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.

57. Chapter 57

Chapter 57

(Coruscant Orbit)

The ships above the city covered planet had, like all other ships through the galaxy experienced the ear piercing sounds suddenly emitting on HoloNet linked broadcast wavelengths. It lasted a while and while it screamed at them all Imperial effectiveness dropped some. Fighters, bombers and anything else smaller than a frigate experienced the screaming of the frequency directly in their ears. Unable to remove their helmets as they maneuvered and swept across and among the void of space now marked and spotted with great clusters of metal and ruined ships. Particles of metal and human flesh among the space dust that flew about freely. Dozens of fighters and bombers had been lost.

Thus every ship that remained was made that much more important and integral to the defense of Coruscant as the hours drudged on by and the Core reserves had not yet arrived. The battle fared as the URM had hoped. The imperial forces were whittled down into scattered pockets of ships lacking necessary fuel with lacking fighter and bomber reserves. Lord Vader's efforts to secure a larger force to operate from a central position had thus far only acquired for the Sith lord a few dozen small vessels with fuel. Larger ships; including a great many stardestroyers both type one and two were utterly annihilated, only the small ships were under the dark lord now. Death squadron was now losing ships of its prestigious unit, and lord Vader was in no manner of the word, pleased.

Thus the order was given by the dark lord for all capable fighters and bombers to recall to his position and defend the fleet from the endless swarms of enemy bombers descending upon them. It Death squadron ceased, if it collapsed, then no matter the outcome a great blow to Coruscant would only be made into a total victory even if the battle below was lost.

It was here that a cluster of ragtag TIE fighters and interceptors moved together toward the position where Death squadron chose to make its final stand. If it was indeed to be their final stand.

"Okay 'rogues,'" Shira teasingly announced over her comm as the channel cleared. "We are about to pierce through a nest of droids surrounding lord Vader and Death Squadron. I guess it goes without saying that we are a team of misplaced and lost ships from across this battlefield. If we're gonna have any coherence and use toward the survival of the war effort then we need to all agree right now that we have a chain of command. Hear me?" Luke sighed and rubbed his hand down his face at his friends brazenness.

"I copy and acknowledge." The first woman, and first person in general they picked up along the way, Juno eclipse responded sounding more calm than before and bringing her saber along with Luke's and Shira's to the front of the fleet of starfighters.

"Copy."

"I copy all."

"Acknowledged." A slew of acknowledging and accepting words came from the host of ships as their haphazard array of fighters and interceptors formed up behind the main three. Luke led the pack. On either side of him and somewhat trailing him were Shira to his right, Juno to his left. It made the teen farmboy feel incredibly awkward.

"Great! So let's be totally clear to strike the notion home eh? Luke here is in command. He wants to be called, 'rouge leader,' and even if you may wish to question his choice of designation the point is he's in charge here." She took another stab at his title, and Luke rolled his eyes as he spun his TIE fighter down from a grouping of debris. The rest of the wings following.

"Next thing is, I am second, call me rouge one if you want, and then Juno Eclipse can be number two. I'll designate everyone else here in a second, but am I clear on who the leaders of our ragtag groups are?" Once again a varying array of acknowledgments from the men rung out, ans Shira began giving rogue designations. When she was done they had a total of twenty ships altogether. Eleven TIE fighters and nine TIE interceptors.

"They're all yours Luke." He nodded to himself and sighed. He didn't like having to make any speech or anything.

"Okay. You all can call me either Luke or rouge-leader. Um, I really don't have much to say, and not really a whole of experience. All I know is that me and Shira took down a lot of Vultures down in the atmosphere of Coruscant and opened a doorway for bombers to get to the Works during the big assault there. We are not the best around really and we are not gonna do anything big or even that great I think. What I do know though is that we can and should look after each other and help lord Vader and Death Squadron defend Coruscant with everything we all have left in us. So if that doesn't make ya wanna run now then welcome to our team, and let's go scrap some more droids!" To his surprise a varying assault of cheers rang from the men. Luke allowed a grin of relief to spread over his face as his face grew red hot with the embarrassment fading.

'That wasn't too terrible I guess.' He internally laughed as a small sigh escaped passed his lips. It was also nice for Luke to hear the pilots cheer. Frankly he got the impression they were a bunch of mindless and emotionless drones. Them making any sort of sign otherwise gave him hope for the Empire in a strange way.

"Okay guys, we're heading right for Death Squadron. From what the message said they are surrounded in a pretty big pocket by a lot of droid ships. No real count on how many but I think it's safe to guess plenty if all the ships lord Vader has picked up are being blocked in essentially." Luke swerved his TIE up once more after dodging the debris field. Coming into clear view was a massive gathering of URM ships all of them firing in the opposite direction on what was likely his father and his fleet. It made Luke's blood begin to boil.

"What I want us to do is draw off as much fighters as possible and clear up his own interceptors to get all the bombers they can. We'll break into three mini-groups. Shira take three fighters and three interceptors with you."

"Got it." She called back, her fighter banking off further to the right.

"Ms. Eclipse, you take the same. I'll take the rest."

"I copy." She banked more left and her group followed after her as Luke took the small of the three groups by one ship.

"Shira you go low, Juno go high. Me and my group will attack...that Munificent I'm marking on scanner and sending to you guys. When they redirect fighters of their own we'll take them head on, but you guys should come in on my go ahead and deliver more damage from above and below. It will force the droids to either direct fighters from the engagement with lord Vader or with us. Either way you'll be providing relief."

"Loud and clear farmboy." Shira called out, and Luke once more rolled his eyes. Juno quickly followed. Her response being far more proper than Shira. Both teams broke up or down as instructed. Leaving Luke with his team of ships, two breaking out Luke had three Interceptors and two Fighters including himself made three fighters.

"Alright rogues, sound off for me." Luke asked as he readied himself mentally for the coming dogfight as they sped their way toward the Munificent in question.

They sounded off as rouges two, four, seven, eleven, and fourteen.

"Okay guys on my mark open up main weapons on the ship. Don't care about critical damage don't even think about. Just unleash and then pull off. 'Round away and regroup on me." They all confirmed and Luke's fingers trailed over the triggers of the fighter, and one last time he breathed a deep sigh as anxiety was forced out of him.

"On three. One...two...three!" Luke slammed his thumbs down and his TIE began to fire its streams of green blasts toward the frigate. Allied green cannon fire flew around him and all the bolts slammed into the side of the frigate. The shield was still active so no damage was done. As all ships grew nearer and nearer still to the ship all six ships peeled off right and left. All circled back around and formed back up beside Luke and turned toward the same frigate again.

From the sides, and openings between the massive ships a sudden swarm of metal flew forward. Streams upon streams of Vulture and Tri droids broke into a massive wave of fighters, and in an instant innumerable red cannon bolts flew forth from them.

"Evasive maneuvers guys now!" Luke yelled, and all TIE units broke away in multiple directions as the red bolts flew and exploded all around them and whee they had been. Massive swaths of this wave breaking int hunter wings going after each TIE individual.

"One's coming around on your left rouge leader!" Luke ducked his TIE low and just as warned a Vulture began firing where he was, and Luke huffed a great breath of relief as he banked back left and spun his TIE around. Coming into view was a swarm of Vultures chasing after a TIE interceptor. Punching his engines his TIE burst forward even as his own host of enemy fighters chased after him. The TIE interceptor broke upwards and the swarm followed. Luke swerved and chased after them. Unleashing a torrent of green blasts he spun his TIE wildly as he did and the bolts flew forward in a swirling arc as multiple slammed into multiple Vultures. He tensed his body as he continued to spin and fire, spin and fire endlessly, and finally one, two, three, and even four enemy craft began exploding about, and the swarm chasing the one interceptor began breaking away but Luke did not end his shooting.

Not until every droid fighter broke away did he stop and then he turned hard right and down chasing after a new small sub group of them.

"Thanks for the assist lead. Coming around to repay the favor!" The pilot called, but Luke was too concentrated to reply as he dove his TIE downward as it seemed to him and fired burst rounds of his cannons onto the new group. The bolts splintered and blasted through one and flew directly into a second. The first Vulture began exploding and losing control and flew into a third Vulture, causing three of the five to explode. The final two breaking again, and Luke turned hard left and carried on after that particular Vulture and once more unleashed green bolts furiously as his thumbs began to pang in pain and discomfort.

A flurry of red cannon fire flew around his left and he spun his Tie right and opened fire on the Vulture still, even as his bolts flew awkwardly around the Vulture, one hitting it and all others missed. Returning the spin and going back left he opened fire again in another burst round and the Vulture finally exploded, and Luke felt a sweeping and overwhelming sense of satisfaction overcome him as he took in his various kills in the moment. Then more red fire blew around him and broke him from his respite as he curled the TIE back upwards.

"I'm on your six, rouge-leader! Got your pack in sight, try to keep them on this heading. Copy?"
"I copy, four. Will do!" Luke once more punched his Tie forward. In his peripheral he caught sight of two TIE going around a field of debris as dozens of droids chased and fried into the field. Nonetheless, he shook himself and kept gunning the engines of his TIE and kept glancing down to his radar anxiously as it blinked with the bogeys chasing after him.

In a matter of moments one blip disappeared followed by another, and then a third as rouge-four began dicing through the Vultures even as they fired on Luke who banked from left to right as his TIE flew at speeds he wouldn't dare begin guessing at.

"Blast it all I got another squad on me! Gotta break lead!"

"Go ahead, I'll get these." Luke assured and finally broke and turned his TIE full around. He was going so fast that as he turned and swerved to dive back around he came side to side with the line of Vultures and Tri's chasing after him. He spun right and further away from them as he continued to dive low. A new swarm of Vultures came into his sights chasing after those two fighters again. He immediately opened fire and his cannon bolts flew downward along with him and shredded open for him a massive hole in their numbers as they broke off again at the sight of his blasts ripping into them all. He grinned as he did so. His own swarm returned to shooting at him wildly and force him to turn back and once more level his TIE on a more linear flight path.

"Shira, Juno, you two in position?" he turned his TIE around and faced the fleet again as some ships outlining the blockade around his father began shooting randomly at his allies.

"We're good to go Luke! Going in now." Shira answered and just for added annoyance Luke opened fire on the Munificent frigate again. He kept his TIE going and banking for safety. Finally two large streams of green energy burst from above and below and pelted the ship. Causing its shields to ripple in multiple regions. He grinned and finally turned away and attempted to give himself some breathing room.

Both Shira's and Juno's squads kept on their paths and switched places. One going up the other down. Luke managed to turn around, and watched as several dozen Vultures and Tri's broke from engaging his group and flew toward the 'newcomers,' in the battle.

"Rouge seven you got about ten of them on your tail copy?" He asked as the other interceptor of his team banked wildly and endlessly as bolts ripped around his ship.

"Copy lead! I could use some karking help. I can't shake em!"

"Gotcha, I'm coming in. Careful to miss my own shooting, seven." Luke warned as he dove his TIE back toward the mass melee and unleashed his cannons again and they slammed into three Vulture droids sending them spinning and exploding in the mass void of space.

The Vultures began peeling off, but Luke had a line on the ones that pulled off to the right of seven, and took off after them. Firing as he did, and ripped into another two. He began chasing another four left behind by the group as they broke off. He banked left and fired a burst round and caught a Tri droid on the side. It struggled to remain straight but finally lost control and spun back around to its right and slammed into a Vulture, and Luke grinned as two mynocks were taken down with one stone.

"Come here you stupid droids." Luke intoned and opened up a hail of fire onto one of them. The second broke speed quick and Luke sucked in his breath with immediate fear as he forced his TIE into a spin and circled back up. Only one Vulture now in his sights, his scanner went crazy warning him of the bogey in his tail.

"This again?!" He seethed and dove his TIE down and ignored the Vulture he had left in his sights as the one behind him followed and opened fire.

"I got him lead!" Luke looked around outside his TIE and furrowed his brow. Looking forward though he saw a TIE coming right for him.

"Whoa!" He took a new dive down and the other TIE fired a burst round into the Vulture on his tail, and it erupted in a brilliant flash as bits flew in all directions through the open void.

"Nice hit there fourteen, but next time a bit more heads up would be nice."
"If there is a next time lead." The man, a chuckle in his voice, responded and Luke allowed a light laugh to erupt from himself as well.

"Very true." Luke turned his TIE back around and took in the battle. So far he had lost no allied TIE's. After all these men were those who had survived where the rest of their teams had been wiped out. In a cosmically sick and twisted way it helped to weed out the absolute best of the best from the assorted wings and aid divisions. The 'rogues;' a name Luke still thought sounded good frankly, were picking off what was quickly becoming scattered remnants of the initial wave that had come out to attack them. The two sub-groups that broke off for Shira and Juno's groups ere being decimated based on what he could see and the frigates shielding was weakened.

"Shira, Juno, I think it's about time we launch another speed run on the frigate. If we cause serious damage it will force hem to send another wave. I think everyone is up for it right?" Several affirmatives rung through the comm system.

"Alright Luke keeps your pants on. I'll be coming about shortly." Shira called.

"Copy, will begin attack run on your call rogue-one" Juno then called back to Shira, and Luke let loose another sigh. Wrapping the Force around him for calm and a continued level head Luke once more punched his TIE forward into the fray of it all. In front of him were three Vultures in V formation. They passed by his left and he turned hard onto them and locked on. Unleashing a slew of more cannon bolts he easily ripped one through causing the other two to break off. One came about and formed up behind him. The second he went after again.

The enemy Vulture fired on him and he swerved away. Rolling his TIE a flurry flew outward and slammed into the Vulture in front of him clipping its right wing and causing it to spin into a nearby debris field. Exploding on impact as it did. Pulling the Force around him even further, feeling as though it was ready to burst inside Luke flung his Tie upwards as the Vultures passed underneath and then he dove back down in a full loop. A smirk on his face he opened fire again and the green blasts ripped into this droid as well, and Luke let loose a cheer as he downed yet another Vulture among the flock.

"Committing attack run on frigate now!" Luke spun his TIE around to watch the chaos unfold. The frigate among the other was still being tracked by him and likely the others, and it still focused all its fire on the opposite direction toward the imperial warships.

"Hit hard and hit fast guys. Let's stir up the gundark nest." The two TIE teams opened up a slew of fire once more. Vast streams of multiple green streams from fighters and interceptors flew into the belly and topside of the Munificent. It's lower cannons fired on the advancing TIE's from below but they easily swerved to safety while endlessly firing into the metal beast. Luke watched with bated breath and anticipation as the ships flew, endlessly firing ever on toward the ship. Until at last an explosion ripped across the topside of the frigate as the fire was quickly snuffed away by the void. The topside-down facing wing pulled away, but the bottom facing wing coming up still had room and shot ever more streams. Then to Luke's shock and utter joy he watched the keel of the ship also explode. The green bolts could be seen ripping through the ship coming back out topside.

"Now that's what I'm talkin' about!" Luke cheered as he raced his TIE back around as the whole of his wing formed up including both Shira's and Juno's teams.

"Pull back together guys. They might be a little peeved."

"We hear ya Luke." Shira once more chimed as the mass of TIE fighters and interceptors pulled closer together. The Munificent was before them still maintaining its position while slowly moving forward with dozens of other ships around it. Smoke trailing outward from the ship before quickly dissolving into the void of space. The gaps between the URM warships allowing for them all to take in the sights of cannon fire, fighter cannons blazing and explosions rocking within the bubble where Vader's fleet was cornered.

"I don't see any activity." Juno spoke as the seconds went by and seemingly nothing happened besides the sight of the burning Munificent moving before them.

"Wait...I got something. To the right of the frigate. The right gap." Rouge-three added, and Luke and likely everyone else looked whee he told them to.

"Oh...kriff." Luke simply intoned, his whisper spread to everyone else across his comm headset.

From the gap of the Munificent and a following Providence destroyer a sudden and great wave of Vulture and Tri droids came flooding out. An utter swarm unlike the one before. This one blotted their vision of the gap and battle beyond. There were dozens, and very likely over a hundred droid fighters. All of them zooming for them, and in a great flash they all fired their red cannon blasts and the beams flew around them all.

"Everyone break!" All TIE's flew into any given random direction as dozens of enemy fighters went after every single ship. At least a dozen fighters went every each ship, and Luke tore away as the space he and his wing had occupied became a swarmed mess of droids.

"Everyone hold out as long as you can! Shira, Juno are you both okay out there?"

"I got myself Luke. You worry about your own backside!" Blasts and muffled explosions could be heard over Shira's comm, and it sent a spike of fear through Luke and anger raced through him. The Force pulling around him and invigorating him as the rage took over.

"I have a dozen and a half droid fighters on my tail. Nothing I haven't handled before." Juno assured, but did little to alleviate Luke's mounting anxiety. With this anger and rage though, with this fear growing stronger inside of him Luke flipped his TIE into a roll and then made a hard left turn onto his marauding enemy, and in a hail of green, and red he unleashed cannon fire that ripped through several of them at once.

He soon lost himself in further red as the battle went on. Not the red of the droid cannons however, but the red that came over his vision as his instincts threw the boy into the dark side.

(Coruscant Surface)

Moments passed, and it seemed like an eternity as they did. Though truly only seconds turned to moments. The blue of her saber one more bringing light to her and the small region around her, and the crimson red of his sabers doubly as lit and illuminating as hers. Finally, Viathan had forced the witch before him to cease her goading, but still she stood facing him and did not strike. Rather, Kellia stood smirking toward him with but half of her face lit by the cerulean gleam of her saber. It made his grip tighten as fury shot through him. All he knew was that tonight a Jedi would die by his hand. Be her a past Jedi, fallen, failed, or dark. She would die, and he would take joy in it.

"Care to make the first move boy? Or are you afraid?" His face he felt twitching rupture through his cheeks. His anger making his rage uncontrollable, and nearly unbearable. His jaw tightened and teeth were ground against one another. An electrical spasm of hatred shot up and then back down his spine, and finally he could hold it no longer.

A howl escaping Viathan his legs bent and he dove forward. Both sabers trailing him he slashed down from the right. Both sabers spun from the right and Kellia easily blocked and stepped back. Each time she blocked and carried his two sabers. He landed and swung back up from the left and she caught each one again and spun away backward under a third slash he made back right in a wide and wild swing. She was still smirking as Viathan caught sight of her face, and it only sent more fury through him.

Swinging around back away from her he snarled and returned. Both sabers swung from his right and slashed hard against her, but she merely blocked. He swung back left, each slash as strong and saber trembling as the others, but she still blocked and took a precautionary step backwards. Both sabers in hand he swung both, at the same time into her from the left again, but she suddenly swung right with tremendous power of her own and they fell into a clash.

Both sets of arms shaking as they held one another back. The Force swirling and electrifying around them. His face set in rage with burning eyes and flared nostrils. Hers calm, but lying underneath and visible in her eyes was a terrible fury all her own, but it was contained, and it only sought to further bring out his own rage.

Viathan pushed himself forward and her back and she was forced back with a single step. He took the initiative and through the Force into his every muscle and into every action he took. Making him feel like a tank and as heavy as one, and finally her clash with him began to shake and waver. She swung down and released the clash, and forced Viathan to swing down with her into nothing and make him stumble from the sudden release

She swung over her right shoulder down abut he caught with his left saber and slashed at her abdomen with his right forcing her to jump back. He jumped at her and slashed in an X manner across her body, but she slammed down and caught both. The tip of her beam dangerously close to his face, and she stabbed trying to impale him, and Forced him to swing and roll aside.

"You're not at the top of your game, commander." She mocked as Viathan attempted to hide the deep breaths he needed to take as pain shot through him.

"I can recall even on Dantooine you showed far more vigor than even Tatooine shortly thereafter. I see my droids must be a far greater threat to you and your people than I even dared to think. That is good. For their purposes later in time will call upon them to take a great effort to bring down every last one of your kind." He took in a deep gulp of air. Before returning to a full stand.

"My kind, Jedi witch?" She rolled her eyes.

"Yes your kind boy. Sith, and Force sensitives who bathe in darkness such as you. You will all die, and I will begin with you. A galaxy of droids killing Force sensitives...it will certainly prove our Force abilities amount to nothing wont it, boy?" He growled and spun his sabers into backward Shien grip and readied for her again.

"Hmm, your Niman ain't half bad I'll admit, but you have a long way to go before you even dare match me in saber skills, little Viathan." She mocked. Kellia began stalking toward him with saber held to her side, and as she neared closer to him she suddenly flung her saber overhead and Viathan could easily see her fall into djem so.

Her saber flew down and he blocked in another X formation. Her overhead slam downward was like an avalanche and force his knees to buckle but he held. She flew into a flurry of overhead slashes. Each new one slamming to the right then left and then middle, and each one causing him to barely hold his footing. She slammed once more down onto him and then swung full around and slammed at his left. He blocked and she slashed away before slashing back from the right. He blocked and she swiped across his body before swinging down in an arch at his feet. He jumped back and she followed. Jumping toward and down he sidestepped. She landed but swung left where he had jumped and forced him to jump away again.

She smiled broadly and stood up slowly. Calmly and nonchalantly looking him over as his face became matted with sweat and the pain made it hard to focus on her. Her speed and strength in djem so was unexpected by Viathan, and he felt himself begin to fear her more. So far he had planned on her makashi and juyo, but he hadn't predicted any djem so ability from the vile witch.

Giving himself more to the dark side and allowing every ache too feed his power Viathan switched one saber back into normal grip hold. A surge of adrenaline more and he ran at her. One saber slashed and the second stabbed as he spun around her, but each one she blocked, and fell into her damnable makashi form, and easily slashed his attacks away and sidestepped.

Viathan fell into a fury and utilized everything he had learned from Niman upon her next. Slashing down over his shoulder and following with the second saber he three every ounce of strength at her. He spun wildly with a juyo release of speed and fury, but she slashed and blocked with makashi, and took a precautionary step back. He jumped up and slashed down, an ataru format she knew and blocked sideways allowing him to carry their sabers down, and again she stepped aside and to safety.

He flew back at her from the left where he had landed with both sabers coming from overhead and slamming wildly down and then into a set of saber after saber slash onto her in a flurry of power and speed fueled by raw dark side energies. This was djem so to her and she smirked as she easily caught every slash with an elegant arching defensive strike that allowed her race and ease of movement away from his swings.

He stopped jumped back and spun his saber in hand and fell into a basic shii cho from and then spun back against her, as bot sabers slashed to her abdomen. Then one to the neck, blocked easily, then the second at her knees was again blocked. He swung back up and she caught the two sabers down and brought the two shoulder to shoulder as they clashed. Their sabers sparked as he bared his teeth with his muscles struggling to fight back against her and bring his sabers up from where they singed the ground.

He turned right and she grinned to his face, and a fury overcame him. Throwing his right saber into the air and releasing the hand he swung and felt the back of his hand slam against her face. She went wide eyed as the fist slammed into her cheek and sent her recoiling in a full swing around.

Viathan caught the flying saber by the hilt and screamed as he flew toward her. She spun back around with a throbbing face and slammed down from overhead and caught his first slash. He threw her off and attacked in wild furious swigs that melded juyo and djem so together, before he jumped back only to fly forward again in an ataru and juyo blended attack. Flinging his sabers back and stepping back he quickly dashed forward. Kellia swung her saber away and clipped his left one, before she as quickly as he sent a breath taking full booted kick into his stomach and flung him back onto the landing pad.

Viathan rolled aside as she stabbed down and he swung back and threw her saber away from the ground and the momentum carried her but she went with it and spun to block another set of flurries from the boy. His whole body, and every vessel inside was pounding with pure adrenaline. He was shaking but mostly at the fear he felt as the high of pure adrenaline began to fade. He needed its rawness and its power to keep up with her, and as the surge drained he felt new fear grapple him.

Kellia caught another set of double saber swings at her left and right, and upon him slamming left and forcing her left again she spun around and stabbed backwards into him, but he rolled aside and landed on one knee as he did, and his breaths began to become noticeable labored and released in massive huffs with equally massive intakes taken thereafter.

"You disappoint me, commander. Here I was, about to make off clean and pretty from this world with a fully activated galaxy of droids, and then you came along. You broke and turned my transport into a ball of metal. Broken and crumpled together as it were. Then you menace, and pose, you act like you are a Sith worthy of myself, as you have before. Yet even now you seem to lack any sort of real threat to me and my own. You have some new skills, and they aren't half bad I admit, but still, you have a long way to go before you even begin to scare me." Viathan forced himself back up to full height and returned to glaring her down.

Then he took note of her face, and the red mark he left upon her left cheek, as it began to become more apparent. A cocky smirk then grew along his own features.

"Yeah, well even if you kill me and free me from this petty existence Nelrain. I'll go knowing I left you another beauty mark on your putrid face." Her smirk fell away and disdainful anger fell onto her features once more.

"If you're so willing to die for your pathetic causes, commander, then let's try this little dance again shall we?"

"Let's." They both fell into position to fight once more. Before soon enough Kellia made the charge back onto Viathan.

She glided along the ground before jumping high into the air and slamming down onto him. He blocked and threw her aside. She rolled and then came back onto a knee and ran back at him. She swung down and then into a set of flurries. He blocked each with a single saber, and threw the second back. Then he countered as she swung at his right. He slammed both to meet her and with enough force in the attack that she recoiled back and lost some footing. Viathan slammed his left boot, still steel tipped in the front into the back of her right calf. She sucked in a breath of air at the sudden pain that ripped through he and she tore herself away as her leg instinctively lifted off the ground with pain pounding into it.

