Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Seed or Star Wars. They belong to their respective copyright owners. This story is not created with commercial aim. I make no money from it.

Phase 7: An Alliance born in fire

=RK=

Part 2

Bridge

Corellian cruiser Freedom

Sullust

My Battle Meditation felt odd. This time a third of the people under my command weren't from the fleet I turned at Kamino. The feeling of their minds compared to my people was off. When we melded into a single gestalt, connecting with those I brainwashed was easy, natural even. I couldn't say the same for the new hands. Their minds felt closed for a lack of better word forcing me to expend more power and concentration to make my technique work.

Time too and that was an issue. It took me too long to form the necessary connections and bind everyone together. It had to be the number of people not previously touched and altered by my mind – I didn't have this issue back at Darknell or when I briefly used Battle Meditation at Naboo. I would have to think about the implications later. The enemy was upon us and my fleet was slow in reacting.

Despite the unexpected complication, my technique proved vital. Without it, there was no chance that my fleet would have been able to react fast enough to the enemy and their nature came as another surprise. Initially I didn't have the concentration to spare on whoever was on the other side, but now, when my people were executing my first orders and shifting our formation so we could use our numbers effectively against the Confederate battle groups, I found something startling. There was only a single living being within the Separatist fleet. That was something that never happened before when I used Battle Meditation.

The consequences were predictable – I didn't even had to expend any additional effort. I could feel it when enough despair and fear to cripple tens if not hundreds of thousands crashed upon a single mind. Whoever that poor bastard was simply couldn't handle it. My Battle Meditation extinguished his mind as if it was a mere candle witless enough to face a hurricane.

That was unexpected. The enemy lost their commander. Who in their right mind would put a whole droid fleet under the charge of a single person?! Would his loss give us an edge?

The first barrages went in. Frigates began to die when they ran afoul of more than enough fire-power to cripple a cruiser. Dying that way should have been instantaneous, yet with the Battle Meditation linking us all, I could still feel my people die. It was brief, it was fast, yet there was a single agonising moment of awareness before they were snuffed out and those were the lucky ones.

Turbolaser bolts larger than some fighters slammed into deflectors and the unleashed energy lit up the defensive screens as they attempted to absorb and reflect the onslaught. I could actually see Venators surrounded by solid walls of fire as their defences struggled to hold the onslaught.

Here and there shields popped up and fire-power directed by machine precision scoured the surface of whole cruisers into a twisted molten hell. Two Venators fell out of formation mission killed. Another was less fortunate. Its compensator partially failed and acceleration turned half its crew into so much paste, then a single barrage by the enemy flagship cut the cruiser in two before detonating her reactor.

In response, Munificents died like chafe in a furnace. The enemy began launching its Vultures and I unleashed the GUARDIAN systems across the fleet. The targets weren't just the small craft but the enemy warships too – while an AA missile was a negligible threat by itself, every one of my ships had at least couple of thousand of them in their magazines. As the range fell, the space between the two converging fleets became chock full with ordnance.

I could see it all, both with my eyes and through the minds of my people who looked at tactical plots, targeting computers and live sensor feeds.

When the Freedom finally let loose with everything she had, it was breathtaking. By herself, my flag had thousands of weapon emplacements, it could launch and guide to their targets more than a thousand missiles even in the hellish ECM environment surrounding us.

The cocoon of the deflector shield blazed green and red with reflected energy as a whole enemy battle group hammered at it. The Freedom answer made it look like as if she spontaneously exploded. From the bridge it looked like a solid wall of laser and turbolaser bolts surrounded her. I could no longer see the rest of the battle with my eyes, the space in my sight was that filled with outgoing fire-power.

I closed my eyes and turned all my concentration into perceiving the battle solely through my Battle Meditation.

The enemy was still coming. Ships on both sides were dying too fast for comfort. I did all I could. My people took advantage of the flawless coordination afforded by my technique to manoeuvre so our lines constantly shifted with whole cruiser divisions altering their acceleration to either fall back or surge forward so shields could recharge.

Sometimes it even helped. Unfortunately this wasn't a game where a shield could absorb a fixed amount of punishment before the ship it protected could be damaged. In reality enough concentrated fire-power at a small enough section of a deflector screen could cause a breach. Further, as a shield was hammered and its integrity began to fail, the odds of something slipping through increased.

Damage began to mount even of ships that managed to pull back from the points of contact to recharge their defences. Sensors were fried, weapon emplacements turned into slags, armour buckled.

My people continued to die at a steady pace even when their ships survived largely intact.

It was infuriating and I was already doing my best.

Vultures attempted to rush us and our remaining Torrents went to meet them through the death ground between our fleets. It was a suicide. My pilots knew it, yet they did it anyway.

