The Clone Wars-3 Sides
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Star Wars but I do own any oc's that I come up with.
Benarce cried out in pain as he felt the vibroblade go into his flesh. He already had several other cuts and bruises along with a few broken bones and some internal bleeding. Blood was coming out of his mouth and one of his eyes was swollen shut.
"P-Please! H-Have mercy!" Benarce begged of Thrawn who grew a look of outrage at the plea.
"Mercy? MERCY! DID YOU HAVE ANY MERCY? DID YOU SHOW AN OUNCE OF COMPASSION FOR THOSE WHO'S LIVE YOU RUINED? DID YOU SHOW ANY OF THOSE WOMEN ANY OF YOUR MERCY WHEN THEY BEGGED NOT TO BE VILOTATED? YOU DON'T DESERVE MERCY AND EVERYONE YOU SCREWED OVER CERTIANLY DIDN'T DESERVE TO BE DESTROYED BY A MONSTER LIKE YOU!" Thrawn yelled at Benarce while repeatedly stabbing him in non-vital areas so he wouldn't die.
"AGGGGHHHHHHH!" was Benarce's scream of pain as Thrawn inflicted more wounds onto him.
Thrawn got tired of just stabbing Benarce eventually and had him strung up onto a table where his arms and legs were put in cylinders that would send an electric shock through his body. These electrical shocks were special in that they targeted the neurons of the body. Neurons transmitted messages like feelings of pleasure, moving a limb, or thinking a certain thought. The electrical would tell the neurons to transmit feelings of pain to whatever level it was set too. Since it targeted the neurons it didn't have to be a powerful shock thus meaning that it could give maximum pain without the lethality. Excellent for interrogation purposes or when you just didn't want someone to die just yet. The device itself was known as the NTD(Neuron Transmitter Destroyer).
And right now, Benarce was feeling pain beyond anything he could even begin to comprehend; although realistically, this wasn't saying much as Benarce had never really felt much pain before and he couldn't comprehend much anyways.
Thrawn sighed in bliss as he listened to Benarce's screams. 'Music to my ears.' was his thought.
"AAAAAAARRRRRRRGGGGGGGGHHHHHHH!" Benarce screamed out as Thrawn continued to increase the pain levels.
"That's right you son of a bitch! Feel pain, the same pain that you've inflicted on others for countless years!" Thrawn said viciously while Benarce screamed himself hoarse.
Slowly, Thrawn turned up the intensity of the NTD increasing Benarce's pain. For Benarce, it felt as though he were being electrocuted with volts of up to 100,000. Pain seared across his body, his insides felt as if they were on fire, and while Benarce waited for the sweet embrace of unconsciousness, it never came, as Thrawn had pumped Benarce full of drugs to keep him from losing consciousness.
Once Thrawn had gotten bored of even the NTD torture, he decided that it was time for the final act. He had a crane pick up Benarce and move him towards a tall vat that was filled with a greenish looking acid.
"Tell me Benarce, do you know what this is?" Thrawn asked.
When Benarce shook his head in a negative response Thrawn laughed "Well of course you wouldn't know, but I suppose I am being a bit unfair. Not many other people would know either. This dangerous looking liquid here is the digestive juices of a Sarlacc. Now, you must be wondering what the hell is a Sarlacc. Well stop, it's not important. Just know that under normal circumstances, the digestive juices of a Sarlacc take over a thousand years to fully digest anything larger than a dog, and you're quite bigger than a dog. However that's just too long for me. After all, you and I will have died of old age long before your fully digested. Not to worry though. I've come up with a solution. By adding various chemicals and enzymes to the digestive juices I have significantly sped up the digestive process. Now instead of taking a thousand years, it takes more like 8 hours." Thrawn finished with a cruel smirk.
Benarce's eyes widened with dismay. Even he was smart enough to realize that this was his death warrant. It would be a slow and painful death, the kind that would eat away at your mentality and leave you a broken husk; like he had done to so many others.
"P-Please no-" Benarce tried to beg like many of his own victims had, but just as Benarce had shown no mercy; he was to now receive none.
Thrawn had already pushed the button releasing the crane's grip on Benarce and dropping him into the Salracc's digestive juices.
Once Benarce landed he screamed in pain as the acid began its work at once.
Meanwhile Thrawn upon seeing Benarce receive his final punishment began laughing loudly, an insane look in his eyes.
"Mother, Father; I know that you'd both disapprove of what I'm doing, but I simply can bring myself to care. He destroyed you both, and turned my sister into one of his whores! I'll make him suffer for every life that he's ever taken and destroyed. I hope you're both watching, this is for you! He he he he, ha haha ha ahahah HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAA!" Thrawn finished with a madding laughter.
As for Benarce, his torture started with the flesh from his skin being eaten away. It felt like a million bee stings coming in a continuous burst. The fire of pain was burning every inch of him along with the acid. After the first hour there was no skin left on Benarce.
As the second hour began, Benarce had all of his muscle and flesh dissolving into the acid. His pain was only intensified as he slowly felt his sanity beginning to slip. As his last thoughts floated through his mind, Benarce wasn't feeling any regret at all. He held no remorse inside of him for the lives he took, or the people he destroyed. His final thought was only on how if he had known this is what Thrawn would do to him then he would have simply inflicted even greater tortures upon his sister.
As the third hour went by his outer muscles had made way for all of his vital organs, leaving them to be destroyed. And by the fourth hour, Benarce was well and truly dead, nothing more than a mass of flesh that was continually being dissolved.
"Hm, looks like they were wrong, it only took about five hours." Thrawn said as he looked at the near dissolved remnants of Benarce.
Naruto contemplated the current situation that was before him. On one hand, he was the only person left in the government which meant that he had absolute power at the moment. On the other hand, HE WAS THE ONLY GOD DAMN ONE LEFT IN THE BLOODY GOVERNMENT! Everyone else had been nobility or royalty so of course now they were all dead. He was only one man, he needed other people to help him run things. For now, the military commanders had taken control of the governments of planets but that was only a very temporary fix to the problem. Military commanders generally didn't know how to run a town. they didn't care much for balancing the budgets, or managing construction projects, or going over tax reports. Usually only the higher ranking military officials handled those sort of problems and there were only so many of them currently.
Well, it wasn't all bad. Good news was that when the raid on the royal vaults was preformed the sheer amount of resources found was simply incomprehensible. Over 49,000,000,000,000,000,000 credits(1) along with numerous precious metal collections were found inside the vault. Along with it was the original version of Commander Sethelonus' logs detailing his flight from Republic space and the journey into the Unknown Regions where he proceeded to establish the Sethelonian Kingdom.
