enemy of the Empire, but were an act that was of the Emperor's own design. Palpatine had no true desire to end this war until both the Confederacy and the Terrans were defeated, nor did he ever care for having "his" senate dictate to him what was best for the survival of the Empire. Palaptine was not about to let his puppet senate put an end to what he saw was his destiny, which was the complete and total subjugation of the galaxy. With the aid of his chief Intelligence officer and a number of individuals that were under her direct command, the Sith was able to basically kill two birds with one laser bolt.

But of course the Emperor saw no reason to let his "subjects" know the truth. As a matter a fact, he saw no reason not tocapitalize on his own treachery either.

"On a day that was supposed to be one that would benefit all the peoples of all the waring parties, the Imperial Senate, the very same senate that had helped me sweep away the failing Republic and bring to the galaxy its greatest civilization, had been brutally murdered by individuals who had been corrupted by the lies of our enemies! On a day that would seen an end to this noble yet costly conflict, our enemies attempted to weaken our resolve to fight by attack those who were the true voices of the people! But in this cowardly attack, all our enemies did was strengthen our resolve to defeat them and continue fighting until we are victorious and our enemies come under our enlightenment!

"We shall avenge the brutal murder of the voice of the people and we shall punish those who are responsible for this act of terror! The Empire and its people shall be victorious!" and with that closing declaration, Palpatine ended his speech. A small but sinister smile forming on his pale and wrinkled face, as the Sith lord made is way from the podium and prepared to set up the senate's replacement.

The Emperor's speech was broadcast throughout Imperial Center's government controlled holonet with much fan fare, as news about the "terrorist attack" on the senate building began ti spread. This attack came as a surprise to many of Imperial Center's citizens, as they had been lead to believe that the star system they were in was one of the most secured sectors in the galaxy. Many in the upper class of society were enraged that such an attack had occurred in the city and galvanized their support any and all measures taken by the Imperial government to avenge his horrific attack.

But while the city's elite condemned the bombings, those who lived in the "protected zones" of the city were less than sympathetic for the sudden lost of the Imperial senate.

"Why couldn't the Emperor be one of the dead?" an disgruntled Twi'lek male asked out loud, as he stood with a group of non humans around a made shift fire.

"Because he was probably the one who set the bomb." a Ithorian replied in his native tongue. "The Senate was meeting to end the war and Palpatine wanted to send a message."

"And what would that be?" the Twi'lek asked, sounding a bit aggressive.

"That he is the absolute power and anyone who gets in his way will be destroyed."

"I heard that!" another Twi'lek agreed, as he too placed his hands close to the open flame for warmth. "With luck the Terrans will march all the way to Coruscant and bombard this planet to rubble!"

"And take the Emperor out in the process!"

"Shh! Look out! Patrol passing." the Ithorian alerted his friends, as he heard the familiar hum of a Imperial patrol vehicle approaching their location. Sure enough a modified speeder commonly used by the security forces on Imperial Center, flew over the huddled group with its spot light briefly flashing upon them, before it moved off to patrol another part of the protected zone. This huddled group may have only represented just a fraction of the alien spices that were forced to live in these so called "Protected Zones", but their personal sentiments towards the Imperial government were shared by everyone who were forced to live in these hidden and often forgotten sectors of the city.

These Zones were nothing more than massive interment camps for all the non human spices that lived in the capital and it was a fact that were not lost on those who were unfortunate enough to call these areas home. But despite their horrid living conditions, the citizens of the protected zones had one thing that the Emperor could not take away from them. Hope.

Despite the best efforts of the Imperial authorities to enforce a media black out in these zones, the truth behind the recent defeats the Empire had sustained had slowly managed to reach these populations. Merchants who would often smuggle items into these areas would often carry news about the war with them, about the insurrection movement that was sweeping the galaxy and were causing major problems for the Systems Moffs. But most of all, they were told about the massive defeats that the Empire had taken since this new conflict began and how entire planets had been liberated within a matter of days in some cases.

