Shadow of the Force 38
Chapter 38
-Harry-
Snarling, Harry wrenched a clawed hand through the air, tearing a sheet of durasteel from the floor to intercept the blaster bolts, a gesture sending the improvised shield flying into the panicking Stormtroopers down the hall.
"Something feels…wrong." Harry shook his head as he felt the Stormtroopers die from the flying metal.
"A trap?" Anakin frowned, the once Sith Lord clearly uncomfortable being back in what were essentially his old stomping grounds.
"It's pretty clear that this whole damned thing was supposed to be a trap." Harry scoffed before shaking himself again, "But no, there's something that feels unnaturally wrong nearby."
"The blueprints you snagged said that the medical ward is nearby." Leia pulled up the copies he'd sent to everyone as a backup.
"When I…served the Empire, Plagueis would regularly use Medical Wards in his primary facilities for conducting experiments." Anakin informed them, "It's possible he made something, an attempt at a new weapon or a new way to strength himself. It would be wise to destroy whatever it is on our way through, just in case." Nodding in agreement, Harry made a right when the Hall split, following his gut, the Force, and Anakin's advice as they reached the disturbingly defensible medical ward, the doors thick enough that lightsabers were needed to cut through and even then, the blades almost weren't long enough.
Stepping through the hole they'd cut through the door; Harry went ramrod still. On an operating table, was Dobby's desecrated corpse. Vials of blood lined the table beside the withered and dry looking husk of what had once been his friend, the only friend he'd brought from his old world. Dobby's eyes were gone, hollow sockets gazing out just as the open torso revealed missing organs.
The machinery around him began to twist and crumple, being crushed under the pressure of his anger as it reverberated through the force.
At the far side of the room, multiple one-way mirrors revealed small sterile rooms. Each one contained an Imperial agent, some wearing the garb of Inquisitors, others Stormtrooper regalia. All of them were mad, eyes bulging unnaturally large as if they were trying to grow two sizes bigger. There was froth at their mouths as the experiments, for what else could they be, were trapped in their cells. Some were frantically cleaning, others punishing themselves, and more were trying to do…something. By each window, he could see a partially empty vial of blood, the number matching the number missing from the machine next to Dobby's corpse.
His roar of righteous fury echoed through the battle station.
-Palpatine-
Palpatine grit his teeth as the wave of pure unbridled fury rippled through the force. It was a rage equal to that of any true Sith Lord, yet he could not feel the distinct nature of the Sith within it.
"Such…rage." Jade gasped as she was staggered by the rage that filled the air, the reason being clear given what he saw on the Stations' security feed. He saw flames consume his experiments, not even leaving ashes behind from their intensity. Even through the screen he swore he could feel heat from those flames, swore that he saw unnatural shapes from within them, felt a rage that was very sith like.
"Such weakness." He sneered as he watched Peverell gently, almost reverently, collect the body of the creature Palpatine had been dissecting as well as the samples inside the medical lab. That compassion made this 'Mandalore' another fool, one easily manipulated.
At the very least, the loss of the labs, while infuriating, was not the end of his research. He still had a few vials secured with him here in the throne room, trusting the failsafe with none but himself.
Before he could work on ordering more Stormtroopers to drive them from the labs, before the fools destroyed everything, he heard the loud sound of the station's shielding powering down.
"TROOPERS!" Palpatine roared, his patience growing thin "Ready the Station's main gun and begin destroying that fleet!" he'd wanted to wait until the intruders had reached him, to help further break their spirits, but plans would seemingly have to change.
-Boba Fett-
Silently cursing his boss, Boba fired down the entryway to the power station on the moon, taking out another Trooper who fell with a yell. Most of the force they came with were scattered throughout the forest, hunting down the Troopers and disabling the Walkers. It just left himself and the boss' two apprentices to handle the power relay.
Unfortunately, the two seemed determined to drive him insane with their competitive bickering!
"I fucking swear." He growled, blowing the head off yet another imbecilic trooper who seemed to think they were invincible despite their shitty armor "If the two of you don't shut the hell up then the boss is going to have no apprentices left."
"You know, I may be Skyguy's favorite, but I'm pretty sure Fett over there is just jealous that Anakin likes both of us more than him." The Togruta Tano commented to Lumiya who just scoffed.