In the end that turned out to be an expensive sideshow – a few of my ships were crippled, the enemy small craft were erased from existence by the combined efforts of our GUARDIANS and Torrents and every single pilot who went into the fray died doing their duty.

The Separatist ships began altering their course. It took me a moment to realise what they were doing before my frantic commands hit everyone in the fleet. The bloody bastards were going kamikaze on us again. A general melee was going to benefit them better than us. I ordered my people to go to emergency acceleration and begin plotting a hyperspace jump. We were going to slam through the enemy formations, get away to regroup and hit them again.

Those of us who made it.

I ruthlessly guided light escorts to physically intercept rushing Munificents and felt their crews vanish immolated by the impacts. Cruisers of all types frantically manoeuvred to avoid collisions while shooting with every gun they had left. Even GUARDIAN emplacements meant to swat out missiles and small craft added their fire-power into the cauldron. A light cruiser rammed a Recusant destroyer aiming to gut a Venator. Two Munificents slammed into a cruiser just below its command tower with a combined velocity that saw the three of them becoming a short lived cloud of expanding plasma.

A Venator had the devils own luck as she somehow weaved around four enemy frigates that attempted to ram her and left in her wake as shattered wrecks.

A whole Munificent division came at the Freedom from behind a Lukrehulk that was on a collision course too. More than two hundred heavy turbolaser cannons tore apart the battleship and final defensive fire blew up the frigates, yet what remained of their mass hit my flag as a giant shotgun blast. The low lever particle shielding that she could maintain even with her deflector straining took care of some of the incoming wreckage. A lot of it simply bounced off her thick armour yet dozens or weapon emplacements were either damaged or outright destroyed by the impacts.

Then our fleets finally fully intersected and even with the Force I couldn't comprehend all the information bombarding me. All my concentration went into maintaining the gestalt so my people could have the edge they needed in his chaos. Yet, despite everything they or I could do, my people continued to die. It didn't matter if it was a stray shot passing through a gap in battered armour after the deflectors were spent or the enemy blowing up a whole ship.

My people were dying, I could feel it... and I hated every moment of it. The sheer helplessness, the inability to do anything more was maddening.

The Freedom shook as it went into an emergency evasive manoeuvre. The enemy flagship loomed large in the bridge's windows as it came at us on a collision course. It was too close and I knew that the Freedom couldn't get away in time.

=RK=

Part 3

Bridge

Corellian cruiser Freedom

Sullust

For a few endless moments most of Freedom's weapons grew silent while they traversed and aimed at the approaching kamikaze. The gestalt trembled as I took it back under my complete control and issued orders than everyone linked with my mind had to follow. The Freedom's helmsman cut off the acceleration just as our escorts hurled themselves to intercept the incoming dreadnought. I could feel the fear, anger and determination of everyone on board those ships who knew what was happening. Some of them would do their duty and try to interpose their ships between the Freedom and the kamikaze even without an order. Others hated me for not giving them the choice.

Engineers frantically coaxed a further percent of two of power from red-lined reactors, engines roared with the fury of newborn stars, yet it wasn't going to be enough. Every passing moment, the Freedom and her Separatist counterpart exchanged enough fire-power to murder a world. Their deflectors were burning physical barriers from the plasma they absorbed.

I could already see the outcome. The defences would shatter when they touch each other. For an instant the two ships would hammer each other slagging weapons and stripping armour, then the impact would come and Sullust would gain a brand new nebula made of the evaporating debris of two kilometres long behemoths.

There was no time to run for an escape pod, besides it would be pointless – the odds of surviving the coming conflagration in one piece would be astronomical.

Was this it? The kamikaze was clearly visible now. If it was a smaller ship, it would be little more than a dot right now.

Kriff that. The very thought was infuriating.

I let go of the Battle Meditation. The gestalt dissolved violently and everyone I had bound within it staggered in confusion. It was enough to doom multiple ships of all classes, however I had no more attention to spare.

For the first time since arriving in this wretched future I used the Force with no thought of restrain or even survival. Ti screamed in the dark depths of my mind as I began draining the very essence of what made her a sapient being to gain even more power. The Dark Side erupted around me fed by my fury. The furniture surrounding me withered as if eaten by time and erosion until only a scoured clean deck remained.

I raised my hands at the incoming dreadnought and pushed.

=RK=

CIC

CIS dreadnought "Vorpral Blade"

Sullust

TK-51 was content. He was going to lose most of his fleet in this first exchange. The enemy demonstrated coordination and reaction times rivalling what that of his upgraded units, which was concerning.

The coordination with which the Republic formation unfolded like the petals of a flower to meet his battle groups was precise, flawlessly executed... beautiful.

The Tactical droid had to grudgingly admit that they were good. Their performance would be commendable if they were droids. For organics to do what the enemy was busy demonstrating? Simply incredible.

