The Galactic Exodus Chronicles Part 2 :The Galactic Civil War

by Lord Exar Kun

Now with the rebels dealt a mighty blow, and the renegade Moffs about to strike, the galaxy finds itself moving closer and closer to full blown war! The Galactic Civil War is about to be unleashed upon an unsuspecting galaxy, and this is not the war you remember in the least. Follow Exar Kun, Darth Vader, Leia, the Emperor, and everyone else through this next chapter of the GEC.

44. Chapter 44

Chapter 44

(General POV)

The mainly oceans covered world of Dornea was alight with the drums of war. The small pockets of landmasses were under siege by an enemy the Dornean people did not expect. It was not the Moffs, nor the Imperial, but the URM who demanded they align, pick a side, or otherwise relinquish self determination and be recognized as enemies to the URM, and the push for peace. The Dorneans, being assured in their naval power and ability to defend their world as they had from the Galactic Empire, blatantly stood in defiance of the URM military commander, Kellia Nelrain, who smilingly ordered her number two, Jodo Kast, to take his special operations squad and an army and naval attack force numbering a total of a hundred and seventeen to Dornea to teach these 'anarchists,' as labeled by Kellia a lesson in propriety for the need for galactic peace by any and all means.

The URM fleet unlike the Imperials before it laid waste to the pitiful Dornean fleet above their world. Droid Tri-fighters and Vultures swarmed over the small capital ships of the people, and the Lucrehulks massive quad-cannons destroyed some ships alone, let alone the massive Munificent and Recusant main battle force baring down upon them. When the fleet was out of the way, Commander Kast and his...quite unique team of ex-fellow bounty hunters landed and ordered the field droid commander to launch full frontal assault upon the Dornean defense forces and their rather lax army, while he and his team went behind enemy lines into the main square, and in no time their target, the Chairmen and leader of the Dornean people, and the Dornean military. The Dorneans were after all renowned for their defensive capabilities, but against the droids of the URM and the elite team of Jodo Kast there can nor would there be any victory for the Dorneans.

Kast had assembled an odd but highly capable bunch, and today was to be their first mission to prove their worth to Kellia Nelrain. There was Lt. Terran Nekk, also referred to as Crash. A tall, very Muscular Zabrak Male in the mid thirties range of life, and the resident heavy weapons specialist with an assortment of weapons being: Clone Wars-Era Z-6 Rotary Blaster cannon, Trandoshan ScatterGun, DL-44 Heavy Blaster, a wide variety of Thermal Detonators, toxic gas grenades, and Sonic Screamer Grenades, and one Vibrodagger.

Next on the roster is, Private First Class Vila Zaran aka Shadow. The Youngest of the aptly named 'Kast's Kommandos,' is a twenty year old Human Female, and the Sniper and infiltration specialist. Her Arms: E-17d Sniper Rifle with Target Painter Modifications, DL-44 Heavy Blaster, Smoke and Concussion grenades, Stealth-Field Generator, and one Vibroblade.

Thirdly is, Corporal Braden Zolk also oddly referred to as 'Boom Boom.' A thirty-three year old Weequay Male, and the Demolitions expert. His Arsenal containing: Golan Arms HH-15 Rocket/Projectile Launcher (Modified to fire two missiles in rapid succession) DL-44 Heavy Blaster, 3 Detpacks, 6 Trip mines, 4 Thermal Detonators, and Vibrodagger.
The fourth member being, Sargent Slavodan Trayynorr simply called Sly, is a twenty-five year old Mirialan Male, and the Combat Medic. Sly's Equipment: T-28 Light Repeater Rifle, DL-44 Heavy Blaster, one Vibrodagger, and Standard Combat Medical Kit.

The fifth 'Kommando' is, Lt. Dorian Jenkins aka Slicer is a thirty-two year old Human Male, and the Melee, Hand-to-Hand specialist. A survivor of the Dubrava massacre as well, and seemingly the closest in terms of background to Jodo himself. Slicer's armament: one Force Pike, two Mandalorian Vibrodaggers, Flash-bang grenades, and one DL-44 Heavy Blaster.

The final, and sixth member of this seven member team, a one Private 3rd class Mikela Xen aka Gearhead is a twenty-two year old Cathar Female, and the Engineer/Tech Expert of the Squad. Gearhead's Equipment: T-28 Light Repeater Rifle, DL-44 Heavy Blaster, Hand-held Digital Scanner/Hacking Spike, two EMP disruptor Grenades, Portable Shield generator, and a Vibrodagger.

To say the least the team is a mixed and unique bag of members, with Kast himself at the head, after he recruited them each from Nar Shaddaa. All of them needing an outlet for their abilities, and all of them seeking a bit more out of life besides hunting down criminals for Hutt credits, or maybe Black-Sun if they wanted a bit of difference. Jodo Kast was a new opportunity for each, and Nelrain was something of a celebrity in the Outer-Rim with her power plays and they were all in a manner attracted to her power, that was becoming obvious to all was outclassing the criminal enterprises.

So among the grassy swamped in capital city of Dornea as rain pelted at the few spires and buildings within, Kast's Kommandos moved along an alleyway as in the far distance the sounds of war consumed all, and the blare of AA fire exploded at times from the capital.

(Dominus Sector, Dornea, Tree weeks after the battle of Minntooine)

"Tracking...Vila, I have three Dorneans on the right balcony. Take them down quick and quiet at the next blast of AA fire and they should be out of sight when they drop."

"Got it." Vila confirmed as she banked her E-17d Sniper Rifle to her right and set its sights on the two purple aliens. She took in a breath and released, and repeated before taking her two shots with calm and coolness as the nearest AA gun blew off at incoming Vulture droids and with an unheard crack through the rain two green bolts zipped through the air and slammed into the heads of the aliens, and they fell behind a hidden balcony wall. "Both targets neutralized, captain."

"Excellent. Crash, Boom-Boom, move up on me." Jodo commanded with a wave of his hand in forward position with the Zabrak and Weequay both silently nodding and moving as Jodo, still crouched, moved forward through the rain as the streets of the city were empty save for some patrol droids of their own, and the three moved across the street from their alleyway and into another with Vila covering them the entire time. Jodo reached the new alley and immediately turned and covered both of his fellow men as they followed in behind him, and across the street he saw Sly, Slicer and Gearhead mount the wall of the alley as Vila kept higher elevated aim from a hiked position atop the adjacent building and banked her sniper around.

"Hold...three patrol droids moving east." Vila commed to all and everyone dropped lower as the droid went from left to right from Kast's position. They were ugly bloated droids that were built with bulky metal chassis and had two yellow photoreceptors and bulky Dornean made blasters that lankly walked through the streets as the very last line of defense, and when they rounded the street and left sight Kast motioned for the others to move and all of them raced across the street as rain pelted them all, and Vila kept vigilant aim on their surroundings.

"Alright, nice and quiet. Just the way I like it." Jodo commented as he pressed past his team huddled away in the alleyway as he moved to the opposite side of the alley and took a log hard look at their target. A large square building with ascending floor that narrowed and got smaller towards the top. Surrounded by Dornean regulars and droids, heavy repeater emplacements and sharpshooters on the roof on separate levels.

"So uh...what're we doin' here again?" Jodo rolled his eye at the unnecessarily broken street thug basic of Boom-Boom and turned to his team.

"I thought I made it clear thrice over by now!" He whispered but it was a very loud and annoyed whisper as everyone looked a bit still out of their element except for Slicer on this field of battle. Even though they were miles beyond the front-lines.

"Alright look, this will be the last time I say this. Across the street there is a heavily guarded facility, also known as the Dornean military command center, slash, capital building. Inside is the Dornean leader they call a Chairmen, by the name of Ballo Reace. Now your new boss and my new boss, Kellia Nelrain, y'know the leader of the armies of the URM, has ordered this particular fat Dornean dead, and so we'll do as ordered. A clean breach of the building, a bit of well placed explosives, sniper on this roof, close knit team ready for a healthy firefight, and we'll do just fine." Jodo eased and everyone nodded along with Vila eyeballing the building to their collective right.

"If I can get to the floor below the rooftop I can provide good cover on you guys as you advance."
"I'll go with her and provide cover, and quick reaction support." Slicer volunteered and held his blaster close and ready with Jodo nodding his agreement.

"Alright, that means Boom-Boom, Gearhead, Crash, and Sly you're with me, and better keep on me close if you all wanna get though this alive, and on the shortlist for fame and glory the galaxy around!" Jodo said and Crash rolled his eyes but brought up his massive Z-6 Rotary Blaster cannon, and Kast moved aside to allow him to the front and beside him as they readied to move, with Vila and Slicer heading into the building next to them through a side entrance.

"Alright then, Boom-Boom, take that lovely cannon of yours and on my mark, and my mark alone, fire a round off into the building away from our point of entrance and distract them. Crash, you run up and cover my, Gearhead, and Sly's approach to the building with that blaster cannon and form up after we cross."
"Got it." Crash replied as Jodo commed in to Vila. "Vila when in position and after you hear a blast you snipe down any of them Dorneans you see rushing at the blasted out section. Draw them to that region and out of our hair, but be sure to cover our move in."
"Gotcha captain." Vila replied seeming a little breathless as Jodo figured Vila and Slicer were moving through the building and up fast.

