Fate of the Force

by lordtrayus

The death of Jacen Solo and the last war was a disaster. A new force has undone what happened in LotF and given the galaxy a fighting chance against a great evil. By doing so however, the galaxy becomes even more perilous than it was before as the rising power of the dark side and the Sith threatens to snuff out the light of the Jedi, and of the galaxy once and for all...AU

10. Episode II: Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars

Fate of the Force

The bridge of the Mon Calamari cruiser Aqua Blue was silent as the ship sailed along at sublight speeds. Looking wistfully out of the viewport at the swirls of the stars, Wedge Antilles suppressed a sigh. After his task force had confirmed the destruction of Tavira's Invidious he had hoped to be recalled to Coruscant so he could see his wife Iella, and his two daughters, Syal and Myri, Myri before she disappeared with her aunt Mirax on a business trip and Syal before she was next deployed.

Unfortunately, that was not to be. Admiral Niathal was determined to destroy as many pirate groups as she possibly could, hence the creation of the task force Wedge now led. The other four ships flanking his own was just one quarter of the overall group dedicated to crushing as many pirate groups as possible. Three of his closest friends were in charge of the other task forces, all much the same size and strength as his own.

Along with his own Mon Cal cruiser, his portion of the task force also contained the three brand new Assault Frigates not long out of the Rendilli shipyards, the Dodonna, Madine and the Chewbacca. The last of the ships in his task force was a small Corellian Corvette, able to hold four fighters to add to the three squadrons his own cruiser had.

The second group was led by Tycho Celchu, Wedge's best friend in the entire galaxy. Wedge had stood by Tycho when he had been accused by the New Republic of being one of Ysanne Isard's Lusankya prisoners, and had been best man at his marriage to Winter following the Almanian Uprising. Despite his wife's wishes, he had been lured back into active military duty and now commanded group two, led by the refitted SoroSuub Liberator class cruiser, the Bold Warrior. Also in his taskforce was the Assault Frigate, the Amidala, named for the mother of Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia. In his group he also had the Nebulon frigate, the Shimmerstar, the Corvette, also converted to carry some fighters, called the Dantooine and the CC7700 frigate, Remember Mindor.

The third group was led by the practical joker of Rogue Squadron, Wes Janson, who Wedge had known for years and had steadily exasperated him with his frequent 'yub yub commander' jokes during the hunt for Warlord Zsinj. He was commanding from the bridge of Leia's former flagship, the Rebel Dream and with him he had the last of the new Assault Frigates, the Ikrit. His group also had the fleet's other Nebulon, the Warden, along with a DP20 Frigate, the Chivalrous and an old Medium Transport that carried fuel and ammunition for the fleet, the Shining Liberty.

And finally the last group was led by Hobbie Klivian, a dour faced man who was becoming more machine than man due to several rough landings in his X-Wing. Commanding the task force of three Assault Frigate Mark Twos, leading from the Thunderflame and backed up by the Theed's Reach and the Storm Wind, his was also supported by another DP20, the Manymaster and rounded off by one of General Garm Bel Iblis' six Dreadnaughts, the Sparrowhawk.

So here Wedge was, asked to come out of retirement to 'tend the garden' as Niathal had put it, in her quest to defeat the various pirate groups which were getting too big for their boots. She also wished to determine where several missing Corporate Sector ships had vanished to, as most of the captured pirates they had were stumped. Unfortunately, after many pirate nests, which Wedge had a dislike for since Loka Hask had killed his parents, had been destroyed, they were becoming harder to find, and were about as common as an icicle on Tatooine since the destruction of the Invids. Realising they were having trouble, Wedge had put a request into Director Belindi Kalenda of Intelligence, and thus Wedge had the assistance of Wraith Squadron, resuming the roles they had had during the Zsinj Campaign as pirates, named the Hawk-Bats.

And now all he was waiting for was for the second squadron he had created to get integrated into a pirate group's confidence so they could perhaps find out what they were planning. Until then all he could do was hope to get lucky and keep the task forces going through drills.

He turned to the galaxy holomap to see where potential trouble spots where. That's what he liked about the new cruiser designs, such things could be integrated. Worlds with a red outline indicated a potential troublespot, and Wedge smiled as he saw the newsreel at the bottom, describing where anti-slavery situations were arising.

He frowned at the planet Orvax. From a small coded message he had received from Gavin Darklighter, another one of his close friends from Rogue Squadron, and someone Wedge had always looked out for, particularly recently since he had lost his wife and three of his kids. The message indicated that his eldest daughter, Syal, who had followed in her father's footsteps, had been placed upon Gavin's temporary flagship, the Alderaan's Memory and was headed to Orvax to prevent the slave government, which had recently seized control of the world from the T'Surr who owned it, from being exterminated in a retaliatory strike by the T'Surr. Wedge also noticed that there was a task force not far from Orvax, performing war games at the Shimia system.

Wedge grinned. Chief A'kla and Admiral Niathal were clearly pulling the old Nal Hutta trick, which Leia had used when she was President of the New Republic during the Darksaber crisis.

"General Antilles!" a voice cried, and he turned to one of the crew stations on a raised platform behind him.

"Yes Lieutenant?"

"Sir, we've received a relayed message from the Ession Strike!"

The Ession Strike, formerly known as the Night Caller had been the Wraith's flagship and their first successful mission during the Zsinj campaign. At Garik 'Face' Loran's request, Commander Tabanne had been enlisted to act as the Hawk-Bats flagship for their mission and she had happily agreed, so the ship that carried the four TIE Advanced X1s on loan from Grand Admiral Pellaeon could be seen as an appropriate flagship for a band of brigands.

"Display it please Lieutenant." Wedge ordered, and the face of Atril Tabanne came into view, showing the grey that was now running through her hair and the wrinkles which were appearing quickly on her face.

"Hello General Antilles. Our mutual friends inform me that they have been invited to a pirate gathering. However, the pirates are also trying to outwit us and use a diversion by launching a fairly large fleet while the leaders all travel to an undisclosed location for the conference. Up to you how to proceed. Clear skies General." She said, and the holo vanished.

Wedge pondered. If they waited for the actual location of the conference, it could put the Wraiths in mortal danger if the pirates figured out that they were the ones who had sold them out. And even if the task force took out the leaders, the rest of the pirates would simply scatter and continue to exasperate the Galactic Alliance.

But, if they took on the fleet, while the Wraiths might be able to keep their cover, it would mean that the pirates could unite and pose a greater threat to the Alliance.

Wedge tapped his chin.

"Relay that message to the other generals, and see if you can get us a link to Admiral Niathal." He ordered, and the Lieutenant nodded.

Wedge gazed off into the depths of space. He actually had a funny feeling he knew what Admiral Niathal's orders would be. She wanted to make an example of the pirates, and that involved crushing a large group of them at one time, otherwise the various sects would just disappear and trouble them later on. But, if they were all united and they could crush them after that fact, then it would send a very clear message to other pirate groups.

A holo of Tycho appeared before him, smiling.

"Well, you were right to call in the Wraiths. What are our new orders?" he asked.

"None yet, I'm waiting for Admiral Niathal to answer." He said, as Hobbie and Wes appeared in holo form.

No sooner had they done so than Niathal's form materialised before them.

"Ah, Generals. Excellent work so far. I see the Wraiths have managed to get a result." She said proudly.

"You wanted them to discuss unifying?" Wedge asked sceptically.

Tycho's eyes widened in comprehension.

"Of course. Hitting single targets you send a message, but not a powerful one. But if they unify and we crush them, then the message is even clearer and louder."

"Exactly." Niathal said proudly.

While the plan did make sense, a small sense of foreboding rustled through Wedge. Such planning was the kind of thing that Darth Vader had done at the start of the Rebellion, when he had managed to lure the three main leaders together so they could at last be captured.

"Well what are our orders? Do we attack the decoy fleet and let them unify, or do we attack the conference and hope for the best?" Janson asked.

Niathal pouted her lips in thought, then nodded to herself.

"Very well. Allow the Wraiths to make the conference. Take on the decoy fleet. Then I have an excuse to recall you to further the deception. Good luck gentlemen." She said, giving a salute as her holo winked out.

"Since when did we become the master manipulators?" Hobbie asked sourly.

"Since we won the war and the right to do it. Alright boys, let's get under way." Wedge said with a sigh, and their holos flashed out, and Wedge turned to the crewman.

"Alright, take us to the decoy fleet's location...and prepare for battle."

XX

The bridge of the Fell Defender was quiet. Since the attack, there hadn't been much to say. And now, two days later, with a flotilla of around seventy five ships, some of them crammed with over two and a half thousand people, the stress they were under was beginning to show. There were just under fifty thousand people in the flotilla, all defended by the Fell Defender and her three Clawcraft Squadrons, and the eight other squadrons dotted around the fleet, just under half of which had a base ship to launch their ships from, which was cutting into already precious and tight space.

They had had no contact on any military or even Ascendancy frequency. They had watched Csilla turned into a turbulent ocean right before their very eyes. And they had watched as the mighty defence fleet of Csilla had been reduced to burnt out hulks by a surprise Vong attack.

After making their escape, Ar'alani had ordered all the small ships, shuttle size and below to either be stripped down or appropriated for military use, with their inhabitants moving onto the already overstocked freighters, transports, liners, yachts, haulers, barges and supply ships. While that kept the civilians busy, Shawnkyr had come straight to Ar'alani, and claiming that she would be much better off in a cockpit, conceded command of the Star Destroyer to Ar'alani while she took command of the ship's three fighter squadrons. Ar'alani was now the admiral in charge of the entire fleet, with the Fell Defender as her flagship.

She had also reinstated Soontir Fel to the rank of general to act as an advisor. Syal, his wife, had volunteered to help with the civilians and their needs and was always travelling from ship to ship. Cem Fel, the Fels shadow child, she had reinstated to the rank of captain and had given him command of the four troop regiments on board the Destroyer. And Fel's daughter, Wynssa, had also been reinstated and placed in command of the reconnaissance craft that they had on board.

For the first day, the fleet had just hung there, stunned by what they had witnessed, an event that as far as they knew had been repeated everywhere. Ar'alani however had had other ideas. Addressing the entire fleet, she had said that they would eventually go to the Redoubt, the Chiss' last refuge. However, first she wished to find out if there were any other military or civilian vessels out there, trapped, alone and cut off from any and all support, bring them into the fleet she now commanded and make their way to the Redoubt after that. When none of the civilian vessels had disagreed, she accepted that as their course of action.

Ar'alani herself had private misgivings. After all, she and her Destroyer could be the most powerful warship left in the Ascendancy. With the brutality of the Vong attack, that wasn't exactly an impossible situation. And now, here she was, an old woman not far off from being past her centennial year, leading a fleet of civilians to the safety of the Redoubt, while trying to figure out what the devil had happened and what they should do now.

She knew it was risky, what she planned to do. As far as they knew, they might not even be able to find any other survivors of the attack, let alone a member of the high command or a member of the Five Families. But she had to try. She had promised herself that if they went a week without finding hide nor hair of anyone, they would then depart for the Redoubt.

However, that depended on the search getting started first.

"Time left?" she asked her ensign.

The last thirty six hours had taken a toll on all of them. Every twenty minutes, a Vong Kor Chokk cruiser, which was more than capable of taking out the destroyer and shredding apart the civilian fleet, would drop out of lightspeed and open fire with its plasma ejectors, sending hundreds of coralskippers flying in at them. The vanguard of Viper Squadron, the crack squadron of the ship would hold them off while the civilian ships would leap to another uncharted part of space. The fighters would then be recovered, and the Star Destroyer would follow. And then of course, twenty minutes later, the Vong would reappear, and the cycle would resume. And so it had been for the last one hundred and eight times, and it was about to go to the hundredth and ninth time.

Ar'alani knew they were tracking them somehow, but how they were doing such a thing she was quite clueless.

"Two minutes, thirty five seconds." The ensign reported, and she sighed.

"How are they doing this?" she asked as she hobbled over to the holoscreen where Fel and the captain of the ship, Wreth, were standing.

"We don't know. We've thought of everything. Unless they're tracking the damage from the long range transmitter." Wreth theorised.

The new grutchins had certainly chewed the thing up good, and no ship in the fleet had the capability to manage long range communications. Also, the fact that the Vong now controlled most of the major spaceroutes meant that it was also impossible to send anyone for help from the Empire or the Alliance. They were on their own, with no way to contact anyone outside of their fleet.

"The damage isn't giving off enough of a signal to be tracked." Fel disagreed, looking tired.

Ar'alani squinted at the holomap. The cataracts in her eyes were driving her nuts, but she refused to show weakness in front of the bridge crew, who all now looked to her as a beacon of strength and hope in these dark times. However, how long they would when it took her a good five minutes to get to the bridge on a bad day, and half that time on a good day, she wasn't sure.

"Well they're tracking us somehow. Yeoman, contact Commander Shawnkyr and have her warm up her ships." She barked, and the lad in the crewpit nodded.

"They're exhausted." Fel concluded grimly.

"We all are. But until we figure out how the hell they're tracking us, we can't do anything." Ar'alani lamented.

"Enemy cruiser coming out of hyperspace! They're back Admiral!" Ensign Doshi called from his crewpit.

"Signal the civilian fleet to get underway to the new rendezvous point, open up with suppressing fire and get Viper Flight One to keep the skips off us until we can make the jump to lightspeed!" she barked, turning with a vigour that surprised even herself. Wonderful what such a situation would do for an old body.

The enemy cruiser opened fire, but the Star Destroyer was already manoeuvring. The first of the civilian ships, the Twilight Suns, a passenger liner that had toured the Ascendancy before the attack and now crammed with roughly one thousand nine hundred people, jumped away, followed closely by its sister ship, the Setting Moons, taking with them two of the fighter squadrons that were getting some rest. Other civilian ships began flashing away as turbolaser blasts flashed out from the Destroyer and several skips went up in flames and the four Clawcraft in Flight One started vaping some of the enemy craft.

"Thirteen, nine, six, four..." Doshi counted, counting down the number of ships that were left still to jump.

Ar'alani looked stonily out of the viewport as the Vong cruiser fired a thermonuke at them. They didn't have much time.

"Admiral, the Astral Empress is away!" Doshi called, and she nodded.

The Astral Empress was always the last ship to jump as it was a refinery ship, filled with valuable fuel and weapons for the remaining fighting forces. As such, it would always have a defence of some kind.

"Excellent. Get us out of here!" she yelled, and the Star Destroyer shot to lightspeed, flanked by Flight One, a few seconds later, just missing the nuke by an exhaust trail.

XX

As soon as they were out of lightspeed, the clock began again. Ar'alani met with Fel, Wreth and Shawnkyr, who was incredibly tired, barely able to open her eyes beyond slits, to discuss how they were being tracked.

"Maybe we have a Vong in an ooglith masque, giving away our transmissions." She suggested half heartedly.

"Doubtful. The Vong aren't necessarily known for their 'everyone comes home' policy." Fel commented.

He was right. Even if they did have an agent in the fleet, giving away their location would be signing their own death sentence.

"Maybe they're just getting ridiculously lucky." She suggested next, but Wreth, an old school captain, shook his head.

"No one, not even a Jedi, is that lucky." He disagreed.

Ar'alani pondered. Yes, a Jedi would be handy right now. So would the entire Alliance now she came to think of it.

"No. I cant help but feel its something simple that we're not seeing." Ar'alani growled irritably as she sipped her tea.

For two of their precious remaining twelve minutes, they sat in silence before the door chime went.

"Enter!" Ar'alani called.

Shawnkyr had also given up use of the commander's quarters, giving Ar'alani access to the room while she moved to the flight commanders quarters several decks down. As such, everything Ar'alani had taken with her on her trip, which she had intended to leave from and head to her new home on Sarvchi, was packed in here, books, clothes, medication and a few other small comforts, such as her foot spa. Praise the Force for small miracles.

Doshi then entered, looking very nervous in front of so many of his superiors.

"May I interrupt Admiral?" he asked uncertainly.

Ar'alani waved her hand, inviting the young lad to talk.

"What is it Ensign? Come on, we need to have a think about how the devil the enemy keep tracking us." Wreth scolded when he was quiet a bit too long.

"Well, that's what it's about sir. I think I know how the Vong have been tracking us." He said nervously, and Ar'alani sat up a little straighter.

"You do? Enlighten us please." She said. She knew he was probably just guessing but if he truly did, so much the better.

"The grutchins." He concluded, and disappointment flared in her heart, and wondered whether she should punish him for wasting her time.

"The grutchins are gone Ensign." Wreth grumbled, looking as disappointed as she felt.

"Yes sir, and I think that's the problem. I think when we zapped them, they released some sort of chemical that the Vong have been tracking. After all, even all the civilian ships zapped a grutchin or two, so they have any number of ways to do it." He explained, and Ar'alani looked at the others.

The boy might be on to something.

"If there are radioactive markers on the ships..." Fel began.

"Any damn fool could track us even with their eyes closed!" Wreth finished indignantly.

"Good suggestion Ensign Doshi. Well done." Ar'alani said, giving him one of her rare smiles.

"Well how would we investigate it?" Shawnkyr asked, wondering which one of her pilots she would have to send out to check all the hulls in the fleet.

Doshi raised a hand, looking worried, and Ar'alani beckoned him to talk.

"Well if I may Admiral, I called in a favour to one of the hull beaters below decks, and he sent someone out to check to see if there's a radioactive marker floating around."

Ar'alani looked at him in surprise. Normally, that could very well get him into trouble. But she decided she would wait and see what the hull beater found before chewing Doshi out.

And sure enough, a minute later, the hull beater reported in.