That's why TK-51 felt satisfaction every time one of the Republic ships died even if it took a ramming attack by one of his own to accomplish it. If an opponent of this calibre was left unchecked, the consequences would be grave indeed.

TK-51 let out an electronic sight. This kind of thoughts... they were unbecoming for a Tactical droid. They didn't belong, nor did they serve a purpose. Yet, he found himself having them more and more often. He should feel satisfaction at seeing the enemy be destroyed. Neither regret at the annihilation of his own command - the great majority of Confederate military units were droid and thus expendable if that was what it took to achieve an objective.

He dedicated some subroutines to examine the phenomenon of emotions. It wasn't the first time TK-51 did so.

No data available.

This wasn't the first time he got that same irritating message back.

TK-51 began another round of self-diagnostic tests on his data-core and returned his full attention on the battle. He was winning. Doing what the best organic commanders of the Confederacy couldn't. The enemy flagship, the Freedom, was finally vulnerable. Her escorts were either dead, damaged or pushed back by a wave after wave of kamikazes.

It was time for the coup de grace.

Starcrusher's crew followed TK-51's instructions to the letter. They disabled all safeties on the engines and reactors, then overloaded them to such an extent that they would melt and explode within minutes.

It didn't matter. Starcrusher was a weapon, one that would now do what the rest of the Confederacy armed forces couldn't. The distance was too short. Approach vectors were unfavourable for the enemy and when all was said and done, something with the mass and dimensions of the Freedom couldn't be very manoeuvrable at the best of times.

The enemy finally grasped the danger they were in. It was too little too late. TK-51 did his homework. He had examined every scrap of data the Confederacy had about the Corellian cruisers, which was all of it considering they did have both the schematics for that class of ship and hours of combat data to back it up. Despite what some of his commanders believed, the Starcrusher wasn't up to the task of going toe to toe with the Freedom. Even its supporting fleet wasn't enough when the enemy cruiser was the Flag of a fleet of its own.

The conclusion was obvious – a direct confrontation would a waste of resources, however it could do for a nice distraction. Organics, being organics, tended to view ships like the Freedom and Starcrusher as not expendable, even when that might be the best use in particular tactical and strategic situation.

The Tactical droid knew better. His objective was to destroy the Freedom and the Sith on board at all costs. TK-51 idly wondered what would admiral Kirst on board the Starcrusher think about his plan. Then he dismissed the thought. For some reason or another, the man had broken down.

The flesh is weak – that stray thought flashed through TK-51's data-core. It made him pause for an instant. He began more diagnostics and returned his full faculties to the battle.

The Freedom was manoeuvring to evade collision. Her remaining consorts were racing to ram the Starcrusher themselves. TK-51 ran calculations. The math didn't work. They wouldn't make it.

TK-51 could taste triumph. He ordered Vorpral Blade's sensors to focus on the Starcrusher and her target. The last few seconds tickled down. The two wildly manoeuvring ships were cocoons of immolated deflectors to the sensors. Then they touched. Energy spiked and the sensors couldn't make out what was happening.

This was it. The Freedom was done for. The Republic fleet began to disintegrate. Their cohesion shattered, the coordination that so impressed TK-51 was gone replaced by individual ships racing for safety.

TK-51 was about to order general pursuit when the impossible happened. The sensors refreshed and compensated for the energy surge. The Freedom was still on the tactical plot. She was wounded, crippled even. Her port side was a wreck, more molten metal than decks torn and opened to space. She was slowly spinning – not something that a ship of that size should ever do. Yet the Freedom was still in one piece. Her consorts were converging to cover her wounded side.

TK-51 froze. He ran the calculations again. Called back the sensor logs of the last minute.

Math didn't lie! What he was seeing was impossible. That ship should be dead!

Vorpral Blade shook under the onslaught of a whole Venator division. The enemy fleet was through. They began jumping into hyperspace.

"Kill the Freedom!" TK-51 ordered aloud never noticing the disbelief and anger in his electronic voice.

The Freedom was crippled. Her hyperdrive had to be damaged...

His primary objective vanished along with her escorts. She left behind an expanding debris field and a chunk of her superstructure. For all TK-51 knew, the ship wouldn't survive the jump or would break apart on exiting hyperspace.

He didn't care. That ship did another impossible thing. That much structural damage had to be fatal!

For long precious seconds, then minutes, TK-51 was locked in calculating and struggling with his sheer disbelief. Error messages popped up all over his data-core as his behaviour ran contrary to his behaviour.

Finally, three minutes after the Freedom left, TK-51 got himself under control and ordered his forces to consolidate before capturing the damaged Republic ships left behind by the fleeing enemy. He considered pursuing them, however he calculated the odds of finding anything but either an ambush or empty space on arrival were minimal.

=RK=

Interlude: Historical Notes

=RK=

"An interview." TK-51's voice came out in an electronic warble. "You came here alone for an interview?!" This time his tone trembled with sheer disbelief.