An interesting tidbit of information that Naruto had found out was that Sethelonus had enacted a purge of his own. Any of the Sith that had gone with him into the Unknown Regions were killed off by Sethelonus and his most loyal soldiers. Sethelonus blamed the Sith for their constant defeats in their war against the Republic. After his purge of the Sith Sethelonus had all history of the Republic destroyed and ordered everyone that came with him to begin teaching a false history on the origins of the Sethelonian Kingdom.
Also, the question as to how many of the planets that were under Sethelonian control had the same name as the planets Revan mapped out was answered when Naruto found one of Revan's old maps inside the vault. The map had some damage to it, hence the reason why the places where the hyperspace disturbance line could be crossed weren't mapped out on it.
With the Royal vaults being cleared out, many of the soldiers saw just how much the Royals had stolen from them and the rest of the Sethelonian people. This only seemed to further cement their hatred of the Royalty.
As Naruto continued to consider what his next moves were Thrawn came up behind Naruto and waited till he would acknowledge him.
"Yes, go on. Speak." Naruto said a bit distracted.
"Well, Xion-" "Naruto." "What?" "Call me Naruto when we're in private. You've more than earned the right, and it feels comforting to hear my real name every once in a while."
"Yes, well Naruto I just wanted to say thanks. You've made it possible for me to get my revenge, so now I'll do my part to repay you. I'll stand by you no matter what, whether we win or lose. Just want you to know that sir." Thrawn finished with a salute.
Naruto smiled and said "Well, thanks. It's nice to know that I have people that I can trust by back to."
Naruto knew that what Thrawn was saying came from his heart. He really did mean it, and I didn't take the Force for Naruto to realize that. This was an invaluable thing to have. Naruto knew that he would need men that would stand by him no matter what, and Thrawn it looked like was the first step.
The wreck of a city that was the capital of the old Sethelonian Kingdom was getting a complete overhaul. Once the Royal Vaults were raided, Xion had begun spending immense amounts of money throughout the Kingdom in an effort to get the economy started back up . The capital was one of the first places he had started with hiring hundreds of thousands of workers to help rebuild it. Now people who had been struggling to find a decent source of income were finally able to start working again, and that was most of the population.
The Royal Palace had been one of the first buildings to go. The military under Xion's order had surrounded the place and bombarded it with all manner of weaponry until it was nothing more than a smear on the ground. Most of the soldiers had only been too happy to blast away at the palace and it had also pleased most of the citizens. The Royal Guard HQ was left as a ruined husk of its former self as a symbol of the failure that was the Sethelonian Royalty.
The old building style of the Sethelonians which was filled with grace and beauty was abandoned and was instead replaced with a stronger more advanced looking building style. Xion had taken the building styles of the Resurgent Sith Empire during the Great Galactic War. This meant that the capital was being made to look like the ancient city that used to exist on Dromund Kaas. The Imperial Citadel was to be the heart and center of the city. Whereas the Royal Guard HQ and Palace had been placed to the far north of the city, away from its people, the location of the new government building would show that the heads were well aware that they were responsible for the welfare of the people.
Companies and businesses which had once been on the verge of bankruptcy now found themselves uplifted by the funds Xion sent their way. This also helped to increase employment rates as now the masses were finally able to get jobs again now that their employers could afford to pay them.
As for the symbol of the new Sith Empire, that was also taken from the Resurgent Sith; the symbol being a hexagon with a inner hexagon that had large bars coming from each point. The symbol was silver and painted on a red background, the classic color of the Sith. This replaced the old Sethelonian flag which was a blue colored fist in a circle that had a yellow background.
As for the military ranks, Thrawn had been elevated all the way up to Grand Admiral and was in charge of the entire Imperial Armada. Also, in order to solve the problem of a lack of rulers for the various planets under Imperial control, Xion came up with the Moff position. It was originally used by the old Sith Empire and it basically meant governor. The Moffs were to be in control of the sector that they were assigned to. There were a total of 326 sectors in the Empire at the moment and one sector could have up to 10 habitable planets under its control. All of the Moffs would be headed by Grand Moff Gillren Delaus, a man of 50 years with a stern look to him, gray hair; and was a brilliant strategist, tactician, good at finance, and an excellent manager of government.
Technically, the Grand Moff position would be second to that of the Emperor, but realistically, everyone knew that it was Thrawn who was the real second in command. Darth Catherous as Kaemon was now known as was recognized as the third in command with Grand Moff Gillren being fourth in command.
Imperial Intelligence or I.I. was a new sector that was created with the goal of spying, espionage and all things related to it. The previous department which had filled out that role had by Xion's arrival been nonexistent. Any member of the military who had skills in sneaking, hiding, spying, etc. had been put into the department. HK-47 was put in charge of I.I. and had been tasked with making the members as good as him, to which the droid replied that such a task would be impossible. Xion had to agree there, but ordered it nonetheless.
As for military recruitment, the old Sethelonian Kingdom had placed restrictions that only allowed human males to enlist, and even then, they had to own some sort of land; although that requirement was relaxed quite a bit. Now, women, and aliens were also being allowed to join up, greatly increasing the size of the military and decreasing unemployment. Paying them all wasn't a problem as Xion had a lot of money, but the rapid increase in military size was going to be a bit of a hassle to handle.
As far as propaganda went, most people already hated the Royal Family so justifying their mass slaughter wasn't too hard. Also, a vast renaming process had gone into effect, with many of the places having once been named Sethelonian or Royal, now being called Sith or Imperial. Also, with all the revitalizing of the economy being done by the Sith Empire a new zeal of patriotism was rising inside the people. Old symbols of the Sethelonian Kingdom were brought down and burnt to a crisp. Statues of the old rulers were toppled, old flags were burned, and those few who still supported the old order were either dead, or too afraid to come out for fear of retaliation by an angry mob.
Schools all over the Empire were now given orders to teach about the actual history of the founding of the Sethelonian Kingdom, bringing back knowledge of the Galactic Republic and other subjects. As more and more people were informed of the lies the Sethelonian Royal Family had propagated their fury for them increase. It was theorized that the hate for Royalty would last for generations to come.
Even with all the rebuilding and transformation that was going on however, there were still other plans that Xion was already setting into motion.
"I'm glad you're still alive Varison. Not that I'm discounting you of course." Captain Ralaba said to Thrace. Captain Ralaba was a kind looking old man in his late sixties.
"It's no problem, and thank you for taking us in for now." Thrace said.
"It's no trouble at all." Captain Ralaba said.
Bethany was currently sleeping in one of the rooms that Ralaba's personal guard had escorted her to, making sure she was seen by no one.