True some of these stories may have been embellished by these smugglers, but it did not change the fact that populations within these protected zones were given a much needed boost in their moral. All of them hoping that soon, the combined fleets of the Terran UNSC and Confederacy Navy would soon come and deliver them from their current situation. But as the weather quickly began to change again over head, they were all completely unaware that at that very moment, elements of the UNSC were currently in the process of striking at the very heart of the Imperial war machine.

Or at least they were until their plan literally blew up in their faces.

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( Abandoned housing complex, two kilometers away.)

An heavy cloud hung over commander Suri Yozhov and her team, as the CBMI agents replayed the day's events over and over again in their minds. Months of covert operations and establishing contacts within the Imperial senate had gone down the drain, as the recent bombing of the old senate building had made their efforts all for naught. For months Yozhov and her fellow Central Spike agents had attempted to seek out certain members of the Imperial senate, whose governments were not shy about switching sides and supporting the new Rebel Alliance. But with the loss of the entire senate, there was really no other way for the CBMI to communicate with the "renegade" governments that were represented by the senate.

Now as leader of this Central Spike team, Yozhov was left with the unenviable task of determining just what would be her team's next course of action. Due to the fact that Central Spike teams usually operated with no direct instructions from their superiors, it was usually up to each team's leader to decide what course of action they would take next. Not an easy thing to do since the commander had her last operation literally go up in smoke.

"Well it looks like the Emperor has finally gone over the deep end." Jamie said, as he and the other members of Central Spike sat near a table and spoke about the day's events. A small portable lantern being the only source of illumination in the apartment.

"Like he did not go over the deep end when he started this war?" another agent by the name of Simmons, replied. As he took another sip of his coffee ration and spoke to the assembled group. "Mad or not, that Palpatine fellow just eliminated the one thing that was holding him back from absolute power and the war gave him the opportunity to do so."

"Meanwhile all our hard work just well... went up in smoke." another team member, Kimberly, replied, as she sat with her head down and looked over her wrist mounted mini computer. Just one of the few items CS teams were allowed to carry on them. "We are going to start from scratch all over again now."

"That is if we are going to start all over that is." Simmons replied. "Remember that the commander has the authority to scrap the mission and pull us off this rock."

It was true, even though it was meant for CS teams to operate for months or even years behind enemy lines, each team had the ability to scrap their mission. Provided that they would have to be the ones to have pull themselves out and make their way back to the UNSC, as well as defend their decision to abandon said mission to their superiors. It was a thought that gave the Central Spike leader no great comfort, as she knew all too well that the CBMI leadership would have her head if she were to abort the mission. Especially at a time when the UNSC needed as much intelligence on the Empire as they could.

But as the native of Earth looked on at the squaller that was the Invisec, she saw something that caught her attention. Across the street from her team's location, Suri saw three Speeders that looked like cargo vans suddenly pull up and a large group of Imperial solders emerge from them. For a moment Suri thought that her team had been discovered and that they would have a fire fight on their hand. But those fears were quickly put to rest, as the assembled troopers went to the building across from her location.

As she looked on Suri saw the Imperial solders break down the front door and storm inside. The sounds of women and children screaming suddenly filled the air, as the rest of Yozhov's team soon joined their leader to see just what the commotion was about. Within minutes the troopers had emerged from the dilapidated with a number of small children in tow, many of them trying in vain to break away from the solders grip as they were lead towards the waiting vehicles. While a small group of individuals, possibly their parents, were also brought out at gun point and forced to watch their children be taken away.

"What the hell is going on?" Jamie whispered, as he looked on at what was taking place.

"Why are they taking those children?" Simmons added, as he too was curious as of what was taking place. "Wait, look down there."

"What?"

"That woman down there dressed in the officers uniform. Who is she?"