Viathan swung at her exposed back, but with the Force warning her she dove aside and landed onto the knee of her wounded leg and seethed openly with a sneer cast Viathan's way. Kellia threw her left hand out and a burst of power exploded forth and ripped the air around Viathan. He threw his arms up on instinct and placed his sabers in a defensive X formation as he felt wind whip around and attempt to push him back. He struggled as the Force blew and fought against him with power he didn't think she could muster and unleash but this push felt more like an unstoppable wave.

However, Viathan took a step forward and felt every muscle fight against the power exploding forth. He lowered his sabers to see her more clearly. She was rising back to full stand again, though he could see pain marred onto her features, but her left hand and arm was extended still as she commanded the unseen power of the Force through such simple of gestures.

Commanding his body and the Force as well Viathan tossed his right arm back over his shoulder and swung it through the air. Using the Force to guide it and fight against the Force wave, Viathan sent the rapidly spinning bade arching over and away from Kellia and around her. Then pulled it in from her back. Easily sensing the danger, Kellia ceased and threw herself aside. The saber flew back to Viathan, as he already broke into a full run and he caught it as he then slashed hard right toward Kellia who blocked and slashed her saber away and off of his, as he fell into a more flurries aimed toward first her legs then head, but each slash was still caught and cast aside with elegant makashi redirects.

He slashed from the right and she caught it spinning her body away and forced him aside. Then he slashed left and she caught the saber and sent it down into the ground, before pushing down and forcing his saber to stay down and slashing at his shoulder. He would dive under the attack and they would start over yet again.

"You will not win this fight, boy. You may think yourself some engine for destruction, and some greater knight when really you are but a pawn. I will see to it that you are removed from this game. I have ascended into an even greater position than pawn boy, and it took many years. Now I even command the very things that tried to wipe me and my kind out but some years ago. What shall you do in time? Should you live after this day?" She asked as a sigh, more a breath as they took an unspoken time to catch their bearings. He watched her but did not respond, only joined her in panting and forcing air into and out of his lungs.

"Should you live after this day and fight on as the pawn you are, what will you do with your meaningless life? You will toil and tear, rip and scream your way through battles. Some for your old lord and master against the monsters he's created, the Moffs, and others against me and my droids. My droids who outnumber and will overcome you. There are no amount of clones your master can create and train in time to defeat my meta armies. I will make millions a day, and waist billions in a battle, and I will come out, always, victorious. After all this day will make my wins against your three to none, commander." Viathan listened to her, with only growing contempt for her. If only because deep within his mind he couldn't hep but...believe in her and her little rant against him. He knew he was a pawn to one day be used up and replaced, but he would be damned if his pathetic track record of accomplishments ended here at HER hands!

"Today ends your party Nelrain. Based on everything I know, where you'll be in a few months or maybe a years time, will be atop a pile of corpses you wont even know how to deal with."

"So long as the corpses are the rot of you and your ilk, I shall take in the sweet smell of their rot with utter joy. My foolish and naïve little friend." Kellia spat back at him, and once more atop this one landing pad on Coruscant they entered back into their duel.

---

Leia watched as the two continued to fight all around the landing pad. Vale's anger and pain becoming quite clear to her. So clear in fact, she sometimes swore she could feel a resonating pulse of pain in her own ribs and then in her upper arms. It was an odd sensation to see something happen to another and then feel what they felt all at the time of it happening.

Then she watched Kellia Nelrain herself. This woman, whom her adopted father had now placed himself behind was off-putting to Leia. She held conviction in her that almost made Leia appreciative of her. That conviction she would hope most and all rebels against the Empire would have held. Yet now that she heard what she said, and sensed her, and her intent as her mind became more open the more she eased into fighting Vale, the more Leia could sense and 'feel,' the woman's intent and it was as ugly as the Emperors presence from the day prior. Something was fundamentally wrong with whatever this woman had planned, and it sent a chill through Leia the more she allowed herself to dwell on it.

Yet she felt the force burn and pulse around her, and in her. The more she watched the fight unfold, and the more it became apparent how much Vale was not at all up to this fight, and this damn big hulking droid was watching her. Forcing and threatening to burn her alive if she even tried to help her friend. Leia knew in a few given moments, whenever that may have been, this duel was gonna go south, and she did not want to watch it and do nothing! So, neither would she.

The mere though of what she was about to do made her hear pound with adrenaline. The anticipation making her body pulse with it and the Force as she entered deep into it, and allowed herself to feel and sense out all the life still teeming throughout the planet, and all the fear billions of people felt all at once. It gave her power, and a sense of added purpose. It gave her anger, and hatred! Hatred for these droids, and anger for the woman who unleashed them once more upon and across a galaxy that was sure to have even greater droid phobia following this war. Well...if things went well for the Empire that was.

She turned to the B3 unit as both its arms remained trained on her. Both of them ready to blast her away into nothing but ash and dust with both a flamethrower and plasma cannon ready. Its little lower arms also ready to fire dozens of bolts in mere seconds her way. Its rocket launcher also a dreadful weapon among its arsenal that possibly awaited her as it sat silently atop its shoulder.

Kellia and Vale fell into another set of taunts and verbal prods at one another as they caught their breaths. Leia waited for them to reengage one another, and they did so in no time at all. Allowing her to fully focus on the B3, and hopefully keep Nelrain occupied with Vale. As much as that made her dread letting Vale fight Nelrain as he was further.

"Hey droid!" the B3 cocked its head to her voice. "Wanna tell me why an imperial shuttle is coming for us?" She cringed. Her excuse sounded so-

Just then the B3 turned to look where she had nudged and elation flooded through her! Snapping her saber to life Leia ran at the droid immediately.

The B3 turned back to the noise and caught sight of the girl running at him and it unleashed its flames upon her as its little arms unleashed vast and rapid streams of red bolts toward her. Leia jumped above the bolts and near to the droid. The heat of the flames reached her and caused her brow to immediately begin to sweat. She threw her saber over her left shoulder and she swore time was slower than ever. She came to the upper shoulder of the droid, and she slashed to her right from over her left shoulder. The saber cleaving into the left arm, and into its plasma weapon.

The unheated plasma began to spill across the droids arm as its protective casing and metal guarding it fell off and clattered to the floor. Leia landed on her feet. She turned up to catch the B3 looking to its arm inquisitively, before it looked down to her and sung its massive left arm at her. Spraying plasma everywhere as it did. She quickly ran forward and away.

The droid threw its right arm and once more opened up its flamethrower and smaller blasters onto her. She ran away and then dashed aside, dodging the weapons fire. She then turned and sent a wave of Force energy the droids way. It recoiled from the unseen wave and took a moment to find its footing again. Leia used the Force and dashed forward. Coming to the droid she slashed left and severed its right arm and its flamethrower. The droid heaved up its right foot and slammed down onto Leia, but she jumped away and slashed at its other leg with her saber and removed a chunk of its tip.

The B3 lost a lot of its ability to stand correctly, but still it aimed its lower blasters and fired on her. Leia allowed the force to guide her arm movements as she blocked a hail of bolts fire and sent them bouncing off into all directions. Leia then dove forward between the legs of the droids and ended up under the behemoth.

She swung her saber right with both hands along the hilt of her saber and dug her way slowly through the meta of its leg and the droid tried with all its might to turn and face her, but Leia moved with it and finally with time, and added pressure by her strength of muscles forced her saber clear through the droids right leg. It fell over with a loud thud.

Still active it forced itself onto its front side and swung its left arm at her, but Leia jumped aside with a heave, and then slashed down. Removing its arm, and allowing her to pant out a sigh of relief and contented smile.

The droid suddenly whirred and its shoulder mounted rocket launcher sprung to life. Her smile immediately fell and Leia cursed. The first rocket fired and she dove away as it flew out into the open air and exploded. Leia rolled back as it fired the second rocket.

She reached out with anger pulsing through her and began curling her left hand in. The droid began to whir and whine as metal began to bend and twist. The rocket launcher readied its third rocket but Leia crushed it even further. Metal bent in and collapsed just as the rocket fired out and then exploded still halfway in the launcher. The droids whole left half exploded and sent Leia flying backward. She fell to her back and came to a stop mere feet from the landing pads edge. The B3 sparked and singed was still, but barely active.

As Leia groaned and brushed off debris bits and dust she watched the droid shake and attempt to move. Until finally it slumped to the ground, massive bits and chunks missing, and shutdown.

"I hate these damn droids." She cursed and turned to look at the two still fighting one another. They had become even more brutal, and seemingly so concerned with one another that they didn't register the explosion, but Leia knew they had at least heard it.

She, her saber held firmly in her right hand, paced toward the two who held in a clash, before Vale spun off and then threw himself back into a set of flurries at Kellia. She inched closer even as they turned and spun around one another in a wild and free dance of slashes, slams, and dashes. Leia waited for the right moment to fully jump in. Kellia parried a new set of side to side slashes made by Vale with both his sabers. Kellia swung aside and forced Viathan to dumbly wildly swing at the now open air and fall forward.

Indeed he fully fell and landed onto his knees and hands with sabers beneath his palms against the cold metal ground below. He was panting for air, and pain was becoming that his mind solely thought about, because it was karking everywhere and spreading!

Kellia stalked upon him and threw her saber up and turned it to stab into his exposed back, as he seemingly lost the ability and will to fight. She with a snarl thrust down. Only to be blocked by another crimson saber, and she with fury looked up to see Leia blocking her. A frown upon the princess's face, and her eyes narrowed she looked to Kellia and pushed her off her saber and back.

"I hadn't thought it possible, but you were really so concerned, so caught up in your blood-lust that you didn't even notice me?! Notice me destroy your droid or stalk up next to ya?! So ready to kill my friend, that you couldn't sense me." Leia stated with anger clear and resonating in both her voice and the Force. "How pathetic of you." She spat in pure venom. Kellia, however, remained stoic in her face.

"So, daddy's little princess has decided to throw her lot with her birth father? Another pretend Sith, and wannabe hoping to attain power. What do you hope to achieve girl? Do you hope to replace your father, the emperor maybe? Or rather, do you think you can fix this thing you call the Empire from within? You are truly as naïve and foolish as I thought if that's your game plan." Kellia mocked and straightened herself, rolled her shoulders and spun her saber seemingly to flex her hand and arm.

"I would have joined a rebellion against this empire with ease Nelrain. Until I saw my options. The Moffs are an even lower set of snakes, but you? Your droids and you are causing more damage and death than I could even have thought possible! The imperials I think frankly wished you'd tone it down a bit. If my options are between your regime and the Empire. It makes me sad to say but I would choose and have chosen the Empire. Because unlike you Nelrain, I think things can be changed for the better, while remaining the same if need be."

"A pathetic acquiesce to your morals and code, is all that is." Kellia retorted as her anger once more began to display across her face in a curled snarl.

"Your father and you are both in the same pot. Oh I'm sorry your adopted ex-father I mean." The jab successfully made Leia's rage spike. "You both are so damnably moralizing for such things as war. In war princess, guess what? People die! Cities crumble planets wither, and blood is spilled! In order to make anew and fix what was broken I simply make sure what was broken is remade entirely. This time with no such kinks and issues." She began to rant and Leia could sense Vale behind her begin to gather his strength back as his thoughts were flooded with rage and intent based upon it.

"You both are too damn lost in your morality, but him now more than you obviously. Little things like using droids from a bygone war make him squirm with discomfort, and what also troubles him are my methods! I make war as I shall, for it was me who held this whole karking thing together! Me who made it work, and it will be I that sees the job done!" Darkness swirled around them all as Nelrain began to descend into her own rage, much like Viathan.

"If none of you, and none of them, if no one can see what I have done due to your petty conceptions of morality then I cease caring what your perceptions have to share. Now come princess, let's see how you like dying at my hands!" She howled and Kellia ran upon her. She opened with a djem so downward slam, but Leia fell back unto everything her father taught her, and her makashi for defense.

Kellia slammed down again and again from overhead, but Leia easily caught and warded off, parried and carried aside every attack by Nelrain.

They passed by Vale who was still catching his breath and bearings where he was leaned over. Kellia slammed at her again and again but Leia with elegance that matched Nelrain at her best, dodged, blocked and sidestepped every attack. Leia and Kellia came to a clash where Kellia slammed down onto her, and Leia used both hands to hold her saber over her left shoulder in a block position across herself.

Much to the utter rage of Kellia, Leia's face was clam and collected. Even as, like Kellia, her eyes were partly blotched with the yellow gleam of dark side usage. It bothered the woman to no end indeed. Kellia flung herself off from the girl and Leia easily fell back into an opening makashi stance, with her saber angled downward, but she was full well capable and ready to defend herself.

Kellia sneered, and then fell into makashi herself, and thus both women faced one another down in the same stance, and both awaited the other to make the first move. Leia suddenly smirked and to the utter contemptuous rage of Kellia, Leia brought her saber up and gave her the makashi saber salute. The same salute meant as a taunt!

"Were you someone else I may have liked you, no...that's not it. I do like you princess, but you're on the wrong side. So, now I have to kill you."

"Ditto, Nelrain." Leia shot back and Kellia tossed her saber overhead and angled it to the side, in an arching makashi defensive stand and she moved closer to Leia who waited motionless for her. The Force pulled tightly around her, she let her get closer, and closer, and closer still.

Kellia rounded near and swung down and to the right across Leia's figure. The princess blocked and swiped the saber further down and away. She then made for a jab at Kellia's shoulder. Kellia dodged by throwing her body back and to the right. Leia followed by swinging down and across the woman's boots, but Kellia jumped aside.

Kellia huffed and then rounded her saber in a swing overhead. Slashing into Leia's left but she blocked and swung away with a small spin that she used to swing her saber in a large arch that Kellia stepped back away from. The two women then attacked at once. Leia swung low and upwards in a slash, and Kellia down and across her left. The blades met, and then both fell into opposite parries, Leia swung left, Kellia right and their blades met and sparked. Then left to right and right to left in a light show of saber clashing from side to side again and again.

They came to a clash and their faces neared as their blades sparked and hummed between both as their eyes shared disgust for the other. Hidden beneath an odd sense of mutual appreciation. Even as both swung away from each other. Leia more a twirl, and Kellia more a hard swing aside.

"It's admirable to fight in defense of one who is too weak to fight his own battles" Kellia nudged toward Viathan. He seemed to be lost in a daze as he stared t the ground, and remained motionless.

"You should also be commended for beating my poor Fourzee, but I assure you Leia. This day you will fall. Even should you be spared by the strange fate that is the universe, you will fall. Everyone who follows in the wake of lord Vader and his master falls. To fall is not to die, but to descend and forgo all you held true and right in your mind." Leia narrowed her eyes.

"Speak from experience? Nelrain." Kellia shrugged and lopsidedly smirked in reply.

"I am a product of many factors princess. A mission, a lie, grief, surrender of will. Then another set of lies, used, then tossed aside. I was made to rot and die in some mine and be worked to death. Possibly killed but I haven't a clue as to what my fate would have been. Only that I now rule my own fate and future."

"Your future seems pretty kriffed lady." Leia spat back and Kellia only widened her smirk.

"I like your ability to speak your mind. Really I do, and you know what? My future is pretty kriffed. Only for those, however, who do not fall in line with the vision I have. One where democracy is enforced, not limply applied. One where a war such as this shall never become a reality again." Leia scanned her eyes around and took in the sights of war still in the distance playing out.

"If this is the method used than your vision may be just as bloody."

"If people do not fall in line. If the galaxy follows then they have nothing to fear and no unnecessary blood shall be spent. What you see happening now is the fault of your father, and men like he and the Emperor. The Moffs and myself are all products of their madness." The fallen Jedi declared throwing her arms out and motioning to the battle around them all. Leia merely shrugged once more.

"Maybe you're telling the truth, but your droids are not the answer. Neither are the rebels as a whole. Not anymore at least. After Dubrava, I doubt there are any left in the galaxy who are willing to take on the Empire and not stoop to their level."

"Sometimes," Kellia snapped back with a snarl. "one must fight a monster with an even greater monster! Sometimes, you must mimic what you seek to destroy to see it's destruction come to fruition. I at least know what I am."

Leia readied another retort, but her eyes caught sight of Vale rising behind Kellia. The woman followed her look and turned just as Viathan fully rose to full height. His breaths were deep but low, and he remained staring to the ground as both beams of light protruded forward from his figure. Yet, the Force, that was the only major noticeable difference if one could sense it.

Around him swirled a black and choking darkness unseen by the naked eye but felt. It could cause one weaker in defenses to become sick with how oily and hateful it felt. The boy brimmed with anger, and rage, hatred mingled with fear. Until finally he lifted his deeply crimson and glowing eyes to look toward Kellia, his eyes seemingly not seeing Leia. If they did, however, he was ignoring her.

"Do you think your glares scare me boy? No matter how deeply you bathe yourself in the dark side you shall be defeated by me. That I can promise you!" Kellia goaded. Even as she made sure to watch both Viathan and Leia. Still he merely looked at her, but his breaths became heavier, and more labored. His chest rising and falling.

There was something gnawing at his mind! He couldn't subdue it! Viathan felt an itch within, somewhere within his brain and he would never be capable of scratching it. Screaming and writhing in its rage and hatred for the woman. He had felt it before, an uncontrollable rage festering and crying out to him for release. Ripples and shakes that shocked his spine and made every appendage shake, his heart pounding with hate fueled adrenaline.

"Death on my part or not, Nelrain, you will be run through by my saber, and mine alone." He intoned. It was loud enough to hear, however, and Kellia raised one of her brows to the statement. After all moments ago she was thrashing him about the place, and defending his attacks with ease.

"Then enough with the cheap talk boy. Bring it on, and let's see if you actually have what it takes." He snarled and he began to shake and he crouched as both sabers swung outward.

"As you wish!" he howled and propelled himself forward with the Force. High into the air he brought both sabers into a slashing form and brought to bare to Kellia and slammed against her own defensive blade. It boom rattled her body she hadn't expected as the dark side rippled with every move he made. She huffed and took a step back and fell into defense. He landed, immediately swung around and across her form. She blocked. He stopped and slashed both across her from the right, and again she blocked. He snarled and growled like an animal and suddenly both sabers swung overhead and slammed down. Then both from both sides slashed in and Kellia tossed herself away as he sliced with a whisk through the air.

He was upon her with another howl sounding more like a wild creature from the darkest depths of a cavern, as the dark side boomed through the area around them. Leia watched with widened eyes and shock as Vale turned into a beast. Slashing with wild but potent precision with both blades. One overhead slashing down, the second rising up and slamming across to fall back down and force Kellia to throw her saber left to right, up then down and across to defend from this unrelenting assault.

His rage was palpable as his eyes grew wild and wide, his face contorted into an endless snarl as he released energy and anger Leia hadn't even thought he held within. Every once and a while he would snarl growl and howl. Slamming and slashing down onto Kellia, who fell fully into defense, and maintained a furrowed and pained expression along her face.

Viathan flung himself backward in a body twisting manner, similar to a juyo maneuver to gain space from an opponent and landed on crouched knees with a feral look still upon his features. Both sabers outward still as he glared to Kellia who whisked and spun her saber in preparation for the new assault.

Viathan spun both sabers in hand, and then jumped into a massive arching leap across the distance between them. Both sabers in shien backwards grip stabbing downward. Kellia through her saber up and to the side in defense, but then Viathan spun and twirled his whole body to the side, and Kellia jumped away as, like a cyclone he slashed into the ground leaving burns in the metal.

He immediately dashed right after her. Both sabers spinning and slashing around her. He spun and slashed both right and flung her left as she defended. Then he slammed both back left and threw her to the left. Forcing her to spin and then immediately defend from anther attack.

Throwing both arms open, exposing his chest to an attack, he slashed both down and in and formed and X cross saber clash as Kellia slammed in to fend him off, as both stood very close to one another face to face. Hate filled eyes looked to hate filled eyes, and snarl saw sneer.

The red clashing with blue hued both of their figures in the darkness of Coruscant. The winds of Coruscant whipping and whirling around them as the Force between them both clashed with the other. His darkness seeking to goad hers into a full release and submission to its power and energy.

Viathan flung right leg in as he spun to the ground and kicked again into her leg. She recoiled, and sucked in a pained breath as she fell into a kneel, but rolled as Viathan turned and sought her neck but missed by mere inches. She rolled and returned to a kneel before rising back up and stared him down as he spun and jumped back up. He flung and tossed his saber spinning forth toward her, and she jumped aside.

With his free left hand he gathered the dark side into him and unleashed it with a screech that resonated the air, as pure dark energies released themselves from him in a dark side blast. It was even seen by the naked eye as the whole region exploded in unnatural light. Almost as if a turbolaser itself had been fired. An orange colored thing made for Kellia and she extended her left hand out and released a wave of telekinetic energy that ripped into the blast and caused the beam to go left and right around her body, but she shook and trembled. Her arms felt the force of the blast and shook to remain up.

The air howled and snapped with electrical force and Kellia felt her knees nearly give under the pressure and Leia held her breath as the Force cried out and howled at the unrelenting darkness that released itself from her friend. Until at last Viathan dropped his second saber and flung his right hand up and the explosive blast only grew stronger and exploded from him the raw dark energy exploded and echoed across the planet. Every cell in his body was charged and raw as his mind went blank save for a primal and ancient drive instilled within him to kill his enemy before him. All it was, was a shape in need of death and elimination!

He released another raw scream as his body shook again and pushed forward. Kellia whined and grunted as she fell into a kneel as she cut the blast in half. The waves of energy flying off ripping into nearby buildings and walkways and tearing them apart and down with nothing but the Force itself. He continued to push forward and shortened not only the blast but the distance between them. Kellia barely could keep her eyes open as he body strength waned as did her own resistance to raw energy of the dark side. Begging and pleading with her, whispering to be unleashed to fight him back. Not since Nar Shaddaa had she done, so and not again did she seek to fully let it take her again!

Viathan drew nearer still until at last they were feet apart with massive energy between them and this small distance between them. Viathan finally pulled his arms away and the energy ceased exploding and Kellia recoiled and released a deep sigh of relief. She looked up just in time to catch the fist as it came toward her. Falling to her left and over Kellia felt her face once more flush with pain and pulse with it. Viathan used his left arm and slammed a punch down into her back and she fell to the ground onto her chest as coughing erupted from her. Then a steel tipped kick landed into her stomach, and tossed her into a roll away from Viathan.

She came to a stop and her gut wrenched and a sickening mixture of fluid erupted from within her and filled her mouth. She quickly spat it out. Only to see blood mixed with black. Where it came from Kellia didn't want to hazard as his insides twisted and hurt. The stomps of the boy nearing her caught her attention and he readied another blow.

Kellia jumped back up and suppressed the pain and caught both of his hands in hers. Having dropped her saber some time ago they both now struggled with one another with their arms and hands. His hands were balled into fists and now wrapped in her hands. He shook and sought to brute force her back with his natural strength fueled by raw adrenaline and rage.

She shoo at trying to hold him back. It was like trying to physically stop a bantha from stampeding. Using and drawing upon the force Kellia sneered as her facial features contorted and deepened in her struggle with him until finally she gathered enough power from the Force and began to bend back his fists. He began to wince at the pain as both hands were pushed further and further back and bent. His legs collapsed as she began to push so hard that he fell on instinct.

With him kneeling before her now, Kellia took her right leg and slammed her boot into his chest and threw him to the ground onto his back, and release his right arm. She then threw his left down back to the floor, and as he lay there attempting to rise back up she slammed another kick into and across his face. Throwing his chin and head to the side, and causing his dizziness. Using the Force Kellia called her saber to her, and caught it.

Placing it in both hands, she raised the reactivated blue beam and took a mighty breath as she readied to bring it down onto him. Viathan shook himself and raised both legs backward and then kicked up and into the same spot form before. Making her recoil and cough on contact as pain surged through her.

Turning, Viathan called his one saber to him, having lost sight of the second, and swung back left at Kellia who threw her saber up and blocked as they clashed once more. The strength of their sabers meeting causing a burst of light to rupture between them and their sabers.

Viathan swung down and forced her blade away and made the move to stab her. Kellia swung around and carried her saber in that swing. She twirled left where she was hunched over and the blade followed and clipped around as Viathan made to pull away from the weapon, but he felt a sudden familiar pang flash through him, up his arm.

Recoiling and stumbling some. Viathan looked to the ground and found his left hand. In all its metal glory, claws and all lying there. Sparking and singed where it had been removed in an arch. Leaving a smooth but misshaped metal spike where once there was a hand on his arm.

His saber luckily in his right, Viathan looked to Kellia who had since ended her spin and looked to him, then to the ground and back up. She showed no hint of joy. Rather her features were hardened and cold. Seemingly frozen in a deep half frown and sneer.

"A pity it was not your right hand. I could have given you the set. Now I'll just have to try harder!" She ran upon him at last and slammed downward. He blocked and caught it with his right arm going up and blocking the strike. Viathan then had an idea strike him as he remembered the jagged nature of his stump. Thrusting forward into her exposed abdomen Viathan made to stab her directly, but Kellia saw and slashed her way down and off from the clash. She pulled away but felt a sharp pain run along her shoulder as she turned away and then back toward the boy. Blood began to fall from her left shoulder and where his cleaved metal sliced through her flesh.

"You karking little bastard." Kellia seethed with ground teeth and a snarl just beneath the surface of hr voice, as Viathan backed up and inspected his situation. The reality of losing his left hand once again beginning to more fully set in as the high of pure rage and darkness began to ebb away.

"Vale what are you doing?!" He glanced over his left toward Leia as she ran up to them with saber still active in hand. "You trying to get yourself killed?! Your form is sloppy! Your rage ain't helping you that much either. Plus now look at ya! One hand, see where such mindless expenditure of your power gets you?" Viathan winced both in pain and confusion.

"Whose side are you on exactly?"