"Admiral, the places where we zapped the grutchins are covered in a sticky sort of bloody goo. I've tested it, and its just as radioactive as some of the components they used to melt Csilla. This is how they've been tracking us mam." He reported, and she nodded.

"Thank you Chief Gyren. Return to your post. Good work." She said into the comm and gave Doshi another smile as she rose to her feet.

"Ensign Doshi, you just saved this fleet with your theory. That is how the Vong have been tracking us. As a result, I now promote you to the rank of Lieutenant." She said, and saluted him.

Doshi looked surprised, but quickly saluted as the group headed towards the bridge.

"So how do we get rid of it? Drop into Csilla's atmosphere and hope the rain they've created will wash it off?" Wreth asked wryly.

"If I may sir, I thought we could use one of the nebulas. We hide there, the radiation will mix in with whatever else there is and it will be redundant." Doshi said, and Ar'alani smiled.

"Excellent suggestion Lieutenant," she said as she entered the bridge, "prepare the fleet for a hyperspace jump to the Utegetu nebula!" she barked.

A few minutes later, the fleet jumped to the safety of the nebula, leaving the Vong cruiser far behind.

XX

Ten hours later, the radiation had been changed so much by that in the nebula as to become harmless. As such, one by one, each civilian ship would leave the nebula and some very brave volunteers would clean off the mark just in case, and the resultant radiation from the nebula would come off in hyperspace. It was long, slow work, but two days later it was done, and there hadn't been any Vong attacks. The fleet was rested, and were now over the initial shock of Csilla's destruction.

And now Ar'alani had a choice to make. Did she take the fleet to the Redoubt, or go through with her original plan?

Her question was answered for her.

"Admiral, we're picking up a signal!" Doshi called, and she rolled her eyes.

Their rest was over apparently.

"Get everyone ready to jump to lightspeed." She ordered calmly.

"No Admiral, the signal is an Ascendancy code!" Doshi said.

Ar'alani looked at him in shock, then looked out of the viewport. And, from behind a stellar cloud, came a group of seven ships, six of them civilian. But it was the ship in the centre that made the smile on her face grow.

A concave shape, with two long rods connecting the convex to a command tower, it was an Isolator class carrier, capable of carrying six fighter squadrons of fighters, and relatively well armed for a ship of its size.

And as the comm crackled, she closed her eyes in relief.

"This is the Olympian and its civilian fleet, hailing the Star Destroyer Fell Defender. Permission to join the fleet Commander?" the captain asked over the comm.

Ar'alani ambled down into the crew pit and bent over Doshi's station.

"This is Admiral Ar'alani. Welcome back to the Ascendancy Fleet Olympian." She said with a large smile, and as she did so, cheering erupted from both the comm and from the crew.

XX

The Supremacy class Battle Cruiser, the mighty flagship of the Chiss fleet, gave one final firing of its guns before the thermonuke blasted through its bridge viewport, and with the stern of the ship aflame, the ship plummeted into Csilla's atmosphere, headed for the choppy waters that Vongerella's fleet had created.

She smiled as she watched the Ascendant Rising plummet downwards and felt triumph roar through her body. The entire Chiss Ascendancy had been caught totally off guard by her forces' attack. Destroying Csilla had been a master stroke, as it had enabled them to take out the Five Families, the Cabinet and the Senate in one swift strike. Also on the list of destroyed worlds where places that had something to do with the military, military training centres and bases being a prime target. She also had ships surrounding the major shipyards at Bretus Ortai, and other words, colony worlds such as Chaf had been invaded and the populace rounded up into camps.

All in all it was a very successful attack. The Supreme Commander of the Chiss Fleet had rallied the remainder of the Chiss fleet to him at Klasse Ephemora and had then brought the thirty odd Star Destroyers he had assembled, complete with the entire backing of numerous support ships and hundreds of fighter squadrons, here to Csilla.

Where Vongerella's fleet had closed the last of the trap. Allowing them to approach the worldship, coralskippers loaded with the same weapons they had used to destroy Csilla had then flew out from the burnt out hulks of the ruined Csilla fleet and had slammed into the Star Destroyers left, right and centre, destroying the vast majority of the enemy firepower. Her fleet had then opened up on the rest of the fleet, with the worldship and her own flagship battling their mightiest cruiser, and now, that too had fallen and the last of the Chiss military backbone had been defeated.

But now that the Chiss had gotten over the initial surprise of the attack, they could present a greater threat. Their Supreme Commander hadn't waited for reinforcements from the Redoubt, where she knew there was a fleet that could far outnumber her own. Military survivors from the attack, along with fleeing civilian refugees would now head there and hole up until they were ready to strike at her. And while she had taken out their long range communications, she didn't have an effective way to police the spaceways if anyone decided to actually run to the Empire or Alliance for help, which she wasn't ready for them to do yet, not by a long shot.

There was also the fact that while her forces were well trained, there weren't enough troops to police all the worlds she had landed troops on, no matter how small the populations of some of the colonies were.

But turning to the viewport, she saw the way to get around that problem, and effectively police the spacelanes, along with keeping the Chiss occupied while she made her next move.

Outside was the Vagaari fleet. Hundreds of ships, at least half of which were their squashed insect looking Star Destroyers, which were flanked by their claw like frigates and their stream of bubble like Interdictors, it was the entire Vagaari race that had responded to the summons she had sent out.

But in the centre of the fleet was their gargantuan flagship, which for all intents and purposes was also their homeworld. A central spire, it was reminiscent of a Hapan Battle Dragon, but rather than circles mounting the central column they were lethal, five pointed stars at each end, each bristling with hangars and weapons. While not the same size as the Death Star, it was just as large as the worldship, if not slightly taller in its size. Vongerella could feel the hundreds of thousands of Vagaari on the ship, skulking through the Force, the women and children in the centre of the main column and the vicious military soldiers in the outskirts and at the top, where she could feel the Miskara ruled from.

"Domina, the Vagaari homeship is hailing us."

Vongerella turned to the comm station Lumiya had given her, and the whitish face, with two fleshy folds wrapped around a split skull, and small beads of metal sticking from his head, appeared, the face of the Miskara.

"Greetings to the Miskara of the Vagaari. I am Vongerella of the True Yuuzhan Vong." She said, inclining her head respectfully.

The Miskara surveyed her, then titled his head in a gesture of respect.

"And greetings to you Vongerella. What you and your forces have accomplished is beyond words. While the Chiss military still exists, you have broken the spine of the Ascendancy. You are to be congratulated." He said in a gravelly voice and she smiled slightly.

"Thank you Miskara. I asked you here to propose a pairing." She said, cutting right to it.

The Miskara growled, his proud eyes glaring at her.

"The Vagaari work with none." He hissed contemptuously.

Vongerella suppressed the urge to roll her eyes.

"I think it might be in your best interests to break that little rule just this once. The Ascendancy has never been so weak. The political infrastructure has been all but shattered, their military bases and capital have been bombed out of existence, their economy will soon collapse as a result, much of their people are in camps and their military has been caught with their trousers down and only need to be picked off. My forces have done what yours could not do in several millennia." She sneered, and his eyes widened in anger.

"Have a care woman, or have you not noticed that I could obliterate your fleet is the mood so struck me?" he growled, and Vongerella longed to fire some poison at him from her fake eye.

"Please Miskara. Let us be frank. This is a golden opportunity. The Chiss have never been so weak. If we act now, we can destroy the Chiss Ascendancy once and for all. All I would require from you is a little assistance. Imagine, the Vong and the Vagaari, two natural allies, working together so we can control the future." She purred, and she could see she had his interest.

"What would you require of the Vagaari?" he asked curiously.

"My forces are too small. That is my main problem. What I would need is assistance in policing the worlds that I have conquered. Already, some of them are making a nuisance of themselves. With your forces there, things would be a lot easier. You can also help me down the disparate parts of the Chiss fleet and drive them to destruction. In return, you see your age old enemies defeated at last, and have full access to the Redoubt and any Ascendancy worlds you choose." She said.

The Miskara shook his head.

"Not good enough. We also want their military technology, just in case the venture fails. We want to be able to catch them unawares as you did. Ships, designs, all belong to us. Along with taking half the Ascendancy for our own, taking their wealth. Do we have an agreement?"

Vongerella had to suppress a smile. He could have the entire Ascendancy if he wanted. The only reason she needed him was to keep the Chiss under control while she continued with her plan. And when the plan came to fruition, they could do what they want with the Ascendancy. She had bigger, far more reaching plans. And as for taking the Chiss wealth and military technology, what use did she have for that? They were welcome to it.

"Very well Miskara. We have a deal." She said, her fake eye widening.

"I look forward to our profitable relationship. Send over someone and we shall coordinate our forces." He said, and the holo flickered out.

Vongerella smiled. Soon now, her vision for a galaxy ruled by the Sith and the Vong would come to fruition. While the Miskara and his legions worked with the majority of her fleet and kept the Chiss bottled up here where they belonged, she had another job to do.

"Go over and liaise with the Vagaari captain. Deal with them any way you wish but make sure they do what I need them to do. Keep the Chiss here and keep them from communicating with the rest of the galaxy." She ordered, and he bowed deeply, departing the bridge for a yorik-trema.

She then turned to her flight controllers.

"Prepare the ship, and set your course for the Lwhekk star system. We have another alliance to forge." She said, and the Dark Emissary split away from the rest of her fleet and the masses of Vagaari ships, and leapt to lightspeed.

XX

Malastare's atmosphere was that of a carnival. People of all shapes and sizes were out in the streets and celebrating the decision. With the decision of the Ryloth Ruling Council to abolish slavery, the highly politically contentious matter that had been plaguing the Malastare election campaign for weeks was the situation of the Dugs, who the Grans, an immigrated species, had subjugated upon their arrival on the world millennia ago. However, with the President campaigning for re-election, he had brought up this contentious issue in his final days in office, and it seemed to have captured the imagination of the people so much so that if the President won it, he would nearly certainly get re-elected.

And now, the issue had been resolved, with the people voting in favour of abolishing the Gran ownership of the Dugs. The Dugs had achieved their liberation, and with that the slavery problem was burst wide open. Ryloth had sparked a fire, leading to a flash point at Orvax which now threatened to turn the entire issue into a massive full fledged campaign across the galaxy. And now, Malastare was also free of the taint of slavery, giving even more fuel into the anti-slavery fire that was beginning to burn across the galaxy.

Madhi watched as the Dugs swung freely from buildings and celebrated with songs, fireworks and dancing breaking out everywhere. While there were some Gran who looked dispirited about the freeing of their best source of comfort (as it was up to Dug slaves to keep the home running while they worked), most of the others looked happy to see the long enslaved Dugs granted their freedom. The entire world was in an uproar, and the President was receiving accolades from across the galaxy, including from Chief Ak'la, who congratulated him on his bravery at openly confronting this issue.

"This is Madhi Vaandt for the Perre Needmo Newshour. The scenes you are seeing are the result of a population freed. As part of a highly contested campaign for the Presidency, the current President, Klos Teem, brought the question of Dug slavery to the forefront even before the momentous decision was reached on Ryloth to free the slaves. Now, as a result of that, the Dugs have now been granted their freedom from the Gran Protectorate. While part of an overall political scheme, the President has stated that it is his personal belief that the Dugs should have been freed long before now. Ladies and gentlemen, this could very well be the beginning of the end for slavery. People are finally beginning to stand up and admit it is wrong, and more and more enslaved and enslaving species are responding to this call. The freeing of the slaves on Ryloth was just the first step everyone. Now, slavery is being contended with across the entire galaxy, and people are coming together in a united front against it. Once again, these are the wonderful scenes from Malastare, where the Dugs are celebrating their liberation from the Gran Protectorate. This is Madhi Vaandt, and now back to Perre at the studio."

She smiled broadly as she ended her report. Slavery was now being contended with across the galaxy, and as a result, Ackmena was having the entire group do as much as they could to aid in the campaign. It felt good, the result of millennia of hard work of opposing slavery, and it was now finally coming to an end...provided Orvax didn't put paid to the entire thing. If Orvax fell back to the T'Surr government who had previously owned it, then the entire movement could be derailed, and very few people were expecting the slaves to hold out. However, if a miracle happened...

"What do we do now?" Shota asked curiously, and Madhi frowned. While the anti-slavery question had been blown wide open, there was the problem of Orvax, and there was no point in them going to another world if the entire movement lost momentum. But, if they went to Orvax and nothing happened, they would look like fools, not to mention potentially be in danger from that monster Nazarn.

"Get me a link to Ackmena. Perre's giving us free reign on covering the story, and besides we need to tell her the good news about Malastare. Maybe she can figure out where we should go after this." She said, pondering as the Dugs celebrated around her.

XX

A grey orb in space, Orvax was once the slavery capital of the Outer Rim aside from Tatooine. Anyone or anything you wanted could be gotten here, and despite the problems that started not long after the rise of the Empire, it had quickly become a major profit centre for the Empire. Ruled by the massive, hulking and ferocious T'Surr species, slaves going through Orvax had little hope. With the New Republic and Galactic Alliance unable to harm Orvax due to the Hutts monopolising the slave trade there following the collapse of the Empire, the poor slaves had waited decades for something to happen that could free them. With the liberation of the slaves on Ryloth, a group of slaves had banded together and had assaulted their T'Surr masters, catching them totally by surprise. Armed with the T'Surr's weapons, they had spread, taking down more of their captors by use of surprise, and the slave rebellion had spread, with more and more slaves taking up arms, and by the time the news actually broke, the slaves were breaking down the doors into the Magister's compound. Fearing for his life, despite the fact that his security forces could probably have crushed the insurrection, the Magister had fled with his support, and seeing that their boss had fled, other T'Surr had abandoned the world and the other slavers to their own devices and had fled off world.

The government on the T'Surr homeworld however had been furious, and had recalled their most vicious slaver, Nazarn, so that he could lead an assault to retake the world.

And that was the reason that the Alderaan's Memory, a Mediator cruiser belonging to the Alliance Fleet, was hanging in orbit. Of Mon Calamari design, the eight and a half kilometre ship was here responding to a request by the new slave government to join the Alliance. At least that was the official reason anyway. The real reason was to be on hand for when the T'Surr strike force arrived.

In the bubble like bridge that was set into the rest of the long fluid like cruiser, Admiral Gavin Darklighter stared down at Orvax wistfully. Two years ago, his wife Serra and his biological children had been killed in the worst speeder accident Coruscant had ever seen. While he had tried hard to move on with his life, with the aid of people like Wedge, Wes, Hobbie, Tycho and Corran, this time of year always brought out the worst in him, and seemed to set him back a considerable amount. No wonder Admiral Niathal had wanted him away from Coruscant, to try and take his mind off things, like the reminder of Serra and the kid's deaths. The pain of their deaths still hurt, especially now.

"Admiral Darklighter, are you alright?" a kind voice asked from behind him and he turned to see Jedi Master Tresina Lobi coming towards him.

One of the twelve members of the Jedi Council, she had come along to help negotiate Orvax's entry into the Alliance due to her close ties to the slavery question. Being a Chev she had been repressed by the Chevin for years before she had joined the Jedi, and as such was a strong advocate for freeing the galaxy from the yoke of slavery.

Little did Gavin know that she also had links with Freedom Flight. During a mission to the Outer Rim a couple of years before, she had encountered a Bothan smuggler, who was smuggling slaves away from Tatooine. When the time had come, she had aided him in his escape, and he had reported this to Ackmena, who had been more than happy to invite Tresina to join the group. Ever since then, Tresina had helped them out whenever she could, with intelligence, donations and other aspects that she could use to help to try and fix the problem of slavery. Tresina also suspected that there was at least one other Jedi who was aiding in these matters, as the group had come by information that they shouldn't have been able to get except through a Jedi, and she certainly hadn't told them, so she was curious to know who the other one was.

Gavin gave her a wan smile.

"Yes Master Lobi, I'm fine. It's just this time of year that gets to me, remembering..." he said, and she gave him an understanding smile and clapped him on the shoulder.

"You are strong Admiral. It is natural to grieve." She said sympathetically and he nodded.

Tresina looked at the man. Though smaller than her due to her Chev nature, he was still tall, having been lanky in his youth. His hair had gone back to the brown it had used to be and was now flecked with grey, and he had shaved off his beard. His face was careworn and just looked downright tired for a man just entering middle age.

"Thank you Master Lobi. How are the negotiations going?" he asked, trying to take his mind off the death of his wife and children.

Tresina pursed her lips worriedly.

"They are going well, however as of the moment they lack little to contribute to the Alliance. Most of their income came through the export of slaves, and as it is now the slaves that are in charge, hence they can't make money through that anymore. However, they are insistent on wanting to join the Alliance."

Gavin pondered this. While not quite as used to the diplomatic niceties as say Wedge or Tycho, he knew that the Senate would raise many a questioning eyebrow if they allowed Orvax to join the Alliance primarily for protection. Usually, members contributed something other than just a boost to the anti-slavery campaign, and if the T'Surr government was insistent on getting Orvax back, then they would need to keep at least three capital ships tied up here for a very long time in a sector that had very little importance other than holding one of the main economic capitals of the Hutts, Tatooine. As such, it could cause all sorts of trouble if they allowed it entry just to boost the anti-slavery campaign...and it also risked aggravating their Hutt neighbours.

"Meaning they only want to join it for protection." He reasoned and she shrugged.

"That, and to help set up their new government. They are still slaves. They need help, none of them know what they are doing, the man I've been meeting, a Klatoonian who seems to have captured the hearts of the people, he's a well meaning soul but he isn't a true leader, he doesn't know what he's doing." She explained, looking down with a pensive expression at the planet below their graceful cruiser.

"Can he learn what he's doing?" Gavin asked, stroking his chin, and she nodded.

