Star Wars Episode I: The Familiar of Zero

by Snarky Miracles

On the verge of being expelled from school, Louise Valliere refuses to give up. Her final chance to prove herself worthy of her heritage is to summon a familiar. But she gets much more than she bargained for when the frightening Calista Zarkot crashes into her life. Instead of becoming the master, Louise has become the servant and learns what it means to be Sith...

23. Blood, Honor, and the Pirate Princess

Chapter Twenty One - Blood, Honor, and the Pirate Princess

High above the forest outside Luberon

Karin the Heavy Wind looked down at the forest below her and grew increasingly frustrated by how fruitless the search was turning out to be. The Manticore Knights split into teams of five, called "Sweeps" to carry out their aerial search of the forest below them. Karin commanded one hundred and fifty knights currently spread out in thirty sweeps to search the widest possible area. Even in the dead of night they pressed on with their patrol of the borders around the forest to ensure their prey would not try to slip out under cover of darkness while Karin's sweep and many others flew over the forest itself to search for and possibly flush out their quarry.

"My lady! We should land and camp for the night. We won't find any sign of our prey in the darkness!"

Karin growled to herself, she knew the man was right. Manticores weren't nocturnal hunters, and neither were humans. "Very well. Pass the word to the others. We'll make camp in that clearing down th-" Karin narrowed her eyes and grinned down at the spot she just pointed out.

"My lady?"

"Prey sighted! It's feeding time! Follow me in!" declared Karin while directing her Manticore down to the small clearing in the forest.

Once commanded by their masters the manticores flew a circle and grouped themselves into their natural attack formation. These creatures were pack hunters. Try as they did, training themselves and their familiars in alternative means of attack proved to be a waste of time. Nature and evolution, neither of which ever reward failure, had already honed the manticore into the perfect killing machine. Instead, riders trained themselves to surrender their own instincts to that of their familiars, embracing their predatory instincts for themselves.

On the ground the lone Dragon Knight slept peacefully up against his familiar, completely oblivious to the silent death from above. The two rested at the edge of a clearing in the forest where the tree branches would afford them camouflage. It didn't work, not against people who knew what to look for. His dragon however, was not oblivious. While Manticores were among the most horrific of all predators, dragons were the apex and did not appreciate their place at the top of the food chain being contested.

The mighty dragon didn't feel fear for lesser creatures, even wounded and grounded. Its hearing, and eyesight the keenest in all of nature alerted the monster to threats long before they became a real danger. The dragon picked up its head and turned its eyes to the sky where it saw the five manticores approaching. Then, it did what dragons do as their first line of defense; roar. The great beast bellowed its loudest and most savage roar to warn off enemies and make them reconsider their attack.

Karin narrowed her eyes at the beast she was rapidly approaching. Neither she nor Fluffy were moved by the dragon's attempt at intimidation. It was exactly one of those who attacked them after leaving Lutece. Natural and man-made armor, sharp spikes protruding from its back, dark brown scales. A creature spawned from hell itself that went by many names in many places. In Albion they call it the Ironscale. In Tristain, Karin called it dinner. The dragon was armored and fierce, but it didn't have a manticore's feline agility and long stinging tail with enough venom to bring down two such monsters. The trick would be in delivering the venom, or killing the rider before the dragon could tear apart their familiars. Even grounded, a dragon should never be underestimated.

The Dragon Knight awoke to the roar of his familiar and was quick to his feet and sword wand. Though his familiar's eyes he saw the threat approaching. The Manticore Knights unleashed their wind blades against their grounded prey but the Knight on the ground knew to anticipate this and summoned a wind wall to deflect their attacks.

Karin wasn't surprised by this move, it's what she would have done, and what she had trained the man below to do as well. Protect your familiar at all costs. He knew as well as she did this battle would be waged between a hulking ironscale dragon and a pack of manticores. The Dragon Knight knew as well that his only purpose in life at the moment was to protect his familiar from the enemy mages while it fought the manticores. The Manticore Knights knew they outnumbered him and had the advantage.

There was one creed which united all Aerial Knights: Familiar first!

That rule applied to their care and feeding as much as it did to how they conducted themselves in battle. No Manticore Knight would ever eat before their familiar, nor would they ever seek personal glory in combat without ensuring the safety of their mounts. A Manticore Knight would rather die than live without their familiar.

Under normal circumstances, Karin would gladly offer this man the chance to surrender and have his familiar be spared. But these weren't normal circumstances. This Knight would pay the highest price she could exact for taking the life of her dearest friend. For all she knew it was his wind blade that did the deed. Even if it wasn't, he came for their lives. Her daughter's, her friend's, her own, and most recently, the boy whom she considered as her nephew. There would be no mercy or sympathy.

The Dragon prepared to stand its ground with its rider beside it holding up a defensive spell against their airblade barrage. As soon as the manticores hit the ground their riders artfully dismounted while their familiars ran towards their prey with great speed. At the same time the Knights directed their sword wands at the windwall and chanted to dispel the magic allowing their familiars to get though. With their stinging tails raised up over them they charged the dragon and leapt towards it.

The dragon raised its front right arm and smacked one manticore down while attempting to grab another in its mouth, which was easily large enough eat half a manticore in one bite. The manticore, Fluffy, nimbly dodged the dragon's maw and dove for the ground before going for the dragon's throat with claws and fangs. The three other manticores assaulted with their claws and tails, seeking any opening to deliver their venom.

The Dragon Knight knew why this was happening and that surrender wasn't an option. This was where he would die, but not without a fight! With a stroke of his sword he empowered himself with the power of the wind which greatly enhanced the mage's agility, speed, and dexterity. This was his final stand and he'd make it a memorable one! With a second slash of his sword wand he unleashed an air blade towards the four Knights before him, the fifth having left the battle to see to his injured familiar.

Karin had already made her instructions for this battle clear to her Knights, and the battle went exactly as she intended. The three Knights who still stood with her scattered while Karin absorbed the wind blade into her own sword wand which was surrounded in a vortex of spinning air which only served to make her spell that much stronger and then unleashed it in the form of a wind tunnel at the Dragon Knight. The impact to his body armor sent him hard to the floor. The next thing he heard was a loud thud as his dragon collapsed with four Manticores impaling it with their stingers. He reached out towards the dragon who looked back at him with a sad eye before succumbing to the venom. A tear streamed down the Knight's face as the three Manticore Knights rushed to his sides to disarm and restrain him. He was utterly defeated, and now humiliated by being captured instead of being allowed to die in battle with his dragon.

"This is going to seem like a happy memory before I'm through with you traitor. So cherish the moment," said a spiteful Karin while standing over the defeated Dragon Knight.

---

Dijon

Matilda was sleeping soundly until a she was rudely awoken by a loud knocking on her door which turned into an even louder pounding. She quickly sat up with her wand directed at the door and called out to whomever dared disturb her slumber. "Who's there?!"

"Captain! There's trouble! We need you!"

"Grrrr! Very well! I'll be out presently."

Matilda got out of bed and went to start getting dressed while complaining to herself, "I suppose I can sleep when I'm dead. Probably not actually. Too many friends in hell who'll throw me one welcoming party after another…"

Matilda walked out of the inn and saw a line of soldiers forming a human chain with their weapons at the ready. Ahead of them she saw a large number of townspeople standing silently a few feet from the soldiers.

"What's going on here?" asked Matilda to one of her officers.

"Well Captain… I can't really say. These people just showed up and started standing there. We told them to disperse, but nobody's budging. I thought I should send for you to decide what to do about it."

"You made the right call," said Matilda and then started walking forward, gently pushing two soldiers aside to allow her to pass through. She stood silently just ahead of the soldier's formation and looked over the crowd. If this wasn't the entire town, it was certainly a good portion of them. Her troops were outnumbered two to one. "What are you people doing here?" she asked loudly to be heard as far as possible in the crowd.

There was no response, just deafening silence.

"One more time. Why are you here? I won't ask again!"

One of the people at the front stepped forward and spoke in a calm, polite, and clear voice. "My lady," he started with a respectful and humble voice, "We come to ask for Gerard the Ash to be released. He's done no wrong. Except to help us plow our fields, sow our crops, and see to our sick."

"He is being held by order of the Marquis and it is not for you to question the orders of your rightful leader. Return to your homes now, and this will be overlooked," said Matilda in the most commanding voice she could muster.

"This is our home. We have the right to gather wherever we choose," replied the man before stepping back into the crowd and silence reigned once again.

Matilda was at a loss for what she should do about this, while she considered her options one of the Sergeants spoke up from behind her, "Captain. Should we make 'em leave?"

She held up her hand to the man indicating he should stay quiet while she thinks. After a long moment she spoke again, "Listen to me everyone. Because this is your last chance before I make you all leave. This town, these lands, belong to House Burgundy. You live and work here under their rule. That is how it is. As the Captain of the Marquis' forces, I order you all to disperse now. You will accomplish nothing here."

"This land belongs to the people!" yelled someone in the crowd.

Matilda's eyes widened and took a firm grip on her adamantium wand. "The people deluding you into this kind of thinking care nothing for any of you! They are using you! How could you willingly turn against your queen and country?"

"Our country! Not her's!" yelled another voice.

Matilda had no idea what to say, or what to even think. This was unheard of. In Albion the common practice of Reconquista was to conscript, brainwash, and enslave their supporters. These people were standing up against their own country, by their own free will. She had no idea how to respond this. On the one hand, she'd given her loyalty to the Queen and could not allow her to be betrayed. On the other, a noble is meant to protect and lead the people. Even if she wasn't a noble anymore, she wholeheartedly believed that was still her role as a mage.

