Hey there, this chapter will likely be a little more action-packed than the last one.
Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts and Dissidia: Final Fantasy were created by squaresoft. George Lucas created Star Wars, and I think Disney has access to some of those rights.
Into Another Galaxy
The group teleported themselves further into the Abyss, through a bluish-white portal that took them to another segment of the semi-impassable region. A brownish planet came into view and they eventually dropped themselves into the middle of a vast desert.
Taios let out a breath and slowly put on a gleeful smile"Thia desert environment, dry air, advanced hover cars... I can't believe I'm really here!"
Yuna looked around"This desert almost reminds me of Bikinel Island back at Spira."
"Do you know where we are, Taios?" inquired Serenia.
Taios nodded"Yup. we're at a series of planets that are in a galaxy far, far away. One of the worlds we're on is Tattooine. a desert planet that has little to no life. minus that city over there, under empire martial law."
"Interesting" breathed Serenia.
Sora began to walk forward"Let's go to the town, then. Before we shrivel up."
Taios nodded"Yeah, but we'll need to avoid the white armored Storm Troopers as much as possible."
Ceodore shrugged, taking Taios' word for it"then we'll have to be careful."
Sora led the way to the town, keeping an eye out for trouble as they crossed the desert. They headed into the town, avoiding as many of the white-armored soldiers as stealthily as possible.
"This desert is getting to me" gasped Serenia.
"Well, we can take a break in that bar over there" said Sora, leading the way into a local Cantina. While it was definitely cooler inside, the patrons of the bar area were mostly thugs, minus an old man in a tunic with a brown hood walking away from a white-clad teen with blond hair. The blond bumped into one of the patrons.
"Watch it!" snapped the thug.
"Sorry" the teen muttered.
The drunk grunted"I don't like 'yeh. And watch yourself, I got the death sentence on twelve systems."
The drunk's companion, a blue-skinned humanoid, berated the teen in a hostile manner in a language Sora could not understand.
"He doesn't like you, either" the Drunk explained.
The blond teen shrugged"I'll be careful."
"You'll be dead!" snarled the man.
Serenia watched the whole exchange in horror"Should we intervene, guys?"
Taios ran up to the drunk and headbutted him and punched his companion as he looked at the blond teen"your welcome."
"Huh? Oh, thanks" said the white clad blond.
The rest of Sora's group approached the two, Serenia addressing the blond"Thank goodness you're all right."
The drunk staggered and fell on his back. His companion tried to attack Taios, but Tidus slashed it across the chest to make the creature back off.
Sora squared his shoulders"I don't think those two will give us anymore trouble."
The old man had returned and was now addressing Sora's group"I thank you for assisting my young companion."
"Oh, its nothing. And you are?" Sora asked.
"My name was Obi-Wan, but you may call me Ben" the old man introduced himself.
"I'm Luke Skywalker" the blond introduced.
"Nice to meet you, I'm Sora" grinned the brunette keybearer.
Taios tried to hide his excitement as he introduced himself and the rest of his group"I'm taios. this is Kain, Cecil, Ceodore, Tidus, Yuna, Tyler and Serenia."
Obi-Wan nodded"Pleasure. Luke, I found a pilot who might be willing to take us to Alderaan."
"That's great" Luke acknowledged.
"Oh, uh, Ben. Have you seen something called a Dawn Shard?" Sora inquired.
Obi-Wan shook his head"I'm afraid not."
"Well, will you let us go with you?" Serenia asked.
Obi-Wan pondered"Perhaps, but Luke and I must talk to the Pilot who I just met earlier, first."
"When you talk with em' do you mind if he adds us on the list of passengers? We're heading there ourselves. and it's kind of important that we do so" Taios requested.
Obi-Wan gave a slightly warm smile"I see no reason why you lot can't join us."
I don't think I can remember the exact script for this.
Sora's group followed them to where a dark-haired pilot who appeared to be a decade older than Luke addressed Luke and Obi-Wan"You're seeking passage to Alderaan, right?"
Sora nodded"Yeah, we are. And you?"
"I'm Han Solo, Captain of the Millennium Falcon" the Pilot introduced"So, what's the Cargo?"
"Myself, the boy, two droids, and no questions asked. There will be ten others with us if you are willing, Sora here is one of those ten" explained Obi-Wan.
Han shrugged"Its gonna be a little cramped, but it should be manageable. Ten Thousand ought to cover this."
Luke was incredulous"Ten thousand? We could almost buy our own ship for that."
"And who's gonna fly it kid, you? At any rate, you guys got yourself a ship. We leave as soon as you're ready, Docking Bay number 24" said Han.
Taios nodded"got it."
"Looks like the bar isn't the only ones who've caught wind of your handiwork" said Han, seeing Imperial Troopers enter the area.
While Sora's group quickly went to the ship as storm troopers attempted to fire at them, A young prisoner was being guided over to a viewing area on board a giant armored space station.
A soldier addressed an older man with graying hiar"we've entered the Alderaan system."
The prisoner, a young woman in white with brownish hair, glanced at the man"Governor Tarkin. I should've expected you'd be one holding vader's leash. I recognized your foul stentch when i was brought on board."
Saxito stood close by and smirked"And my how you pretty you are on how stupid and idiotic your beliefs are... and before you all ask who I am, let me make one thing perfectly clear. the Emperor himself allowed me to observe progress on this station and to make sure there is no problems with the crew... and his number one assistant."
Vader, who was also in the area, was still a bit skeptical about Saxito, but kept quiet. He knew better than to question the Emperor's judgment. Leia couldn't help but feel a bit creeped out by that dark-coated stranger.
Tarkin addressed Leia"So, you ready to tell us the location of the rebel base? If not, this planet will be destroyed."
Leia started to protest"No, Alderaan Is peaceful, we have no weapons."
"You prefer a military target? Then name the system!" Takin snapped.
Leia reluctantly conceded"Dantooine, they're on Dantooine."
Saxito smirked"There, was that so hard? You can fire on Tarkin's orders" he directed that last bit at an officer.