"Yours nerf herder! And I don't wanna see you get bisected today. Especially not by this crazy schutta!" She glared at Kellia who lopsidedly sneered as she merely patted her clothing around her cut to soak up the blood that was spilling from it.

"Crazy schutta eh? Again it's sad to say I actually kinda like you little girl. Sadly you both now must die." She interjected with a voice growing more hoarse and tired.

"Ignore her for a second." Leia instructed and literally grabbed Vale's chin and turned him back to look her in the eyes. Again he showed his displeasure with his eyes narrowing.

"We take her together. You actually think before you act with that niman of yours. No more of this random rage stuff! It's getting you nowhere. We have to be smart about taking her down."
"I'm standing right here princess." Kellia smugly stated, and Leia snapped toward her.

"Yet you aren't doing anything. Wonder why that is lady?" A knowing looking look up and down over Kellia by Leia sent a new rage up her spine. She knew she needed this reprieve as much as Viathan did, even as they stood mere feet from one another. Plus if both these bastards were to attack her she needed to ready herself to fight two at once.

"C'mon, Vale. Together we can be this madwoman. You take her left I got her right. Use you head not your instinctive rage, and I'll use both my head and my makashi. You with me?" Viathan looked her in the eyes, they were calming down off her own dark side high but still retained some blotches of yellow, and he could sense she was drawing from it.

"So long as you are not saying I shouldn't use the dark side. I suppose I can give teamwork a try."

"Of course not! Use it, it's useful, just no more craziness. Now on my go I think."

"You think?" Leia shrugged and focused fully on Kellia who had been watching the display with disinterested eyes. Hr thoughts being elsewhere. Leia fell into makashi attack ready stance and Viathan sighed and shook his head, falling into a niman stance very much based off of makashi. Saber extended and slanted outward some from his right. He drew once more on the dark side, but began re-suppressing his deeply seeded rage as he narrowed his vision toward Kellia.

Leia calmed herself but she also began to draw on the dark side. Raw emotion, anger, and fear. Especially as Vale seemed more and more wore down. The Force swirled and fed Leia as she griped her curved hilt and readied to trike at Kellia, who spun her saber and brought it to bare before her in a defensive stance more in line with the shien from.

"Let's see if two against one works in your favors, or mine." With that final goad from Kellia, the three once more entered into a duel.

(Moments earlier, Coruscant, Senate Plaza)

Blasts sounded and bolts flew as was the usual in the senate plaza this night. Tanks from both sides were now roaming the open plots and regions of the plaza and conducting the largest repulsor tank battle the planet has ever seen. AAT's clashed with IFT-T and century tanks called in from other sectors of the battle raging across the world, and the capital city.

The droids streamed in from within the city beyond the executive and senatorial sectors. Likely where imperial forces had already been overrun. Following a loud and blaring sound activated across the entire planet that brought many troopers to their knees, and the following ending of that sound the droids seemed more brazen and even more suicidal in their attacks upon Kun and his forces.

Several thousand imperial troopers with auxiliary police forces from the Imperial city police forces as well as Coruscant guard units, and even some of the red imperial guard of the Emperor himself. The Emperor was maintaining his position to the relative right of the plaza and was masterfully destroying whole divisions on his own purely with his power within the Force. His royal guards were nearby as well. Having flooded from their training centers and the palace itself to fight the hordes of droids in up close melee combat. Even if they fell in droves they took many with them, but even still, the droids endlessly flooded, where piles of dead guardsmen soon piled up and less were available. It did not matter to Palpatine though. For he could always replace them and the inquisitors and their like now dying across his capital. It amused him. If they were too weak to survive their struggle against the droids, then they were too weak to continue surviving and beneath being a part of his order.

As it was now Exar proceeded to slash down the side of a droid and cleave it in half. Turning and stabbing through the chest another B2 firing in the opposite direction, before ripping the saber out and pushing the thing away. Slashing away and feeling his arms begin to ache from the endless swiping and slicing, Exar found himself easily cutting down the droids in droves nonetheless.

Niman being employed with great use, Kun would slash a droid whirl around and send a whole platoon of them flying backwards an into clumps of broken and smashed metal. Lightning would explode from his fingertips and he would thrash the things about and allow the bolts to curve and fly into other nearby droids. The dark lord was also seen aiding his troopers. A sight that was odd to them, some of them being very simplistic clones with nothing but flash memories to serve as their reason for existing. Seeing this man with powers and abilities beyond them come in, block a bolt and carve the droid who shot at them, made them tilt their heads in confusion before mutely beginning to fire on other droids.

"Situation report on droid reinforcements commander, now!" Exar ordered to the nearby trooper commander. The simple man somehow still alive after all the chaos. Huddled behind some stones knocked over by the battle in the plaza he and his squad were huddling and taking aim over the rubble at droids in the distance.

"MAAT's have a fix on several hundred more coming in from the north milord! They're attacking the executive building and senate rotunda from the opposite end. All aerial units have been rerouted there for support!" The commander turned about his position and peeked over the rubble just as three bolts flew passed his head.

"Uh, looks like we got some serious issues over here!"

"Define issues commander." Exar blocked another set of bots flying his way. Twisting his arm about and deflecting at least six and sent three flying back into three B1's and watching the droids fall over. Only for massive B2's to take their places and fire rapidly on his position.

"I'm counting maybe uh...two divisions, and some spider walkers...crab droids, and maybe a couple of those persuader-class tanks!" Exar cast out the Force and lifted one B2 into the air. Snapping his hand closed it crushed and he tossed it into the second and sent both falling to the ground in a heap.

"That does sound bad commander. I suppose I will handle them." Exar turned and dove over the rubble the men were using as the commander bumbled about ordering his men to change position and fire on the droids opposite their defenses. Unleashing a stream of bolts into a line of droids with other troopers scattered about and doing the same. Leaving Kun to face this mass of droids between his men and the line of troopers still guarding the square in a circular formation beyond.

"So, these droids are attacking both sides from their center eh? Fair enough. I can handle this." He openly declared as he moved nearer to the droids before him. Among them were several walkers and tanks all of them firing on his men and their positions from their fronts as they battled their backs against the second line of droids. The lines were a complete mess in the plaza. Droids, troopers, droids, and troopers.

Spinning his saber and activating the second end, Exar smirked and began easily tossing bolts aside as they made their way toward him. A single spider droid fired its main cannon upon him and the Sith tossed himself in a flip to the side, and the beam hit and burned the plaza ground. Extending his left hand, a massive bout of lightning torrents released themselves and flew into a set of droids shooting at his men and they quickly exploded from the massive amount of energy being poured into them.

Flinging his arm back he tossed his saber, and watched the dual bladed weapon fly through the air and down into the army. Slicing and destroying droid after droid in rapid succession, before he loosed both hands onto the nearest spider walker. A great blast of dark side energy ripped from his body and slammed into the walker. It flew backward with an explosion and fell onto its fellow smaller units, before Kun ceased the attack.

The lightsaber came flying back toward him, and he easily caught it. Immediately spinning it as he did and sent a slew of bolts flying away from himself. A set of two crab droids, smaller than others charged at him. Their legs skittering and slamming into the plaza ground and leaving marks as they went about. Lazily, and with a smirk, with the Force guiding and empowering him, he sent his saber vertically at one and the blue beams slashed their way through the droid down the center. Two portions of it broke away down the middle in burning heaps, as Kun grappled the second with the Force and lifted it into the air.

Bringing the droid before his body and shielding himself from enemy fire, even as it writhed in mid air trying to escape its unseen restraints, Exar moved forward and used the things for continued protection. Recalling his saber, it flew back, zipping and cutting through more droids, before coming to his left hand as his right kept the crab droid lifted.

The other droids ripped into and fired upon their allied droid as it hung in the air and defended, unwillingly so, Exar from protection. He finally neared close enough and allowed the droid to be utterly ruined enough, before he thrust outward his arm and the Force slammed the droid back into the army and slammed, and spun across dozens of droids.

Now in the thick of it, Exar slashed left downing a B1 as it cried out oddly in its robotic voice. Exar quickly turned and cleaved another B2 across the chest and unleashed a massive wave of Force energy as he did. Sending it and dozens of its smaller droids allies flying back and slamming into walkers and tanks alike.

He dashed as a persuader tank fired on his position with its two main guns. Its oddly prominent red photoreceptors looking down on him as it adjusted and fired again. Exar jumped over the blast and toward the droid, his cloak ripped and torn at the bottom flowing and falling with him as he fell onto the top of the droid. He slammed his saber down into the droid and proceeded to try and hang on as it turned and rolled around trying to force him off. Exar pulled his saber, and let it rip further into the droid, as it cleaved down to the left. He carried and then jumped off to the side of the droid and allowed his saber to continue tearing into it.

With a massive gash now from top of the droid and down its left, Kun jumped away with saber in hand. Once more with the Force he reached out and clutched the open gash. With a mighty swing of his arm the whole front section of the droid sheered off and the tank ceased moving. Sending a final massive wave its way the persuader flew backward, crushing droid upon droid until finally slamming into the legs of a spider walker and snapping them. Causing the spider to fall and explode along with the tank.

Kun spun around and easily fell into slashing and downing droid after droid. Slicing up through one, slashing through another two, and then stabbing through another, before sending it flying back, crushing droids again. A release of lightning struck another crab droid and sent it sprawling and shaking until it too exploded. A toss of his saber through the marching streams and hordes, allowed him to unleash another mighty Force blast that ripped through dozens, shredding and turning droids to dust particles.

Kun thrashed about the droids as he held and even broke through their lines. The troopers were holding the second line off on their own, with the tanks engaging one another off in the distance.

As Exar cut down another droid across the thing diagonally, a sudden tremor resonated within his mind. He sucked in his breath as the Force screeched and forced him to recoil. He struggled to stand and nearly fell unto his knee but instead only lurched over. His whole being shaken and a dull throb within his very mind.

"What in the name of..." He grunted as the pain worsened. He threw his body left on pure instinct as he sensed a bolt headed for him, but he slammed his back against a fallen over pile of droids and felt jabs and stabs of pain across it.

"Viathan?" he finally managed to utter as he felt pure and utter hatred pulsate from somewhere on the planet. He could only assume where he had sent him, but the pure oily darkness that was emanating from him was unlike anything the dark lord had yet sensed from the boy. Something deeply hidden and repressed was unleashed in this moment, and it was affecting him.

"What the...kriff is he...doing?!" Kun rasped and forced himself back into a full stand, even as the Force became blotted and foul with his apprentices' release of anger and hatred. Sounds around him became muted and muddled as his head throbbed. Shots of bolts rung out and explosions around, until finally he sensed it but far too late.

"ARGH!" Kun flung left as his shoulder burned and throbbed. He fell into a destroyed and broken down walker to the opposite of the droid pile as the bolt burned his clothing to his shoulder. His back against the metal surface of whatever droid he fell into, the Sith began to slide down. The throb in his mind and pain in his shoulder resonating and rippling through him.

For all that he was, and all the power Kun retained, pain was a rarity to him. He could recall the throb of Sylvar's claws as they ran along his face, all those many years ago now. With his shoulder burning he opened his eyes with some effort needed on his part through the pain, and took note of two B2's inching nearer to him.

A growl escaped him as he flushed the pain into the Force and fed the dark side, and his own power. Anger filled him and he forced himself to begin to rise back up. The arms blasters of the B2's leveled on him as he did, and he tightened his grip onto the saber hilt. A sudden whine through the Force was the one and only thing that warned him. He was too slow, and he wasn't going to block in time. Still he readied himself to attack the droids, for he knew, no one would kill Exar Kun!

Suddenly as the droids readied to fire and split into him many bolts of red heated charged death, they turned to their right, and aimed elsewhere. Kun winced at the sight, and his vision began to finally clear as adrenaline pounded into his veins. The droids opened fire, but were tracking something as they kept on missing apparently.

Exar turned to where they shot and found a whisk of red cloth pass by and round toward the droids. One of them began to shake and whir as it fell to the ground and the second was struck and recoiled backward with a shaky attempt to stay standing. Exar finally saw it was an Imperial guardsman. He was in the usual red armor and cloak of the emperor, and wielded a force pike. He slammed the still standing droid with the shock end of his staff and it shook uncontrollably as if being electrocuted by his own lightning.

The droid fell by its ally, and the guard spun his staff and stabbed the pike down and cleaved into and through the armor of the first droid. Allowing the electric charge of the pike to flow and fry the internal components and circuits. The guard quickly, and forcefully removed the pike and stabbed into the second one.

Unlike most guards, Exar took note that this man wore his armor clearly and kept his cloak back similar to a pure cape. He held an air of power about him, that Kun picked up immediately. As he kicked the droid off of his pike and turned to Kun, the dark lord could now sense it.

'Another Force sensitive graces my presence.' He thought with a looming sense of irony and humor. Though the throbs in his arm sorta made him forget humor.

Kun tossed his saber hilt, beams now inactive, into his left hand and clutched his shoulder with his right hand. Hoping to in some way lessen the pain. Though he knew it was futile.

"Hmm," Kun hummed both in pain and curiosity as he eyed the man standing tall and proud. "Now who might you be guardsman? If you're feeling up to talking that is? Your people seem to be contractually obligated to be mute." The man immediately snickered, so Kun already got a better impression from him than most of his kind.

"My name? Usually it goes without importance and unheard by anyone but by those who recruited me to be part of the guard for the emperor. I have a simple designation. Something boring like the troopers my lord. Something like Theta-twenty or something ridiculous like that. I can't remember nor care really. I used to be a part of the trooper corps too." Exar rolled his shoulder and nodded as they stood amongst a battlefield, but slightly hidden by many piles of droids and their weapons.

"That's all very interesting. Really it is." Kun declared, though he was clearly being sarcastic. "But I would like to know what your actually name is. Though you seem keen to talk around the subject rather than just address." The guard shrugged.

"I'm very picky about what I say to who. Though I think I know who you are. You're that new lord right? Exar Kun. Talk amongst the other guards is that you 'disturb,' them like Vader."

"Oh? And why is that?" He asked as he took a glance right as an explosion sounded.

"We, or they can't get a fix on you. Almost everyone in the guard can 'feel,' things about people who come near the emperor. I can do it too. I can do it better than most even, but even I can't read you right. Or clear." Exar nodded.

"Is that a fact? Well that's quite interesting. Yes, I am Exar Kun. Now, may I please know the name of the one who just helped me while in an 'awkward,' situation?" The guard bowed his head, a laugh once more subtly rising from him, and subdued by his mask.

"My name is Carnor Jax. I am in the beginning courses of becoming a full time guard of the emperor." He sounded quite proud of that fact, but also arrogant. His stance gave that away quite clearly as well. His pike in both hands, his cloak flowing behind him, and his armor seeming quite prominent. It almost made Exar snort with the ridiculousness of his manner.

"Well, I'm sure you'll be well on your way to becoming a loyal servant of the Emperor, Carnor Jax. You certainly show more...potential than most of your brothers in arms." Exar smirked as he sensed the pride in the young man swell. "Yet, there is room for improvement." His mood drop was potent in the Force. A notable rise in anger, and outrage came off of the man.

"How so?!" He demanded and Kun shrugged, as the pain in his shoulder began to numb.

"Charging right in, is a good tactic for when you simply want to get something done. However, you could refine your skills, your power, and become far greater of a duelist and killer than you currently are. That is all I am saying my friend. After all, I thought you guardsmen types liked being the best you could be to defend your emperor?" Carnor visibly grasped his pike harder in rage.

"I AM the best the guard has!" Kun grinned to his face.

"Then prove it to me. Go back out, and join me in the battle. Show me just how effective and capable you are with that little pike of yours against a field littered with droids with blasters. Let us compare yourself with me, and see just who is the far superior killer. Shall we, boy?" The Force swirled around Jax as the dark side was called to him.

"A game then? A contest? Fine! I'll show you just how good I am at what I am! I'll bet I even ave your backside again, dark lord!" He furiously dove back over a pile of droid rubble and into the fray. Unknowingly using the Force to enhance both his speed, and strength as he dove from droid to droid and ran them through with his pike. Snapping it idly against others to shock and stun them into uselessness. All the while Carnor Jax cut down droid after droid, and returned to those dropped by his pike earlier. All of them fell, and bolts missed.

All the while the battle waged on, and Exar Kun watched the royal guardsman with a scheming unseen glint in his deeply gray eyes. A creeping smile also found its way across his face. It wasn't long until thoughts on what Viathan was doing rose back to his thoughts, and thus left Kun with much to contemplate as he fought for his life and ripped into an entire droid army. Needless to say, the thought of a possible fourth apprentice, and another male within his circle of Sith sounded within his mind, very tempting indeed.

(Coruscant Orbit, Imperial Stardestroyer Exactor)

"My lord Vader. A large portion of the droids fighter units have broken off engaging with our fighters. I believe we can now launch our bomber units with greater success than before. If of course, that be your will milord." Piett bowed. Vader was peering out the viewport as was his usual position. He had seen the fact himself. The masses of droids suddenly cutting and turning outward. Passing beyond the veil of URM warships that formed this blockading bubble around his fleet, and allowing a small respite for his fighters currently engaged against the overwhelmingly more massive amount of enemy craft.

"Have you first discovered why such a large quantity of enemy ships have abandoned the engagement with our captain?" Piett became stiff where he stood as Vader turned on him and asked. As ever, the tall behemoth of the Sith lord sending chills down the officers back even as the ship was attacked and shook.

"We...well no milord we have not precisely discovered the reasoning. We scanned for the nearest allied warship cluster but they are quite a ways away from us near to one of the golan orbital space platforms. They have been using its extra firepower to aid them in survival, but they are too far away to cause these ships any harm."

"Are there any out of the ordinary happenings outside of this engagement, captain?" The Sith curtly asked in reply. Piett took a moment to sift through some of his recent report readings. Though having a Sith lord 'breathing down your neck,' as it were, didn't help matters.

"Well...there was one recognized bit of confusion amongst our scanners. A nearby Munificent took some damage and exploded in several of its sectors. It is only odd because we have no assets attacking that sector, but did pick up some fighter and interceptors outside. We find them the likely source of the damage. Though there are only a few and their codes register from an assortment of wings thought to have been fully wiped out."
"Apparently not fully, captain."

"Of course milord." Piett half bowed and nodded. Vader nodded to himself and glanced once more out the viewport. His forces were in a rough spot. Hundreds of URM warships, all of them of CIS make and design surrounded and now literally formed a bubble around his fleet. Both Death Squadron and an amalgamation of various home fleet warships that had joined up with him now fought for time. There was so far no easy or feasible way to break through this bubble as the ships kept rotating around his forces.

All the droid fired their side cannons or other assorted weapons that could turn and fire. The lasers and rockets thus rained down, from below, and from every other direction onto him and his ships. Assorted and massive swarms of droid fighter and bombers flew about and hit all manner of targets. So massive were the swarms of bombers at times that they alone rained down their ion and then proton torpedoes, or other assorted explosives onto frigates and corvettes and send them cracking in shattering explosions into two half's entirely.

So, for Vader to hear that twenty lone fighters and interceptors had on their own caused severe damage to a ship, and enough so to warrant an immediate and massive response from the droids intrigued him greatly. If for nothing else, the dark lord knew he could use them to aid him in his efforts to hold out for but a while longer until the Core reserve arrived at any moment. Then the droids, already beaten and for lack of a better term, 'bloodied,' would be utterly cut down in mere hours. Vader had long ago activated all gravity well generators and kept them hidden. There was to be no escape for these droids.

"I wish to speak with this squadron of 'misfits,' captain. Get in contact with them. I may have further uses for them." Piett, without a word spoken in reply, bowed his head. He turned and snapped on a heel and made for the communications officer as Vader once more returned to the battle outside and at hand. Across the top of his own stardestroyer were now large burnt marks, that leaked smoke out into the void of space where it was quickly sucked out int the void and turned into nothing but free floating dust.

Around him were various other warships of imperial make and model. Most if not all of them sported damaged sectors and similar burnt and charred markings along them. Wreckage floated freely through the void, but this was not confided to this battle. Metal was not floating around the entire planet from the masses of ships, both big and small, that had been destroyed during the curse of this hours long and still going battle.

Green, blue, and red turbolaser fire from assorted cannons and weapon types flew forth and back. Many URM warships also sported marks of war damage but were always in motion and made it increasingly difficult for imperial vessels to line down on them and open fire with ease. What was even more annoying and difficult were the masses of fighters. Both imperial and droid, that flew around and committed to dogfighting across the open spaces and gaps in the bubble. Both sides had made it, thus far, impossible for any bomber units to successfully breach their individual perimeters. Interceptors for the Imperials guarded the ships from enemy Hyena-class bombers and other bomber classes the URM may have reactivated. Whilst URM Tri-fighters had taken up a similar role while still having enough units to send into the fray alongside their Vulture counterparts.

A simple but all too familiar sight played out now. To the right of his ship were various allied ships in all classes, but one in particular that caught his eyes was a lone Imperial-I class warship. Its deflector shield generating domes were both in flames and burst out smoke into the void, while the entire port side of the ship was in ruin where it had likely taken a side to side engagement with an enemy vessel at some point and all cannons were destroyed. Topside cannons were firing upwards and into the blockade slamming into a far off Providence, Vader at least thought it was from where he was. It may have been a recusant.

Yet even more laser fire rained down and from below into this ship. It plumed and blew across sectors. It fractured and cracked. Pieces blew away and across into the void. Until at last a slew of red cannon fire slammed into the bridge and the tower exploded in a brilliant flash. Vader nearly covered his visor from the flash but the light died down quickly. The sight that greeted him was the bridge of the stardestroyer fracturing and beginning to free float away from the main body of the ship. Explosions rippled across both the tower and the main body where the separated from each other. A dazzling sight, or so Vader thought it would have been, had the ship not been one of his own stardestroyers.

Boots fell, and Vader sensed the approach of the captain once more.

"What have you learned captain?" Vader asked, not turning. Only crossing his arms and stood tall and unmoving. The captain snapped his feet into place. Very proper and proud in stance.

"They are coming under heavy attack by a droid counterattack. It was indeed their team of twenty that caused significant damage to a Munificent battle cruiser. They staved off an initial backlash from the droids. This new wave consists of hundreds of fighters. Enough to where each TIE has at least a dozen droid fighters trailing them as we speak. So far they've only lost three of their initial twenty." The captain trailed off, and Vader sensed that he was nervous, and had more to say, but feared to do so.

"You have more you wish to speak. Do you not, captain?" Piett cleared his throat, and though Vader had his back to him he nodded.

"Uh...um yes well, you see milord I made contact with the leader of this little new wing. They call themselves 'Rouges.'" Vader nodded, though he found the name quaint. "He, uh identified himself...well milord-"
"Out with t captain!" Vader barked. The men of the bridge slightly jumping and turning toward him as Piett stood rigid and nodded again. Only speaking once again after he swallowed down his fear.

"Your son, my lord. He is commanding the wing. Along with Shira brie, and a woman named Juno Eclipse." Vader was silent. Behind his mask he felt his brow involuntarily twitch, and a frown fell across his face. His jaw clenched and he felt rage consume him as thoughts turned to all manner of ideas of what could or what has happened to him.

'And for that matter, where's Leia?!' A howl flew through his mind at the thought and his gloved hands clenched into fists.

When he finally turned toward Piett the captain held an apprehensive and gloomy contorted look upon his face. Still the dark lord remained silent for a time. The ship rumbled as fire slammed into it, and still he stood staring down t Piett. Only his breathing making the audible noise on the bridge. Once more forcing the captain to swallow his fear, as he hoped it wasn't obvious before his lord and superior.

"Send word to prepare for me a personal TIE fighter. I shall take command of a wing. Prepare them as well. I will deal with this matter, personally." Piett nodded furiously as Vader turned and began to stomp away from the viewport and through the bridge toward the exit.

"Captain, you have command of the bridge!" Vader suddenly stopped and turned toward Piett. "In fact, you have command of the fleet. Do keep Ozzel from ruining what we have left, Vice Admiral Piett." The men on the bridge all turned toward their one time captain, now turned admiral, and watched his mouth slightly hang ajar, before he nodded like a bumbling fool.

"Ye...yes milord. Of course." He bowed his head, and Vader left without another word being spoken. Piett shuffled his feet for a moment longer and huffed a small breath of admitted satisfaction. It was not an everyday occurrence after all, that a captain of a ship was then made vice admiral.

"Ahem, right then. Relay to the docking bay of lord Vader's impending arrival. Ready a fighter and squadron for him. Make them the best we have to offer. Contact admiral Ozzel and inform him lord Vader has put me in command. That should ruffle the old mans trousers I should think." Piett laughed lowly, and his men joined him, or at least a few. The tension of lord Vader's presence needing to be alleviated after all.

"Now, let's focus our stardestroyers on the nearest lucrehulk. Every one of those command ships is commanding droids planet-side. Let's free up our comrades some shall we?" The men began to bustle about the bridge once more as their new admiral commanded, and as the battle waged on.

---

Vader stomped his way through the halls of his ship. Men and troopers running through the ship to do what needed to be done. For once in their lives not fearing the dark lord as much as they usually did. Most did acknowledge and salute him, but quickly raced to their assigned destinations. Technicians with their welding tools were all across the ship in pairs of two. The lead tech usually yelling orders to the second over the booms and bursts of either the ship or reverberations from outside explosions.

His leg muscles began to become momentarily sore at the manner he stomped his way through the halls toward the docking bay. His rage needed to curbed anyways!

'How dare he! How dare they both! I haven't a doubt, not a ONE karking doubt he's alone in this foolish effort! Why do they seek to disobey me at every turn?!' Vader shook his head, and sighed with indignation.

