"I-I will not!" Yoda stammered, finally ending his voice on a defiant note as he moved into a defensive stance. Drake genuinely frowned and lowered his weapon for a moment. Yoda felt Drake's full sorrow, so powerful it pulled him in. Even though they could never have again been friends, it still pained him[Drake] to know he would actually have to kill Big Daddy, his friend and Guardian. But then his sorrow grew into self-loathing for having such feelings, and self-loathing became rage.

"So be it." Drake softly spat. He jumped onto his desk and pointed his Saber-Spear at Yoda, who stood with bated breath. "Kill them both!" Drake ordered.

"So Desert Master, what will it be?" Drake reiterated. Yoda realized he had just experienced a premonition. But, he couldn't possibly kill Shiva?!

"Drake, another way there must be." Yoda begged, eyes imploring. Drake shook his head, cold unlike the conflicted Drake that Yoda had just foreseen. Yoda shook with fury, burning through his restraints. Drake wanted to fight, so be it. "I will-" Yoda began to say when Shiva coughed. Thrown by the sound, Yoda silenced and turned to Shiva.

"Do it Yoda." the monk coughed feebly. Yoda froze, stuck at the crossroads. If he did this, who was he? He served good, a Force untainted by Dark. If he did this, he'd have a little darkness in him. And if he remembered anything from when he did Art in 10th grade, it takes a lot more light to tint dark than it does dark to corrupt light. He felt other forces turning his body to face the monk, much like Drake did when he first experienced the Dark Side.

"Shiva. Sorry I am." Yoda croaked as a glinting tear slid down his face. Shiva gave a weak smile. "Kill. Them." he growled and then bowed his head. Detachedly, Yoda walked towards his most recent ally. "How many more will I kill?" he asked as he raised his blade. Drake actually leaned forward in surprised anticipation.

"You will have to add three more to that list Yoda."Shiva replied. Arms shaking from the internal conflict within his body, he gulped and breathed as tears and sweat racked him. Finally, he began to slash down.

Just as the blade was descending, a massive shudder passed through the fortress followed by a massive, albeit, muted explosion. Seizing the moment, Yoda twisted and threw Ravage at Drake. With lightning-fast reflexes, James moved towards Yoda, light-saber glowing. But Shiva was faster, and with new-found strength rose with an uppercut. James's eyes swelled with astonishment, and he screamed just as fist connected with chin. Reeling into the hallway, James grunted and was back on his feet within a couple seconds. With a war-cry, Shiva took off after the Sith Apprentice. Crislin followed, but Yoda had other ideas. Unleashing a small Force-Push, Yoda expected Crislin to crumple. Instead, the Sith Apprentice counteracted Yoda's Force-Push with his own. The two powers imploded, sending Crislin sprawling towards the direction of Shiva. He landed, dazed, but not unconscious. The doorway caved in, leaving Yoda and Drake alone at last.

Drake held Yoda's light-saber in mid-air, and only once the Jedi had turned back towards him did he drop Ravage. Drake snarled, showing the pristine condition of his teeth. "I will kill you." He jumped onto his desk, and held his weapon at ready.

Yoda recalled his light-saber, and side-flipped onto the arm of the couch. "Talk, is all I hear."

The two leaped at each other as the floor beneath them collapsed.

*Elsewhere*

"This tops your list of 'Bad Ideas' Mouse!" Drizzle yelled over the radio. Mouse chuckled out-loud. "Don't worry Droplet, what you're doing is perfectly safe!" he assured, and re aimed his grenade-launcher. Drizzle sighed and looked at the Light Lancer's course. "Oh yeah, smashing a jet through an AAG-guarded fortress into a layer of light-saber wielding freaks and machines is perfectly safe..."

The rest of DragonDen had their eyes closed, letting their dreams take them. They hadn't had long to come up with the strategy, and a lot of it depended on Big Daddy and Shiva buying time. If you were someone as powerful as Drake, a simple charge with some smoke cover would be laughable. But smoke to hide a 15-ton jet which had a front packed with Emp-Bombs and explosives.

Suddenly Mouse's plan made a lot of sense.

Once inside, Drizzle would turn on a relay that would make DragonDen's water-molecule armor glow green, and the Predator's lithium steel blaze red. The color code hinged on Aresole being able to successfully intercept Anatricla and Arswatt without them killing him. And that was the plan Mouse concocted in 2 minutes. With no time to spare, they assembled their ships and rose into the air, purposely confusing the scanners of Drake's fortress. Turning on its cloak to both Radar and eyes, the Light Lancer rose into the sky and took off. And now Drizzle and DragonDen were hurtling from the Upper Exosphere towards that door at 41,000 kilometers per hour.

Meaning that they had 116 seconds to brace for impact.

And a minute and a half just passed.

Drizzle began praying, eyes closed. She thanked God for the life she had been allowed, and hoped that his goodness had not guided them to a slaughter. She opened her eyes and saw the top spires of Drake's fortress rushing them with extreme speed. Smoke suddenly exploded all across the ground, and Drizzle saw the smallest dot basically standing still before she turned back towards the door.