"We're good then. Hold until Vila reaches her position." Jodo ordered with a lowering gesture with his still gloved hand as the Mandalorian armored man peered back across the street as the Dorneans looked very uncomfortable with the sound of battle screaming in the distance, with AA guns firing randomly at passing over droid ships. The rain began to ease some but there was still a steady drop of rain that mutely pelted his and his teams armor pieces, with Sly letting out a very muted cough and everyone turned to look at the Mirialan male who looked between them all.

"What? You know the cold rain is still not the most healthiest of places to be in a combat environment right? So I had a cough, give me a break!" Everyone groaned as the field medic of theirs tended to be a bit...of a hypochondriac, and Jodo waved him off, "Whatever you say Sly. Just keep it down for now."

"Copy that sir." Sly retorted with sarcasm rich in his voice and Jodo smirked behind his mask as he slung up his heavy blaster carbine that he had custom made long ago to be a replica of Boba Fett's. As he decided to rather use his Blastech J3-E left handed blaster rifle.

"I'm at a good high point captain Kast. Slicer has my six covered. I'm ready for target acquisition at your command." Jodo nodded to himself and motioned for Boom-Boom to move up and the Weequay, crouching, made his way a bit ahead of Kast and Crash with the quiet Gearhead and Sly still hanging back some.

"Now you take your shot along...there!" Jodo pointed toward a cluster of four heavily armed Dornean guards, three droids, a repeater nest, and barricades as it was nearer to the western facing entrance. "Crash form up, Sly, Gearhead on me. Alright, Boom-Boom on my mark. Three, two, one...fire!" Jodo ordered and the Weequay chortled as he hiked up his cannon and fired the projectile cracked through the air and all the Dorneans and droids turned just as the projectile came flying into them and blew the desired cluster apart, and the screams of pain and horror coming from the Dorneans as the bodies and droid parts went flying.

"Crash move!"

"With pleasure." The Zabrak said smilingly and brought up his rapid fire cannon and ran into the street as Dornean guards began firing on him, but he aimed up and fired into the upper level aliens who fell in croaks of alien death cries, as the sound of a blaster sniper rifle sounded and flew into the heads of the upper level Dorneans and Crash laughed and aimed down to the Dornean ground level sentries running up on him or taking up defensive positions behind barricades and cement blocks around the building, as Boom-Boom fired another round off into the upper levels and sent rubble flying as the whole region exploded in fire. The city alarms sounded and soon they would have the reserves on their backsides, and Jodo knew that all too well.

"Sly, Gearhead move now, and stay behind me!" Jodo ordered and both the Cathar and Mirialan bowed their heads and moved forward and immediately fired into the Dornean lines, and brought down at least two of the aliens with clear head shots, while Jodo fired his rifle in shots of two. Two bolts was all he needed and he fired upwards, hitting a Dornean in the arm and chest. He rolled aside and missed a flurry of shots and fired eight bolts into the oncoming Dorneans, and hit and killed four. He came up beside Crash who was smiling and firing his rapid fire cannon into the crowds of Dorneans and their own security droids as the odd sniper bolt would fly through the air and hit a Dornean here and there.

Jodo crouched and fired precision shots into a stone column where two of the pudgy aliens were hiding behind and taking shots at him. With four of their droids slowly moving in on him from the same position.

"Gearhead!" The Cathar fired a flurry of repeating bolts down the opposite end of the street to the east and a Dornean was ripped into and fell dead, before she silently acknowledged her commander.

"Need an EMP grenade over here." She bowed her head and snatched one off her belt and through it to Jodo, who grabbed, activated it at once, and threw it at the incoming droids and watched the grenade blow and send streams of electricity flowing through the droids, and he pulled out his carbine and fired a successive and loud rapid burst of fire into the group and shredded into the walking metal things. Behind his mask Kast smirked, but was quickly sent to reeling as a bolt hit his left shoulder pad, but he was otherwise uninjured.

"Vila, cover me!" Jodo activated his jetpack and in an eye catching display he flew up and hovered in mid air before firing random bouts of streaming blaster bolts into further back Dorneans who cried and yelled orders to each other. Snipe shots came through and slammed into head after head, with ever Dornean hit sent flying back with a hard thump. Kast grabbed both his carbine and rifle in one hand each and couldn't help but laugh behind his Mandalorian mask as he fired hard and heavy bouts of bolts into a large group of Dorneans huddling near to the side of the building leading to the entrance and hit swathes of them in random and chaotic regions across their fleshy and pudgy bodies, and saw their flesh burn and singe with every hit, as Boom-Boom noticed his move, the Weequay snatched up his canon and took aim on the exposed south wall to the building which faced them.

"Get clear!" He commed over their channel and everyone in the street or above it in Jodo's case quickly jumped, or rolled, or flew away as three cannon projectiles streamed through the air and slammed into the building and sent rubble, and stone bits flying back and out. Jodo hovered in the air as blaster bolts, and especially those from Crash could be seen flying through the smoke, and was happy to see a section of wall now fully exposed with Dorneans inside sprawled about dead or hurt.

"Heads up captain, I have a Dornean tank moving in fro our east along the main road." Jodo turned around in air and saw what Vila told him and there rolling on two long sets of heavy but old looking tank wheeling was a massive mounted gun that aimed in on him of all people and with wide eyes he flew aside when a massive cannon blast flew out and slammed into a further away and taller building sending rubble flying out and away.

"We're being swarmed! Corporal!" Jodo called Boom-Boom by his rank and the Weequay fired off several rounds for his standard heavy blaster and looked to his captain and answered the comms. "Yes captain?"

"Cover us on that tank! Crash, Gearhead and Sly get your backsides into the breach now!" The Weequay laughed a hoarse laugh and yanked up his cannon and slammed his body against the opposite wall of the alleyway and flung around to his left and around the corner and took aim on the tank as it aimed at Jodo again who spun in air aside from another blast before Boom-Boom fired all six shots he had in the cannon into the tank that took the first two and then successively blew apart with the last four and the demolitions expert cried in joy at the sight. "I love my job! Woo-hoo!"

"Calm it Corporal and get read to hold your position!" Jodo called as Crash sidestepped along the street in front of Sly and Gearhead as they ran for the breach.

"Vila, Slicer, cover Zolk while he continues to have fun on ground level. We snuff the Chairmen and bail afterwords. Shouldn't take but a few minutes."
"Copy that captain." The woman replied and fired an immediate shot into a Dornean and sent the carcass flinging backwards. Jodo huffed a laugh at the sight, and with another blast of his carbine into a Dornean crowd and downing another three he flew to the side and into the breach where Crash was already firing a crazy bout of blaster bolts down the hall they were no occupying with Sly and Gearhead aiming up a stairwell as three Dorneans fired from behind the side of the upper stairwell. Jodo ran up and past them much to their wide eyed shock and he extended his arm out up at them and when they bolted around they were met with a sudden blast of immense heat as Jodo's flamethrower scorched them and they screamed out croaks of horror in their alien tongue. Jodo smirked at their fall. Not that he enjoyed burning them to death per say, but when you try to shoot at him and his first then you were open season to Kast. Though Jodo laughed as he mused on the fact he technically shot first...but who cares about such small details eh?

"Karking hells captain that stinks!" Gearhead, the usually quiet Cathar woman with a heavy accent declared and brought a hand to her nose. With Sly immediately grabbing a tube and pouring some white cream into his hand and running it under his nose to repel the smell, so to speak. He handed it to both Gearhead and Crash but Crash waved him off as they all got a moments reprieve while they could hear Zolk outside firing o cannon fire like the mad Weequay that he was with Vila's sniper shots and what sounded like what may have been Slicer's DL-44 heavy blaster sounding off possibly as support from the same place Vila was set up.

"Get used to it, death stinks. Now form up, the Chairmen is up at the top level. Would be safer if they had a basement or something but no one ever said these guys were smart, just good at defense." Jodo said aloud and his teammates followed behind him as Crash tended to his cannon. "Actually Crash you stay down here and draw off their attacks. Me, Sly and Gearhead can handle this."
"Gotcha boss." Crash smirked and spun back around with his blaster cannon pointed back down the hall and much to his joy a team of Dornean security soldiers came around a corner and he fired a massive stream of blue bolts into the crowd who were shredded and cried their death cries before falling over singed and very much dead.

Jodo and his two team-members ascended the stairway and stepped around or over the dead ans burning bodies of Jodo's kills as their stinking burnt carcasses filled the air and their black burnt skin smoked from heat causing Gearhead to hold her mouth as she passed them by even though she had the cream under her nose and Sly pushed past her. As the other four members did their part and caused havoc across the area Jodo led his two mates up the stairway but threw them back as he spotted a barricade lined with Dornean shooters on the next level hall who fired a them wildly the second they noticed Jodo and his team. Their bolts slammed into the opposite wall and Kast and his team noticed the bolts shred into the wall.

"Gearhead, give me a det, Sly, when I toss and it bow, you and me round the corner and take them out. Gearhead you toss in a second after we do the dirty work and mop em up."
"Copy captain." Both said and Gearhead pulled out two dets and handed one to Jodo. The armored man waited some time more as the bolts from the Dorneans fired endlessly for some time more. A seconds pause in the shooting was all he needed and without a second thought he tossed the detonator around the corner waiting for the blasts sound and shock, and when it blew he smirked as he heard a couple of the aliens scream and sound as if they flew through the air.