"If I had to guess, she is the leader of that group." Suri replied, as she took a closer look at the Imperial leader. Another "gadget" that were being utilized by CBMI agents in the field was a specialized eye piece that at first glance they looked like standard contact lenses, but in reality here was nothing standard about them. For they housed thousands of microscopic nanobots that not only enhanced the vision of the wearer, but it also allowed them to access numerous files in an instant. All the while not impairing the vision of the user. The lens itself was standard issue for all CBMI field agents and Central Spike were no different.

Looking directly at the woman in the Imperial uniform, the lens allowed Suri to zoom in on her would be target and no sooner did the CBMI agent got a clear look at the woman, a file automatically opened up with an image of said woman next to it. "Well well Ysanne, what are you up to?"

"Excuse me?" Jamie asked, as he and the rest of the team looked at their leader with curious expressions forming on their faces.

"That woman, she is the head of Imperial Intelligence. Ysanne Isard." Yozhov stated, as she continued to monitor the situation.

"So what is the head of the I.I. doing in Invisec?" Kimberly asked, surprised that such a high ranking official

"Considering her reputation for cruelty, cant be anything good." Jamie replied, as his lens began to display all known information in regards to the female Intelligence head. "Man that bitch is a piece of work!"

"Still does not explain just why she is taking those children away." Kimberly stated, as the group saw the small convoy pull away and fly out of the Invisec. Leaving a small group of solders to deal with the now sobbing aliens who were left behind. Then to the absolute horror of the CBMI agents, said solders suddenly brought up their weapons and opened fire on the unarmed civilians. Killing them instantly in a hail of red energy bolts.

"Well what ever it is she is up to, I seriously doubt it warranted that!" Suri stated, as the imperial solders began to march away from the site of their cold blooded handy work. "Gather everything, we're moving out of Invisec."

"Ma'am?" Simmons said curiously, "Are we scrapping our mission?"

"No." Suri replied firmly. "We're just moving out of Invisec."

"Moving out?" Jamie added, as he and the rest of the team stared at their leader with perplexed expressions forming on their faces.

"Yes, we are." the CBMI field commander replied, "We have a new objective."

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Four months had passed since the assassination of the Imperial senate and the galaxy was still feeling the effects of this sudden change of the political landscape within the Empire. As well as the Emperor's pledge to avenge the lives that were lost in the terrorist attack on the old Senate building.

In response to the loss of the senate, the Emperor created the Imperial Ruling Council. An group of Imperial advisers that had "hastily" assembled by the Emperor himself to oversee the daily affairs of the Empire and would fill the void left be the former senate. Many questioned the credentials of the new governing body, while many more questioned just how the Emperor was able to assemble such a group so quickly after the senate was destroyed. It was not long before the rumors started, of how the apparent bombings were carried out not by the Rebel Alliance, but by forces that were under the direct command of the Emperor himself.

What ever the case may have been once thing was certain, what ever chance at peace the Empire had died with the Senate. As the Emperor and his new governing body began to seek more and more concessions to feed the ever hungry Imperial war machine. A machine that was starting to show signs of wear and tear, as the war began to grind into its tenth month.

With the outer rim firmly in UNSC/Confederacy control, several major Imperial star systems soon found themselves on the front lines of this conflict. As the Imperial fleet soon found themselves engaging the enemies of the Empire in their own territory. So far the bulk allied forces came from the Confederacy of Independent systems, seeing that the CIS fleet still numbered in the millions at the end of the Clone Wars. But even though the majority of their fleet were still made up of vessels used in the last intergalactic conflict (Lucrehulk-class Battleship, Providence-class Destroyer/Carrier), they were still proving to be more than a match for the Empire's "mordern" fleet. Thanks in part to the numerous upgrades that were provided by both the UNSC and private corporations that had invested heavily in new technologies for these vessels.