She considered her options for dispersing the crowd but nothing in her magical arsenal could pacify a group of this size without causing serious harm or death. Then she turned to the soldiers under her command Though she didn't like it, it was all she could do. These men were trained to fight in war, not to be policemen. However it was still the least lethal option available to her.

"Soldiers. Put away your swords, and disperse this crowd however you have to!" she commanded.

The soldiers sheathed their blades and started moving forward yelling and screaming as loud as they could at the people to inspire fear and get them moving. Some people did indeed start screaming and running the moment the soldiers got their orders but many more stood their ground. The soldiers didn't think about it, they had their instructions, no weapons, but they could use their fists, and indeed they did. Anyone refusing to move took a punch, a kick, a push. But once people hit the ground they just curled up and refused to move.

It wasn't long before a few people decided to try hitting the men back, but those were ganged up on by two or three soldiers who proceeded to beat them mercilessly. Matilda was appalled but she couldn't stop it now or she would look weak before the masses. It was too late to second guess herself, but she did anyway. It was going to be a long night.

The following morning, Matilda was sitting in the study of the Burgundy household with the Marquis where she explained the events of the previous night. She looked exhausted, with black spots under her eyes and had to fight to stay awake.

"I just don't know how to advise you on this my lord. It's completely unprecedented. I dare say it doesn't bode well for what our forces must be up against in other towns," explained Matilda who was seated in the study of the Marquis' home.

"The other towns aren't our concern. I hate to sound cold, but I can't deal with other people's problems until I've solved my own," answered Charles from where he was looking out the window at the town. "It seems so peaceful now. Hardly anyone is outside. But, it's a facade. How many did you say were injured last night?"

"Eighty people, along with ten of my soldiers. I expect they'll all recover. But, the situation is getting progressively worse and I fear I may have only added fuel to the fire."

"Given the situation you were in, I can't see how else you could have handled it. Don't blame yourself. In your place I might have done the same."

"The people need a hero to rally behind. Same way Gerard did. He earned the trust and respect of the people. You need to earn it back from them."

"I'm no hero. Never was. Never will be. I'm a Manticore Knight. We do what is necessary because no one else can, or will. The way I see things. The people seem to buy this 'empowering' propaganda. They need strength to rally behind. I can give them strength. I will make the people proud again. Proud to serve the Tristan dynasty."

"What do you have in mind?"

"We will not avoid playing Brinvilliers' game anymore. We will face him here and now. And we will crush his convictions with our own. Or… If i may be more precise...You will."

"My lord?"

"Sir Gerard, talked about will of the people? So we will show him the will of the people. We will put him on display in the town center. After that your soldiers will burn one building or house every hour he lives. If they don't kill him… We will burn Djon to the ground and rebuild it without this… This… Madness."

"That's… Too much!"

"You think so? Good. That's the message I want to send. They have to make the hard choice. If they decide to spare him. I will take his head myself. Djon has a chance to be a valuable part of Tristan once again under the rule of our Queen. If they decide to kill him. Well… The promises were shallow. If they decide to attack us. Then they will have sealed their fates."

"Marquis… That is… Rather extreme…"

"Killing the Queen was extreme. I'm just firm. It's how we Manticore Knights do things. I think that was the biggest problem between us. We're soldiers, not politicians. We're looking for political solutions when we should instead be working with our own strengths," explained Charles.

"My orders were to come here and instate you as the Marquis. That job is done now. And that means you're the government here, and I'm the enforcer of your policy. But this? This is… I don't even have the words for this."

"Words are not necessary. Only obedience and submission. These people are traitors. Just like Reconquista. I'm giving them a chance for redemption. I was groomed for this role all my life, but I made a decision to be a Manticore Knight. To be a soldier. This was never what I wanted. But this is the situation and if it isn't handedly firmly... If unquestioned obedience to the Crown is optional… What kind of society will we be?"

"Brinvilliers and Reconquista never asked any of us what we wanted," answered Matilda with a saddened tone.

"Indeed my lady. They did not. I also heard that you ordered a medic for Mister Gerard. Good call. It would be unfortunate if he would have died before our little presentation."

"Respectfully. I don't think this is a good idea my lord."

"You asked me to show heroism. I am not capable of that. I'm showing leadership. Now I need you to trust in me."

"Very well. I'll see to the arrangements," said Matilda who stood up and took a bow to the Marquis.

---

Luberon

Calista observed from the edge of the stone bridge leading into the town with curiosity as the Manticore Knights made their landings by the river side. They brought their familiars to the water and let them drink from it. She was especially curious about the group of four Knights who were pulling a stranger along with them. He was bound, gagged, and from what she could discern though her Force sense, had sustained a severe beating.

The Sith raised a curious white eyebrow at the scene before shrugging it off. Then she felt someone's eyes upon her. She turned her head slightly and opened her eyes where she saw Louise's mother standing beside her drinking familiar and staring right at her. Calista met her gaze and felt some tension in the air. Though there was a good twenty meters between the two of them they could still feel the intensity of eachother's gaze and neither flinched from the other.

The staring contest was eventually broken by one of Karin's subordinates who needed her attention. When Karin looked back, Calista was gone.

Louise awoke from a restless sleep and slowly sat up in her bed before turning herself and sitting up on the side of the bed. She exchanged her good mornings with Derflinger and looked over to the other bed where Calista had been asleep. It was made up so well that she could have been forgiven for thinking that nobody had slept in it. The owners of the homes which had extra rooms available graciously hosted the officers and nobles in the army, including Louise and Calista.

"Did Calista ever come in last night?" asked Louise.

"Yeah, she did. She was up early too. Same as usual. Ya could probably set a watch by her," answered Derflinger from where he rested against the nightstand beside her bed.

Louise sighed and stood up and decided to follow her Master's example since Siesta wasn't here to do this for her. When she'd finished making up the bed she groaned to herself in frustration at how imperfect it looked next to the work Calista had apparently done.

"How does she do that so well?"

"I ain't got a clue. She just did it. And before ya ask... The answer's yes. She did it with her hands, no Force tricks. That woman's just disciplined."

"I suppose she is. More than I'll ever be at the rate I'm going."

"Don't do that to yourself Louise. Don't put yourself down. Things take practice and will power."

"I know. I suppose when I've got a lot on my mind, I tend to revert to my old self. Before all this happened," explained a sad Louise.

"What's botherin' ya Louise? Talk to me. Is it that boy?"

"A small part yes. I don't understand him at all Derf. But it's more than that. I feel like I don't understand anything anymore. First Calista was encouraging me with all the Sith ideals and philosophies. Training me to fight and use the Force. When I said I wanted to fight, well, you were there. Same thing with Kirche, and how ignorant I've been to the people around me. Was I that way with Calista too? Is that why she acted the way she did?"

"Calista is complicated. But I've been around 'n' seen enough to know a few things..." started Derflinger.

Louise sat herself down on the side of the bed after she gave up on trying to perfect it and gave Derflinger her undivided attention.

Calista roamed the camps in the outskirts of the town, she observed Eleonore arguing with a group of soldiers about how supplies should be distributed before she got bored and continued walking about aimlessly. More than curiosity about her surroundings and the people in them was a curiosity about herself. Why was she wandering about aimlessly? Further down her path she spotted General Gramont grooming his horse. Then she noticed a magical rune branded on the beast's neck. Now that she thought about it, she noticed the Manticores had them too. She looked at her gloved right hand and sighed. She was meant to be just like those creatures...

"I know nothin' about what a Sith's life must be like, but I know all about the life of a warrior. Just goin' by what she said to ya yesterday it's obvious that woman's seen things we probably can't even imagine. She's been through a lot of battles and survived things she probably had no business surviving," explained Derflinger.

She would have been just like that horse were it not for her disciplined mind and the Force. She could feel the pull of the magic on her mind, trying to alter her thoughts. It was subtle and insidious, but it was ever present. But it wasn't at all difficult to counter, no different from resisting a mind trick. It would come, and then it would go. Flowing in and out of her mind like a tide. She set her gaze on the horse once more and scoffed at the notion. She was no beast. She was Sith. She was not the servant, she was the Master.

"So why do you think she reacted the way she did?" asked Louise.

Calista next found herself looking at Sylphid layin in the grass just outside the camp with Tabitha and Kirche resting up against her reading a book together. A small reminder of better times in another life she mused to herself before turning around and headed back into the town.

"She's hurtin' a lot inside. I think she just doesn't want ya to go through what she's been through. She doesn't want ya to be like her. But if you really wanna know for sure… Ya just gotta ask her yourself." said Derflinger.

"If only it were that simple…" answered Louise.

---

Dijon

Matilda found herself wandering the town, trying to gauge the mood. She did set out with an objective, but somewhere along the way that objective took a back seat to other thoughts as she recalled Gerard's advice to her about understanding the people. Then it wasn't so much the people she was trying to understand but Gerard himself. But as she contemplated his actions she realized she wasn't so different herself. Like him she was willing to endure pain and suffering for what she believed in.

What makes someone a hero to others? She never believed that she set out to be a hero. All she ever wanted to do was serve and protect the people of her land. That was what a noble was suppose to do. That was their sacred duty. It was the whole purpose of magic. She became a hero to her people by simply doing what she thought she was suppose to be doing. Nothing more, and nothing less.