On the ground, Mouse watched his friends disappear into the cover he provided. Just then, he heard the rumble of Humvees and tanks behind him. Aresole appeared over a hill, sitting on a tank cannon as the US Army moved into position. "God Bless Us all. In God we trust." Mouse repeated.

"Amen." Alamo whispered as they struck the fortress.

"I'll kill you!" James vowed as he slashed at Shiva. Leaping backwards, the monk brandished James's second red lightsaber. Both had sustained numerous injuries, Shiva without his whole left arm at this point, and James with a bloody right eye that Shiva had personally clawed. Not too mention numerous cuts from near-fatal jabs.

Shiva groaned, barely maintaining consciousness. He didn't even bother with words, his hand shook so much he could barely hold his weapon. "This light-saber is my life." He forced himself to say. He gripped it with new resolve, and the two clashed again. Attacking with wide attacks to gain more speed and power, James hammered away at Shiva's quickly faltering strength. Flecks of blood showered the monk, who barely withstood the onslaught. As James drove Shiva over a priceless Meso-Sequoia wood table, the Sith slammed his light-saber down.

Shiva braced his arm against the table as he held the attack, but James continued pressing, eye alight with fire. "I. WILL. KILL. YOU." he repeated like a machine, no trace of humanity. Shiva pressed his eyes shut, fearing the end when he remembered his most vital weapon.

His Eyes.

Snapping them open, he stared into James, and at once his adversary fell back, writhing in agony. "Master!" James screeched as he dug his nails into the side of his head. His eye dug up into his head as he fell over and began to spasm, body jerking before lying still. He wouldn't be getting up for a while. More exhausted than if he had fought both World Wars by himself, Shiva dropped to the floor.

Green against Blue with gold bands. A whirl, faster than Shiva and James, Big Daddy and Devilkin, Yoda and Drake ripped hell as they moved through the hall. Cuts, rents, destruction. The two only focused on each others' eyes, anticipating every single movement that would be made, but failing to capitalize. Any Predator that came to help was killed, and soldier decapitated. It was clear only these two greats could withstand the brunt of their struggle. For Yoda, he focused on none more than what Drake focused him to fake. He was never going kill Shiva; they were buying time. But having to fake those emotions to the point of reality while Drake watched like a movie-goer, he intensified his attack to an almost frenzied level. Drake faulted for a second, unaccustomed to the sudden change in force. Forcing him back a couple feet with a powerful jump, Yoda landed and began a precise attack on Drake's ankles and heels. Bouncing from leg to leg, Drake fell back, twirling his weapon once as he tried to reengage. But Yoda was waiting. As Drake stabbed, Yoda suspended the lethal tip a foot from his chest with both hands. The air swirled with a plasma-like consistency as Yoda's face scrunched with strain. With a roar, Yoda sent Drake flying through the wall ten feet behind him.

Drake was tired of being weak. No matter how angry he became, it was apparent Yoda was still angrier. And the imp was still fighting smart. He had to level the playing field somehow. Drake was on his defensive as Yoda practically flew across the ground, swinging his green blade like a demented, omnidirectional lawn mower. The two clashed again, and Drake flipped upwards onto a library balcony two stories up. He gave Yoda a taunting smirk, as if he were saying, "Come get me!," before he ran inside. Summoning up the Force, Yoda jumped up and ran after Drake.
There were thousands of books, all in the priceless range. Original Confucius manuscripts thought to have been destroyed by Qin ShiHuangDi, Einstein's notes in a complete edition, Roman Decrees for the arrest of Jesus were just some of the numerous documents. Yoda did not take notice in them though. Yoda held his light-saber at ready, strafing through the middle column very slowly. He knew Drake knew where he was, and that Drake was cloaking himself. But rather than retreat, Yoda advanced, the lust of battle having gripped him. A slight rustle of paper to his left, Yoda turned and with a shout unleashed a Force-Push so powerful it blew the whole row into shreds of paper and wood splinters. Yoda's hand just as quickly returned to his blade as Drake leaped through the debris. The two resumed their struggle, with Drake pushing Yoda towards the balcony.

His attention rapt and Drake demanding his entire focus, Yoda could not take notice of balcony until he touched it. The wood was foreign to the touch, and Yoda instinctively turned and chopped it down, anticipating it to be another of the Predator Droids. By the time he realized he had been tricked, Drake stabbed.

Yoda twisted his mid-section out the way, Drake's original target, but searing-hot pain seemed to tear his left leg apart. He could feel his nerves die, smell the muscle flash-burn and cook, hear it sizzle. He did the only thing one could do in such unimaginable pain.

He screamed.

One more guys. And then A Jedi Epilogue, a Sith Epilogue, and an Earth Epilogue. Thank you for reading, and may you stay with me for these last four chapters.- Much appreciated, LongLoreLover