Hardy pirouetted around the room as she thumbed around the holoprojector while Tuka, Rory, Yao, and RT3 watched her with discontent. They could only really watch as the stewards stood next to them while they continued to sit at the dining table. More stewards were called in ever since Hardy possessed Lelei and it was quickly understood that the stewards standing by them as close as they were, was intended to keep them in line.

"This is RT13. Hey! Who are yo—"

"Base Logistics. Administrator Jell speaking. Hello? Hel—"

"This is Vice Chancellor Amedda. To wh—"

While Hardy was fascinated by the alien appearances that came up on the holoprojector, Fordo patiently waited. Picking his moment, Fordo waited for Hardy to circle near his position at the table and lunged for the holoprojector. Hardy maintained a soft grip on it so it flew when it was smacked out of her hand. While she was shocked at what he just did, two stewards moved to restrain him. Unfortunately for them, Fordo managed to quickly wrestle out of their grip. They prepared themselves for a fight but Fordo calmly sat back down having calculated his strike correctly. The flying holoprojector dropped right into Rory's outstretched hand.

"I'll hang on to this." She said. Fordo would nod as he knew the stewards were unlikely to take it off her. Not that he really needed it. He already discreetly signaled to Fick to call the others they left behind to rendezvous with the Commander and General when they showed up. He just didn't want Hardy to continue making prank calls.

Hardy attempted to use puppy dog eyes to get Rory to give her the holoprojector but she was rebuffed. Stomped her foot like a spoiled child, she cried out, "Pooh! You guys are no fun! All you do is stare at me with that look." She scoffed at the same vacant or enraged stares continuing to persist.

Even though it hadn't been that long since Fick called for everyone else and Hardy's stipulation of Lelei probably lasting for a day before her brain melts, he didn't want to take any chances on that and anxiously thought, 'When is the General going to get here?'

His thought would be answered when the dark elf steward entered the room, "Your Holiness. General Deova and Commander Wrench."

"Ahh!" Hardy called out. She immediately pranced towards them and motioned her hand to the table, "Welcome! Welcome! Please, come join us."

Fordo and the others watched them approach and they eventually sat down on a pair of extra seats next to Hardy with her at the head of the table. Fordo observed that they were still armed in catching a glimpse of their weapons tucked away on a belt or holsters. He wondered if Eila pulled a mind trick on the steward. Although, he found it strange none of the other stewards or Hardy took notice since the two weren't exactly hiding them.

Eila immediately started, "Well, I'm here, Hardy. Now what do you want?"

"To the point, I see. Well, I called you here Eila, because I want you and your army to leave this place."

Eila had mixed feelings over the statement but still asked, "Are you serious?"

"Very. You're probably wondering, 'Why would I leave anyway?' And it is true. You've demonstrated your strength to the Empire and now you're trying to establish a cozy, reciprocal, relationship with them now that they've been scared into submission. So, why should you throw away all of that work? I ask because, for one thing, you and your people are upsetting the balance of this world."

"And why should I—"

"Yes! Yes! Yes! I know. Why should you care? Well, after going through this girl's memories, you have the Force."

Eila frowned at the mention.

Hardy continued, "Being a, what was it again? Oh! A Jedi. You and your Order values the balance of the Force. Why would that idea be any different here? I'm trying to maintain balance here too."

"The Empire attacked us first of all. We had to respond. And now that the Empire knows our resolve, we now want to help them develop as a society. Besides, from what I've read and seen, your balance seems to be to slaughter anyone who advances the world by even a little bit."

Hardy smirked and tapped a finger to her head, "Ahh, yes. Lelei remembers. That we live in fear of what lesser beings can do. I will admit such…'progress' can be dangerous. But, that progress can be dangerous to the people of this world when misused and you already know we do our duty to curb reckless power from that misuse."

Eila shook her head, "No, you don't. I've looked over the history of you and your fellow gods, Hardy. There may have been a time when you thought that way, but you do it now because you think that the suffering of people is fun."

Hardy noticeably twitched but continued, "Regardless, you shouldn't help the Empire. Think of the Empire as a rotting part of your body. Do you leave it to spread? Or do you cut it off to keep yourself alive?"

"The Empire isn't dying."

"Well, you should have finished them off. It would have been a mercy. You've seen it. The Empire revels in immorality and conquest. They have a penchant for making more enemies than friends. And when they think they've made friends, the Empire and all of its allies are usually just biding their time to stab each other in the back. That can't be allowed to flourish. In one way or the other, the Empire will be destroyed either by themselves or by someone else if they continue. I was just helping them along that path by opening the Gate to you."

She looked down a bit at Hardy's mention of friends and enemies but continued, "The Empire is changing its ways for the better."