"You are delusion on who my Master favors the most…but I would agree on you being in higher standing than Fett at the very least."
If anyone asked him about the extra shots that he started putting into each Trooper, then he'd insist it was just caution. Three head shots per Imp was completely reasonable and he refused to hear anything to the contrary.
-Harry-
Face still twisted into a snarl, Harry lashed out with his magic, "BOMBARDA!" he felt no real reason to hide, not when they were so close to the end. The doors to the 'Throne Room' were violently blown open, the doors banging as they landed with a thunderous crash.
"Well, well, if it isn't the fools who think to take my-" Palpatine started to Monologue confidently, Harry didn't intend to let him.
"Confringo!" Harry launched the blasting curse at Palpatine, relying on the shock of unknown abilities to throw the Sith Lord off their game. The wizened monster was able to, barely, deflect the curse with his crimson lightsaber, the spell hitting an Inquisitor who was standing by one of the walls.
Not even pausing, the group having already made their plans on the way, Harry charged toward the throne, Anakin keeping pace with him.
Luke and Maris charged at the second Sith, Palpatine's new apprentice. Oola and Leia moved to handle the Inquisitors on the right side of the throne room, Kal and Merrin those on the left. Galen remained where he was, holding the door from any potential reinforcements.
"Fool." Palpatine cackled, lightning arcing around his fingers as the deformed Sith Lord rose from his throne "If you wanted to have a chance to beating me, it would have taken all of you."
"Difindo!" Harry swung the Dark Saber, channeling the cutting curse through the black blade as Palpatine used the force to dodge, the spell cutting through the bastard's throne with ease. As he stalked forward, explosions started to sound from the lower decks.
"Now, really?" Palpatine shook his head with a mocking laugh "The timing of your little 'coup' is quite pathetic 'Darth Chrysalis'."
"It will not matter when only me and my Inquisitors leave this room alive." The redhead snarled, "Inquisitors, kill them all! Leave none alive but us!"
Outside the massive viewing window behind the now bisected throne, Harry could see the space battle growing more and more frenzied, some signal having apparently been given to everyone on the second Sith's faction as the Rebel against Imperial space battle had become a free for all dog fight.
"Your ego has only grown over the years 'Sheev'." Anakin scoffed "Windu would have beaten you all those years ago if I hadn't saved your life…the biggest mistake of my life." Palpatine's face twisted in rage at the mention of that incident. Lightning flared out from Palpatine's fingers as Harry lashed out with his own Force Lightning, meeting the technique with equal power.
"Such rage." Palpatine seemed almost amused, keeping his lightsaber trained on Anakin even as the lightning continued to pour forth "You should have sworn yourself to me boy. I could have turned you into a true Sith Lord."
"I've seen how you treat your 'Apprentices'." Harry scoffed, pushing forward even as Anakin helped him with the pincer "I'm not stupid enough to work for a bastard like you." As he spoke, he raised up his free hand "INCENDIO!" the roaring torrent of flame caught Palpatine off guard, the self-Proclaimed emperor's robe catching fire even as the old man had to hastily parry Anakin's powerful overhead strike. Around them, the Inquisitors were rapidly falling, Palpatine and 'Darth Chrysalis' clearly not prepared for this turn of events.
"You know, that's the biggest weakness of your Sith." Harry sent a bone breaker curse at the hand holding Palpatine's lightsaber, the invisible curse hitting as the bones shattered audibly, the sound rapidly drowned out by the Sith Lord's scream of pain.
"And what…is that?" Palpatine snarled, the lightning coming faster and stronger, the Sith Lord using his pain to further fuel his twisted bastardization of the Force.
"You don't help each other." Oola scoffed, her light whip lashing out as she cut off part of Palpatine's left leg below the knee as the old man hastily threw himself to the side, having not noticed Oola and Leia had finished off against their Inquisitors and joined the fight.
"You fear being beaten so you keep your allies weak." Merrin scoffed, her green 'force magic' lashing out to restrain Palpatine.
"You think us helping one another is weakness." Luke joined them, Marris tossing the Sith Apprentice's severed head at Palpatine's feet.
"You won't win." Palpatine snarled, even as he spat at Harry's feet "Without me, this Galaxy will crumble. I am the Galaxy! I am the Empire! I AM THE SITH!"