"Yes, but that's the catch...he needs the help of the Alliance, which the Senate will be resistant to giving him due to Orvax having little worth and any anti-freedom worlds will vote against it anyway. So, it's a roundabout situation." She explained sadly.

Gavin shared her sympathies. He too felt slavery was wrong, but something such as this, which was totally upsetting the status quo was a big ask. And while it would be nice for slavery to be eradicated, most of the galaxy seemed to recognise that they needed to keep Orvax free to keep up the momentum. But if they could, well events could spiral far out of control, and do so very quickly. There were already reports of protests on Tatooine as the slaves there protested for their freedom, and they were still relatively peaceful...but no matter what happened on Orvax that wouldn't last.

"The entire thing's going mad. Malastare has given the Dugs their freedom too, so at least some good will happen regardless." Gavin said, but Tresina seemed to be miles away, her eyes closed as she saw something he couldn't.

"Orvax has become the shatterpoint for the entire thing, all is linked to this planet..." she said softly, and Gavin exchanged a look with his Gossam captain and shrugged. Who could fathom Jedi?

"Admiral, an AA-9 Freighter is leaving hyperspace." A Brubb crewman reported.

Gavin turned to the viewscreen, and shared a concerned look with Tresina.

"Why is there a freighter coming into Orvax? Most of the galaxy's slavers have heard the T'Surr have scarpered, and like you said, they don't have anything else to export." Gavin said, his eyes narrowed as the saw the prism like ship edge slowly into view.

Tresina stretched out with her feelings, getting a sense of those on board. All she felt was fear, terror and rising panic.

"Something is wrong Admiral."

Gavin frowned and nodded to his flight officer, who signalled the ready flight of fighters to get going.

XX

"All right Nemesis Squadron, let's see what this is all about." Captain Syal Antilles ordered, as her flight of four K-Wings left the sterile white colour of the hangar to enter deep space.

The daughter of Wedge Antilles and Iella Wessiri, she had risen quickly through the ranks of Starfighter Command, proving just as proficient in a cockpit as her father was. However, unlike her father, who had favoured the X-Wing all his life, she favoured the K-Wing. While heavier and bulkier than the X-Wing, it packed more of a punch and was harder to control, but Syal had quickly become a master at it, and three years later she had been given command of her own squadron, Nemesis Squadron, a squadron that moved through top spots in the fleet, and usually found itself on the Ocean, Admiral Niathal's flagship. Today however, her squadron had been moved to the Alderaan's Memory to oversee the protection of the new slave government on Orvax.

Syal looked in concern at roughly where the bridge was. She was concerned about her uncle. Losing his wife and kids two years before had hit him hard, Niathal had probably given him this mission to keep his mind off things. Her four fighters twirled past the viewport of the cruiser, then headed towards the transport, which was getting too close to the cruiser's sphere of influence. Long and cyndrical like the Home One had originally been, though marked with the wings of the Liberty and the tail fin of the Mon Remonda, it was one of the more beautiful and powerful ships in the fleet. And the transport was edging far too close to it for Syal's liking.

"This is Captain Syal Antilles of Nemesis Squadron. Transport, adjust your heading away from the flagship." She said in an authoritative voice.

Her comm crackled, and she heard a very frightened voice at the other end, which unless she missed her guess, belonged to a child.

"We can't!" the little girl wailed.

Syal's gut went cold, and she had a horrible feeling spreading through her stomach. Zueb Zan, her Sullustan gunner, made a worried noise in his throat.

"Are you a slave?" she asked cautiously, praying that what she felt was happening wasn't.

"Y-yes we all are, but they locked all us kids in here..." the little girl said, and fear gripped Syal's stomach.

"Who did? The T'Surr?" she asked sharply.

"Yes..." the little girl answered, sounding terrified.

Zueb got busy with the scanner, and he groaned.

"Syal, there's two and a half thousand people on board that ship." He reported.

"Listen, we need you to tell us exactly what happened." Syal said, and she could see shuttles leaving the cruiser to go and help out.

"I don't know, they just started rounding us all up and sticking us on the ship, they said we were going to reclaim something...the T'Surr were scary, scarier than usual..." she said, and Syal could hear the tears in her voice.

"Where are your parents?" Syal asked urgently, and the little girl sniffed.

"They locked them down in the main hold, its only the kids up here in the top level, they didn't want us playing with the controls they said..."

Syal clicked comm channels.

"Admiral Darklighter, what do we do?" she asked worriedly.

Gavin's kindly voice cut across the system wide channel.

"Don't worry, we're going to fix this. We'll fix you with a tractor beam and we have people coming over to free you as we speak." He said kindly.

"Admiral Darklighter, a Star Viper has just entered the system." Zueb reported, looking up from his scanners.

Tresina Lobi's voice then cut across the entire comm system, sounding alarmed and disgusted at the same time.

"Captain Antilles, pull up!"

Syal reacted immediately, and pulled her flight of K-Wings away from the transports, as did the shuttles. And a second later, the slave ship exploded, the fire travelling up the tractor beam ray and scorching the side of the hull of the Memory.

XX

The blast rocked the ship, making Gavin stagger and hang onto the display stand in order to keep his feet. Outside, his forces had survived intact, but there was now fiery wreckage where the transport had held innocent slaves only seconds before.

"I was at Sluis Van, it was that all over again." He mumbled angrily, then turned to his flight commander.

"Get our other fighters in the air now, and tell Nemesis Leader to hunt down that Star Viper now! Communications, get me Admiral Niathal!" he barked, and the entire bridge scurried to do his bidding, while Gavin looked at the damage report that had displayed on the viewscreen.

The blast had burnt the tractor beam emplacement beyond all recognition, and had also taken out one of their turbolasers, but aside from that and a little damage to the shields, the ship was generall alright. Not that that made up for the deaths of those poor defenceless slaves.

Admiral Niathal's holo shimmered to life, looking grim.

"Admiral Darklighter, status report." She said, though the look on her face suggested that she knew it wasn't good news.

"The T'Surr just sent a rigged transport to try and blow up the ship. None of our side was hurt, but we were damaged slightly, and it killed two and half thousand slaves who were on board."

Niathal closed her eyes in disgust, then nodded.

"Very well. Engage the enemy." She ordered, and shimmered out.

"It doesn't make sense though, to kill so many potentially useful slaves." Tresina said, her voice sounding choked up.

"It does if they wanted to send a message." Gavin growled, as the rest of Nemesis Squadron, along with his other three squadrons, an E-Wing, an Eta 5 and an X-Wing, shot out f the hangar, while Syal's flight chased down the Star Viper that had detonated the transport.

"Admiral Darklighter, ships approaching from hyperspace!" the sensor officer cried.

"Pull Nemesis One back, and prepare to engage anything that drops out of hyperspace." Gavin ordered and the cruiser went to battle ready status, pulling away from Orvax's gravity well to meet the incoming threat.

Dozens of ships then erupted from hyperspace, and at the centre of the formation was the aged but still incredibly lethal boxy winged form of an Aggressor class Star Destroyer.

"Not seen one of them since the days before we took Coruscant..." Gavin muttered, then looked at the readouts.

The Destroyer was the Unyielding, the flagship of the brutal slaver Nazarn. Flanking his flagship were two old Gladiator class Star Destroyers, and the rest of the fleet was made up of frigates or smaller, with around five Imperial II frigates, twice that many Victory II frigates, four old Dreadnaughts, three Nebulon B2 frigates and five Assassin Corvettes.

"Looks like the T'Surr want to take Orvax back pretty bad. Signal the task force and prepare to engage. And get me a link to their flagship." He snapped, and the crew hustled to carry out his orders.

The bridge holo shimmered to life, revealing the blue form of Nazarn. A T'Surr, he had a ferocious looking face with three glowing red eyes and a scar running down the bottom right one which had gone yellow, and incredibly sharp and dangerous looking teeth, his head dipped in the middle and he had a beard that looked as if it was adorned with human hair.

"This is Admiral Gavin Darklighter of the Galactic Alliance. You have committed an act that could be construed as an attack against this vessel and are entering prospective Alliance space. Turn back and you will not be fired upon."

Nazarn then began to laugh, a cruel guttural laugh that sent chills up Gavin and Tresina's spine.

"I take it that means you got my gift then boy?" he snarled in his growling voice.

Tresina narrowed her eyes in dislike while Gavin stuck out his chin defiantly.

"You murdered all of them. It was no gift." He sneered and the slaver smiled, displaying his fangs.

"That was a demonstration...of what will happen to those of you who want to interfere with our world. Orvax is ours...Orvax is mine." He snarled, his hand forming a fist.

"Not anymore it isn't, it belongs to the slaves." Tresina countered and his eyes turned on her, having the desired effect of spooking her.

"Not for much longer. Attack!" he roared, and a massive spiralling shot, made up of ion and plasma, slammed into the prow of the Memory, making the entire ship rock.

"All fighters, engage! How long till the rest of the taskforce arrives?"

"Ten minutes Admiral, but we can't take more than three shots from that thing without losing all of our shields!" his sensor office cried.

Gavin narrowed his eyes.

"Bring us to port and open fire, maximum firepower!"

XX

Space erupted into a warzone as soon as the Unyielding fired its ion/plasma shot. As it did so, Star Vipers, Vaksai fighters and Skiprays zoomed from the hangars of Nazarn's fleet, with all of them headed right for the Memory's four fighter squadrons.

"This is Bronzium Leader. Bronzium, Slasher squadrons, tackle those fighters head on. Nemesis, form up with Twirler squadron and start hitting those Skiprays with everything you have!"

Syal acknowledged as the Memory turned to port and filled the space between their flagship and the slaver fleet with deadly turbolaser blasts as the slaver fleet began to close. The fighters sped towards the Alliance ships and the X-Wings and E-Wings met them, equal to the challenge and explosions erupted in the centre of space as the two fighter forces clashed. Nemesis Squadron, backed up by their Eta 5s, hurtled forward, the gunners firing at any enemy vessel that came into their sights, while their pilots lit up enemy Skiprays with missiles, while the Etas took down the Star Vipers. The majestic Mon Calamari cruiser angled itself and began firing away, with its shots chipping away at the forward shields of the attacking Nebulons and corvettes. The heavy guns of the slaver fleet were hanging back, with only the Unyielding firing its spiralling shots towards the cruiser, which had to bank continually to avoid its shots. The cruiser then thrusted its engines, getting closer to the bulk of the enemy fleet, with its ion cannons slamming into one of the corvettes and taking it out of commission, while enemy turbolaser shots rippled up and down their shield sphere.

While that happened, Syal span her fighters, her lasers slashing apart two oncoming Star Vipers while Zueb blasted apart a Skipray that was on their six. Fires blossomed against their shields as a Star Viper span at them, lasers trying to punch through their fighter, buy Syal was up to the challenge, corkscrewing away from the attack and reversing her thrusters, putting her behind their attacked where she finished him with a quick blast. Rolling her shop to blast apart one of the Vaksai's she saw that the Memory was in trouble, with the frigates surrounding her and firing on her from all directions. While an incredibly capable warship, it couldn't fend off all those attackers at once, not with the Unyielding's main cannon diminishing their shields bit by bit while causing damage at the same time.

"Nemesis Squadron, form up on me, or we're going to have a long walk home." She said and her squadron, which she was pleased to see she hadn't lost anyone in, formed up on her and gunning the engines the group lanced towards the ships surrounding the capital ship.

XX

"Admiral, the frigates are surrounding us, and those three Destroyers are getting closer." Tresina said worriedly.

Gavin however wasn't paying attention. He had noticed that Nemesis Squadron were shooting away from the fighter engagement and were bearing down on one of the Victory frigates.

"Nemesis Leader, what are you doing?" he hissed into the comm.

His response was a barrage of missiles that slammed into the stern of the ship, making massive mushrooms of flame blossom up and down the rear of the vessel. A second later there was a secondary explosion as the engine block exploded, taking out the ships wings and engulfing the command section in flame as it started to plummet.

"Nemesis Lead, are you insane?" Gavin raged as the fighters broke off and twirled around to meet the Vaksai fighters that were following them.

"Just protecting our mother ship Admiral."Syal answered, and Gavin seethed.

While effective, and while the K-Wings were relatively good at hitting capital ships, she had taken an awful risk, and he didn't particularly fancy going to Wedge and telling him his daughter had been killed. However, he had to admit, her action was quite useful, as with a gap in the enemy ships surrounding them the Memory moved towards the gap, its turbolasers blowing holes in the Nebulon and the Imperial frigate that were chewing away at the sides of their ship. Delivering a massive broadside, the Nebulon broke apart, its bridge section cleaved in two, while the Imperial frigate began to drift, much of its command section opened to space.

"Admiral, the rest of the fleet has arrived!"

Gavin smiled as the rest of the task force arrived. At the centre of the fleet was the fork shaped Liberator Cruiser, an old but powerful ship from the days of the Galactic Civil War. Flanking it were the two Mon Calamari sister ships, the Mon Ferroa and the Mon Karren. Two Nebulons made up the edge of the fleet, and along with them was the Thranta class cruiser that the Rogues had used during the Bacta War, the Valiant, commanded by Aril Nunb, and the Ssi-Ruuk cruiser that had been captured during the initial Bakura campaign, the Sibwarra. Along with that were two GR75 transports, four Corellian corvettes and four DP20 gunships.

As the reinforcements set loose their own fighter squadrons, the fighter battle became largely reduced, as many of the fighters pulled away to meet the newcomers. The corvettes and gunships boosted their engines, taking them into the centre of the fray, with the gunships beginning to aid the fighters in weeding out the numbers of Star Vipers and the corvettes engaging their Assassin counterparts.

The Lion Heart, the Liberator, formed up with the Memory, and the two of them started heading towards the centre of the enemy formation, splitting the Unyielding's fire between the two vessels. The two other Mon Cals then opened up on the Gladiators, forcing the smaller ships into a fighting retreat. B-Wing and Y-Wing squadrons sped into the fray, with a barrage of missiles shattering another Nebulon B2, while the friendly ones engaged the last. The Sibwarra got in close to the Imperial frigates, backed up by fighters and the Valiant, both of them rolling this way and that to maximise their field of fire.

As dozens of fighters started to overwhelm the T'Surr forces, the Aggressor flagship slowly began to edge back, turning away from the two oncoming cruisers, and its Gladiator escorts also pulled away from their engagements with the Mon Cal cruisers, delivering turbolaser shots as they started to edge away from the planet. Fighters suddenly started to pull off from their engagements, scurrying back to their diminished home ships as the entire fleet started to pull out.

"Admiral Darklighter, they are beginning to pull back and power up their lightspeed!"

"Excellent. We have them on the run. Where's an Interdictor when we need one?" Tresina asked, her eyebrow raised as the T'Surr ships limped away from the engagement with their numerically superior foe.

"Admiral, we're being hailed by their flagship!"

Nazarn appeared before them, his grotesque face an expression of absolute fury.

"You may have won this engagement whelp, but Orvax belongs to us. We will never give it up, and we will be back. And when we meet again boy, I will rip your head from your shoulders." He roared, and then the screen turned to static as the fleet leapt away.

Gavin smiled. Orvax had been protected, and the slavery movement could continue. Not bad all in all.

"Admiral to fleet, congratulations. The enemy has fled."

The crew cheered as the fleet broke off from their now futile chase, and went into a protective half sphere over the planet.

XX

"A superior job Admiral. And considering the size of the T'Surr fleet, even the Senate can't judge us too much for our little bit of skulduggery." Niathal said happily.

Gavin and Tresina were in his cabin. After the politics of victory had been dealt with, Chief Ak'la had authorised Tresina to invite Orvax into the Galactic Alliance, and they had obviously accepted. Now, the Lion Heart would remain behind with the Larkhess and the Shaak Ti as guards for the Alliance's new acquisition. Meanwhile Gavin would return to Coruscant with the rest of the task force, and when he got there, perhaps recommend Syal for her bravery...and also drop her father a line about how reckless she had been.

"Thank you Admiral. What will we do about the T'Surr?" he asked curiously.

Tresina frowned in thought.

"If you ask me the only thing we could do is blockade their homeworld, but as they aren't part of the Alliance that could lead to its own set of complications. Other species may see it as an act of aggression and rally to them, perhaps blow it into a full scale conflict."

Niathal frowned in thought. Whatever their next move was, that would be Chief Ak'la's job to deal with, the military had done their part for the moment. But Tresina was right. While most civilised people within the galaxy did believe slavery should be eradicated, there were enough who would rally to the T'Surr if things got that contentious. Their only hope could be that a blockade of the T'Surr homeworld wouldn't blow everything out of proportion.

"We shall see. I shall see you both on your return to Coruscant. Safe journey." She said and flickered out.

Gavin sighed. The task force could jump any time it wanted, all it needed was his word. Signalling the bridge, the engines powered up and the task force leapt away.

"We saved the slavery question." Tresina said happily, and couldn't wait to see where the anti-slavery campaign took them next. But now that it had begun, she knew it would be hard to stop.

XX

"You failed us Nazarn!"

Nazarn bit back a furious retort. The government back on T'Surr, one member of which had actually abandoned Orvax in the first place, hadn't told him the Alliance would be there in force. While there had clearly been a bit of political manipulation going on behind the scenes in the Alliance, there always had been a chance that they would actually defend Orvax, especially since it was so important to the slave trade. And now news of his defeat was breaking out across the galaxy, and anti-slavery protests were getting more and more frequent, and many of them were getting a lot more vicious in their nature, as slaves began to kill their masters and vigilantes killed slave masters, while the masters put down other slaves with lethal force. The entire infrastructure of the T'Surr people was coming apart at the seams, and the government had the nerve to try and blame him for it!