Hardy gave a short laugh, "Ha! Do you truly believe that? There may be reformers like Princess Pina every now and then but she'll only live for so long before she's replaced by a tyrant that snaps everything back."

"That might happen, but there will always be people who will want change."

"Tch. An optimist. But if you won't leave to respect balance, you should still leave to protect both our worlds."

"And why is that?"

"Have you noticed any earth shakes recently?"

Eila grimaced further. Their certainly had been more earthquakes lately. There was the first one back when they first met the Emperor but there were also dozens of minor earthquakes happening across the continent that usually came to her attention because it would be reported by the recon teams out in the field. They were increasing in frequency but she had dismissed them as inconsequential as they weren't quite as severe as the first earthquake they encountered. But if Hardy was taking an interest, then there might be a problem.

Hardy smiled, "Judging from that look on your face, it looks like you have. Now tell me, have you had any earth shakes back home?"

Eila thought on it but answered, "Actually, no. There have been no earthquakes on Coruscant."

Hardy was surprised, "What?! How?!"

Eila thought back and knew Coruscant has gone under such heavy terraforming over the past 20,000 years that earthquakes had virtually become non-existent and there were all sorts of technologies in the deep underground of the planet stopping them from coming up again.

Although, despite the technologies and terraforming, there were supposed to be earthquakes on Coruscant coinciding with the earthquakes in the Special Region. But unbeknownst to her and anyone else, there actually was an additional layer of protection in the Force inhibiting the effects.

But ignoring Hardy's surprise, she continued, "What's so important about earthquakes on Coruscant?"

"Hmm. How bizarre. But, it is important because the earth shakes are a symptom of our worlds being connected."

"A symptom?"

"Yes. Our worlds aren't meant to be connected. It messes with the natural order of the universe. Normally, our two worlds are separated from each other and how a civilization on both progresses is dictated by evolution and survival of the fittest. But now that they're connected, there's all sorts of interference going on that the universe won't tolerate for long. For now, it's limited to minor earth shakes, but as time goes on, the earth shakes will grow stronger to the point that it will eventually force the worlds apart but not before they cause considerable damage. Even if…Coruscant was it…is unaffected for now, it may soon will be. That's why I want you to leave, to bring back that balance."

Eila's eyes narrowed and she scowled, "And you knew this for a fact? But you still opened a Gate anyway knowing this?!"

Hardy attempted to explain herself but Rory interrupted by slamming her hands on the table. "Damn it, Hardy!" She shouted. "You preach to us Apostles to maintain the natural order but it seems to me all of you gods screw with it anyway at your pleasure!"

Hardy decided to admit it. As much as she and the other gods cared for balance, they also cared about their fun. Potential reality breaking paradoxes be damned.

"Oh, dear Rory, of course we do. We gods always have a different reason for messing with balance. But that's why the Apostles exist, to put everything back once that change has reached the end of its usefulness."

"Well, this time, you've gone too far!"

Rory decided to admit to something that had been lingering in her head for a while, "The Republic is an entity beyond even our abilities to deal with." She turned with some hesitation to the clones and Eila, "Y—You scare me." She thought back to the fire dragon, Giselle, and the Empire's armies which were all swept away without too much effort. She even thought back to the time that Battle Droid shot her. The weapons were similar and can likewise inflict the same pain. It even terrified her that their weapons could be capable of killing her if they seriously committed themselves.

Everyone but Hardy would be shocked at her admission. Eila would try to comfort her, "R—Rory, we don't mean to—"

"I know. You've never intended to scare me." Her face quickly hardened, "But I have a duty to this world and Hardy is right. I've never voiced this before because you're such nice people but your presence is changing the balance of this world. Even though I like the changes you're making, I still..." She stopped and then gave a cold stare at Hardy in remembering the comment made about continuing Giselle's work, "You want me to clean up this 'mess'. Isn't that it, Hardy?"

Hardy gave a sharp breath and got up to circle the table, "Oh, don't worry about that, Rory. If you're so opposed to it, I won't force you. You are, after all, Emroy's Apostle. Not mine. So..." After one rotation, she stopped behind Eila.

Rory noticed, "Wait. What the hell are you doing?"

"Cleaning up the mess."

Suddenly, Hardy's essence left Lelei for Eila. Just like before, Eila would convulse to the alien presence.

"General!" Wrench called out as he quickly tried to stop her from hurting herself as she twitched. Everyone got up due to what just happened but their attention would then be drawn to Lelei. The stewards stood by defensively but allowed them to move.

"Gaaahhh!" Lelei screamed. Falling to the ground, Tuka, Yao, and Ramius quickly went to her aid. While Tuka and Yao supported her, Ramius would end up examining her hand as it suddenly grew black and blue and her fingers went crooked.