But don't think that just because the Confederacy had the largest allied fleet, the UNSC and the Rebel Alliance were not pulling their weight for the war effort. What they lacked in numbers, they more than made up for it in flexibility and strategy, as they too launched dozens of hit and run missions deep within Imperial space. In an attempt to disrupt the Empire's war machine and it's ability to launch a successful counter offensive. Not to mention that the UNSC had managed to conduct landings of their own on a couple Imperial held worlds.

The war was now in full swing with no signs of letting up, as the holonets were awash with reports that were coming from the front lines. Many worlds on both sides tuned in to their news providers to learn about what was happening, but while those on the Terran/Confederacy side of the lines were told about the recent gains and losses sustained by their forces, the propaganda machine within the Empire continued to paint the war as a glorious crusade. A crusade to not only rid the Empire and the galaxy of both the Terrans and Confederacy, but to avenge all those "innocents" that had been killed by their treachery.

Even if their ultimate goal of victory, came at a price that many worlds within the Empire could not afford to pay. A price that had already left many governments and planets in ruin.

But for the worlds that fell under the dominion of the Terran government and their UNSC, the war was still very far away for those who lived on these planets. Life carried on and on the planet of Naboo it was no different, even though the Kingdom had been caught in the conflict earlier in the year. If one were to walk the streets of Theed or any other major city on Naboo, they would not have guessed that the entire planet was in a state of war. Only the presence of uniformed UNSC and RNDF personnel ruin the illusion that everything was well.

But as the people of Naboo went about their daily lives, they were completely unaware that a casualty of that fateful battle was currently in the process of not only rebuilding her life. But also her mental train of thought, as she was forced to deal with the fact that all she had learned while training under the Emperor, was wrong.

In the eight months Mara had been living with the Jedi at their academy, the former assassin was given a view into an Order that she had one time thought of as villainous. For a long time she was thought to believe that the Jedi were the enemies of the Empire and stood against the new Order that the Emperor was pushing. In some ways it was true, the Jedi did oppose the Emperor and his new order and in a way it did make them the enemies of Empire.

But these were not the faceless cowards that Palpatine had painted them to be for so long. These were actual living creatures that even though they did not show it, Mara could feel the sadness that lingered in the back of each of the senor Jedi minds. Of course the former Hand member did not let any of her host know that she was force sensitive, but she did have a nagging suspicion that the Jedi knew more about her than she originally thought. But if their was one positive thing that came out of her current situation, was the fact that for the very first time in her life, Mara could actually attempt to reach out and form bonds with others. Or in other words, friendships.

This was something that was normally frowned upon when she was in training, as the Emperor had said that the only bonds one should make, should be ones that could benefit them while on mission. As a matter a fact, Mara began to notice that there were a number of things wrong with what the Emperor had thought her over the years and it was not long before she began to question a number of his teachings.

Just why was the Emperor so insistent that all those who did not share his vision of the new order be eliminated? Even more so, why force this new Order on those who did not wish to be apart of it? Were all those "enemies" that the Emperor ordered her to kill, really a threat at all?

All these questions and more still haunted Mara, as she made he way from her room, to the academy's cafeteria to get herself some breakfast. It was a new day after all and Mara had planned to do much more than stay in her room and sulk over her past actions. But as the fiery red head passed one of the training room, something in the corner of her eye caught her attention.

For within the somewhat spacious interior of said room, Mara saw the last person she expected to see sparring with a training droid. "Luke!" Mara called out loudly, as she entered the room.

The young Jedi for his part lost his concentration for a moment, long enough for the droid to get the upper hand and proceed to soundly trip him with its sparring staff. Mara smiled a bit as she saw the blond go down and land hard on his back.

"Oh... Mara, I didn't see you there." the Jedi in training replied, all be it a bit awkwardly. As he slowly began to pick himself up from the padded floor and greeted his friend. "What's up?"

"Nothing." Mara replied politely, "I was just on my way to get some breakfast when I head you being defeated by that droid."

"Hey!" Luke exclaimed, his pride taking a hit by the red head's comment. "I would have beaten it if you had not distracted me!"