"I did not know the Alliance would be there...and while I am on that fact I had a chance of bringing down that cruiser, it was the arrival of reinforcements that saved them from me. Next time...next time they will not be so lucky." He vowed.

The five members of the government who had hired him were glowering at him, four males and one female, all of them ferocious. If, as he had wanted to, they had let him take all of the fleet that they had then they could very well have still taken back Orvax. Now however the possibility of that happening looked incredibly remote.

"Our people do not appreciate when one of our most celebrated heroes fails in a simple mission! Already, ships are breaking off from orbit and striking out on their own, all due to your incompetence!" one leader snarled, and Nazarn favoured him with a sinister grin.

"Oh, they aren't striking out on their own." He said with a smile, and the female leader looked at him in concern.

"What do you mean?" she asked suspiciously, her four eyes narrowed in dislike.

While the males were the ones who left the planet, the females were the ones who stayed behind to keep the home and the family in one piece. They also traditionally disapproved of bringing the slaves home to T'Surr itself, because while they did enjoy the benefits reaped from the slave trade, but felt their world should be kept free of offworld chattel. They were also incredibly suspicious of traders who were incredibly good at what they do...such males tended to cause a lot of upsets to the status quo and undermine their authority in the home, and the authority of the ones in power who kept the trade from spiralling out of control.

"What I mean is that as soon as I left Orvax, I contacted the vast majority of your fleet. They are insulted by your cowardice and incompetence, and as such I summoned them to join me...and we will break the back of this slavery movement, and while we are at it, abandon you to your fate. Your failures led to this, and now me and my fellow slavers will remind the galaxy of what it is to defy the will of a true slaver!"

"You cannot do this, we will be defenceless against the Alliance!" one leader yelled, as the remaining ships in orbit were clearly breaking off to join their new master.

"Good. And besides, you only have yourselves to blame. Slavery used to be about just that, slavery, not about quotas or politics, and you lot have destroyed that, so now it is time to bring an end to the state's interference...and we will do that by abandoning the state." He snarled and slammed the holo off.

The time had come for such drastic measures. After all, slavery was never meant to be about pandering to the leadership, it was about how much of a reputation a being could make for themselves through their actions. But ever since the current leadership had taken over, it had been more about quotas, making a profit, and even being nice to slaves as it got more productivity out of them. And the fact that the council's incompetence had lost them Orvax itself had just kicked off a whole load of resentment to the government...resentment that Nazarn was now going to use in order to fix the T'Surr slave trade...and more importantly make himself the greatest slaver the galaxy had ever seen, and the ultimate ruler of T'Surr and any slave he encountered.

"Boss, the fleet is forming up around us!" his sensor officer cried, and he smiled as he watched more Gladiator Destroyers, more Nebulons and a load more Assassin corvettes fall into line with more Imperial frigates and Victory frigates.

"Good. Now find me a world, where we can get a load of chattel...its time to remind them all of what being a slaver is all about!" he roared in triumph and his crew roared in approval as he left the bridge, heading to his cabin.

His cabin was large but sparsely furnished, with only a cot for sleeping on and two chairs. The rest of the room was given over to his trophies. Heads of beasts that he had hunted adorned the walls, while cabinets displaying the bones, pelts and fingers of slaves took up the rest of the room. There were also two stuffed beings in the room, acting like statues, slaves that he had killed for daring to challenge him on his ship.

Yes, it was time for a new direction...one free from the restrictions of government.

XX

The Falcon was quiet as it travelled through subspace. When Han had asked what they were doing next, K'Kruhk had said he had to meditate on their next move and as such, Han had just set the ship to drift relatively aimlessly in the void until the elder Jedi figured out what their next move was. None of them particularly minded this much. Jacen and Ben were too busy trying to cheer Jaina up over her breakup with Jag to offer much resistance, while Luke and Mara were catching up on reports from Coruscant, and Han and Leia saw to the maintenance of the ship. K'Kruhk had went into deep meditation, while Lumiya was appointed to keep an eye on Alema who was currently having a very fluid conversation with herself, despite the late hour of the night. As she ranted and raved, the only other one awake was Lumiya, who had been far too interested in the reports she had been receiving to sleep. While Tavira had not made any more progress she was clearly up to no good of some form or other, due to the lack of communication between Valek and the fleet.

On top of that, her agents in the Ascendancy had gone silent. While the government had been relatively silent ever since the Killik Crisis, this was completely new, so what was going on there worried here immensely.

Also, there had apparently been rumours of a red ship shooting around the outskirts of the galaxy. Lumiya knew full well what that meant, and she knew Krayt well enough to know that it wasn't good that it was happening...or that he had been seen, the fool was courting exposure again.

But it was the slavery question that had interested her the most. While the various comings and goings of the slave trade had been approved or ignored by the Empire for years, this time she could actually see a way to make the matter relatively useful to her cause. A very famous slaver by the name of Nazarn, had just been defeated by Gavin Darklighter's task force. That in and of itself was interesting enough, but the fact that the same slaver was later seen heading away from T'Surr with a bigger fleet than he had left Orvax with was very interesting to her. And being an opportunist, and the still ambiguous nature of Krayt's forces, she needed all the help she could get.

Making sure the blasted astromech (who had ruined more than one good plan over the years) was powered down for the night, she accessed the comm and signalled the slaver flagship.

The ferocious face of Nazarn flicked to life in front of her, and she smiled slightly. Yes, he could be very useful.

"Greetings Nazarn. I am Lumiya, the Dark Lord of the Sith." She said, and his three glowing red eyes narrowed, making the effect more sinister in the relative darkness of the ship.

"A Sith? Heard you were all extinct." He said suspiciously, and Lumiya laughed.

"So the Jedi wish. You see, I am contacting you with a proposition." She said, and the slaver looked at her suspiciously.

"What would you be proposing to one such as I? I have no love for Jedi or Sith, and I can only assume you want my help for something or other." He growled, and Lumiya cursed inwardly. He was a bit too clever for her taste, but that could be worked around.

"What I am proposing is...a pairing. I know of your recent defeat at the hands of Gavin Darklighter and the Galactic Alliance. However, even with your considerable and not insignificant skills, I very much doubt you will be able to pay him back properly for your humiliation."

Nazarn snarled.

"That little whelp will one day pay, and my retreat has nothing to do with you, Sith." He spat, pointing his finger at her in distaste.

Lumiya arched an eyebrow then smiled.

"Listen to me Nazarn. There is a plan afoot. One that will see the end of the Galactic Alliance...and hence one that will enable you to get back at Darklighter." She said, and despite his impassive hideous face, she knew he had taken the hook, all she had to do now was reel him in.

"You are going to destroy the Alliance? In your dreams perhaps." Nazarn said mockingly, and Lumiya's eyes flashed.

"Mind your tongue, slaver. Believe me there is a scheme, and it will lead to the downfall of the Alliance. As such, a stronger better power will rise in its place...and they may not be objective to slavery." She said innocently, and she could see his greed rising.

"You promise much Sith, but you do so vaguely. I promised my fleet we would return to what we used to be, powerful slavers, and that does not include an alliance with you. And you're telling me what I would get, but I would need to wait, and what is more you don't tell me what I will get out of it." He snarled, and she had to admit, he did have a point.

"On the contrary, it can include an alliance with me, all you would have to do is use my base at Bimmiel as the centre for your operations and you could go and enslave anyone you wanted, provided you didn't draw any undue attention to yourself. And you wouldn't need to wait much longer, all the wheels are now turning, it will not be long now, not long at all. And as for what I get, well you see, I find myself outnumbered by my 'allies', and need to counter their inevitable betrayal. And what is more, I could find many a use for a being such as yourself." She said, but the stubborn T'Surr shook his head.

Resisting the urge to crush him like a bug with the Force, she instead focused on her anger and forced it down so she didn't wind up wrecking anything and alerting the others.

"Why should I serve you? What you have given me is empty promises and a wish for me to be your dogsbody. That isn't why my fleet joined me." He sneered.

Lumiya cursed inwardly at the more stubborn species of the more stubborn species. Males were stubborn enough without being T'Surr males on top of it.

"I know. But you promised them glory, and a return to the ways of old...the Trandoshans have lost their edge. Species across the galaxy are gaining their freedom. When my plan reaches completion, these various freed peoples...will need re-educated. I can just imagine one such as you doing that." She said, and this time she truly did have him.

"I would be in charge of all the slaves, able to do whatever I wanted?" he asked curiously.

"Yes Nazarn, all it requires is a little patience and faith..." she whispered, and he gave a slow nod.

"But until then, we can use your place as a base and still get slaves?"

Lumiya arced her eyebrow.

"Of course, provided you behave yourself along with it and do not draw attention to me." She said, and he gave her a nod.

"Fine Sith, but if you betray me, I will rip off your head and carbon flush down your throat." He snarled and the image went black.

Lumiya seethed. She had been successful but the blasted slaver was a little too unreliable...but provided he did as he was told she could put up with him for the time being. The fact that she didn't actually intend to allow him to rule the entire slave trade when this was all over was immaterial. After all...he was imminently expendable.

Deleting the record of her transmission, and hoping Solo didn't have some way to check it she headed aft, confident that her plan was going well and coding a small report to Wethen on her Emperor's Ear to alert him to Nazarn's arrival.

Just as she entered the lounge, she saw a bleary eyed, night trouser clad Ben, strolling through to the galley. However, he heard her coming and turned to face her, rubbed his eyes and yawned.

"What are you up to?" he asked suspiciously, ignoring the distant sound of Alema talking to herself.

Lumiya smiled, a lie already coming to her.

"Something was beeping and it was driving me crazy, so I switched it off so I might be able to sleep. What are you up to?" she retorted.

"I was going to get a drink...and unlike you I can move around the ship without anyone getting suspicious." He said, a typical teenage response, making Lumiya grin.

"Oh very well. Well, even mistrusted Sith need their sleep sometimes. Goodnight Ben." She said, walking past him.

Ben looked at the Sith curiously. She was clearly up to something down there, but he couldn't figure out what. But, then something was nagging at the back of his mind. She was a Sith Lord. K'Kruhk had said that the Emperor had hidden from the Jedi for years until he was finally able to reveal himself and destroy the Jedi Order. Lumiya had also hidden for years, as a way to avoid his father and any other Jedi finding her, and Ben didn't believe for a second that she had been found just because K'Kruhk had known where she was due to the other timeline. She wouldn't have revealed herself unless she stood to gain from it. But...how had she stayed hidden for so long?

"Lumiya?" he called curiously, and she turned to him expectantly.

"I was wondering...how do Sith stay hidden for so long? As in how do they stop the Jedi finding them?"

Lumiya looked at him curiously. Why did he want to learn to hide? From what she had heard of the boy growing up, he needed no lessons in how to hide within the Force, his parents had been endlessly exasperated by it because of the traumas of the Vong War. Or was this just natural curiosity?

Either way, it could be used to her advantage.

"Well there are generally three ways in which a Sith remains hidden. The first is to hide next to a miasma of dark side energy, much like Yoda did, to prevent Vader and the Emperor finding him. They cannot then be differentiated from the other dark side power present. The second way is to be extremely proficient in Force cloak, which allows them to hide in plain sight effectively, where they are so adept as masking their dark side presence that even if they were in the same room as the Grand Master of the Jedi, they would not be able to be sensed. That was how Darth Sidious remained hidden from a much numerically superior Jedi Order when he was becoming Emperor. And lastly, they remove themselves from the mainstream galaxy, like sit on unimportant worlds or barren worlds, far removed from everything so the Jedi do not bother going looking for them."

Ben looked at her curiously.

"Is that what you did?"

"I sort of did a bit of both. I hid in the home of an old Sith Lord, Darth Vectivus, cloaking my presence, and I also used a form of Force cloak to hide myself from view, so that even if your father decided he wanted to go looking for me he wouldn't be able to find me, and the Home's location is far enough removed that he shouldn't be able to sense me unless he was in that general area anyway."

Ben thought about this then looked at her again.

"So you can basically hide in plain sight?" he asked, and to prove she could, she did so, rendering herself nearly invisible, with only a faint outline able to be seen and that was only because Ben was already looking at her.

"Cool. Could-could you teach that?" he asked, figuring that it would be rather handy for some missions if he could disappear.

Lumiya returned to normal and looked at him sceptically.

"Has Jacen not taught you Force cloak?" she asked curiously, sowing a seed in Ben's mind.

"No, he's taught me Force flash but that's about it." He said, wanting to defend his cousin, but Lumiya pressed on.

"Very well then, sit with me." She said and the two headed over to the sofa.

"Clear your mind and feel the particles of light around you. Feel only yourself as if you and light are the only things present within this room. Now, calm your breathing and immerse yourself within the light that you feel, fade your body fade into nothingness, feel your body become lighter and clearer..." she said, then it occurred to her that Ben actually had vanished. Interesting, yet another relatively arcane art that he had mastered quickly.

"Most impressive."

"That is cool. Thanks Lumiya." Ben said, returning to normal, then he looked thoughtful.

"Can you see people's Force essence even if they're doing that?" he asked curiously and she had to say, she hadn't really thought of it before.

"An interesting question. Let's see shall we?" she asked and faded into the background. Ben performed his Force sight, and looked at Lumiya curiously.

"It sort of looks like you're neutral now, like you're just a non-sensitive or something." He reported, and she mused on this.

"Interesting. Now, I really must get to bed, try and preserve what's left of my beauty and patience." She said, and Ben bid her goodnight, and she went back to her bunk, smiling.

XX

"I appreciate that Master Katarn." Senator Wuul said as the two of them headed towards the Senate chamber.

"I don't see why the Senate is being so stubborn on this point. The T'Surr technically made an act of war against the Alliance." Kyle said as a protocol droid teetered past.

The Sullustan fixed him with a stern gaze.

"Because, as you know full well, the Alderaan's Memory and its task force wasn't meant to be anywhere near that planet as Orvax hadn't been approved into the Alliance yet. As such we were trespassing on what in theory belongs to the T'Surr."

Kyle sighed. Sometimes, not very often but sometimes, he actually missed the Rebellion, at least they didn't have to worry about this sort of thing back then. Now all of it was politics.

"Look Luew, I know that and you know that. But Admiral Niathal was doing what she thought was best you know. She only wanted to protect the slaves, and the Memory being there could be justified."

Luew looked at him sternly, but he did have a smile playing on his lips.

"You might get away with that if the Sibwarra or the Valiant had been there in orbit. But it wasn't, it was a Mediator cruiser, which isn't the sort of thing one ordinarily sends on scouting missions, that's what we have Nebulons for."

Kyle smiled.

"Aww come on buddy, you know what that monster Nazarn did, even if we weren't meant to be there!"

Luew stroked his chin in thought and Kyle rolled his eyes.

"What, are you going to vote against the blockade of T'Surr?" he asked, and the Sullustan shook his head.

"Of course I won't vote against it, if you ask me the longer we keep that monster locked up the better. What worries me is the preparation folder Director Kalenda sent round saying that a large part of their fleet has left the planet, you know, all the mercs and slavers they assembled. As they never went to Orvax, it worries me where they have gone, and some might say it makes a blockade redundant."

Kyle frowned. He had to admit, the wily Senator did have a point. And the dispute over the legality of their presence there would undermine any action. But the fact remained, that aside from the Hutts, the T'Surr were some of the most well known slavers in the galaxy, and many still remembered the legacy of the most infamous one, Krayn, well over sixty odd years since his defeat. If slavery was to be destroyed, such species as they would have to be brought to heel.

"Look Luew, I know that, but the T'Surr are still a well known slaver species like the Zygerrians. If we are to defeat slavery, and I know many in the Senate do, we need to begin by curbing the excesses of slaver species." Kyle reasoned and Luew did have to concede the point.

As they walked into the Grand Corridor, which was full of various species, Kyle extended his awareness, a habit he had picked up many years before when he had been chasing after the Dark Jedi Desann. And when he felt a fellow Jedi, he felt comforted, and returned to his conversation.

XX

Abeloth closed her eyes, her long tendrils reaching out across the wastes of the galaxy. She had been along for so long, and her other children had been denied the opportunity to rejoin her...but this time she would not be undone.

"Come to me child...we can be happy..."

XX

Radd Minker blinked and looked around. He felt danger, danger all around him. The large Brubb edged to the wall, his yellow skin sweating and he looked around, for the source of all the danger, the one who was setting everyone in this room against him, the one who wished him harm.

And he spotted him too. Calmly pretending to be Master Katarn, this imposter was the one who was threatening the Senate, threatening innocent people and turning them against their will...and threatening him. Lighting his saber, he sprang.

XX

"I know my friend but..." Luew was cut off with a squeak as Kyle Force pushed him to the floor, and barely sprang out of the way as Radd Minker leapt at him, his yellow blade swinging at him, going for his head.

Kyle grunted and lit his blue saber as the Brubb Jedi landed, glaring at him wildly as screams emitted from all around him and panicked people began jostling around, the very thing they shouldn't do when there was a lightsaber duel in the offing.

"Radd, I know what's happened to you, I can help you..." he said soothingly, bringing the Force to bear.

The yellow skinned Brubb leered at him.

"No, I will stop you. I will free these people. What did you do to them?" he roared and his lightsaber hissed dangerously as he brandished it at the Jedi Master as people continued to push around them.

"I did nothing Radd, you're hallucinating..."

"FREE THEM!" Radd yelled and the Brubb leapt, Kyle's blue blade rising up to meet the other as the terrified denizens of the corridor started screaming and hurtling for the exits, which Kyle supposed was a little better than just milling about aimlessly in terror.