"Sh—She never healed it." Lelei gasped. Upon overhearing it, Fordo quickly concluded that the damage and pain only came now as Hardy kept it at bay ever since she flicked Rory's halberd. Fordo wondered whether Hardy couldn't actually heal it or it was just out of maliciousness. Rory knew better that Hardy was doing it out of maliciousness. Ramius quickly went to work to treat her hand and prevent more damage.

"General! General!" Wrench continued to shout but he would soon feel despair when Eila suddenly went limp with her face lying on the table.

"General! General!" He shook her a few times.

"Oh—Oh, no."

While Wrench was distressed at what just happened, everyone else stood silently and wondered why. Unlike with Lelei, it seemed to be taking longer for Eila to just suddenly wake and become Hardy. The changes weren't happening as seamlessly as before.

Eila opened her eyes and took some heavy gasps. She felt like there was something pressing on her chest that was stopping her from breathing. But looking down, it was just a blanket. Pulling the blanket off, she sat by the side of the bed and tried to catch her breath. Once her breathing normalized, she looked around. It was her room. But not the one from the base on Alnus but back at the Jedi Temple. She wondered if she was transferred back home because of what Hardy did as she saw Lelei's possessed body come up behind her and then felt Hardy's presence before blacking out. She wondered if the Jedi healers pulled Hardy out of her or if Hardy left on her own.

Stumbling up, she grabbed her robes and reached for the light switch. With the lights on, she moved to the blinds. Opening them, it showed the serene view of the Coruscant skyline at night that she knows, but something was off. There was no speeder traffic. No traffic anywhere. Even squinting to see off further in the distance, there was still none. There was nothing flying in the air. Wondering where they had all gone, she had a quick look around for her lightsaber, which was also missing. Feeling some frustration at not finding it, she moved to the door. Opening it up to the hallway, there was no one in sight. Another oddity as there should at least be someone walking around. Even if it was late at night, there should be Jedi Temple Guards patrolling. Going back into her room, she tapped the communications pad on her desk.

"Hello? This is Eila Deova. Is anyone receiving?"

Silence.

"This is Eila Deova. Please respond."

Silence again.

Shaking her head, she left her room. Wandering the halls, it continued to baffle her. There was no one. Everyone was gone. No Temple Guards, no Masters, no Knights, no Padawans or Younglings. Even the non-Jedi support staff were missing. Feeling some panic, she began barging into people's quarters.

"Hello?! Hello?!"

It would be the same response she'd give as she checked room after room in different sections of the Temple. The sights would all be the same with no people. In the back of her mind, she wondered if Hardy had something to do with this. Panting heavily after checking so many rooms, she decided to make the Council Chamber her final stop. Taking the elevator up and entering the Chamber, she would continue to be dismayed that none of the Masters were there but she would be confused that there was a clone trooper standing at the center of the room facing away from her.

Approaching the trooper, she recognized the style and the three dashes on the shoulder pad. The trooper also wore no helmet and she could see the distinctive gray streaks in his hair. But she couldn't feel any impressions from him like his mind had been turned off. Reaching out to turn him around, she called out, "Wrench?"

Suddenly, Wrench turned with a blaster pistol in hand and pointed it at her face. She couldn't react quickly enough as Wrench fired point blank.

Seeing a bright blue flash, she reflexively screamed and clutched her face. For a few seconds, she could swear that she felt the hot plasma spreading across her face and essentially taking out her eye. But the pain quickly vanished and she noticed she was lying down on a bed again.

"What the—"

"Well, well, well! That was certainly interesting!" A voice interrupted.

It was one Eila didn't recognize but she quickly had a good idea who it was. 'Damn,' She thought, 'She's still here.'

Feeling some anger, she shouted out as she got up, "Hardy!"

Surely enough, she was back in her room and Hardy was sitting on a chair at her desk. While the clones had already seen Hardy's original appearance, it was new for her. Despite that, Eila felt like punching the smug look she had on her face, especially since Hardy was casually twirling her lightsaber around her hand.

"What the hell was that?" Eila seethed.

"Oh, just some tinkering with your Force and your head." Hardy responded and then thought, 'Being able to get a glimpse in time was rather interesting. I wonder when that will be?'

Eila hissed, "Don't do that again."

"Hmph. I've been getting that a lot. Still, you're so rigid. You keep resisting."

"Oh, yeah? Well, people usually don't like other people inside their heads."

"Really? And yet, you and your Jedi Order are able to probe people's heads all the time whenever you want."

Eila paused but answered, "That's different. We don't give people nightmares or…" She could feel Hardy trying to dig deeper into her mind, "…dredge up their private thoughts unless there's a good reason."