Passing by three techs working on a wall with its metal panel removed, Vader rounded and quickly had found himself at the docking bay. Having already and in no time at all made his way there.

'Time sure does fly by when one is as FURIOUS as I am!' He shook violently and silently as the doors slid open. The docking bay was aloud with sounds, as pilots ran to and fro. Mounting up into ships and readying themselves. Several fighters and bombers lay on emergency platforms where troopers with fire containment stripes on their armor sprayed the ships with water and fire retardant after they likely entered the docking bay with internal fires that threatened to spread. Men, troopers, and pilots as well as a few offices and technicians were lined up along the walls. One side devoted to medics treating them on mats, and the other devoted to body bags that Vader would hazard to guess already carried a foul stench throughout the entire dock.

From the ray shields lining the floor and the other end of the bay Vader could peer out and see turbolaser fire explode in massive waves from allied imperial ships, and be hit by unseen enemy warships and their cannons.

"My lord Vader." An officer made an approach. He looked disheveled and was placing his cap back onto his head as he jogged over from a medical trooper who returned to a pilot screaming and writhing on the floor. A chill ran through Vader as he saw the man burned across his entire face. Memories of Mustafar's parting gift and his old masters treachery made his blood boil once more.

"Captain...err..I mean Vice Admiral Piett informed me and placed the task onto my shoulders of procuring for you a TIE craft. I managed to reserve this one for you." he motioned in a sweeping manner to his left. Vader followed and found a TIE interceptor sitting with its cockpit entrance ajar and waiting for him.

"Forgive me lord Vader, but we could not find an operable TIE fighter. This interceptor, however, has not yet seen combat and is registered as fully operable. We just hadn't found any pilots with the appropriate skills to fly this one." Vader raised and waved his hand dismissively.

"The classification matters little to me officer. Only that it can operate. I have flown many times before and shall continue to do so. So long as it can fire I will personally see to the dismantling of the URM droid fighters." he assured and began to stomp forward toward it The officer following close behind.

"Yes of course milord. You also required a squadron to act as guard and aid in your, uh...mission. Correct milord?"

"Indeed it is." The officer nodded, and seemed to also release a sigh of relief. As if he though he may have heard the order wrong.

"I have one such squadron for you milord. The sixth squadron of the thirty-seventh Imperial Fighter Wing. They were here in orbit on leave and ordered vacation. However, they have made themselves quite useful. They have on their own seen to the destruction of a recusant and crippled a sabaoth warship." Vader nodded.

"That is the squadron under command of the one, Soontir Fel is it not?" the officer nodded, clasping his hands behind his back.

"Indeed milord. They boarded the Exactor in need of repairs. They should be patched up any second now." Vader sensed an approach and turned right.

"Actually we're all ready to go. We're ready and capable lord Vader." The man, Vader recognized to be the 'rising star,' of the navy pilots, Fe approached. Facial hair forming a goatee around his mouth. His hair still dark and youthful, though he caught sight of an oddly graying patch forming on the mans head. Fel easily went from walking to falling to a one leg kneel. Clasping both hands to his raised knee and bowing his head low in reverence and respect to his lord and superior.

"Captain Fel. I was made aware some time ago the sixth squadron was given to you following captain Tessra's removal. Your reputation proceeds you, captain. I only hope, for your sake, it is not exaggerated." The dark lord warned, raising a gloved finger to hammer the warning home in fact. Soontir looked up, boldly Vader thought, and bowed his head in a half nod as well. His eyes seeming full of conviction.

"I assure you milord, whatever task you may have for the sixth squadron, shall be done. Even to the death milord. In defense of Coruscant and the Empire."

"A wise and important sentiment, captain. Come, rise and ready your squad. We take off at once. You will follow my leads, but officially you retain command of your squadron." Fel nodded and rise to full height. Vader noticed him clasping the usual black helmet of a pilot under his arms. Also catching sight of the other wing pilots behind him, waiting and standing still.

"As you command lord Vader. May I be bold and inquire to what the mission objectives are?" Vader nodded.

"Several rogue fighters and interceptors are fighting droid swarms outside of the blockade, and have drawn off a great many fighters from the main engagement. Our bombers now have an opening to attack the enemy forces. However, several of the fighter pilots in this ragtag squad are of high value to the Empire and me personally. As to how and why is non of your concern, captain Fel." The man quickly nodded. Vader sensed no anger, but only understanding from the man.

'A competent soldier to say the least.' The dark lord thought. Taking the lack of questions from his subordinate very happily.

"We'll provide full escort and aid in any way we can and as you order milord Vader. Just give us the go ahead when you're ready." He bowed and Vader motioned for him to go. He quickly did, turning and placing his helmet on before returning and rallying his squad mates. All of whom Vader sensed to hold great respect for their squadron leader. Nonetheless, Vader turned back to the officer, still standing and awaiting any commands in silence. Even as the ship lurched and everyone in the docking bay struggled to remain standing. Save for Vader of course.

"Relay my direct words to admiral Piett at once. Tell him, 'lord Vader orders all bomber units previously held back to begin, with fighter escort, engage nearer enemy warships. Aim for shield generators, and launch bays first. Proceed with full out bombing runs afterwords.' Those exact words, officer." Vader insisted, almost darkly and the officer vigorously nodded before saluting and running to a communications terminal.

Vader turned and quickly entered into the prepared Interceptor. He climbed in, synched his helmets internal small comm with the squads comm channel, and primed the TIE interceptor for launch. The men of the sixth squadron jumped into and primed their own fighters and awaited for their go ahead.

"Engines primed. Weapons green. How ready is your squadron Fel?"

"All units report green on all systems, milord. We await your command." Vader flipped his interceptor into gear and the craft levitated off the docking bay ground and turned toward sideways and angled down to make out of the main entrance.

"All units of the sixth squadron, on me. Follow my lead, and that of your lead, and we shall achieve our mission objectives. Aid, and rescue several fighter and interceptors outside of the blockade, and apply added pressure to enemy fighter units as secondary." They all read affirmative, and the eight ships waited for Vader to blast out of the ray shields.

The dark lord, feeling his body rush, as he once more took personal command of a fighter craft, and allowed the Force, the dark side to empower and fill him, eh clutched the controls and pushed the interceptor down and passed the shields.

Entering the void he immediately rolled the vessel and glided it from under the Exactor until it cleared the point of his ship and made for the blockade wall. Diving down and out of the belly of the ship followed the sixth squadron in formation with Soontir's ship leading the other seven.

They followed after and behind Vader as they cleared the ship from underneath and made upwards to clear all the flying turbolaser fire slamming back and forth. Vader made onward toward the blockade wall. His interceptor seeping into an open region of space. Dodging and rolling as laser fire flew toward him and his squad as they too broke and dodged repeated shots at them all.

"Follow me, and do not divert from course. Form a line after me." Vader ordered and no one questioned it as they formed a direct line following closely one after another behind and trailing his interceptor. In sight and on their scanners began blaring warnings of incoming Vulture droids and Tri-fighters.

"Dive now!" Vader commanded. Swiftly his interceptor dove down and spun once again, and the fighters followed. As behind them suddenly burst into sight and above them came a flood of TIE fighters that unleashed a wave and unrelenting torrent of green cannon fire that slammed into the Vultures, and the droids repaid them in kind as a great dogfight opened up above them relative to where they now flew.

"Ignore these pests unless you must engage. Our targets are outside the blockading units." Vader tossed his interceptor back up and the fighters followed ever on and reformed into a wedge after him with Fel's ship hanging close behind Vader.

"Milord, we're approaching the blockade lines. Indicate where we breach. If it be your will milord." Fel indicated, and sounded as ever, subservient toward Vader. He scanned the line of battleships as they marked he and his fighters and began to open fire on them, forcing them to break into wild spins, rolls and any other movement to dodge the great blasts from their turbolasers and rockets. As he found one ship, a providence-class battleship, an idea struck him, and behind his mask a grin, one he was used to in these high octane rides of his preference, as a thought took hold in his mind.

"Form back up behind me, and keep absolutely close and together." He flipped several switches and readied to boost his engines as the TIE fighters formed another line behind him. "Burn your engines on my mark."

"We copy." Fel replied and Vader didn't doubt it.

"Engine burn in three, two, one!" His twin ion engines lit brightly and his TIE blew forward as more turbolaser fire screeched at he and his team. They followed immediately after him as he barreled toward the side of the providence. It's laser batteries guarding the droid docking bay entrance and lining the length of the ships sides pounded into the void as other battle ships and cruisers in the surrounding areas aided in spraying them with missing fire.

"Milord! You're heading directly for the enemy ship, pull up!"

"Follow my directives Fel, not question them." Vader rebuked and rolled his TIE to the right dodging narrowly a blast of laser fire. His team did the same and his TIE became aligned with the ray shields. They, much to Vader's glee, did not have their protective shielding activated. Only their common shields for fighter and bomber launch...or docking.

His engines still burning with the sixth squads doing so in kind as well he dove on forward and with the Force guiding him Vader dove his TIE forward! He clenched his jaw and with a lurch the interceptor barreled on into the providence! Passed the ray shields and through the hanger as droids on the dock floor fired upwards with feeble blasters as the scream of his TIE ripped and reverberated through the ship. His comrades followed in kind as they spit through the dock of the ship and made toward the other side exit.

Vader's breath momentarily caught, and then with a stiffening of his whole body the interceptor pierce back out of the providence into space beyond the ship and beyond the blockade! The TIE's followed and raced outward, and Vader heard resonating sighs and huffs from the men of the squad as they couldn't believe what they had just done. The firing of the opposite side turbolasers of the providence not affecting them as they easily dodged.

"All units, confirm you are still active." Fel repeated the command and soon all the men, breathlessly and shaken, called back that they were indeed still active and ready for duty as they raced away from the battle between mammoth ships into what was, as Vader had been told, a great hunt by the droids. A hunt for his son, and one of his other apprentice's.

"Detecting mass engagement to our relative east, or left milord." Fel called out and Vader mutely banked his TIE left and angled it up. He could sense his son. He could sense Shira, and he could sense their fear and anxiety from afar.

Then it came into sight. A mass of ships, mostly droid model and make, flying about the void and shooting to one another en mass.

"That is our objective. All droid fighters are without question free game. Remain in formation and break as many as possible. Over a dozen at least are pursuing a single allied vessel each." Vader announced and primed his engines once again, as well as his comm on a wider imperial channel.

"Imperial vessels engaged with large enemy forces outside of the blockade zone. This is lord Vader. I and a team of reinforcing fighters shall assist you in disengaging and docking safely to an imperial vessel afterwords." He awaited. Knowing, that Luke would be smart to answer him directly. If he did not, Vader swore he would teach that boy a lesson never to be forgot!

"Uh...yeah of course. Um, I mean thank you lord Vader I-"
"Luke! I shall deal with your insolent and direct disobedience for my commands and will later! For now you shall fight and I will aid. Afterwords, we shall discuss what it means to listen to a direct order." Vader shouted through the comm, as the boy did indeed attempt to speak to him. Though he was hiding his voice poorly and trying to sound gruff and older.

"There is no hiding yourself either Shira Brie! You too shall know punishment for your actions later." He heard a groan audibly through the comm, and felt a small and satisfied smile cross his lips.

"Lord Vader. I am Juno Eclipse. Number five of the Alpha-Four squadron. My whole team was wiped out. I do not of course, seek to impose myself upon you, nor dare to think my opinion is of your concern. I don't even know why these two are in as much trouble as they are. What I only want to say is that they brought all of us together to alleviate the pressures being suffered by the fleet by the URM, and we have led hundreds of the fighters on a wild chase. Not only that but we also turned dozens into nothing but dust."

"You are correct in assuming your opinion does not concern me at all, Juno Eclipse. I know who you were before you said and your records are accessible to me at any point I may desire." Vader shot back, and through the Force he felt her fear resonate.

"However, their record and accomplishments nor yours are called into question. Their blatant disregard is." Vader assured and banked his interceptor up toward the enemies.

"Enough of this! I am now in command of all active and capable imperial units in the vicinity. Myself and my team shall deal with your pests. All ships not affiliated with me are now ordered to lead your chasing squads of droid fighters into opposite directions. We shall deal with them as they chase after you all on an individual by individual basis."

They all responded with their affirmatives, and Vader felt anger well up within himself as thoughts on both Luke and Shira's disobedience fueled him. Using the Force he sought out Luke and found him among a rather large array of enemy fighters chasing and shooting wildly at him in vast and wide sprays.

"Squad, form up on me. We clear this fighter first." He fired his engines and tore his interceptor upwards. Luke's TIE moved away fro the center as did all the rest of the rouges. All of them chased by their own swathes of droid ships.

"Two ships break and continue upwards. Should any enemy fighters break off, you dive down and clear them up as we focus on these. Confirmed?"

"Copy milord, sending two now." Fel assured.

The whole of the squad bound upwards as Luke led the droids chasing further away. Vader clenched down on his triggers and a torrent of green cannon fire erupted and split into one, then two, a third Vultures from below. The adjoining TIE fighters also fired upward and split open droid after droid, as expected, many droids broke away even as Vader and the ships lined up with Luke and the remaining droids. Two of the fighters continued upwards to watch from above. Vader and the other fighters buzzed around one another and sprayed green fire into the droids, as Luke also dodged the droid fire, even some of the allied fire. Though Vader sensed no danger...yet.

"Enemy fighters rounding behind your positions. Barring down upon them now." One of the two fighter pilots above them warned. As four Vultures rounded around and zoomed to aim down toward Vader and his team. They readied to fire, but then green lasers flew down like rain pellets and screamed into Vulture after Vulture. Each one of the four was ripped into and exploded as the two TIE's zipped back down to monitor their chase.

Vader once more unleashed his interceptors weapons, as the mass of high powered and speedy cannon bolts flew into droid after droid. Blowing them to bits, and smashing them into other droids next to them. Or turning them at the moment of impact into nothing but debris. Finally Fel's TIE flipped under Vader's and sprayed against a Vulture ducking from Vader's fire and the droid quickly fell apart and exploded in a brilliant flash.

"Exquisite shot, Fel."

"Thank you milord." Soontir responded. Sounding very pleased with himself even if he did mask it as best and to the most that he could.

"Luke, you are clear. Form up on us, and join. We now clear Shira from her engagement."
"Copy." The boy, still dejected replied as his Tie took a sharp right and swung around to form up next to Vader and Fel's TIE's.

"We're coming about Shira. Direct yourself away from all fire. Friendly fire is a very strong possibility." Vader warned. Again he received a groan from her over the comm.

"Copy master." She replied, as Vader sought her out and like Luke found her Force signature and flipped his interceptor over and around. She came into view going upwards attempting to drive some of the seemingly twenty or so droids chasing after her away.

"Squad bank up and rip into them." Vader broke proper command language for a very short moment and did as he ordered. Banking his TIE up some he leveled his cannons on the stream of droids following Shira upwards and shooting. He unleashed his own cannons and the green lasers flew into the line. One by one they blew into a dozen bits each. Fel and the others, along with Luke fired a massive stream that tore into a broke down droid after droid, until they too broke away.

"Moving in for mop up." The same fighter pilot announced, his and his allies TIE breaking after two pairs of droids ships breaking apart from the massacre they just underwent.

"You are clear Brie. Form up along with us." her TIE banked to level and descend to Vader's level. Before, she could though a Tri-fighter zoomed around and opened fire on her.

"Watch it Shira!" Luke hollered. His TIE suddenly rolled in front of and passed both Fel and Vader's TIE's. Cannon fire ripped the entire way from him and slammed four shots into the droid. Sending it into a wayward and wild spin before exploding.

"Geez, calm down Luke will ya?"

"Hey! I just saved your backside Shira. I thought you'd be happy." Shira's TIE turned and formed up alongside both Luke's and Vader's.

"Well yeah, I'm happy I'm not dust right now, but..."
"Admit it, you're just mad you didn't catch it, and that I am the superior pilot." Luke, in a particularly sing-song voice of arrogance, and play announced. Shira released a scoff.

"Oh please, I could fly circles around you Luke, before you could even say, 'blue milk.'"

"Blue milk!" Luke shot back with a laugh. "It's okay Shira I'll watch over and make sure you don't get hurt." An audible growl escaped her once more, and forced Vader to roll his eyes, as he could sense a bit of confusion coming from Fel and the others. It was becoming obvious theses weren't trained or at least imperially trained pilots.

"I wouldn't be as cocky as you come off if I were you my son." Vader openly declared, and did smirk when he sensed fear from the other pilots at the realization.

"You after all had to be saved by myself and these fine imperial pilots. Now enough bickering, the both of you. W have at least several dozen more droids to destroy, and men to save from this situation you've gotten them and yourselves placed into" he sternly ordered.

"Yes...father." Luke, with trepidation, responded.

"Good. Now both of you, on me." His TIE turned left and back toward the great cat and mouse chase between the pilots of the empire and the URM. Vader his two apprentices, Fel and his team made short work of the remaining enemy ships and freed their allied pilots with no further losses.

As they did this, not far away from where they were a small flash as it seemed, but really a sudden burst into sight was seen by the droids and caught on their scanners, and those of nearby imperial warships. As hundreds, and then into thousands upon further thousands of Imperial warships burst into the planet's orbit.

The Core reserves had arrived, and immediately opened fire, and decimated the first droid warships they came across with an unstoppable wave of their own fighters and bombers unleashed thereafter. Dozens of ships blockading Vader's forces broke and made to engage the Imperial warships, and suddenly the URM found itself now under attack, and in a quasi attempt to attack and defend.

As the Empire struck back, against the droids in full and unstoppable might.

(Coruscant Surface)

Another blast erupted from a Tri droids cannon and flew forward and slammed into the side of the grand spire, that was Vader's palace. It spun its head and once more fired into the palace. Pieces of metal and other forms of stone and building material exploded and fell down to the top ground level and around the troopers that defended the palace of their supreme commander.

"Get down!" A trooper commander yelled, and tossed himself and an ally aside as a large stone fell where they were. Taking their blasters back in hands, and rising back up, using the rubble that just fell, they took position and fired into the masses of droids still flooding from the broken gate. Fallen walkers, and dead troopers, and even over downed droids, these mechanical machines of war marched on and pounded the imperial forces.

There were thousands of them, and they seemed endless. The only saving grace of the imperial troopers was the boy wielding his crimson lightsaber and flying across the open region between the droids and troopers. Cutting the droids down as he had for hours.

Starkiller landed and cut his saber flawlessly and straight through another B1 battle droid. As he turned right sliced another then spun left and through two more, before blasting his hand forward and shooting an unseen surge of power out that sent dozens of similar droid flying away into a pile of broken metal.

He jumped aside as a torrent of blaster fire ripped back toward him. Three droideka's one next to the other, stood and fired at him with shields activated. Behind them and marching around them were hundreds more of their B1 and B2 counterparts. The B2's launched a synch at least a dozen arm rockets that flew into the troopers line of broken and spread out defense. They flung aside and dodged as Starkiller caught one with the Force and tossed it back into their crowd, blowing many apart. The other rockets slammed and exploded into his masters palace.

Starkiller growled and flung his saber spinning into dozens of more droids, as he slammed another massive bout of telekinetic energy the droids way and dozens flung backwards. Slamming and tossing their allies as they did. The droideka's managed to remain standing and shot at him with double the ferocity, as he ran forward and caught his saber. Flying into the air in a jump he slammed down and surged the Force up through his weapon as he hit the ground. A pulse of power flashed outward and sent many more droids tossed into the air. The droideka's as well finally were launched into the air.

Grappling them with the Force, Starkiller flung the three in all directions, and off into the void and greater depths of Coruscant. Starkiller breathed small sigh of relief even as he dodged another bout of incoming blaster fire that ripped passed him and flew toward the troopers. The men, clad in white armor, did their best to hold back the wave of droids, but they could not stem the tide forever. As it was, however, it seemed to be an endless tide indeed.

Bolts flew and struck a trooper. One into the head, and killed him on contact, another hit his chest and the last his arm even as he was already dead. The men beside him watched him fall, and fear struck at their cores. Anger rushed them even as mere pawns as they were to the Empire, these men still could feel, and what they felt was terror, but rage. The potent emotion spread out by them was like fuel to Starkiller. In a morbid way he found them dying an added bonus, while at the same time a nuisance to lose his only allies in this fight as the night dragged on, with morning lights not far beyond.

"Have I really...been fighting a whole night?" He asked himself as he realized the time. Still dodging and turning as he did. Almost like a cruel joke, he began to feel the soreness of his arms and the weakness of other muscles from the passing of the night.

His eyes went wide, and he threw himself to the right face first as another blast resonated and blew forth from the Tri droid. The massive and odd droid was to the back and stationary from the droid soldiers, and endlessly fired on his men and himself. His masters palace was now marred and scarred across many levels from this ground entrance level up many more. His sanctuary and main living spaces to the upper levels were so far unscathed, but that did little to lessen the anger deep within Starkiller.

Getting himself up and turning away as a B2 sought to toss him aside with a wave of its metal arm. Starkiller cut the droids arm off, and sliced into the chest of it. It fell and he turned toward the droid army marching against his masters palace.

Gathering his energy, Starkiller allowed the darkness inside to well, rage, and hatred for these unfeeling and non living creatures, and finally with a surge he sent both hands up and howled as the darkness flew forth from him! A great wave of power and energy burst with unseen fury that slammed and sent the whole army, the front lines in particular, lying backwards and toppling one after the other. They all blew and fell backwards against his furious might, and allowed for a moments rest for the troopers who looked on in awe at the sight.

With that done, Starkiller began to run forward and took his red saber to himself and picked up speed. Once more tossing himself upwards into the air. The Tri droid leveled with him and fired. It missed and Starkiller spun as he whipped closer and slashed through it. Taking its cannon barrel with him. He slammed down and blew nearby already fallen droids even further away.

The Tri droid spun its head and moved its second barrel into firing position. It did so and shot again into his masters palace sending rubble flying and men running away. Starkiller then dashed right and slashed through its leg there, before tossing himself left and the other leg with his saber easily cleaving through. The Tri droid began to fall forward and Starkiller jumped away as it fell and slammed its head into the ground.

Moving back as the Force sent a warning through him he watched as the Tri droid suddenly exploded. The munitions hold ruptured by its collapse sent a massive ripple through the droid lines and destroyed dozens more. The walkway now shook and quaked underneath Starkiller. He broke back into a run back toward the palace, and dived onto the grounds passed the main gate, and next to the fallen AT-ST. The walkway whined and cracked. Before at last the entire metal walkway crumpled, and with a final great whine collapsed. The front section dove forward and down, and a slew of droids slid on the metal walk path and down falling, with the remains of the Tri droid down into the great unknown depths.

The troopers let loose a cry of victory at the sight and waved their blasters high. As Starkiller rose to his feet he smirked some and wiped a sheen of sweat from his brow. He turned back toward the now downed walkway to see the back portion still standing with droids stopping to inspect the broken path.

With no way to cross the now broken path to their objective, all droids opened fire from across the broken path and Starkiller fell into a defensive stance. His saber blocking an innumerable number of bolts that now flew his way once again, before he jumped aside behind the wall built beside the broken gates, and out of the line of sight from the droids and their fire. The troopers fell back behind their cover, and allowed the enemy bolts to hit their defenses now. Without their ability to get nearer to them the men did not care if the droid fired and hit nothing. Though even then, the men did take shots back at the droids and picked them off one by one.

Starkiller turned and leaned back against the wall. A deep sigh came from him and he deactivated his lightsaber. Weariness fell across him and his body began to ache. The sounds of battle was all that met his ears as the planet burned beyond and near all the same. The Force was heavy with death and darkness from the battle that had gone on, unending for hours. His master's tower looked marked and scarred up and down its full length, and the courtyard at this entrance level, the highest one before the spire just went on, was filled with bodies and droid parts. Smoke and odd smells of war and dust filled the air. All Starkiller felt like doing in this moment was sitting down, but knew at any moment something could happen that could and would shake him from his rest.

With that in mind, Starkiller took in and released several large gulps of breath and reactivated his red saber. Flinging back around and dodging more bolts he flung himself across the gap and sent a powerful wave down into the droid lines, making room for himself. Once more he fell into an intricate set of attacks and moves, strafes and dodges, as he ripped into this army of droids. These mindless machines who dared attack his master's palace here upon the capital of all the Empire and the galaxy itself. As he would continue to do so, until the battle came to an end.

(Ministry of Communications)

Two sabers met and sparks flew from it from the sheer ferocity of the blow. One blue and another red. Kellia pushed back against the boy as they clashed, and recoiled, spinning her saber as she did. The boy, the commander, glared her down as was the norm now of this battle. His crimson colored eyes filled with hate she was used to.

She snorted at his presence and readied herself for another strike from, but then felt a ripple I the Force. Slashing right she connected with another red saber. That of the princess. Leia held her saber up and over her head and fought back against the violent swing of Kellia. Leia swung her saber along Kellia's and away from her to her right, forcing the woman to push that way as well. The princess then spun and made to swing in a full arch right, but Kellia angled down and slammed her saber against Leia's and forced her back with a violent renewed push.

Forcing Leia to step back, Kellia ran up on her with saber overhead and slammed down. Leia met the swing. Kellia then fell into overhead slashes right and left, again and again. The girl met each strike and blocked them even as the savage swings sent her muscles into immediate reels.

Kellia swung down hard and harder and then harder still against the princess with every savage and wild swing. Wanting nothing more than to see the girl split and dead into two pieces or maybe even more! The Force warned again, and Kellia slammed down once more forcing Leia back, and then swung hard left and connected with Viathan's saber. Slammed so hard in fact that the boy was carried by her momentum and staggered right. Allowing Kellia to move in a full circle and slam from Leia's left into the girls saber.