But Gerard had apparently done it by just wandering this town and helping people with various things. He worked the fields, mended roof tops, and settled disputes. For him it was the little things that added up. It was the same with Matilda. It should have been obvious to her from the start.

But now she found herself in the same position as the occupiers of Saxe-Gotha. Now she was expected to enforce policy upon the people in the harshest possible way. Just like it was done in her home.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a young girl who only came up to her waist trying to get her attention. She stopped and looked down at her with a curious smile.

"You're very pretty miss," said the girl.

"Thank you. You don't know how badly I needed a compliment today. What's your name?" asked Matilda while kneeling down to eye level with the girl.

Before the girl could respond she was suddenly pulled away by someone who Matilda guessed was her mother. No words were spoken, all Matilda received from her was a cold glare and then all she saw of her was her back as she carried her daughter away leaving Matilda only further conflicted.

Meanwhile, Charles Burgundy came out of his home with a large pot of food. Tucked under his right arm was a book and some blank parchment. He placed the meal down for his familiar and smiled at her while she ate. She had a very shy and polite temperament and it showed in how she ate her food, always taking small nibbles. It was one of those little things about Manticores that he so dearly loved about them, they all had such diverse personalities.

"Here you go Meadow. Enjoy your meal," he said to her while giving her a gentle stroke along her spine.

Charles seated himself nearby and set the book on his lap, the parchment on top. From inside his coat he produced a quill and from his pocket, the ink bottle. He took a deep breath to gather his thoughts on the letter he wished to write…

My dearest Eleonore,

Dijon hasn't given me the welcoming home I so dearly wished for. It had been so long since I was last here and to see it in the state I find it in has been deeply heartbreaking. But as I pen this letter I find myself smiling for the first time since my arrival. Thoughts of you always bring warm feelings to my heart, no matter how grim my surroundings.

Though I know our relationship is based purely on the desire of our families to see us wed for their own reasons I find myself compelled to explain my reasons. The same reasons I so dearly wish you were here with me now to firmly smack some sense into me when I might drift off course like a ship in a storm.

When I first knew you, it was back during our school days. No matter how hard I tried to muster the courage to try and speak with you for all those years, I never found it. Perhaps that was part of what inspired me to join the Manticore Knights? Your mother certainly knows how to turn a paralyzing fear into a triviality. When next I saw you, my fear was irrelevant. I still remember fondly the time we spent by the river near your family home, the way we acted out our favorite plays, and didn't even realize the sun had set and the moons were full in the sky as we traded opinions on our favorite books.

No matter how well trained I was to deal with fear, asking your father's permission to court you was utterly terrifying. But even that fear paled in comparison to my fear of you. My deep fear that no matter how hard I tried I'd never live up to your expectations of what your husband should be like. Even after all this time, we still never set a date for our wedding. I always assumed we never discussed the matter because you still had reservations about me, but now I find myself wondering if it was that, or if it was my continued fear of being rejected by you? Whichever the case, I'd like to take this time to announce my intention to open the topic for discussion with you when next we meet.

That is of course, unless we end up spending the entirety of that time acting out another scene from the Ice Princess. Perhaps this time we can move beyond the part where she refuses the peasant and realizes that only by acknowledging her love for him can the evil spells be broken. Because indeed, my love for you is strong, and it only grows stronger with each passing day. I pray that I may find the opportunity to prove once and for all that I am worthy of you. That I am able to meet your challenges and overcome them with the same confidence and determination that made me into a Manticore Knight. Just like in our favorite story.

Your humble servant,

Charles

After he put the quill down he realized Meadow was sitting behind him with her head resting on his shoulder, curious about what he was doing. The way she acted with him, every time he caught himself in a moment like this with her, he expected her to start talking. Naturally that never happened. They didn't need words to understand each other. He reached up and gently scratched her head with a smile.

"Do you think she really loves me Meadow?"

The Manticore responded by nuzzling her face against his cheek and giving him a lick.

"Well, if she doesn't, I'll always have you, and we'll always have the sky," he answered wistfully.

---

Luberon

Karin was getting frustrated. The Manticore Knights had brought their prisoner into one of their tents and were taking turns inflicting pain upon him. Karin sat across from where he was kneeling on the floor, stripped of all his clothing, and tied up kneeling on the floor. Not a shred of dignity was being afforded to this man.

"You're certainly making this difficult…" muttered Karin while bandaging her right hand. She'd beaten the man so much that her knuckles were profusely bleeding now. The Dragon Knight remained silent while Karin cast her disgusted gaze upon him.

"How many Dragon Knights did Albion send, how many ships? Answer us!" yelled Karin's Lieutenant before slamming his fist into the man's face.

The man turned his head and smiled before spitting blood into his face. "Bastard!" was all that was said to him before the next punch connected.

The former Dragon Knight spat a tooth out onto the floor and then straightened himself again like a defiant statue. The attempts to strip his dignity were futile, he didn't wear his pride like clothing. But to the surprise of all... He spoke for the first time.

"You got me. I'll show you on the map where we deployed, just bring me to the table."

Karin slowly nodded while looking carefully not only at, but through this man… This filth… She considered him for a long moment. An Albion Dragon Knight, a core of aerial soldiers she personally trained up as part of Tristain's commitment to their allies at the time. He wasn't going to break, she was certain of that. Anything he had to say couldn't be trusted just as it would be for her in his place. But she nodded to her subordinate anyway to give her permission. Everyone has their breaking points, even Karin. Though she didn't believe for a moment this man reached his, there was only one way to know if this man had indeed been broken.

Just as the the knight was walked to the map table the tent opened with another Manticore Knight making an urgent report. "My lady, we spotted an Airship moving in at high altitude, it fired on sweeps five and seven and is altering course. Your orders?"

The Dragon Knight seized the opportunity this distraction provided in a way none of them could have predicted. He just fell down. His hands were still tied behind his back, but he let his chin strike the table with the full force his body weight could muster and then fall back onto the floor, his own tongue and much of his blood left on the map. To Karin's shock and horror, the Knight had actually severed his own tongue and was now laughing at them while blood came pouring out of his mouth threatening to drown him in his own life fluid.

"Fetch a healer! Quickly! Don't let him die until he talks!" yelled Karin. "Damn fanatic…" she muttered to herself.

---

Louise looked out the window of the house being used as an infirmary as the soldiers outside sounded alarms and passed orders to each other while purposefully running about at a frantic pace. Then she turned around when she heard noise from behind her and saw Guiche standing up and dressing himself.

"Guiche. Don't be an idiot! You shouldn't be getting out of bed!" she yelled.

"I'm quite fine…" he said without looking at her, instead focused entirely on pulling up his pants.

Louise groaned with irritation and started walking towards the door, but then stopped and took a moment to think. Was she going to give up so easily? She promised his father she'd keep an eye on him. What kind of Sith would she be if she couldn't even make Guiche bend to her will?! Louise grinned to herself before she turned her head back to look at him again with narrowed eyes, and spoke to him in a stern tone...

"Remember before we went to fight Count Mott? You said you were putting your life in my hands from that day forward. Remember?"

"Yes. I did say that," answered Guiche while standing to put on his shirt.

His tone sounded almost dismissive, uninterested. She wouldn't take it! Louise balled her fists and walked back over to Guiche, then violently shoved him back into his bed. "Then that means you have to do whatever I tell you and like it! So I'm telling you to stay in bed until the healer says you can leave!"

Guiche tried to resist, but either he was still weakened from his ordeal, or Louise's training with Calista was making her a lot stronger. Certainly her will seemed more indomitable than ever. She was able to force him to lie down without much difficulty in spite of whatever token resistance he could muster. He was simultaneously forced to swallow the bitter truth that perhaps he wasn't as ready as he thought he was. Moreover, another reality suddenly dawned on the blonde boy, he had essentially sworn away his free will to this girl who was now standing at his bedside and crossing her arms with a stern expression directed at him.

"I suppose you'll be expecting me to obey your every whim now my lady?" muttered Guiche who turned his gaze to the ceiling to avoid her eyes.

"You've got that right! You'll obey me like a dog and like it, especially if it's for your own good!" said Louise with a raised voice.

Guiche turned his head to the bed across to his right and saw Lazare laying there, still unconscious, unmoving except for his breathing. "Did the healers say he would recover?"

"Yes. He will. He was badly hurt, lost a lot of blood. So did you by the way! Stupid dog..."

"This dog needs directions to the nearest wand maker. I've lost my own..." said a dejected Guiche.

"Yeah. Pretty sure your brains needs blood to function properly. So don't be too hard on him Louise, he'll be dumber than usual," said Derflinger from behind Louise's back.

"I'm not laughing. There is a job there that needs to be done," answered Guiche.

"Well it isn't a laughing matter! So are you going to listen to me and stay in bed? Or do I have to go get some rope and tie you down?" asked a stern Louise.

"Damn Louise... That's quite a kink," said Derflinger.

"Quiet you!" yelled Louise over her shoulder to Derflinger.

"Careful with this one blondie. She can be an abusive spouse," said Derflinger before sheathing himself.

"So I've noticed. No, rope will not be necessary. I'll be staying here."

"Good choice. Montmorency would never forgive us if we brought you back in an urn," said Louise with a calmer tone.

"If she were here now she would have me well in no time... Just so that she could beat me up herself for acting stupid. You wouldn't understand… It's our thing."

"I'm sure Professor Colbert is making sure she's alright. Her father was one of his best friends after all."

"He was willing to expel her not too long ago. So I wouldn't count on it," said Guiche with a hint of anger he struggled to suppress.