"Oops! Tried a little too hard there. But still, I see it as the same thing. We're not all that different in that regard. We have powers that can subvert a person's free will. Show their insides, on their outsides." Hardy developed an unsettling grin.

She continued, "Tell me, how many times have you used that mind trick? Very useful in a war isn't it? Convince that one nosy guard he saw nothing, and then you and your men ambush his friends. How about all your other abilities? How many people have you killed using them?"

She noticed Eila frown deeply, "Yes. That's right. Your enemies weren't always those machines, droids as you call them, even before you came here. The armies you've faced on Separatist worlds weren't always comprised of droids."

She paused. "Ahh, there it is. Feeling so bound to duty, to the Republic, and to your Order. That must be a comforting reason for killing those people. And rationalizing it with destroying as many of those robots as possible to make up the difference for not only that but for your Master's mistakes as well is rather adorable."

"You're one to talk about killing people." Eila sneered.

Hardy feigned being insulted, "Well, that's just not true. I haven't killed anyone directly in…oh dear, I don't even remember anymore. The fire dragon, you might think. I only suggested that to Giselle. What someone does with my suggestion isn't my problem."

"Well, if someone's pulling the strings…"

"Yes, yes, yes. Responsibility. Again, I don't really care. But maybe you should take responsibility for some of your things. Your interest in entertainment? Your other interest? I'm sure the Jedi Order would like to know of your interests. Just to tear you apart for showing some individuality."

That got on her nerves, "Shut up."

Ignoring her, Hardy continued, "But then again, entertainment is, well…entertaining, even though you haven't had much time lately because of your job. But an interest spurred on because your Order encourages a rather dull life. And your other interest? Well, he does have that distinguished look." She paused in accessing more of Eila's mind, "Haha! Again, the Order! Told to love but not exactly in that way! But I suppose you're not really the first one to go that way."

"Shut up!"

Pausing for a moment, Hardy pointed out, "Ooh! There's that anger. Tut, tut, tut! Not very good for someone like you." She mockingly imitated Yoda's accent, "Anger leads to hate, remember?"

"Then get out of my head."

"Nope, not yet. Now that I've gotten a deeper understanding of where you're from, I get why you wouldn't want to leave. I see now that it would've been pointless to convince you. You have your superiors as well, just like the clones, and they will never consider leaving." She began thinking of how to deal with that detail.

She continued, "But it's not just having a relationship with the Empire anymore. No. It's more now. I'm sure you know why." She waited for a response.

Eila decided to humor her, "Because we want to explore the surrounding star systems. Because this place has resources. Because the people of this world, not just the Empire, could benefit from our knowledge."

Hardy clapped her hands with a large smile, "Correct on all points! An Empire needs to stretch its legs! Grow its influence!" It flew over Eila's head that she wasn't referring to the Saderan Empire or simply changing the title of the Republic in jest.

Suddenly, her demeanor quickly shifted to a more serious tone, "But you left something out, Eila. How about those…kyber crystals as you call them. Rather greedy of you and your Order to want them all for yourselves. To take something from me is rather bold. Goddess of the underworld, after all."

Seeing that the standard techniques of trying to block Hardy out weren't working at all and equally concerned that she couldn't read her thoughts back, she decided to say what Hardy already knew from her, "We want to keep them out of some very dangerous hands."

"Ahh, yes. The Sith Lord that's been playing your Order for fools. He started a war and has been nudging all sorts of planets towards chaos. Well, he does have the position in your government."

"Are you saying the Sith Lord is a politician from the Republic?"

At this point, anyone who wasn't privy to insider information within the Jedi Council's meetings who already suspected the Senate and the Chancellor, didn't have much information on who the elusive Sith Lord was. The rank and file Jedi just knew there was one.

"Yes. Having a hand in your Force is rather…invigorating. But just like the Masters in your Order, I can't really see who he is exactly. But I can feel he's surprisingly powerful for a mere mortal." In the back of her mind though, this frightened Hardy a lot. For someone to possess near god-like powers like that was deeply concerning.

"But it seems to me," Hardy continued, "That your precious Jedi Order isn't quite the shining beacon it's supposed to be. It encourages the ideals of peace and freedom but doesn't allow it for its own members by involving them in wars and restricting their own personal freedoms. You're Masters in that Council of yours are likely keeping secrets from everyone else too. And it allows its Jedi like you to violate the sovereignty of worlds if it suits their purposes."

Hardy smugly thought of where she could sign up to join to do all the immoral things its highest members were likely doing behind everyone's back but continued, "But you need not bother."

Still somewhat bewildered by Hardy's critique of the Order, Eila responded, "W—Why not?"

Hardy smiled as she got up having finally reached a decision on how to convince the Republic to leave and finally managing to extend her reach. Walking over to Eila and cupping her face, she said softly, "Well, that Sith Lord is going to be the least of your problems now."