Leia was terrified"what?! no!"
Saxito snorted"Come on. do you really think that anyone is gonna believe your BS?"
Leia could only watch as the Death Star's superlaser blew Alderaan up.
Meanwhile, Sora and his group met up with Han and a furry Wookie called Chewbacca at the Millennium Falcon. They had made the jump to Hyperspace and were on the way to Alderaan. Obi-Wan spent the time teaching Luke the Jedi Way. But when they came out of hyperspace, they were in for an unpleasant sight: All that is left of Alderaan is space dust and asteroids.
"What happened?" Sora gasped.
"Our position is current except... No Alderaan" said Han, grimly.
"Oh, great, the Empire beat us to the punch" groaned Taios.
Tyler gasped as he saw a smaller space vehicle pass by"What's that?"
"Oh, no. they've followed us!" groaned Luke.
"No that's a short ranged fighter" said Obi-Wan, calmly.
Han was confused"There aren't any bases around here, where did it come from?"
Cecil spotted a round 'object' in the distance"there's something in the far distance... what is that?"
What looked like a small moon at first started coming into view. Sora glanced in wonder at it"Is that a moon of some kind?"
"That's no moon, its a space station" said Obi-Wan.
Han disagreed"Its too big to be a space station."
"Appearances can be deceiving" said Cecil.
Suddenly, A tractor beam started pulling them in. Taios balked at it"Oh crap, they know we're here. we gotta pull back!"
"Yeah... your right... chewie we gotta pull back!" Han instructed.
But when they tried, they found that they couldn't break away from the Tractor Beam's pull. Tidus paled"Can't this hunkajunk go back?!"
"We can't! We're going at full power. We gotta shut it down" said Han. The Millennium Falcon is dragged into the space station and forcibly landed in the hanger. Serenia paled"Now what do we do?"
"First we gotta hide, like now. With them capturing this ship, it's only a matter of time before they find us" said Taios, grimly.
"Its gonna be tight, but there are hidden compartments in my ship we can use to hide in" supplied Han.
Sora nodded"Got it."
At the command deck, Vader received a message from one of the storm troopers through the Intercom"We found a vessel that was entering the remains of the Alderaan System. It seems to be the same one that blasted it's way out of Mos Eisley."
"They're probably giving the stolen plans to the princess. She may yet be of some use to us" Vader mussed.
Saxito, who was standing nearby, smirked"Or better yet, place a small tracking device on the Falcon so that when they pick her up, she'll lead us to the rebel base without even knowing it."
Vader turned sharply to Saxito"Don't forget who is in charge, here. However, your plan just might be useful."
"Hey, I'm just giving suggestions on the Emperors behalf. I mean, it would be smarter and more clever to do my plan... Oh, I almost forgot to tell you, that shard you ordered in this station, it is highly unstable" said Saxito, calmly.
"Very well, then. I will have the tracking beacon placed. And what danger is there in containing the shard, here?" Vader asked.
Saxito let out a twisted smirk"Simple. The shard consumes energy the more it is used... and if this station uses it to destroy a planet, just imagine how both sides of the force get affected."
"Hm. Your concerns are valid. Am I to presume you wish to take it? The Space Station has enough power, with or without the shard" Vader replied.
I to presume you wish to take it? The station will still have enough firepower, with or without the shard.
"True... but that won't stop Sora and... Obi-wan Kenobi from obtaining it" said Saxito, calmly.
Tarkin, who was in the room, was skeptical"He is dead."
"He is not dead, I sensed a disturbance in the force. And as for you, Saxito, you may do with the Shard what you must" instructed the Sith.
Saxito smirked as he began to leave"Heh. now if you'll excuse me, I have a few errands to run... Anakin." Vader was mildly perturbed by the casual use of his former name, but lets it slide as he headed off to look for Obi-Wan.
Saxito pulled out a phone as he started walking and called"Arlene... is the special surprise ready?"
Arlene replied from her end"we're almost ready, Saxito. We just need a few more hours for the heartless and nobodies to be prepped."
Saxito smiled"good. The Empire and the Rebels will have the most... excellent surprise when they arrive."
"This had better work. I'm not entirely convinced you could pull this off" grunted Arlene.
"Trust me. this is just an optimal stress test for the main course in the future" said Saxito.
Sora's group managed to hide in the Falcon's under compartments as Stormtroopers started to search the ship. Taios called out"Hey! can ya give us a hand with this?!"
"Hm?" The Stormtrooper went in to investigate with several of his comrades, only to get ambushed by Sora, Han, Chewbacca, Tidus, Kain and Ceodore. Using magic and superior tactics, Sora's group overpowered the Storm Troopers.
"Who would've thought it would be that easy?" remarked Taios. They took the Storm Troopers' uniforms and disguised themselves. They left the Falcon and headed deeper into the Death Star, most of the group, except for the Wookie and the two droids, who Luke brought with him, were disguised.
Tyler glanced around"This place sure is creepy..."
"Yeah, it's almost like Saxito built the place" Serenia agreed.
"Who's Saxito?" asked Luke, curious.
Taios was quiet for a moment"... You can say he's my twin brother who is more twisted then the empire."
Sora's group entered a control room and took down some Imperial guards. Luke then instructed the barrel-shaped droid"Artoo, can you access the terminal and scan for the tracter beam's reactor?"
Artoo plugged into the computers and searches the Death Star's database until the computer screen shows the tractor beam's power source. When R2 found what it was looking for, he beeped.
"A slight disruption of the generator should allow the ship to leave" 3PO translated.
"I will go shut it down" said Obi-Wan.
"Can we help?" Sora offered
Obi-Wan shook his head"I must go alone, Sora. The rest of you wait here."
"All right. Good luck" said Sora.
As Obi-wan left, taios went to the control console and started typing.
"What are you doing?" Han asked.
"What does it look like I'm doing? I'm looking for the princess" Taios replied.
Serenia was curious"What Princess?"
3PO elaborated"He may be referring to Princess Leia Organa."
"And she's somewhere in here?" Sora asked.