Kyle blocked another savage swing, surprised by the Brubb's strength as the younger Jedi hammered away at him, trying to get past his aggressive defence. Kyle blocked a swing before grinding his lightsaber along Radd's, aiming for the Brubb's eye and making the Knight back off. Kyle then pressed the attack, his blue blade a blur as he hammered away at Radd's saber, trying to subdue him without actually hurting him. Radd then dropped to the floor, making Kyle think he had hit him when he knew he hadn't, and next thing he knew his feet were coming out from under him as he slammed into his back and Radd leapt over to Luew, who was struggling to get back to his feet. Kyle grimaced and rolled to his feet but Radd was too quick, landing behind the Sullustan and bringing his saber across his throat.

"One wrong move, and I'll dice your dogsbody." Radd snarled as Kyle got to his feet.

Luew was beginning to sweat and he looked at Kyle nervously. He hoped profusely that the other Jedi had something up his sleeve.

"You know, the last time I got held hostage, I spent three months in a Vong prisoner camp. I'd prefer a better resolution this time Kyle." He said worriedly, and Kyle closed his eyes, centering himself as he turned off his saber.

"Hold on Luew." He said, and blasted both of them backwards with an almighty Force push.

The two screamed, however Luew's scream lessened in volume when Radd's saber came flying out of his hand and clattered against the wall. The two of them hurtled up the corridor, air whistling through their ears, and Luew suddenly felt himself be pulled forward slightly, before there was a sickening crunch from behind them as Radd slammed into the wall. Luew looked down at himself curiously as Kyle gently floated him down to the floor, having pulled him slightly away from Radd's grip.

"Than..." Luew began but Kyle shoved him to the floor as Radd's saber leapt back into its owner's hand and the Brubb charged the Jedi Master.

This time Kyle held nothing back, his blue blade a swirl of light as he batted away Radd's attacks as if they were meaningless. Kyle then slammed their blades together, grunting as he exerted against his foe, and rubbed his blade along Radd's scoring the hilt and taking off Radd's finer nails, making the Brubb howl in pain. Kyle then delivered an almighty round house kick to Radd, then blasted him into the wall with a Force push. The Brubb swayed for a second and slid down to the ground, finally subdued, just as security rushed into the corridor.

Rolling his eyes at their worse than usual lateness, Kyle helped Luew back to his feet.

"Are you alright?" he asked, and the Sullustan nodded, dusting himself off.

"Thanks for the save. You know, I was going to vote that way anyway, you didn't need to organise all this to try and convince me." He said lightly and Kyle laughed, before getting his comm and raising Cilghal.

"Cilghal, it's Kyle. We've got another one down." He said grimly, and he could hear her sigh of remorse.

"Who was it this time?"

"Radd Minker."

Cilghal made a popping noise, a sign of exasperation.

"Very well. Bring him to me, and then with any luck he'll reveal something the others so far haven't." She said grimly, and he switched it off as Chief Ak'la came dashing along the corridor, looking frantic.

"Luew, are you alright?" she asked as she reached them and the Senator waved off her concern, reiterating that he was fine.

She then turned to Kyle and looked at Radd's prone form sadly.

"Another one Master Katarn?" she asked, and when he nodded grimly she looked down at the defeated Jedi in despair.

"What is happening to them?" she asked herself.

"We don't know yet Chief Ak'la but I assure you we will get to the bottom of it." He promised, his eyes set.

They needed to find out what was going on with these young Jedi before anyone got hurt. But all the signs were there...something mysterious striking down young Jedi, Master Skywalker absent from Coruscant, the slavers on the run while slavery declined, rumours of increased numbers of Yuuzhan Vong...the clues were all there. While alone and even taken two or three at a time, they seemed innocent, to one who had been doing this as long as Kyle, they indicated one thing.

Something was going on in the galaxy. And the dark side was sure to have something to do with it.

XX

Another Interceptor frigate shot past the viewport of the Aqua Blue, its lasers firing. Uglies twirled around outside, dancing with Pash Cracken's Ace Squadron, and Wedge wished nothing more than to be out there flying around in an X-Wing, but no, he had to remain in command aboard a cruiser nowadays. Outside the Thunderflame was chasing down a rogue corvette that was trying to make a run for it. While the ships that were here weren't particularly well armed, they were certainly very numerous, and while most of them were converted freighters and tankers, they were enough of a threat that they had taken the Skytern and the Chivalrous out of action.

The pirate groups may be unifying, but Wedge still didn't see why Niathal was so determined to crush them beyond all recognition. Yes they were a threat and he could appreciate sending a message, but he was beginning to think this mission was overkill. But, he supposed it all depended on what Face found out on his mission.

Wincing as an Ugly smashed into the shields of his Mon Cal Cruiser he turned to watch the inevitable resolution of the battle, as Tycho's Rebel Dream broke apart the spine of the Nebulon they were using as a command ship.

XX

General Kargin of the Hawk-Bats frowned as the pirates, under the leadership of the very charismatic Commodore Collonzas, cheered wildly. With the various attacks orchestrated by Admiral Niathal against pirates of all sorts, the various pirate groups had been clamouring for a way to get back at the Alliance. However, due to the nature of the various pirate groups, they would never be able to mount any effective form of resistance to the anti-piracy task force.

That was until Collonzas came along. Incredibly charismatic and clever, and ruling his own pirate band from a very old but still lethal Sabaoth Destroyer, he had come out of nowhere. Going here and there, managing to get past Alliance blockades and slip right back out again, he had been a phantom who had been driving Director Kalenda up the wall as he went from place to place, convincing pirate groups to gather and hear what he had to say. Due to the intrigue surrounding him, they had all agreed and now he had done the unthinkable: he had unified the pirate groups under him, giving him a fleet that could match most Alliance fleets numerically at the very least.

Kargin looked at Dissek, his tall, burly bodyguard, and saw that he wore exactly the same expression. This wasn't good news...not for their real identities.

The various pirates began to split up, heading back for their own shuttles, which they would take back to their main ships that were orbiting the old burnt out looking space station. Kargin motioned for Dissek to follow him and the two trotted back to the shuttle, where Morrt was waiting for them. They took the lift down to the corridor, and Kargin stopped when he saw a Twi'lek woman strolling boldly towards them, clad like a mercenary with several deadly weapons at her disposal. Problem was, the two of them knew this Twi'lek.

"Fa-General!" Dissek said in surprise, covering his slip quickly as she arrived.

"General Kargin." The Twi'lek purred in greeting, and Kargin had to act quickly to keep his mask in place.

"Captain Seku...it's been a while." He said gruffly, and continued his walk towards the shuttle, trying to ignore the feelings that were blossoming within his heart.

"That is has. Dissek." Seku said in greeting, and Dissek nodded, a tight grin appearing on his face.

The three of them entered the shuttle, and Morrt, their Gamorrean pilot, looked at her in shock as she entered the cockpit, before he gunned the engine and headed the ship back for their flagship, going under the name of the Night Caller, a retrofitted Corellian corvette. The trip was silent, with Seku smirking at the three of them as the shuttle landed, allowing them out into the relative safety of their homeship, which then jumped away from the meeting sight, and Kargin heaved a sigh of relief.

He then lifted his hand and proceeded to peel off the prosthetic enhancements that made up his disguise. A few seconds later and he had stripped them all off, to reveal the still relatively boyish face of Garik 'Face' Loran, the leader of Wraith Squadron. Besides him, Dissek happily removed his scars in order to reveal the still dark and handsome face of Kell Tainer, the demolitions expert of the group. Morrt, otherwise know as Voort saBinring, or Piggy, stretched widely as they left the shuttle. Next, they were joined by Jedi Knight, and Kell's wife, Tyria, who was followed in by the superstitious Devaronian Elassar Targon, who was followed up by Hohass 'Runt' Ekwesh. It was then that Face turned to Seku, otherwise known as Dia Passik and grinned.

"Well Dia, I didn't expect to see you again, least of all places in the midst of a massive pirate gathering." He said with a grin as Tyria kissed Kell's cheek in welcome.

"Me neither, but I recognised your old Kargin outfit. Couldn't you think up something new?" she asked with a coy smile and Piggy's electric voicebox whined.

"It's the curse of being so good at what we do...there's no one better than us, so it means we need to recycle. Face's mental facilities aren't what they used to be." He said, and Face glowered at him, insulted.

Runt shook her hand in greeting, the large equine like creature thrilled to have most of the original Wraiths back together again.

"It is good to see you Dia. But what are you doing here?" he asked curiously and she smiled.

"Well, since I left the Wraiths, I've been tracking down slavers on Ryloth, freeing a few here and there. The most recent one I was after was working with that lunatic Nazarn, so I decided to follow up on it, and then I found out that there was a link between him and some pirates working the system. I got in with them and wormed my way into that conference."

Dia had been a member of Wraith Squadron following its inception. After the Thrawn Campaign, and also partly due to her breakup with Face who she had been seeing at the time she had resigned from the squadron and had headed back to Ryloth in order to combat slavery. While she and Face had parted on good terms, it was clear that the two had missed each other after all these long years.

The lot of them headed to the bridge to see Shall Nelprin, who technically outranked Face as she had left the squadron but had requested to be seconded for this mission, speaking with Commander Tabanne.

"Dia!" she exclaimed in surprise and hugged her fiercely, while Atril turned to Face.

"Did they organise?"

Face frowned as he sat down in the seat Shalla had just left.

"Yes...but it was almost too easy, its like Collonzas didn't even have to try, it didn't faze him at all. They all basically just did what he wanted. And what's more I still don't get why Admiral Niathal wanted them unified in the first place." Face said, his brow furrowed in concentration.

"They really just agreed to do it? Just like that?" Tyria asked sceptically, and Kell nodded.

"I wish we could have taken you with us, your Force stuff might have been helpful." He said, looking worried.

Tyria frowned. She hadn't been allowed to go with the party in case anyone recognised her for being a Jedi, in which case they would be lucky to get out alive. And while she did have to admit that it was strange that Niathal wanted them to unify, it did make a certain amount of sense from a certain point of view, because if Niathal broke the collective pirate group the pirates would never be a threat again. But still she was taking a big risk...

"It's good having us all back together again, just like old times." Elassar said with a toothy grin and they all nodded.

"So what do we do now?" Runt asked curiously.

"I would say that's obvious, we continue with what we are doing, pretending to be pirates. That's the only way we can figure out what they are up to isn't it?" Piggy put to the room and they all nodded in agreement.

Tyria frowned, and Kell nudged her gently.

"What's up sweetie?"

"I don't know...I've got a –"

"No, you will not finish that sentence!" Elassar said desperately, placing his hand over her mouth.

"As soon as someone says that everything always goes south!" Shalla protested.

"It's bad luck!" Elassar whined and Tyria rolled her eyes while the others laughed.

"You hiring?" Dia asked innocently, and Face grinned at her.

"Are you offering?" he asked, and though he didn't want to admit it to himself, he was very much hoping she would say yes...but they had tried that once before and it hadn't worked. But the feelings were still there...

"Yes I'm offering." She sighed dramatically, and they all grinned.

"Welcome back to Dinner Squadron!" Kell cried with a grin.

"And Silly Squadron!" Runt added and they all laughed as the Night Caller headed back to the pirate stomping grounds.

XX

Wedge smiled as the last of the decoy fleet leapt away, much reduced in their size and effectiveness. The last of his fighters fired off a few more shots before they pulled back bound for their ships. A relatively successful engagement all round. Even if it had been just a decoy, it had certainly done the trick of making the enemy think that they didn't know that they had unified. However, they had received word from Wraith Squadron indicating that they had indeed done that, and were going to continue with their mission in order to see what Collonzas was up to, as he didn't seem interested in uniting them all for one big strike...at least not yet.

"Orders from Coruscant General Antilles. Admiral Niathal says that we are to return home, at least until the Wraiths figure out what the pirates are all up to." An officer reported, and Wedge nodded, happy with the news.

Niathal had gotten what she wanted, but until the pirates actually acted as a unified group they could do very little more. As such, some down time was in order. Wedge grinned as he thought about the trip home. Wes, Hobbie and Tycho would all come over here certainly to 'debrief' and relax, and Tycho's head would be away thinking of Winter. Hobbie and Wes, eternal bachelors as they were, would be concocting their next trip out into the wide world, and Wedge, after he checked with Gavin that Syal was alright, would be able to relax for a while with Iella, and also try and figure out what had happened to his nephew's relationship with Jaina.

However, that being said, he was still...uneasy. Something about the pirate groups unifying didn't make sense. He got why Niathal wanted it, because if she broke their spine while unified they would never be a threat again, but he couldn't help but think she was missing something. Something that they needed to find out soon. Though he loathed to admit it to himself, he had a bad feeling about this.

"Alright, signal the fleet and prepare to jump for home." Wedge said, and he looked out at the wreckage of the enemy ships, most of which wouldn't be able to harm them on any grand scale anyway. Which meant...they were clearly meant to be decoys. So what were the pirates playing at?

XX

The black vessel known as the Governor, Collonzas' Sabaoth Destroyer, looking like some distantly related cousin of the old Lucrehulk vessels of the Trade Federation began to hover above a massive red giant, transitioning to a steady drift in order for the leader of the newly unified group of pirates to make his call.

For months now, he had been going back and forth across the galaxy, using his cloak capable Destroyer to slip past the tightest Alliance nets in order to rally any and all pirate groups to his cause. And now, after their meeting, he had finally succeeded. The various groups, for those who had a couple of freighters at their disposal to those who had old warships that they had refitted, all of them were now under his command, under the command of his mighty Destroyer. While it may be old, it was still very lethal, having been refitted numerous times, and its cloaking device made it an excellent ambush vessel. And now, he was at the lead of a united, pirate armada...if only they knew that it was all part of a further, more complicated plan.

The ship was drifting steadily, and he hoped that his master would be able to take his call. Bowing, he waited, as the transmission sent to an Emperor's Ear unit. A few minutes later, his harassed looking master, Lumiya, materialised in holo form before him.

"Master." He said, inclining his head.

"Collonzas. Speak quickly, Leia gets up early and so does K'Kruhk and the last thing I need is for them to see me speaking with my pirate leader of an acolyte." She hissed and he smiled disarmingly.

Collonzas was a tall good looking man, if not a bit grizzled from his life as a pirate. A thin scrubby red beard surrounded his face and long auburn hair fell to his shoulders, which were quite broad and he was a well developed, well muscled man. Finding this ship in the wilderness of the far reaches of the Corporate Sector where he grew up, he had started trying to make a decent living, but getting ripped off one too many times by the Hutts had jaded him so much that he had found like minded people to himself, and had formed them into a group to strike back at the overgrown slugs. Said group had then become a scourge to the Hutts, and it was chasing a convoy of Hutt goods that had led him to Lumiya. His group had dropped out of lightspeed into the waiting jaws of Lumiya's fleet which had needed supplies. She had thrashed the convoy and had then disabled his ship, and when she had come over to talk to him, she had revealed to him his Force-sensitivity, and she had offered to train him. And now, a few years later, he was about to earn his rightful place as her apprentice, having fulfilled his obligation to her.

"Master...I have unified the groups, they acted exactly as you said they would." He said proudly, and she favoured him with a smile.

"Excellent Collonzas. You have done well. Soon now, the time will be right to make you my apprentice." She promised, her eyes glistening.

She had required a useful acolyte who would be able to help her offset the power of Krayt's forces. As such, the pirates would be relatively useful in that regard. She also needed to keep that belligerent Mon Calamari occupied, and with the smugglers a relatively well behaved bunch, she was unable to exploit the traditional Mon Calamari distaste for them, so she had instead opted for the pirates, and Niathal had done exactly what she had required, going after the pirate and slaver groups with a vengeance...hence allowing Lumiya to get Nazarn's support a little easier and what was more, it also allowed Collonzas to unify the pirates as she had desired. All was going according to plan...from her point of view at least. The fact that she didn't intend to make him her apprentice didn't matter in the slightest...but he was a useful acolyte, much how Asajj Ventress had once been to Count Dooku.

"Thank you master. It will be soon?" he asked hopefully, a grin on his face.

"Yes my pupil...after the death of Darth Krayt we shall begin your apprenticeship. But, until such a time, continue seemingly random attacks. The Alliance will know of the unification..."

"Begging your pardon master, but how will they know?" he asked curiously, and she smiled.

"One of the pirate groups I okayed your invite to, one of them was the Hawk-Bats...which is an alias for Wraith Squadron. But as people don't care much about the Galactic Civil War anymore, they think they can get away with not studying it, hence why you didn't know." She said with a smile and he looked up at her indignantly.

"But why do you want them to know?" he demanded and she smiled.

"Because now they will chase their tails looking for a unified group, allowing you to cause more chaos as a unified in name but not in reality group. All shall become clear in the fullness of time my apprentice. Just have your new allies attack here, there and everywhere. That will weaken the Alliance, chipping away at their strength and their forces and leaving the core wide open to more damage and chaos, which the slavery thing and the slavers will also add to. All is going according to plan my apprentice." She said, and he bowed.

"As my lady wishes it, so it shall be." He said, bowing.

"You are doing well Collonzas. Continue to do so, and soon now you shall be my new apprentice." She promised, and her holo flickered out.

Collonzas grinned as he got to his feet. Now to make his second call...

And as he did so, the face of Darth Oracle came into view, along with that of Darth Wyyrlok.

"Collonzas, it has been a while since you last called." Wyyrlok said in greeting and Collonzas inclined his head.

While Lumiya had promised to make him her apprentice upon the completion of this plan of hers, he had never been one for patience. As such, he had been extremely fortunate when Darth Oracle had foreseen him in one of her visions. As such, she and Wyyrlok had contacted him, and in exchange for letting them know what Lumiya was up to and helping her with her plan, they in return had given him some basic Sith exercises, and had also sent him a lightsaber that he trained with, and in his own opinion he had become quite proficient in the art of using it. Much better than waiting for Lumiya's feeble promises to come about.