Then back right and again back left. Hitting time and again into Leia's flanks, pushing her back. The girl scowled and used her minimal but good enough knowledge of makashi to masterfully still, block the attacks, and easily and gracefully dodge and block the violent attacks made by Nelrain.

Kellia snarled at last with pure frustration. "Wont you just die!" She screamed and slammed once more down from overhead. Only for Leia to grapple her saber with both hands and block and hold the saber up to meet the slam down. Her arms shook from the violence of the attack, and a small gasp escaped passed her lips from the shock of the attack.

"I would extend the same notion to you Nelrain." Viathan called as he ran upon her back. She snarled again with a wild fury and slammed a right kick into Leia and sent her falling backwards to the floor. She turned and angled left as Viathan struck from under his right arm. He slashed and then attacked her right she blocked. They fell into a flurry of attacks Sabers dancing between the two of them. Slash right, left, up and then left again. Over from the right, a spin and swing down from his left and she would block each slash. Then return his attacks with a flurry of her own attacks and swings. Furious swings left, right, left, right, and then a swing and hard slam right. A clash of sabers and then a push back by Kellia as she immediately ran back upon him and once more slammed down again and again from right to left and left to right. Each swing and strike blocked by Viathan.

Having only the use of his right hand made things slightly more difficult, but every so often the threat of him stabbing upward under their clashes with his maimed but sharp metal stump sent fear through the woman and would force her back. Even still she would return upon him with more speedy and rapid attacks at his flanks.

They continued like this for moments more, and neither one relented either attacking or defending. Once again Kellia sensed the approach from behind her of the girl. She slammed her saber against his once more and slashed around and into her saber before easily spinning back, hitting his and tossed herself backwards.

She faced both of them as they neared her. Both with sabers before them, and ready for the attack. She looked left to right and stared both down. He adrenaline racing and her body ready for the coming and likely endless assault this battle was and would continue to entail.

Glancing left she caught sight of a fallen object on the floor. Glinting very subtly in the dim light of the glowing sabers. Her eyes went a little wide at the sight, for it was a fallen lightsaber. She remembered then that the boy had been using two and now only wielded two. A smirk came to her face and she called the hilt to her, and quickly activated the crimson beam of light. An immediate sneer came to the boys face as she did, and she swung both sabers before her, and got a feel for holding two sabers once again.

"What's the matter boy? Mad I'm using one of your little sabers again? Kinda sad really. My being able to say this isn't the first time we've been in this situation eh?" The boy shook in rage, and Leia glanced his way. Almost warningly so at that. He did seem to catch her and force himself to not do anything rash.

"Come on you two, let's continue to dance." She goaded and finally they both fell upon her again. He struck right and she blocked with her own cerulean blue saber, and Leia struck left which Kellia caught with the red saber. She swung her whole body left and spun both sabers in a full circle against their sabers. Forcing both of them back, and allowing her to get some space between herself and them.

Viathan ran back on her, and slashed down. She caught the slash with both sabers and in an X. She slashed both sabers down and away forcing him back away as Leia swiped at Kellia's left, and she parried it with the red saber.

Then the boy came back, a growl coming from him as he jumped up and slammed downward. She caught it with her blue and pushed both he and Leia off her sabers. She then pressed upon both of them. Attacking with both sabers spinning and twirling about in rapid succession against them both. Both swung from her right down left at Leia who blocked or jumped back. Then Kellia swung right with both sabers over her shoulder at the boy who dodged the first and parried the second. Before Kellia spun full around with both weapons slamming against both of theirs.

As she stopped she faced both once again, and took steps back. They waited and watched her as well. The battle taking an odd turn as both Leia and Viathan watched and waited for Kellia. Who in kind waited for them to make the first moves.

"What's the matter you two? Afraid of me, or just tired?" Her goading drove Viathan into deep rage, but didn't seem to affect Leia, and oddly to Kellia, that seemed to restrain him, and annoy her. Neither of the two responded to her either, and that only infuriated Kellia further, and elicited a snarl.

She dove for them. Dashing left and for Leia, she swung both sabers over shoulder ad slashed against the girl. She moved away from the attacks, only for Kellia to fly against her again. Slashing over and over, and forcing Leia to defend against saber slash again and again. From left twice, the right twice over and over. Until at last Viathan came from behind. Forcing Kellia to spin right and slash at him. Tossing his saber and him back left, and allowing Kellia to toss her left saber back toward Leia. The girl jumped back, and Kellia spun around in a full left, swinging upwards and slashing again at Viathan.

Spinning her sabers and herself around, pushing both Leia and Viathan away from her Kellia fell back away again. She heaved a few breaths as this battle wore at her. They had been at it now for Force knew how long. All she needed was that karking second transport to arrive.

Nonetheless, she waited, and Viathan ran at her again. He slashed wildly. Left and right, but each was blocked by her two sabers easily, and his rage only grew. He fell back and then she pressed him. Both slashed right and then both sabers of her slashed left. Before swiped at his feet, and he jumped back. Then he smashed down against her, and Kellia blocked. Swiping him back away and slashing both sabers again over shoulder and then back from under shoulder.

As those two fought on, Leia watched and waited for her opening to join in and once more attack Kellia. Vale was growing more unstable despite her best efforts to keep him and herself focused on just beating Kellia, and not going insane.

As Leia waited and Viathan dueled with Kellia one another none of them could hear the approach of another. This newcomer did not seek to be seen or known, not at that second at least but did intend on striking down the one in its sights. A saber in hand and not yet activated either, it neared.

Closer it drew upon the smaller female. Its footfalls were as silent as it could make them, but still too loud altogether. Yet it could not take into account the Force. For it had no understanding or care for the Force. It raised both hands, grappling ts single lightsaber, still inactive, and ready to slash down from behind as it made it close enough to the female.

Leia felt a tremor, and her body shivered, she turned around in a flash and yelped as she dove aside, as a saber activated and fell where she had stood. Both Kellia and Viathan paused to look, and standing there was a single but active EG assassin droid, with Leia to the ground in front of it.

"How?" Viathan spoke aloud but recoiled at once as Kellia slashed at his abdomen and fell upon him again. Slashing with a wicked and wild grin with just as wild of fervor.

"Come now boy! Your friend is tied up at the moment I think!" Kellia howled as she slashed one saber after another again and again and forced him back further and further.

Leia dove aside as the droid slashed down and stabbed into the ground. She rose and kept her saber trained on the thing as it rounded near to her. She could see it had burns across its chassis and several indents along the length of its whole body.

"You were one of those droids we destroyed in the control room." She intoned, and the droid cocked its head to the right.

"It appears your statement is wholly incorrect." Leia raised a brow.

"Did you just quip?" It did not respond but instead charged forward at her and spun landing a harder slam than even Kellia against her left. She blocked and spun and attempted to slash at its back, but the machine twisted itself and moved away to the right and made to hack her head off, but Leia recoiled head first and back. Nearly falling as she did so.

She growled and then pressed her own attack. Swiping her saber from under her left and across the droid, it blocked, and she snapped back left and then a quick slash right as it blocked and pushed her aside with its saber. Leia spun her saber in a circle before her and confused the droid as it sought to block both up and down as she continued to twirl the thing before machine.

Finally it sidestepped right and slashed down against her, but she blocked upwards, and caught the saber. Her arm shook under the power of the droids strength. Until finally she slid her saber right and off the droids and allowed it to fall forward with its forward momentum, and she clipped at its exposed back. Her saber grazed and burned into its right shoulder, and prompted it to spin away and to face her again. The EG droid then pulled back and stabbed at her. She swung right and parried it away, but the droid swung back up and she parried it away to the other side. Only for it to swing the saber overhead and slash in a circular motion down and against her again, but she caught and held the droid off, holding her hilt in both hands this time. Even then, it was still a struggle to hold it off as it bore down onto her.

Kellia twirled and slashed both sabers down and across the whole of the boy but he parried both aside even if his saber was wildly flung with the defensive move. He swung around ad at her shoulder but she caught it and pushed him and his saber down. With great strength she then returned to him with a powerful and forceful acrobatic sideways kick to his right where his saber was now forced, and landed her boot into his head and forced him to recoil.

Viathan seethed and almost made to clutch his temple where she had kicked him as he began to see stars in his vision, and he nearly fell over. He pulled himself back to a full stand and faced her down, but not before glancing Leia's way. The droid was barring down upon her, but she was thus far blocking and deflecting all its attacks, though he did note not really attacking back herself.

"A bit too overly concerned you are boy." Kellia snapped and Viathan quickly jumped back as she made a violent double saber slash at his head. She followed her cleaving through the air with a quick slash back from the left down right across his figure, but he made to defend. Only now suddenly he was forced down easily enough, and his arm sent a shocking spike of pain coursing up it. He sucked in a breath from the pain as Kellia followed this with another savage kick into his gut this time and sent him reeling back and staggering to stay standing.

Holding his right arm up to get a good look at his saber in hand he could see a quite noticeable tremor in his hand. In fact his whole arm shook as his strength left him, and his pain became too much, as he felt it redouble across all his body. He began to release pained breaths as his body grew weaker by the moment, and Kellia seemed all the more ready and capable of bringing him down. Her eyes were glazed over with passion and hatred for him, though they held back becoming fully taken by the sickly yellow of the dark side, and her lips were contorted to a half sneer and smile at him, and his obvious pain.

"I see you grow weaker by the second, commander. Let's see how much more your body can take. Shall we?" She ran upon him, in a dash of speed and power and slashed upward so powerfully that her whole body flew into the air, and Viathan barely blocked with a swing of his saber. He felt his anger renew, but even that was not enough to empower him enough, and neither even was the pain. So, Viathan awaited as she fell back to the ground and slashed downward in a cleave meant for his head, and he dashed aside, and jabbed at her shoulder but she swirled left and slashed it down away from her body to the ground and forced him to stagger again, as he seethed another painful seethe.

Leia once more tossed the droids attack aside and jabbed at its flank, and caused another cut along its right arm, but only singed it. The droid tossed itself right and then swung hard down at her, but she caught the saber with her own and spun aside, allowing her saber to whip around and at its chassis again, and cause a small burn there as well.

The droid fumbled and stumbled back some and gazed down at itself and the mark. It looked back up to Leia and ran at her, slashing left, right, then left and right again before swinging over head and around down at her left at her, and each slash missed. Leia slashed under the droid and it recoiled back. It swung left and she blocked, then they fell into another flurry of attacks and defenses. Right, left and right and left over and over again and again, until at last the EG droid swooped down from over left shoulder up from under right again, and slashed full around from the right slashing in a grand wild swing to Leia's right. She was flung to her left but carried herself and spun and easily parried the stab meant for her stomach, and the next made for her shoulders. They kept coming, but Leia defended and parried against.

Swinging herself away and ducking from under the swiping attack of the EG droids saber again she faced it down with her curved hilt held ready in her right hand. Her breaths growing heavier, she remained standing tall and gracefully. She looked at the droid as it turned on her and awaited her next move, or planned its own. It displayed a fast and ruthless form to attack her, but so far makashi, even in her basic understanding of it seemed to be holding it. Its ability to weaken her and ware her down however, seemed to be its strength. Along with its strong defense. Against a lightsaber that was.

A smirk crossed her face and her eyes brightened at the thoughts that came into her mind. With curved hilt still in right hand, and her pose a perfect grace, one foot before the other and standing tall, the princess raised her left hand almost lazily. She allowed the Force to well within, anger and sadness, rage and fear. Everything her father and even Vale had told and taught her to utilize for power. With a flick then of er left hand and an unleashing of all that pent up and raw power, a massive and air splitting blast of telekinetic power surged and the droids arm flew out wildly from the burst of power, and it recoiled backward.

Leia then dove forward with grace and speed beyond the comprehension of the droid, and swung her right arm under, from left to right. The crimson blade effortlessly burned and cut through like a knife through butter, the metal of the droids legs. One after the other melting and burning through, before she spun, time seeming slowed to her right, and swung her saber up, through the left arm and slashed across its chest before angling and turning up removing its right arm.

The chassis and head fell to the floor with the now removed limbs into a pile of broken and removed metal bits and pieces. It whirred and made odd mechanical noises and little whines. Before it slunk back and deactivated, as did its saber as its hand unclenched. She smiled broadly at her accomplishment and allowed her head to recoil back in full appreciation of her moment of victory over another one of these droid saber wielding killers.

Viathan defended against another slash at his center and the sidestepped a swing downward by the second saber, before Kellia then swung full around and forced him to duck and slash at her own abdomen. She flung a saber down and sent his attack away in a parry, and he rolled aside and slashed at her leg, she jumped back. Only to jump forward slashing down, and again he dived away, and she scarred the ground beneath where he had been.

She slashed back left where he stood once more and he parried another set of flurries. Slashes left and then right by both sabers, and then saber falling on him with the next falling from the other side against him, and his own one handed saber growing weaker in defense by the moment.

Kellia slammed down and down again and endless torrent of attack and rage, and finally after more and more attacks from her, barring down against him, he fell to a knee and his pain looked of pain.

"Vale!" She heard the princess call him, though she didn't register the name, nor cared. She brought both blades up and cleaved in an X away at his saber and it flew from his hand, and he collapsed onto the second knee, and slouched over before her.

She breathed hard and deep breaths as she looked down upon the boy. At last and once more defeated by her! A wicked smirk flashed across her face as she readied for the final lesson of the boy.

"Rise, commander Viathan." She used the Force and waved her left hand, still wielding the crimson saber, and forced him to lift himself up. Still on his knees, but he rose upwards, his back stiffened by her use of the Force, and she brought both sabers into another X formation at his neck this time.

"I suggest you remain as you are and where you stand, princess. You may yet live from this night." Leia came to a stop, and glared down Kellia as both her and Vale had their left sides to her, with the woman readying to decapitate and execute the teen Sith acolyte. Noe both red and blue saber were at his neck and ready to remove head from body of the boy, and he glared up to her in total, if painful, defiance.

"Now you have the final lesson before you boy. Let me show you the-" Kellia was cut off as she looked upwards. The far off sky of Coruscant held the very peek of the morning light on the horizon, but what truly caught her attention wasn't that. Rather, it was the whir and approach of her transport off this world. Another taken LAAT re-purposed for her and the URM's needs. A renewed and elated smile crossed her, and unknown to her her arms lowered some.

Viathan saw this, and let one last surge of rage pound through him, and with his left arm, and his metal jagged stump he flung it up and jabbed it through her left arm, and she screamed as she dropped the saber hilt and recoiled. Yanking her arm away from the jagged piece of metal piercing her flesh. The pain rippled and pounded from her as blood began to spill across the floor below.

Pulling his saber from Kellia he rose up and angled upwards and brought his saber to her throat, but she angled hers as well and brought it to his. They stood glaring one another and with impossible to quantify hatred for the other in each others eyes.

"I don't think you'll be teaching me a one thing, Nelrain, and you aren't going anywhere." he seethed as his ragged voice taunted her almost. She smirked even as her blood spilled and her life was at his mercy, as was his at hers.

She snorted a laugh into his face. "I think you'll be far too busy with other matters to stop me here boy. In fact I think you'll all but let me walk away and take with me the key to your little empires dismemberment, and I even sadly think you'll get out of this little dance of ours, but a lesson not learned today shall be returned upon another." Viathan scowled, but Kellia then suddenly tossed her bleeding arm to the side, and a massive ripple of unleashed rage exploded outward and forced Viathan to recoil some, but he turned to see what she had done

The massive explosion of energy flashed toward an unsuspecting leis, and the girl through her arms up defensively, but it was far too much, and with another yelp from her, she flew backward and hit several times against the ground, and then, off the side of the pad.

"Leia!" Without second thought he ran toward her and where she fell, and soon himself disappeared from Kellia's sight. She looked where he had gone for a moment before allowing a deep sigh of relief to leave her, and she deactivated, and clasped her saber back onto her belt.

Blood still dripping and cascading down her arm, turning her blue tunic red with blood, she made for the LAAT as it finally landed onto the landing pad, and its side doors opened for her. Out of the door came out two commando droids and aimed at where the teens had fallen away, or at least seemed to, but Kellia waved them to not fire.

"I am done with this world. Make to leave immediately. We will kill these rats another day. But, let's not leave these shall we?" Kellia intoned as she use the Force and pulled with her right arm, the burnt remain of Fourzee onto her ship, and then the chassis of the final EG droid to face down the princess. Both of their husks were dropped onto the LAAT interior floor, and Kellia banged her fist against the wall, signaling them to leave, as the BX commandos, still aiming for precaution, hopped back onto the drop ship, and the vehicle began its ascent up. The doors closed as they entered into space and Kellia was informed of the coming of the Imperial Core reserves.

---

"Hold on..." Viathan struggled as his right hand clutched her arm, and her left hand clutched his arm, with his metal jagged stump sheering and stuck into the metal siding of the platform that luckily for them was a slope before the drop off into the void of miles long falls of Coruscant's depths.

"Very appropriate recommendation, Vale, but I could have gotten back myself."

"Maybe, but I would rather be safe than sorry in regards to you, milady." She rolled her eyes, and shakily clasped her saber to her own belt, and slammed her right hand to the metal of the landing pad slope. Her skin oddly sticking to the metal allowed her to climb up some, with the aid of Vale acting as an anchor. Slowly but surely, and not helped by her blasted terrible footwear, she made it further back up the slope toward the landing pad.

"You got it?" Vale, breathlessly asked as her face neared his.

"Yeah. You best get moving too. No sense in either of us dying here and now." He huffed.

"Speak for yourself. I just failed at stopping the most wanted karking person in the Empire from getting away. Who had our one chance at deactivating the literal innumerable droids across the galaxy. I may as well be executed here and now and get it over with." His tone was dreary, and his expression pained. But Leia sneered and despite her situation slapped her hand across his arm.

"Shut up already with the suicidal stuff! You fought and did as best you could. So did I! We'll get her, and her karking droids. Today, or tonight rather wasn't our day. She kinda caught you imperial boys with your pants down in the fresher." She grinned and winked, and forced a red onto Vale's face she had not seen before.

"A charming analogy Leia. I should, and will remind you in fact that you too are now part of the Empire, and therefore you were caught with your proverbial pants down as well." She rolled her eyes and stuck her tongue out on him, before beginning to reascend the slope. Viathan huffed a laugh and followed back up as well. Both of them quickly made it up over the slope rail and back onto the solid and standing landing pad itself. Both rolled rather than stood as they were once more wholly safe.

For Viathan's part he once more fell into a bout of breaths as he allowed the weariness and pain that consumed his body to fully fall upon him. No more need to tense and fight off the pain, and Force...it felt awful. Using his right hand he ran it over his ribcage to feel for a re-fracture or break of the hurt ones of Neona. Save for an immediate wince, and pained expulsion of breath from the wounds soreness, it didn't seem broken. Just very karking sore.

"You okay?" Leia asked as she sat herself up, and looked over at where he lay. He pulled his left arm up and looked at the jagged, and bloody stump at its end, and deeply sighed, but nodded all the same.

"Just marvelous milady." he responded with a grunt as he pulled up to sit as well. The crimson red of his eyes still there but dull and not as burning with hatred as weariness took hold of him. Her eyes were also blotched with yellow, but still more brown and calmed, as was her whole presence in the Force.

"I lost my hand...again. Lost to Nelrain...again. Lost my temper...again! Failed a mission made by my master, a-"
"Again, yes I know." Leia cut him off though she was smiling. "C'mon! We're both alive. That's gotta make you feel a little better right? After all where would the Galactic Empire be without their warlord?" She joked, and he scoffed, though with a smile.

"I suppose milady. Keeping in mind that my master and the Emperor would use me after such a failure. All I know is that I need some bacta, bad, and the battle doesn't seem over yet." He pointed into the distance and indeed explosions echoed from afar and smoke rose all around as the star light of Coruscant began to shine across Imperial city again.

"Well...not to sound callous Vale, but I think we can take a little break. It's not like the whole planet is raining down in blood yet, right?"

"You don't sound callous Leia." He assured. "Just a bit more understanding. I like that."

"Oh bite me!" She shot back. "I just don't want you running to your suicide not even half cocked into battle with more killer droids. I can't even imagine who Threepio is dealing all of this." She giggled.

"Ah yes, your droid with a distinct pompous manner to him. That golden protocol droid has a charm I suppose. Even if he acts like a mother watching their child fall off a cliff with every little thing that isn't, 'normal sentient behavior.'"

"Hey, leave my Threepio alone!" She laughed. "At least he's good for a laugh."
"And I'm not?"

"Well...sometimes." She winked again, and he shook his head, but smiled nonetheless. Both sighed and watched the sunrise. The war carrying on in the distance. Leading to Viathan to idly call both his and his clone's saber to him. Only able to clip one at a time at that.

A few moments longer of their silence, and Leia released a new and large sigh, before pushing herself back up to a full stand, and stretched herself as she did.

"We best at last get moving and tell everyone what's happened here right?"

"I suppose." he groaned and got back up. Even throwing his hand up to refuse a hand from Leia to help him. Though he did it politely.

"We better head for-" They both felt it. A great and sudden surge through the Force. A grand and mighty warning that almost felt palpable. They both looked upwards to the skies of Coruscant, and Leia audibly gasped, while Viathan stared on, but felt his rage rise once more.

For before them all was the sight and sound of one, then two, then a third, droid warship falling, burning and incredibly fast into Coruscant! Falling onto the cities and the planet in full!

"Ready yourself!" he yelled as he ducked down and fell once more to a prone position on his stomach and pulled her with him, as a Munificent frigate screeched and burned and then it hit. A mighty explosion pierced through the city and buildings all around had their glass explode as everything shook and whole sections collapsed. As the same thing was repeated across the surface of Coruscant.

(Coruscant orbit, Moments Ago, URM Lucrehulk-class Battleship, Nothingness)

She marched her way through the halls of this behemoth ship. After seeing the disorder and chaos unfolding outside in space Kellia felt a renewed burning passion rise within her.

"I shall not die here and now! I will show them the prince of their karking arrogance. I will humble even the tallest standing man upon this world or above it." She seethed openly as her commando escort marched behind and before her as they made for the bridge, and they remained silent and unresponsive.

Her arm, though gashed open and incredibly painful, was wrapped in a cloth she had tore from her own tunic. The blood was pooling but it mattered little to her now. She forced the door opening with her power in the Force, even as it slid open with decent speed already. The droid guards in their red colors saluted her as she passed them and entered the control room. Filled with nothing but blue colored droid technicians and other red colored droid security personal. With a green striped marine here and there as well.

At the chair command of the ship was a pilot droid while other stood behind it monitoring it and the battle on the screens and windows of the vessel.

"Order all allied warships that can to jump to hyperspace and make for Geonosis." She commanded and stared down to the droid.

"All ships are incapable of doing so. The enemy has activated gravity well generators, and stopped all hyperdrive activity from being possible." She snarled openly and rounded around closer to the droid. She looked out to see that this battleship was clustered behind and defended by several Providence and Munificent class ships. As many hundreds more were still about the planet and in orbit.

Her eyes danced across the screen showing fleet movements, and commands, as well as Intel on ground operations. Her heart pounded as she sought a way out of this, as imperial class warships and all manner of their allied kind now outnumbered and slammed down onto all her ships. As then, it hit her.

"Order all nearby Munificent, recusant and Providence classes to prime their engines, and order all fighters and bombers to remain on standby for immediate order change. Oh and contact the Imperial-class Stardestroyer, Exactor. I have words to speak with its master." The droids, unquestioningly followed her commands, and began hailing the ship as hundreds of ships primed and readied on the side of the URM.

The communication screen onboard the ship rippled and moved about as before her came the face of an officer. A proud standing and obvious lackey of the Darth himself.

"I am Vice Admiral Piett, in formal command of the Imperial stardestroyer Exactor. State your reason for calling. If it is not to surrender this communication shall be ended."

"Oh I think you'll wait and listen yet Piett when you hear what I have to say." She retorted, and allowed a cocky smirk to come across her face as she leaned in toward the monitor with arms crossed. Even displaying her wounds as like a battle scare to be proud of.

"Do put Lord Vader on the line admiral. What I have to say concerns the lives of millions of 'innocent,' civilians below and many million more troopers both in orbit and below." The man cocked a brow, and openly looked down on her in contempt.

"One moment." He turned aside and the audio from his end was cut as he spoke to someone off screen to his right. After a moment where he seemed relieved the dark lord himself came into clear picture before her.

His audio returned. "Kellia Nelrain. It surprises me that you would call me here. It is quite bold indeed. Have you seen reason and sought to make your terms of surrender be known?" She laughed quite haughtily before the lord, and threw her head back.

"Oh no lord Vader. I have come to negotiate the deactivation of your gravity well generators, for the immediate retreat of my remaining forces from Coruscant." The endless intake and outtake of his breath met her before he seemed to look to his right and gawk at someone. As if trying to affirm they had heard what he did.

"Certainly you have finally gone insane and delusional. You are in no position of power or credibility to make any demands of me. Not when we are in the immediate position to defeat you now in orbit and shall overwhelm your forces on the planet surface when done."

"Always so quick to assume your hold over situations isn't it Ani?"

"What did you just call me?!" He growled with a terrible and immediate fury that Kellia merely scoffed a mocking laugh back at him.

"You will come to realize just what kind of position and what lengths I'm willing to go to assure myself of victory here today. A victory that has nothing to do with ground forces or even naval assets. I care little for a billion droids, why should I cry over several hundred million?" The droids around her did not care did not think and did not move. They couldn't comprehend what the 'value,' of their existence was outside of commands.

"So now, let me just go the extra mile to display my will to leave this miserable planet and its orbit." She turned to the command droid. "Orders sectors alpha, zeta and gamma to fly their ships, all of them, big and small into the planet, and don't stop."