"Now!" Jodo and a smiling Sly turned the corner and through the smoke, bent walls, and twisted metal and blow stone from the opposite wall they fire their rifles into the downed Dorneans who jerked wildly as they were shot and limply fell dead as Jodo sniped every body, or even piece of body he could see to ensure no one was getting back up soon. Sly too up crouched position and fired into a few staggering Dornean aliens holding their bleeding ears and watched them fall hard and fast as Gearhead rolled around the corner and tossed her second det that blew the section again and sent more aliens flying and Jodo threw up a halt sign and both of them paused.

"Nice work, keep moving." Jodo charged ahead with the two following closely behind with Gearhead practically running backwards and watching their rears.

"Captain, an ETA to your primary objective would be appreciated. We're getting swamped with a full battalion of Dornean reservists and Boom-Boom is out of his cannon projectiles." Vila asked and Jodo cursed.

"Ten maybe fifteen minutes out until primary objective fulfilled. Hold positions at all costs, take weapons of the dead if need be but hold your lines."
"Copy, will do." The sound of fire suddenly intensified outside and Sly ran toward an intact window as the turned right at the opposite wall where the Dornean guards had been and could see a column of Dornean security forces racing into the street, and he sent Jodo a frown, causing the ma to push Sly aside and look out.

"Kriff! Vila, you got a whole column more coming in on your position...I have an idea, hold your positions!"
"Still copy!" She yelled back over a monstrous bout of blaster fire that even had Jodo reeling back.

"Field commander Jodo calling in, to ship Magnificence of the URM fleet above Dornea. I and my team are deep behind enemy lines and normal aircraft is unlikely to penetrate Dornean AA gun grid. I'm calling in high velocity Tri-fighter dive run!"

"Copy commander, air-wing on its way, mark your coordinates." The B1 battle droid asked and Jodo nodded to himself as he pulled out a small beacon, and shot out the window and sent glass flying outward and with a hard and precise throw he hurled the beacon out the window to the Dornean lines running in. One Dornean heard something fall by his feet and looked down to see a blinking small circular device with a flexible wobbly antenna atop the device and he turned it over and looked it over, before it dawned on him and he looked up and heard the wind screech as a fast falling wing of Tri-fighters spun so fast through the air and twirled away from enemy AA fire that they easily got in their shots and great cannon blasts of red laser fire slammed into the column and the Dorneans went flying and blowing away. A few advancing tanks were hit several times and blew apart, with surrounding buildings taking collateral with stone and ripped metal flinging outward and into the streets, with some Tri-fighters finally being hit and taking suicide dives into Dornean platoons. The fighters that weren't down banked hard up and zipped through then streets and began their re-ascent into the air away from the city and inside the building Jodo smirked a wide smile indeed at the sight with Sly whistling appreciatively with Gearhead watching intently, and the aftermath of the close air support run left the city momentarily silent, but then Vila fired another sniper shot and blaster fire erupted once more on both sides.

"Thanks for the assist captain." Vila called over the comm. "Copy that Vila." Jodo then motioned for his two team members to follow once more and he scooped up his carbine as his team grabbed their rifles and followed behind in a slightly hunched-over position along their left side to the wall of the building.

They banked around another corner and saw three guards setting up a repeater nest and Jodo made a gesture for his team to drop low and silent as the guards faced the other direction away from Jodo and his team. He made a simple show of commands and pointed Sly to kill the one to the far right, with Gearhead going for the left one and he took center and they silently nodded, lined up their sights, and with a three, two, one finger countdown by Jodo they all fired at once and every guard fell over dead with a bolt to their heads.

"Great kills." Jodo complimented and Gearhead smirked a feral grin like her Cathar nature and Sly smirked as they moved forward again. They stayed relatively crouched as Jodo led them with his random cloak piece flowing behind him and his carbine held close. They advanced further into the hall and found themselves at a divide between left and right, and Jodo sneered behind his mask as he though it over and snatched up a holo-projector of the building schematics acquired from intelligence.

"Alright we head...right...yeah right." Jodo said more to himself and missed the cocked brow looks his two team members gave one another but they followed his lead as he led them down the right hall. As they moved forward they came a left turn and hall, where Jodo stuck his head around and just caught five Dornean guards and three droids at a stairway leading up to a single one door, where at the door was two automated turrets, and two more guards.

"Damn, well I think I know where the Chairmen is."
"What's the plan captain?" Gearhead whispered as the three of them huddled in around the corner, and Jodo hung his head seemingly in thought. "Here's what I got. Gearhead toss em another two EMP grenades and aim for the turrets and droids...obviously, Sly you and me roll around catch em off-guard, and gun em, then we roll to the opposite wall there." He nudged his head to the opposite corner leading into the hall and Sly nodded.

"Gearhead, you give them some fire and cover us, I'll give them a bit of a surprise too." Jodo pointed to his jetpack's one rocket and Sly smirked.

"Alright, Gearhead move up." The Cathar nodded and peered around the corner as the guards looked around in paranoia and yet missed her, and she smiled her wicked feline smile, and pulled out her two EMP grenades she had left and activated them both in her hands and flung herself around and threw both of them and the guards all jumped at the sight of her and opened fire like madmen, and she flung back behind the corner and the EMP's blew and the droids began violently shaking as electricity encased their fatter chassis and the turrets also were hit with the shocks and began smoking as the Dorneans got some electrical shocks but were okay, but then both Jodo and Sly rolled around the corner and fired large successive blaster bolts into the guards, and two of the Dorneans were hit and fell down still shooting. Jodo ducked down hard and fired off the missile from his back and slammed into the droids and blew them all sky high and had the other guards docking for cover. Then as they rolled to the other side Gearhead flung; still crouched, around the corner and fired two precise bolts and killed two more in brilliant display with one left, all three fired in on him and the horrified Dornean cried in terror and dropped his baster but the bolts still hit and riddled his body and threw him back to the floor with his head hitting the stairway, dead.

"Damn...what a mess." Sly said as he approached the fallen aliens a furrowed and narrowed look about his face as his medical ethics no doubt weighed heavy on the Mirialan.
"Necessary and efficient Sly." Jodo retorted and pushed passed both Gearhead and Sly with carbine in both hands and he jumped up the small stairs two steps at once, and reached a heavily fortified metal security door.

"Looks like old permacrete to me captain. I got something that could blast through that." Jodo nudged his head to the door and Gearhead jumped at the opportunity to aid in blowing something up, and the Cathar crouched and mounted a detonator controlled explosive of some kind and she stuck it to the door before backing up and away with both Sly and Jodo backing off as well quickly.

"Fire in the whole?" She asked with a toothy grin and Jodo snickered a very breathy laugh and nodded with Sly covering his ears, and the explosive blew in inward blast that impacted the permacrete with enough force to puncture straight through and create a gap large enough for two Jodo's to walk through.

"Cover me, both of you!" Jodo ran forward with his rifle and carbine at the ready in both hands and jumped through the breach and trough the smoke and immediately gunned down four Dornean guards his visor indicated for him, with Sly running in and firing hard left and Gearhead doing so for the right, and killed two more guards, and Jodo fired down into a large pile of thrown back Dornean guards and they stopped moving, and before them Jodo found a one Dornean standing behind a desk with a disdain filled look in his eyes as he bore into the three and the battle outside still raged and the main war battle was raging in holographic form before the Chairmen, Ballo Reace.

"Greetings Chairmen Reace. I'm your benefactor this day, the name is Kast, Jodo Kast, and I gotta say you made this a bit too easy for me and my team."

"It was an unintended action I can assure you..mercenary."
"Ooh, that hurts, that really does, because I prefer Bounty Hunter." Jodo laughed as he trained in his blaster pistol on the alien and closed in on him.

"I second that notion! I am no merc." Sly added with a smile, and Gearhead rolled her diamond cat eyes.

"Forgive my distinction, but in all honesty I don't much care, you are all no better than assassins, and here to end me and my ability to lead and save my peoples."
"If your people being massacred in the streets and attacked by endless, and trust me they're endless, streams of battle droids with no hope of defense then yeah you will be missed." Jodo added with snark that his helmet amplified with a laugh, and the other two snickered a bit and the alien frowned deeper.

"Then kill me and be done with it." Jodo sighed behind his mask and cocked his head to the side.

"I suppose it'll have to do then. Goodnight Reace, it was a pleasure taking your life and adding a mark for the greater good and the team. Night, night." Kast mocked him and in surprising speed he steadied his blaster pistol and fired a single red bolt into the Chairman's head and it flung back, followed by his body and he was dead.

"How very...uh, very...-"

"Anti-climactic?" Gearhead asked with a light nudge to Sly whose eyes brightened. "Yeah yeah that's it! An anti-climax! Nice catch." Sly laughed and Gearhead rolled her eyes again as Jodo rounded the table and took a holo of the body for insurance purposes and sent the data via hypercomm to Kellia. Then he accessed the dead fools console and found himself fully able to send orders.

"Hmm, let's see. A retreat on this flank, and exposed forward command center to the front, reroute militia force to the front and all veterans go to the exposed and weakened walls and with that said they'll maybe get that these orders are bogus in a few hours hopefully and we're done people." Jodo announced and his two team members nodded happily but the noise of approaching footsteps had them turn and fire into the breach and they heard Dorneans falling, and firing back.

"Ah karking hells!" Jodo yelled and fired back as well. "Damn it all Crash how'd they get passed you?!"
"Sorry cap, they pushed me back after my cannon finally ran out of juice! I'm pinned on the same floor by advancing droids!" Jodo heard the fire raging over the comm and cursed again. He accessed the console once more and found the local droid control operations but was denied access and slammed the console hard with a fist.