Taios nodded"Yup. Just gotta find out where."
R2 made some more beeps, which C-3PO translated"He says she's in cell block AA23... And he also says that there is a hidden transmission from a black coated teenager."
Sora wasn't completely surprised"Saxito, again..."
"Can you bring up the transmission?" Luke asked. R2 complied.
"Did ya... did ya get the stuff?" came Saxito's voice.
A deep replied"You realize that finding this item wasn't easy to find? Are you sure that this communication is secure?"
"Oh, don't worry about that. The Empire and the rebel alliance is too stupid to realize that by the time my plan is set in motion, it would be already too late" said Saxito's voice.
"What's Saxito up to, now?" said Serenia.
Han shrugged"Anyone messing with both the Empire and the Rebellion has a screw loose. Not that I care."
"For now, we should save the princess" said Luke.
"I'm with you, Luke" Sora piped.
"We should come up with a plan first, and it might be a good idea to have some of our group remain here" Cecil advised.
Han sighed"You can't be serious about going off. The old man said to wait here."
Tidus squared his shoulders"Well, its the right thing to do."
"And besides, if we pull this off, there's a better chance that the princess will give ya a much bigger reward if we rescue her" supplied Taios.
"Fine, but what do you have in mind?" said Han.
Luke thought for a minute before getting a pair of binders to use for handcuffs and went over to Chewbacca"I'm going to put these on you."
Chewie let out a protesting growl. Luke backed down and turned to Han"Okay, you do it."
Han took the binders and put them on Chewbacca"Don't worry, Chewie. I think I know what he has in mind."
Sora squared his shoulders"I'll go with the three of you, Han. Anyone else?"
"I'll go with you" said Cecil.
"I'm in, you might need my white magic" said Yuna, helpfully.
Tidus pumped his fist"Rarin' to go!"
Cecil turned to their remaining allies"Ceodore, Kain, remain here and protect Serenia and Tyler, just in case."
Kain nodded"Very well, just don't get killed."
"As for me, i'm gonna do some recon. whatever Saxito is planning for the Rebellion and the Empire isn't good" said Taios.
"Good luck, Taios" said Sora.
Tidus squared his shoulders"All righty, let's do this."
Sora's group then headed out of the control room towards the detention block. When they arrived, they found Saxito with a group of guards. Saxito grinned"Oh, hai storm troopa's. How goes it?"
Tidus could barely contain himself at the sight of the Nobody. Sora interjected as he addressed the Warden"We found this creature stirring up trouble on the upper floors, request to have it transferred to a cell, elsewhere."
"I wasn't notified, I'll have to clear it" said the Warden, gesturing to one of the 'real' Storm Troopers. Luke and Han quickly had Chewie stage a breakout and attacked the guards.
"So what's up, Saxito?" grinned Tidus.
Saxito smirked"Heh. And the ever so amusing man-child gracious me with his presence. And in case if you wanna know what I'm doing, best save it till after you leave this station. Cause the shard you guys are looking for is in a special surprise."
"Whatever It is, we'll be sure to be ready" said Sora.
Luke shot down the last guard while Han walked to the console in the room to find the princess' cell and try and stall reinforcements. Saxito let out another amused smirk as he headed for the elevator"Heh... and I have high confidence that you all would succeed. I'm looking forward to it."
Han, meanwhile, managed to locate Leia's cell and addressed Luke"You, go get her. She's in prison block number 24."
Luke nodded, then went to the cell. The young woman in white was slightly surprised when the door to her cell opened to reveal an odd-looking storm trooper"Aren't you a little short for a storm trooper?"
Luke had been silent for a moment, but broke out of his stupor and removed his helmet"Huh? Oh, the uniform. My name is Luke Skywalker, I'm here to rescue you. I brought your Artoo Unit and Ben Kenobi."
"Ben Kenobi?" Leia was confused.
"I'll explain later" said Luke as he led Leia back to the others.
Meanwhile, Obi-Wan shut off the Tractor Beam's power source and was heading elsewhere until a black-coated teen stood in his way. The coated figure smirked"Oh, were you expecting someone else, General Kenobi?"
"I'll have to admit that I am surprised that you know of me. I sensed a disturbance, and expected to run into my former Apprentice, Darth Vader. And you must be the Twin Brother of Taios, he mentioned you. The resemblance is rather uncanny" remarked Obi-Wan.
"Goodie. That just wonderful... Sooo... Wonderfully joyous..." Saxito gave an insane smile, summoned Nothing to Something and charged at Obi-Wan. The elderly Jedi barely had enough time to ready his lightsaber and parry the attack.
Back at the Detention Block, Luke and Leia met up with Han, Chewie, Sora, Tidus, Yuna and Cecil. Sora addressed Leia"Are you the princess?"
Leia nodded"I am Leia Organa, Senator Bail's daughter... And who are you?"
"I'm Sora" replied the male brunette.
"Guys, we have company!" Han shouted, as a group of Stormtroopers showed up near the exit and opened fire on the group. Sora and his companions took cover.
"Now what?" Tidus groaned.
"Its a little too cramped in here to call Aeons, otherwise I would've summoned Bahamut or Anima to deal with them" Yuna grimaced.
"Okay, then." Sora took an opportunity here and there to cast a Fire Spell at the Troopers, using Reflect to deflect some of their shots. Sora was able to defeat a Trooper or two, but his magic reserves were running low, so he ducked back against the wall.
Luke, who was providing cover fire for Sora, said"There isn't any other way out. I called 3PO and asked."
Leia quickly grabbed Luke's blaster and shoots a nearby wall.
"What are you doing?" Han demanded.
"Someone has to save our skins. Into the garbage chute, flyboy" said Leia, going to the hole. Sora shrugged, but headed into the hole. The others followed suit, and they all ended up in a pile of trash.
"Now what?" Tidus asked.
"Wonderful" Han muttered, sarcastically. Sora started looking around for an exit.
Cecil spotted a brownish door-like spot"Hm. That panel over there might be our way out."
"But how do we open it?" Luke asked.