"She came out alright. So there's no use in thinking about it. Just focus on getting well. That's what she'd expect you to do now," said Louise in a softer tone.

"She would also expect me to flirt with the first beutiful nurse to attend to me... Then kick my ass for it, and then forgive me…"

"If I were her, I'd never forgive you. Ever. You don't deserve her at all."

"So why are you still here then? Shouldn't you be out there seeing what's going on? Why are you wasting your time with me?!"

"Because I promised your father I'd keep you safe… Stupid dog. Whatever's coming they can handle it. This is where I'm suppose to be right now."

"If you want to be part of this army you're suppose to go stand beside your comrades! Not sit here tending to a wounded dog! Go! Get out of my sight and go!" yelled a furious Guiche.

Louise was taken by surprise by the sudden change in him, but she narrowed her eyes and glared at him with the same fury he was casting at her. "No. I gave my word. I won't break it just because you're yelling at me! You're stuck with me now, so get used to it! If you can't protect yourself now, I'll protect you!"

"Why would you even want to?! You hate me! I hate you! You don't owe me anything, with every passing moment there could be soldiers dying because you're procrastinating here!"

"Damn it Guiche! I'm a Valliere, my word is my life! Besides, if I left and you ended up dying because I wasn't here… No. I couldn't accept that! You don't get to die... You owe me... And you're going to live to pay up! With your body, with your life, and with interest!"

"What is that suppose to mean?!"

"Figure it out! Now shut up and get back to resting," said Louise while walking back to the window to watch what was going on outside. She realized then that she still had her arms crossed, and had the entire time. She scoffed at herself and tried to put her arms back at her sides before crossing them over her chest again with her cloak covering them up. It almost frightened her how much she was slowly turning into her Master. First the cloths, now this.

---

Dijon

Matilda grew desperate as she wandered the town. There had to be a better way, she had to find the answer. But no matter where she wandered, no matter what courses she plotted in her mind, she kept drawing a blank. Was this inevitable? Was she on the wrong side? This didn't feel at all like the right thing to do.

Fear was a powerful tool, she knew that too well. She had wielded it effectively in combat and in her duty as a noblewoman. Was this any different? The Marquis was using fear to bring the people in line, nothing more. He hadn't ordered mass executions. He simply told her to destroy a building for every hour the people refuse to reject Brinvilliers' propaganda and submit to his authority. Buildings were not people, they could be rebuilt. People's livelihoods would be ruined, but they would survive. People have survived far worse.

She looked around at all the people giving her their cold glares. She understood the people were wary, after all what was being offered to them seemed, on its face, to be better for them. But Brinvilliers wasn't going to win this war, she was confident in that. What gave these people such confidence? She hadn't caused any harm here. All she wanted was a bread roll. She didn't try to take it from them, even though she could have. She was willing to pay for it. Everything was just wrong in the world here. But still, no matter how she tried to rationalize it, this felt wrong to her.

The Marquis wants to make a display of power to inspire fear. This wasn't any different from how her white haired sister conducted herself, and she had immense respect for her. So what was the difference? Was it just the scale of it?

"Is something troubling you Captain?" asked an officer as he walked over to Matilda.

The bespectacled woman hadn't even realized she'd left the main boulevard and suddenly found herself in the main square where the soldiers were hard at work preparing things for the Burgundy's address to the people.

"Everything's troubling me Lieutenant. I'm not sure how I feel about all of this," was her response.

"Aye. I feel the same. But orders are orders. We just have to carry them out. How we feel about what we do? That's something our kids will decide for us. But if it's worth anything to you Captain. I think we could do a lot worse."

"I suppose we could. But you're right. We're soldiers and we have our orders. We'll just try to make sure we start with the empty ones. That way people can get out of the surrounding ones before we get to them."

"Yes Captain. I'll have some men ready to assist you in making sure whatever place you pick is empty before you do whatever you're going to do."

"Good thinking Lieutenant. And thank you. I feel better about this now."

"Glad I could help Captain. But for what it's worth, none of the men want to hurt these people either. No matter how frustrated they get. But if things go too far in any direction… Whatever you decide to do, we'll be with you."

"I'm not certain I catch your meaning..." said Matilda with a stern glare to the man.

"I'm just saying we'll follow your orders. That's what Dutchess Valliere told us to do. So that's exactly what we'll do. That's all I'm saying. Nothing more. Nothing less."

"Thank you Lieutenant. Carry on," said Matilda with a firm nod.

"Yes Captain!"

---

Luberon

There wasn't much time for thinking. But Karin remembered that her Knights spoke well of the little blue haired girl and her dragon. Her Knights were not easy to impress, so she must have truly been capable. There was also the white dragon and the Romalian Knight riding it who was suppose to be their ally. Those were the only assets she could use to get this job done. Both Dragon riders were now present before her with their dragons sitting proudly not far behind them. The white one was a Wind Dragon, but to her surprise she couldn't identify the other one. However this wasn't the time to question the creature.

"We have a problem. And not a lot of time to solve it. There's an airship out there heading for the capital. It's flying enemy colors. It fired on my Knights. That Airship belongs to us and I want it back. I need that airship's altitude reduced so our Manticores can reach it. Dragons are all that can reach those altitudes. You have the only dragons. Can you do it?"

Julio placed his hand on his chin and contemplated that request while Tabitha simply nodded at Karin. Julio in turn raised a curious eyebrow at her. "What makes you so sure?" he asked Tabitha.

Tabitha didn't look at him, but gave a very brief answer with her attention still on Karin. "Wind wall. Bomb doors."

Julio gave the small girl a subtle smile, "I see. You mean to use your magic to block incoming projectiles and breach the ship by means of the doors built into the bottom of the hull to reach the windstones and then channel a spell into them to reduce the ship's altitude? I suppose that could be done. But not by the two of us alone. We'll need more help to keep the crew from stopping us. And a back up plan in case that fails."

Tabitha now turned her head slightly towards Julio and nodded at him, "Kirche and Calista," she stated in her emotionless monotone.

Karin nodded at Tabitha. "My Knights will be right behind you. Once you have that airship low enough, we'll board it and take over. Get ready and let's move. We'll guide you to the airship. After that it's up to you. Hurry, we don't have a lot of time."

---

Calista stood silently as Julio explained the situation to her. Kirche and Tabitha stood behind him while they awaited her answer.

"So what you are telling me, is that there's a ship out there capable of flying at an altitude the Manticores are unable to reach, but that Dragons can. And it's up to the four of us to bring it low enough for the Manticore Knights to be able to board and commandeer. Is that correct?" asked Calista with an icy and monotonous tone.

"Yes Lady Zarkot. That is exactly correct," answered Julio.

"So a Jedi Knight is asking a Sith Lord to help him engage in aerial piracy?"

"Yes… However time is of the essence, so if you wish to gloat perhaps it would be best if you were to save it for after we accomplish our mission?"

"Gloat? I intend to do no such thing. This is the best mission I've ever been asked to undertake! Let's go!"

Kirche raised her visible eyebrow while muttering "That was easy?"

"She likes to fly," stated Tabitha.

"Indeed I do," said Calista while walking past them.

---

Tabitha and Kirche mounted up on Sylphid while Julio prepared to get on his white Dragon. Calista started to quickly move to jump up ahead of him and take up the reigns.

"This time. I'm doing the flying!" said Calista with an excited tone before the Dragon started violently shaking its head and neck to throw her off.

Calista landed a few meters away on her stomach and face where she slowly started to push herself up with a furious expression. Meanwhile Kirche started laughing loudly while Julio covered his mouth to contain his own snickering.

"Damn it gravity… I get the point!" yelled Calista while stomping her fists on the ground.

"I'm afraid you'll have to serve as the RIO during this operation Lady Zarkot… Azzurro is very adamant about that," said Julio.

"This dragon is your Familiar? How is that possible?" asked Calista while standing up and dusting herself off.

Julio in response pulled off his right glove and showed Calista the top of his hand. The shorter Sith blinked for a moment and then walked over to get a closer look. "Those are almost the same as mine?" she said while looking at the top of her gloved left hand.

"These runes allow me to control magical creatures such as Azzurro here. So I'm afraid that I'm the one who's going to be piloting us," explained Julio.

"Pfft. I can almost hear the Moon Goddess and the Force itself laughing at me right now. A Sith fighter pilot gets summoned to this world but the Jedi Engineer gets the power to control flying creatures…"

"C'mon Cali! A lot of girls would give their arm to ride that stud's dragon. He's cute!" said Kirche who sat behind Tabitha with her arms around the small blue girl.

Julio pulled his glove back on and then climbed up into the saddle just behind his Dragon's head while offering his arm out to help Calista up. Calista shook her head in frustration and then jumped up behind Julio and put her hands firmly on the dragon's neck.

"My Lady. You may wish to hold onto me, this ride could get a little rough," stated Julio.

"I'm sure Cali loves a rough ride," said Kirche with a wink.

Calista shook her head in disgust at the comment. "Kirche...You really should learn how to keep your tongue on leash," said Calista while grudgingly scooting forward to wraps her arms around Julio's waist.

"Dragon rides and leashes. I love your kinks! May I recommend some whips?"

"It's not the time Pyro…" said Cali and then bit her tongue.

"I'm getting called that entirely too often lately. I think I'm starting to like it," mused the redhead.

Calista shook her head, she had no idea why she just instinctively called her that, but this wasn't the time for reminiscing about a past life. The white dragon began running forward and then leapt into the air with Sylphid just behind them.

