Chapter Twelve

Tigress and Lokahviing both awoke cradled in each other's arms. Looking into the face of the other, they smiled, then shared a tender kiss. "Good morning, darling," Tigress greeted her lover.

"Good morning, beautiful," Lokahviing replied. "Sleep well?"

"Listening to you snore, yes, I did," Tigress said. "I actually find it... relaxing."

Lokahviing glanced at the clock. "We'd better get up. Coffee will be brewing, and I imagine Po will be cooking breakfast." Tigress briefly kissed Lokahviing, then got up and stretched – only to be lovingly tickled by Lokahviing. She jumped and yelped in surprise, and found herself embraced by Lokahviing from behind. He tenderly bit into the base of Tigress' neck, chuckling heartily.

"Baby, I'm a tiger; if you don't stop chewing on me, I'm gonna start chewing on you!" Tigress laughed. Lokahviing laughed softly and released Tigress' neck from his teeth, kissing where he bit her.

"I love you," he whispered in her ear.

"I love you, too," Tigress responded. They shared a sentimental moment, then began dressing, after which they walked outside the room and to the domicile kitchen, where Lokahviing poured himself a mug of coffee – and one for Tigress, at her request – and they began sipping on it as they headed for the kitchen where they assumed Po and the others were.

Nothing could prepare them for what they saw when they got there.

Tai Lung was sitting at the table, dressed in dark armor adorned with a black cloak, eating and conversing with Po, Song and Shifu. Silence settled over the room as Tigress and Lokahviing stared at Tai Lung. A soft, draconic growl escaped from Lokahviing's throat, and his hand drifted toward his crossguard lightsaber – only to be swiftly grabbed by Tigress' hand. Lokahviing didn't resist, but stared Tai Lung down. Neither of them knew just what to say. It was Tai Lung who broke the silence:

"I imagine you already know who I am."

"You could say that," Lokahviing responded. "And I imagine... Shifu, has filled you in on the details of the last few months."

"Much more than that... Kyle," Tai Lung answered. "To be frank, I am rather thrilled you are my sister's lover, but I imagine you're more interested-"

"Sister?!" Tigress repeated with surprised confusion.

"Tigress," Shifu told Tigress reassuringly, "It is a surprise to me, as well; but you and Tai Lung share me as your adopted father, which makes you and him... adopted siblings."

Tigress' eyes went between Shifu and Tai Lung in shock. He was her adopted brother?! As much as Tigress didn't believe it, she felt in her heart Shifu was correct, though it seemed Shifu had not realized it until recently. She felt a hand take hers, and realized it was Lokahviing's, in an effort to reassure her. It took a few moments for the gravity of it all to sink in: She had a brother. But one question had been raised – and one that needed an answer, now.

"I do not dispute your claim as my brother, Tai Lung... but we all deserve to know," Tigress stated as the others began trickling into the room. "You are supposed to be dead. Po defeated you; When we arrived on the scene, there was nothing left of you; we believed you to be dead; and yet, here you are, alive, as a force-sensitive warrior, wearing the garb of a warrior. How? How are you alive? Who brought you back?"

Tai Lung didn't directly respond as his gaze shifted to Lokahviing. "You always knew who she was. You've clashed with her many times before."

"That's a little vague, Tai Lung," Lokahviing responded.

"She was the first of her kind to become a Sith – a warrior who learned how to indefinitely prolong her own life, and you've clashed with her so many times, in her galaxy and elsewhere; surely, you remember the name Torrentus... Darth Torrentus," Tai Lung continued.

"Torrentus..." Lokahviing hissed. He sighed, closed his eyes, and shook his head. "That is a name I grow tired of hearing."

"Who is Darth Torrentus?" Viper asked.

"She was once a proud, cunning warrior – an admiral among the Tal Shiar; Admiral Arai... before she was captured by a Starfleet task force, tried, and convicted of the destruction of the Federation-Klingon Unity Station as well as multiple Tal Shiar attacks across her 'verse," Lokahviing explained. "She was given a life sentence on a Federation penal colony... but she never arrived; her transport ship was found adrift and derelict, with no sign of Arai... she couldn't go back to the Romulan Star Empire, and when the Hobus Disaster struck, she simply vanished, and popped up later as a different person that had somehow developed a connection to the Force, trained as a Sith by an obscure Sith Lord... who named her Darth Torrentus. An appropriate name, given that in the years since, she has caused a torrent of death and destruction. Tai Lung is correct; I have clashed with her several times. Each time, I was sure it was the last, only to have her pop up again. I learned after I arrived in Klingon space at one point that she had used the power of the Dark Side to make herself immortal." He looked to Tai Lung for the longest time. "Why did she resurrect you? And how?"

"She wanted an apprentice... on her level," Tai Lung replied. "She somehow came across the legends told of me, and offered a chance at vengeance. At first, I was only too eager to accept. But over time... I grew disillusioned."

"But something put you on the path of your quest for atonement," Tigress surmised. "What was it?"

Tai Lung sighed, then sank in his seat. "It... was someone I had met in my travels, after I had escaped Torrentus. A woman. She... gave her life to protect me," he said. "She came looking for me, said she had come to save me. Her motives didn't matter – she told enough truth to get my attention. Said that Torrentus was a monster that had to be destroyed, but I was not strong enough to do so myself..." Tai Lung looked to Lokahviing. "She said you would be the key; that you would make me strong enough to destroy Torrentus once and for all."

"So, what happened to her?" Lokahviing inquired.

"Torrentus' assassins found us... she told me to run, to seek you out. She fought the assassins... I never saw her again, but I eventually learned she died to get me safely away," Tai Lung replied. "No one had ever done that for me... and it awakened a part of me that I thought had died long ago. A part of me that eventually shone like a light in the darkness of space itself. It... diminished my anger, and I began thinking of you all. When I got here, I heard so many stories... how you all had done so much... written many legacies on the currents of time..."