Eila remained bewildered on what she meant by that.

"Oh! By the way, I have a policy of not allowing weapons into my Temple. Most people think it's for my protection"

She leaned in and whispered directly into Eila's ear, "I'm going to show you why they're wrong."

"Call for a LAAT! Tell the base doctor to prepare for a medical emergency!" Wrench instructed to Fordo after Ramius shook his head for Eila still being unresponsive despite his efforts to revive her.

The rest of RT3 burst through the door. They had been patiently waiting for a signal to enter in the event Hardy decided to be difficult and hearing Wrench yelling for a LAAT was an obvious one. The stewards lording over Wrench and the others reacted to the intruders.

"Here they come." Alloy called as he and the others switched to the stun setting.

The near-human stewards took advantage of their heightened animal reflexes. Some running on all fours and jumping all over the place and others immediately grabbing the furniture with their heightened strength to throw at them. The human stewards simply chose to charge at them grabbing whatever they could as a weapon.

"Protect Hardy!" They cried.

Alloy, Noah, Cabby, and Zipper began dodging the incoming furniture and fired their stuns at the approaching opponents. The human stewards were easy enough to take down but the near-human ones, especially the ones with enhanced speed closed the gap. One managed to jump on top of Cabby but Zipper was quick to cover him with the steward immediately falling unconscious on top of him. Another attempted to jump on Noah but he simply smacked her away with the butt of his blaster and once she fell, he stunned her just to make sure. A lucky human steward who got past the shots brandishing a dining fork attempted to stab Alloy but unluckily for her, Alloy simply stopped her strike with one arm and used his other arm holding the blaster to stun her. However, the next ones to approach them were the ones with the enhanced strength who threw the furniture at them. Zipper quickly fired a stun bolt at one but she only stumbled for a bit and pushed on.

"Arrgh!" Zipper yelled as the steward managed get close and punched him straight in the chest. His clone armor visibly cracked from the strike and he flew against the wall. The three others quickly reacted and fired a flurry of stuns at the steward who finally went down.

Realizing a need for more hands as there were at least five more of these stewards getting close to them, Noah quickly called to Cabby, "The blasters!"

Reacting to his call, Cabby pulled out one of Fordo's blaster pistols and immediately threw it at him. Fordo caught it, switched to stun, and began blasting from behind them. Cabby quickly pulled out two more DC-15 carbines and tossed them at Fick and Hoot. Like Fordo, they also began blasting them from behind. The barrage of stun bolts finally brought down the last of the stewards and the room fell quiet.

Seeing that he couldn't do any more for Eila, Ramius quickly rushed for Zipper. Alloy and Noah stood by Zipper while Ramius examined him.

"It's not so bad." Zipper coughed.

"Oh, yeah? Even though the armor absorbed most of the force, you might have a chest contusion. We have to get you under a scanner."

While Zipper gave a weak nod, Cabby was already handing the confiscated blasters the priests took from the others, which they just stole back. Especially, Fordo who had to remove the extra weapons on him. Once finished, Cabby moved, with Ray's assistance, to start binding the arms and legs of the stewards just in case any of them woke up early.

Fick would move on to assist Hoot as he brought in a stretcher to carry Eila out, while Noah and Ramius assisted Zipper onto a stretcher as well.

"Let's go!" Wrench ordered. "Before anymore uninvited guests come."

"Sir, yes sir!" They called out.

However, before they could all walk out of the room, Fordo noticed Eila's light brunette hair slowly changing to silver.

"Commander." Fordo warned. The entourage stopped as Fick and Hoot put Eila's stretcher down.

Turning to Noah and Ramius, Wrench ordered, "You two! Get Zipper out of here. Meet with the LAAT at the rendezvous point and head back. Have them also pick up the tank and speeders. I don't think we'll be welcome here after. Call for another LAAT to stand by for us." Turning to Tuka and Yao who were helping Lelei along who still had a busted hand, "You guys go with them."

Tuka and Yao gave the impression that they intended to help but Wrench shook his head. If Lelei was any measure of Hardy's abilities, he didn't want more people to get caught up in what was likely going to be a fight. With some reluctance, the trio would follow Noah and Ramius out.

Wrench turned to Rory and the both of them gave a nod on a silent agreement on what to do next. The remaining troopers nervously readied their blasters for a stun fest while Rory gripped her halberd tighter. After a tense minute of waiting for Eila to wake up, the clones looked at each other as Eila continued to remain comatose despite her hair having fully changed to silver. Wrench approached slowly to simply check if there were any more physical changes. His concern would be immediately answered as all of them suddenly got thrown off their feet away from her.

Getting up, 'Eila' began to stretch. Her bones giving minor pops as she made all the motions.