But before anyone else can answer, the walls began to move. Tidus groaned"Oh, great."
Luke quickly grabbed his comlink to call 3PO and R2 to have them shut down the trash compactors.
Vader had also been looking for Obi-Wan, and stopped not too far from where Saxito and Obi-Wan were fighting.
"When I'm through with you... Anakin will be next... then the Emperor. Ooooh! Maybe I can enslave everyone just so it would be funny!" cackled Saxito, pausing when he spotted the dark-armored man"Ah! Oh my gosh, Darth Vader!"
Vader coolly approaches Saxito with his Lightsaber out"I might have anticipated your treachery, Saxito. Perhaps you aren't as loyal as you claimed to be."
Obi-Wan was a bit exhausted from fighting Saxito, but held his ground as he faced Vader"I thought I sensed you."
"I had been waiting, Obi-Wan. We meet again, at last. When I left, I was but the learner, now I am the master" said Vader, calmly.
"Only a master of evil, Darth" said Obi-Wan, turning his blade on Vader.
Saxito gave a twisted smirk"If we're all going to fight... there's two things I have to say. first off: PUDDING! The next one, I was never loyal to Palpatine in the first place. I lied so that the shard would be in the hands of an old enemy that you both thought was long since dead... I believe his exact words would be... 'I would destroy all Jedi. what was his name, exactly? Grievious?"
Obi-Wan was puzzled"Grievous? But how...? I finished him, myself."
"An oversight that I could easily correct if its true. The Emperor has no use for such an unnecessary junk pile from the clone wars. Why should we believe Grievous is still alive? You should know that I am close to killing you personally, Saxito. I already had been lied to twice, today" snarled Vader.
"Heh. Even if you try to correct this problem, Anakin, everything that you two have done up to this point has been carefully scripted by the emperor himself. And besides, even if that new embodiment of the dark side that I created does get destroyed, it doesn't change the fact that the entire force, doesn't matter if it's light or dark... a great change of twilight, will cause both to collapse" snarled Saxito, summoning Vanitas' Void Gear and using it to attack both Vader and Obi-Wan.
Vader barely blocked an attack and staggered back"You are brave, but foolish."
Obi-Wan got into a defensive stance and blocked a few hits before swinging his saber at Saxito. But the dark-clad Nobody dodged and countered with a spell. Vader swung his lightsaber again, only for Saxito to dodge.
"Well, I shouldn't be surprised by this. It is your duty to rid the universe of villains. I mean, after all... You are a heroic Jedi, Vader" sneered Saxito, smirking as the two of them stopped.
"You... Dare... call me a Jedi?" growled Vader.
"Oh ,I'm sorry. I was under the impression that saving the Galaxy from a far more terrible evil, was considered to be a weak terrible do-gooder. Helping people from a horrid fate" said Saxito, sadistically.
"you had better be silent" replied Vader.
Saxito slowly gave a creepy, twisted smirk"What's the matter, Anakin? Suddenly realizing you're not as evil as you claim to be? That you of all people, would be a good little boy?"
Vader's hand gripped his lightaber tightly"S-silence! I- I'm going to-.."
"That's right, anakin. Despite your cruel actions and stupid methods, and stale sense of humor, what you're doing now counts as one blunt fact. You're... a good guy, vader. And as much as you disagree otherwise... You can't escape the fact that you're saving the galaxy with your former master" said Saxito.
"The Anakin I once knew as a friend and apprentice is long gone" said Obi-Wan.
"Enough!" Vader shouted, charging at Saxito with a swing of his lightsaber, only for the Nobody to dodge.
Back at the trash bin, R2 had barely managed to shut down the compactors before Luke's group could get squished. Sora and Luke's group opened the panel and returned to the main part of the Death Star, removing the stolen uniforms as they went.
Cecil: Let's get back to the others.
Leia: That was some rescue.
Tidus: Least we're alive.
Sora's group starts back toward the control room until the area started to get creepily darker. A voice chuckled from the shadows"Huhuhuhuhhahahahahaha- (cough cough) ... imagine my surprise to find a jedi apprentice and his protective keyblade wilders."
"Huh?" Luke looked around.
"Who's there?" Sora asked, readying his Kingdom Key.
"Huhuhuhuhuhahaha. do you honestly believe that I would be stupid enough to reveal my face to such lowly life forms? I shall destroy your vessel to prevent your escape, then, I shall eliminate kenobi and the sith lord and consume their essences to nourish my own!" snarled the voice as four lightsabers barely missed Luke and Sora.
"Those Lightsabers can cut through almost anything" said Luke.
"Then most of our weapons would be a liability, here. Those of us who can use magic shouldn't have too much trouble if he doesn't get too close" said Cecil, calmly.
Sora nodded"What about my Keyblade? That shouldn't break, right?"
Luke shrugged"I wouldn't know for sure, Sora."
"Okay, then. I'll fire up some spells. Yuna, can any of your Aeons fit in here?" Sora asked.
Yuna thought about it"Maybe not... Wait, let me try this." She summoned Valefor, whose frame managed to fit in.
"Luke, Leia, Han, Chewie, you should get out of here" said Cecil, readying his blade.
As soon as the four left, Sora's group was left to fend against whoever was attacking them. The problem was that they couldn't exactly find where said person was attacking from. That is until the shadows themselves started to be absorbed into a familiar ally, to reveal a heartless in the shape of a large twisted metallic exo-skeleton with a technomask of Greivious
"Ngh! i can't hold it for long! attack Greivious as much as you can!" gasped Taios.
"Taios? Right, let's do this" said Sora, firing off a few Fira spells at Greivious and followed that with Strike Raid. Cecil shot forth a wave of Light at Greivious, followed by another Strike Raid from Sora. Tidus struck hard and fast with Slice 'n' Dice, while Yuna's Valefor Aeon shot forth a Energy Beam.
Greivious was no pushover. in the front he deflected nearly all the attacks they threw at him, luckily he wasn't at a wall, which gave the others some advantage over the robotic heartless. Greivious groaned"GAH! bah, I have no time to deal with this foolishness!" He attacked Taios, knocking him down, causing the shadows to return.
