Chapter Five
Thanks to Morgause learning none of Hyperion's skills and vice versa, both managed to surprise each other with their fluidity, dexterity, and aggression against Lord Crassus. But Crassus soon proved that he found a viable body to prove their superiors in saber combat and Force powers, at least if they had fought him alone. That noted, they noticed that Crassus was mostly on the defensive side of lightsaber combat and seemed not to be channeling his Force powers into an attack. "From beyond life, at the edge of oblivion, I call to a spirit of vengeance to rise forth and take revenge against the one who destroyed it. Morgana L'étoile Brilliante, I call to you to rise within Hyperion and claim both his body and mind for your own," Crassus said, a black and silver fire forming on his left hand as he raised it up and pointed the knuckles in Hyperion's direction.
In that moment, Hyperion remembered he still had the wrist blade that he could shoot from his gauntlet and when he did, he released it within moments of Crassus snapping his fingers. Just as the black pulse exploded and the field enveloped Hyperion, the blade embedded itself into Crassus with a sound of torn cloth and cut flesh, the projectile sawing its way through bone. Hyperion fell over once the pulse touched him and Morgause looked on with shock at the very idea her father could be so easily brought down.
"What did you do to him?" Morgause demanded.
"Exactly as I said you'd be capable of doing if you had exercised the right. I called forth Morgana from beyond oblivion to take over Hyperion's body and mind in a final effort for revenge. Had you had the spine for it, you would've been able to call upon it then finish him off if he triumphed over her. But now, its only use to me is in ending this fight quickly to pursue more important goals," Crassus told her.
"I won't fall that easily," Morgause hissed.
"No, you are your father's daughter. You fall won't be easy or painless for that matter. But I have greater goals to fulfill than destroying you at the moment so for now, I'll postpone this engagement," Crassus told her. Morgause replied with a bout of Force Lightning so powerful it should not have come from someone as young as her, let alone from each hand. Even with this noted, Crassus easily absorbed it with one hand and in the midst of doing so, Morgause picked up her father's lightsaber to fight with beside the one she took from him already. As she ignited both blades, Crassus shot the lightning back at her from the same hand, marching backward toward his shuttle as she deflected her own bolts with the lightsabers.
By the time she was able to fight against, Crassus had reached the shuttle and spoke before boarding. "You have a choice, Morgause. Stay by your father and kill Morgana if she wins or pursue me and risk losing your father to her or to someone coming from among the Imperial Guards. Your choice woman," he said. Morgause lowered her lightsabers in hesitation, realizing that he had backed her into a corner even though he was the one retreating.
Reluctantly, she chose to stay with her father even though part of her knew he would want her to keep the fight going if he failed. But after all these years of searching for him, initially for revenge along with Morgana, and now she wasn't about to let him out her sights. So she helped carry him back to his quarters where he lied in a comatose state, most likely battling Morgana within an ethereal realm beyond his comprehension. She also made sure that Crassus hadn't yet done anything that would jeopardize their ability to get close to him once again.
So far, he hadn't issued any orders for their arrests or anything similar, likely because the Empire wasn't in the kind of position where arresting such powerful individuals as them could be justified. Which left just one more thing for her to worry about and that was what the hell could Crassus have deemed so important that he left the fight when he vowed he would kill Morgause and Hyperion if they fought against him? What could consume his focus so much that he would briefly demonstrate his power against the two younger bearers of the Dark Side and then depart for Force knew where? And what would happen if Morgana's spirit won over Hyperion's iron will, forcing Morgause to potentially turn against her aunt and kill her for good? Would she be up to the task or would she falter like she did when she had Hyperion at her mercy in finally attempting to take his life?
"I should never have trained with my aunt," Morgause said. Hyperion didn't respond as she expected but still, she continued as if he would answer. "I should've run away from her when I had the chance and damn the consequences if I got assigned to a foster home, somewhere on the fringes of Known Space! I wish I never learned what happened to my mother or agreed to train with her! But I need you, Dad, don't leave me," Morgause begged.
She knew Hyperion probably couldn't hear her but she didn't care, not when she was begging her father to persevere and defeat her vengeful aunt. Little did she realize there was a part of him that heard everything she said and grew stronger from what she said to him. Even more incredible than that, that same part of him relied on her love and her Force power to take strength. It was all he could do, having been absent from his daughter's life for so many years only to now fall into a coma.
Meanwhile, she kept watch over the comm channels, making sure that Crassus had not yet deemed them traitors or used any non-restricted channels for communication. She also noticed that the armies of the Sith were on the move now that Dathomir was under attack especially. Of late, the Republic had managed to breach the space defenses of Dathomir and send in a force of mercenaries down to the surface for their part in attacking the land forces on the planet's red surface. Little did she know that her father was the reason they had even begun the attack, the reason they knew to start it when they did, and the reason the Sith were damaged at all.
And little did she realize that even if Morgana had triumphed over Hyperion in the battle of wills, there wouldn't be much left for them. In truth, there wouldn't be much future left for the Sith now that Hyperion's mission, from Dantius' viewpoint, was essentially completed with the start of the assault on Dathomir and the war that was to come.