"Ahh," She exhaled, "This! This is refreshing."

She moved to remove the bun her hair was in and shook her head free. Immediately after shaking her head, she would turn to suddenly see Rory, already in the air, halberd in hand, and making the first strike.

From Rory's point of view, she would see for a moment 'Eila' eerily smile at her, call upon the lightsaber with the Force, and activated it to immediately block her attack.

When their weapons locked together, 'Eila' waggled a finger, "Tsk, tsk, tsk. We really shouldn't fight like this, sweetie!"

"Get out of her body, NOW! HARDY!" Rory bellowed. She had never felt such a rage and intent to hurt Hardy. Although, she was off put by Hardy's eyes which were a mix of the standard red Hardy normally had and yellow.

"Still the temper, I see." Hardy's face changed from a dissonant smile to sudden anger, "You should really…remember your place!"

Extending her free hand, Rory began choking. Her mood quickly switched from angry to patronizing while Rory continued to choke, "Oh, dear. Why do you make me do this? I didn't want to resort to this but you are being just so difficult. I'm doing your job for you in trying to get these people to leave and bring back balance."

Still continuing to gasp for air, Hardy gained a creepy smile and propositioned to her, "Want me to make it a little tighter?"

Rory could only continue to choke.

Luckily, Hardy's hold on Rory would be broken when Fordo came running in and tackled Hardy from the side. Both would tumble to the ground but Fordo quickly positioned himself on top to pin Hardy down immediately. He would attempt to hit her with the stunner built into his gauntlet but unfortunately, his attempt to grapple her on the ground would only work for a little while as Hardy would Force push him off of her. Getting up and brushing herself off, Hardy would see the other clones up with their blasters pointed at her and ready for a fight.

She smirked, readied the lightsaber, and noted, "This seems familiar."

Seeing no other reaction from the clones other than pointed blasters, she declared, "It's treason, then."

Wrench didn't feel up to it. Ignoring Eila's status as a Jedi and his General, he had come to appreciate her friendship over the three long years of the war. They had come to rely on each other quite deeply. But remembering Krell and the effort the 501st and 212th reported to bring down the rogue Jedi, he would be the first to fire at her. Following suit, the men began to fire a frenzy of stun bolts at Hardy. Using Eila's increased dexterity, Hardy quickly dodged the shots and with the ones she couldn't avoid, she immediately blocked them with the lightsaber. Feeling the Force, Hardy began to use it to throw objects at the clones and even destroy the environment in attempts to kill them.

"Watch out! Watch out!" Hoot called as the pillars along the walls were ripped out, began to fall towards them, and unfortunately ended up crushing some of the still unconscious stewards on the floor.

Alloy and Fick would sprint out of the way as parts of the ceiling came falling down due to pillars no longer supporting them.

"Flank her! Go!" Wrench ordered to Fordo, Ray, and Cabby while he dodged high-speed furniture coming at him.

While the firefight continued, Rory regained her composure, quickly saw the situation, and immediately engaged Hardy. Jumping into the fight, she would exchange blows with Hardy and occasionally jump out of the way when the clones attempted to get shots. Rory found Hardy's defense to be impeccable as she was using Eila's own memories of defensive lightsaber combat. But Rory knew that she only needed a moment for Hardy to waiver to stop her. She knew that Hardy and frankly, all the others, called themselves gods but could still commit mistakes. This back and forth exchange would continue for some time with the room becoming more wrecked from the use of the Force and neither side gaining any ground.

Noticing the deteriorating condition of the room, Wrench immediately ordered, "Crap! Grab a steward and head for the balcony!"

On that order, the others noticed that the room was essentially coming down on top of them as Hardy had torn out many of the support pillars. The men and Rory could only grab a single and the closest steward to them as they all ran for the balcony, leaving the many others to their fate. Rory would be the first to jump out with her steward and landed on the ground outside in the forward courtyard of the Temple. Readying their grappling guns first, the clones followed suit by throwing themselves off the balcony as the upper level of the Temple collapsed. Landing on the ground, the clones sprinted away as debris continued to fall with it dropping some debris along the front entrance of the Temple. Reaching Rory's position, the clones dropped their survivors to the side. The collapse of the upper part of the Temple caught the attention of the citizens of Bellnahgo in the night. Crowds began to gather on the perimeter of the courtyard as there were gasps and murmurs if the Temple had been attacked. The worshipers inside the Temple rushed out of alternate exits as they too would gasp at the travesty of the Temple being partially destroyed.

"Are you all alright?" Wrench called. The clones and Rory responded with affirmative nods.