---

Azzurro and Sylphid flew in formation with over a hundred Manticore Knights, following them to where their target would be. Julio kept his eyes closed and allowed the power of his runes to link his mind to that of his dragon, perceiving through it's eyes.

But something distracted Julio's concentration and piqued his curiosity to an irresistable level, her turned his head over his shoulder and saw the petite Echani behind him with her hood down, her hair flowing behind her in the wind, and the ribbon flipping like little red wings. If he didn't know her better, he might have found it adorable.

"Lady Zarkot? Dare I ask what's come over you?" he asked while speaking in Galactic Basic instead of the local tongue.

"I'm not Calista Zarkot right now. I'm Marika Kato. Space Pirate! Arrgh!" she said with a wide beaming smile and a fist pumped in the air.

Julio raised both his eyebrows and cringed at this new image of her running around in his mind and then covered his face with the palm of his hand. "...And thus the mighty Dark Lord of the Sith was reduced to the level an eight year old, playing a pirate fantasy."

"Silence mud-baller! We're haulin' jets to treasure 'n' glory!" said Calista who replaced her more posh Imperial accent with a more crass impression of what she thought a pirate would sound like.

"Need I point out the obvious that dragons don't come with jets?"

"What a bore. Can't you see how utterly amazing this is? We are flying a dragon to invade a ship powered by magic flying over our heads. Even a dispassionate Jedi should be able to appreciate the absurd bizarreness of this. Love it or hate it... Do not diminish my moment!"

"Fair enough. Do I have to commit myself to use a certain amounts of 'Arrrghs' for you to have your experience my lady? Or should I call you captain?"

"Just fly the damn dragon. It's my fantasy! I love reading pirate novels like the Pirate Princess series, and now I get to-" Calista shook her head before elaborating further. "An 'Arrrgh' once in awhile would not go amiss... Mud-baller..."

"Very well… Arrgh." said Julio with no serious feeling behind it.

Calista chuckled to herself before taking a deep breath of the open air and looked inwards to fully appreciate the feeling of sincere happiness coursing through her.

"You know my Lady. This feeling suites you better than hate and fury. Perhaps you should cling more tightly to this emotion. However, may I impose a moment of seriousness to strategize with you before you go too far into this fantasy of yours?"

"Well… I suppose we should," said Calista, reverting to her natural and more serious Imperial accent.

"With all due to respect to you. I ask that you follow my lead once we're inside, I have more experience with this world. Also kindly restrain yourself from lethal force as much as possible. We'll need much of the crew alive to operate the ship once it's under our control. Unless your runes grant you the knowledge of how to operate an airship?"

"Point taken. But I make no promises! If it's me or them, I'd rather it be them. But moving on… What do you believe we'll be up against?" asked Calista.

"The crew of a standard airship of this size and class would be anywhere from one hundred and fifty to two hundred. They'll be armed with metal swords and single shot rifles and pistols. The officers will all be mages, so expect them to do their best to bar our progress. Our Lightsabers won't deflect their projectiles so be mindful of that and try not to give anyone a clear shot at you. Disarm who you can, but I find it better to focus on simply shoving their weapons aside and making them waste their shots. Be efficient with your Force allocations. It's just the two of us after all."

"Sounds reasonable. How shall we deal with the Mages?"

"However you can. Use your judgement. Also… One more important thing. Force Lightning. Refrain from it at all costs. If you ignite the ship's stores of gunpowder… There won't be anything left of it but toothpicks. To say nothing of us. We have to avoid needlessly damaging the ship. We want it intact."

"Why did you want to bring the Sith Lord along again?"

Julio shook his head before looking forward again. The Manticore Knights tailing the airship were now visible. He looked up above them and spotted their target.

"I'm sure you're capable of being creative. If you have any questions, now is the time. We're getting close."

Calista grinned at the airship once she spotted it. "No my dear mud-baller! This is not the time for questions… It's time for some PIRACY!"

Julio turned his full attention back to his runes and his connection to his dragon, with their minds as one the Dragon overtook the Manticores and began climbing in altitude. Tabitha meanwhile did the same with Sylphid through the Familiar bond she had with her. Wind Dragons were speedy creatures, but Sylphid was faster still, however, once Azzurro pushed himself, he was easily able to keep up. Calista looked back and was amused to see the Manticores were little more than fluffy specs in the distance as they reached the clouds.

Calista then looked forward and narrowed her eyes at the ship they were going to attack. She'd never seen anything like it before. It vaguely resembled the few sea faring vessels she'd seen, but this one was made entirely of wood and had sails. A lot of sails on three masts. There were outrigged sails coming out of the sides of the ship's midsection as well. The entire side of the ship had small doors just under the main deck which invoked images of turbolaser decks on capital ships she was familiar with only much smaller and probably for the same purpose, except made for the use of primitive projectile weaponry.

Meanwhile aboard the airship one of the lookouts spotted the two dragons rapidly approaching from below. He widened his eyes and raised the alarm, "Dragons! Two below to starboard!" he yelled the captain who was standing at the front of the quarter deck.

The Captain nodded to the man and raised his voice to the crew, "Officers shall prepare to defend the ship from magical assault. All hands shall be to arms! Prepare to repel attackers!"

The officers drew wands and rushed down from the quarterdeck and began their work of organizing their crew divisions for the task at hand. "To arms men! To arms! Load muskets and man the bulwarks! Arm the men in the crow's nests!"

Tabitha could see the rifles coming off the side of the ship through Sylphid's eyes and prepared her staff. Julio meanwhile brought his dragon behind her, if they had any chance of making their approach it all depended on the strength of Tabitha's wind wall.

"Typical, they see some rack and their empty their guns in an instant ruining the fun... Now they will have to play with their hands."

"Be serious now," said Tabitha while channeling her windwall to deflect the incoming musket shots.

"I'm not the one who emptied their load so hastily. Flame spears!" Kirche executed a spell conjuring flaming lances that hit the board side of the ship, forcing the men to take cover to protect their gunpowder from the fires while the water mage officer started putting out the flames.

"Don't burn it," said Tabitha in a cool monotone.

"Just creating a little panic… How's your wind wall? Looks like they're ready to shoot again. Oh, look they are pulling out bigger guns now. Talk about over compensation."

The gun ports in the side of the frigate opened while the crew rolled out their cannons and prepared to fire once the Dragons started flying away to make their next pass. Tabitha said nothing in response to the crude references and focused entirely on finding a flight path to evade the potential cannon fire while protecting them from musket balls.

---

"It seems they've become the distraction instead of us. I'm taking us in below the ship. When we're near the doors, use your lightsabers and cut them open," said Julio while Azzurro dove down low and started to climb again to keep the crew from gaining a firing solution on them.

"You suddenly trust me far too much Jedi. What makes you so sure I won't accidentally cut your head off?"

"Azzurro can easily drop you, and I doubt you can muster the Force power to save you from this fall. Even if you could prevent him from eating you to avenge me." Azzurro loudly snapped his jaw to reinforce his master's point.

"Relax mud-baller. It was a joke," she said while taking up her staff and decoupling the twin hilts. Her eyes set firmly on her target as they approached. Once they were close enough she ignited the red blades and held them up high and wide over her head to slice open a way in for them. To her great surprise the weapons had absolutely no effect on the hull of the ship. She also saw a thin layer of energy illuminate as her blades came into contact with the hull which seemed to be rendering her blades useless.

"Plan Besh?" asked Calista.

"Plan Besh indeed. They've erected a flame resistant enchantment as a response to that red haired girl's fire attacks. Be ready to jump," replied Julio.

"For a Jedi, you seem to know a lot about magic."

"I get by."

"I hope those two know to follow our lead," said Calista while deactivating her lightsabers recoupling the staff.

"Tabitha seems to know what she's doing. Trust her. Now use the Force and concentrate. We're jumping into a Mynock den."

"We have a saying in Nightwing… Situation KUBAR. I'm quite at home in it."

"Not sure I want to know what that means…" he said while Azzurro pulled out of a dive and started climbing for the deck of the ship. The Dragon suddenly allowed itself to drop and dodge musket fire forcing Calista to hold tightly to Julio to keep from being lifted off the Dragon's neck.

"Kriffed up beyond all recognition!" she yelled cheerfully while both of them pushed themselves up to plant their feet firmly on the Dragon's neck.

"Indeed that's exactly where we find ourselves my lady… Jump!" was his final word before both of them made their force leaps with their lightsabers drawn and ignited. Each in near perfect synchronization sliced their way through the riflemen manning the ship's port side bulwark as they passed through them and landed on their feet and rolled forward. Then threw their respective Lightsabers forward cutting down the men rushing to respond and caught their weapons again once they were on their feet proper.

Suddenly surrounded by the crew with their rifles, and officers with their wands ready. None were underestimating what these two were capable of after the sight of what their weapons did to their fellow crew members. Calista took a moment to flourish her staff around herself to further incite their fear and fully released her cold Dark Side aura upon them. Julio meanwhile held his lightsaber at the ready and surrendered himself fully to the Force, allowing his feelings and instincts to guide his actions. His purpose was clear, get these people to surrender while causing the least amount of death he possibly could. He could only hope Calista would keep the mission in mind with whatever course of action she would choose to take.

The Captain looked down on them from the top of the quarter deck and directed his sword wand towards them. "Surrender now and we won't kill you!" he commanded.

"Funny Captain… I was just about to say that to you," replied Calista. Her tone as cold as the air around them was turning between the altitude and her aura.