"Well, I'm afraid I'll have to get right down to business Ralaba." Varison said.
Captain Ralaba nodded his head in agreement "Yes, I don't think that stalling would help anyone."
"You should already know about Xion's coup, but tell me; do the rest of the soldiers in the base know yet?" Varison asked.
"No, no yet. They don't watch the news too much and I've done my best to insure that they don't hear about it. But to be frank, I don't think I'll be able to hide the information forever. So we'll have to work fast in order to get you all to a safe hiding place." Ralaba said.
"Wait, what? Varison, I thought you said the soldiers at this base were loyal to the Family!" Thrace exclaimed with confusion.
"Wrong, I said the commander was loyal. I never said anything about the average soldier. For all I know, they could hate the Royal Family and by extension our guts." Varison replied.
Thrace grimaced and said "Damn it!" He was hoping to use the base's soldiers as a nucleus to form a rebellion against Xion. Unfortunately now it seemed like they wouldn't be getting much help from here.
"I just don't get it!" Thrace exclaimed suddenly furious "How is it that Xion is able to get away with this! He started a massacre, he killed most of our comrades; why, why is no one doing anything about this!"
Varison looked at Thrace like he was nuts "Are you serious? You think this is the first time in history that a person has killed others in order grab power! Grow up Thrace and get realistic! The facts are facts and right now there's nothing we can do about them except ensure that Bethany survives!"
Ralaba just looked on calmly while he saw Varison yell at Thrace.
"Yes but-" "But nothing Thrace! Xion's won for now, don't you get it? The best thing we can do now is ensure that Bethany survives no matter the cost!"
Thrace relented knowing that starting any type of rebellion wasn't going to happen any time soon.
Varison's face softened and he said "Look, I know you mad, but we have to be realistic here. We're simply not going to raise a rebellion so soon after Xion's taken power. The momentum is with him and he knows it. Xion isn't stupid, not if he was able to do this, granted it probably wasn't that hard but still. He'll be sending his own forces here in a matter of time, right?" Varison looked to Ralaba.
"Yes, it probably is only a matter of time until Xion sends his forces over here. So we have to figure out a place for your group to hide." Ralaba said.
They then began planning for all the details that would need to go into their hiding plan.
Meanwhile: Outside Ralaba's office
"Are you hearing this? The Royals have been beaten!" One of the two soldiers said to the other in whispers.
"I know, think about it, we're finally free! Now we don't have to listen to those disgusting slobs anymore!" the other soldier whispered back.
Both soldiers had seen the Royal Guards followed by a princess come out from the hanger bay escorted by Ralaba's personal security. Normally they wouldn't have done anything about it, but they had managed to overhear some interesting tidbits of information during the Royal Guards' conversation with Ralaba's personal security; one bit of which was 'Royal Family was killed off'. They hadn't paid attention to the fact that there were two Sethelonian Troopers in the hanger bay, or if they did then they had thought that their conversation hadn't been overheard.
As the group made its way to Ralaba's office two of the group split away. One was a guard and the other the princess. The Troopers followed the larger group and once they went inside the office had started to listen in on the conversation.
"Hey, remember what Ralaba said about us getting discovered eventually?" One of the troopers asked the other.
"Yeah."
"Well, why don't we just speed up the process? You go and see if you can contact Coranda. I'll see if I can get this spread around the base."
With that, both soldiers went off to go and carry out their tasks, further destabilizing the already near non-existent chance that the small group had for survival.
Location: Planet Argowa-Turian colony
The Night-Half was just like any other bar it seemed. No matter where he went it seemed that bars had a universal similarity to each other. Xion was currently dressed up in a cloak that hid most of his features. All that really could be seen was the lower half of his face. Xion sat in a booth apparently waiting for someone. Fortunately the wait wasn't too long as a Turian who was also wearing a cloak to hide himself came and sat down across from him.
"So, I've heard from my contacts that you've come across some interesting info on the Salarian Union." the Turian said.
"So, what if I have? Unless you just so happen to be a high ranking military commander, I don't think this info will be of much use to you." Xion replied.
The Turian grinned or moved his face in indication of good emotion and said "Well it just so happens that I am a high ranking military official, General Altimus is my name." as the general said his name he removed his own cloak showing his face.
"Excellent. I was hoping I'd be able to meet with you. You seem to be one of the few people who realizes the Salarian threat." Of course there was no real Salarian threat, but Altimus was one of the few Turians in the military that was actively calling out for an attack on the Salarian Union.
The Turian Hierarchy and the Salarian Union both bordered a nebula that was rich in many valuable resources. Both groups wanted to exploit the nebula but hadn't due to the fears of a war with each other. This had created a bit of a cold war that had been going on for the last thousand years. Sometimes the situation looked like war would break out and other times it looked like there wasn't any sort of conflict going on at all. This on and off frequency had become highly straining for both groups. They had nothing against each other racially, but they both wanted a resource that could lead them into a war neither side would really wish to have.
Turians while a militant race weren't a warmongering one. They believed in giving oneself up for the greater good of the public. This had generally lead to strict discipline amongst the race and a majority of them served in the military for up to two years at the least.
The Salarians weren't a fighting race as their bodies never really had the tough build of Turians or the adaptive capabilities of humans. Instead they turned to science as their saving grace. Salarians were some of the most brilliant species around. Unfortunately, even as the smartest species around they still had not solved the problem of the cold war that was going on between them and the Turians.
It was this problem that Naruto intended to solve.
"Yes, the Salarians are a dangerous presence in the galaxy. If it weren't for the Free Kingdoms I'm sure the Salarians would have tried to take over the Sethelonians too, eh?" Altimus said, blatantly ignoring the fact that the Turians might have done the exact same thing.
"Yes, you're quite right my friend. This begs the question now of what were going to do about this threat." Xion said.
"Oh, and just what makes you think I'll be discussing that with you. All you're supposed to do is give me some info on the Salarians." Altimus said.
Xion smirked and with a wave of his hand Altimus was mind tricked faster than you could say Jedi.
"Now, I'm sure you realize that now is the time to act, don't you?" Altimus nodded dumbly "Good, now the info I'm about to give you will allow the Turian Hierarchy to go to war with the Salarians. Currently their economy is in shambles, their military is underfunded, understaffed, and unpaid. Moral is at an all time low, and this info contains everything you'll need in order to invade, understand?" Xion asked at the end.
Altimus continued to nod while Xion produced a data chip containing all of the info. It was mostly false information mixed in with a little truth. After all, that's how the best of lies were formed.