"Gearhead take over! Slice the console and order the droids all across Dornea to fire on Dornean military threats alone!"
"Roger captain!" She fired rounds as she ran backwards and jumped over the console and began slicing it like the pro she was and Jodo to her place and fired his carbine into the gap at random. Jodo heard enemy forces fall and die and then he heard his comlink ring out and he snatched it up to see a confirmation from Kellia in text form and an order to vacate the capital and rejoin the main forces for front-line operations.

"We got our 'job well done folks!' Now I need a window Mikela!"

"Coming captain, in one two, and there!" She announced, and suddenly the sounds of a firefight outside the breach rung out and the fire through the breach halted and Jodo turned and shot out the console causing Gearhead to jump back in surprise.

"Alright Crash, you should see you got new friends helping out. Boom-Boom, Slicer, Shadow, move it out and regroup at extraction point A! We got new droids helping the good fight on Dornea!"
"Copy." Vila, aka, Shadow declared and everyone else followed as Jodo led them through the breach and found a group of three Dornean droids marching sluggishly down the hall and over fresh bodies.

The team regrouped in a matter of moments outside to the sight of war erupting in the city between Dorneans and their droids and they became non-issue at this point as a URM LAAT flew through the city and the AA guns were unable to hit the low flying ship as it came to a sudden and curving stop and the team mounted up, and were extracted without a problem as the world erupted.

(General POV)

The battle for Dornea lasted another week but it was an easy win after the Chairman was dead. 'Kast's Kommandos' as Jodo called them were seen on the front the next day and awarded hero status among the URM organic populations with them all being given official status of SpecOps forces of the new URM special operations division, and given automatic command commands to lead URM armies should the acting leaders be confirmed dead. Dornea would claim a total of 420-million Dorneans as they armed their citizens in militias and their own droids waged war upon them backed by the URM battle droids, but luckily, in time the civilians dropped their weapons and submitted after the weakened defenses Jodo created allowed a massive URM tank division breach using the NR-N99 Persuader-class droid enforcer tank units supported by the newly reactivated Octuptarra combat tri-droid. Both reactivated weapons all but ran the Dorneans into the hills of their very small land-massed world. With the fall of Dornea and the URM seizure of Dornean defensive battle tactics, and weapons designs for better defensive naval weapons, they began a very audacious weapons upgrading of their now exponentially larger navy.

It was also aboard Kellia's renamed Lucrehulk the Second-Coming, that the Supreme Commander of the URM met with Kast with a highly odd command for him and his team.

(Arkanis Sector, Lucrehulk-class battleship, Second-Coming, command bridge)

"I would give you a 'job well done,' but I think you've heard enough of that to last a Life time hmm?" Kellia asked as she turned around from viewing out her viewport with her two B2's beside her at the ready. Behind her stood Jodo with his mask off for once, and Kellia never really imagined that the guy would be blonde haired and blue eyed, but he was, and Kellia was not really that concerned about that, rather, she wanted to talk to her new star within the URM.

"Yeah sure, I and my team have been made into superstars and praised left and right from Kessel to Bonadan. Still, it couldn't hurt to be told how awesome I and my team are." Kast laughed with a cocky and proud grin coming over his features and Kellia rolled her eyes and walked over to the side of her bridge and watched from an elevated position as her command bridge was bustling with rebels of all kinds. Geonosians, droids, humans and Twi'leks, and a Sluissi technician on board to repair and upgrade the ship. It was a wonderful sight, and Kellia also had to admit havig Kast and his little team be on their side was an added bonus.

"Your team brought about a necessary and needed victory at Dornea and you have my praise and thanks, however, don't let that go to your head too much Kast. I think it may have gone to your head already even before you attacked Dornea." Jodo furrowed his brow and seemed a bit confused.

"What do you mean? Please specify how I let this whole thing 'go to my head,' already?"

"Calm down Kast or you'll pop a blood vessel." Kellia laughed and looked toward him again. "Look, I heard that you were going around calling your team... 'Kast's Kommandos.' Are you serious with this name?"

"Yeah, of course I'm serious it's a good name and reflects...me best." Jodo folded his arms indignantly and Kellia chuckled. "Come on Kast, this is really ridiculous, even for an ego oriented man like you. I mean did you really change the first letter of the word 'commando' with a basic K in Aurebesh?! That's like something out of a bad holomovie!"

"I don't see the big problem. It's my team I should be allowed to name it." Kast retorted and seemed insulted by Kellia's laugh at his team name.

"I do! It's one of the most ego inflating and frankly dumb names I've ever heard and I will not be caught dead associating with a team named 'Kast's Kommandos.'" Kellia declared and Jodo sneered lopsidedly and after a moment of angry staring he sighed very heavily and angrily.

"Then do tell ma'am what would be a good name?"

"No, no, not me Kast. You come up with the name yourself, and don't get me involved in its creation. Just...just something a little easier on the ears commander." Kellia asked with a very mild laugh on her voice.

Jodo thought for a while where he stood, just staring around blankly as many ideas and names ran through his mind as he tested how they sounded in his mind, and he grew annoyed that he kept asking himself what was wrong with the original name! Then..it hit him!

"Listen to this one, Maverick Squad! It's catchy, and good for recognition for the masses, and me and my team were all bounty enters at some points in our careers y'know, so I think it works well." Kellia thought it over herself and laughed to herself, it did indeed fit him and his team well and he seemed very keen on the name, and for Force-sakes it was better than Kast's Kommandos...'What a dumb name!' Kellia snickered inwardly and nodded her approval to Kast.

"It's much better, and as you said it does have a level of recognition to it and it is far more catchy too, so that helps." Kellia smiled and Jodo bowed his head seemingly placated. "Good then we're Maverick Squad, and I won't be changing the name again for some time." He pointed an accusatory finger toward her and she raised her hands in surrender.

"Fare enough Kast. Just don't do anything that will make m regret having you as my new addition to our glorious and long to be war for freedom."
"Shouldn't worry about that. Just give me the recognition I deserve and I'll be the best damn soldier in the galaxy." Kellia nodded with a smirk and quickly activated a holo-map for them both. Jodo neared to it and Kellia looked it over with a keen interest in her brow eyes.

"This is the Mandalorian Sector, and this is where we will make your name unforgettable in history. We will attack the major worlds first. Kuar, Concord Dawn, and Mandalore itself. We will take a fleet of three Lucrehulks, two hundred Providence classes, eighty Mon-Cal cruisers of varying degrees, and five hundred Munificent class cruisers, with a Geonosian auxiliary army and varying rebel reserve forces aiding us and millions of droids, and armor units. By my estimations we will have more than enough to wipe out all Mandalorians. Uh, their military units I mean." Kellia added as an after thought and mentally sighed in relief as Jodo merely nodded and didn't catch her slip-up.

"However we must first totally secure the Arkanis, Brema, and Calamari sectors in the Outer-Rim before we can attack a sector that deep into Moff space. Thus I have ordered the creation of a sixth and seventh invasion fleet, and you'll be happy to know our fleet has boomed so fast as of late that we have thousands of ships in reserve, and you'll be at the head of one of them with your team alongside you."

"Me?!" Jodo asked with wide eyes, and Kellia smiled broadly.

"Yes you commander. Don't worry you'll have naval and ground commanders but you have final say on whose plans get implemented where and how. Thus you will take your fleet which will number over five hundred ships with reinforcements readily available and replacements and your job will be to create a more effective line to Mandalore."

"How so?" Kellia smiled and showed a wide section of the galaxy and brought the map to show the Outer-Rim sectors around the Calamari sector.

"You need no longer worry about the Dominus sector, I will take care of the rest of that region with admiral Ackbar. You and your fleet will strike out at the Pakuuni sector, then move onto the Nilgaard, Sertar, Spadja, Belderone, Rolion, Demetras, and finally, we have our window to the Mandalorian sector." Jodo had a wide eyed look of horror on his face at the size of the sectors and her order to take them all!

"You can't seriously expect me to take every sector and every world in them!"
"You personally? No, not at all. That will be the job of your droid armies and the commanders you place in control. You will personally cut and lead a swath through every sector and divide the sectors in halve so that your millions, upon millions of droids can divide and conquer, against these Moff forces we shall have no problem whatsoever. Once you reach the Demetras sector you will secure that sector and its border to the Mandalorians and you will await me and our very special fleet to arrive and join you in the attack on the sector, which will also act as our first doorway into the Mid-Rim." Jodo nodded but still looked baffled by such an order being placed on him.

"Don't worry commander. This way you'll be more famous then you ever imagined. I will take care of securing Arkanis, while Ackbar will secure the Calamari sector and move on to Dominus and so on and so forth while I will from Arkanis draw the Moffs away from the Brema sector and take sector after sector until we reach Brema, and I'll await your word of your arrival at the Mandalorian sector." Kellia laughed and patted the man on his armored shoulder as she passed by him and walked toward another viewport and Jodo cleared his throat before following over and Kellia waved her hand before them both and presented to him his first fleet. There were hundreds of ships and two three Lucrehulks. Tens of millions, probably more were aboard and ready to be used in the coming attacks, where Jodo Kast and the newly minted Maverick Squad would be known and renowned as the catalysts of the URM push towards the Mid-Rim.