"Get them off my ship!" yelled the Captain.

"Relax! Concentrate…" said Julio while the crew aimed their weapons.

"Relax? My dear Jedi… I haven't had this much fun since I got here!"

The only thing more unnerving to these men than the sudden fear inspiring cold they were experiencing was the fact that these two didn't seem to care in the least that they were horribly outnumbered, completely surrounded by rifles, pistols, and mages, and still seemed more confident than those who had the advantage did.

"Jedi… Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"Indeed my Lady. I am… Together… Now!"

Both Julio and Calista worked together to create the widest possible Force bubble they could manage. It didn't have to be potent, they didn't want to deplete themselves so early in the game. All they needed was an opening to act. The bubble rippled through the air, seeming to distort the very fabric of reality and impacted the men surrounding them just hard enough to throw them off balance if not onto their backsides.

Balance was something these men had to be very good at maintaining. Falling down on a ship thousands of meters in the air was a death sentence to these men. They had to have near perfect balance while manning the riggings. Knocking them completely over with this much power wasn't going to happen. However it did create the chaos they needed to move to their objectives. Officers first. That was the shatterpoint as they saw it. The Jedi and Sith split up from their back to back position and rushed the first officer they saw.

But these men were Mages as well. Julio had experience taking them on in combat. Calista did not. She had to be decisive and merciless, she couldn't allow her target the opportunity to act against her. The man drew his wand back with his left hand, a fire spell ready at the tip. She couldn't let him cast it. But this was also the problem with inexperienced, she had no idea what the consequences would be for any of her actions. She had to act though, she had to take a chance. She used the Force on her staff to give it reach, she spun it and threw it forward using the Force to keep it moving in a vertical spin. The man widened his eyes and stepped to the side while trying to retaliate at her with his fireball. Before he even knew what happened his arm fell away from his body and he fell to his right side with his eyes set on the stub of where his arm used to be and screamed in complete terror. The staff weapon came back into Calista's hands.

"Calista! Drop!" yelled Julio.

She didn't question it, she dropped to the floor and felt the lead balls whizz past the top of her head, she heard them fly past her ears. She leap forward and disengaged one side of her staff. In such close quarters the staff weapon was becoming too much of a danger to herself instead of her enemies. With a swift motion she sliced the barrels off the rifles. The men dropped them and started backing away from her while going for their pistols.

Julio finished up with the mage he attacked by severing both his hands while he was trying to transmute his wand into a weapon and then turned around and threw his lightsaber. His control over its trajectory was nearly perfect. As the pistols came out and took aim, the blade passed through them, igniting their powder and burning the hands of the men wielding them.

It wasn't going to be that easy for them, not all crew on the deck was frightened, the lead balls started flying closer and closer to their bodies. Even their speed was not able to save them. Calista got hit in the shoulder, but luckily for her she only felt the impact, the lead bullet wasn't enough to penetrate durasteel. But her whole body wasn't covered in armor. She tried to dodge and take cover but the bullets kept hitting her relentlessly, two landed directly in the gaps between her armor plates, one in her thigh just above her knee, the other in her left upper arm where she had no armor at all. Julio leapt in front of her and raised a Force barrier with all his power to block the barrage landing on his unlikely comrade. Calista forced herself to stand and tried to reach out with her left hand but couldn't raise it.

"Are you alright?" asked Julio.

"Who would ask such a stupid question?! Of course I'm not alright! The tendon's been severed…"

"I can't keep this up for long. Do something!"

"Like what?!" she snapped.

A dozen men began gathering around them with swords drawn, others were reloading their pistols or drawing their secondary pistols on the pair. Suddenly there was an immense gust of wind that came over them, forcing them all to give up their fight and grab something to hold onto or be swept off the side of the ship. Tabitha and Kirche leapt down off Sylphid as she landed on the deck. The Dragon grabbed two men in her mouth and then walked backwards and let herself fall off the side while holding her snacks in her mouth. Sylphid flew over next to Azzurro under the ship and offered him a bite, which he accepted and each chomped down on two halfs of the two men.

"Took you long enough. But we sincerely appreciate the intervention," said Julio with a polite inclination of his head.

"Figuring the firing pattern was harder than we thought, Tabitha can give you the details," explained Kirche while channeling magic into her wand and unleashing a stream of fire to keep their enemies away.

Tabitha spoke flatly while preparing her next spell, "Trusted in Sylphid."

"You girls are crazier than Calista is, you know that?"

"Are you into crazy then handsome?" asked Kirche with a wink, the fire from her wand sweeping in a large cone in front of her keeping anyone with any sense staying as far back as they could. Simply because the ship was enchanted to resist the flames didn't mean they themselves were.

"This is hardly the time my lady… Please provide cover. Tabitha, please dispel the enchantment from under us," ordered Julio while turning to Calista and putting his hand over her left upper arm. Calista nodded to him while disengaging her lightsaber and held out her right arm to take over the Force barrier while Julio worked to mend the damage to her arm. "You'll need both arms for what's next," he said to her dryly.

"Understood…" said Calista with a cold grin. Calista's arm started to burn as if it were on fire while her muscle tissue began to regenerate and, the tendon reattached to her bone, and the bullet hole closed up and formed scar tissue. Painful as it was, she's endured much worse, but she still had to scold him for his work... "I'm Sith not an animal! You could be a bit more gentle about it!"

"First. You are still aligned with the Dark Side and resistant to my power. Second. If I were gentle it would take time we don't have!"

Once Julio finished healing her arm he tried to go for her injured leg but she stopped him and shook her head, "No time. I can work through it. Tabitha? Are you ready?"

"Yes."

"Good. Next move?" asked Calista to Julio.

Julio smiled and pointed down while activating his lightsaber and twisting his finger in a circle. Calista activated one end of her staff and held it in both hands while grinning back.

"Girls, follow us quickly!" yelled Calista while she and Julio quickly started cutting into the deck with their weapons, carving out a nearly perfect circle and falling through to the lower deck riding on a wooden disc. Tabitha and Kirche quickly jumped down where Julio caught them with the Force and gently lowered them to their feet. Meanwhile Calista assessed their surroundings. There were in a room whose purpose was not immediately clear to Calista. The wall leading to the outer hull was lined with thick metal, the floor was slightly wet as well. But its purpose was abundantly clear to Julio who rushed for the door and started trying to kick it out.

"Power down your saber! Now! We have to get out of here. They're not quick to shoot at us because this a powder store room!" he explained.

"Why would they store explosive material so close to the outer hull? Ahh, I see, this is the only armored room. At any rate, it's not necessarily a bad thing if we're safe for the moment," said Calista.

"Your idea of safe is not the same as mine!" exclaimed Julio while taking a step back and used the Force to push out the door.

Calista walked limply behind them. They could hear the crew gathering to make a stand around the next corner from them. "Their courage is admirable, but misplaced. Where would these windstones be?"

"The center. For a ship this size, they'll be loaded around the base of the main mast," explained Julio.

"So all we have to do is bring Tabitha there, and keep the crew from interfering with her while she does whatever she's going to do. Simple enough."

"Simple, not easy," stated Tabitha.

"We'll be surrounded by the cannons, and a lot of gunpowder. I'm not sure how effective I can be," said Kirche.

The four lined a wall while Julio peeked his head around the corner, a line of riflemen took their shots and he quickly took cover.

"Firing line. Six men. Three took their shots and are reloading. Three more ready to fire," explained Julio.

"This seems familiar. Can't you just stop their bullets mid air like Louise did? Or make another shield like you did before? I mean you're both supposed to be the Masters here right?"

"No time for a lecture about the Force right now. Stand aside Jedi. I'll take care of this," said Calista.

"No Lightning. You saw how they protect the storeroom, with metal. If your Lightning finds the wrong arc, even to one of the cannons, we're all dead," said Julio while stepping aside to give Calista room to take his place.

"I'm well aware..." said Calista while pressing down a button on her left gauntlet. Her body was then surrounded in a form fitting manner by a lightly glowing blue energy.

"A personal shield generator? Why didn't you use that before?!" asked Julio.

She didn't answer, she didn't have time. She stepped out of the corner and was fired upon, her energy shield increased in intensity as the projectiles stuck her harmlessly and fell to the floor around her. The second row of men fired on her and then she deactivated the shield and reached out with her left hand and violently pushed out, throwing them all backwards into more men getting ready to defend their ship behind them.

"I don't want to needlessly waste the energy in it. It's not unlimited. Besides I wasn't sure if those shots could hit hard enough to breach it. Now attack!" yelled Calista while standing aside to let Julio pass her in the narrow space. She was still limping and couldn't rush into combat, she had to be more calculating.

Julio rushed the cannon deck and started cutting down everyone who tried to attack him while others started fleeing for their lives. Once they saw what his blade could do them nobody wanted to be near him. Those with pistols hesitated to fire for fear of hitting and igniting the gunpowder scattered around the room for the cannons.

While Julio started clearing the room, Kirche rushed in and started using levitation spells on individuals to slam them into the roof, cracking heads open. Meanwhile Calista held Tabitha back and asked her to wait. She took off her left gauntlet and started putting it on the little blue haired girl.

"Take this. When you're ready to start doing what you're going to do, press here, hard. Just in case something goes wrong and we can't protect you. The energy drains each time it takes a hit, so it won't last forever. But it should give us time to respond if we have to. Understand?"

Tabitha nodded. "Thank you."