"And now, for my final gift." Xion said as he brought out a hologram of what looked like a big generator. At Altimus' confused look Xion explained "This is a special weapon just in case things go south during your expedition into the Salarian Union. It's only good in a space battle. Use this and victory will be yours. The instructions are right here with the hologram." Xion then gave the hologram to Altimus who had a greedy look in his eyes as he took it.
"Well, I hope this meeting has been as fruitful for you as it was for me." Xion said.
"Oh yes, with this I'll finally be able to convince those cowards in the Hierarchy to go to war. Once I've been given my rewards for winning this war I'll be sure to send you something nice." Altimus said.
Xion merely smirked in satisfaction.
Location: Planet Sinestra-Salarian Colony
"So, you want me to get into the heart of the Salarian capital, cause a massive explosion that while doing a lot of damage doesn't kill anyone important, and at the same time make it look like the Turians caused this terrorist attack, right?" the Salarian mercenary asked.
Xion nodded his head in affirmation.
"Your insane, you're simply insane. And I've got to be insane for actually thinking on how to do this." the merc said.
"So, you'll do it?" Xion queried.
"How could I not; especially with the money you're offering." The merc said.
"Well, I'm glad you'll be able to do this; although I am a bit surprised that you don't seem to have any reservations about doing this to your own people." Xion said.
"Heh, if they're too stupid to realize that even Turians wouldn't leave behind such obvious evidence then that's not my problem." the merc replied.
"Well, I'm glad to see that morals won't be a problem here." Xion said and finished up the deal with the Salarian Merc.
"We must attack! Can't you all see that this information is proof that now is the time to strike and take the Altarian Nebula for ourselves! We can invade through it and completely crush the Salarians, putting them in their place!" Altimus yelled out to the members of the Hierarchy.
Much of the Hierarchy was looking interested in what General Altimus was saying but there were still members that were apprehensive about Altimus' plan.
"Ah, Altimus are you sure this is such a good idea. In theory it sounds great, but it requires that a great majority of our military forces be put into a single massive fleet for the purpose of invading the Salarians. Are you sure it's wise to leave our own territory guarded only by reserve troops?" the Hierarchy member asked.
"You fool! It isn't as if we're getting rid of the police or anything! There's no need to have our military guarding us anyhow! Whose going to attack? The Sethelonians, the Free Kingdoms?" Altimus' voice took on a mocking quality at the end which quickly shut the member up.
"Now now Altimus, there's no reason to be so rude. Kolran's concerns are valid. To simply leave our people near defenseless is only asking for trouble. And trouble readily comes to those who ask for it." another Hierarchy member named Crious said.
"Er, don't you see, it's only a matter of time before the Salarians take advantage of us when we're in a crisis. So we have to strike first, before the Salarians can rebuild. If we don't do this then future historians will write about us and our folly for not attacking the Salarian's here and now!" Altimus yelled out in frustration.
More members were becoming convinced and Altimus spoke once more "The Altarian Nebula has been a prize we Turians have been deprived of for so long simply because of a bunch of soft bodied Salarians! Our people who could… no, should have benefited from this vast resource have instead been forced to sit and watch as the Salarians contested with us for ownership of this space. There hasn't been much in the way of conflict but our people are living constant worry that one day the Salarians will attack us and take everything we hold dear. With this plan we can end it. We can end the fear, we can end the confusion, we can bring about the greatest piece of Turian history to ever be cataloged if only we would attack now!" Altimus finished, breathing a bit from his longwinded speech.
Several members of the Hierarchy began to cheer in agreement yelling "Altimus!". Soon the majority of the Hierarchy was swayed by Altimus' speech and was also cheering his name.
Crious and Kolran looked at each other.
"It looks like it will be war then." Kolran said sadly.
Crious narrowed his eyes and said "Something just doesn't feel right to me. We've been at peace for a thousand years with the Salarians and this can't be the only time they've ever faced economic trouble, so why attack now? What makes this time any different? The same is also true vice versa, we've had our own turbulent times in the past that would have been perfect for the Salarians to attack us but they didn't. There has to be something bigger going on, Altimus; what are you up to?"
Kolran replied "Well, in the end it doesn't seem to matter much, war is war, and it's going to be fought it looks like."
Crious just continued to contemplate on what could be the bigger meaning hidden behind this war that Altimus wanted.
"This is an outrage! We can't just simply let the Turians get away with this!" One Salarian Union member by the name of Flaxon roared.
Many others agreed with him nodding their heads to show it.
"This attack on the center of our government is a direct challenge by the Turians and a showing of their true intentions! We must retaliate! If we don't we'll be showing our incompetence to the people and we'll be showing the Turians that their actions have scared us!" said Flaxon.
"Yeah!" was the shout out of many Salarians in agreement.
"Now wait a moment. We don't know for sure that the Turians are responsible. Yes the evidence that was left behind strongly suggests that the Turians are responsible but for all we know that could have just been done on purpose to draw our eyes away from the real perpetrators." another Salarian by the name of Gaborth said.
"Oh Gaborth? And tell me, what if the Turians really are responsible and they want us to know it was them just to insult us. Have you thought of that?" Flaxon argued back.
"W-Well, no. I guess I hadn't really thought about that. But what exactly are you suggesting we do?" Gaborth asked.
"We declare war, what else can we do!" Flaxon shouted.
Instantly the mood in the room changed. Now most of the Salarians wore apprehensive looks on their faces, none of them the least bit comfortable with that idea. They were angry but none of them were thinking to go as far as declare war.
"D-Don't you think that's a bit extreme Flaxon?" one of the Union members asked nervously.
"Extreme. EXTREME! ARE YOU REALLY THAT MUCH OF A COWARD?" Flaxon yelled.
"The heart of our government has been attacked and only by fortune's grace was no one killed in this attack! Imagine if someone had been killed! The very fact is that this attack could have and should have been far more disastrous than it was. We must take use of this. The Turians will likely think that we are in chaos right now. SO NOW IS THE PERFECT TIME TO STRIKE!" Flaxon roared, convincing most with what would under normal circumstances be considered common sense.
Of course, had they known of the Sethelonian Kingdom's recent events then they would have considered the situation anything but normal. Ah, ignorance is a bliss after all.
"A-Are you sure it wouldn't be better to just simply use the STG to strike back at the Turians?" the same Union member asked one final time in an attempt to dissuade war.
"Haven't you been listening at all? That won't cut it! If we don't respond with a show of force so powerful that it will obliterate any and all attempts by the Turians to retaliate then we will never be safe! We need to invade, show the Turians that they can't mess with us!" Flaxon yelled.
"But where would we even begin this invasion, and how would we do it?" another member of the Union asked.