(General POV)

As lord Vader took the world of Tion and left to return to Coruscant for further instruction and command of the Imperial navy as it continued to get ready for an all out attack into the Expansion-Region, he left Vice-Admiral Thrawn in command of a new task force consisting of a hundred and ninety ships of varying classes. The Chiss admiral was to become defined and respected by the whole galaxy after his actions within the Tion-Cluster. Lord Vader left commands for Thrawn to receive the additional forces and despite his masters orders, begin to take worlds with the Tion Hegemony region of the Tion-Cluster. Thrawn would lead a small task force of but four Stardestroyers to attack the URM world of Abraxin and took the swamp word with little problems and destroyed a fleet of seceded Imperial ships that joined the URM in the process after he weakened them with his four ships alone and called in another fresh forty ships that wiped them all out as he sent fifty more ships to attack the world of Argoon, where an old Imperial factory was located that was being re-purposed by the URM to build armor and weapons for organic rebel forces. The Imperial fleet was met with more URM turned Imperial ships that were called in from the Cronese Mandate section of the Tion-Cluster. The URM fleet was pincered by Thrawns fleet and then a sudden Moff attack from the neighboring Keldrath sector from the world of Gbu, whose population had been all but annihilated by a random Moff genocidal orbital bombardment. Thrawn was forced to send a further twenty-five ships to aid in fighting off the Moffs and arrived himself on a new Imperial-II class Stardestroyer awarded to him by lord Vader called the Chimera. The Admonitor was given to his own rising captain and good friend Parck, who led his own ship with distinction and tact he learned from his mentor and friend. Thrawn had another protege to impart his skills upon now aboard his ship, a one assigned captain named Gilad Pellaeon who Thrawn also began showing the ropes to as they went along.

With the Moffs suddenly seeing the Tion-Cluster come under Imperial attack they decided to attempt a reconquest, but with Thrawn at the head of the attack he found the Moff surge an affront to his campaign and ordered a skirmish into the Keldrath sector led by Parck and a fleet of fifteen ships to Gbu. Captain Parck carried out his duty well and destroyed a Moff shipyard being built over the world and five Stardestroyers being repaired from some battle in the Outer-Rim likely against the URM. Then the Empire under Parck began attacking the supply routes of the Moffs into the Tion-Cluster and limited their capabilities for their attack at Argoon. The Moffs however decided to abandon the world to the Imperials and instead launched a surge attack at the URM held world of Rudrig. For retaliation for joining the sector and the URM the Moffs launched a ground invasion on the supposedly weapons free world and leveled the University of Rudrig with a three day bombing campaign that killed thousands of students, and the URM in retaliation sent a Lucrehulk and three Providence class ships that landed millions of battle droids that repelled the Moffs, but the worlds once renowned university was gone and would take years to fully rebuild, and thus the world was to be re-purposed by the URM for staging operations and refugee relocation.

The URM Lucrehulk presented a small problem for Thrawn thanks to the Moffs who were now pushed back into Keldrath, so he decided to draw them off and he ordered an attack and conquest of the worlds Kanaver, and Livien for an eventual attack on Desevro, and securing of the Perlemian trade route within the Tion-Cluster for the Empire. Newly promoted Rear-Admiral Parck was given command of the two attacks by Thrawn, who launched a secondary draw off attack at Clariv behind Rudrig on the Tion trade route. Both admirals Thrawn and Parck would take their targets after three and a half weeks of further fighting, but by then word of a massive URM fleet attacking the nearby Pakuuni sector had them worried, and thus they solidified their control over their worlds and weathered all URM counter attacks, and began building another invasion fleet to attack and blockade Rudrig in a few weeks time. Back on Imperial-Center Vice-Admiral Thrawn was becoming another hero of the galaxy, and it was a public relations move but one well welcomed for Emperor Palpatine to order the Chiss made full Admiral and bumped up from Vice-Admiral. Admiral Thrawn was given command of the Tion Campaigns under lord Vader's directives, and the two men would form a closer working relationship than Thrawn ever expected or really wanted, but in time he came to respect and understand the Supreme Commander of the Empire, and so did Vader in kind for Thrawn. It was Vader who would in time, test the waters, and ask Thrawn what he thought of the Galactic Emperor Palpatine to which Thrawn replied-

"May I speak openly and off the record lord Vader if I am to make my opinion known?"
"You may." Vader replied on a visit to the Tion campaigns weeks later after he first left.

"The Emperor may be a man of vision, but that was the Palpatine of the pre-Clone Wars era and during. Afterwords he became obsesses with being the most powerful being in the galaxy, and less concerned about how to manage said galaxy. This galaxy needs order, and he has driven it, in my opinion, to the edge of chaos. I am a wholly loyal member of the Imperial Navy but I have been ordered on occasion by him to fight battles that could not be won, and he does not seem to care. Only after the fact does he decide that I was correct. So to place my feelings in a more contextual manner; the Emperor was a man of vision and ability, but now he is a man obsessed with power and lax in vision any longer, and he desires the status-quo so badly that he is willing to allow the galaxy to rot away so long as his power remains." Thrawn declared and Vader bowed his helmeted and masked face.

"Then you and I share a certain degree of understanding and frustration admiral." The Chiss' red eyes widened ever so much and he seemed rather pleased he had not gained the SC's anger or was drawn into a trap of words.

"Perhaps one day admiral we can discuss ways we can mend the Empire and galaxy for the better, and perhaps then we may express fully our mutual frustrations openly and...breathe new life into a stagnating Empire so deserving of far younger and more visionary leadership." Thrawns neck craned to the side and his features hardened for a moment as he looked the dark lord up and down. Vader very slightly tilted his head to the admiral, and Thrawn smiled very slightly, and bowed his head in return.

"When the time is right then lord Vader. I look forward to..'discussing' our visions of the future."
"Indeed admiral." Vader added, and both men knew what they other was speaking of and left it at that for now. Regime change was such a touchy subject too. Best not speak of it so willingly and openly.

---

However this conversation between the admiral and dark lord would take time later on from what was happening across the galaxy as the admiral solidified his control in the Tion-Cluster. Lord Vader would return to Coruscant and meet with his master the Emperor, who would assign him another assignment. Vader was to take his Death Squadron and attack the Hydian Way trade route leading out of the Inner Rim as Moff forces began slowly advancing in and attacking the world of Bogden still held by the Empire as of now. While the Moffs were also launching feints into the Comkin system and attacking Comkin V the primary world of the system. Vader obviously accepted the mission and was however, given a few days to meet with his children. Something the Emperor mockingly allowed his to do.

(Coruscant, Vaders Palace)

Vader entered into his palace with a seething anger boiling beneath the surface. Oh how he wanted to run the old man through day and night as that skeleton upon the throne was one of the few things that made him feel as he had before Leia and Luke came into his life. 'If only Kun wasn't forcing me to take your indignities and your presence I would kill you as soon as I could! I HATE you!' Vader seethed within and suddenly he slammed his left fist into a nearby wall and began breathing heavily as the dark side seethed and singed the air around him, and he felt the anger subside as his fist pulsated with pain. He laughed slightly to himself as he remembered he had to take pain in his limbs into account once more thanks to Kun's alchemy. Vader decided he needed to shake the pain and aggravation away right now. He was going to see his children again, and frankly he was excited! More excited then he had been for anything in a long time. Vader could even laugh now at how excited he was to see the kids, and see the reminder of...her, in them. That however always made his smile and laugh disappear. Thinking of her, and what he did to her upon that molten hell was...distressing.

'A second chance would be so different. I was such an idiot. Too young to tell when an old fool is trying to twist you, and too arrogant to see more than one option to fixing my problems. Too power hungry to give up power.' Vader's chest felt a pang run through it, and the dark lord felt emotions bubble forth. He quickly suppressed them of course. She was gone, and it was...yes, it was his fault, and he knew and hated that fact. He hated himself, Force he hated himself, but he would live with it, and make sure he left for his children, for her children, something to be proud of and power their own. A galaxy for his bloodline.

The dark lord made his way to the floor he left them all and much to his pleasure they were as ever, in the training room. He could here the buzzing sound and whir of sabers, and talking, and so as silently as he could he entered into the room to see what was happening. His eyes went a little wide when he saw it was Leia with a red training saber, and gowned in a tight gray training outfit with her hair up in a single long braid as she held her saber at her side trying to get n the right position for what Vader knew to be the very basics of the Makashi form. A momentary vision of Dooku being tossed from his mind Vader folded his arms and watched as opposite her was Luke who noticed his father and winked with a big boyish grin on his face which caused Vader to smirk, and his two apprentices were further off in the room dueling in a ferocity that his children had yet to come to. Starkiller was utilizing his Juyo form on Shira who was smiling and using the Soresu form to keep Starkiller off her and the girl was small and nimble, and easily able to move from the wildly moving and fast Starkiller who was bound to wear himself out if he didn't begin to adapt to her small and even more faster person soon.

"Come on Leia, just do what I said and try some of those jabbing motions at me. Trust me I won't get hit, they're just training sabers anyway!"