"Yeah, I've been busy keeping Lumiya happy. She wanted the pirate groups unified, and now they are." He said, and the two Sith looked at one another curiously.

"What is she doing that for?" Oracle asked, her own visions having trouble discerning what Lumiya's plan was.

"Most likely to counter your fleet. And to distract Niathal."

Wyyrlok nodded grimly.

"Most likely. You have done well to inform us of this Collonzas. We shall dispatch some more lore for you to read over, and a transfer of funds will be placed into your account." He said, and Collonzas inclined his head.

"A pleasure doing business as always Lord Wyyrlok, Lady Oracle." He said as their holo flickered out.

Collonzas smirked as he went and sat down in his replica Star Destroyer captain's chair, as his first mate, a Zeltron by the name of Veklanna, entered, smiling at him seductively.

"How were your meetings?" she asked, sitting on the arm of his chair and wrapping her arms around his neck while she straddled his legs with her own.

"Good. We keep going with what we're doing." He said firmly, and she looked at him adoringly.

"So, if you don't like the Sith or the Jedi, why you working for them...and learning from them?" she asked in distaste.

"I'm learning from them because some of their tricks are quite handy...and I wouldn't say no to being able to see what Oracle can. And I am interested in Lumiya's plan, I want to know what she's up to. But most of all," he said, kissing her amply shown cleavage, "I'm looking forward to being able to stab the lot of them in the back, and hope they and the Jedi wipe each other out. Then we can all go about our business." He said with a smile as she kissed him in excitement.

XX

The office, with the window mercifully repaired, was darkening around them. Releqy sighed. It had been an eventful couple of days. With the T'Surr launching their attack on Orvax, her getting grilled for it in the senate, the very close contest to approve a blockade of T'Surr itself, absent slavers, unified pirates and yet another nutty Jedi, this one nearly killing a Senator...well let's just say that she felt she had thoroughly earned her evening glass of schnapps.

Across from her sat three very tired looking Jedi. Tresina Lobi was there, looking tired and wan, having arrived about half an hour ago and she had rushed down to give her report to the Chief of State. Beside her was Saba Sebatyne, the Barabel member of the Council and the one most concerned with the piracy problem. And beside her was Cilghal, who was trying relentlessly to find out what was wrong with the poor young Jedi but to no avail.

Releqy sighed as she made sure her glass of schnapps was out of sight of the holoviewer. The last thing she needed was for the Hutts to spread a rumour that she was an alcoholic. The large, coiled form of Borga Besadii Diori appeared before her and the Jedi, unknown and invisible to the Hutt, looked at her closely.

Borga had been one of the treacherous Hutts to negotiate a truce with the Vong during the Vong War. However, when it had been discovered that she, ever the profiteer, had been selling Vong secrets to the New Republic, Nas Choka had then launched a blistering attack on Hutt space, crippling their ability to effectively manage their empire. Since then Borga had worked hard to re-establish the Hutts, and for that reason Releqy knew she was in for an uphill struggle.

"Greetings Borga of the Hutts." She said formally, and the Hutt wiggled her tail as a sign of respect.

"Chief of State Ak'la." She said in a deep, booming voice.

"Well Borga, I trust you know why I have called." Releqy asked in a soothing voice, but far from soothing the Hutt, the Hutt tensed up, and her gleaming red eyes narrowed.

"If this is to do with slavery, then we have nothing to say to one another." Borga said, moving to deactivate the comm.

"Oh but with all due respect I think we do. You see, the Twi'leks changed everything when they granted the slaves their freedom. It started a process that is long overdue. Now, I am receiving reports left right and centre, all of them reporting to me that formerly enslaved species are demanding their freedom, and many of their calls are being heard and met. You may have also heard how my forces recently engaged a rogue slaver fleet working for the slaver government of T'Surr." Releqy said, and the Hutt looked livid.

"An illegal intervention. All you have done is infuriate other such species." Borga said proudly, but Releqy grinned.

"Perhaps. However, now that the cat is out of the bag, it would really put the cat amongst the pigeons if we continued to trade with you now that we have spoken out against slavery, we would have the metaphorical cat hanging over our heads, and knowing my luck it wouldn't be house trained." She explained.

The three Jedi looked at each other, baffled by what she had just said. Indeed, Borga looked even more confused than they did.

"What?" she demanded weakly.

Releqy pursed her lips.

"My point Borga, is that the slavery question is up for grabs. It is spreading like wildfire throughout the galaxy, and now that we have spoken out against it, it is only going to continue to spread. So I call for one reason...to know your stance on slavery." She said, and Borga beamed widely, but the Caamasi knew full well that any smile coming from the Hutts on abolishing slavery couldn't mean anything good.

"As you know Chief Ak'la, it is our fondest wish to eliminate slavery, however many people do not have the ways or means to settle the debts that are owed to us. As such, they must enter domestic service in order to pay their dues."

Saba hissed, and Releqy sent her a warning look. Domestic service was what they were calling it was it? She would see about that.

"Indeed? We both know that's just an excuse not to give sentient beings the freedom they are guaranteed under the Bill of Sentient Rights. And what is more, this idea of domestic service of yours, it should not apply to those born into slavery."

Borga slammed her tail angrily.

"We do not question your practices Chief, you would do well not to question ours." She hissed.

Releqy narrowed her eyes.

"I do when innocent people are being exploited because your species cannot stand the thought of losing their monopoly on the lives of innocent people. The Treaty of Vontor is illegitimate and you know it, and you have three species forced into 'domestic service' to ensure you keep your empire, which more often than not is built on illegal means." She sneered.

Borga was getting agitated and Releqy knew it. However, the Hutts millennia old blatant disregard for the rights of the slaves under their control had to end. It was time to deliver her ultimatum.

"Well Borga, I am afraid to say that while the slavery question continues, the Alliance cannot be associated with Hutt operations." She said boldly, and Borga narrowed her eyes.

"Meaning?" she asked.

"I am afraid that it means that our relations with you will not be able to continue...such as reparations payments, you know, the money we gave you to help rebuild your sector after you betrayed the galaxy to the Vong. Other benefits of being an ally of the Alliance will also stop, and I hear that our trade tariffs are going up..." she said, not intending it to sound like a threat but letting it be known in no uncertain terms that thats what she was doing.

Borga scoffed.

"You will abandon an ally, a profitable one, just to help a few petty slaves?" she demanded, slamming her tail in anger.

"No. Not abandon, but disassociate. We will still trade however, until the Treaty of Vontor is revoked we cannot be equal partners. That, and until the other slaves are freed from your grip." Releqy said, and Borga snarled.

"As that will never happen, we have nothing to say to each other." She said, and the holo flickered off.

"Well, that went swimmingly." Tresina said dryly as Releqy sipped her schnapps.

"Chief Ak'la, is it wise to risk a confrontation with the Hutts? The anti slavery movement is still relatively young." Cilghal pointed out and Releqy sighed.

"It's a catch twenty two my friend. If I don't confront the Hutts, I'm seen as condoning their enslavement of those under the Treaty of Vontor and if I do confront them I'm seen as jumping the gun." She said sadly.

Saba put a claw to her lips, her tongue tasting the air.

"Yez, but alienating the Huttz iz risky, especially with the Ascendancy still not talking to us." She pointed out and Releqy stood in irritation.

"I know that Master Sebatyne. Events are moving too fast my friends. Master Skywalker absent from Coruscant. Slavery on the out. Pirates and slaver groups unifying. Our fleets spread thin across the galaxy. Tensions between the main players of the galaxy. A whisper about the Vong. Insane Jedi. Military engagements...all is leading to something, but I cant see what, unless there's something you aren't telling me." She said, and the three Jedi looked at each other.

Recently, the Jedi had been finding it harder and harder to gaze into the future, to divine events. Something was blocking them, making it harder to see what the future held. And the only thing that they could think of the reason for that being was the rising power of the dark side, which was beginning to get more and more powerful. But she didn't need to know that, at least not yet.

"We do agree that something is going on in the galaxy. Events are moving too fast, we feel the Force may be at play." Cilghal said diplomatically, not really giving real information.

Releqy looked at them, then turned to look out of the window. The Ascendancy were being childish, and the Hutts endorsed slavery. Their allies were becoming few. Combined with other events throughout the galaxy, it was a wonder they were at peace at all. All she could feel was that things were building to a head and that head would burst...soon.

XX

In orbit around Bimmiel, Lumiya's expanded fleet hung, a testament to the former might of the Empire. Five Star Destroyers were flanked by frigates and corvettes, and on the other side of the planet was the fleet of the warlord Nazarn, leading from his flagship the Unyielding. Along with that were several Gladiator Star Destroyers, and numerous other frigates that were hanging in orbit around the planet.

On the bridge of the Behemoth, Wethen looked down in pride at the fleet that was now his to command, a fleet worthy of an admiral of the old days. And soon, those days would be upon them again when Lumiya's plan came to fruition. It had been the most fortuitous day in his life when he had been assigned to the flagship of the enigmatic Sith Lord. And now, he would be the hammer with which she would forge the changing of the galaxy.

"General Wethen, the slaver fleet is on the move again." The Rodian crewman reported and Wethen nodded.

Provided the slavers were careful he could live with them going back and forth on slaving runs. However, he couldn't deny that the maniac the slavers had in charge gave him the creeps. And he couldn't deny that he felt a small twinge of alarm every time Nazarn's ship left orbit, there was no telling what that monster was up to. Yes, he understood the need for the slaver fleet and he also knew what would happen to it after all was said and done, but that didn't mean he could set aside his worries in the here and now like Lumiya kept telling him to.

"The Unyielding is leaving sir." The Rodian added and Wethen rolled his eyes.

The maniac was away to slaughter some other poor defenceless souls no doubt. Sighing, he nodded and turned back to face the fleet, deep in thought.

"General Wethen!" the Rodian called again and Wethen had to keep his patience in check. The lad was new and eager, he understood that, but he really didn't need to be informed every time one of the infernal pirates did something.

"Yes Ensign?" he asked patiently, turning to him.

"Sir, one of the beacons just went active!" he called excitedly, and Wethen descended into the crew pit, his expression curious.

Lumiya had set up several beacons in paths away from the Unknown Regions. To an outsider or any damn fool who just happened upon them, they would appear fairly inconspicuous. However, to others they would be a means of identification and location. They were programmed to give out a signal when they encountered a signal that had been used by the Emperor's Hands. As such, if they caught upon a signal coming from a ship that matched one of the Hands, it would send a message here to Lumiya, who was determined to hunt down the last of the Hands and kill them, and she was only one or two away from that goal.

"Which one is it?" Wethen asked curiously, and the Rodian's eyes widened in surprise.

"Sir, it's the Singularity." He reported and Wethen smiled tightly.

The Singularity was a Star Destroyer, an old one, and during the Civil War it had been the flagship of Cronal. Cronal was another member of the Emperor's Hands, a powerful one, and aside from Mara Jade Skywalker, the one Lumiya was most interested in killing. However, his use of the dark side had all but destroyed his body, and he spent his days within a small life support chamber attached to a Neimodian mechno-chair. Driven insane by frequent visions, he had stayed out of the mainstream Imperial Court, but had still posed a deadly threat to the fledgling New Republic back in the day, attacking all over with TIE Defenders before he had been thwarted, seemingly for good, at the Battle of Mindor.

Despite this, he had not faded into obscurity like Maarek Stele had. Rather, he had directly interfered with Lumiya's plans many a time. The first time was when he had arranged for the capture of Mara Jade after her defeat of Lumiya at Caprionil. Lumiya had been hunting her relentlessly to get revenge against her, but she had been snatched from under her nose by Cronal's interference. However, that was nothing compared to his later betrayal.

In Lumiya and her second apprentice, Carnor Jax's plan to take over the Empire by destroying Palpatines clones, Cronal had directly worked against the two of them, despite Jax having been one of his former stormtroopers. Tipping off the Dark Jedi and the Royal Guard who were still loyal to the Emperor, he had made it harder for Jax to assume control of the Empire, and later this had led to Kir Kanos ruthlessly hunting Jax down and killing him. Due to the betrayal of her plan, and the death of her apprentice which she blamed Cronal for, Lumiya put the highest priority on finding Cronal.

And now, all these years later, he had apparently re-entered the galaxy, most likely with the idea of coming back onto the scene of galactic affairs, at a time when they needed to concentrate on Lumiya's plan...and also at a time when he had a ship that would be better off in Lumiya's hands than his.

"Well now, isn't that interesting? Why come back now Cronal? What do you have up your sleeve?" Wethen asked himself musingly.

"Orders sir?" the Rodian asked.

Wethen made a decision. This required investigating. And what was more, aside from Mara, Cronal was the most high profile Hand remaining, so it was his duty to investigate.

"Contact the slaver fleet and tell them I want two of their Gladiators. If they are part of this fleet they'll damn well act like it. Also, get the Revenant and the Spectre to form up on us. We have a Star Destroyer to find." Wethen said, smiling.

The chase was on.

XX

The addition of the Olympian and its taskforce to the fleet was a much needed boon to morale. The fact that it had all six of its fighter squadrons meant that Ar'alani's pilots could take a much needed break and get some rest, especially within the nebula. The other civilian ships quickly joined the fleet and Ar'alani wasted no time in getting the occupants to work in helping stop the Vong track them. And after a few days, she was prepared to lead the fleet out of the nebula, and continue the mission she had given herself: finding as many people as she could, with the intention of ferrying them all to the Redoubt where they would all be safe.

"A noble goal Admiral, but wouldn't we better off going straight for the Redoubt?" Fel asked.

Ar'alani looked at him magisterially.

"General, I appreciate your concern, and believe me I wish to reunite all those separated by this cowardly attack. However, our military forces are also scattered, divided, leaderless and that breeds stupidity and will just get more people killed. On top of that, the civilians are even more confused by this as we are. In the last few days, the Csilla beacon has gone off and many of the other beacons said stay away then changed to come here, and some have even changed back again. While we have been here, we don't know what else has been going on within the Ascendancy, and as the military, it is our job to protect the civilians, any we find. True, we don't have much to contribute to that at the moment, but that doesn't mean we won't try." She said firmly, and Captain Gov'ari, the captain of the Olympian, nodded.

"I agree. If there is anyone else out there we need to find them, if only to give us peace of mind. We need to find out what happened." He said in his gravelly voice, and Ar'alani nodded.

An hour later, the fleet, now roughly thirty two ships large and crammed with thousands of refugees, and only two of that number being military ships, they headed out of the nebula and hung for an hour at a considerable distance away from it. When no Vong attack was forthcoming, the fleet jumped to their next destination. And while the ship travelled, Ar'alani received a sitrep from Wynssa Fel on the bridge.

"The entire Ascendancy has been flattened. Csilla, as we know, has been destroyed, however the only other worlds that appear to have been totally destroyed are major military holdings. Other places are under blockade." Wynssa reported and Ar'alani shook her head.

"If we get out of this alive Commander, remind me to have a word with the Alliance about watching the number of ships the Vong have been building in secret." She growled, but Fel shook her head.

"Sorry Admiral, but this isn't their fault. While the initial assault was carried out by Vong ships, they owe a lot of their success to the fact that they ambushed us. Rather, the planets under blockade where the people are in camps are actually Vagaari ships." She reported, an Ar'alani's eyes widened.

If the Vong had allied with the Vagaari, things were even more serious than they had thought. The thought of two of the most vicious and warlike species in the galaxy working together with the mutual aim of destroying the Chiss was certainly one to make ones stomach drop.

"Very well. Any news on the rest of the military?" she asked, trying to fight the feeling of great unease brewing in her stomach.

Wynssa nodded sadly, and Ar'alani felt her heart drop.

"The Supreme Commander rallied a fleet to him at Klasse Ephemora, but he rushed in to Csilla, and the Vong were waiting for them. They destroyed the fleet, leaving us without a leader." She reported, and Ar'alani sighed.

She had trained him, he should have known better than to launch such a fool hardly and ill advised attack. Part of the reason for having the Redoubt was to give the military a place to fall back to if something happened to their usual military holdings, which of course in this case it had. Sighing, Ar'alani looked out of the viewport as an incredibly sobering thought came to her: she, the one who was meant to be retiring, could very well be the highest ranking member of the military left.

She looked at Wynssa. The one now in charge of their recon flights, in ordinary times it would be seen as a relatively soft option. Now however, with the entire Ascendancy aflame and the region under Vong/Vagaari blockade, and their worlds either destroyed or under occupation, it was possibly one of the most dangerous jobs they had going. Wynssa was the spitting image of her mother, although her hair was the same shade of brown her father's had been in his youth, and she had the warm chocolate coloured eyes that made many a young Chiss man weak at the knee. She, by virtue of the fact that she was related to Jagged Fel, had also been forced out of Chiss society after the debacle of Supply Depot Thrago and ever since then had been acting as a retainer for Ar'alani, and frequently beating the aging Admiral at cards, much to her great disgust.

"Thank you Commander. You have done well. As soon as we arrive at our next location, set out again." She said, and Wynssa saluted and headed off the bridge, passing her mother as she entered the bridge.

Formerly the actress Wynssa Starflare, her true name was Syal Antilles, sister of Wedge Antilles and wife of Soontir Fel. She had come to the Ascendancy when the Empire of the Hand had been amalgamated and had given her husband a family, and she had been heartbroken when Jag was expelled from the Ascendancy. She had started working with the refugee movement ever since, and had been transferred to the Fell Defender as a favour to Ar'alani so the family could be together, as a favour to Soontir. As a result, she had been a godsend, organising the civilian fleet and keeping them happy while Ar'alani decided what their next move was.

"Admiral, I have bad news." She said uncertainly, and the old woman sighed.