"Why, we'll use the Altarian Nebula of course! We'll gather one of the largest armadas ever seen and send it forward to crush the Turians." Flaxon explained.
While most were apprehensive of that idea they were mainly convinced on the going to war part.
Sadly for them, no one else was able to come up with a better plan (1), and so they had no other choice but to go along with what Flaxon had proposed.
Chaos had erupted at the outpost that Varison, Thrace, and Bethany were staying at.
The soldiers there had gone into a rebellion against Ralaba and his officers. A massive battle was now going on inside the base while Thrace and Varison rushed to get Bethany out of there as soon as possible.
"What the hell happened!" Thrace asked Varison.
"What the hell makes you think I know!" Varison snapped back.
Bethany sighed as the two argued with each other on the situation.
After Bethany had woken up she had been checked on by one of Ralaba's men who had then gone to fetch her some breakfast. It had been decided by Thrace, Varison, and Ralaba that they would keep knowledge of her presence to a minimum in order to avoid any possible leaking of her whereabouts. Bethany hated to be confined to just her room but understood the necessity of it and as such had complied with the plan.
After her breakfast, Ralaba had been a bit lenient on the plan and decided to allow Bethany to explore the base as long as she was disguised and guarded.
Once her tour was done and she was returning to her room, she and her guard started to hear a large amount of noise echoing throughout the base. Her guard then quickly brought her back to her room and proceeded to investigate the cause of so much noise.
It had been ten minutes later that Thrace and Varison had burst into her room startling her. Thrace, his amber colored eyes flashing in worry, immediately rushed over to Bethany and pulled her into a hug; relief filling his voice.
"Oh thank God, you're alive! When the fighting broke out we were inside the commons. We barely made it out alive." Thrace said.
Bethany could see this was indeed true. Both Thrace and Varison had scorch marks on their armor and nicks from where vibroblades had tried to cut them. They also looked winded from their journey.
"Well, can you tell me who did this to you?" Bethany asked even though she already knew, but a small part of her was hoping it wasn't true.
"It was the Troopers." Varison said calmly, shattering any small and floundering hopes Bethany might have had.
"What I don't get is how they could have found out though. We took the utmost caution in making sure that no one saw Bethany. And even then, Ralaba said that the soldiers here were mostly ignorant of what's been going on in the rest of the Kingdom." Thrace said exasperatedly.
"Well, in the end it doesn't matter. Right now we have to get out of here. And fast I might add." Varison said worriedly.
Thrace and Bethany nodded at that and they all left the room and began hurrying out towards the hanger bay where the ship was docked.
As they were leaving however, they ran smack dab into a group of Sethelonian Troopers. The two groups just stood there looking at each other for a few seconds, the Troopers in surprise and the Royals in apprehension. Finally it was Thrace and Varison who attacked first, charging in at the group with their lances. The Troopers scattered but two weren't fast enough and were impaled. Blood squirting out, covering the walls, floor, and lances.
The rest of the soldiers, furious at their comrades death attacked, some trying to blast the two knights while others went up close and personal.
Thrace and Varison activated their shields and blocked the blaster shots while the other men tried to get around them and attack with their vibroblades. As the blaster wave ended so the swordsmen could come up Thrace used his lance and bashed one of them in the head quite brutally. With a sickening crack the man fled down while two of his friends tried to go in and take vengeance.
One came up on the left while the other on the right. Thrace was forced to dodge the speedy attacks of the two as they came in for his weak spots. However, their speedy attacks left them tried soon and Thrace counterattacked with his blaster lance, spraying a stream of blaster bolts on the two. One of them managed to get away but for the soldier who didn't he was blasted with a steady stream of blaster bolts. The first round was dulled by his armor but as more came the soldier was eventually killed.
While the other soldier tried to move in close once again Thrace moved to counter. Thrace brought up his lance and tired to jab it forward but he was too slow as the soldier moved around it and brought his vibrosword up to slash at Thrace's stomach, where even protected by armor there would be damage. But Thrace brought up his energy shield at the last minute and blocked the hit before throwing up his lance, changing his grip on it, and impaling it on the soldier's head.
Blood and some brain matter now covered the lance when it was pulled out and the soldier fell to the floor dead; his head having a hole in it with the helmet being dented around the hole.
Varison meanwhile had taken up the offensive immediately giving no time for the enemy to react. He had already impaled another soldier on his lance and then proceeded to start blasting at the others with the impaled soldier still on.
Varison's ferociousness had forced the others back, but now they returned blaster fire forcing Varison to bring up his shield. While the blaster fire continued Varison began to move forward, his shield protecting him. Seeing that their blaster fire was having no effect, one of the soldiers pulled out a grenade, set it, and threw it at Varison. Varison saw the grenade coming his way and did what any smart person would do.
Use your blaster lance like a baseball bat and hit a home run!
While the grenade was now going back to its original owners, Varison had already started blasting away at the rest of the soldiers; catching two in his wave of blaster bolts. Once the grenade landed on the ground the timer reached zero immediately and blew up, sending a cascade of fire, wall, floor, and other breakable material. Most of the soldiers were caught up in the blast or the shrapnel and now had injuries going from torn off legs to cut up torsos. Those who were in the epicenter of the blast and survived were somewhat luckier as their wounds were cauterized and they would likely survive while the unlucky ones had to try and stem the flow of blood.
It was just about over as Varison and Thrace took care of the last of the troops when all of a sudden a voice stopped them dead in their tracks "I suggest you stop what you're doing right now and drop your weapons."
Slowly, Thrace and Varison turned around, horrified looks on their faces as they saw what had happened.
Bethany was being held hostage by one of the soldiers, who even with his helmet on, could still be seen with a smirk on his face.
Bethany was quite frightened at the moment, and had tears gathered up in her eyes though none spilled out. She didn't really know what to do right now; normally she would have tried to stomp on her captors foot or kick him in the balls, but that plan was thrown right out the window with the armor the guy was wearing. So she was now forced to play the hostage role, completely and utterly useless. Yep, great time to be Bethany right now.
As Thrace and Varison dropped their weapons and put their hands up showing that they had nothing else, Bethany's captor began to go towards the door, holding Bethany all the way.
"Well now, I think I'll keep this girl; you know, until I'm sure I'm safe." the soldier then was about to hit the button to open the door behind him when it opened by itself revealing two officers, one of whom pointed a blaster pistol at the soldier's head and fired, ending his life.
As the soldier fell, dead, Varison and Thrace rushed to Bethany, relief on their faces.
"My god, you're safe Bethany." Thrace said, happiness flowing throughout his voice. "I don't know what I was going to do when that man had you hostage, my god I'm so sorry; I should have been protecting you." Thrace continued as his voice started to break.