"Quiet! I am trying to get in the right position Luke! For Force sakes you are too impatient, and this form is about precision and patience as a virtue isn't it?!" Luke grinned and Vader smiled as Leia breathed out and closed her eyes and dug into herself and wrapped the Force around her as Viathan had taught, and she opened back up on Luke with a smile, and then she held up her saber in a mock salute and Luke bowed his head, and then she sent a precision jab at his midsection and he met it and swung it aside, and she brought the saber back under-arched and he swung down and moved it away, she brought it back over-arching and he swung up and forced her down and she yanked away hard and spun back around and hit him over the shoulder which he blocked and spun around to come face to face with her. She beamed a grin and Luke grinned back in his boyish manner and swung at her sides in a flurry of sharp and quick attacks and she met each one with fast and light blocks but each one forced Luke saber back and he then attacked over head, and with one hand she steadied herself and brought it up sideways and blocked him.

She threw him off and spun her saber dramatically and then launched a downward slash leading up and Luke caught her but she sent a Force push at him and he stumbled some and she jabbed outward in a very elegant manner and he flung her away and had to jerk his head back from the attack. She, still using one hand brought the saber facing down from an angle and invited Luke to attack and he did so and she swung up hard and he was spun around and she made and X attack through the air, up to down left to right and repeat with down to up right to left and Luke was a bit thrown at how decent she was for using this style for the first time.

"Man, Leia! What's gotten into you? You're not usually this good."

"Oh thanks Luke, you Nerf herder! I am good at dueling I just don't like the other forms. This one is...better I guess." She smiled and sent a few spinning attacks at him with her saber and he caught and was carried with every one. Leia finally put some strength in her arm holding the saber and spun it in a circle through the air once more before Luke's face and he caught it again and she then swung down to her left hard and he went with her, as she jumped in a very elegant manner to his side with one foot leading the other almost like a damn professional dancer and she ended up behind him and her saber was yanked free and she sent a light boot kick into his back and he stumbled forward with a huff. Luke laughed when he turned back to her, but Leia had finally noticed Vader and was thus done training for now, as she greeted Vader with a small smile and bow of her head and Luke turned to face his father.

"Greetings father!" Luke said, as per his usual manner. "Hello father." Leia greeted more quietly but respectfully. The other two in the room went wide eyed and turned as they were too busy fighting and too focused to sense their master arrival and they both ended their duel turned their sabers off and kneeled quickly. Vader quickly ordered them to rise and they did so and joined Luke and Leia nearer to their master.

"I am very pleased to see the four of you progressing in your saber training. Especially you Leia." Vader made sure to add, and his daughter seemed slightly proud of his compliment and beamed a bit.

"The Emperor has seen fit to annoy me further by ordering me into the Inner-Rim to counterattack a Moff advance into the quadrant. They are trying to force lord Kun and his apprentice out of the Tapani sector as they are causing far too much of an annoyance for them there."
"Good. The Moffs deserve a bit of a sweat for their actions." Oddly enough Leia declared and Vader cocked a hidden brow, but the others nodded in agreement with her line of thought. "Nonetheless the Moffs are causing issue and I will be leaving with Death Squadron in a few days time. However I have some time to aid in your training until then." Shira and Luke of the four looked the most happy to hear that while Starkiller was subtle about his happiness, and Leia looked passive as ever.

"I have decided to focus primarily on your trainings into the Force. Your saber training is coming along very well, and to see that makes me very...proud and pleased for all of you." All of them seemed happy for the praise of Darth Vader, of course Leia barely showed it but Vader could sense some happiness coming off of her.

"However, I have some management needing done for the war and I have been receiving reports that lord Kun's apprentice has been cornered on Aleron." Leia immediately furrowed her brow and looked more intently toward her father.

"Not to worry, lord Kun will likely lead a breakthrough assault there himself, but this just leave open the necessity of further reinforcements to the Tapani sector. With the URM assault on Dornea put aside, the Tapani sector is the bloodiest of campaigns we are bogged down into yet, and we have much more galaxy to go. So, continue your training and I will return to you shortly to test your Force abilities and hone your skills myself." Vader looked at Shira quickly and the red-headed girl brightened.

"Are you adjusting well Shira?" The other three looked at her and she nodded. "I am my lord. I have been training well with my fellow apprentice Starkiller mostly, but I have helped along dear Luke as well." She smiled to Luke and the boy looked away and Leia giggled when he blushed furiously and agreed that she helped him out.

"Very good. I look forward to noting this progress personally. Keep up the good work then, and I shall return shortly." Vader watched them all bow..save for Leia who nodded and folded her pale and exposed arms across her chest in thought. Vader nodded to himself and turned to leave, but was stopped.

"Father wait a moment!" He turned to see Leia leave the group as they started talking about their saber, well Starkiller talked to Luke while he ogled at Shira like the love-crushed boy that he was, and the girl merely smiled toward Luke, and Vader cocked a brow but then looked down to Leia. "Are you in need of something Leia?"
"No, not anything like that. I was just wondering how serious is it on Aleron? The holonet only focuses on Viathan when he wins a fight not if he needs help."

"You shouldn't be concerned with the matters of the apprentice to Kun. I also think he is of little concern t you in general. I understand he befriended you upon Alderaan, but you don't know the full story to him. He is a bad person to be around he is-"
"I don't need a lecture on him father!" Leia rebuked and Vader stopped and reeled his head back for a moment, but conceded in a bow of his head.

"Very well. The situation on Aleron, according to reports, has come to the point where all Imperial invasion forces have been surrounded in a large pocket in the plains where Field-Commander Viathan has set up an entrenched artillery system in a square formation, with two sets of trenches for his men to use for defense. He has three gunships for use left, and around twenty AT-ST walkers and a single AT-AT walker on standby and providing support from behind their defensive walls. The attacking Moff army is being led remotely by general Coldor Morlin. Those two have history. Morlin was Viathan's ground tactics trainer during his younger years here on Coruscant. Morlin is utilizing gunships to weaken the last seven-thousand Imperial defenders on Aleron with TIE Maulers and Century Tanks which are not weak vehicles by any stretch and a division of repulsor tanks 2-M Saber-class to be exact." Leia furrowed her brow and frowned deeper with every detail but Vader placed a tentative gloved hand on her shoulder.

"If it helps calm you and allow you to focus on matters at hand and more in need of your attention, lord Kun has prepared and launched a fleet with himself leading it to breakthrough the Moff stranglehold on Aleron and your friend. He will arrive in a few days at most and I am sure he will be fine, and continue plastering his face on the holonet." Vader added slightly jokingly, which was odd coming from his helmet, but Leia slightly smiled and nodded.

"Alright I'll try to push it from my mind, but I wont stop worrying about him father. He IS my friend. I care for my friends whether they or you want it or not."
"Acceptable, however just note that he is dangerous to be around for one simple reason. Viathan, otherwise born as Valek Zalliste, is a highly emotional unstable wreck. He contains it well but he is boiling beneath the surface. Things were done and he's done things that make him dangerous. I am privy to his background and trust me when I say he is going to get himself into suicidal situations time and time again as this is how he was trained and conditioned. If you are around him he will take you with him into these deadly situations. Take this in mind is all I ask." Leia frowned but bowed her head once. Not a yes she will or no she wont, just a tilt of the head and Vader understood that. 'Stubbornness that is well deserving of your father and mother combined my dear Leia.' Vader smiled broadly behind his mask and released her shoulder from his grip.

"Oh, and one other thing. Can you, maybe, possibly, help me learn this form of lightsaber dueling Starkiller told Luke was called Makashi. It think I like this one most of them all. It's far more elegant and precise in its fineness. Besides I may not want to train unless it's this from." Leia added and Vader caught full well the hidden meaning that she wouldn't train unless she got to do this form and again Vader grinned. 'You are indeed my daughter.' He laughed inwardly.

"Makashi is a very precision based form. Highly demanding of elegance and form from the practitioner as well. You will need fencing training on top of the normal saber styles. I will of course aid you in whatever you may want to learn. I have some skill in the form and a few very basic holocrons on the form from the Jedi temple. They are not the more in depth teaching tools, but they will suffice for the basic forms." Leia smiled and inclined her head.

"Thank you father. I...look forward to learning it." Vader nodded but then went wide eyed as Leia wrapped herself around his waist in a very, very, tentative embrace, and Vader behind his mask found his shocked and wide eyed face suddenly melt into a smile and he placed his gloved hand upon her head, and ran it through her pulled back hair some. She herself was shocked that she had the guts to do this, but she couldn't stop herself from feeling a connection to Vader she never had with Bail, who she still loved, but Vader...was her father, and he needed someone to keep him on a better path, and Leia decided- 'If anyone can keep you and Luke on a better, and lighter path then darkness and hate then it's me. I can save you father, and I will!' She decided and smiled, and released her father who with his mask seemed unreadable but through the Force she sensed his delight and bid him goodbye and he for her. As from this day forth Leia knew that she was and frankly always has been Leia Skywalker. It was high time Anacin Skywalker came back to the galaxy, and she would ensure that he did!

(Tapani Sector, Aleron, Some Days Later, five weeks into the battle of Aleron)

Viathan stood atop mobile command platform landed by the Empire when they first landed upon Aleron. His field commander officers were furiously managing the battle from their command consoles and he could see all around his person and could see the advancing Moffs on all sides on his frankly exposed position within the pen plains regions of Aleron. The skies were littered with AA fire that smelt of ash and smoke mingled with some sort of chemical he couldn't place. Moff MAAT and other varying Imperial made gunships flew overhead and dropped bombs, or fired their laser turrets into his base to soften up further attacks from ground armor and advancing infantry. To his north alone was several dozen of the 2-M Saber-class tanks that were only kept at bay by his AT-AT's heavy cannon attack when it was ready and that was something he had to be grateful for. Especially since that damnable propaganda ministry war correspondent was still nearby with his holocam droid, ZT-R1 still bothering him from time to time. Though to be honest ZT was not so bad, the little camera droid was in many ways hilarious. Especially when it charge itself into a Moff troopers helmet trying to get an 'up close and personal' shot of the enemy and allowed Viathan time to kill the sneaking trooper.