"Aye mistress." The droid chirped and Kellia turned back toward Vader with a wild grin across her face. She so wished she could see his face in this moment, as she couldn't imagine what he was doing behind his mask at her orders.

"You're bluffing. No one is that callous with their ships, and-"
"Lord Vader! Dozens of ships, and hundreds of fighters and bombers are flying into Imperial-Center's orbit, and picking up speed!" A technician off screen called and caused Vader to snap right at the unseen man. Kellia began to laugh at the noise, and let happen what would.

---

The ships flew into and pierced the orbit. Burning through the atmosphere and the planetary shield as they pierced it. Around them were hundreds of their smaller fighters and bombers as all of them took a nose dive directly toward and across the surface of the central jewel of the Empire and the galaxy.

Even as damaged ships cracked and broke apart their great husks hit by imperial ships above and defense cannons below, their mass of debris would fall in massive chunks and pieces across the surface and tear into it. The first ship to hit was a Munificent class warship that slammed down nearby to the communications ministry and sent dozens of buildings toppling and incinerating others from the explosion of the engine cores. The wreckage pierced into the lower depths and began to slowly crush and maim thousands until it exploded and took with it hundreds of thousands more.

The next was a Providence class warship that dove into the works and into droid lines mingled with trooper defenses. Piercing low and exploding in a cascade of fire and successive blasts it finally detonated, taking many more buildings and incinerating hundreds of thousands of more civilians hiding in the lower depths, and millions of droids as well as hundreds of troopers.

Hundreds of bombers and fighters screeched through the skies, and slammed one after the other across the planet and into buildings after buildings and plazas, and palaces. Starkiller dodged as three fighters zoomed and split into his masters palace. Smoke plumed and explosions shook him and his troopers, many of whom were crushed by this sudden and terrifying attack with debris.

Exar and Carnor looked upward and the dark lord created a sudden bubble above them as these ships sped forward and slammed all around them. Marring and exploding across the plaza field and taking with them dozens upon hundreds of troopers and many thousands of droids. Tanks exploded and ripped into the air, as men were singed and crushed, before the droids continued to slam more bombers and vultures, or even the faster Tri's into and across their capital planet. Many hit the executive building and sent mass chunks tossing and flying as many more slammed into the sides of the domed rotunda and convocation building of the senate and sent mass plumes of smoke rising into the air as it burned. Even the mighty palace was slammed into and hit by Vulture droids flying to their doom.

Shaking the buzz droids from their mission, and throwing Mara Jade, and the senators within against the walls, as the whole foundation rocked. One Hyena bomber screeched and slammed into an adjoining sire of the palace, and so hard it did, that the top and upper most section collapsed and fell into lower portions of the palace. Smoke and successive explosions followed shortly thereafter as servants, droids and troopers were shook and thrown off the palace into falls that would last minutes.

As this took place across the whole surface with ships diverting themselves to hastily sent targets the third ship to hit was another Munificent that slammed this time into Imperial city and crashed sideways falling into a succession of economically important and government buildings before it too ripped apart even more buildings and killed millions of civilians in these depths and hidden lower bunkers collapsed by the droid ship crashing in. The armies fighting nearby were thus sent flying in all directions and against one another killing scores more and destroying even greater numbers of droids.

The next ship to make for the planet was a recusant. This one for the plaza where the Emperor and Exar Kun fought. Cold, and unfeeling hatred within his eyes, and power coursing through him. The dark lord, an old man by his image, stepped forward and the Emperor raised both hands high, and with the Force reached out and grappled this ship. His muscles shook and his body felt as though the weight of the thing was upon his back, but the dark side was all the power he needed even as he groaned and grunted.

A second power was added to his, it was of Exar Kun. Who also raised both hands, and was incensed by fear and will to live as he pushed back against the mighty machine that descended to kill them all as other fell around and beyond across the planet and smaller ones exploded even more across and in greater flooding numbers.

Both Sith lords held it back, until at last they kept it aloft. Then Palpatine with a mighty roar slammed his palms together and before the both of them, and as a shock to Kun's senses, the whole ship slammed and crumpled together in a contorted mess of metal and debris as it exploded thereafter in the air, and then fell into the city beyond the plaza. Still taking buildings with it, and thousands of people. None of them worth the Emperors time or care.

As these ships fell and met their many marks. Many millions would and did die. A miniscule number in the grand scheme of Coruscant's population, but tens of millions nonetheless, added to the death toll of before at that, as Kellia Nelrain literally rained death down, upon all of Coruscant.

---

"Cease your actions you vile witch!" Vader commanded with a pointed finger her way that had Kellia mock shake in fear.

"Your choking fetish cannot work on one who can easily defend herself, lord Vader. However, I am now open to talks. As I have turned your capital into a vision of war and conflict. As I am sure my newly restored droid armies across the galaxy are doing to innumerable other worlds both yours and of the Moffs!" She grinned and laughed through her teeth. Allowing rage to swell and erupt from Vader, but with no way of unleashing it upon Nelrain.

"State your terms for your retreat!"

"Touchy, touchy." She mocked him and scoffed as she paced before him and her screen. "As a sign of goodwill all ground droid units shall be deactivated while we are still here in orbit. I do not fear such an action as you have seen, for I care nothing for a single one of these ships any longer. Not even my own, and trust me, I think a lucrehulk going suicidal will do wonders for the city planet below." Vader was silent and thought the offer over, before again turning right. Kellia could not tell, but next to him was both Luke and Shira looking up to him with utter horror and disgust as well as pleading eyes. Even they understood what she offered was...a good deal. He merely nodded toward them.

"You have a deal. What else?"

"Smart man. Deactivate your gravity wells following the deactivation of all droids planet side. Me and my operable ships shall retreat into hyperspace and leave you to what is likely to be a long reconstruction effort. All ships incapable of hyperspace travel shall self destruct. Failure to allow for my demands will result in all my navy crashing into the planet and your ships as well." She warned with her cockiness quite obvious.

Vader took only another moment to think it through before he subtly shook his head and sighed behind his mask.

"You have a deal. Now deactivate your droids." She nodded, and turned to her control droid, and ordered it to deactivate all planet bound and operating droids. Within a flash and a moment all droids whirred and buzzed as they collapsed where they were. The tanks suddenly collapsed and fell over without their pilots. Tri droids fell over, and were followed by every and all active CIS model, and URM active droids falling into full collapse and completely turned off. Leaving thousands of troopers more shocked and even terrified at the immediate eery silence that fell over their battlefields that followed. As Coruscant fell into an odd and deathly silence

"Done. Now, the Interdictors, if you will milord." She asked with coolness as both supreme commanders stared each other down. Vader turned toward Piett, the officer understanding his commanders decision though he was disgusted with Nelrain. The dark lord nodded and Piett ordered the decree relayed to the hidden Interdictors. Hidden behind the moons of Coruscant the ships received the orders, and were even informed beforehand to not question such orders. So, they did as commanded and all gravity well were shut down.

Kellia turned toward several technician droids, monitoring their own individual consoles, and the one in question nodded an affirmative.

"Relay my orders as agreed upon." She watched Vader as she ordered the command droid. It went about quickly relaying her commands now as her BX commandos came into view behind her and guarding her even from the image of Darth Vader.

Several dozen URM warships suddenly exploded across the orbit of the planet and self destructed as agreed upon as many hundreds of droid fighter and bombers scrambled back onto nearby ships whilst others committed 'suicide,' in their own ways. Exploding or dive bombing themselves into wreckage. Several thousand of the initial eight that had arrived, battered and bruised, primed and readied their engines and Kellia remained stone faced as she stared at Vader. Neither willing to disengage first. Alas as her ship primed it was Kellia who was forced to concede and end their transmission.

"A pleasure doing business with you, Vader. Do send my regards to the old man for me. Tell him I shall be seeing him sooner than he thinks." She warned and snapped the transmission shut with a flick of the Force and her hand. As er remaining fleet all turned toward the open void of space. Within seconds all of them primed and burst away into flashes of light and speed before all the Imperials' eyes. As the URM left Coruscant. Left it in ruin and scarred.

Vader shook as his hands balled into tight fists. His rage quite clear and powerful in the Force. He suddenly snapped toward and marched to the viewport to the front of the Exactor, and looked down toward Coruscant. Even from space the massive explosions and signs of fire and war were quite noticeable.

"Piett!" He called over. Luke and Shira not far behind though silent and now fully unwilling to test him. Though they both, like Vader, could sense the acrid darkness that filled the Force from the world below and in orbit.

"Yes milord." The officer bowed.

"Send a command to all imperial forces in orbit above Coruscant, both for Death squadron and the home fleet. All personnel that can be are to transfer down to the surface and aid in any way needed or asked of them." Piett bowed once again.

"Of course my lord Vader." He made to turn, but paused and turned back. "What of the reserves my lord?" Vader nodded to himself. A bit confusing to Piett but he said nothing.

"That noise that blocked all communication on all our operating channels. Nelrain was not lying when she said her droids were now active across the galaxy, admiral. It was a reactivation code made into audio frequency for all CIS model droids." Piett nodded in horrified realization.

"Droids will no doubt be activating and attacking imperial personnel and installations across the galaxy then."

"Precisely admiral." Vader acknowledged. Seeming far too cool for the Piett's comfort. "Thus order all Core reservists to make themselves available for reinforcing any worlds under our control now under siege by droid forces. We cannot stop those in Moff space or in transit. We, however, shall bring down all droids active in our territory. Sort it out with the captains and fleet commanders Piett." Vader commanded turning once more on a heel, and motioning Luke and Shira to follow with Piett trailing him.

"Of course my lord. I shall see to it at once. May I also add that the fleet will need time to repair and refuel." Vader stopped, and turned back to Piett.

"Indeed. Focus all technicians to begin immediate repairs, and seek out any docks available for repair operations still in orbit. I want reports on my ships and their statuses. Send all wounded down to the surface to free up space and manpower here in orbit. Send scouts into the system and search for any droids at all. Should there be an unaccounted for patrol ship, or small escape pod, I don't care, you will blast it into oblivion! Am I understood admiral?"

"Clearly my lord." Piett assured, and both men parted ways, with Piett giving a final bow of his head respectfully whilst Vader turned with the two teens in tow back toward the landing bay.

"Where are we going father?" Luke spoke up, trepidation in his voice.

"We're heading to the surface to assess the situation first hand. We shall also be finding your sister, and you had better pray she is unharmed." He turned toward him stopping both teens in their tracks. "I have not nor shall soon forget your direct disobedience of my command o remain in the palace! I expected much more of you twice over as well Shira." he pointed toward her, and the girl bowed her head low to avoid eye contact with her masters' mask.

"Now come. I must find a ship to use." He once more stomped toward the docking bay. With both teens in silent tow behind. The tech ran about as officers moved about the ship with even more troopers running through the ship. Likely on their way to board ships and make for the planets surface per Vader's commands.

Entering the main docking bay, Vader came onto the sight of many officers and pilots scurrying around the bay, and secondary bays attached and moving about with troopers boarding shuttles. The comm ringing loud with an officer spouting commands to all troopers and sectors of the ship.

An officer with a datapad was also yelling at troopers as they ran, and Vader thus quickly approached him.

"I am in need of an operable shuttle." The man jumped, and nearly dropped the datapad, before spinning around toward Vader.

"My lord Vader! Uh...um yes of course I have a shuttle...oh no wait that one is carrying medical down." He stammered and looked through the datapad some more. "We uh...could..." He looked around the docking bay, and seemingly found what he was looking for.

"You there!" He pointed to a blonde girl, in a pilot garb sitting on a crate with her head hung. She seemed tired and withdrawn. Snapping up at his voice she pointed to herself and the officer waved her to come closer.

"You needed me sir?" She asked as she neared with a thick proper accent of her own. One that had Luke and Shira immediately aware who she was.

"Yes, lord Vader requires a shuttle, and we are fresh out of pilots! You, I am aware were a pilot in the battle. I am thus assigning you as his pilot to the surface, in that lambda there." The officer pointed behind her, she turned and looked at the simple common imperial shuttle. She nodded easily, and the officer nodded happily.

"I hope this will suffice you well enough my lord." Vader crossed his arms over his chest.

"I may very well have been able to pilot the shuttle myself." The man looked terrified. His eyes widened and his body felt cold and suddenly clammy. "Nonetheless," Vader intoned. "I shall use young Eclipse here." The dark lord strode passed the man, and toward the shuttle. The young pilot, a mere teen, and that annoyed Vader further, for all he needed was another teen. She followed and so did Luke and Shira. All the while the officer realized he hadn't give lord Vader her name.

"Where do you wish me to fly milord."

"Take the shuttle down to the surface. Make for my palace. From there we will have further stops, but there is a good starting point. You two." he pointed to Luke and Shira as the came up the ramp, and Juno sat in the pilots seat, priming and starting the engines. "Sit down, and remain silent. I don't wan a word heard from either of you. I've had enough of your combined teenage foolishness today." They did as told, and took seats opposite of him. The lumbering dark lord sat down, and crossed his arms. Soon the shuttle began to ascend from the docking bay, and made out into the void, and joined a fleet of ships entering into Coruscant's atmosphere below.

The lambda descended among many more shuttles and ships that fell down to the world below. Even more large ships like Victory-II's entered Coruscant orbit. An extra reminder or acknowledgment perhaps to the end of the droid siege of the capital world. The endless city beneath them came into view. From out of the cockpit Juno could look out and witness seemingly endless rising smoke in the distance. Buildings and spires twisted and deformed from what they once were. Carcasses of husked out and dead droid warships like the munificent and recusant could be seen jumbled and tearing out of the city where they had fallen. These large sections likely escaping the explosion caused by the collapse of their engines. If they had likely detached from the main bodies.

TIE fighters now zoomed about the airspace of the planet and went into full patrol mode for the Imperial capital. Not since the Clone Wars had the world seen so much carnage and destruction, and not since then either was the Force as saturated with darkness as it was now. The sights below could only make Juno shake her head, as she moved the shuttle closer and deeper into the residential sector of Imperial city and closer to the most massive spire of them all save for the palace itself.

"We're approaching your palace now my lord Vader." Juno called back, and the Sith lord rose to his feet and came to the front of the ship. His eyes fell upon his Coruscant home, and even still masked by the red of his internal visor it was quite clear that from the highest ground entry level up it was damaged.

"A report from troopers on the upper most ground level indicate structural damage on its eastern side, my lord. They don't recommend any landing craft land on upper levels or landing pads until further notice. What would you have me do, my lord?" Vader looked his spire over, and behind his mask he once more slowly and almost unnoticeable to others, shook his head.

"Make for the ground level. I merely seek to find another one of my apprentices."

"Of course, my lord." Juno banked the shuttle down and circled around the spire. The ground was visible to Vader and Juno as the circled it. Hundreds upon hundreds more even of droids were burnt out husks and strewn about the entry plaza. Some intermingled white clad bodies could been seen spread among them. With small dots, very few though, moved themselves about the field.

"Take us down there. To the left of the plaza. That should be enough room for the shuttle to land." The Sith pointed out and Juno nodded, once more banking the shuttle lower, and slowly she eased it in over the field, and the plaza. A hiss escaped the vehicle as it came to a complete stop, and lurched some.

"Keep it running. This will not be long." Vader left the cockpit and Juno sat back in her seat. Once more allowing the utter death and destruction brought upon the Empire this day to sink in.

"You two also shall stay. Should either of you speak. There will be immediate consequences." His dictation was met with mere nods as both Luke and Shira did not seek to test Vader now. He seemed pleased and descended the ramp. His boots brushed and pushed up against fallen droid parts. They seemed to be magnaguards, but he simply kicked them away from himself and moved forward. He used the Force and flicked his hand and created a path as hills of droid parts were created on either side of where he stepped to make way for himself.

Passing some debris, he paused and looked up. A massive piece of metal and all glass was missing from his palace here. A large block of metal and inner stone was on the ground, but beneath it was an arm. It jutted out from underneath the debris and rubble, and Vader knew quite clearly that some miserable trooper had been crushed by it. He got an odd sense from the Force that he had been alive a few more moments after being crushed so. It almost made the Sith lord feel sorry for the man, but he quickly continued on forward.

Troopers were scouring the fallen droids, and looking across the walkway leading to his palace gate. Before it was a fallen AT-ST, and the walkway itself was blow apart. Leaving a large gap between his palace courtyard and the walkway to the rest of the region residential sector. He moved on as the troopers snapped open the AT-ST's entry port, and he heard them make sickened calls and move away from the port.

"They tore them to bits in here!" One yelled as he waved over two more troopers who looked in and shared their allies recoil of disgust. One even coughed and hacked from the sight. Vader did not know what had happened within, but he could judge by the amount of buzz droid bodies, nothing he needed to know about here and now.

The dark lord looked about the courtyard some more. His cape flowing around him as he turned from left to right and then repeated. Until finally he caught sight of his apprentice. He turned right toward the palace entrance door. Usually a set of fine stones made into a staircase, and surrounded by monolithic statues he had found already placed when the Emperor forced this home onto him.

Like the rest of the plaza and the whole bloody world in fact it was missing pieces and sections of stone and wall. With blaster burns across the entirety of the wall, with cannon and rocket damage on the upper canopy. He marched forward as he found Starkiller sitting there on those steps. His head hung low and saber held loosely in his right hand as his arm was slung onto his raised knee. Vader could sense the weakness, and weariness within Starkiller, and for once in the boy's career as his apprentice, he did not blame him.

"You lived through the night." Vader stated matter-of-factly. Starkiller glanced up and seemed to finally recognize his master was before him. He fell forward and quickly into a low kneel, with his head so low it nearly hit the meta pavement below them.

"Master." Was all he intoned in reply.

"We haven't much time for the usual formalities. Come, rise and join me on my shuttle. Leave the work to the troopers and crews that should be dispatched soon enough." Starkiller looked up to his master again, and nodded. Rising to stand again, Vader took note of several blaster wounds on his body and even a small imp in his left leg as the teen made his way toward the shuttle, and with his master.

They both walked up the ramp, and Starkiller gave a final glance backward at where he had fought for hours beforehand. The troopers still running about doing as hey had to with droid parts everywhere and corpses spread among the piles. He turned and left the site, and boarded the shuttle completely.

As he entered the passenger room he found both Luke and Shira. "Well it's good to see both of you are well."
"They are not to speak." His master cut him off as the Sith lord returned to sitting opposite them, and left Starkiller standing awkwardly between them.

"Oh...I see. Well, it's good to see you both unharmed nonetheless. I'll take a seat in the cockpit then, my master." He bowed and Vader bid him a single accepting nod in reply. The shuttle ramp closed once more and the ship made a whir as it readied to take off once more, and Starkiller entered the cockpit section.

Not immediately bothering to check the pilots chair, he sat in the copilot chair, and slouched back into it. A sigh released itself from him, and after he closed his eyes, and felt like this seat was the most comfortable thing in the universe, he finally glanced left toward the pilot.

Opening his eyes he found himself looking toward a girl, she didn't seem to much older or younger than he was. Well...maybe a tad bit older. She was blonde, and had her hair tied back tightly, and she had quite blue eyes, as she faced forward and began to take the shuttle upwards into the Coruscanti sky once again.

Starkiller sat back up in the seat and cleared his throat as he returned to staring forward and out the frontal viewport. He sensed her cast him a glance, and she cocked one of her brows, before returning to flying the ship upwards.

"Where do you wish to go now, lord Vader?" Her voice was richly thick with an accent, and forced Starkiller to look at her again. Though he didn't get why, he just...did.

"Take us to the Imperial Palace. I have no doubt the Emperor shall return there. Not only that but I will meet with the senior military staff as well."
"What about Leia?" Starkiller heard Luke speak. A moment of worry crossed his mind as the young boy broke the silence imposed by his father.

"What resources are available to the Empire shall be pooled at the palace. From there I shall search her out." Was all the dark lord coolly retorted. Starkiller assumed that was enough as Luke and Shira stayed silent.

"What might your name be then?" Starkiller heard the pilot ask, and she cast him a glance. As if to assure him she was talking to him. He huffed, though it wasn't entirely legitimate. In fact he even felt the compulsion to cross his arms and look away bored with her already...or so he wished to seem.

"My name is unimportant. You may call me Starkiller if you wish." He flatly stated, and he caught her once more cock a brow. Especially with his uninterested voice.

"Very well...My name is Juno eclipse. A pleasure...Starkiller." Starkiller hummed a 'mm-hmm,' in reply and shrugged his shoulders before turning to look out his own side viewport.

"You seem to have been through quite the night. Was the planet side battle as bad as it seems?" Starkiller looked her way again and back out the viewport as they passed over the government sector some in Imperial City. He surveyed it before scoffing.

"Whatever you're thinking, double or even triple it and you'll have an idea. I can only speak for myself but that was hard enough with killer droids constantly barring down on your backside. Especially when some of them are trying to crawl onto and burrow into your flesh." Juno cringed but nodded in understanding, as Starkiller relived the moments when the buzz droids swarmed he and his men, and even those glimpses he caught of them flooding into the walker and drilling those men apart with little issue. Despite himself and who he knew himself to be, he felt his stomach twist and churn inside.

"Well...you have my apologies for asking, and condolences." Starkiller nodded but then huffed a sour laugh.

"Condolences aren't necessary. When it comes to the troopers, they're as good as fodder as it is. Losing as many as we did today, last night, whatever you wanna say, wont matter much in the end."

"Considering I lost as many fine piloting comrades up in orbit and will rest a little less sound because of how they died to mindless machines, Starkiller," she grew testy. "I will still offer you the same notion of condolences. Like it, or think it yourself, this war is gonna be fought by everyone pilot, trooper, and whatever the heck you are. Your life frankly is just as useful or meaningless as theirs. Either that or you can hold them in the same high regard you do yourself. I happen to choose the latter." Starkiller felt himself grow hot in the face at being lectured to by this...vile girl.

'Eclipse was it? Well I'll be sure to stay the kriff away from you wont I?' He assured himself, and shrugged once more, and turned back toward his side viewport, and allowed silence to fall over them again. She seemed to silently agree to his silence, and guided the shuttle toward the palace in peace and quiet.

Beneath them the damage of Coruscant was hardly believable to Starkiller or Eclipse. Both of them had the best and really only views of it from within the shuttle. Spires were collapsed and whole topside sections were missing. Others had massive holes and scars running along the lengths. All of them smoking upwards into the sky of Coruscant. Others had collapsed, and were leaning on other spires with cracked metal leading to further smoke and destruction.

Open plazas and walkways were full and jumbled with droids and dead bodies. Civilian bodies were across the whole of Coruscant in twisted and deformed messes. Down, broken, and deactivated tanks were across the entirety of the planet. Troopers, broken off or the last survivors of their units walked aimlessly through streets and across walkways. Terror gripping them as deactivated droids stood in silence and leaned over. Spider droids stared ahead with cold and shut down eyes, and looked like monolithic statues in dedication to the massacre unleashed and that had been ongoing but moments ago.

The HoloNet service across the planet would soon activate and repeat on all frequencies, and broadcast loud where the power was still active of a cessation to the battle. All troopers were to report to the nearest commanding officers, or unit leaders if separated. Civilians were, however ordered to remain in their bunkers and shelters or down in the lower levels until further notice. Any actions of lawlessness were broadcast to be stamped out immediately by summary military firing squad. The capital was to no longer come under terror from outside or within.

Nonetheless, lord Vader, and his three apprentices aboard a one shuttle soon rounded toward the palace. Seeing the damage across it was difficult for Juno in particular. To see the center of Imperial executive command itself scarred smoke rising and hit by the droids, was surreal.

Still she made closer, and a landing pad coordinate set was given to her and she landed quickly for lord Vader. As they all soon quickly discovered they weren't the only ones to be returning to the palace. As more shuttles arrived, and carried with them more leaders of the Empire, in all manner and in all fields.

(Imperial City)

The quiet that had befallen the plaza was indeed eery. Even for the dark lord of the Sith it was off balancing. Exar stood and looked about himself. Moments ago he had aided in stopping the fall of an enemy warship onto himself and the arm in the plaza. A mass plume of smoke rose in the distance where he had seen the thing be tossed. Ripped from his aiding grasp knowingly by the Emperor wherever that man was now.

Smoke filled the plaza as a whole now. Creating an almost misty fog around himself and the troopers standing around, and rising from their positions and examining the droids that had fallen limp and silent about them all. The sunlight of Coruscant illuminating and heating them all now, as the battle came to a close.

Turning right, Kun found Carnor Jax, staff in hand, and also confused, looking around as three droid tanks were on the ground and deactivated. Marks marred and burned across the surface of the plaza and buildings all around, as it did into the dead bodies of troopers lying about.

"This is odd." Carnor intoned.

"Indeed. It would appear to me, that the battle is...over? Yes...yes I sense it to be over." Exar kicked a fallen droid, and then pushed a standing limp one over. A silent effort for himself to confirm his own beliefs.

"Well that is disappointing!" The red guard yelled and slammed a kick into a fallen B1 battle droid. "I had just begun to slaughter these karking droids."

"Your desire to prove yourself in open battle is admirable Jax." Kun replied as he checked for his saber, after dropping it suddenly, and called it back to him with a pull of the Force after spotting it.

"However, I can be the first to assure you young Carnor, that you have indeed proven your are quite capable on the open field of battle. You have my admiration for it as well." The Sith lord affirmed, and turned toward a set of troopers looking over the fallen droids and comrades.

"Commander!" He called. "Comm me a shuttle! I have business in need of attending to at the palace."

"Right away milord!" The commander cried. His vice sounding quit pleased as Kun sensed relief flood off of him.