"Thanks for saving her. We were almost screwed for the rest of our lives there." Varison said to the officers.
While Bethany tried to assure Thrace that it wasn't his fault, they were all lead by the officers to a meeting room where Ralaba and his men were reorganizing.
"Sir, at this rate its only a matter of time until the traitors have enough forces to completely overwhelm us! We may have a few hours at best. How is the princess supposed to escape in the meantime?" asked one of the officers.
Ralaba looked up from the layout of the base that all the officers were crowded around once he heard Bethany, Thrace, and Varison enter.
He smiled at them and spoke, although once could clearly hear the worry in his voice "Ah, it's good to see you all safe and sound, though a little worse for wear if the battle damage is anything to go by."
Varison and Thrace nodded in agreement while Ralaba started going over their current situation.
"Well, just as we feared, the troops are rebelling against us. Apparently someone managed to get out the info of what's been going on throughout the Kingdom and of how there was a Royal here." Ralaba said.
"Well then shouldn't we hunt down this traitor and bring him to justice?" Thrace asked.
"I'm sorry my boy, but finding and dealing with this person is the least of our problems. Right now we have to figure out how we're going to get you all off of this base." Ralaba replied.
"W-What! But I thought we were going to help you guys fight!" Thrace said surprised.
Varison simply face palmed while Bethany looked worried at the notion of fighting again.
Ralaba chuckled softly and said "It's good to see that you have the spirit, but I'm afraid that getting the princess out of here safely takes precedence."
Thrace winces at that reminder and turns, smiling apologetically to Bethany.
Bethany smiles in forgiveness and one of Ralaba's officers speaks again "Sir, we will want to go over what forces we have under our command compared to the rebels."
"Right." another one of the officers agrees and begins speaking "Well, from what we've gathered, about 80 of the original men stationed aboard this base have been loyal to us, all officers included in this count. The rest of the some 200 other soldiers, no officers among this number, are not loyal and are now in rebellion against us. They have already contacted the capital for reinforcements as the records from the communication logs tell us and after the initial uprising we currently have about maybe 49 troops available to us. 17 are dead and 14 are wounded and or dying. We have just 49 troops to hold off the some 160 men the rebels have. And with reinforcements coming for the rebels soon I only have this too say, we are royally fucked."
Most of the other officers in the room agreed and one of the more frightened ones asked "D-Do you think if we simply surrendered that the Imperials wouldn't just take us prisoner.
Ralaba chuckled and said "I highly doubt it. We've proven that we're not loyal to this new regime and if Xion has any brains he'll kill us all in order to make things easier. We're all dead men and we know it."
The mood turned somber as the people in the room contemplated this fact.
"Either way, our lives aren't important; Bethany's life is, and we have to do everything in our power to ensure that Bethany escapes. Is that understood?" Ralaba said.
"Sir, yes sir!" was the resounding response, many having already come to terms with their death.
Bethany meanwhile felt horrible on the inside. Her she was, being completely useless while everyone else was working so hard to save her. She wanted to help, to be useful in something, but the fact was that she had never really been prepared for this kind of situation. She was suited for the life of a comfortable politician, making decisions and judgments based on calmer situations such as what to do about the public opinion of the new dam coming up or something along those lines. She was never meant to have to deal with problems of a military nature. While some blame can be put on Bethany for never really taking the incentive in these cases, the fact was that no one had ever predicted that this would happen to her and as such no one ever bothered to get her started on the military path.
While this was mostly good as it had helped keep her kind and innocent, in this situation it was bad. Admittedly though, in this situation there wasn't much that could be done anyways save for escaping.
"Well sir, that's going to be a bit hard considering the fact that the hanger bay is on the other side of the base, which is under the control of the rebels." one of the officers stated.
"Hm, yes you're right, unfortunately the hanger is under their control, and we don't have the ability to retake it." Ralaba said solemnly.
"Sir, if I might suggest, could we simply not just act as a diversionary force and distract the rebels long enough for the Princess to make her escape?" another one of the officers suggested.
"Yes, I was thinking that too. The idea is good, but the problem is we simply don't know how much time we'll be able to buy. Oh well, I suppose it will just have to do." Ralaba said.
He then started to point out a route on the map of the base "This is the shortest route from here to the hanger bay. I'll have my men lead the attack on the rebels, first sending them through the same route to ensure that it's clear. Afterwards, you'll follow through and make your way to the hanger bay. Now, I don't want any of you to get involved with the battle here, understand me?" Ralaba seemed to be looking more at Varison and Thrace when he said this.
Both nodded their heads in confirmation.
"Good, the only reason either of you two should be getting involved in battle, is if enemy troops are directly blocking your path." Ralaba finished.
"Well Captain, I'll go and inform the men of the plan and start preparing them as well." one of the officers said and left.
Ralaba nodded in confirmation and gave a sigh, wiping off a bit of sweat that had worked its way onto his face. He was truly worried, not for his own life but for the lives of those kids who had been thrown into such an adventure by that detestable Xion. Ralaba gave a grimace as he thought about him. Ralaba was no real fan of the Royals, but they were the rightful rulers of the Sethelonian Kingdom and it was his job to respect and obey their rule. He was a stickler for the rules and had faithfully served the Royalty for years.
He admitted that what Xion had done might have been for the best, but to make someone like Bethany go through such as terrible thing as losing their entire family, even if they were assholes was something that Ralaba couldn't overlook.
As he gave another sigh, he hoped Bethany and her entourage could make it through these harrowing times.
A Sith Interdictor appeared out of hyperspace right above Ralaba's base.
"Sir, we're glad that you've arrived. The princess and her group are currently holed up on the other side of the base. They're outnumbered right now and they'll have to assume defensive positions. We would have attacked them again by now but I want to make sure we have sufficient numbers before we make our assault. Ralaba's still a good commander and it is likely that we'll take some heavy casualties trying to assault them." the leader of the rebels turned Imperials said over the vid-screen
"Don't worry, we'll send you reinforcements. You'll be able to crush them easily enough." the Captain replied.
Nodding his head, the soldier cut off the vid-screen and the Captain turned and activated the hologram where and image of Xion appeared.
"My lord, the last Royal is in this base. We're about to send in reinforcements to support our comrades inside. even if by some grand miracle they do manage to get out of there we still have the tractor beam on the ship to capture them. This is their last stand." the Captain said victoriously.
"Actually, I don't want you to catch them." said Xion.
"W-What? But my lord, this is it!. With Bethany's death there is no one that can contend with you for the throne! Isn't that what you want?" the Captain said shocked.