"Commander Viathan, we have a hypercomm communications call for you from a non-friendly designated line. It's coming from the Moffs." One of his more stiffly upper-lipped officers reported with more tact and propriety then any battlefield called for.

"Very well officer, put it through and let's hear what they have to say. If not only to be polite. We are still Imperials after all." Viathan said more sarcastically but he did feel it necessary to hear them out and the officer agreed and patched the communication through. Viathan neared the holographic projector and before him and much to his frowning displeasure the figure of his mentor appeared and Morlin had a satisfied small smile on his aged and now fully clean shaven face.

"Greetings 'Commander Viathan,' I prefer Valek and as such I will call you that as this silly name of yours o doubt has to do with your powers and dealings with the Emperor." Viathan frowned at that but said nothing.

"I have called Valek to facilitate your surrender into my custody as a prisoner of war. It is obvious your attack on Aleron and my subsequent counter-invasion has seen you fall back into a similar situation I was in upon Sefon. I am willing to extend to you the same courtesy you gave my men and take you and yours as prisoners to be treated well."
"I told you upon Sefon you would never make me a prisoner general. I will hold my position and not give in to you or your kind. Me and my men will fight to the very bitter of ends, and as thus you will kill me. However, I don't think you have beaten me yet, so I extend to you a challenge my old mentor, breach my lines as I breached yours and make me your biggest confirm kill of this war yet!" Morlin recoiled his head some from the lashing of words from his old student, but then quickly smiled a lopsided one with a huff of sad pride.

"You are too stubborn for your own good Valek. You always were in all your studies, however, I am sad to say I shall beat you and break your lines Valek, and I will break your armies and then you I'm afraid. I will however honor your death as one commander to the other." Morlin declared and his connection cut and Viathan felt his anger spike as he whipped around and heard the distinct sound of a group of descending gunships near to him and saw four MAAT's coming in hard and low.

"AA guns fire on those gunships now!" The officers heard him and began redirecting the AA guns which turned and opened up rapid spray of massive green cannon fire. Three of the gunships broke hard away from their close formation with one failing to move in time and being hit three times by the cannons had it smoking and go careening toward the Imperial base and Viathan sent a massive Force blast into it as he sensed the driver doing this on purpose and the gunship lurched back hard in midair and falling belly up into the no mans land between his base and the Moff lines. The other three gunships broke through the lines and opened up fire hard on his base with their laser cannon firing onto his AT-AT from the back and sent a shiver through the walker as it was sliced along its back and exploded and sent men all around flying through the air and aside in a massive explosion followed by the beastly walker tipping to its right and falling over onto an adjacent AT-ST walker and crushing it.

The AA guns repositioned and fire don the MAAT's again and hit another than went diving into Viathan's trench line and began spinning on the ground in explosion after explosion along the soil, as the last two veered off in opposite directions. Viathan came u from his ducked position and found his forward lines in a smoking wreck and could see the 2-M enemy tanks advancing after confirmation that his walker was lost.

"For kriffs sake! All forward positions on the north side this is commander Viathan, reposition to secondary lines immediately we've lost the AT-AT! All AT-ST reserves move up the line and provide support and fire on those advancing armor units!" Viathan commanded into his console and brought a pair of binoculars up and saw his front line Stormtroopers vacating the front trench and firing on the advancing Moff troops who managed to mow down quite a few of Viathan's easily.

"Kriff! All artillery batteries fire on advancing Moff line approximation is at due north two kilometers out! Closing in and fast, all fire at will and back!" The mobile heavy artillery sets he had moved their barrels up high and all forty-two launched a wave of fire that slammed into Moff forward lines and sent vast amounts of soil flying up in round impacts and Moff soldiers wen flying and burning with a tank or two getting hit and blowing upward and landing on its back and belly up.

"Commander sir, we have Moff forces to the south bringing up Century tanks with Maulers in loose formation!" Viathan whipped around and brought his binoculars up and caught sight of over twenty of said tanks wheeling of the plains towards his lines where his troopers were still firing endless streams of repeaters bolts from their nests into the incoming forces.

"Half of the artillery reorient towards the south immediately and open fire approximation three kilometers, and back fire at will!" The orders were relayed by his officers as the Moff gunships returned and the AA guns rung in his ears as they fired rapidly on the incoming ships. They missed and the gunships fired onto the artillery ranges, and hit three emplacements before one gunship was smashed by a close-range AA barrage. It went careening into the eastern trench line and embedded its wreckage in the forward trench and crushed a few loyalist forces along the way. The tank units on both his north and south kept advancing with artillery fire a non issue and the AT-AT gone and Viathan cursed as they moved in as those Century tanks could roll right over his trenches and breach his lines and attack his men at all sides.

Viathan sighed deeply and brought his saber up close and readied it when he heard the last Moff gunship swing back around and he came face to face with it coming in hot again, and he readied to throw his saber at the kriffing thing before it reached him. Then at the last second cannon fire struck the side of the gunship and it went into a death dive in circle and fell into an empty region of the plains. Viathan's brow furrowed and he saw a wing of TIE fighters pass by and then came a sudden large air feet of TIE bombers and they zipped in all directions and began dropping their payloads across the Moff lines and hit enemy tanks.

"Commander we have a message coming through on a secure channel."
"Put it through then." Viathan approached to see his master appear and a sigh of relief escaped him.

"Master! I am very glad you messaged me. My position is near compromised we have been fighting for days and my last walker was destroyed. Morlin has tanks advancing on all sides, but the new wings took care of most of them I suppose. I have you to thank for that do I not master?" Exar chuckled.

"Indeed my apprentice. However I am afraid I am not the one who will be coming planet-side to aid you in your battles. I have a Moff fleet up here to take care of, but I am afraid for you my apprentice that you will have a new ally in this war. I have come across another apprentice. A one Kira Offee. She like you was a servant to the Emperor and now an ally in our mission." Viathan visibly went wide eyed and open mouth in shock but then shook himself, and stuttered out his response.

"A...a new apprentice? As is, another you will teach what you teach me?!"

"Afraid so my dear apprentice." Kun laughed and Viathan felt anger rise in him, but he violently shoved it away within and down into himself. "I will then anxiously await her and hopefully some reinforcements arrival." Kun laughed again but bid his apprentice goodbye and assured him that she was bringing four divisions of troopers and two armored divisions with walker attachments to the units. With the TIE bombers taking care of the Moff troops the Imperial landing crafts landed easily enough and one shuttle came through alongside the transports and out of it came a young girl, younger than he by the looks of it, and she was of obvious alien blood based on her light green complexion. She wore oddly skimpy attire, and had a curved saber hilt at her side, and Viathan swore he recognized her, but shook the thought from his mind.

"I suppose you are Kira Offee. I am Viathan, servant to Exar Kun and once and technically a Hand of the Emperor." He extended his right hand as the blasts and explosions popped off around them. Kira looked at his extended hand then back up to him, smirked and took it very tentatively.

"A pleasure, and I am indeed Kira Offee. What a dump this place is." Kira commented after looking around the battlefield as TIE bombers screeched overhead and made the wind gust about them.

"I can assure you I have been managing this battle at optimum capacity as allowed by me the Moffs have us surrounded on all sides and are squeezing hard." Kira laughed and Viathan cocked a brow as she caught his look and cleared her throat.

"Right well I'm sure I can take care of your mess."
"My mess?" Viathan asked with indignation upon his voice as his crimson eyes bore down on her and she rolled her eyes. "Oh don't take it personally. Not everyone can win everything or do everything right!" Kira laughed and Viathan's lips twitched with a curse upon his tongue begging to be unleashed as he has once more been without sleep for a week straight! The last thing he needed was for this little newcomer to tell him how to fight a war!

"Then do show me Ms. Offee how I could have better won this war."

"Well not up here watching the fight my friend. Come Viathan I will show you how it's done." She winked and grabbed her curved hilt and jumped off the command platform and Viathan growled his frustration and ordered his men to keep him up to date as he jumped after her. She dashed forward with her skirt whipping in the wind for the northern trench line and Viathan raced after her with his cloak trailing behind him as they passed by new AT-ST's disembarking their transports and their own 2-M saber tanks joining the fray and firing loud blasts near their ears.

The girl laughed and activated her saber and jumped clear the two trench lines and into the no mans land and Viathan did the same and brought his saber up and activated it to block immediate blaster fire.

"Now let's show these foolish traitors the meaning of fear." She grinned and her blue eyes began blotching yellow about them and she elegantly sent every bolt coming her way back or away with Viathan angrily doing the same. A division of loyalist troopers entered into the no mans land followed by the frontal trench troops as they advanced with their two commanders followed by walker and tank support.

Kira ran into the Moff lines and ran a trooper through kicked him off and leaped from the air atop another man and forced him to the ground stabbing him through, before twirling off into the air out of blaster fire and she cut through a group of troopers in a spin, before deflecting more bolts into Moff troops.