---

The captain of the newly renamed TRS Dignity looked over the side of the quarter deck through a spyglass before closing it up and turning to his two surviving officers. "The Manticore Knights. All of them. Why haven't we stopped those intruders yet? Has the whole crew turned coward?"

While he asked the question, he gestured down towards the deck where the surviving crew were gathering. Reloading pistols, tending the wounded, and having fearful fits.

"With all due respect Captain. Those two, with the swords of light? Nothing we have makes a difference. We can't use firearms down below deck with all the powder we're transporting to the capital."

The Captain shook his head. "You're both wind mages and won't risk igniting the powder. Get down there and handle it. Unless you've both become cowards?"

"No Captain! Right away!"

---

Julio locked and braced one of the doors leading to the upper deck once Calista dispatched the last few men attempting to make a stand.

"They're not going to just leave us down here, we need to get to work. Soon enough they'll organize and we'll be no better off than the appetizers at Huttese open buffet..."

"A Jedi with a sense of humor? I rather like this side of you. Do you have a plan or just wits?"

"I do. First of all, phase shift your lightsabers, the shoto blades will be more practical in these close quarters."

"Way ahead of you Jedi..." she said while decoupling her staff and switching them into the short shoto blades.

"Good. Miss Zerbst. The cannons are still loaded and ready to fire. Are you able to ignite the fuses on all of them simultaneously?"

"All of them at once?" asked Kirche while looking around at the twenty four cannons on the deck. "Not easily, but yes. I think I can."

"You think you can? Or know you can?" asked Julio very sternly.

"I know I can light your fire handsome. Leave it to me!" she said while twirling her wand in her fingers.

Meanwhile Julio busied himself running down the deck severing the ropes securing the cannons.

"Clever trap..." said Tabitha.

"Lady Tabitha. The windstones should be directly below us. We will hold them here, go get started," said Julio to which Tabitha gave a short nod.

"Very good. Now it's up to us to buy her the time she needs, is everyone ready?"

Kirche took a firm grip on her wand and pointed it down towards the cannons ahead of her while nodding firmly. Calista reversed the grip on her left saber while assuming the Ataru ready stance and grinned. Julio took up his Lightsaber with both hands and looked down at the door he blocked off when the sounds of the crew trying to break it down were heard.

"So... Has your Pirate fantasy been fulfilled yet?" asked Julio causing Kirche to raise a very curious eyebrow at Calista.

"Arrrgh! We just be gettin' started mud-baller!"

"You know… The sexual tension between the two of you is palpable. You realize that right?"

"We've been over this Kirche. Don't project your delusions onto me," said Calista with an icy tone, completely reversed from the fun tone she had playing pirate a moment ago.

"Concentrate! This isn't the time," Julio demanded sternly.

"I love domineering men!"

Calista simply shook her head in disgust and hoped the crew would hurry up and break down that door.

---

Tabitha walked down some narrow stairs leading to the lowermost deck. She found the cargo area there, gunpowder barrels stacked to the roof. She paid them no mind and walked down a very narrow space between the barrels. Her small frame allowed her to walk comfortably towards her destination. Ahead of her she spotted two men standing sentry at the door leading to the next room. They drew swords and prepared to make a stand to bar her entry. With a wave of her staff she muttered the only words she would waste on them…

"Air hammer."

Suddenly the air around one of the men was completely sucked away from him causing his shirt to fly up in his face and then the air came back down on him with enough force to crack his head open. The second man escaped the space the spell was cast on and started rushing towards her. He raised his sword up to bring it down over her head while the small girl brought her staff back and stepped into the man, raising her staff again to allow the curved hook shaped top to impact into the man's neck, completely collapsing his throat. Blood spluttered out of his mouth while he fell back away from her.

Tabitha then stepped over the dying man and waved her staff at the door ahead of her using her magic to open her way. There she found the base of the main mast, and the white glowing windstones set into it like jewelry.

There was another door across from her that swung open and a group of men started trying to rush into the room at the sound of the commotion coming from the other side. Tabitha directed her staff towards the door and cast her next spell, creating a tunnel of wind strong enough to push them back through the door and into the wall behind them. Then she waved her staff and sealed the door, following up with an enchantment to keep it locked. She waited a few moments for the men to start trying to open it again to confirm that her spell had taken hold and then turned to the windstones to begin her work. It would take all her concentration to perform as the task normally required two or more wind mages to control. But she was fully confident she could accomplish the feat if given the time.

She looked down her newly gloved left hand and armored forearm and pressed the button she was shown, surrounding her body in the same thin blue energy she saw around Calista earlier. She moved her limbs a bit to see if it restricted her movements at all. Once she was satisfied it would not impair her she took a step back and began her work.

The bespectacled bluenette lifted her staff and directed it at one of the windstones while chanting the runic words to the required spell. She'd have to very precisely calibrate the windstones to lower the altitude at an even pace or risk crashing the ship, or even capsizing it. Her concentration was almost completely shattered by the sound of dozens of cannons going off simultaneously above her but with some effort she put it out of her mind, content in the knowledge that sound meant everything was going according to plan. Or so she hoped.

---

"What?! I can't hear a word you're saying!" yelled Kirche at the top of her lungs.

Calista and Julio had the sense to plug their ears, but Kirche couldn't do that while directing her wand and casting her spell. All she could hear clearly now was the loud ringing in her ears.

Julio quickly rushed to her side and with a forceful arm around her waist dragged her away towards the back of the room and set her down on the floor. With his hands he gestured to her to stay put. Kirche shook her head before giving him a very salacious grin that Julio could only shake his head at.

Calista walked down the deck surveying the damage. "Certainly gives new meaning to loose cannons… What a mess." she said mostly to herself.

"Hardly a new meaning my lady. This is exactly what the term implies."

With the cannons free to recoil to wherever they pleased, they effectively drew dozens of men into their trap. Once they cannons were set off, they crushed the men, leaving nothing but loose body parts and pools of blood at their feet. Those who survived either fled, or were in no condition to offer any further resistance.

"I do believe now is the time to ask the Captain for his surrender again. What say you my lady?"

"Yes mud-baller. I do believe you are correct..."

Calista and Julio stopped in their tracks as two men came around the corner and onto the deck. Both wearing officer's uniforms and armed with short curved swords. They directed the swords towards them and spoke in unison…

"Airblade!"

Calista and Julio hit the deck and felt the thin blades of air pass over them. Calista was on her feet first, a second airblade launched towards her, she dove forward and rolled towards the man on the left while Julio stood up and used the Force to speed himself towards the man on the right. Both Jedi and Sith brought a Lightsaber down upon the Wind Mages and both blades were blocked by their swords.

The petite Echani was caught by complete surprise. She had until now firmly believed that only Matilda was capable of creating a weapon capable of resisting a Lightsaber. These men weren't Earth Mages, so what magical trickey was happening here?

"Explain this!" demanded Calista while backing away to re-engage her opponent in a more serious manner who to her further amazement was fully capable of keeping up with her Force enhanced speed, strength, and dexterity. He met her blow for blow and even counter attacked effectively enough to put her on the defensive.

"They're Wind Mages! Well trained! Every bit our near equal in combat! Don't let their blades touch you!"

The two men said nothing, but pressed their attacks. Julio was completely comfortable being on the defensive to wait out his opponent with his tight and efficient move sets. Calista on the other hand he knew was an offensive burst fighter. These men were capable of matching her preferred style.

That information gave Calista what she needed. With her eyes closed she was able to perceive through the Force the movement of the air surrounding the sword of her opponent. The air was moving around it so rapidly the friction heat alone would be sufficient to damage or possibly even penetrate her armor, to say nothing of her flesh. The air was also resisting the heat from her lightsaber blades.

Calista was at a loss. Defensive fighting was not her strongest field, but Wind Mage or not, this man was no Jedi. He didn't have a Force wall to resist her attacks. But lightning was out of the question here. She needed to free up a hand and options. The mage came at her with an overhead swing, his speed and strength were astonishing to her. She lifted up her blades and crossed them to catch and lock his sword. Julio was aware of the opening, but as soon as he tried to disengage and go for the kill his own opponent was quickly back to back with his partner to defend him. Calista was on her own.

The Wind Mage's calm outer expression caved to fear as he saw Calista's face turn from frustration to a very scary smile. He wanted to withdraw from the lock he was stuck in, but with his partner standing back to back with him he had nowhere to retreat to, and his opponent seemed to know this. He also noticed the glowing from her bare left hand was getting a lot stronger.

Calista stared into his eyes, "Everything works out when you're a pirate! Arrrgh!"

With that she closed her eyes and withdrew from the lock, the mage followed her and took a slash at her head with she ducked, and then another slash at where her head would have been but she leapt up over the sword and kicked his face, knocking him back a couple steps and then lunged forward with both her lightsabers towards him.

Another step back and he'd trip over one of the loose cannons, he couldn't afford that. "Wind wall!" he yelled, Calista suddenly felt the air around her turn so heavy that she couldn't move at all and was stuck with her lightsabers held outwards. With the Force she reached out to her blades and activated the primary phase, extending the blades and impaling the man upon them. He fell down onto his knees and the blades passed through his body. The spell lifted as the man's life slipped away. She stepped in as lifted her lightsabers through him, splitting him in half.

"I told you so," said Calista with a wink to the now dead mage.

Julio meanwhile was deflecting the furious strikes of the wind mage attacking him when Calista threw one of her lightsabers at the mage, forcing him to bring his sword out to deflect it. Then ducking Julio's next swing. The Jedi then lowered his lightsaber and opened his left hand while making a lifting gesture with it. The Wind Mage was then caught in the Force, every limb immobile while he was suspended above the floor.