"Now what?" Sora readied himself.
Tidus smiled"Wait, I have an idea. Yuna, try using Ixion's Thundaga or an Aerospark to illuminate the room long enough for me to blitz him. Cecil, Sora, we need a distraction. No Machina can withstand a good thunder."
"Okay" said Yuna, dismissing Valefor and calling forth Ixion.
The three attempted to put Tidus' plan in action. Sora casted Blizzard just as Ixion's Aerospark lit the room for a moment. Tidus then used his Blitz Ace attack to knock Grievious back. Sora took the chance to rush over to Taios and heal him with Cura.
Taios breathed and let out a small smirk"thanks... Saxito created this Greivious look-alike... but it still has the memories and abilities of the original... plus Saxito's enhancements. Cover me till I can gather enough electricity from this very station."
"You got it" Sora said, lunging at Grievious with Arc Arcanum. Cecil switched to his Dark Knight form and casts a Wave of Darkness at Greivious. Ixion darted at Grievious and attacked him with its horn before unleashing Thundaga. Tidus followed up with another Blitz Ace.
It was then taios started to gather electrical power from his surroundings, which the heartless wasn't going to take, so he went and tried to attack taios again, but wasn't paying attention to his surroundings, and he was wide open from behind.
"Deep Freeze!" Sora had cast Blizzard, staggering Grievious.
"Yuna! I need Ixion!" Taios cried.
"Okay" said Yuna.
"THOR'S HAMMER!" Taios called. It was then the aeon charged taios' blade as he threw it at the former general, and the impact it caused forced Grevious to be paralyzed and the shadows stopped.
"guys! now's our chance!" cried Taios.
Sora countered Grievious with a four-hit combo and a Strike Raid. Cecil returned to his Paladin form and attacked with a slash while Tidus attacked Grievious with Spiral Cut.
Grievious groaned as he began to shut down, collapse and fade into darkness"ARRGHHHH!... ngh... no one... no one... minus Kenobi has... ever ... defeated me... (cough) do not forget this isn't the... end... I will be satisfied knowing that he will die... like every... other jedi I have slain... " his mask came off and was left behind.
"Thanks, Taios" said Sora.
Cecil glanced at the discarded mask"Hm. This strange mask has been left behind."
Tidus picked up the mask to look at it"kind of looks weird."
"Hold on, doesn't that mask seem suspicious? It didn't fade away when that Heartless vanished into darkness" said Yuna.
Taios shrugged"that is the same mask that the original Grievious had... and saxito used that as a base for said heartless."
"Interesting. Guess we have no use for this" said Tidus.
"But why would Saxito want to recreate a monster like that?" asked Sora.
"He's up to something, here, that's for sure. Did you learn anything else, Taios?" Cecil asked.
Taios shrugged"I'll tell you when we get out of here. and destroy that mask. it's better that Saxito doesn't have it."
"All righty" said Tidus, handing the mask to Sora, who tossed it into the air and cut it to bits. They headed to the control room to meet up with the others before starting to head back to the Falcon, assuming Obi-Wan had managed to deactivate the Tractor Beam. And as they went in, they noticed Luke watching Vader, Obi-wan and Saxito fighting each other, and Saxito dodged to the point where Vader unknowingly killed Obi-Wan.
Luke saw Obi-Wan die"No!"
"Obi-Wan..." Sora trailed off.
A group of Stormtroopers, who had taken notice of the commotion had gone towards the room and turned to shoot when they heard Luke's voice. The blond Apprentice fired back.
"Luke, its too late!" said Leia.
"Blast the door, kid!" Han shouted.
Luke shot at a switch near the door ahead. Obi-Wan's voice addressed the group"Run. Luke, Taios, Sora, run."
Sora and Luke began to lead the way back to the Falcon. Taios stopped"you guys go! i'll catch up! " He started to hit his shoulder piece as grey, black, red, and bits of yellow keyblade armor started to appear, while having a metallic belt holding white feathers on his right leg
"All right" said Sora. The remaining group boarded the Falcon and got into the Cockpit.
"Sure hope the old man shot down the tractor beam or this will be one short trip. Okay, hit it!" said Han. The Millennium Falcon flew out of the hanger, away from the Death Star.
"Do you think Taios will be ok by himself?" Serenia asked.
"He can take care of himself" Kain grunted.
Ceodore paled as he saw some Tie Fighters and Hunter Gummi Heartless attack the Falcon"I think we need to worry about what's going to attack us!"
"Heartless, at a time like this. Han, does your ship have weapons?" Sora asked.
"What do you think I am? Luke, Sora, man the turret above. I'll use the one below" said Han.
Sora and Luke head to the designated turret, using the laser to fire back at the Tie Fighters and the Heartless.
"Can't we get to the top of the ship and help?" Tidus.
"Be my guest, the air outside ain't breathable" said Han, going to his turret gun station.
It was then taios was in the distance zooming through and attacking heartless and tie fighters, communicating to Sora's group through his intercom in a cheerful voice"You guys gonna sit there, or are you gonna help me beat these tie fighters and heartless into taco tuesday!?"
Luke is stunned to see an armored Taios, but shoots at the Fighters anyway. Han fires at the Heartless and Fighters, too. Tidus and Yuna headed to the airlock"Since I'm a Dream of the Fayth, I can ride Valefor out there without dying, right?" grinned Tidus.
Yuna: Its worth a try. But you will have to use your Blitzball along with Valefor's abilities."
Chewbacca growled something, which C-3PO translated as"Chewbacca says its too dangerous without a space suit and helmet."
"Tell the Furball we'll be fine. Open the airlock real quick" said Tidus.
"Humph. Your funeral" muttered Han. Luke continuesd to fire at the Tie Fighters, taking some down.
"Wish I could use a Gummi Ship. Tyler, got anything?"