Wrench turned to look back at the destroyed parts of the Temple. He hadn't seen Hardy get out. He felt an unsettling mix of emotions as he wasn't quite sure if Eila has just been killed. Although, he would look at the ruined remains of the balcony they threw themselves off of and see some of the debris begin to move. In a mix of frustration and relief, he would see Eila's possessed body, lifting debris out of her way and looking rather proud standing on the remains of the balcony.

The onlookers began mumbling on who was on the balcony but once they saw that person glide to ground without showing any magical runes or sprouting wings, they quickly assumed it was Hardy. Many of the more fervent worshipers immediately began prostrating themselves.

Hardy took notice to the adoring crowd as she approached Rory and the clones, "Yes. Good, obedient dogs." She redirected her attention to them, "As you should as well. Dear Rory, I'm your god. And you clones, well, I'm your General. You have to follow me now."

"You're not my god!" Rory immediately protested. Although, Alloy, Cabby, Fick, Hoot, and Ray looked rather nervous at Hardy's declaration while Fordo and Wrench didn't react.

"Sir…" Fordo started.

Wrench merely raised his hand and quickly ordered, "Stun her."

While Wrench and Fordo immediately raised their blasters and fired, the others would follow after some hesitation. The stun shots curiously hit Hardy this time as she made no effort to dodge or block their shots.

Although, it wouldn't be curious at all as Hardy stumbled over the barrage of shots and was about to tip over but then she straightened out and chuckled, "Hehehe. That tickled. Want to try again?"

Fordo upped the stakes by firing the grappling hook from his gauntlet and sending a charge. Fordo's personal stunner was rated to take down large beasts and it had already brought down a Jedi before. But much like with Durge on Muunilinst, Hardy shrugged it off.

"Hmm. That was better but, the purpose is to put someone to sleep, not wake them up, no?" Hardy mocked as she flicked the grappling hook off her and then reached out with her hand and clasped it into a fist.

"Gahhh!" Fordo cried out as his gauntlet was immediately crushed along with his forearm.

"Captain!" The others shouted but Fordo waved them off as he tried to tank the pain.

Seeing Rory's increased agitation from Hardy's little spectacle and feeling from the others that the stun setting was obviously inadequate, Wrench saw no other choices and was dreading to resort to the only one he hadn't done yet. But then he wondered about something and hoped it wasn't what he was grimly thinking.

"Hardy," He started.

"Hmm?"

"What are you waiting for? You can clearly use the Force. Why not just yank the weapons out of our hands and be done with it? Just do what you did with the Captain."

Hardy internally admitted that Eila was definitely fighting for control in not using the Force more brazenly than intended ever since her choking demonstration on Rory, but Hardy didn't really mind her struggling for control. It was all entertaining. Holding up the lightsaber in a guard stance and activating it, Hardy declared her intention on simply not taking the easy way out of the fight. The clones would visibly tense up at her answer and Rory would notice the same creepy smile Hardy gave when she moved to attack her first.

"I want to savor this."

Confirming his suspicion, Wrench reluctantly ordered to the others, "Set to—Set to kill."

Fordo and the others would look towards Wrench wondering if he was serious but decided to follow as Hardy's ability to shrug off stuns is a definite problem. Rory also wondered on Wrench's seriousness but resolved that she would cut Hardy out of Eila if she had to. She had an idea of how dangerous Eila could be in a fight and knew that with Hardy in her, it would be a problematic combination.

In his own thoughts, Wrench was grimly taking full responsibility of what they were about to do. He agreed with Eila when Hardy was in control of Lelei. They wouldn't want to leave Hardy where she was and make a person her own personal meat puppet.

Smiling widely as the clones flicked the setting on their blasters, she would be approached first by Rory who immediately dashed right at her to take a swing. Hardy jumped up and landed on the flat side of the halberd.

"Well, dear Rory. Let's see if you can do what must be done."

Rory didn't respond and merely jerked her halberd to get Hardy off it.

Jumping away, Hardy would be met with lethal blaster fire from the clones attempting to surround her. Reacting quickly, she dodged or parried the shots. The acrobatics she was pulling frustrated the clones.

Unfortunately, the re-ignition of hostilities caused a mix of reactions from the spectating crowds. While some fled from the sharp and loud noises blasters made and others began praying for Hardy's swift victory, there were spectators who immediately began to yell all sorts of things towards the clones and even Rory for attacking their god.

"Godless heathens!"

"Traitor! The Apostle of Emroy is a traitor to the gods!"

"Apostle Rory! What are you doing?! This is sacrilege!"

"Heretics! Heretics the lot of them!"

"Get them!"

A good number of the spectators immediately began rushing towards the fight, feeling an obligation to protect their god even though their god wasn't struggling as badly as they thought against Rory and the clones. Seeing the approaching mob, the clones had to divide their attention. Unable to switch to the stun setting due to the hectic battle taking place, the clones gunned down the approaching attackers. Rory would continue to engage Hardy but she took advantage of the divided attention of the clones. The attacking crowd had managed to get the clones to isolate themselves into their own firefights.