"As for you Jax." Exar pointed toward him. "You have potential, but you need it focused. With a little more refinement you could become a far greater royal guard than any other. You could also ascend beyond them."

"Meaning?" Carnor cocked his head to the side. Crossing his arm as well.

"Meaning that your lord, the Emperor, is obviously far more powerful than he usually lets off. He and lord Vader, and myself, are all part of an order called the Sith. We are very select, and before I arrived on the scene it was relegated to two. Though there is some loopholes that were exploited there on behalf of the Emperor." Exar went on, and spoke very nonchalantly.

"And you think...I have potential in regards to this little club?" Exar shrugged.

"Possibly. It depends on the lengths you're willing to go to achieve power all your own. Being a Sith takes some measure of greater ambition. Service to a lord is admirable, but to be more than that requires this ambition, and natural power, or the will to constantly enhance one's own power. Do you have such a drive, Jax?" Carnor seemed silently thoughtful, before Kun brought his hand up.

"Merely think on it while you continue your service. I too served an order before I came into my own power. I too became what I am because I thought there was more to myself than the average man or woman of my order. If you think that of yourself, then if I were you I would broach the subject of training to become part of the order through your headmasters, and maybe even your lord." Kun smirked, and Carnor nodded, but said no more.

A shuttle flew over their heads, and blew up the smoke and dust around them, and Kun whipped his cape aside, and sighed.

"That would be my ride I believe. Like I said, think about it."Jax remained silent, but nodded one last time and bowed his head as Kun turned and left for his shuttle. As he boarded it, he released a more massive sigh as the weariness, and thoughts of the last night and a half fell upon him. He called on the Force to sustain him, but felt the pain ripple from his shoulder again from the burn wounds of the blaster burn he received when he had felt the release of Viathan's rage from afar.

He came to the front of the shuttle and found his pilot, garbed in the usual black of the Empire.

"Head to the palace. Inform them, lord Kun is arriving." The pilot nodded, and Exar quickly retreated back to the seating area, and took one for himself. His soreness radiated over him, but he suppressed it as best he could. Using that pain to feed into his own power and keep him awake and active as he felt his eyelids grow heavier. Laying his head back against the metal of the ship, Exar did allow himself a few quiet moments of peace as the rumble of the ship engines, and subtle motions of it flying over the planet rocked him into a lull of calm for the time being.

The Force called out and echoed around him from below and above. The dark side was quite powerful, even tangible if he dared to focus hard enough. It was oily and permeating the air. The battle had cost innumerable and countless millions. Troopers and civilians. Not only that, but the attack was an obvious and direct attack against the pride, and power of the Empire. The very heart of this government was attacked, and ripped into. Not since his old days, following Ulic's moronic attack on Coruscant had Kun seen such wanton damage. Exar was not above or below such means to subdue an enemy, but he had, and he knew it to be true, underestimated these rebels. These droids as well. Simple models. Or at lest their main fighting fore of B1 battle droids were, and yet so numerable, and backed up by the heavier B2's and the other variants of this army long forgotten, and yet still terrible on the field of battle.

'Vader...you had warned of the droids. I did not care to listen, and now I'm sure you're just waiting with bated breath to rant. I shall never live this down, I am sure of it.' Kun intoned within himself as another low sigh escaped passed his lips. He leaned forward and clasped his hands together in his lap amongst his many robes and clothing. He felt like grime covered his whole body and at this very moment was oddly begging for a shower. He seethed as well as he rubbed his left shoulder again, the burn on his skin with fabric burned into and melted twisted along with his flesh, felt incredibly stinging. His anger rising and the pain shooting, as his apprentice came to mind.

'That boy and his rage. I see I have to remind him again the consequences of such foolish unleashing of one's own rage. And his is deep, and quite powerful. Useful, perhaps, but not when it comes to distracting me!' He groaned, and once more sat back.

"We're approaching the palace now, milord."

"Very good." Kun awaited as it eased into a landing on a pad wherever it may have been across the mighty and seemingly endless palace of the Emperor. A man who he sensed to be close already, which irked Exar. The speed by which the old man had found his way to the palace was distressing in a way. Especially since, Kun knew the battle to have only recently ended. Even then Kun wasn't sure about what was happening in orbit.

The shuttle came to a complete stop on the landing pad, and the ramp descended, and Exar bid the pilot to return to whatever duties he may have, and he exited quickly thereafter. It was quiet and uneventful unlike the last time he exited a shuttle upon the imperial palace. The shuttle behind him quickly taking off to do Force knew what.

He walked along the length of the landing pad walkway connecting back into the palace. Stopping to look right as a pillar of smoke rose and filled the air with a noxious smell of metal and some sort of fuel, or something of the like that smelled rancid. An entire pillar had collapsed downward, and its top portion had seemingly ripped into the side of the main palace and now a jagged rip was along the length of that wall.

Exar merely shook his head and continued on forward into the palace. Luckily the doors still slid open on their own, and he found himself in a not so empty hallway. A column of troopers led by an officer in battle armor marched passed him. He followed them as they did, though they seemed not to notice him, and he couldn't figure where they were possibly going, or why they were marching like they were.

Nonetheless, he again shook himself and turned right down the hall. The glass along that side of the hall had all been blown in and now lined the carpet. Exar assumed it was from the impact of the nearby pillar that had fallen down. He just kept moving, however, not exactly knowing where to head first. All Exar knew was that he wanted to find Vader and perhaps speak to him before the Emperor very likely called everyone together to rant and rail for this atrocity of an insult.

Pausing in the hall, Kun sensed a familiar presence nearby, and turned. The hall was now empty behind him. The column of troops having seemingly turned down a hall somewhere, and left him alone.

"We to play this game again young Jade?" Exar asked aloud, and sighed, but luckily for him the young girl suddenly appeared fro the shadows of a nearby statue. She looked well enough. All clothing intact, saber at her belt, and blaster pistol as well. She had her arms crossed and held an annoyed expression along her face.

"Have fun out there?" She quipped. Exar sighed, and mimicked her by crossing his own arms across his chest.

"Considering the night I've been through I'd appreciate a bit more tact and less sarcasm from you Jade. If you want to serve me as you have made clear then a little subservience would do you some good." She rolled her eyes, but didn't send another retort back his way. "Now, do you have anything to report, or were you just sitting around here in the palace all day and night just watching the battle from afar?" Mara hung her mouth open and grew red hot in the face, before she burst, and Exar raised a brow at the sight.

"'Sitting around?!' I'll have you know master, a whole karking army of buzz droids had broken into the palace and were hell bent on bringing the whole thing crashing down! Were it not for me they would have succeeded! They were drilling through the lower basic support beams, but I got rid of them, and let me tell you something there wasn't just two or three. More like a couple hundred!"

"And? You seem to be unscathed." Exar quickly pointed out. Mara, however, pulled from her shit a small little device, and shook it in her hand before him with a smirk on her face.

"This little toy here was given to me by some weird scientist here in the palace. He kinda gave me the creeps, but still he said this thing made droids blind to whoever wore it and their immediate surroundings." She was quite pleased with herself and she pocketed the device. Exar nodded.

"Well I see you just had all the fun as well, but I wouldn't get too attached to your device. I'm sure once they discover such a device exists fixes will be made to the droids sensors."

"Killjoy." She shot back and Kun chuckled.

"Indeed. Now, other than assuring the Emperor of his continued to glamorous living conditions, anything else to report Mara?" She rolled her eyes again, but nodded.

"In fact I do have something to report. Those guys you wanted me took look out for. When that little meet and greet was going down. The Emperor met with a few cronies of his that I've seen around before, but they seemed a bit more engrossed in what he was saying, and he sent Viathan away when they showed."
"Ah, good. Then they are the one's looking into any corruption around Viathan and myself. Possibly Vader as well." Kun figured aloud.

"Uh, aren't you worried about being recorded? Plus what make's you think that?" Kun laughed and waved her off.

"They are far too busy to be listening in onus this moment Jade, and I have people who can take care of such trivial things like recordings. As for how I can conclude who these people are. The Emperor would not be keen on speaking of matters concerning my or lord Vader's treachery around Viathan for fear he may yet be under my sway despite his excellent efforts to deter such a notion in the old man. These are the people who in one way or another, I can guarantee you, are in charge of various operations to sniff out even the smallest piece of evidence he could use to have myself or Vader killed."

"Why does he need evidence?" She asked quite logically. "He's the Emperor. He could have anyone killed." Exar nodded, and found the notion quite understandable.

"He wants validation before killing us, because he recognizes we still both have our uses, and may even have supporters. He may be trying to ascertain who they are if any exist, and to be sure we need to die before he kills his two main war leaders. Now, who were they?" Mara shrugged at her masters logic. It sounded reasonable enough to her.

"There was the high prophet Kadann, the upper level inquisitor Tremayne, and ISB director Vandron. One other who was obviously a Force user, but he was too obscured to see clearly. He also came off a bit creepy." Exar hummed at the list, though he had a suspicion on who the cloaked figure was, but would speak on it with Vader later.

"These prophets, do you know where they are based from?"

"Not personally. Even the Emperor has little idea where they base themselves. But, if you got one of their own trapped he would be able to tell you where they are based on. Only their members know." Exar nodded.

"Good. These prophets could prove troublesome. Last thing I need are another Sith order who think themselves seers of the future. So for now Kadann shall be left to his ow devices. I also know what to do about the inquisitors, but I have one bone to pick with ISB. Plus a debt in need of payment concerning Vandron."
"Debt?" Mara repeated and socked her head questioningly.

"Yes, a debt, and I think it's time it be repaid so I don't have this monkey-lizard on my back any longer." Kun rubbed his chin thoughtfully. Before he finally looked back sharply to Mara and smirked.

"I think it's high time you be assigned your first assassination. My young friend." She perked up and suddenly seemed full of energy and life once more.

"An assassination?! I've been waiting for that. Who's the target?"
"Well considering I haven't mentioned one name you listed off, I think you can easily discover who it is, Mara." She took a second to go over what he said and then tilted her head again.

"Director Vandron? What bone do you have to pick with him? He's mostly harmless. Well that and ISB has a bit of a rivalry with I.I. Frankly though, with the way things have been under Isard I get how."

"This rivalry does more to hurt the Empire than unite it. It must be brought to an end, and more reliable allies need to be strengthened as well. Vandron's removal will serve a greater purpose in the long run." Mara furrowed her brow, at her master's reasoning, before it finally git her.

"Oh... so you've got friends in high places. That and you bet on the other team, and want assurance it's the one that wins right?"
"Very astute deduction Jade." Kun half mockingly applauded and Mara rolled her eyes again. Something Kun found irritating. "It matters little. The fact of the matter is, if we are to wing this battle of the wills then our allies must be empowered and our enemies liquidated. Plus a favor has already been called in, and I am behind on delivering a payment." The Sith lord very aptly put it, with a smile upon his face. "So, be a dear young Jade, and hunt down director Vandron for me. Do it as quick as possible and immediately. Make it look as if he had gotten caught up in the battle and his body was never recovered. So...you'll have to destroy the body somehow."

"Oh yeah real simple." She sighed. "Fine, fine. I'll get right on it, but I gotta say for a first assassination job this one kinda blows."

"Oh quite your whining Mara!" Exar chastised. "Be happy you're doing anything. Or would you rather I give the job to Viathan?"
NO! No, no. It's fine I promise. I was just joking." She quickly and hurriedly responded throwing her hands up in protest. "In fact I'll get on it right now."
"See that you do Jade. I'll expect a report from you as soon as the deed is done. Once it is we'll make back to Tapani I think. First I and the others will no doubt be assessing what was done here, and piece together what the URM hoped to accomplish by committing this attack." She nodded and began to move passed her master and move down the hall to Kun knew not where. "Oh, and Jade. Do be quick about it. The more time the communications systems have to return to normal the longer he has to report to the Emperor. So, leave no witnesses." She looked to her master and simply nodded before moving back onward without him.

Left alone once again, Exar nodded contentedly with himself and his dictations and moved back on forward to where he had to go. Which he decided was to be the military command here in the palace itself.

(Imperial City, Government Sector)

"Know where we are?"

"Yes and no." Vale replied as he looked at surrounding buildings.

"I though you said you grew up here?" Leia chided and he scoffed.

"Growing up on a planet does not necessarily mean one is going to know its in and outs on all levels and at all regions. I'm sure there are places on Alderaan you have little knowledge of."

"Oh yeah?" She smirked. "I bet you I know my home planet better than you know yours!"

"I will not stop to your level milady. Besides I don't gamble. What do I look like to you?" She rolled her eyes.

"No fun, but then again we already knew that." She smiled and he shook his head.

"As you say Leia, but how about we find out where we can get some transport hmm? I have to report back what we learned."

"What about that broadcast we keep hearing? How did they get that up and running without getting back to the communications ministry?" Vale hummed thoughtfully.

"With the override code Nelrain was playing turned off and the Net being brought back online to its original statue. I'm sure the navy is taping into the satellites and broadcasting the all clear for troopers who may be spread out or lost. Or even those who might think the battle is still going. Though I'm just as confused as to why she ended the battle after leaving. Especially since things were getting quite ugly for us."
"Maybe all she cared about was activating the droids. She didn't seem too interested in taking over Coruscant. Launching a whole invasion of one big world just to get to one building seems extreme, but hey, it worked right?" Vale nodded as they both moved down another walkway as they walked further away from the communications ministry. The nearby downed munificent launching large and billowing stacks of smoke high into the air as the far off sounds of smaller successive explosions could be heard mingled with the snap and roar of fire.

"With all those explosions we heard, you don't think that could've been just the one munificent, could it?" Leia asked, and Vale paused to look its way but shook with a forlorn sigh.

"They were too big and further away. I am getting the notion that wasn't an accident. Which would mean the others weren't either. Karking, schutta..." he cursed under his breath. Leia knowing well enough he meant Nelrain. He moved forward again and she followed after. Passing by a set of spires who seemed unfazed by the battle, as the whole region save for far off sounds, was eerily silent and dead seeming. Almost like a ghost city.

'Oh yeah, that's a great notion. A whole city, the size of a planet turned into a ghost town.' Leia thought as she felt a chill run down her spine at the further thought. Especially as the Force echoed with countless deaths. Their screams and cries before their lives were snuffed out seeming loud and clear to Leia if she just focused on them a bit more. She chose to not though. She was already far too tired and mentally so at that, to allow such things into her mind right now.

"Damn thing." Vale cursed as he smacked his comlink into his hand and pressed down on the response key.

"Still not working?"

"Well..." He trailed off and released the key. As he did sounds came through. They sounded jumbled, mixed together, and loud. Many men were yelling it seemed, and others were calm but needless to say it made no sense. Nothing but garbled gibberish.

"Sounds Force awful." Vale nodded, and turned it off.

"Everyone's trying to call everybody else. I sound like one gizka among a crowd of krayt dragons on that thing. Best we can do is find a unit of troopers and hitch a ride."
"Hitch?" Leia repeated with a raised brow. Vale shrugged.

"Okay requisition one, but semantics milady. Nothing but semantics." She giggled and both returned to moving along the walkway through this seemingly dead region of the city.

Before long they had been walking for at the very least an hour and Viathan began to feel even more worse for wear. Eventually they both stopped and allowed him mostly, but Leia as well to sit and rest. His body felt like it was tearing at him from the inside out. His arms hurt from shoulder to finger tip. Well on his right arm at least. He still had a jagged and horrendous looking stump on his left. Though he had since wrapped it up in a cloth he had found to hide his shame. That, and it still dripped blood from Kellia Nelrain for some time.

"You look terrible...again." She idly commented as she kicked her feet while sitting on a small stone statue in front of a building. He was across from her on a wall lining a building that appeared to be residential but closed off. Usually at least. He was nursing one of his blaster wounds on his shoulders and glanced her way. He grunted in pain in reply.

"Yeah I bet. It seems to be becoming my trademark. Don't worry I'm still working on the karking copyright." She cocked a brow and smirked.

"Was...was that a joke? My, my you are changing aren't you my warlord friend!"

"Bite me." he shot back and she chuckled again. Silence falling between them once again.

It was several more minutes, an almost awkward silence having fallen between them. Before Viathan looked upwards, his brow furrowing, and Leia catching sight of it.

"What?"
"Walkers." He merely said and jumped off the wall and began moving back up the walkway. Leia quickly following after him. She was confused but didn't say anything anyways. Soon enough he turned right down one walkway and stopped. Quickly glancing back her way and waving her over. She jogged over and looked down the walkway where she found what he spotted. A platoon at least of troopers seemingly patrolling the street ahead of them.

"I'll get this." Vale walked on forward and waved toward them. "Troopers! Commander Viathan! What unit are you?!" He asked after placing his hand to himself when identifying himself as Viathan. The troops for a second seemed spooked and aimed their blasters at them, but were quick to stop and aim down.

"Commander Viathan! I am colonel Heru. Third battalion of the fifty-second assault division." The officer to the front in battle armor called, and Viathan motioned for Leia to follow forward.

"I am pleased you recognize me colonel. I would hate to have come under friendly fire. As you may be able to tell I've already lost a hand in the battle." Viathan showed his stump, and colonel Heru cringed.

"Ah...that is distressing commander. D you require medical attention?"
"Negative." Viathan assured. His voice very dry. "What we need, myself and milady...uh...Vader," the man's face grew deathly pale, and Leia groaned, but nodded nonetheless. "require transport back to the Imperial palace. Do you have access to a shuttle?" the man looked toward Leia a moment further and visibly swallowed hard before looking back to Viathan.

"Um..yes we do. We were transported here by command of a new directive sent out by the palace. We are to search and destroy all inactive but battle capable droid units, if any in the area. We were brought here by MAAT's, and one should still be on standby back down the walkway. Please, take it and use it as you must sir, and milady. The pilot will return when done." The man almost pleaded for them to take the drop ship. Viathan nodded and saluted the colonel out of respect and he did so in kind before he bowed low to Leia. She smiled awkwardly and bowed her head.

They both moved passed the column of troopers who all stood and watched Leia walk by with quiet and uneasy respect brought on by fear, and it made Leia very uncomfortable. As they passed them fully they heard the colonel shout for the troopers to once more move on down the walkway. Leaving them alone for a moment as they walked nearer to the MAAT that they could spot some ways down.

"Force! Did you have to call me lady Vader?"

"I didn't know what else to call you. Skywalker? Too many questions would be asked, and that would reach the Emperor that you used a name he wouldn't want to hear anytime soon himself. Organa maybe? That would have been better, but again the Emperor would take issue with your father. It would have been him who would have paid. Maybe you at some point. By declaring your father and parentage to lord Vader, you assure yourself of political protection, a measure of assumed power, and respect. You already now hold clout to begin changing things as you desire. If you choose to do so. I would go as far to suggest anyways." Leia sighed, and rubbed her forehead.

"Okay, okay I understand the logic. I just don't know how I feel about...well about the name yet." Viathan nodded. He understood her reservations, but had to admit he didn't quite agree with them.

"I understand your reservations Leia. I assure you of that, but I have to admit you should be happy to use your name to your benefit. Your name will lead you to the pathway of committing changes you told me once you would like to see happen within the Empire. Without being a formal politician, you must use your place as a Sith and prestigious name as Vader, to commit these changes. Or at the very least prepare to use the clout and power that brings you until you make a name all your own, and for yourself." They neared to the MAAT, and both jumped aboard.

"I suppose you're right Vale. I just don't know..."
"I know." he assured and patted her shoulder. In a manner he hoped was assuring and she smiled thankfully as he made to the cockpit.

"Colonel Heru has given me command of the ship. I am commander Viathan. With me I have lady Vader, and we require immediate transport to the palace. You may return after." The pilot had whipped around at Viathan's sudden appearance, but listened and quickly nodded. Again upon hearing the name of Vader, he loosed his fear into the Force and began priming the engines.

Viathan returned back into the troop hold of the MAAT and took a seat beside Leia. She held her hands in her lap, and seemed far away in her own thoughts. So he decided to leave her there and not bother her. As he too decided to think back on the battle between he and Kellia. It helped to also push the pain from his mind. As his whole body would tremble with radiating pain in every karking place one could imagine. He swore too that he had torn muscles he didn't know were even a thing...until today that was.

Kellia though. 'That vile Jedi schutta!' He cursed as his face visibly soured in expression. He stared ahead as the MAAT lifted easily off the walkway and left the door hatches open as they began to zip through the air.

'Come to my home...destroy its buildings...kill its people, and slaughter my troopers! The troopers of the Empire I serve!' He tightened his jaw as his right hand clasped and crunched into a balled fist, and he felt the shadow of his left hand also ball into a fist. Or so he imagined. He knew full well it wasn't there again.

'How many times must I fail?' He asked himself. 'How many times will I let down my master and those who place their faith in me to do what needs done? How many more karking times do I allow this one Jedi, my only Jedi foe so far in my whole life, beat me?!' He screamed within himself. He felt his adrenaline, weakened by the constant use throughout the day and night prior, pound nonetheless through him. His own self hatred and rage climbing and clawing up his spine into his neck and then flooding his very skull it felt like. It made him wanna grab and rip out the hair still upon his head!

So as the MAAT flew through the skies of Coruscant, Viathan looked out in anger at the skyline of Coruscant. Thinking and knowing he had completely and utterly failed! To that accursed Jedi witch once more he had failed. Trained in the arts of the Sith and by some of the greatest around he has committed forbidden and ancient rituals of the blood by the Rakata; sacrificing and using his own blood to do so, and traveled to distant and forgotten worlds pregnant with the power of the dark side of the Force.

Studied under both Darth Ruin of the ancient New Sith Empire and its founder, and under Exar Kun. The dark lord who assured the Sith would never die, would never fall out of galactic mind, and it was still not enough. A failure he was, through and through, and he knew it. Felt it at his very karking core!

He wanted to slam his fist against the wall of the MAAT, but looking out over the city with the MAAT giving a tour of the damage wrought upon his home. Enough damage had been done this day. His anger, and using it to damage even a small metal wall would be one more part of his home to be bent, and he would be damned if he were the one to do it.

As the MAAT neared closer to the palace, like those who had come before, Viathan and Leia took in how the palace itself had not escaped the wrath of the URM and the droids who now served the rebellion. Down below the palace Viathan could sense many tens of thousands crying in pain from afar. Some so much that their mutilated and horrendous pleas for death were clear as day to him. It was from within their minds they cried out and begged for death! He could all but feel their burns and mutilations. Arms had been blown off, legs eviscerated by explosions and shredding blaster bursts. Or the booming hit of an errant AAT or Tri droid blast. Maybe even the fall of the warships had taken parts of the men but not their whole bodies.

The clanks of walkers below. Like the mammoth AT-AT's and AT-ST's could be heard as they went into work like the men from before and patrolled Coruscant once more. Looking for the smallest hints of droid activity remaining. If any was to be found. Nonetheless, both teens shared a look, and between them Viathan could see Leia was for more affected by those below. Those around the world that were in horrendous pain. He could only nod, and assure her that he too felt their pain. Even if he was numbed to it, by far too much of it before this day. Though Viathan sympathized with his princess friend.

'The first sensation of mass murder is always the hardest to handle.' He recalled. A flash of memory coming to him from far back in his memories. Quickly suppressed still as the MAAT rounded and began to land on the landing pad of the imperial palace. Wherever this landing pad happened to be.

They quickly departed the ship, Viathan bid the pilot his thanks and goodbyes, and the pilot did so in kind. Though likely because of Leia and returned his shuttle likely to the men from before. It was mostly silent where they were, but once more noises from even miles up could be heard. Though they couldn't sense where from. Viathan swore though he had heard a blood curdling scream of pure pain from afar, and despite himself he cringed. Leia looked about for the noise, and she felt nauseous and so quickly made for the walkway into the palace building itself. Allowing Viathan a silent moment to see his actual home, the palace, burn in several sections. Once more feeling his muscles clench and his jaw crack under his tightening before he too stomped onto the walkway into the palace.

Once inside he found Leia waiting. Her arms folded over her chest though one hand was to her mouth as she idly held her index finger and thumb to her mouth. Almost seeming to want to chew her nails but knowing better than to do so. She was obviously nervous and wracked by it all. Perhaps it was now sinking in.

"Well...we best find your father and my master. See what trouble we can get ourselves into right?" He half smiled, and she glanced. Smiling back appreciatively, but she and he both knew they were tired and worried about what was to come from their respective higher-ups so to say. Viathan gave her one last assuring smile, though it was small, and clasped her shoulder a further time, and nudged pointed her to follow him down a hall.

Using the Force and seeking out the all too familiar Force signature of his master, he followed where he found it, and luckily it was indeed where he had guessed it to be. Within the palace. Leia was behind him as they moved to the nearest turbolift and were both silently happy to see it still in operation. Silently as before they rode it up until Viathan felt his master to be close, and sensed much more darkness to be near. The call of his master, lord Vader...and even that of the Emperor. As it appeared to be, that all three were together.

The lift stopped and the door slid open. The hall before them was a mess. Troopers lined it with royal guards about as well, but concentrated at a single door. Where Viathan assumed and sensed they should head toward. Even more though were many Imperial officers all speaking to one another, looking over datapads, some simply talking and others arguing in hushed voices.

They both moved forward, and quickly found a trooper looking their way. Viathan was quick to look him directly in the face, and it seemed to be enough to make the trooper stop. Stared Viathan down, and then recognize him. As he quickly waved him off from afar and went back to his fellow troopers and officers. Continuing to move forward Leia spotted Luke, Shira and even Starkiller from afar. Her face finally brightened and she waved to them from where she stood.

"Luke!" The boy jerked himself toward the voice, even as it pulled the attention of some around them as well, thy were promptly ignored.