Tyler shrugged"Uh... Yeah. My dad taught me how to summon Keyblade Armor and a glider." Summing his armor, which is a dark blue with black linings, Tyler flew out the airlock once it was opened, followed by Valefor to help Taios.
Taios was surprised"I didn't expect you to have keyblade armor... but this is gonna be fun!" He started zipping and spinning in his glider to attack said heartless, Valefor flew over to the nearest Heartless and attacked.
"Well, my dad taught me how to use one" said Tyler as he attacked some monsters and Tie Fighters using his magic.
Taios grinned"Hey, wanna try a new trick?"
Tyler was hesitant"Uh... I don't-"
Taios zoomed over and grabs his arm as they begun spinning"now!" It was then he let go as momentum hurled em' at the heartless which the impact was big. With Tyler, Taios and Valefor's help, Luke and Han eventually brought down the Heartless and Tie Fighters.
Sora grinned"Looks like we've all but won."
Their comrades reentered the Falcon. Taios, still with the armor on but taking off the helmet while entering the room, said"Don't you guys think we should... oh I don't know... LEAVE? because I saw some cruisers heading this way."
"I'll set the jump to lightspeed" said Han.
"Where are we headed, now?" Sora asked.
Leia replied"We're going to Yavin 4."
Han nodded"All right" and set the jump to Hyperspace to Yavin once they were all set.
Leia was quiet"Hm. They let us go too easily. Its not over yet."
"Nothing is ever over, princess. What I learned is that saxito plans to make an army of grevious's to destroy both sides..." Taios trailed off.
Leia frowned"but... why would he do this?"
Taios shrugged"He finds that if there is conflict... he'll do whatever means necessary to stop it... even if his methods are extreme. I know... because to an extent... I felt the same way."
"That would explain why I saw him attacking both Vader and Ben..." trailed Luke, thoughtfully.
Sora shrugged"The Empire and the Rebels will both probably have a hard time with them. That one copy of Grievious was no pushover. Neither side would stand a chance on their own, even with a Jedi on both their sides."
"Uh, I think that the term for a Dark Force wielder would be Sith" said Luke.
Han grunted"Well, they'd better leave me out of it. I have my own problems."
Sora shrugged"I suspect that Saxito knows that you will eventually join the Rebellion anyway, Han. He won't care that you don't want to join either side. I would join the Rebellion if I could, but my group and I will just stick around the rebels long enough to foil Saxito's plan."
Luke squared his shoulders"I'll do my part, and there's nothing left for me to do but join the Rebellion to fight the Empire."
"You can count me in. I'm not going to allow Saxito or the empire stop us now" said Ceodore.
Taios grinned"heh. you guys should know by now that I ain't going to stand by and watch. If there's a problem, you should damn know that I'll be there to help in any way I can."
Serenia inclined her head"I'm all for it."
"Well, that's that" said Sora.
They eventually arrive at Yavin 4 and dock inside the hanger at the Rebel Base, unaware they were being tracked by Vader and the rest of the Imperials on the Death Star.
Meanwhile, in a nobody dreadnaught, Saxito himself was walking in a hallway, having a look of paranoia "No... no this is... this is good. the- the plan is coming together... yes. as soon as the clones are ready, I'll-... I'll be able to-"
"What's wrong saxito? I thought the great and powerful leader could handle all this death and destruction" came an illusionary voice.
Saxito recognized it"You! how are you still alive... vanitas?!"
Vanitas' image had appeared without his mask"Oh come now, Saxito. Is that any way to greet an old friend? after all... we're practically almost family now! I mean i'm sure your- our pops would agree."
"Pops?" Saxito was confused.
Vanitas' image changed into what looked like an adult version of Taios, but had the hair of Saxito and wore golden keyblade armor"King Aaron."
King Aaron's image spoke: Son?... no... no son of mine would allow countless deaths for amusement... as well as allowing this madman to take control of his will. And no son of mine would be this pathetically weak."
Vanitas's image continued"A terrible thing to disappoint ones dad. Believe me, I know."
"SH-SHUT UP!" Saxito shouted.
Vanitas' image cackled as reality began to twist and distort"Are you talking to ME? or YOURSELF?"
King Aaron's image trailed"madness..."
"Just go away! BOTH OF YOU! leave me alone!" Saxito yelled, holding his face in anguish.
Vanitas' image walked closer"Very well, Saxito. Just know that I have the upper hand now. Remember that well, or you'll live to regret it... regret it to your everlasting MADNESS..."
it was then reality was normal again, and he was held back by two avalonian soldiers.
Saxito groaned"no. NOO! leave me alone!"
One of the soldiers pleaded"Emperor Saxito, please wake up!"
Saxito snapped back"wha-... where... where did he go?"
The other soldier was confused"HE? who are you referring to, sir?... sir?"
King Aaron's voice echoed in Saxito's mind"madness..."
Saxito shrugged as he ran past the hallway"It's... it's nothing... get back to work!"
On Yavin, Sora's group delivered R2 to the rebels, who downloaded the Death Star plans and found a weakness before the meeting in the briefing room. After the meeting in which they developed a strategy for dealing with the Death Star and foiling Saxito's plot, they all went to the hanger.
Han was getting ready to leave in the Falcon with Chewie when Sora asked"Sure you're not going to stick around, Han? Tyler, Taios and I are going to help stop Saxito's plan."
Han shrugged"Yeah, well, going against the Empire ain't my idea of courage, its more like suicide."
Sora relented"Your loss, I guess. Cecil and Kain have been asked to lead a ground defense team in case there's an attack on the ground. I have been assigned a ship so I could help with the battle in space."
"Its great to have you around, Sora. And Han? May the force be with you"
Han nodded"Good luck."
Taios, who was nearby, addressed the group, two other people were with him"Hey, Ceodore. There's two people I want you to meet while I was talking with Luke. Hey guys! come over here! ... I want ya to meet two people. Biggs and Wedge."
Wedge, one of the two X-Wing pilots, nodded"Hello, there. I am Wedge Antiles."
"And I'm Biggs Darklighter, what's up?" smiled the other pilot.