"And it made you determined to write your own legacy, one that would diminish the legends of Tai Lung's Rage," Lokahviing surmised. "So now that you're here... what do you intend to do?"

"I set out to redeem myself, and I intend to do so," Tai Lung answered with determination. "But heed my warning, Dragon Prince – Torrentus is out there. She searches for remnants of something called the 'Eternal Fleet'. I know not what she intends to do with it, but if she knows you're here..."

"... She could destroy this world and everything on it," Lokahviing concluded.

"Kyle... we need to warn Thel," Tigress suggested.

"Agreed," Lokahviing replied. "And I have neither a spare ship nor the desire to leave you all or this world undefended to go look for the Eternal Fleet."

"What is the Eternal Fleet?" Po inquired.

"Another time, Po – for now, I need to make a call," Lokahviing stated, motioning for Tigress to follow him. Tai Lung got up and followed them. Explaining the situation to Thel was a blur, but he seemed surprised to know Torrentus was still active; he, regardless, promised to keep watch for any further acts by the rogue Sith Lord. Indeed, before Tigress realized it, they were headed back into the kitchen, where Lokahviing explained Torrentus' origins to those who had not been present the first time. A long pause followed the second explanation, before Po asked,

"Lokahviing... this is the second time you've referenced the Hobus Disaster, and I was wondering... what exactly happened?"

Lokahviing breathed a long sigh before he answered, "Supernova... the Tal Shiar had been experimenting with Iconian technology, and in doing so, inadvertently caused the Hobus system star to go supernova. The blast ruptured subspace, and caused the shockwave to move at speeds far beyond what everyone had predicted... which destroyed the Romulan home world of Romulus and its sister world of Remus. The Romulan Star Empire had been a broken power ever since, brought low by their own hand. They've been trying to rebuild ever since, but the Romulan Republic has been the only known Romulan faction that has had success in that aspect; they also won the support of the Klingon Empire and the Federation – something the Star Empire refused to do, in their xenophobic isolation."

"And how does the Eternal Fleet fit in?" Song queried.

"The Eternal Fleet was once an unstoppable armada of identical, technologically-advanced warships that served the Eternal Empire of Zakuul, well before even my time," Lokahviing explained. "Piloted by sentient Gemini droids and armies of soldier droids called Skytroopers, the Eternal Fleet could have made the Eternal Empire the dominant faction of that 'verse under Emperor Valkorion... until his son betrayed him, killed him, and usurped his throne. Over the course of five years, Valkorion's son – Arcann – brought low the Sith Empire and the Galactic Republic. Long story short, a hero emerged – a Jedi General named Draco Bellator... whose name is rather an irony, Po."

Po frowned. "How so?" he asked.

"Because Draco Bellator is Latin; it literally translates to 'Dragon Warrior'. The very title you hold," Lokahviing told him. "Anyway, Draco eventually defeated Arcann, and subsequently his sister, Vaylin, and absorbed the Eternal Fleet and the Eternal Empire into his faction and created the Eternal Alliance. From there... details are hazy, but it was eventually agreed that the Eternal Fleet could not be left to fight over. It was destroyed by Draco himself, but there were elements of the fleet... that survived. Ever since, it was rumored that the remnants of the fleet had banded together, hidden, waiting for a new master to find it again."

"That's... interesting, but doesn't really answer my question," Song said, "How does it fit in with our current situation?"

"It fits in because if Torrentus finds it, she will use it against us – if she knows where we are," Lokahviing answered. "Now, I don't know for certain whether or not she does, but I won't risk anything. That's why I warned Thel – fortunately, my flagship will be in orbit soon."

"Flagship?" Song repeated.

"A gift from Thel," Tigress told her. "Big ship. Bigger than the Chimera. This one is called the Iron Regent. And it, from what I read in the technical specs, has the power to deploy a fleet if needs be."

"Covering all the bases, huh?" Shifu chuckled.

"In my militancy, it's what I do best," Lokahviing chuckled back.

"So... what happens now?" Viper asked.

"For now... we help Tai Lung get settled in," Shifu responded. "I trust you brought your belongings along?"

Tai Lung nodded. "I did, but most of it is aboard a vessel I stole from Torrentus; don't worry, I disabled the transponder, so she cannot find me." He looked to Lokahviing and asked, "I don't suppose you have use for a Sith Infiltrator ship?"

"You got your hands on one of those?" Lokahviing queried with evident surprise. "If you have one, I'll let you land it in the shuttle bay of the Chimera. A ship like that is a rare find, and could come in handy in the days ahead."

"Where did you land the ship?" Tigress inquired.

Tai Lung motioned his head. "Some ways north of here, but east of the remains of a YT Model Freighter... which reminds me, do any of you know anything about that ship, like why it crashed here?"

"Ship of an old friend who was ambushed in orbit by Klingons from the House of Torg and killed after he crashed. Blew his ship up as part of a funeral pyre," Lokahviing replied.

"I see... you have my sympathies, Kyle. Regardless, if you know where that freighter is, you should have no trouble finding my ship; again, it's east of there," Tai Lung said.

Lokahviing rose from his seat and started for the exit. "Well, come on; sooner we get to your ship, sooner we can get it to the Chimera and get your stuff unpacked here." Tai Lung looked to Tigress, who shrugged and rose to her feet, following her boyfriend. Tai Lung then got to his feet and moved out with them, followed by Po and Song...

(Sorry for the wait. Had some IRL things to take care of - but I am still working on this story, bit by bit. With my new work schedule, I don't have as much free time as I used to, but I will still post new chapters when they are done.)