Using the Force Kira used the ancient 'plague,' ability and in moments she sent out her hand towards a large group of troopers who immediately became sick and doubled over in horrendous pain as the Force entered into them with some unknown virus and began to tear their organs apart. She grinned with a light in her eyes as she did this and then spun round with a bout of Force lightning and hit a squad of troops and they fell over dead while screaming their last screams.

Viathan sent a massive Force blast into a group of the fools and they all went flinging back with the impact breaking bones immediately for some and the blow against the ground killing them off usually. He tossed Ruin's saber at another group and they were cut down as he ran into a large concentration of troopers and committed a running hack and slash through them all and came out the other end and turned to see dozens of men fall over missing limbs and heads and slashed in all manner of places. He called back and caught Ruin's saber and clasped it back to his belt before making a running jump clear across the plain onto an enemy tank. He spun around and removed the troopers head and threw him out and off the tank before grabbing two grenades and tossing them down into it. He flung sideways off and landed on the grassy lain beneath as the tank moved on and within seconds exploded violently from within and it fell into the dirt with its repulsor unit destroyed along with the people inside.

He dropped low and avoided enemy fire and sent a massive lightning attack into a column of troopers and sent them flying away and howling in pain. Turning he blocked bouts of fire and sent them back and hit many troops and then jumped clear onto one and ran him through, kicked off and landed before another and his cloak folded around him in an intimidating manner as they boy slashed up across a chest, down across another cut another man in half, spun around and impaled another, and rinse and repeat time and time again.

The two Sith acolytes would continue their front line attack upon the Moffs for at least an hour before they fell into full retreat and the Imperial line was held much to Morlin's despair, and yet pride from afar. For within another four days Aleron would be the Empires once more with the Moff naval and ground forces wiped out and Viathan given more recognition with Kira sticking to not being in the spotlight at all. She didn't want the Emperor knowing she yet lived and now served a new master yet. The battle for Aleron claimed a total of two million lives both civilian and military, as the situation on Mrlsst began to deteriorate rapidly during this time as well. Nonetheless Viathan and Kira won themselves a three day reprieve, while Exar managed the campaign from aboard his ship above Aleron. It was here that he received a visitor he almost forgot about from his recent past as he and his students used Viathan's favorite ship the Domitor as their base for now.

(Gladiator-Class Stardestroyer, Domitor, One day after the Victory on Aleron)

"What's this business about me havig a visitor captain?" The captain of the ship cleared his throat as the two men neared the docking bay of the ship.

"Forgive me my lord but the woman demanded you come meet her in the docking bay at once and gave a high-security Imperial-Agent security code, and I ordered her to land in our docking bay but she demands you come to her."
"Did she at least say who she was?"
"No my lord, though she did sound a bit low pitched and tired." Exar immediately had visions of more kriffing assassins sent by the Emperor run through his head and ensured his saber was at his belt as his cloak whipped behind him with his large and assured strides.

"Then let's meet this mystery woman." Exar finally intoned and after a bit more of walking through the ship they reached the docking bay and Kun opened it to see a very sleek and nice looking ship that he would later be told was called a 'Sith Infiltrator,' and was highly rare in the galaxy but useful. Exar ordered the captain to leave and he entered the bay alone and sensed eyes upon him like with Kira and with...Arden Lyn. With grin Exar relaxed and laughed aloud.

"Just come out Lyn, I can sense you already, and you're not clever about it either." The woman with her robotic arm came out of the shadows nearby with a large sack hung over her shoulder and she gingerly lowered it to the flooring of the bay. Her shorter wild ebony hair hung around her head with her natural golden eyes seeming more tired than she gave off through her body language.

"I was not being coy or clever Exar, but merely wanted to ensure you were not so paranoid as to order an attack on my ship with me within. I would miss my lovely new ship too, I found it inside a Mountain on the world of Wayland. Quite the beauty and stealthy...like me." Arden smugly smirked and Exar rolled his gray eyes and nudged toward the sack.

"Is what I asked for in there?"
"You mean your little Sith trinkets? I never understood the obsession with the title of Sith but I digress, yes your holocrons, parchments and all manner of flimsy and holo-books are within. Two more are over there in the corner." She pointed her thumb over her right shoulder toward the shadows she came from.

"You wouldn't believe the hell I went through for these Kun. Wayland was the easy part, and frankly we could use the mountain base there if we needed, the Empire has abandoned it to its fate and the Moffs don't even know about it. However the next job, that was something I'm never doing again."
"That being?" Exar asked as he opened the sack and his eyes lit up like a kid in the toy store when he saw all manner of holocrons tomes, and books. "A lovely little world in the deep core called Byss. The Emperors personal sanctuary world. The damn planet is surrounded by I think a fleet or two. They have the ability to tell when a ship is entering its space but the ship there got me through because of its stealth abilities thank the kriffing Force!" Exar laughed and folded his arms across his chest as she went on.

"then I got t the surface and there's a lovely city of wonderful and amazing spires and one really large bulbous and near impractical one that serves as the Emperors citadel. I landed on a nearby commercial platform and made my way to the spire only to be confronted with these massive guards with kriffing huge axe weapons who nearly spotted me, along with a whole slew of dark side Force users. One of them was so pale and ugly that I swore I would puke. Spiky hair and these weird blotches all over his pale and corrupted skin, but he had some power I could feel that through the Force. I manged to get into the more secret facilities and found the Emperors library of your Sith toys. I also got you this." Arden threw him a datapad and Exar caught it with a furrowed brow.

"What's this?" Arden huffed an almost humored huff of air. "Oh nothing, just the layout and plans the old man has for his personal cloning facility for clones for himself to enter into and be forever young." Exar was activating the datapad when she said this and he immediately paused and looked up to her with eyes filled with disbelief.

"Your kidding me right?"
"Afraid not Exar. The old man has some weird alchemy stuff you Sith play with there as well. He is making sure this world will be the ultimate haven for him should he lose Coruscant and he means to live forever too." Exar cursed under his breath and closed the sack for now, and looked deep in thought as he brought his hand to his chin. Arden momentarily remembered how Xendor did similar moves when he was worried about Jedi movements against the Legions of Lettow, and she slightly smirked but said nothing to the dark lord.

"Then I will need to return to Imperial Center here soon and meet with lord Vader either there or via holocomm."
"Why return to the capital then?"
"I need to access some of the higher ups in the Imperial bureaucracy. It is them not the dark side users of the Empire who will have access to Byss and its records and weaknesses. Armand Isard is too loyal, he won't be my in to Imperial Intelligence... However, his daughter, Ysanne she seemed quite keen on attaining her own power. She will be my in."
"Ysanne Isard? She's a karking Sociopath if ever there was one!" Exar shrugged with a smirk upon his scarred face. "None of us are perfect my lovely friend. Now as a sign of courtesy please take a room aboard this fine ship and rest after your ordeal upon Byss. For when I return to Coruscant you'll be joining me."
"Why's that?" Arden asked and shook off being called lovely by the Sith lord.

"Because my dear your next job will be that lovely broken down building they call the Jedi Temple, and you will scour that thing up and down looking for some Jedi relics... You did also take any and all Jedi relics you found right?"
"Yes Kun they're in the other bags mixed with your Sith crud. "
"Excellent!" Exar beamed and used the Force to call the other two to him and then closed his eyes for a second and opened them with a smile. For within a few silent and awkward moments a pair of Massassi warriors came in and Exar ordered in their ancient tongue to grab the sacks and follow him.

"Meet my dear servants milady. The Massassi warriors. Ancient sub-breed of the Sith species from Korriban." Arden bowed her head to the Massassi warriors who did so as well, and she smirked.

"Very fascinating creatures. Brutish and powerful, and teeming with the dark side. Lovely creatures indeed, deserving of the power of the Bogan."
"Bogan? I have not heard one call the dark side that in a long many years." Exar smirked and Arden chuckled.

"I am far older than you my lord several thousand years."
"And yet you don't look a day over what, twenty, twenty-five, to the eyes ha!" Exar laughed and thought nothing of the remark and Arden cocked a brow her own.

"Come then Lyn I'll have a room awaiting you. We can later discuss our trip to Coruscant as well, and I'd like you to meet my apprentices as well. They like you were servants to the old man, but you now one of them somewhat already."

"It's a date then my lord." Arden declared in jest and Exar laughed as he inwardly told himself that she was quite annoyingly easy going...she annoyed him far more than she probably should.

Nonetheless things were now in motion that would lead further down the path of war and eventually regime change, as back upon Coruscant yet another apprentice was awaiting Exar Kun, and it was one no one saw coming.

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Authors Note: Man this chapter was LONG! I hope you guys like it though! Jodo's team is of fellow author TheGunmaster's creation. I didn't have the vision to make a team myself and I think they're a fun bunch and I hope I portrayed them well. The General POV stuff I remind you all is time jumpy but you guys should get the general idea I hope. If not I will happily answer any and all questions! Viathan and Kira certainly didn't get off well, and I do hope I have some of you guys guessing who the next apprentice for Kun will be! It's best you don't say anything either Gunmaster. ;D So as always lease point out OR excuse any and all grammatical errors I have made as I write these things fast and late at night so my vision to catch stuff is tired and not so great. :) Otherwise please enjoy, and leave a lovely review which makes me happy, and want to keep writing! See y'all later!

PS: Next week is Finals week for my college so I may have little to no time to write until my first weekend off so please be patient with me guys, and thanks in advance! :D