"I swear, the next person who begins a sentence like that is getting shot and thrown out of an airlock...what is it?" she asked, and Syal smiled slightly at the admiral's irritation.

"Some of our ships are running low on fuel." She said apologetically and Ar'alani looked at her sharply.

"But when all this started, they told us we had enough fuel to do us a couple of months." She said in confusion, and Syal nodded.

"Yes we do, however some of the ships, about four all told, so roughly two and a half thousand people, use a different form of fuel than the other ships, they use a more refined version."

"Can't they function with the fuel we do have?" Ar'alani asked, resisting the urge to groan.

"Apparently not without risking blowing out the engines the next time they jump." She said, pulling her hair behind her ears tiredly.

Ar'alani growled. If they were the ships she suspected they were, she should have the one who brought her that report shot for stupidity. Some ships in the Ascendancy used a more refined form of fuel than those of the military and the day to day operative ships of the region, as they traditionally belonged to the elite of Chiss society, hence were belonging traditionally to actors, retired politicians and the such like.

"Alright. But we don't have any stores of that sort of fuel, so I don't have any clue what we can do." She said irritably, not wanting to give up so many ships and people without a fight.

"Well thats the thing, the Astral Empress has enough raw materials to create a couple of tons of it, but the problem is they need more phillite, which they don't have any of."

Ar'alani mused on this. Phillite was the thing that reduced the viscosity of the base product and allowed the lighter fuel to be made. And truth be told, they would eventually need some for the Clawcraft.

Ar'alani sighed. If she had another military ship, she might be able to risk sending them straight to the Redoubt while she continued trying to find survivors. However, that involved finding more ships, which she needed to keep moving in order to do. And, being no fool, she knew full well the Vong or the Vagaari would eventually happen upon them, and if the only other military ship they had was absent, well there was a greater chance they would lose one of the civilian ships if not more. So what did she do? Gamble with the entire fleet, or gamble with a separate small mission to the Redoubt? Both were of equal importance. Unless...

"Lieutenant Doshi, scan all of the surrounding systems for any phillite deposits. We may have a need of them." She barked, and he got to it.

"You are doing well at this Syal, we wouldn't have been able to keep the civilians functioning if we didn't have you." Ar'alani said warmly, placing her hand on Syal's shoulder.

Syal looked uncertain.

"I just keep thinking about what would have happened if you hadn't brought us all together to help move you to your new home, Soontir, Wynssa and Cem...and with Jagged out in the galaxy proper..." Syal said, her voice breaking and Ar'alani patted her shoulder.

"There there my dear. You have done wonderfully, you've helped the civilians cope with what has happened and have kept the civilian aspect of the fleet ticking over, making sure no one wants for anything. We couldn't have sorted all of this out without your help, you have been invaluable my dear. And all being well, you will have more people to look after soon." She said, and Syal smiled at her.

"Admiral, I have something!" Doshi called and Ar'alani and Syal headed over, Ar'alani's stick tapping at the floor as she did so.

"I have located a phillite deposit quite nearby, but we would have to stay there for a while to get to it, but that isn't all. In the same asteroid run, I'm picking up an Ascendancy signal, diplomatic and military channels." He informed her, and Ar'alani frowned.

Over the course of her career, she had learned that such good luck did not exist. But she couldn't take the chance that it was actually for real, especially if someone needed their help.

"Very well, signal the fleet. We'll drop short and leave our fighter squadrons aside from Viper Squadron to defend the fleet, and we'll take the Olympian and investigate. Prepare for battle!" she barked and the ship went to red alert, scrambling to action stations.

They had had a cushy option on this ship, being part of the defence fleet. But Force help her, she would whip them into shape, especially if they were going to be her flagship. And if retirement wasn't on the cards quite yet, she would keep doing what she made her career doing: fighting Vong and Vagaari.

XX

The Chaf Envoy descended into the asteroid belt, blasts rocking the back of the ship. Vagaari fighters swooped down on them, their lasers chewing away at the increasingly more valuable shields as they entered the rocky hazard. On either side of what could very well be the last government ship in the Ascendancy, two Splendour class corvettes pumped maser fire at the attacking ships. High above the belt was the Vagaari frigate that had launched them, a sinister looking red claw cutting through space and occasionally shooting laser fire down on them. While that wasn't enough to worry them, what did worry them was the fact that several of the asteroids had phillite deposits, and one wrong hit could send the entire run into a supernova and take the three ships with it.

The wrench looking corvettes were doing the best they could, but the two squadrons from the Paskla frigate were just too fast and nimble for the slightly more ungainly ships to take out. Aristocra Formbi knew this, as did his niece Feesa, and the two of them exchanged dark looks as another blast rocked the ship. The leader of one of the Families, he could very well be the highest ranking member of the government left, but unless they could get to the Redoubt, they would never know.

The comm on Formbi's desk chimed.

"Aristocra, the captain of the Creepstalker is suggesting they blow up the asteroids to throw them off." The captain reported, and Feesa shook her head.

"We cant uncle, if we do we risk blowing ourselves up and we'd still have to deal with the frigate." She said sadly, and he squeezed her hand.

"Tell them to take us into the belt, and then...then start to pray." He said.

Because in his heart he knew the truth: they weren't getting away from this.

XX

The two military vessels shot out of hyperspace above the ecliptic of the belt, just in time to see a claw like Vagaari frigate send another couple of rounds down towards the belt. Down below them, two fighter squadrons were chipping away at the shields of two corvettes and a governmental vessel. Time to change that.

"All hands battle stations! Have the Olympian deploy its fighter squadrons. Have two flank the government ship while the others blast apart the attacking vessels. Power to shields and weapons. Remaining fighter squadrons, run interference against that frigate, and all batteries, open fire!" Ar'alani barked, and the battle was on.

The Fell Defender lanced forward, its weapons opening up, green flashes from the wings flanking Ar'alani's view as the frigate turned to meet them. Shawnkyr was already on the go, with Viper Squadron and its backup twirling towards the frigate. As predicted, the fighters in the belt were quickly breaking off their attack as the other fighter squadrons dove down at them, their lasers firing at them and ripping the enemy to shreds. The last two squadrons carried on past the dogfight and fell into position, flanking the government shop and leading it out of the asteroid belt while the two corvettes rose out of it of their own accord, weapons firing at the frigate from below.

Ar'alani watched in satisfaction as her forces worked. Despite all that had happened, and despite this ship being a relatively cushy option, they were doing incredibly well as they bore down on the frigate. The frigate itself was now trying to turn away from the Destroyer, knowing it was outgunned. However, long range fire from the Olympian was blocking their escape route, and with the two corvettes blasting away at their engines and a hail of firepower coming from the Destroyer, the outcome of the battle was never in doubt. One last round of firepower from the Defender ruptured open the main column of the frigate and it broke into two halves, the edges aflame. Ar'alani smiled as the fighter squadrons finished off the Vagaari ships. All this, ashamed though she was to admit it, did make her feel slightly young again.

"My compliments to the captains of the Creepstalker and the Matadorian. Signal the fighters to return home and let's see who our government official is." She said, hopeful that whoever they had found would be rather useful at helping Syal work out the problems of the civilian fleet.

Doshi grinned. What exactly he was grinning about, she didn't know, but such a grin did not befit finding three ships. Which meant he knew something she didn't.

"Yes Lieutenant?" she asked and he grinned all the wider.

"Admiral, the governmental ship is the Chaf Envoy, Aristocra Formbi's flagship."

Ar'alani worked hard, she really did, but she couldn't help a small sign of a sneer escaping onto her usually impassive face. It wasn't exactly a secret that the two of them couldn't stand each other, they had made that clear numerous times over the years. And now, by the will of the Force, the two of them would have to work together.

"Very well Lieutenant. Signal the Aristocra and invite him over so we may discuss what has happened to our fair government." She said, and Doshi nodded, allowing Ar'alani to head off the bridge, Fel falling into step beside her.

"And you find me a bottle of brandy." She ordered, and Fel looked at her with an arched eyebrow.

"You're giving him brandy whilst on duty?" he asked, knowing full well Formbi would make issue of it.

"No, but after he leaves I'm having one. I'm going to need it." She hissed and Fel laughed.

XX

The Baanu Venxis was travelling again. Uoni was a Shamed One. A graft had not taken on his arm after it had been cut off during the Battle of Vortex and ever since then, he had been assigned to this worldship, a secret worldship, being one of the Shamed Ones to monitor the dhuryam. They had been gathered in the middle of the night, not long after they had taken Coruscant. They had been forced onto yorik-tremas and when they had stopped moving, they had found themselves on board a new worldship, where they had met their new leader, a bizarre woman, who held herself the same way Shimrra did. The Shamed Ones were automatically put to work, and Uoni was put to work tending the massive dhuryam that monitored the worldship. While it wasn't usual for a worldship to have one, they had always been told that this was a special assignment, even for the Shamed Ones. And their mysterious mistress made that all the more likely.

However, the war had ended years ago, and they had still not been taken to Zonama Sekot for the deliverance, for their redemption. Uoni, who had become something of a leader amongst the slaves had been talking to other slaves and occasionally to warriors, and over the years he had pieced together what was happening: their mistress, in direct violation of the terms of the Sekot Accords, planned to go to war once again. While the rest of their species were trying to make a life on Zonama Sekot, the task force under her command were still intent on defeating the infidels and taking over the galaxy. However, this was against the wishes of Yun-Yuuzhan and Nas Choka. As such, a warrior Uoni had known had asked her about it. And her response had been to use her powers to lift him up into the air, and demonstrate the noise a body makes when it is snapped in half.

Uoni kept his face down, avoided looking at them. His mistress was up to something, and as such, he and all his other fellow Shamed Ones had not been delivered to their salvation on Zonama Sekot. But one day, they would.

No matter what it took.

XX

The Falcon was hanging in space. As Lumiya had predicted when she called Collonzas, they were all up early, and she had barely escaped detection by K'Kruhk who had gotten up early in order to make them all pancakes, which even she had to admit were quite good. Alema also seemed to appreciate them and only threw one of them at Leia, who calmly reflected it into the bin. As they all tucked in, K'Kruhk finally brought up the matter which they had all been gathered for: Abeloth.

"You know why we are all together. There is a threat in our galaxy, a threat unlike any like which the galaxy has ever seen. This Abeloth, she lives deep within the Maw, and her powers are growing daily. She has begun to breach her prison, and if we are not careful, she will be set loose on the entire galaxy and will not stop until all life is consumed." He said gravely from his place at the table.

"How did she get out of her prison in the first place?" Han asked curiously.

"Well, we have been led to believe that Centerpoint Station was part of the defence. It created a sort of field around her planet, one that she could not escape. However, as Centerpoint has now been destroyed, that defence is gone, and her powers have been allowed to grow exponentially." He explained.

Luke looked at Mara gravely, then she turned to him, her eyebrow raised.

"Alright, how did you find out about her in the first place? If this thing is as powerful as you say, I'm doubting Palpatine would have let it exist. In case you didn't notice he didn't like sharing power." She commented dryly.

"I can attest to this." Lumiya chimed in.

"Well like he said, Centerpoint must have been preventing him from finding out about her. But that doesn't explain how you knew about her in the first place." Ben pointed out, as he stabbed one of his pancakes.

K'Kruhk nodded dolefully.

"It was during the Vong War. Some of our group were scouting out areas for a bolt hole, in case, as was the case, our sanctum on Myrkyr was attacked. Ferus Olin, my former Padawan Jempa and Kina Ha set off in one of our freighters to find a new place for us to stay for the duration of the Vong War. They investigated the Maw as a potential site, however when they discovered Shelter there, they headed in a different direction. But when they did so, they happened upon a small planet and landed to investigate it. After all, there was nothing to say there couldn't be two secret enclaves within the Maw. So they landed...and that is where they found Abeloth. The others they had with them didn't stand a chance. From what we learned, she was far beyond all powers, all recognition, she was too powerful. They were all destroyed within seconds, and the three Jedi didn't stand a chance against her. They were all mercilessly slaughtered, to the last man, even Jempa. It was thanks to him that we knew about her. He used our bond to send me a vision, and ever since then our group has been working tirelessly to try and figure out how to defeat her. We've studied everything we can on her, but aside from a few inconspicuous mentions, we don't know that much about her. We've happened across old mentions, vague rumours in very old texts, but nothing substantial. And now, we're out of time. She is on the move, and her power is growing. We have been led to believe, primarily due to the reference claiming 'the demon of many faces' that she can assume any number of forms, Jempa was definitely killed by Force lightning, in our vision, Ferus was disintegrated, and the Force was ripped from Kina Ha. We do not know the full extent of her powers, but we do know she is the strongest foe we have ever faced, perhaps the strongest foe the galaxy has ever faced. Hence, why we were so desperate to change the timeline. The Second Galactic Civil War left the galaxy too weak to fend her off. Now, we may have a chance. Not much of one, but a chance." He said, finishing his story, and everyone was silent, and Han and Luke, due to their worry, were both combating indigestion.

"This thing is really that strong?" Alema asked, shivering, and if her damaged mind could grasp the situation, things were indeed bad.

Lumiya was looking at K'Kruhk pensively.

"Adas' holocron, it mentions the demon of the dark, and how people were sacrificed to keep it happy. You don't think-?" she asked worriedly.

Jacen looked at her sharply.

"But, Adas was alive nearly thirty thousand years ago." He protested, then looked at K'Kruhk in alarm, who nodded grimly.

"Yes Jacen, she may very well be that ancient. And that bespeaks an awful lot of power."

The room went silent, as even Lumiya saw the seriousness of what they were now dealing with. Abeloth was a threat beyond all of their comprehension, unlike anything they had ever faced before.

"What if, what if the Maw was created to keep her in?" Ben asked worriedly as the thought occurred to him, and they all looked at him worriedly, and when no one answered, he had to suppress a gulp.

"Perhaps, you may be right. The problem is we don't know. We don't know how old she is, or how powerful, all that we know is that the word 'extremely' applies to both. We do not know how many powers she posses or what they can all do, and all we have is the little tidbits we have found before now. Hence, you see the problem."

Mara got up and began collecting the dishes, her brow furrowed.

"Alright, we get it. She's the big bad. But if she is, what's she after, why now? I mean, fair enough Centerpoint is gone but its been gone for three years, so why move now, and after all Centerpoint was out of commission since the First Corellian Insurrection, so what took her so long?"

"Maybe she didn't know." Han suggested, but Jaina shook her head, looking sceptical.

"Oh, she'll have known, if she's been contained that long, she would be trying to escape as often as possible. My guess, I reckon she was waiting for us to exhaust ourselves, and if the war in the other timeline had happened, now would be the perfect time to act...maybe she was somehow unaffected by the timeline, or maybe she knows something we don't, maybe something big is coming, other than her I mean." Jaina theorised, and as one, the entire room turned and looked at Lumiya suspiciously.

"Oh for heaven's sake, I'm not up to anything!" she protested, which was of course a blatant lie, but they didn't need to know that, and after all, she had learned how to guard her thoughts many years before.

Luke frowned at Mara. The Council, in their last report, had indicated that it was getting harder and harder to gaze into the future. As such, the two of them had tried and, as predicted, it had been very difficult to see the future. That could only mean one thing, that the dark side was growing in the galaxy, and although Luke didn't believe for a moment that it had nothing to do with Lumiya, it was too great a darkness and it was growing too quickly to just be her. Something strange was going on, and the dark side was growing in strength by the day. Soon now they would face the same problem Yoda's generation had faced: being totally unable to use the Force to divine the future.

"Perhaps. The problem is we do not know. We must know more before we confront Abeloth, else I fear we shall go to our doom." K'Kruhk said.

Han looked at him sceptically.

"What, you reckon we should hit Obroa-Skai and look in the library?" he asked, but the Whiphid shook his head.

"No, we have already looked there. But there are...things that may be more ancient than the library's records, things that may help us understand our foe more." K'Kruhk said elusively, and Jacen looked at him strangely, then the look on his face turned into a glare.

"That's why you wanted Lumiya to come along isn't it? Because she might know where there are Sith holocrons that might mention Abeloth." Jacen hissed, and both Lumiya and Alema looked at the Jedi in surprise.

"Wait, you actually wanted her to bring holocrons aboard? Are you insane? Considering what happened in the other timeline!" Han yelled, gesturing at Jacen and Mara, both of whom were glaring daggers at K'Kruhk. He looked down ashamedly, refusing to meet their eyes.

"And more to the point, why did you jump in with Luke before I came aboard if you actually wanted me to bring holocrons?" Lumiya demanded irritably.

K'Kruhk sighed and looked at them all.

"I didn't think we needed them at first. But T'ra contacted me and told me that all of the group that went to confront Abeloth were killed, and there were over a dozen Jedi in this group. She told me that if we were to prevail, then we needed to know more. We've already researched as many Jedi holocrons as we had, and even the two Sith ones we have, but the ones we had were too far away, we need more ancient Sith holocrons if we are to find out anything else. As such, that was one of the reasons I wanted Lumiya along, because if there was any way of knowing where such ones are, she would." He said, and they relented, a little, but they did relent.

"I can ask Tionne to look for any information in our Sith holocrons, see if she can see anything." Luke said, but Mara frowned.

"Won't that mean telling her what shes actually looking for? I thought we decided to keep all this quiet for a little bit longer. People tend to panic when we tell them that there's something out there that can destroy the entire galaxy." She pointed out.

Luke nodded, conceding the point.

"True. But Tionne can keep a secret, we'll just tell her to look for stuff on dark side nexuses and other stuff, we don't actually have to tell her. We'll tell them all when we get back to Coruscant." He said, and Mara nodded, though she looked unconvinced.