"Oh, nice to meet you. I'm Ceodore" said the Baron Prince, he could tell that they are completely different people than the Biggs and Wedge he knew.
"Quite a coincidence, Ceodore and I knew two people who share those very same names. I am Cecil Harvey" The Paladin introduced himself.
Biggs chuckled"Heh, small galaxy after all. Hey, Luke, what's up?"
"Good to see you again, Biggs. I have quite a story for you" said Luke.
Biggs grinned"Well, maybe we can swap stories once the Death Star is space dust. Oh, and Ceodore, you going to fly one of those ships with us against the Empire?"
Ceodore shook his head"No, I'll likely be with my father's defense team. I'm Cecil's son. I can only guess that Tyler and Taios will be helping the assault squads. Serenia, Tidus and Yuna are also on the base defense team."
Wedge shrugged as he went to get on board an X-Wing"Well, we need all the help we can get, whether its on the ground or in Space."
Sora headed over to an available A-Wing, which Wedge had given him instructions on how to operate, while Luke went to board an X-Wing with R2 as his support. As for Taios, he summoned his keyblade glider while putting back his helmet and keyblade armor on."Taios: well, i'm all set. are you?"
"Same here!" said Sora as he boarded the A-Wing.
Wedge was puzzled at Taios before he got into his X-Wing"Uh, that guy's seriously not going to try to go into space like that, is he?"
"Its no ordinary armor" said Tyler, putting on his armor and summoning the glider.
Yuna, Tidus, Cecil, Kain, Serenia, and Ceodore headed outside the base to assist the ground defenses, while Sora's group, accompanied by Red Squad and Gold Squad, went out to space. Sora's group flew until they got to the vicinity of the Death Star.
One of the pilots was surprised"Look at the size of that thing."
"Cut the chatter, Red 2" said Wedge.
Tyler staysed close to Sora's assigned ship, keeping an eye out for enemies, only to find nothing so far... which was rather strange... and it was too quiet until a large nobody dreadnaught slowly approached the two factions
Saxito's intercom blurted"This message is for both the rebel alliance and the empire. This charade of war is gonna be cut short. The emperor himself is going to die, and the rebellian is now redundant."
"What? Is he crazy? That sounds too good to be true" said Luke.
Biggs let out a sarcastic remark"Yeah, and I'm a flppin' bantha. What are your orders, Red Leader?"
"Ignore that odd Dreadnaught and just focus on the Death Star. But still, the heck does he mean by the rebellion is redundant?" muttered Red Leader.
Sora shrugged"Probably about to start his master plan."
Vader was torqued. Not only did Saxito eventually evade him, but now he has threatened to destroy everything. He addressed his fleet"All ships, move out. I will come out to join you, personally. Do not engage the Rebellion until that Dreadnaught is taken care of, but don't let anything near the Death Star."
The Commander nooded"Yes, my lord. But can we not simply use the Super Laser? The Dreadnaught should fall in a matter of seconds."
Vader shook his head"No, I will not waste our ultimate weapon on Saxito." He headed to his personal fighter.
Meanwhile on the bridge off the dreadnaught, a Soldier addressed Saxito"Sir, vader's forces are coming out and heading our direction as you predicted."
Saxito smiled"Excellent... first... we're going to send a message to vader. Destroy the super laser dish. I think it's time for our clones to... take care of the situation." He snapped his fingers as more nobody dreadnaughts started to come into range.
Wedge saw the Imperials head towards the Dreadnaught fleet"Hoo boy, they must have made someone really mad."
"I hope Han made it out of here, okay. So what now?" said Luke.
Red Leader shrugged"I don't like the looks of things, either. We'll have to improvise, depending on the situation."
Vader got on board his Tie Fighter and was about to head out with two wingmen. The rest of the Tie Fighters were either guarding the Death Star or going towards the Dreadnaught Fleet, only to see pods being fired at the death star super laser by mini-cruiser gummi-nobodies, and countless dragonfly gummi heartless's were attacking everyone. It was then the pods opened to reveal 3 clones of grievious in each pod.
Red Leader instructed his fellow squad members"All units, take evasive action. Get as many of these buggers as you can, but some of us should take down that Death Star soon."
Luke and Sora flew their ships, evading the Nobodies and Heartless and firing on as many of them as possible.
"What, are we pest control, now?" sighed Biggs as he attacked some Heartless. Tyler struck at some enemy ships using his glider's defense systems and striking at some of the monsters that got too close.
"I'll go see if I can take down the Greivious Clones' pods. Luke, Wedge, Biggs, think you can get close to the Death Star?" said Sora.
Luke nodded"We'll do our best."
"Your treachery ends here, Saxito" said Vader, heading out with his wingmen to engage the Nobodies' mini cruisers.
Saxito sounded depressed, but had a sadistic smirk on his face as he taunted the Sith Lord"Treachery? I'm hurt, Anakin. And to think all you had to do in the past was kill Palpatine. But did you kill him? No... you had to betray your friends. Even... betray Padme. The lover you oh so cared about. You know, that's the thing with you Sith. The irony is that what I'm doing to you is the same thing the emperor is going to do you in the future. You lose. I win. Goodbye, Vader. I hope your stupidity of staying in the dark side works so well for you."
The transmission ended as a hoard of speeder gummi nobodies started firing directly at Vader. Vader maneuvered his Fighter, fighting back as best he could, but was so blindly irked at Saxito's words that he could barely concentrate. Several Tie Fighters hurried to back him up.
Several more Tie Fighter Pilots attempted to attack Saxito's dreadnaught, but got shot down by the Nobody's magic.
Sora flew towards the pods and fired at the Grievious Clones.
Luke, Biggs and Wedge flew towards the Death Star itself, fighting off more Heartless and Nobodies on the way. Tyler flew his glider over to help Luke's group out. Luke looked around"Looks like the Tie Fighters are all but engaged."
"Then let's just start our attack run" said Wedge. The four flew closer to the Death Star, going to a trench-like area. Wedge signaled his allies"I am switching on my targeting computer."