"No." Harry raised the Darksaber "You're nothing more than a footnote to be forgotten." The blade fell down, the Emperor's head rolling.
-Marcus-
Gritting his teeth, Marcus tried to escape the grip of the Death Eater thug currently pinning him down. Voldemort had taken Hogwarts, overcoming ancient wards and Dumbledore's strength through sheer numbers. After the raid on Azkaban, Voldemort had apparently decided it was worth repeating, going from prison to prison in other countries to recruit their Witches and Wizards until the various nations managed to tighten their security enough to make the 'recruitment method' stop being worth it.
But it still left Voldemort with an army larger than the entire population of Magical England that hadn't sworn to him, each and every one bound by an Unbreakable Vow to forever serve Voldemort with complete loyalty.
The Death Eater horde had poured through Hogsmede in the middle of the night, capturing everyone they could. While part of the force did that, the other half apparently forced their way into the Ministry, capturing who they could, killing who they couldn't.
Marcus had woken up to the sounds of battle outside the castle but in the end, the sheer numbers weren't something those stationed at the school could beat, Voldemort eagerly parading through his captured hostages.
"What are you waiting for, Tom?" Dumbledore sighed, the ancient Headmaster having been stripped of his wand, his face covered with dried blood from his nose having been broken yet again.
"Oh, don't worry old man." Voldemort smirked in amused satisfaction, "Your time will come soon enough. But first, we have a prophecy to wrap up." Marcus saw his parents, currently restrained and held at the wand point of Bellatrix Lestrange, go rigid "Bella, be a dear and leave them to Greyback." Voldemort waved a lazy hand at Marcus' parents "Go collect your niece." Marcus' eyes widened as he saw Tonks, a girl he knew his brother used to be close to before they drifted apart, get drug toward Voldemort. Was she the first one being offered Voldemort's 'grand choice' due to her Black blood?
"What do you want, you bastard?" Tonks glared at the Dark Lord, even as Marcus saw her knees shaking.
"Why, to help you of course." Voldemort's voice wasn't how Marcus had heard it before, not it was gentle, convincing, and Marcus would swear there was an acrid yellow flitting about within the crimson of Voldemort's irises. Even without being directed towards Marcus personally, he could feel himself almost wanting to nod, to agree with whatever the madman was saying. The sheer strength of will, enforced through magic, was utterly terrifying. It was starting to make more and more sense how Voldemort had become such a successful Dark Lord, how he'd amassed so many followers, many fanatically loyal, willing to suffer death or dismemberment with a smile if it was of even the slightest use to their master.
"Help…me?" Tonks seemed confused, that confusion possibly helping Voldemort's words sink in deeper as the pale monster circled Tonks like a shark.
"Of course," Voldemort crooned "you are the one who will ensure the Prophecy gets completed after all. You've been working on that ritual for so long."
"So long." Tonks nodded in a dazed like trance while Marcus wondered what ritual they were talking about, focusing as he forced Voldemort's influence out of his mind.
"And here's your chance to do it!" Voldemort gestured to a cleared space, Bellatrix Lestrange pouring out various ritual components "Don't you want to bring your 'dear Harry' back? He is the only one who has a chance to stop me, prophecy itself says so!" Marcus' eyes widened as he realized why Voldemort had them all captured, not killed. Why they hadn't been given 'the choice' yet? He wanted them to see the only one capable of killing Voldemort, as declared by Prophecy, to either swear to serve Voldemort…or to die.
"Yes…the only…one." Tonks began to carve out a ritual circle, the dazed tone being overcome with a zeal that was reminiscent of Bellatrix herself. All around them, Marcus could see most were resigned to what was going to happen, having gone limp with defeat.
But his gut said there was still something he could do, something he had to do. It was almost like there was a voice in the back of his mind, wordlessly screaming directions as he felt magic bubbling up within him. The magic, moved through sheer will and without a wand, lashed out at the ritual circle Tonks was carving as it began to glow. One of the runes carved into stone shifted, the stone dropping and cracking, changing the shape of the rune and thus altering the ritual.
As the components in the various bowls were consumed in shining purple flame, Marcus gasped as the air began to thrum with power…and high up in the sky, the air began to distort.
AN: Alright everybody, we're wrapping up next chapter so get ready.