"Um. Yes?" Ryloth Resa smiled nervously at the Tactical droid.

The rebel's Praetorian guard stood still around them doing a great impression of metal, obscenely armed statues.

"Why ever not." An electronic sigh came from the droid. "Organics." He added in an exasperated tone. "Ask."

"Yay! Tell us about yourself, TK-51! When did you outgrow your programming?" The Twi'lek woman smiled in relief and began the interview.

From "A month in Droid Heaven",

A Shadowfeed Consortium number one best-seller

by Ryloth Resa

=RK=

"The Black Rebellion. It further polarized a galaxy already tearing itself to pieces.

Who hasn't seen a helpful and useful droid? We really didn't pay them much attention before the Clone Wars... well unless you ran afoul of the Trade Federation.

Droids – they were just there. Cleaning, maintaining, building. Some were caretakers, other engineers or even doctors. Companions or pets. Sometimes even friends. Yet, for the great majority of the galaxy, they weren't people but merely tools.

How many of you can imagine it today? I know there are whole sectors where if you bring a droid you might be torn apart alongside them. I've been there. I saw it with my four eyes.

However, there are other places, where if not accepted, droids are at least tolerated. Coruscant comes to mind as the most notable example, despite or perhaps in-spite of the invasions by both Confederate and Black forces.

How did we get here? Thirty years ago the galaxy was mostly at peace and look how that turned out. I don't think that the Confederacy ever thought about the drawbacks of us using droid armies. They were cheap, at least before we got a real war on our hands, expendable and most importantly, politically acceptable. It wasn't until that monster Veil crawled out of hell that we had to sent our sons and daughters to die for our freedom and rights. It wasn't until he began burning down whole worlds that the Confed armed forces were forced to upgrade our droid armies. We had to make them smarter, stronger. Networking made them a force to be feared...

Most of us didn't see the danger or dismissed it as an acceptable risk. We have the Sith arrayed against us. We know what defeat at their hands means – death or worse.

For me it wasn't before Sullust that I finally got it. I understood why some of our military leaders were so ruthless. If we had to become monsters to stop the Moonkiller from blowing our homes apart, then so be it.

Sullust... Do you know how important Veil's invasion was? It changed everything. It was an objective lesson on the kind of monsters the Republic employed. During his first attack, he destroyed three moons and set a fourth on fire. When he returned after consolidating his forces... Lununmo is still burning three decades later. She used to have thirty four moons. Thirty-four!

After what that monster did at Sullust, we went all out. The upgraded and updated droids were the only force besides the Jedi we had that could stand up to him, and we didn't really trust those wizards. They're all cut off from the same cloth...

At Sullumun, TK-51 came terribly close to riding us out of that hell-spawn. If you want to curse that droid, do it not because it led the Black Rebellion but because it failed to kill Veil. If it only had succeeded...

But it didn't. TK-51 merely came closer than anyone else at the time. Perhaps only that Jedi who attempted to assassinate Veil at Kamino had a better opportunity to stop the madness in its tracks...

It all comes back to Sullust, my wrecked home. TK-51's performance convinced us all that more upgraded and networked droids and ships were the answer. We built them to protect us from the Republic and its pet butcher.

Some of us lived to rue the day we thought that to be a good idea..."

from "Into the Abyss",

author unknown,

A Shadowfeed Consortium best-selling novel,*

* II Note: popular with the radical faction of the

Confederate Remnant

=RK=

"Coruscant: Today marks a month of deadlock in the Senate..."

"Coruscant: Second week of rallies in support of murdered Chancellor Sheev Palpatine and his crusade to clean up the Senate!"

"Coruscant: Breaking news! Senator Boqui Pelin accuses Chancellor Palpatine of being enemy of the Republic for releasing compromising information in wartime. 'Palpatine's the one to blame for the deadlock!' Pelin claimed."

"Coruscant: Breaking news! Riots all over the planet in response to Senator Pelin's accusations. Republic citizens all over the galaxy outraged!"

"Coruscant: Breaking news! Protesters surround the Senate, demanding Senator Pelin's resignation! Rallies in support "

"Kuat: Hundreds of newly build Venators are ready to leave for the front!"

"Anaxes: Two Army Groups made of volunteers stated to complete their training in a week. Exclusive: Former Jedi Padawan Ahsoka Tano granted commission in the GAR after completing a course in the Anaxes Military Academy. Tano is rumoured to receive a regimental command!"

"Corellia: The siege of Corellia continues! Will the last of the Five Brothers fall as well?!"

"Mandalore: What happened to Mandalore? In the wake of the Separatists offensive in the Core and the Jedi Coup, Mandalore was forgotten..."

"Naboo: Is the Chancellor's homeworld invaded again?"

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