"Damn!" Rory called out as Hardy sprinted away from her.

As Cabby finished off an attacker, he would catch a glimpse of Hardy immediately at his side. She proceeded to cut both of Cabby's arms and then maneuvered herself to cut across his torso, nearly bisecting him.

"CABBY!" Fick shouted as Hardy casually passed by and let Cabby's corpse hit the floor.

For a moment, the clones were stunned, but their shock quickly turned to anger and they began to fire with greater ferocity. Fordo cursed that he could only use one arm to fight and the pain from his other arm continued to be a distraction which was affecting his aim. Wrench would stop firing as his nightmare horrifically came true. She was going to kill them all and if they wished to survive, Hardy intended for them to kill Eila for it.

"Commander! Commander!" Fordo came next to him and shook him with his good arm, "We have no choice! We have to end this!" Trying to shake off his hesitation, Wrench resumed firing but continued to intentionally take shots meant to injure her. He still clinged onto hope that Eila might be able to take back control.

But his hope was quickly diminishing as Hardy continued to sprint away from Rory and focused on them. Trying to keep the attacking spectators away from them as well, Hardy persisted in taking advantage of the divided battle.

Distracted by an approaching Hardy, Alloy attempted to shoot her but a few spectators immediately rushed him from behind. Brought down to the ground and pinned by his attackers, Alloy pleaded as Hardy closed in with a sadistic smile.

"General! General! Fight this! Please stop her! You can—"

His pleas would be cut short as Hardy casually lopped off his head. While Hardy courteously commended the people who assisted in her kill, the attackers immediately ate blaster shots to their faces as Fordo, Fick, Ray, and Hoot had managed to regroup and concentrated their fire on her. Blocking their blaster fire, Hardy threw the saber at them in retaliation.

"Look out!" Fick shouted and he and the others managed to jump out of the way but unfortunately, Ray couldn't get away quickly enough and took the flying lightsaber into his face.

"Oh, Ray!" Hoot wailed as he watched his brother collapse. Hoot turned back to angrily continue shooting for some revenge but unfortunately forgot that there was still a lightsaber in his midst. With careful manipulation of the Force, the lightsaber that was embedded in Ray's head dislodged and doubled back by flying right into Hoot's back and severing his spine.

"Shit!" Fick shouted.

Rory was enraged beyond belief. Watching Hardy attack her friends was sending her into a blind rage as she increased her speed to stop Hardy from continuing. Seeing Hardy casually smiling to the carnage she was creating ticked Rory off. As Hardy recalled the lightsaber from Hoot's corpse back into her hand, Rory attempted to slam her halberd at her, but Hardy dodged the strike again.

But this time, Hardy's didn't react quickly enough for the follow up.

After dodging Rory's strike, Hardy would immediately be shot in the back as Wrench had managed to maneuver behind her. Hardy continued to smile as Fordo and Fick had regained their composure and took their shots, nicking her shoulder, leg, and one to the torso. Hardy attempted to continue the fight despite the wounds but Rory would deliver the final blow as she stabbed Hardy in her gut with the pointed end of her halberd. While Fordo and Fick would return to shooting the attacking spectators, Hardy began to laugh in between coughs of blood.

Rory and Wrench listened to her, "Looks like my faith in you wasn't misplaced, dear Rory! You'll—You'll do what must be done to bring back balance. And you," She turned to Wrench, "This—This is my resolve to get you out. Talk to your leaders. Convince them to leave this place if they wish for no more deaths. Especial—Especially, hers."

Hardy's essence left Eila's body, which returned into the Temple and suddenly, the smile she had earlier was replaced with Eila's shock and fear. Quickly removing her halberd, Rory focused on stemming the bleeding as she and Wrench laid Eila down onto the ground. Rory grimaced figuring that Hardy would pull this once the jig was up. Wrench hurriedly applied extra pressure over Rory's hands. Although, the initial shock from Eila's face had changed to relief but her eyes were remorseful.

"W—Wrench. Ro—Rory. I'm sorry. I'm—I'm sorry. I didn't—I didn't fight her hard enough."

"It's—It's okay. It's okay." Wrench shakily said. "Ro—Rory, please…"

He removed his hands and let Rory take the responsibility of slowing the bleeding in her gut as he called for the LAAT. The remaining attackers began to flee as they saw their god leave and Fordo and Fick had managed to hold the line. Eila attempted to say something more but Rory shook her head. Acknowledging her head shake, Eila obliged by relaxing while a LAAT passed by to land in the courtyard.

Author's Note: Happy Holidays!