"Will you surrender now?" asked Julio.

"Yes… I yield to you sir," he answered Julio then lowered him back to the floor where the mage released his grip on his sword. His wind enhancement fading with it.

"Good choice," said the Jedi Knight while waving his hand at the man, rendering him unconscious.

Calista recombined her staff and clipped it back on her belt while Julio did the same with his lightsaber and the two started walking towards to doors to the upper deck. Before either could say anything the sounds of musket fire came loudly from above them and the two began running.

Julio and Calista emerged onto the deck to see the Manticore Knights dropping down onto the ship. The crew holding up their weapons in surrender. Calista looked up to the quarter deck to see the Captain yielding his sword to Karin.

"It seems Tabitha was successful," said Julio.

"Arrrgh! Did ya doubt in my crew mud-baller?" asked Calista in her pirate accent while giving the Jedi a stern glare.

"Not for a moment, I assure you."

---

Dijon

The sun was beginning to set and the hour was at hand. The people were gathered. Gerard was chained to a post in the town square and closely guarded by several soldiers. Matilda stood silently with her wand held firmly in her right hand incase she needed it. Beside her was the Marquis, who sat proudly on top of his Manticore, ready to address the crowd.

"People of Djon! I am the Marquis. Charles de Burgundy,"

Charles looked around at the people gathered to make sure he had their attention, the cold glares he was getting didn't bother him, he'd wipe the smugness from them soon.

"You have been lied to! Deceived! You allowed yourselves to act based on ideas and laws set forth by a man who in a very short time will be facing the full might of the army loyal to her majesty Queen Henrietta. Including the full power of my fellow Manticore Knights! Duke Marius de Brinvilliers will be dead before the month is out, his head will be on display in the capital for all to see."

Charles took a breath and looked around at the people again, unmoving. But he noticed some seemed to be considering his words. Progress.

"He will die! Do not be mistaken about that. History will be washed clean of him. But you people will have to live on. The question you now face is this... How will you choose to live? Consider carefully. This will be your only chance to make the right decision."

Charles pointed out at Gerard the Ash chained to the post to his right.

"This… Man… This so called noble. Gerard the Ash, has made you promises he can not keep. Without an authority to back his promises, he can deliver on none of them. I am your only hope for salvation now. Through me you will be prosperous, through him you will find only ruin. Affirm your loyalty to the Queen, show me you will repent for disrespecting the memory of her mother. Reject this man and his empty promises! Give me your word and I will free you from the lies by ending his life!"

With that he drew his sword wand and directed it to Gerard.

"Every hour that passes that you do not do this. I will order one building destroyed! Either destroy this man, or I destroy Dijon. If you choose to stand with him, and with the traitor Brinvilliers, I will show you the ruin they will bring unto you! Make your decision! Vive la Reine!"

"Vive la Reine!" yelled Matilda and her soldiers in chorus.

Matilda looked around at the people one more time before she closed her eyes and sighed deeply to herself. She knew Charles was right. Brinvilliers would be defeated no matter what. The people moving against him were powerful. He wouldn't win. These people had to make this decision about where they would stand. The promises made to them were empty, and would never be fulfilled. They had to see that. Nobody would ever be coming to enforce the promises made to them. Was she on the right side? She believed she was. This wasn't about these people. Matilda made her decision and opened her eyes with a steeled expression. This land was her home now. This was where she would live with her sister, with her friends. This was what she had to do to fight for it and restore order.

One of the people stepped forward, drawing curious eyes from everyone gathered. He was a young man in his mid twenties, his cloths were dirty and tattered. His was was just as steeled as Matilda's. It didn't unnerve her, but it did incite her curiosity. Was this it? Was this man going to be the first to see reason?

"Monsieur Marquis. The man you call a traitor and a liar offers us rights, and freedom… He sent this man here to protect us. He helped us anyway he could to make this town better. He worked our fields, played with our children. Now you come here offering to oppress us back into meaningless servitude. You chain our liberator, and sit there on that beast as a tyrant and say we have to choose? I say it is not us who must choose, but you! Leave us in peace, or we will make you! This is our land!"

Charles narrowed his eyes, and galred at that man in disgust while directing his sword wand to him. "This is not your land! This is my land that we allow you to live on! This is land my family paid for with blood! And kept paying for over generations! I will not surrender my family legacy to a mob of peasants who think they are entitled to what isn't theirs!"

With that, Charlas chanted a spell in anger and the young man was suddenly swept into a swirling vortex of air. People hurried away from the young man for fear of being caught up in the magic. Charles kept him spinning there for minutes before ceasing the spell and letting him fall to the floor where he vomited from the dizziness.

"In this world, the Mages have power to protect the people! My family has used our power to protect these lands for generations! But understand that I will not hesitate to turn that power against you if you continue this defiance! This land does not belong to you! Through the grace of Her Majesty and the blood, sweat and tears of my forbearers it belongs to me and my family! This is where I will live with my wife, this is where I will raise my children. I need none of you for any of those ambitions! I could have you all killed and there will be thousands ready and eager to have what you leave behind! You are nothing but the choices you make now!"

Matilda's eyes caught up that small girl from earlier on the edge of the crowd, she was tearful and panic stricken, trying to break free from her mother's grasp to rush towards the man vomiting all over the cobbled road. She understood now, that was her father. She didn't know if she should feel guilty for what happened to him, or angry that he would risk his life in such a futile act of defiance. But he was still alive. If Charles wanted to kill him, he was a Wind Mage, he could have done it easily, and made it a brutal example. Despite his words, he was being restrained. She didn't believe he wanted to hurt these people, but she didn't doubt that he would if pushed.

"Is this what you truly want Marquis? To be the symbol of fear, an utter brute, distant and alienated from the people he is sworn to protect? Look at them now… Who do you think they want protection from now? If my life is the price for theirs… Do so."

"Bastard! You are the sole reason for all of it! Your actions have forced my hand!"

"You can lie to yourself all you want. But you lost these people, the moment you rejected the idea that they are entitled to this land. They've done the work, built the town. Raised their families here. Just as you say you wish to do as well. You're no different from them. You want the same things. But you're unwilling to share. That is your ruin. Even if you kill us all, even if you replace us all, you will loose them as well. The cycle has repeated for our entire history. This time you have a real chance to break it. Step down to those people and accept them as family. Be a builder not a destroyer. Accept the people's claim, you can live alongside them."

"Live alongside them? Give up power? Give up my land? Give up what my family fought bled and died for?! You are mad!"

"Listen to yourself. Even in your position, you can give some ground and avoid bloodshed. If Brinvilliers loses, it will be as you say. But the ideas he's spread will not die with him. No matter how hard you try. You don't have to give up your power. But you can relinquish some of it. Allow these people a voice who can speak to you about their needs. Work to provide for their needs. Share the power, and the burdens that come with it. If all work together for the common good, it will bring prosperity to the land. Which means prosperity for the ruler. You say you want to rule over this land. Then do so, but do so in a fair manner. Be a leader these people can love. Break the cycle of fear and tyranny… You can do that here and now."

Charles tipped his sword wand onto his shoulder and kept his glare on Gerard.

Matilda meanwhile was listening carefully. "My lord. May I offer you my advice?"

Charles looked to the Captain of his soldiers and took a very deep breath with his eyes closed. This was mentally exhausting him. Matilda took it as a good sign that she was right about him. He didn't want to hurt these people, now she was sure of it. He wanted a way out that was acceptable. Now it would be up to her to offer him one.

"From what I understand. These people want two things. The right to live freely, and a say in how they are governed. You want your rights to these lands recognized, and you want these people to be loyal to the Queen. Neither of those goals are incompatible. As the Marquis, you are entitled to run your lands as you see fit so long as you pay your dues to the Crown, is that not correct?"

"Indeed. That is correct," answered Charles with a neutral tone of voice.

Matilda nodded, it was an immense relief to hear him being open to reason. "Let these people choose one among them to represent them to you. Someone who can speak for the people that you can work with to compromise with these people so that everyone can have what they want."

"Do you believe that can work?"

"It can. If everyone is willing to make it work it will work. When everyone is open to compromise and willing to work for the best interests of all, great things can be accomplished," said Gerard.

Matilda looked over the Manticore at Gerard. Beaten, filthy, bloody, and still so full of life. Still standing for what he believes in and fighting for it. Reconquista never compromised, never accepted any rules but their own. Yet this man, knowing full well that Charles was ready to kill him in front of all these people, is willing to back down from his absolutist position, to work out a compromise that could make everyone happy. That wasn't what Reconquista stood for, wasn't how they operated.

She had to say something on the matter, "You're the real thing, aren't you? You're not a brainwashed zealot like the others,"

"I'm not Reconquista. I'm only one irrelevent man. All I want is for these people to be happy, safe, and prosperous. Nothing more," answered Gerard.

"I believe you. Captain. Have this man removed and cleaned up, then bring him to me. We have much more to discuss. People of Dijon! Return to your homes. Tomorrow, I will see that we organize an election where you will choose a representative to speak on your behalf about any further matters."

"Vive la Reine!" was the chorus from the people amidst cheering and applause. Charles shook his head in disbelief.

"What is it my Lord?" asked Matilda.

"I got what I wanted… It seems I owe you a debt I can never repay my lady."

"You gave them something they wanted. They gave you something you wanted," answered Matilda with a small smile.