"Don't worry, I have special plans for those people. Just make good show of trying to catch them. Wouldn't want them to get suspicious."
"O-Of course my lord." the Captain said, still a bit shocked.
Several men were patrolling the hallways leading to the hanger bay. Right now they were mostly just making small talk, having nothing better to do at the moment.
As two of the soldiers conversed, one of them noticed that there was a large cylinder-like object that was rolling towards them.
One of them crouched down and picked it up only realizing to late what it truly was "Oh shit, it a grena-" he was cut off as it exploded taking out several troops.
"What the hell just happened?" one of the surviving men asked even as they now found themselves under attack from enemy troops.
"We're attack you moron! What the hell else do you think is going on!" responded one of the other survivors.
"Somebody call for help, we're about to get overwhelmed here!" another survivor shouted.
"Keep up the attack men,; we're going to drive these bastards back!" one of Ralaba's men shouted.
Now, one might be curious as to why any soldiers save for the officers would be fighting for Ralaba. Their reasons were simply because they liked Ralaba. Ralaba wasn't a cruel or harsh commander. He had treated the men under him very well and many had grown to like him. The major issue however was that Ralaba supported the rule of the Royals. He didn't like how they did things but he believed that theirs was the lawful authority. This had the effect of immediately repulsing most of his men as they couldn't stand the Royals. Those who were able to get over that fact were loyal to Ralaba and not the Royals and now fought for him out of that same loyalty.
The initial surprise attack by Ralaba's men was proving to be successful as surprised turncoat Imperial troops now found themselves under attack and unable to successfully retaliate.
"What the hell is going on! Why are we under attack? There's no way that Ralaba has enough men for this to work!" one of the Sethelonian Commando's yelled out.
"We don't know sir, but they're forcing our men back, and we're taking heavy casualties along the way!" one of the troopers responded.
"How is that possible? They have less men then us! They should be demoralized and frightened for their lives!" the Commando yelled.
"Either way sir, we need to mobilize the rest of the men, and fast too, otherwise well be the ones on the run!" the trooper said.
"Sound the alarms, activate all turret defenses under our control, and make sure those reinforcement troops are directed to the battle sites immediately, understood?" the Commando ordered.
"Sir, yes sir!" was the resounding response.
The plan had worked. While the rebel troops had been busy fighting Ralaba's men, the way had been made clear in a vicious push by Ralaba's into the rebel controlled side. Bethany, Thrace, and Varison had made it to the hanger bay and were prepping Varison's ship for launch.
"Where are we supposed to go now?" Bethany had asked while the ship was lifting off.
"Don't worry, Ralaba gave me the coordinates to one of his safe houses. It's even more remote than that base." Varison joked a bit.
The mood grew somber as everyone thought about those who were sacrificing their lives for them. Once the ship lifted off and set out for space, the weight of the situation seemed to once more crash upon them.
"Well, let's at least focus on trying to get out of here first; because it looks like we're in for a fight." Thrace said somewhat in an attempt to distract them; more so to warn them.
Varison and Bethany looked out the windows and saw what Thrace was talking about. There was an entire Sith Interdictor blocking the way. Starfighters immediately flew out and started shooting down at them.
Varison began dodging the shots while speeding up, trying to get away from the ship. The Sith Interdictor meanwhile began to fire its laser batteries at the Bartel-class ship.
"Remember, don't hit the ship, whatever you do, don't hit the ship! These are Xion's personal orders!" the Interdictor's Captain warned.
The starfighters pilots always aimed slightly too much to one side or the other, making it look like they were trying but just failing to hit the ship.
Eventually, the Bartel made it through and jumped into hyperspace as quickly as possible.
"Damn." one of Ralaba's officers said as he applied bacta to his wound.
Ralaba smirked sadly as he knew that his time was about to come to an end. Everybody save for Ralaba and five other officers had been killed. Now they were trapped in his office, ready to make the final stand.
They could hear voiced outside as the Imperials struggled to get through the durasteel door.
"Well gentlemen, I must say it has been enjoyable to serve with men such as yourselves. I've had fun these last few years working alongside you all, and I'm sad to see it all come to an end. But, I suppose everything good must come to its end. So, with these final words let us look ahead to the battle. May your hearts run true in battle's gruesome fate." Ralaba spoke his final words.
His men nodded to him and faced forward.
Two men had each taken their positions on opposite sides of the door. The other three along with Ralaba had turned over the desk for a makeshift barricade.
Meanwhile, outside the office the Sethelonian Troopers had brought out a bazooka in an attempt to blast the doors open. They stood as far back as possible while still being close enough to retain the momentum.
The bazooka fired and its missile went all the way and hit the door, blasting it apart and killing both of the officers standing guard behind it and wounding an additional officer due to shrapnel getting caught in his shoulder.
The rest had managed to duck in time, but the office was now worse for wear as the explosion had caused a few things to catch fire and shrapnel had destroyed additional items.
Ralaba and his remaining officers were quick on the uptake though and had immediately come out of cover before the smoke had cleared and were already blasting through it. Their shots seemed to hit their marks as several thumps were heard as cries of pain also reverberated through the halls and office.
Retaliatory fire was quick in coming however, and another one of Ralaba's officers lay dead soon enough. The injured officer had tried to position himself in a way that would still let him fight; unfortunately with the shrapnel embedded in his right shoulder, his right arm which was the dominant one was not usable.
Suddenly there was a clinking sound and then another explosion, this one completely breaking the desk and killing the other two officers while leaving Ralaba with severe burns and other injuries.
As Ralaba lay there, dying, his last thoughts were on the three who were on their new journey. 'I hope, those three make through these harrowing times. They're our final hope in defeating this menace known as Xion!'
Proud Turian and Salarian mothers and fathers cheered and watched as their sons and daughters marched off to war. Celebrations were taking place all throughout the Salarian Union and Turian Hierarchy as both sides thought about their quick ends to the war.
Eager faces of young soldiers thought about the glorious battle that they were to soon be a part off. The peace which had been going on for a thousand years had now been broken and no one mourned it, for there was no one left alive who could remember the true horrors of war.
The fleets were prepared, invasion forces marshaled, young recruits trained and equipped, and crowds cheering for their victory.
The commanders of both sides smirked at the thought of surprising the other, neither knowing about the fate that would befall them.
Massive amounts of military forces had been gathered, as both sides expected to use initial overwhelming force combined with surprise to win. They drained their military for this operation, neither side caring for the consequences, after all; they knew that there was no other threat out there save for each other.
And then, the moment came. Both armadas had been gathered and had set out for the Altarian Nebula, each set on passing through it for a surprise attack on each other.