"Alright. I'll try to help defend Luke as much as I can" said Tyler.
Wedge flew in while the other three provided some cover. But even as Wedge managed to get close to the designated spot and fired his proton torpedoes, his aim was off and missed the exhaust port.
Luke addressed him"Did that do it?"
"Negative, it didn't go in" said Wedge, girmly, flying his ship back over.
Luke shrugged"I'll do it, then" and went into the trench to try and make the required shot. Biggs, Wedge and Tyler provided cover from behind and above him. But nearby, Vader barely managed to evade Saxito's minions and flew his fighter to try and intercept the Rebel X-Wings with his wingmen. While only a short distance away from the station, Sora took down as many pods as he could, expertly evading enemy fire.
Also not too far away, the Millennium Falcon was hovering some distance away from the fight and had to fight off some Heartless that attacked it on sight. Seeing what was going on, Han flew his ship towards the Death Star. He had changed his mind and was being stealthy to gain the element of surprise on the Empire's fighters.
Elsewhere taios was fighting a lot of heartless, nobody, and tie fighters, he immediately went in the trench silently like a ninja which he spotted vader and his assistants chasing after luke and the others, so he flew to the highest speed possible on the other direction, making the element of surprise himself
"Heh. this will be easy" grinned Taios.
Vader fired at Wedge, damaging his X-Wing.
Wedge groaned"Great."
Luke was concerned"Wedge, you okay back there?"
"Sorry, I'm going to have to pull out" said Wedge, flying his ship away from the battle. Meanwhile, Vader than shot Biggs' X-Wing down, killing him. Luke felt it and took a deep breath. It was just him and Tyler, now.
Vader got a strange sensation as he began to target Luke's X-Wing'This Force is strong with this one...'
On his X-Wing, Luke heard Obi-Wan's voice"Use the Force, Luke." Realizing that the computer wouldn't help him make the shot, Luke switched off his targeting computer. Tyler darted upwards and turned to zoom downward at the nearest fighter, attacking it with Lightning. Unfortunately, a group of Heartless Gummis appeared, diverting his attention. With no one to aid Luke, he was dead in the water.
Vader readied his Fighter's lasers"If I cannot stop Saxito... I will at least take comfort in knowing that i have you now."
But just as he was about to fire at Luke, he was interrupted, by a flurry of light and dark blade attacks. Taios taunted him on his intercome"ha! try and catch me Vader!"
"What?" Vader was caught off guard as one of his co pilots were destroyed.
"YAHOO!" Han's ship fired another shot from the Falcon and destroyed the other Fighter, sending Vader's Tie Fighter spinning away from the area in the process.
"You're all clear kid, now let's blow this thing and go home!" called Han from his intercom. Luke fired his proton torpedoes, which went right into the Death Star's exhaust port. Han, Luke and Tyler quickly moved away from the Death Star before it exploded.
"Great shot, kid. That was one in a million!" grinned Han.
Taios smiled and said through his intercom"You did awesome!"
It was then that saxito's forces pulled back as well, and everyone was happy and cheering on Yavin. A little later, a ceramony was being placed, as a bunch of rebel soldiers lined up on side to side to see Luke, Han, Cecil, Kain, Tyler, Tidus, Yuna, Sora, Serenia, Chewie and Taios all stood on the platform to recieve medals
Leia congratulated them"For your bravery, the Republic honors you in your valor against the Empire."
Saxito stood nearby, slowly clapping"Yes. this is a joyous occasion."
Sora turned to see the Nobody"Huh? What are you doing here, Saxito?"
Saxito smirked"Wwhat does it look like I'm doing? I'm giving you a reward for killing all those mindless agents of the Empire. Because that is what all this has always been about, mindless killing for fun."
Sora shrugged"I'm pretty sure we both have our ideas of fun."
"So, what's the prize, Sax?" quipped Tidus.
Saxito grinned and summoned darkness to deposit a shard into Sora's hand"Your prize is, the dawn shard from weyard! And thanks for killing off those Grievious clones. With all that data you've given me, you've helped me in more ways than one. See ya." He then vanished through the dark corridor.
Sora shrugged and pocketed the shard"Well, that was nice."
Serenia squared her shoulders"Well, since we didn't find a Dawn Shard, here, I guess we're done."
"Luke, Han, Leia, Chewie, my group will be going, now" grinned Sora.
Leia nodded"I understand, you have your own paths to follow. Sora, I can't guarantee that we'll still be on Yavin, now that the Empire knows where our base is. But maybe we can keep in touch, somehow."
Luke gave a smile"Sora, may the Force be with you."
"You know that we'll have chance to see each other again, guys. See ya" grinned Taios.
Sora's group proceed to leave Yavin to go to another world.
Meanwhile, Saxito was in his main HQ, going to the futuristic brig. and in one of the cells housed a young girl called Yuel. She was completely unaware of exactly where she was, but at least she could hear footsteps approaching her cell.
Saxito walked by with a smile"hello, Seeress."
"I have nothing to say to you" said Yuel, calmly.
Saxito scoffed"Oh, come now Yeul. Is this really a surprise that I took you away and halted that curse on you without Caius knowing? Now, then. If you want me to tell Caius where you are... I suggest you tell me where the shards are and... Rinoa's location."
Yuel was quiet for a moment"They were well hidden... one lies somewhere within the Eternal Sphere... And this man, Sora, has some of the shards. Why do you seek this Rinoa individual?"
"Because she is one of the big pieces of what i'm about to accomplish... and if this works out right... her hidden time magic will awaken" said Saxito, simply.
"She had long taken refuge at Twilight Town... But returned to Radiant Garden, and has stayed there in a small house since..." murmured Yuel.
Saxito smirked as he left"Thank you, Yuel. this info is really helpful in the coming invasion."
Yuel took a deep breath, silently hoping that things will work out for the best, she had not the strength to resist Saxito.
This is arguably one of the longest chapters I've ever written. Sure, I maybe could've split it up into two chapters, but cliffhangers are still not exactly one of my strong points.
Feel free to review, if you'd like.