Chapter Twelve
"By the Force, I don't believe it! You've come back!" Morgause exclaimed when Hyperion awoke. Hyperion rose up enough to accept an embrace from his daughter which she gladly gave when he could accept. But when he realized what she was doing, he backed up a little as best he could.
"Wait, how do you know it's me? How do you know it isn't your aunt?" Hyperion asked.
"Because she'd be saying something like, 'of course, I'm back' if she were here. You're more humble and asked me the question of how I knew. And it does help to have a Force bond that can detect when she's finally become one with the Force or not. C'mon Dad, I was only with her since I was six-months old!" Morgause teased. Hyperion chuckled slightly at the compliment his daughter paid him, perhaps the kindest thing anyone had said to him.
"I love you, Morgause. I'm sorry I wasn't there to see your birth, I'm sorry I didn't see you take your first steps, graduate school, or become a powerful adept of the Force. Sorry for everything I ever did wrong to you by not being there, allow me to be there for you now to watch you grow even stronger," Hyperion said, sobbing into her shoulder. Morgause held her father close to her, letting him display paternal affection for the first time in his life.
"When you were unconscious, I pleaded to the Force that you would live. I begged and wept, by your side and told you I needed you. And... and you heard me," Morgause told him as she returned his embrace. Hyperion nodded, remembering when he heard her say that she needed him when he was fighting Morgana in the ethereal realm of his mind.
"So... you are my niece, after all," said a voice Hyperion was not altogether pleased to hear though he knew he would. But there was something embittered in Dantius' voice, which Hyperion noted as he turned to face him, like he still carrying the wound of what Hyperion had done to conceive Morgause. "As much as I would love to see this reunion continue, I'm afraid we still have important matters to attend to. Our advance scouts have reported that Crassus has gathered the artifacts with which to start the ceremony and I'm guessing they're organized where Crassus felt he could draw on their power in a steady stream until he could start draining life," Dantius said.
"He'll most likely use the cache readily available on Nogatan because he recognizes their power but believes the Nogatan Sith to be the bottom of the barrel for the Empire. Their victory over Vitiate's holdings notwithstanding, he'll feel good about draining the power out of their holocrons and destroying them to eradicate every trace of their abomination. If he can snag the remaining Dark Lords there in addition to the populace, all the better to him on that end. How far along are we with destroying the rest of the Sith?" Hyperion replied, turning his body so he was more comfortable when his brother spoke.
"We started the attack on Dathomir and conquered it relatively easily. Balmorra has just barely fallen and we're rounding up any traces of Zakuul technology to add to the Republic's arsenal as well. The Dathomir force is going to meet us at Nogatan and the Balmorra reinforcements will soon follow as well. Since we've barely used any of our true forces for the battle, relying on mercenaries that owed me favors, we still have our full strength for the Nogatan battle," Dantius answered.
"Then we have no time to waste when we arrive, let's get cracking on strategy now. I already have information on the layout of Nogatan from when Crassus had me looking for worlds to retreat to or, more likely, consume for the ceremony. I've got the goods on spots Crassus will most likely leave vulnerable just because he's stalling for time and hoping to consume the most lives he can when it starts," Hyperion said, raising himself up to begin preparations. He was in hospital gowns at the moment with his armor and arsenal likely being washed and sanitized for when he recovered. But even so, Dantius stopped him right where he was before he'd taken more than three steps toward the strategy room.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, where the hell are you going? You just fought across the cosmos of your mind and beat a strong-willed Sith Lady's spirit. There's no way you're fit to fight alongside us, you need more rest," Dantius told him.
"I will rest when we've destroyed the Sith or we die at the Emperor's hands. Besides, no ethereal battle has caused physical wounds because they don't need to for their damage to be done. I won and that usually means I'm up to the task of the more physical aspects of our duty and it's not like I'd be using just my lightsabers when we fight even if I were affected. Now are you gonna let me in to help you strategize or am I going to have to make you?" Hyperion snapped back at him. Dantius knew he could probably make sure Hyperion didn't enter the room if he felt like it but he knew he'd have a bigger fight than he probably needed presently.
So he nodded and snapped his fingers, asking a nurse to bring Hyperion's armor and weapons before directing Hyperion to a changing room where he would acquire his gear. Reclaiming the armor first, he closed the front door and donned on the armor before asking for his weapons at the opening of the door. From there, he clipped his paired wrist blades, collapsible spear, shurikens, throwing knives, thermal detonators, his shield, ax, whip, slugthrower pistols, and his lightsabers. He also attached a comlink to his shield arm so that he could communicate with Dantius while deflecting blaster fire with the durable defensive gear. At the same time, he made sure his shield could still collapse into itself, allowing him to use it as a knuckleduster, making his left hand durable enough to compare to his right one in punching.
When he was dressed, Morgause and Dantius awaited him with the hologram of Inoy, Ashlynn Thorin, and Jace Malcom awaiting him. "So, this is what's become of the great Hyperion Algethii. I'll admit I'm impressed you're still alive," Ashlynn remarked when she could see him.
"Inoy, it's so good to see you again. You've become a formidable warrior which will come in handy when we hit Nogatan with all we have. That aside, let's get the rundown initiated, I've still got the information you need to follow along with my strategy. But first, I'll need to know what we've got going for us as far as our forces go. Because he deliberately put three times as much defense into Nogatan as he did into Dathomir and Balmorra combined," Hyperion said.