"Perhaps." Marra commented, as she walked up to the droid and examined it. "but you were leaving your right flank exposed to attack. You are lucky that it did not break your ribs."

"I would have beaten it before it could even hit me." the young Skywalker replied, starting to get a bit annoyed by Mara's snarky remarks. A fact that made the red head smile even more, as she had gotten into the habit of teasing Luke every chance she got. A habit that she had taken up after spending time with some of the other Jedi in the academy.

"But yet you still ended up on the floor and fortunately for you, it is padded." Mara quipped, as she took the training droid's staff and looked it over. "You know, I have been sparring with some of the other students and they have showed me a few things. But so far they have only had me sparring with droids."

"So I guess you want me spar with you?" Luke asked curiously, as he looked over his curvaceous tormentor. "Are you sure you want to do that? I have been doing this for quite a while."

"Really? I couldn't tell." Mara replied, her snarky attitude showing itself once again.

"Fine, if that's what you want." the blue eyed blond said, as he activated his sparring staff. The two ends extending out and locking into place, as the second generation Jedi got into a fighting stance. Seeing that her opponent had accepted her challenge, Mara got into her own stance and waited for Luke to make the first move. Normally the Jedi would train with light sabers, seeing that it was their primary weapon of choice. But now at days new trainees had the option to learn to use other weapons such as UNSC issue hand guns (M6G), to other hand held weapons such as the M1"Lance" both Mara and Luke were using.

Now they were about to test each others skill with the Terran designed weapons, as the duo waited for one another to make the first move. Suddenly Luke shot upwards and brought his lance down to land the first strike, but Mara was quick to respond and rolled out of the way just moments before it could connect. But no sooner had the Jedi in training landed on the padded floor, his sparring partner spun around in an attempt to knock him over. But Luke was quick to respond and was able block Mara's attack, before leaping back to gain some distance between himself and his surprisingly skilled opponent.

"Not bad." Luke said with a smile, as he watched Mara from across the room.

"Not bad at all." Mara agreed, "But you were a bit sloppy with your attack and I was able to easily defect it."

"Well I wanted to go easy on some one as cute as you." Luke teased, "But if you want me to be rough..." he trailed off, as he once again got ready to strike.

Mara was ready to meet Luke's attack when she suddenly realized, 'Wait a minute... did HE just call me cute?' but the former Hand member did not have time to deal with the opponent's statement. As she was forced to leap back to dodge the attack and regain her balance. But as she did so, he mind was still trying to digest the fact that someone had called her "cute"

Sure Mara had notice many senior officials in the Empire, admire her figure when she was a dancer in the Imperial Palace and more than a few had tried to press their luck with the assassin. But for some reason the fact that this up start Jedi apprentice had called her "cute", shocked Mara to no great extent. Unfortunately for Mara Luke's words had actually manage to throw her concentration off a bit, as the Jedi was able to literally sweep Mara off her feet with his lance. Causing Mara to land hard on her back with a loud thud, knocking the wind of her lungs in the process.

"Game.. set... match..." The young Skywalker said triumphantly, as he stood over his downed opponent with his lance pointed directly at her face. "Do you surrender?"

"You... distracted me." Mara gasped, as her lungs were now trying to retrieve the air they had lost in the sudden fall.

"Well... you distracted me first." Skywalker replied smugly, as she stood over his fallen sparring partner. "Do you surrender?"

"I could do that and allow myself to feed your overinflated ego." Mara responded, as she looked up at her would be assailant. "Or I could just teach you a harsh lesson the hard way."

"Really...?" the blue eyed blond asked curiously. "And what lesson would that be?"

A small but evil smile began to creep across Mara's lips as she continued to looked up at Luke, who himself was starting to feel a bit unnerved by her facial expression. Suddenly the young Jedi in training felt the sensation of both his legs being knock out from under him, followed by the loud thud that signaled his had struck the padded floor hard. He struck the floor hard.

