Chapter 35 up. Enjoy. :)

Nikka POV

"What in the hell do you mean, they went to Dromund Kaas?!" I asked angrily. "I was only gone a few days, how did a trip to Voss turn into a visit to the Imperial capital?"

Admiral Aygo sighed, obviously not exactly happy about the situation himself. "The short version...the Eternal fleet attacked Voss. We later learned that Senya had taken Arcann there to be healed, which was why the fleet was attacking. Vaylin was trying to wipe out her entire family, the people on Voss just got in the way. During the battle, an Imperial fleet led by Empress Acina arrived and backed up our fleet and the gravestone. Combined, we were able to drive back the Eternal Fleet. Acina invited the commander to meet with her on the Imperial homeworld and the commander accepted her offer. Lana and Theron went with him."

"Of course they did." I mumbled. "I can't believe that not one of them thought this might be a bad idea. Rio is a former leader of Havoc Squad, Theron is a former Republic SIS agent and Lana, last we heard, was still considered a traitor to the Empire. Now all three of them are on Dromund Kaas, surrounded by potentially hostile forces."

"That's the gist of it, yes." Aygo confirmed. "Acina's wish to be allies seemed authentic, but you can never tell with Sith."

I sat down with a sigh. "Wonderful."

"Don't worry, Captain, the commander can take care of himself." Jorgan assured me, then headed out towards the hanger.

"Hold on, we have a holomessage coming in." Aygo said, activating the holoterminal. A familiar figure stood before us and I got an extremely bad feeling through the Force.

"This is Leontyne Saresh. I have learned about the unfortunate fate of your commander and would like to extend my sincere condolences on his loss. I am traveling to Odessen to talk to you about what I can do to help lead you to victory after these tragic events." The holo call ended and the room was quiet.

"What the hell is she talking about?" I asked. "What unfortunate fate?"

"Hold on, I'm going to get Theron on the line." Aygo said. After a few seconds, Theron and Lana appeared before us.

"Not a good time, Bey'wan." Theron said. I could tell he was worried.

"We just got a message from Saresh. She's on her way here. She sent her condolences on the commander's loss."

"She didn't waste any time, did she." Lana replied. "The commander and Acina were in a shuttle crash. There has been no confirmation of either of them being dead. How in the hell did Saresh find out about all of this so quickly? There's something fishy going on here, I can feel it."

"We'll figure everything out once we find the commander. Lana and I are on our way to look for him now. Don't write him off just yet. Send Saresh packing as soon as she lands." Theron said.

Jorgan came into the room, scowling. "That message was received all over the base. Some of the men want to hear her out. They're afraid things are going to fall apart without Commander Drucos."

"Dammit." Theron swore. "Stall her as long as you can. We're on our way."

I stood, crossing my arms over my chest. "The gall of that woman. She thinks she can do a power grab from both the Alliance and the Empire, as if either faction would blindly follow her. I bet she's responsible for the shuttle accident. She has to be working with someone in the Empire. How else would she know about all of this, moments after it happened."

"She might just succeed if Theron and Lana can't find the commander." Argo said, sounding just about as happy as I was. Not a single person with any kind of power liked or trusted Leontyne Saresh. She had screwed over the Republic and now she planned to try to become the leader of everything, outside of the Eternal Empire. The twi'lek was insane.

Rio POV

We arrived just as Saresh was making her grand speech to rally the Alliance to her side. The look on her face when she saw me approach through the crowd would have been funny, if she hadn't just tried to have me assassinated.

The former chancellor had hired the genoharadan to kill both myself and Empress Acina, so she could take control of both the Alliance and the Empire. Minister Lorman had helped arrange it all on the Imperial side. It made me wonder what she had promised him, once she took control. It took everything in my power to convince Acina not to execute Lorman on sight. She may have just been humoring me, waiting until I left to kill him. I was mostly alright with that.

The whole scheme would have been quite a coup, if it had worked. Unfortunately for Saresh, I was damned hard to kill. With everything I'd gone through in my life and my career, and all the people who have tried to kill me and failed, why in the hell did she think she'd have better luck?

Lana, Theron and I cornered her on one side of the hangerbay platform, where she was conducting her speech. She turned to escape down the other side, but found her way blocked by Hylo Visz and Nikka, both had their blasters out.

"Surprised to see me alive?" I asked, crossing my arms over my chest. It actually felt kinda good to not have to show Saresh any kind of respect. When she was chancellor, I had no choice, but now, she was in my territory. She was now surrounded by people who were not happy with her and were still very much loyal to me.

"The Alliance needs a leader like me. I saw an opportunity and I took it." She barked.

"An opportunity? Arranging the assassination of faction leaders is an opportunity?" I asked, not really expecting an answer.

"I won't apologize for it." Saresh said, making what little bit of a stand she could.

"We are way passed apologies at this point." Lana relied. I could see her seething under her normally unshakable exterior. She wanted the twi'lek dead. She was using every bit of restraint she had to prevent the Sith in her from just killing Saresh where she stood.

"So, what do we do with her?" Theron asked, sounding almost as eager to kill Saresh as Lana. He had a very bad history with the former chancellor. He certainly wouldn't shed any tears if she died.

"Execution, I would think." Saresh replied. "It's what Vaylin would do. It's what I would do."

"That's the difference between us. You get to enjoy Alliance hospitality inside a prison cell for a very long time." I replied.

Nikka POV

I watched as Theron escorted Saresh to the detention area. I could sense his elation through the Force. Saresh had been responsible for his suspension from the SIS after the events on Ziost, using him as a scapegoat for her mess. There were few people Theron truly despised on a personal level, but she was one of them. He was enjoying this small bit of revenge.

I was also sensing something odd from Lana. She was beyond angry at Saresh, but it wasn't the same type of anger as Theron. It was more like anger from being protective. She wasn't happy about the attempted coup, but I could sense she wanted to take revenge for the assassination attempt on Rio.

I had begun to get odd feelings from Lana, directed towards my brother. She was slowly getting more and more attached to him, though outwardly, she was still the same old Lana. I was getting the feeling she was falling in love with him, but she was respectful enough to keep her distance.

Rio actually shared her feelings, once in a while, but his devotion to his wife was probably holding him back. I just wished I could find Elara, so at least he could either get back together with her or end it, depending on what time had done to the relationship. The lack of closure wasn't good for him. I made a mental note to double my efforts.

But first, I had to go find Theron. Once he was done locking Saresh away, he would be in an amazingly good mood. I was looking forward to experiencing the rare good mood with him.

To Be Continued...