"Leia!" he quickly shouted back, and rose from his seat as did Shira, and Starkiller turned from where he had stood. Viathan made himself scarce and Leia bounded on forward with little regard for those around her. She reached Luke and the siblings fell into an immediate and tight embrace. Viathan sensed raw emotion from afar, and knew they likely needed one another after the events of this day. He couldn't guess what Luke had been through, but he was to assume he had done his part. Shira and Starkiller joined them as the twins broke apart and began to have a conversation of sorts. Likely a big retelling of what they had each been through.

This allowed Viathan to await his master to exit the room he sensed him to be in with several others besides even Vader and the Emperor his old master and lord. It also allowed for him to focus on his folly the notion of his failure, the fact of his uselessness only increased as time passed him by more. The subtle but approaching notion within him of his uselessness burning with the back of his mind. Abandonment even. His master leaving him behind, and in the dust! He knew he deserved it with his utter failure. How many more times could a Sith lord be expected to allow such damning failure to continue under his own watch? Viathan could sense his masters displease, just as he knew his master could sense him awaiting him outside the door. He briefly closed his eyes, and briefly allowed the ideas to leave his mind. It served him no good to dwell on it just this moment. Yet, he did know that without his master, he was utterly nothing. As disposable as any other cloned trooper under Imperial command. As morbid as that revelation may have been to him. Ever though was he a willing slave for his master. If told to jump off the palace he would do it, and to fall upon his own saber he would do it. All that mattered was his master and his will, his command. Now all he need do is wait...

---

It took about another twenty minutes, and Viathan was left in peaceful silence even among the clatter and chatter among the officers, troopers and others of the hall before the door slid open. Viathan was shocked, horrified even, when an aid called him into the room. Nonetheless, he did so, and entered. Quickly prostrating himself before the dark lord Sidious. Told to rise, he did so, and found himself looking at a large table where his master Exar Kun, the Emperor, director Isard, several grand admirals, and high generals along with ground marshals, even a governor or two sat and looked at him. Lord Vader was standing to the side of the Emperor with arms crossed looking his way too, and Viathan got the nauseating and sinking feeling he was scrutinizing him deeper than even the others.

They were quick to ask him of his mission at the communications ministry. He told the whole story in deep detail. Including Leia's part in the operation. Vader seemed to bristle at every instance. He told of Kellia, and her elite droid units, and the droid reactivation code. His duel with her, and how he failed to kill her.

The Emperor was quick to state that if the princess was too weak to saver herself he should have let her go and killed Kellia, but said no more. Viathan felt the rage explode within Vader, but he remained silent, and Viathan too felt anger well within. Seemingly the Emperor either did not care or perhaps did not seek to invoke Vader any further. So, they had him leave as they returned to discussions. It would be another twenty minutes until the door opened and everyone began to leave. All of them oddly in a hurry.

As Vader exited he gave Viathan a long look, but the boy did not sense anger from him. Well not seething anger. Of course Darth Vader kept anger stored within him always as a dark lord of the Sith. Only here it felt like he was sizing Viathan up, but the boy didn't know why, and was sure he probably didn't want to know. Especially as he stomped over toward his children and apprentices. Viathan didn't know, but indeed the dark lord had looked upon Kun's apprentice for only one reason. It was the 'saving,' of his daughters life that he gave him one final look. It was...appreciative.

However, when Kun exited the room and Viathan was at last given a good look at his master instant relief flooded through him! He had sensed his pain from afar, though he had not yet known how or where the pain came off his master. Littered there across his master were nicks fro blasters several close call and rips and tears. All of them save one along his shoulder seemed totally superficial though. That alone gave Viathan enough relief to accept his fate whatever it may be now. Exar caught his eye and nodded to him. The Emperor, however, came out of the room, and Viathan once more kneeled before the dark lord. The old man neared before him in his darkened robes. They smelled of burnt metal and death. Viathan could sense death upon him echoing from afar. His lord the Emperor had been upon the battlefield!

"Rise boy." he did so, but kept his head hanging down. Not looking his old master in the eyes, whilst guarding his thoughts with all power still within himself.

"You shall learn of your status in this war from your instructor. I retain him in that matter, but remember this boy." The dark lord in his croaking low voice spoke, and grabbed his chine. His hands were boney and ice cold as he lifted his eyes to look Sidious' in his own. The glowing yellow of Darth Sidious Emperor of the Galactic Empire, met the deeply crimson red of Viathan. A chill ran through Viathan again as this contact of the flesh made his body weak and stomach nauseous. Memories of his masters servants and their deeds long since passed running into his mind again.

"I am forever your lord and master. The one who commissioned your very birth. You shall learn all you can from Exar Kun, and you will do as he instructs unless I speak up in the matter personally. Do not fail me as you have today again...boy. Understood?" Viathan shakily but subtly so, nodded his head, and the Emperor patted his head. Before releasing his chin and taking his leave with two royal guards in tow behind him to wherever it was he was to go.

His heart pounded and he shook visibly. His hand trembling again, as he felt tears prickling at his eyes, but he forced them to not fall! He wouldn't let them fall! He finally looked up, and noted from afar that lord Vader gave him a glance. In fact most in the hall were, but he too began to leave. Viathan catching a final glance from Leia as well. More pity from her, and then Vader called her to follow as the whole of he and his apprentices left to wherever they too were to go.

A shadow loomed over him then and he turned left to see his master look down upon him. Hardened gray eyes looking down and looking him over.

"Come with me. We have much to discuss." Viathan nodded numbly and waited for his master to move. As he did he followed after, and finally blinked. Allowing two hot and wet tears to flow down his cheeks. Which he was quick to claw his right hand into each and wipe them away with fury.

They made to a landing pad, likely where Kun felt safest talking and allowed both to look the city in ruins over once more, as the winds whipped passed and through them both. Exar turned to look upon his apprentice. He had thought him above such rage, and he felt its echo upon him from the battle beforehand. He could feel that echo even stronger so then in the room when the Emperor demanded a recounting of the mission. Such rage had already cost the boy a hand. Today it may well have cost him more. The fact it hadn't was nothing more than a miracle of the Force itself.

"You should know better than to let your rage consume you as you did. A lesson I had long ago thought taught to you upon Dantooine in fact. To hear of this, and to see the cost once again was but the same hand astounds me. But, it also tells me I was very wrong in my previous assessment of you learning such a lesson." The Sith lord chided as he crossed his arms, a frown came onto his face, and his gray eyes met the red of Viathan's. The boy kneeled now before his master, and bowed his head low.

"I haven't an excuse you would find appropriate my master." His voice was bereft of emotion and feeling as he spoke, and kneeled. "My rage...was all that allowed me to fight on. I could no longer move. I should have used my head...I know this, but I could not move my body, and she fought Leia. My rage was...and often is all I have." He observed and remained low. Awaiting his punishment that he knew himself to have earned. Exar brought his right hand forth and raised it, and Viathan could feel the constriction of his throat, but subtly so, as Kun's breath grew ragged and breathy as rage flowed from him.

For the Sith lord felt the need and instinct to crush his apprentice's wind pipe, I only a little and to finally punish him as he so thought he deserved! Only as he looked into his red eyes, he saw the acceptance of it all, the desire even to feel pain from him, and to at last die even! Memories flowing passed from time long gone when he lay at the mercy of Freedon Nadd within the ancient tombs of Korriban. Only allowed to live if he barked like a damn hound to accept the dark side! A curl in his lip formed as deep venom formed in his mouth. Hatred for that memory unfolding and disgust! What had it accomplished? Only his deep and utter hatred for his 'master,' Nadd. So, without barely a clasp of the boy's neck with the Force, he let it go and threw his arm down and shook his head.

Confusion split through Viathan quicker than Kun had released him from his grip if one could call it that. He still instinctively rubbed his throat and looked up at his master as he turned his back to him with arms folded and looked out of Coruscant in silence. His masters emotions were deep but clear to him. Their bond only haven grown stronger as a master to an apprentice. For the first time he could sense mixture and confusion...even self loathing? He couldn't think why! He had every right to be enrage with him after all. Why should he suffer for the failures of his apprentice?

Upon the field of battle he had lost. In the duel where the continuation of the URM and its empowerment hung on the decision to save or let die, possibly so at least, his friend, he had chose to assure of Leia's life, and had thus failed. Upon the field of battle and in the duel he had been ready and willing for death to take him into his final rest, and yet now why should it be any different? Why should his life e worth his master's mixed feelings now, or his continued survival? Why should Coruscant and its defenders burn and die, and he go on? Why should any trooper be worth more than he?

The answer eluded him, but his masters gray eyes returned to looking down on him. Only now they were once more serene and calm. He shook his head, and Kun quickly pinched the bridge of his nose as a sigh escaped him.

"Your rampant self loathing is understandable that I will say. Kriff it, it helps you become a greater Sith, but your rage and a mixture of that self loathing has to be contained and controlled if you are to continue being an apprentice that serves me well." Viathan bowed his head once more and nodded though his self worth was still nothing within his own mind. A servant of Exar Kun! Not even Morlin held such a distinction, and that alone gave Viathan some measure of distinct pride, but what he was...that made him feel quickly thereafter empty.

"I believe it is time for another lesson. A simple one, but nonetheless you shall listen." Viathan nodded and looked up to his master once again. "Rage...it is a powerful tool, but it the tool of the beginner, the foolhardy and brash. Rage must be condensed and it must be focused, but when it comes to you and that woman you lose it. Not only does she have a well known mouth on her, but she is very karking good at rattling anyone who gets in her way. She has the tongue of a snake and voice of a deceiver. She goads you into you doing this not because she does it, but because you allow her to do it." The Sith lord paced before Viathan as he listened and took in this new lesson of Kun's. Once more every word was taken in with fanatical zeal to absorb it all.

"Kellia Nelrain is a terrible threat now. I understand this, for I myself underestimated her. Now we must become smart when it comes to her. We have to think now, and only think, use the rage, yes, but funnel it into something positive for you in the battle. I felt from afar your rage. Your rage burst open across the planet, and I can assure you now, every single Force user on this planet wants to know who and where you are to removed your head form your shoulders." Viathan furrowed his brow.

"Why woul-"
"Because they fear you!" Exar retorted immediately. "You impressed the Emperor, and he is pleased you have such self destructive wrath welled up inside of yourself, but when it comes to your continued usage as my first and foremost apprentice it serves no purpose but to strengthen all my enemies. Both the URM and its schutta of a leader, and the Emperor and his many minions." He paused his pacing and glanced down to Viathan.

"The lesson is this. Close your eyes, and concentrate, for this once, on those memories that are hidden deep within. Those memories you stored away to call upon to fill you with unbridled and unstoppable rage." Viathan felt his heart pound once more, and his head spin, but he did as asked.

Delving deeply into his memories he soon found himself in a darkened room, the smells that were there clear, the feelings and experiences. Then he felt it, the rage arise and climb up his spine. A constant and endless flow of self hatred, loathing and disgust would forever be there to give and grant him power.

"There it is." Exar spoke and crouched low closer to his apprentice. "Now focus on that rage. Leave that place. Leave that memory but focus on those feelings." Viathan did, and opened his eyes his body shaking, but he focused on that rage and felt his hand ball into a fist and he pound it into the metal below him with his bare knuckle.

"Now unleash it into a Force blast. Do it off the side of the building and into the sky where it is clear." Viathan rose and sent every once of that rage up through his arm down it toward his finger tips and with a sneer he howled and bursting forth from his hand came another pure dark side blast of power that burst forth and unleashed itself with nothing but raw hatred and rage fueling it.

Finally he stopped and he felt his breath torn from him and collapsed once more as he bitterly unleashed that rage into the dark side and through that blast that ceased to be as soon as he closed his hand.

"The Force, and the dark side feed on raw emotion, but it does not give you freedom to become a mindless ape hell bent on reverting to the cavemen science says we used to be. The Force is a tool, but it also has a mind all its own, and you shall suffer for using such raw power so freely without coordination and focus." Exar grabbed Viathan's shoulder as he sat on his legs beneath him looking down toward his hand, breathing hard and full of emotional left over from that release.

"Focus it if you cannot forget it, but do not let it consume you. With such raw hate and rage you can overcome any enemy. Your hatred is greater than our enemies biggest blaster, and their smartest droid. Do this, and I can promise you, you will succeed against not only Nelrain, but every enemy and pretender that comes not only my way but your way as well." The boy looked up to meet his masters eyes, and he nodded slowly.

"I understand master."

Exar nodded as well. "Good. Now come on and get to your feet. There are other pressing matters to be spoken of." Exar helped pull the boy, still weak and weary, and now doubly so from that emotional release, to a stand.

"What matters master?"
"War my apprentice. Always war." His master half chucked, and Viathan felt a smile form on his lips as his masters mood rebounded and he felt once more safe to be around him, and all the more appreciative.

"With this attack the Emperor no longer desires to wait for the full and total mobilization of the reserve forces. You know those imperial soldiers in those Force-awful uniforms with the armor over their chests goggles on their eyes, and helmets that make the Stormtroopers seem fashionable?" Viathan nodded. The recruits certainly did make the Stormtroopers Corps seem actually useful by comparison, but were also part of the endless, or seemingly so, army of the Empire.

"Instead he has ordered the forward operation into the Expansion Region be underway by the middle of next week." Viathan felt his mouth go ajar and Exar nodded. "Yes, that soon. My efforts in Tapani are to be redoubled and lord Vader is to take his children and other apprentices to the front, and by command of the Emperor use them to their full extent. However, I broached the notion, and he has agreed, which goes to show your perceptive abilities Viathan, but h has given you permission to take full command of an entire theater fleet of your choice." Viathan now felt his eyes grow wide.

'A whole fleet! Of my own choice?' A smile broke across his face and his breath caught. He always wanted to command a fleet all his own! To do so and aid his master in taking some of the Emperor's suspicion away from his master, was but sweetener on an already sweet deal.

"I have arranged for your ship of choice, the Domitor, from over Neona to return to Coruscant and join your fleet. I have for your sake given you three choices, the eighty-fifth assault fleet, the forty-second fleet, or the seventeenth. All three have good track records and are awaiting their orders already on the borders wit the Expansions region ready to begin the genera push to reconquer the whole rim."

Viathan nodded. He knew of two of those fleets. The forty-second and seventeenth. They were both good. But, he wanted to wait and see information pertaining to the eighty-fifth.

"For now you should rest. We'll take a week to get ready, prepared, and finally give you some time to rest up, and get that hand replaced. By weeks end you will be on the Domitor on your way to the border. From there I am sure orders will come down from Vader who will be of course acting over all supreme commander on where your fleet in tandem with allied fleets will go."

"Of course master. What about you and Tapani with Morlin?" Kun smirked and waved Viathan's worries away.

"I shall deal with Morlin one world at a time. There is nothing to say you shall not be recalled from time to time. However, I will have madam Lyn, Mara Jade, and Kira. I am sure this rabble of women will be more than enough to drive any man, Morlin included insane." Exar laughed and Viathan merely smiled. "Now with you I shall be sending a little friendly assistance. Two thousand fit Massassi warriors shall be accompanying you. Both your friends Zar'kai and Grash shall be transferred to your direct command, and Mattizz shall join me at the front personally. Needless to say, my apprentice, you should not be concerned how the war shall be waged in Tapani. It shall be won one way or another." Viathan bowed his head and silently accepted what his master said.

"Now," Exar rose to full height again. "You should get that fixed as soon as possible." He pointed to Viathan's cleaved off left metallic hand. "Afterwords I am making it a direct order that you sleep and rest in your given room here in the palace. The handling of Coruscant shall be coordinated by others, and the rebuilding process shall take...time. So you needn't concern yourself with things here. Though I suppose I should say, that with communications as they are here on Coruscant and paranoia as sky high as it is too, the military command center of the whole war effort is being transferred off planet until the rebuilding process is completed. A plan has already been put down to rebuild everything as it was, and maybe clean it up a bit. As for the command center Anaxes shall be military HQ of the Empire for now."

"Understood master. I would have the rebuilding process no other way. This is my home...after all." He shrugged, and Kun nodded.

"I am aware. Fear not. It will be put back as it was. Now go see someone about replacing that hand." Viathan gave a final bow. Emotions confused and mixed within himself as he turned and made for the medical lab he knew his father worked in. Leaving Exar Kun to look out over the ruins of Imperial City and the haphazard spread out still standing buildings. Yet even then, not one was wholly free of any damage. The folly of underestimating Kellia Nelrain and her rampant ambition.

"A pretender if ever one there was." Kun declared and made to return into the palace. Thoughts scathing within his mind the more he focused on that vile woman.

She would meet her eventual end. Of this he was self assured.

(Three Days Later)

Sitting in a chair as droids went to work installing his new hand, Viathan, feeling like he wasn't the walking dead anymore after a day and a half of straight sleep, looked as his father looked over holo-schematics. He held his right hand to his chin and cupped it as he looked over the old design of his first hand, recently removed by Nelrain.

"These were far too gaudy really. No subtlety. Besides appreciating the boldness and quite blatant monstrous look of it, there is little to find intriguing about it." The man turned back toward his son, and walked over to inspect the droids work as they worked behind a small flap of white fabric. For some reason Kalev wanted it to be a surprise.

"Yes this one should pack quite the punch. I took notice that your last hand had retractable claws. Now their design of recoiling and being sheathed atop your meta fingers within those small holsters, unless you wished to extend them was interesting. However, why have sch a design when you can...cut out the middle man?" Kalev, ever in his subtle, and low voice asked. A twinkle in his green eyes.

"Whatever you've changed I only ask that you make sure it works...father. I can't head into a campaign theater with defective hardware on and attached to me now can I?"

"Bah, of course not." Kalev waved his hand. The droid singing the writs in now and forcing small tremors of pain up Viathan's arm as the artificial nerves began to interface.

"How has that bacta concoction worked these last days son?"

"Very well. That alongside my meditations and my natural accelerated healing I feel better today than I have in probably a week or more." Kalev nodded happily, very much so with himself. Well your bones have finally seemed to set, so no more need to be extra careful there. Though you shouldn't go about twisting and turning on purpose of course."
"Of course." Viathan repeated and winced at the final shock. The droid turned its head toward Kalev and he bent down to inspect the job. He nodded and curled his lip into a pleased look. Not really a smile. More like a frown but one that oddly conveyed pleasure nonetheless.

"Now, are you sure you do not desire artificial flesh covering?"

"I am more than sure. I shall bare the fruits of my failings to the galaxy and remind myself of it everyday. So that I don't repeat them later on. And...if I do, then I should receive another scar to remind me." Kalev hummed.

"You have quite enough I can assure you, but very well. It's your decision." Kalev ordered the droid away, and it pulled away and took its tray of tools with it. Kalev undid the sheet covering his vision of his new left hand.

When the cloth was removed Viathan let Kalev also undo the meta restraint on his upper arm that was used to hold his arm generally steady. When it was unattached he pulled his arm up and rubbed the flesh of the lower arm, before he pulled his hand up to his eyes.

It was mostly human seeming. Smooth on both sides, and very shining in its metal with black coverings seen under the metal covering over the wiring's below that. What caught his eyes, however, was the tips of his fingers. The fingers were about as large if not slightly bigger than his actual hands. The tips were however like human fingers, save that they were spiked. Almost like the claw tips of a Trandoshan's claws. They were small though. The extended nature of these claws only coming an inch or an inch and a half longer off of his fingertips. He curled his hand int a fist and found that they bent just right not to claw into him. Unless he forced it of course.

"Ah...how do you like them?"

"They are...quite extraordinary." Kalev grinned. His eyes dancing across the sleek metal of the hand and the claws.

"Yes. Made with Songsteel no less. Lightsaber resistant."

"The claws?"
"No!" Kalev clapped his hands happily. "The whole hand. I requisitioned the songsteel from the stores here in the palace. The whole hand is made of songsteel. I would dare say you could barehanded, grab an enemy lightsaber for a few moments without it being able to burn through. Though remember in time it will burn."

"Of course." Viathan looked his monstrous hand over, and had to admit, though he felt more the monster...as ever he thought himself. It was a sleek and gruesome looking. He glanced toward his father who beamed pride down upon him, and Viathan admittedly felt awkward but bowed his head and rose to a stand.

"I thank you father. For the hand and the bacta. However, I must return to my quarters and prepare for the front."
"Why of course my son. I wouldn't dare keep you from your galaxy conquering work." Viathan looked into his eyes and took note just how honestly thrilled Kalev seemed at the notion of death. So, Viathan rolled his still sore shoulders, and brushed dust from his shoulder as he wore another suit of his masters specially designed clothing with the cloak stitched into the back and hanging down like a cape.

"Until we next meet father."

"Indeed. Just remember our people son. When in doubt remember, there are things on our planet within our home that can assure you of victory in the bleakest of times. The Karthasians are crying out for rebirth, and it will take a Zalliste of your nature to do so. Just remember that." Viathan eyed his father, and then bowed his head before making to leave.

"Doctor," Kalev turned toward his droid. "What are your orders concerning all subjects from units A through D?" Kalev sneered, and sighed a deeply obvious mock sigh.

"The things I do at the behest of others. It eludes me why... How old are those batches?"

"Three months doctor."

"Mm, but they all have the initial indoctrination protocols and studies of three months ago, and I've modified them recently. Taking into consideration...new developments." His son's request to await making his experiments wholly loyal to the Emperor just yet.

"Hmm, I suppose it's best you liquidate the batch. What is that? Hundred-two?"
"A hundred and fifty doctor." The droid corrected and Kalev nodded.

"Ah yes. Well I have no use for the sniveling lot. Kill them all. Send the order to the caretaker droids that they are all defective units and should be injected with 'diamycin-45,' and dispose of their bodies in the furnaces."
"As you command doctor." Kalev nodded.

"I am aware. Now after this is done I have another job for you TX. Come speak to me after you send the orders down."

"Yes master." The droid assured and Kalev went off. He felt a little hungry.

---

As the week came to a close, and the reconstruction effort came underway on Coruscant. Many massive lights powered by generators abounded around the planet for crews to work through the nights. The masses of troopers planet side became more and more replaced by civilian workers or droids who received weekly memory wipes.

The troopers returned to the ships above and the ships were soon transferred out to their assigned border regions with the Expansion Region. Readying all of them to charge out into the galaxy and face Moff and droid head on.

Broadcast over their own HoloNet channels the URM military leader Kellia Nelrain showcased a seemingly endless navy and even more endless army of droids that she declared to be a fraction of a fraction of one percent of her fighting forces, and with battle still taking place on worlds with droids reactivated on them, the intelligence services were inclined to believe her.

ISB director was never found, and it was widely believed he had been caught in the crossfire of the attack of Coruscant by the droid forces a week prior. Official ISB director was give to a man only known as Sollaine. A man missing his left hand, and who carried a subtle but decently affective manner about him and began restructuring the ISB into his own personal structure, and also began a summary liquidation of, 'subversive,' gents and officers. The effect of strengthening Imperial Intelligence was a complete success, as was the implementation of rallying arming and sending out COMPNOR auxiliary forces to back up the official imperial military. Not only that but the Emperor, under advice from lord Vader, Kun and director Isard, under advisement of his daughter, officially ordered the Inquisitors and dark Jedi branches and all Force sensitives under the imperial banner to become front line commanders. An odd reminder of the positions the Jedi had taken up during the Clone Wars before. Most were sure the similarity was not lost on the Emperor.

Several million Imperial warships now bordered the Expansion Region with the Moff controlled border. The border worlds by intelligence reports were being flooded with Moff forces readying for the first grand theater of the war to unfold as battle broke out in Tapani as a Moff fleet attacked Neona and was pushed back with mostly ease.

So Viathan stood ready to mount his shuttle that would take him up into orbit to take command of the Domitor and the seventeenth fleet of the Galactic Empire. Looking back he found his master behind him with Kira Offee near, and the hidden cloaked figure of Mara Jade as well. He bid them a silent bow of his head goodbye, and then took note of Vader and his team.

Leia, Luke, the girl Shira Brie, and Starkiller. He had spoken to them in the days leading up to this. Luke and Leia's punishment was training directly under their father in preparation for the battlefield. Especially since the Emperor had demanded they now become front line commanders. Leia had also made some interesting remarks on his new hand, but Viathan was content with it.

Luke had unlike most become visibly shaken by what had befallen Coruscant. After he and his father traveled out to inspect some of the bodies and battlefields still untouched and rank with the smell of decay. He had become physically ill twice, and now seemed a bit more troubled and withdrawn, but still he seemed to get better surrounded by the other three and his father. Including their Noghri guard.

He had bid the princess goodbye as well. Both in person and within their minds. Both affirming they would fight on and see one another again. Especially since she promised him to fight without being a 'suicidal nerf herder.' She called it.

So a final breath taken, and up the ramp he climbed followed closely by his 'royal,' styled Massassi guard on either side of him, and he rode the shuttle up into the Domitor. Where from there Viathan made for the Inner-Rim, Expansion Region border territory to wait out the last few days until the might of the Empire was unleashed.

To await the moment the Empire completely and totally struck back. After all the Empire always strikes back.

---

Authors Note: So long...I'm so sorry... But anyways I hope you guys enjoy once again the longest freaking chapter written by myself. I refuse to write one this long again for a long LONG time too. As usual please point out or excuse any and all grammatical errors, and please leave a review! Those always make me wanna write more after all. ;)

Beyond that remember when we return we will have jumped ahead a few months in time in story. Um, beyond that again ask me anything tell me something do whatever! Thanks should also be given by myself to both TheGunmaster and time2read, both of them have awesome stories and awesome helpful ideas! Go check them out if you want. They're pretty darn good, and helped me with some idea plotting so...yeah. :D