"You were overconfident when you should have had your guard up." Mara said confidently, as she stood over her fallen opponent. "Just because you opponent may be down, does not automatically mean that they are defeated. Just be glad this is not a real life situation, or we would not be having this conversation."

"Uh... yea..." Luke groaned back, as he struggled to regain his breath. "So... I guess that is the end of our sparring session?"

"For now, anyway." red head replied. "But I suggest that the next time I challenge you to another session, make sure not to waste my time." and with that statement, Mara deactivated her Lance and exited the training room. Leaving a battered, bruised and winded Skywalker on the padded floor.

The only thing the young man could do at that point was stay motionless on the floor as he thought to himself, 'Dad and Uncle Daniel always told me that when it came to women, we never win... guess I now know what they were talking about. Uhhh! Why are the beautiful ones always the ones to leave a guy in pain?'

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( Unknown Location, Imperial Center... )

"Do you see anything, Jamie?" Yozhov asked curiously, as she and the rest of her team hid in the shadows within a building that was known to be home to a number of senior Imperial officers.

"Nothing yet." the young native of the New Brazilia colony replied, as he peered into the building's hanger. "She has not arrived yet."

"Obviously this woman has no life outside of I.I." Kimberly joked, as she too hid behind a parked utility speeder. "I wonder if she even knows that she has an apartment?"

"After what I have seen in the last few months, I would not be too surprised that she forgot that she did." Jamie replied, as he continued to search of the group's target. His nano augmented contact lenses aiding him in his duty as the group's lookout. "I will tell you one thing, I can not wait to see the look on the bitch's face when we get out hands on her."

"You and me both." Simmons replied, as he looked over the blaster pistol that he appropriated during a minor run in with Imperial security forces. "But for now let's just see if she even arrives tonight."

"Shhh! Hold on, I got something!" Jamie suddenly exclaimed, as he and the rest of the group suddenly fell silent and placed their hands over their concealed weapons. All of them tensing up, as the possibility for an unwanted firefight with Imperial solders, began to surface in the minds of Yozhov and her team. But fortunately for them, this was not the case.

For no sooner had the group hidden themselves, a rather long speeder escorted by solders that were riding om speeder bikes, suddenly flew into the hanger bay and came to a stop in front the pedestrian entrance. No sooner had the small procession had come to a stop, a woman in her late thirties and dressed in an red Imperial uniform suddenly got out of the limousine like vehicle and made her way into the building. A serious yet neutral expression could have been seen on her face, as the woman disappeared behind a pair of sliding doors. While the limo and its escorts took back off and made their way out of the bay.

"Well what do you know... she remembered that she does have an apartment." Kimberly said quietly, as she and the rest of the Central Spike team cautiously made their way out of the shadows.

"Now let us go and pay old Ice Heart a visit." Suri declared, as she and her team suddenly pressed a small button on their wrist mounted devices. Suddenly all four members vanished into thin air, as millions of nanobots covered their bodies and worked in unison to activate an effective cloaking field around each person.

Moments later the entrance into the building opened up, only to close again after a few seconds. If one were to see the door, they would have only thought that it was only a minor glitch in the system. Never could they have imagine that what they had just witnessed was an CBMI operation that would lead to the biggest intelligence coup since Operation Wind Talker.

The CBMI was about to pay a visit to an woman whose heart many said was made out of ice. A woman by the name of Ysanne Isard.

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A/N: Que the cheesy dramatic music! Looks like Isard is about to get some late night visitors, but what did she do to have Central Spike wait for her and what do children have to do with it? I guess you will have to wait to find out.

Now I know that I fast forwarded it a bit and I know that many of you may not have liked that move, but for the sake of the story, I thought it was needed. But the war is not over just yet and the Empire still has a few surprises.

But here is the kicker, I want to know what you think should be Ysanne's ultimate fate in the story? Should she die or should she live?

Note I will only take votes that are sent to me via private messaging. Do not vote in your reviews, I will not count them.

Until I update again... laterz :)