Location: Turian Command Ship Decimus
"Ahhhhhhh." Altimus gave a content sigh as he eased back into his soft and comfortable command chair which was in the center of the command bridge. The center of the command bridge was made up of a comfort area where high ranking members could sit back, relax, and enjoy. It had a bar with the finest liquors, excellent cuisine, and several entertainment systems. The rest of the bridge contained the military equipment, bridgecrew, and a window which gave an excellent view of the surrounding battle.
"So gentlemen, as you can see, we are near the middle of the nebula and will be done with the journey in a few more hours. Soon enough our invasion will begin and we can safely start to extract resources from this valuable place." Altimus said, satisfaction seeping throughout his voice.
"I must say, I've never really been inside a nebula before, it's quite beautiful you know." one of the Hierarchy members said. Most nodded in agreement. The glowing clouds, multitudes of color swirling around, brightening the darkness of outer space and giving birth to new stars, a nebula was a great place of wonders and mysteries.
Unfortunately, this particular nebula was about to become a battleground as the Salarian and Turian fleets were about to collide.
Location: Salrian Command Ship Polaris
"Well my fellow Union members, it's safe to say that we are about to make history. This war of ours will be one of the crowning achievements of our people. We'll crush the Turians long before they get the chance to organize a defense of any sort." Flaxon said.
His fellow Union members nodded in agreement. They were currently in a special room that was reserved only for the top officials of the government. They had the finest comforts that one could possibly want, and there was a glass dome that gave a great view of outer space so that they could watch a space battle if one occurred.
Right now they were currently relaxing and talking about how they would managed the territory they were about to conquer.
"I think we should focus on the schools. Surely they'll need to be changed; I've seen Turian science reports, and their ghastly!"
"I think that whole clan thing they've got going on needs to be changed. They had an entire civil war over clan issues. We simply can't ignore those problems. I say we dissolve the clans a political powers."
"No, no, no. You've got it all wrong. It's their economy, I mean really, half of it is focused on the military. I can't even begin to fathom how they've managed to survive this long with that kind of shoddy thing."
As the conversation continued, the fleet drew ever closer to the middle of the nebula.
Location: Turian Command Ship Decimus
Two men were working at the radars and sensors when one of them noticed something odd appearing on one of the sensors.
"Hey Recountis, come check this out." one of the Turians said to the other.
Recountis looked at the screen and said "Well, that's weird. We seem to be getting signals of foreign ships approaching."
"But that shouldn't be possible!" said the other Turian.
"Well, better safe than sorry, I'll go and inform the Captain." Recountis said.
"Well, this is weird. I'm getting the signals of foreign ships. I better inform the Captain." said the Salarian working and the sensors and radars.
The Turian Captain said "What the-"
The Salarian Captain said "-hell is-"
"-going on-"
"-here?"
"WHY ARE WE GETTING ENEMY FLEETS ON THE SENSORS?" both captains asked at the same time.
Location: Turian Command Ship Decimus
"ALTIMUS, WHY THE HELL ARE WE PREPARING FOR BATTLE NOW? one of the Turian Hierarchy members asked furiously.
"W-What, t-this is impossible. There's no way. The information was good, I know it was!" Altimus yelled desperately.
"Well then, what the hell am I seeing out there? Toothpaste?" another member insulted.
Altimus was starting to grow more desperate as the members began to round on him.
"Launch all stargfighters, prepare missile tubes, and aim all batteries. We need to take out the Salarian's command ship!" the Captain's voice broke through their argument.
The Captain turned around to Altimus and said "Sir, you might want to come up here, we may need your battle expertise."
Seeing the opportunity to get away from the furious Hierarchy members, Altimus took it.
"Well Captain, w-what's the situation?" Altimus asked him, his nerve slipping a bit.
"Well Sir, we have a huge Salarian armada in front of us that almost equals the number of ships we have. We need to find a way to take out their command ship and fast or else we'll be looking at a prolonged and devastating battle." the Captain said.
That's when it hit Altimus "T-The bomb!"
"Excuse me, sir?" the Captain asked, confused.
"T-The bomb! I-I, we still have the bomb. This isn't over yet. Xion, you really did pull through for me!" Altimus said excitedly.
"Bomb, what bomb?" the Hierarchy members were asking, some thinking that Altimus had lost it.
"We can still win this, the plan can still succeed!" Altimus yelled.
Altimus rushed over to a console and began to type out several commands. The special weapon that Xion had given to Altimus had been placed on the dreadnaught Decimus. It was in one of the larger missile launchers, and was now about to fire.
"My fellow Turians, watch as the Salarian fleet foolishly meets their doom!" Altimus yelled out triumphantly.
The weapon was launched out from the dreadnaught and was sent towards the center of the Salarian fleet.
"Sir, we have an oncoming object that's fast approaching! Its bigger than a missile, and the Turians only launched one sir." one of the Salarians aboard the Polaris said to the Captain.
"Well then, shoot it down! I don't want to find out what that thing is going to do when it hits us!" the Captain said with a hard look on his face.
The weapon however, stopped moving right in the middle of the battlefield so abruptly that both sides were shocked. The weapon was set with coordinates that would normally guide it to the place that one wanted it to go, but Xion had placed a set of overriding commands that would ensure the device ended up in the center of the battlefield.
Then, the device went off, and to the shock and horror of both sides, a massive shadow began to form, taking the gravity keeping the nebula together. Both fleets were soon drawn into each other and the shadow. Many ships were being ripped apart, crashing into each other, or being crushed by gravity.
As the Decimus and Polaris went on their collision course with each other, Altimus finally realized what Xion had done.
"X-Xion, you betrayed me!" Altimu said, a doomed realization had entered his voice as he spoke this while his face looked on in horror at the fast approaching Polaris.
A Sith Interdictor could be found, quite a safe distance away from the battlefield.
On board, Xion watched with a smirk at the distant explosions taking place, feeling the lives that were being stolen due to the Force.
Xion soon began to chuckle, and that chuckle turned into a full blown maddening laughter due to his plan working so well.
Get both the Turians and Salarians to go to war with each other, have them gamble their fates in one massive battle involving almost their entire military strength, and use his Mass Shadow Generator to destroy them both.
Now the Turians and Salarians were ripe for conquest.
Well, I'm glad to finally be done with this chapter. And my apologies for the fact that it is taking so long to get to the Clone Wars, but I do have to build up to it. There will at least be two more chapters before we get to the Clone Wars part. Now how fast I write them is another story.
(1): It might be a bit unbelievable that no one else can come up with a better plan, but just work with me here.
Hope you enjoy the chapter. And happy very early Thanksgiving!
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