"What Sith holocrons do you have?" Lumiya asked curiously, and Jaina could see a flicker of greed in her eyes as she asked.

"A few. We've got the Telos holocron, and the Dark holocron, that was found a few months ago by Octa Ramis. We've got some dude called Darth Ramage's holocron as well, and another one but I can't remember who, Darth Ruin rings a bell." Luke said, but then regretted it as he saw the eager expression on Lumiya's face, and the look of envy on that of Alema. While she may not be a Sith, it was clear that such artefacts had a clear calling for her.

"Who do you have Lumiya?" K'Kruhk asked curiously.

"I've got five. Darth Phobos, she might be helpful to try and understand some of Abeloth's powers, because she was said to be able to cast illusions. I have Adas, as I said, and he does hold some reference to her so we can look at him. I've also got Darth Cognus, but I don't know if she'll be of any use, unless you lot want to understand the Rule of Two or why a Sith apprentice doesn't abandon their master. I've got Tulak Hord, one of the ancient Sith, so he might have something on her and I also have Darth Andeddu, who mentions a large collection of books and articles he had collected, a sort of library, and he was around just after the Hundred Year Darkness, he might also be quite good to look at." She said, and everyone else exchanged concerned looks. Lumiya had a little too much Sith knowledge with her for any of their liking, and Luke saw Jacen suppress a shudder.

"Very well. Though I do not like this, or the fact that you have so many holocrons with you and that we're intending to get more, it is I'm afraid a necessary evil. Where do you reckon we should start?" he asked, and Lumiya considered.

"Well, if we went to Prakith and found Andeddu's library, we might be able to use that, and unlike the holocrons, which I'm assuming the kids won't be allowed near, books and scrolls can be looked at by everyone. That could be our best bet. And if not, well I forgot to pack a book and I could do with some bedtime reading." She said mysteriously, and Luke and Mara both tensed.

K'Kruhk looked at Luke, who got a look from his wife and reluctantly nodded.

"Alright, we'll head to Prakith. But for the record, I have a bad feeling about this." Han said, and headed to the cockpit, with Leia following him, her Force presence worried.

As everyone headed off to do their own thing, Jacen glowering at K'Kruhk as he did so, Lumiya smiled. This was perfect. Not only would it enable her to carry on with her plan, and continue to annoy her shipmates, it also meant that she would be able to do something she had always intended to do and collect more Sith knowledge, which would prove incredibly useful for what was to come. And while they didn't know much about Abeloth now, there was every chance they would soon know a lot more.

Yes, everything was going according to plan.

XX

They were all afraid. It wasn't much yet, but the story K'Kruhk had told them of Abeloth's powers had frightened them all. And it was that fear that Lumiya now intended to use against them as her plan began in earnest.

They had all gotten to work, studying the holocrons or trying to figure out stuff about Abeloth from the things K'Kruhk had brought. And it was looking through these things that Lumiya had Ben to herself, and so she began the first of moves in what she knew would prove to be a very long game of dejarik.

"Scared Ben?" she asked with a slight smile, and he gave her a mock glower.

"Scared of something no one has any clue on how to defeat? You bet I am, aren't you?" he asked curiously, as he picked up one of K'Kruhk's books and looked at it appraisingly.

"Slightly. But then, I don't have as much to worry about as you do." She pointed out, thankful for her veil, as it had been years since she had done this sort of thing.

Ben rolled his eyes.

"We won't let anything happen to you Lumiya, if only because you annoy dad and Uncle Han!" he said brightly, and Lumiya smiled.

"That isn't what I meant. What I meant was the fact that you will have your family to consider. You are, after all the youngest out of all of them." She pointed out casually, and Ben looked at her in confusion.

"What has that got to do with anything?" he demanded, looking grumpy as he had some vague idea of where this was going.

"Well you are the baby in the family. Which means all of them will want to protect you, even when it could mean that they are risking themselves. You saw what your mother did on Tatooine. And Jacen and your father won't want anything to happen to you either. All I'm saying..." she said simply, but Ben cut her off, his green eyes narrowed in annoyance.

"I can take care of myself, I don't need them to look after me." He said in a stroppy voice, like a typical teenager.

But, despite saying that, a horrible little bit of his heart knew that she might have a point. His mother had nearly died on Tatooine in an attempt to protect him. He knew full well that his father and Jacen would also probably do the same thing. He knew that meant that they loved him, but after all he was sixteen, he was able to take care of himself. But, what if she was right? They would risk themselves for him, and then it would be his fault if they died, and there would be nothing he would be able to do about it. He would get the people he loved most in the entire galaxy hurt, and he didn't want that. But how could he prove to them that they didn't need to protect him, and that he would be alright? He didn't want to be a liability, and he certainly didn't want to be responsible for getting them hurt. He didn't even want to get Lumiya and Alema hurt, despite Lumiya being a Sith and Alema being as nutty as a squirrel's winter stockpile.

"Your family only wants to protect you Ben, its only natural." Lumiya purred, knowing she was winning.

"I've had enough of this." Ben said angrily, picking up one of the books and stomping to his bunk to read it, and Lumiya smiled, triumph filling her as he walked off.

"Did he buy it?" Alema asked, making Lumiya jump in fright as the nutter stuck her head around the corner.

"Yes, but keep your voice down you asylum reject! You'll give the game away!" she hissed angrily, and Alema hung her head, but there was still a big grin on her face as she skipped into the room.

"Will it work?" she asked excitedly, and Lumiya rolled her eyes in amusement.

"Yes, you barmy fruit bat, of course it will work, that's why I'm doing it and not you, to make sure it will work. It's poetic really. This is the same way Darth Sidious got his grandfather to fall to the dark side. And now...now the Skywalker family history will come full circle. And I will have a new apprentice, one far younger and more powerful than I." Lumiya said, her eyes flashing maliciously.

XX

The Dark Emissary dropped out of hyperspace, far away from the civilised areas of the galaxy, in a place that was considered far away from the Unknown Regions. Hence why she was here, and now things could truly begin.

As her ship cut through the stellar mists that separated the Ssi-Ruuk star cluster off from the rest of the galaxy, Vongerella mused on her plan. As soon as this was done, all would soon be in readiness. Ship wombs had been created in various locations across the Ascendancy and were even now beginning to construct the ships that would eventually house Vong warriors once more, and she would set them loose across the galaxy, and return the Vong and the Sith to dominance in one swift stroke.

There was a reason she was moving now. This was the time when those on Zonama Sekot would still rather return to conflict rather than live out their days in peace, and she was running out of time, hence why she had moved now. Also, with Lumiya and Krayt both plotting, and this mysterious threat that Abeloth presented, the galaxy would soon be looking everywhere but at her. And that would give her the anonymity she needed, the one that would allow her to exact her revenge.

But...she couldn't shake the feeling that she should watch those under her control. The Shamed Ones were restless. Ever since the war had ended, they had been continually pestering her, demanding to know when they would be able to go to Zonama Sekot with their kin. Vongerella had no intention of allowing them to go there, in fact after she had taken the warriors and shapers off of the living planet, she intended to destroy it, as Shimrra should have done in the first place. However, while slaves and by and large dumb, there were a few who knew that they had attacked the Chiss, and would start spreading word that they were breaking the treaty, and even worse disobeying Yun-Yuuzhan. They bore watching.

The ship entered the space of Lwhekk, the capital of the Ssi-Ruuk. During the Vong War, Shimrra and Nas Choka had manipulated the reptilian species with the warrior E'thinaa. He had worked with the Keeramak, a religious idol of the Ssi-Ruuk, to try and bring down Bakura once more. However, when the slave species of the P'w'eck had revolted and killed the Keeramak, all had been derailed. Leaving a power vacuum, the leader of the first attack on Bakura, Ivpikkis, had rallied the disgraced military leaders, had killed the Shreeftut, Conclave and the Elders, the two groups that governed the Imperium, and had installed a military dictatorship, crushing the P'w'eck uprising and regaining control of Ssi-Ruuk society.

Ever since then, with a military government ruling the entire star cluster, they had been building up their power for years, and were prepared to strike. And now, Vongerella had to convince them to act with her.

The space around Lwhekk itself was filled with Shree cruisers, the skull like ships that the Ssi-Ruuk used as their mainstay weapons of choice. Sending out messages of truce, the ship was allowed to approach, though she knew full well that the lizards had her in their sights, and that at least some knew of the Vong involvement in the collapse of their last offensive. However, ignoring this, she summoned her warriors and took a yorik-trema to the planet.

Lwhekk was a jungle world, with deep vibrant colours of green jutting up everywhere. However, there were aspects of yellows and smoke, citing volcanoes and steam vents, which pleased her. It was quite like the world Belkadan was now actually, humid and warm at the same time, but also hardy in its own way.

The cities were spire like structures, as if they were made of swirls of candy, all deep reds and blues. Her ship hurtled on downwards, travelling through the graceful, twisted spires of the capital city and approaching the Cree'n'aak Palace, the seat of government for the Ssi-Ruuk and former residence of the Shreeftut and now the home of Ivpikkis and the other members of his military dictat. Vongerella had to admit that they had done well to rebuild their cities after a Chiss offensive, led by Admiral Ar'alani, had flattened their society forty years before.

Walking boldly from her ship, flanked by two of her warriors, she came to the landing pad. She saw no red lizards there, meaning that she was to be taken to the Admiral. A blue Ssi-Ruu stepped forward and inclined his head slightly, one of the politicians caste.

"We welcome you to our humble world. Though we do not know your reason here, we hope your presence here will be fruitful for all." He said with his forked tongue.

"Thank you. Take me to your leader. And I don't care that it's a cliché." She said, earning her a siss of amusement from a few green lizards, the worker caste, who had come to observe her arrival.

Their guide was silent as he led them through the halls, passing Ssi-Ruu of all colours as they travelled. It was rather like travelling through a system of caves. The walls were like natural stone, but had been whittled to ensure stripes, representing each caste, ran along it, with the red at the top. Vongerella mused that before the takeover, blue had probably been the top stripe. The corridors were dark, yet somehow they also seemed to be well lit, as lights on the floor lit the way, but nothing came from above.

Eventually they came to a pure white staircase, and Vongerella was pleased that her warriors were Vong. Anyone else would have squirmed. The stairs up to the throne room had been ripped up fairly recently, and now they were a bright dazzling white...having once been bone, probably the bones of the Conclave, Elders and anyone else the Admiral had had executed.

They entered the throne room, a vast, cavernous affair, with a red Imperium emblem embossed on the floor. Facing the door was a semi circular table, and at the centre of this table was Ivpikkis. A hero, he had redeemed himself for the defeat at Bakura all those years ago by managing to actually force off Ar'alani and her fleet a few months later, sparing Lwhekk from total destruction. Since then he had been a hero, and his actions in bringing order to the disturbed society had earned him a place in the immortality of history.

"Greetings Ivpikkis, saviour of the Ssi-Ruuk." She said, bowing respectfully and waiting for him to beckon her forward, which he did a few seconds later.

"You endanger us all Vong. If anyone were to see your ship arrive who did not belong here, you would bring death to us all." He growled, and Vongerella smiled.

"Technically, it would be your fault Admiral. You allowed me to approach on terms of truce. Your curiosity got the better of you." She pointed out, and his yellow eyes narrowed as he surveyed her.

"Well I must agree, I am curious to what a defeated species is doing with a warship they are not allowed to have, and even more curious to know why you are here." He said, looking at her suspiciously.

Vongerella smiled.

"My dear Admiral, I am here, to propose, a pairing." She said, and the lizard looked at her curiously.

"An alliance? We allied with your kind once before..."

"And look how beneficial it was in the long run Admiral, you are now the ruler of the entire Imperium. It can't have been all bad." She reasoned, and Ivpikkis smiled slightly, his fangs showing.

"True. What is this pairing you propose?" he asked, wishing to know why she would risk travelling all this way, and certain death, just to put something to him.

Vongerella clasped her hands behind her back.

"The galaxy is on the edge of a knife. The Galactic Alliance is distracted, its vision is drawn elsewhere. Slavery and piracy are keeping their gaze averted from the true threats. Our hated enemy, the Jedi," she said, and a Ssi-Ruu leered at her, black in colour, one of the assassins.

"You wear the weapon of the hated Jedi." He sneered, and it took all of Vongerella's control not to crush him with the Force.

"I am not a Jedi. I am a Dark Lord of the Sith!" she spat furiously, and the assassin backed off, making the dictat laugh.

"Silence warrior." One of the generals snapped, eager to hear what she had to say.

"As I was saying, the Jedi are distracted. Their youth are going mad, and as such, the galaxy is looking elsewhere. And that isn't the best news." She said triumphantly, as she could feel excitement stirring among the members.

"It isn't? Our enemies distracted, the Jedi distracted, the Empire and Hapans too far away, what could be better?" a yellow scientist lizard called, and Vongerella smiled.

"The Ascendancy is in ruins." She said, and an almighty clamouring broke out as everyone started talking at once.

There was then a loud, clicking bray and they all looked to Ivpikkis as he settled back into his chair.

"Well, that certainly is game changing news. But Vong detest technology. Why would you wish to work with us?" he sneered, and Vongerella smiled winningly.

In all reality, given a choice, she would rather not work with them. But, they were necessary for her plan to succeed, and they were useful warriors. And with this side of the galaxy distracted by a resurgent Ssi-Ruuk threat, and the Chiss defeated and kept under control by the Vagaari, it meant that she could rebuild her war machine that much quicker and then set the Vong loose on the galaxy once again. But, he did have a point, and she knew that their reliance on technology would sour the warriors and the rest of her forces to working with them, so perhaps it was good that by and large it would only be her who dealt with them.

"Admiral, I am not above putting aside a few little niggles for the sake of defeating our enemies. Isn't the chance to destroy the Alliance greater than our respective cultural beliefs?" she asked, and the braying started again, but it was different this time, it was the others in the room, excitement was flooding the Force...as was bloodlust.

This was a nation spoiling for a war. Ivpikkis studied the Vong woman. While his advisers, scientists, religious mystics and others had been telling him for ages that a war was needed in order to cement the power of his regime (not that there were many left who could challenge it), he wasn't so sure. Certainly, the Imperium was ready for war. There were hundreds of Shree cruisers across the Imperium, and all of them could go at a moment's notice. And while he didn't doubt that the galaxy was ripe for an attack, or that the Ascendancy was defeated, he just had a bad feeling about her. However, she had known what she was doing. She had convinced everyone else, and if he refused, he would lose power, if not his life. But, he still couldn't shake the feeling...the feeling that she didn't really want to ally with them, and that she was merely using them for her own ends. He would have to watch her.

"Very well my lady, come with me to my quarters...and we shall discuss our new alliance." He said, and the room broke into victorious cheering.

And Vongerella, facing him, smiled triumphantly, but Ivpikkis knew that this was a triumph only for her and not for him.

XX

It was a small, desolate patch of ground. Far removed from the centre of government, in the very outback of Lwhekk, was a small religious group. When Ivpikkis had assumed control of the government, many of the golden scaled religious sect had been forced out, and many more had followed when it became clear exactly what the aged old Admiral was up to, and they had soon been joined by yellow, green and brown skins. Now, this small colony held around a thousand Ssi-Ruuk, and around the same number of P'w'eck, all of them hidden by virtue of the fact that none of their buildings were over two stories high and hence couldn't be seen in a flyover.

It was a good thing too. If Ivpikkis knew all of this lot were here, he wouldn't hesitate to blast them off the face of the planet. And even better for the fact that they were hidden were the three ships they had created in order to escape should the time come. And now, G'nikoh felt that that time was drawing closer all the time.

He had been a member of the Conclave, and he had been one of the two to escape. However, during the P'w'eck revolt, a blast had gone off, taking the other out and scarring his flank and blowing off his tail. Despite that, he was now the leader of this colony, and feared that they would soon have to abandon their homeworld. Ivpikkis had just allied with a Yuuzhan Vong Sith Lord, two of the things the Alliance hated most. According to his agent, they had already agreed to attack Bakura, once again risking all to try and take that paltry world. And now the gears of war were moving. The galaxy was changing, and the Vong woman was using them to fight her battles for her. Ivpikkis knew this, but he felt his hands were tied, and he was going to make the most of that situation. G'nikoh knew they were in trouble. War with the outside galaxy never ended well, and when the Vong were involved, things were even worse. Defeats they could handle, but the total revolution of society was a little hard to cope with twice in the same millennium. But the point was, before the revolt, the Conclave had decreed that there would be no more wars with the Alliance. And now, that was being disputed. It was time to leave.

Perhaps, if war with Bakura was in the offing, they could leave the planet and live in peace. Or, if that is what it took to stop war, do something even more drastic.

"Start moving the supplies into the ships, and begin dismantling the shelters. As soon as Ivpikkis leaves, we too take to the skies. And we shall see what the rest of the galaxy thinks of us." He said wearily, hoping that the course of action he was contemplating would never come true as a storm rolled in above him, and the heavens opened.

Well hello again!

It's been some time but here is the latest chapter of Fate of the Force. And I know, the main plot as in our heroes vs Abeloth didnt do much in this chapter, but next time they return in full force as does an elusive Sith Lord...

The Ascendancy has been smashed but Aralani lives, there is hope yet. But, Vongerella has allied with both the Vagaari and the Ssi-Ruuk, which cant mean anything good as we know. What will this mean?

Another Jedi in the head basket, the pirates and slavers uniting, a return of the Wraiths, slavery on the decline, the galaxy is heating up! Events are on the move, and to top it all of the mysterious Cronal has returned. Shouldnt he be dead by now? All shall be revealed in the fullness of time! But lets just say that there isnt anything the Dark Lady of the Sith cannot turn to her advantage...

So until next time, please read and review!